... and here I am back home safe, sound and more than a little soggy. After a superb day yesterday (25 degrees, no less - it was summer!) I left Hastings this morning with grey skies and light rain which continued on and off, with some patches of blue sky between there and Taupo, but from then on steady deterioration so that by Tokoroa the rain was persistent and from Hamilton heavy. Put a bit of a damper on things. The Napier-Taupo road would be interesting to do when fine and dry. As it was I had a heart-stopping moment when I hit a slick patch at a speed I shouldn't have been doing - the resulting wobble must have scared the sh*t out of the oncoming driver. Mental note to self: pay attention to warning signs - they're not there just to keep signwriters in work.
All in all a great trip: just under 2,000 km on mostly good roads with lots of fun and not enough really bad weather to spoil it.
And now for the South Island...