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Katy - it was absolutely foul going down to Rotorua. Stopped for my breakfast in Hamilton, started again with a vengeance on the drive down from Pukeatua to Rotorua. That sculpture IS in Rotorua, by the way. Not far from the entrance to the Museum. From Rotorua to Taupo to halfway down the Taupo - Napier Rd it was dodgy weather, and then as soon as I got over the hill where you go down to the Hawkes Bay, it was absolutely gorgeous. Stayed that way for a while, then closed in further down, and was absolutely filthy for my drive from Shannon to Wellington. The weather improved again on the Friday, and by Sunday, when I was driving up to Opunake, it was lovely again. That lasted for the next day and a half, and then closed in just as I was driving back to Auckland on Tuesday. Jess, yes, I did go to the Tawhiti Museum. What a clever man that Nigel Ogle is, isn't he? And I have to say that the smoked chicken panini I had in the Badger's Cafe, was the best ever. I had a lovely, lovely time catching up with friends, and I've decided that next year I will go down the Naki and tootle round the back roads for a week or so. I was dying to take more photos (only took about 150 in the end) and certainly more of the derelict old buildings, and a few more B&W ones. I loved Taranaki the best and thus my decision. The mountain dominates the landscape and it's magnificent. Salliemae - no digital trickery used on those photos. Just little old me - not as good as I would have liked. I didn't get the light right in some of them, but ne'er mind.