Well.

Well, Jaap is at the doctor's about his leprosy right now, I'm dying of sand-fly bites (ohmygosh I have 5 on my pinky toe alone!), I forgot the food box in Blenheim (South Island) and now we're in Taupo (North Island) and there's a bad weather front coming so we can't do the Tongariro Crossing, which is the main reason we're here, AND Jaap and I had a small fight about how I'm not a good cook.

However, we DID have a very good day yesterday in Blenheim. We rented bikes for $10 for the day from our hostel and rode all over the countryside, winetasting. It was great!

And since I left all the tea in Blenheim, I had a good excuse to hunt out some nice morning coffee in Petone, north of Wellington.

And then, while entertaining myself as Jaap called his parents, I met the lovely owner of a second-hand bookshop on Jackson Street, Petone. He told me about John Rhys Davies (yes, Gimli) coming into his shop quite often and buying up a crate of Science Fiction Digest and signing his Visitor's book. I also signed the book. Peter Jackson hasn't signed the book because he's a local, not a "visitor". But he's been there many times.

Then we drove off to Taupo. Leaving Wellington, city of the most cafes per capita, behind.