30-3; but rained to a draw at the Basin

We've been back at Wellington staying with the boys but not using their excellent broadband because we've been down at the Basin.  It is a pleasant little ground with a feel of Worcester and they use it for Rugby as well as cricket.
We were astonished by the lack of interest and availabilty of tickets. We paid $93 for a 5 day pass. That's £50. You can't get a one day ticket for a Test in England for that. And we just turned up at the gate. We'd been worrying since last April about getting tickets but the Kiwis just laughed at our anxiety. The ground only holds 10,000 and was sold out on the Saturday which is apparently really unusual for a Test as the Kiwis prefer one day and 20/20 matches. The Lord's Ashes Test this summer is £100 a day and is sold out for all five days already.There was a very large England /Barmy Army contingent of supporters some of whom were following the whole tour, presumably the saving on tickets paying for getting here. The ground was entirely decked out in England banners from every place a banner could be hung.
The boys hadn't been to a Test before and I think appreciated the atmosphere more than the cricket. It's not just the trumpeter (day job in a symphony orchestra) ( whenever Wagner came on to bowl or bat it was to "flight of the Valkyries"), and the chants , but the costume. When the Kiwis parade round the ground it's so you can see what fine specimens they are, Oz style; but the Brits go for being witty, or just effort, so the best two were the guy on Thursday, when the Pope had been elected overnight, dressed as the Pope and blessing the crowd and the guy in cricket trousers tucked into long socks, and striped blazer with a head that was a horse smoking a pipe, a good outfit in itself but with a handwritten sign on the back of his jacket "100% British Beef".
We had 3 wonderful days of sunshine and cricket and England definately had the upper hand and enforced the follow on, but just as we got the good news of the 6 nations the end of a typhoon hit town and its petered out to a draw with rain stopped play.
The rain also brought wind so we didn't get to see the Dragon Boat races in the harbour either. All NZ had been waiting for rain and although many places got 80mm in a day it is not of course enough to end the drought although we were surprised that there were no flash floods anywhere as there would have been in Britain.
Auckland had 2 little earthquakes on Saturday but none here which is a shame ,as ,as long as it was only  a little one,  I wouldn't mind experiencing one. Obviously  I have no desire to experience a medium to large one.
 We're off to South Island tomorrow at the crack of dawn.

Art Deco Down Under

We took the road from Opotiki to Gisborne Through the Waioeka Gorge. This was interesting as it is difficultto envisage NZ bfroe it was cleared for Sheep and Cattle and forested with introduced Pines from California. The gorge road is through native forest largely tree ferns but other trees and shrubs I couldn't recognise. It seemed wholey unaffected by the drought which has burnt off all the grassland.
We went on to Napier. It is in the middle of the winegrowing district and fruit orchards and as it was harvest all the cheap accomodation was full. We managed to get the last room in a motel on the sea front. We said "No" at first and walked out because it was so expenxsive - double the night before but changed our mind when we reached the car and said we'd take it, which was just as well as it put us about 2 minutes ahead of someone else who would have taken it.
It was right on the front with views of the sea but as well as the bathroom it had the most enormous jacuzzi in the room next  to the bed giving the whole thing a feeling of a Maison Particulaire.
Napier is famous for its Art Deco buildings; there was a major earthquake in 1931 and it had to be rebuilt. The best building is the National Tobacco Company Building which has a doorway almost harking back to seccessionism There is a Marine Parade reminiscent of Southport in my childhood with an open air concert venue, but although it compares iself to it Miami Beach it is not.

The Worker Returns

We stayed at Tairua on the South of the Coramandel Penisula so we couldget Sweetheart to the airport easily. We had a lovely day in cracking weather round Hot Water Beach and the beaches to the north and had a pleasant day round the beaches, although I think she was trying to kill off Beloved with the steepness of one walk. We had a wonderful pizza lunch at a winery with excellent Chardonnay and were introduced to Fijoa which sweetheart took  back with her in liqueur form. Her FaceBook from Manchester just said "F*** it's cold"

Eastland

We moved on going East intending to follow the coast round the penninsular but found such a nice place at Te Kaha that we stopped and turned round to take the route 2  south instead. We were glad we did this because we did a half day drive out to Te Araroa which is about as far east as you can get and it was rainy and murky there when it was brilliant sunshine back in Te Kaha. The scenery around that northern coast of Eastland is absolutely stunning. The people are really friendly and largely Maori so each village has its own marae. People seem to rally value horses although not the throroughbreds for trotting you get near Taupo and they seem very supportive of Greenpeace and anti mining and drilling with signs on their fences saying "Go Drill Brazil" and "No Mining  Drilling Fracking" which rather shocked me as the whole area is naturally prone to earthquakes, and as fracking caused small earthquakes in Lancashire, which isn't, why would you? The weather is wonderful although of concern to the Kiwis as it is their worst drought for 70 years.

Whakarewarewa

This thermal area is also the site of the NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Centre which has carving schools in both wood and stone and weaving schools. Traditionally Maori crafts are divided on sexist lines). There is also a replica Moari village, and quite a good cultural show, as well as a Kiwi house were the lighting is reversed to con the birds to come out during opening hours.