Kia Ora

Welcome, vowelly-challenged reader, as I give you the lowdown on our short trip to New Zealand.

NZ is the latest stop on our slow journey back to the UK. Our first port of call was Auckland, the biggest city in the country, even though it's not huge. It had elements that could remind you of various other port cities: it's got the great city centre parks which you also find in Southampton; it's got the hills and coffee culture of Seattle; it's got a seafront ferry building like San Francisco. All told, the place feels quite British, given the fact that they drive on the left, and the city is cleaner than anything you'll find in the US.

Auckland's nickname is the City of Sails, and there are huge marinas here full of yachts, as well as a strong maritime heritage. We didn't expect to find such a fantastic art gallery, though, and if we had our time again we'd start at the War Memorial Museum, perched on the edge of the crater of an extinct volcano, overlooking the city.

The coffee was great, thanks for asking. New Zealanders take their coffee seriously, and claim to have invented the flat white, but anyway, I had my first decent coffee here since leaving SF.

Our second stop was in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, where we visited The Elms, the site of the original missionary station here. The Elms is beautiful: there are some quaint, original, wooden buildings here (including a library!), but the real gem is the large garden which mixes local native trees with those imported from the UK. The result is idyllic, and a place we'd happily have spent much more time. The town of Mount Maunganui is just over the bridge, and is mostly a small beach resort, but also has the eponymous Mount, another extinct volcano. Of course, we had to climb the steep path to the summit, from which you get some spectacular views.

The Elms

In Mount Maunganui I got another great coffee, and they did take my name in the shop, but unfortunately they didn't shout out "macchiato for Fullup", as the local accent would render it. I spent a lot of time suggesting we should buy some "fush and chups" but I don't think Helen really got into it. Ah well.

The view from Mount Maunganui

Our final stop was at the Bay of Islands, an area in the North of the country which is historically significant. In particular, it's the home of Waitangi, the place where the treaty which is considered to have founded the modern state of New Zealand was signed. In fact, the treaty involved the Maori ceding sovereignty to the British Crown, although controversially it's felt that the Maori only agreed because the translation into their language didn't actually say that. This is a hugely significant site for New Zealanders, and it's tremendously well presented in the museum on the site. I'm afraid I found it quite sad and shameful given how this worked out for the Maori, but it's still a wonderful visit and very thought-provoking.

Overall, New Zealand certainly delivered on its reputation of being strikingly beautiful, as well as clean, polite and relaxed. It's easy to see why people want to come here. Next, Australia!