BTDU

Today our main task was to drive back to my cousin Gail’s home in Hamilton for one final night in NZ…

After checking out of our hotel we had our last breakfast, al fresco (naturally) in Napier, where it was already 24C at 9.15 am…

Ever since we had first heard the very tuneful song of the Tūī bird I had been on a mission to see one for real…

…and had been reliably informed that a great place to see one would be in the Clive Square Gardens situated behind our breakfast spot…

…but this was the only (very) tuneful songbird I spied…😉

We finally said our farewell to Napier and drove north, finding our journey delayed by some of the road repairs still being done following the extensive damage caused by last year’s Cyclone Gabrielle…

Having waited an age to be served at the Tarawera Café (because of its popularity!), we then found that, owing to some tech issues, none of our cards worked, so had to abandon our coffee stop…

…however, whilst we had been in there, the owner of a vintage Bentley – that had taken part in the AD Festival parade – had parked his pride and joy alongside our Ute…

We couldn’t resist a wee chat with him, who then gave us some insight into just how much financial commitment was required to maintain one of these masterpieces; for example, the cost of a new tyre was £1,000 each and the bodywork restoration he was planning to get done, which already looked immaculate to our uninformed eyes, wouldn’t leave much change from £30,000 – eye watering sums indeed….

Not much further along the road we re-visited the Bull Ring Café, which we had dropped into a week beforehand; parking up we were soon joined by one of the massive trailer lorries which are a common sight on the NZ State Highways…

After a tasty wee boost to our metabolisms we set off for the final leg of our journey…

On arrival at Gail & Ian’s, where it was still 26C at 4.30 pm😎, we were pleased to see how well Ian was recovering from his recent injury, incurred on a fishing trip…

…and much enjoyed admiring the photo montages Gail had created to celebrate their Ruby wedding and Ian’s 75th..

After one final (unsuccessful) attempt to see a Tūī in their gardens, Gail served up yet another fab meal, during which we put the world to right whilst reflecting on what the last 8 weeks travelling through NZ had meant to us ….☺️