I have been away for a week and my goodness a holiday is good for the soul. I got up close and personal with an active volcano (my first), cruised around the beautiful East Cape of the north island of NZ. Well, I say cruised but in reality I ate my way around the cape. I did not feed the stingrays, but rejoiced in seeing dolphins and hordes of birds, mostly Australasian Gannets, saw NZ oldest and hoariest pohutakawa tree, magnificent coast lines,gorgeous gorges, and stinky Rotarua. Sunny and hot (36C) one day....far too warm for this woman. Returned safe and sound last evening to a wet and cool Wanganui. I trawled the second hand shops and antiques when able but only bought one or two things.
