We've had no internet for three days! So I'll try to condense again into a couple of postings the incredible things we've been up to in North Island. If South Island was about scenery, North Island is about experiences. So I'll start with our second full day in Wellington, when I elected to go round Te Papa, the National Museum of Aotearoa New Zealand. I particularly wanted to go on the 'taste the treasures' tour, which has a Maori culture theme: when it came to start the tour, I was the only person on it! So I had the guide, a lovely Maori woman (mostly Maori, she said, there are virtually no pure bred Maoris left now) called Mariah to myself. Mariah was lovely, and she really gave me an insight into the traditions and mindset of these fascinating Polynesian people who came to Aoteroa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, over a thousand years ago. Though regrettably war like at times, the Maori have a strong sense of honour, ritual and indeed of peace. Their symbolism is fascinating - I'd bought a pendant of a carved whalebone Koru, the curled up young fern, which symbolises peace and also new life. They particularly value the Greenstone jade, known as Pounamu (South Island is called Te Wai Pounamu in Maori), and stones of it can still be found on the beaches near Hokitika: but Mariah explained that you don't find Pounamu, it finds you. I told her about my crystal from Glastonbury which found me, and she was delighted with this mutual understanding, a common wisdom about the relationship between humans and their planet. Mariah also explained to me that when James Cook was making his first contacts with the inhabitants of this land, he was under instructions to communicate and understand, and trade, rather than subdue. Aoteroa New Zealand is an example to the world: two totally different cultures can meet, co-exist and eventually integrate without fear or problems if they simply have the will to do it. It is the fear between Catholic and Protestant, between Sunni and Shia, between Israeli and Palestinian, that makes such integration impossible: lose the fear, begin to trust and the problems can begin to be solved. The visit ended with some Maori food - bread with a pesto made from young fern fronds (Koru) and some Manuka honey, a potato rice cake and tea brewed with leaves from the Koa Koa tree. I felt really privileged to have been shown this wonderful museum by someone who was truly a soul mate, culture reaching out to culture and finding a commonality, for are we not all one? I'd been hoping to go later in the day to a Choral Eucharist in the Cathedral, but my knee was so bad I felt I had to stay at home and rest it. Later we went out to a nearby pub for a meal, our last in Wellington. Next morning we set off for Lake Taupo, our longest drive on one day so far. We stopped at a couple of scenic spots en route, including one place for lunch opposite Mount Ruapehu, a snow capped peak towering above the rest (and used in 'Lord of the Rings' for Mount Doom). We found our B & B easily enough, and the lady who ran it was simply delightful. Bonny couldn't have been more welcoming: she took us through to the patio at the back of the house and there was a stunning view of the river! If you ever want to stay in Taupo, I recommend 'Riverview' very highly. Alas we were here only for one night: we sussed out the local waterfall (Hoka Falls) and the Aratiatia Dam before going to eat, and next morning were up at the dam for the opening - literally - of the floodgates at 10 a.m. This produced some fantastic rapids, and I filmed some of them (silly me filming sideways for part of the time!). Then it was on to Rotorua for yet more experiences which I'll put in the next posting.