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Mini road trip

We're just back from a whirlwind tour of the central North Island with my second cousin Tom who is over from England. We headed for the ski field at Whakapapa so that Tom could go snowboarding. It seems like every other person in the North Island had the same idea. The conditions were perfect, still air, blue skies and plenty of snow. We left him to it and headed a few km down the mountain to walk the Silica Rapids track. This must be one of the best half-day walks in the area, especially on a sunny winter's day when it's possible to see melting icicles under shaded banks and frozen mountain tarns in the eerie bog land and tussock. It's a fairly short walk of 2-3 hours but packs a lot in.

We spent the night in Taupo and set off for Napier the next day with heavy hearts and eyelids after watching the All Blacks get a lesson in rugby from South Africa at 3am.

In Napier, I went for a dive at the aquarium, swimming with and feeding the fish, sharks and rays. It was an odd experience, being confined in a tank while people watched and waved from outside. So this is what it feels like to be a fish ... We also picked up a few odd gifts for a midwinter Christmas party being hosted by my sister that night then headed home via The Filter Room, a boutique brewery/cidery where we sampled some of the local product.

Weekends are just too short.