Another lovely sunny start to the day. We had a couple of hours to kill until our flight back to Wellington for xmas with friends Dawn & Ross & family, so we went back to Hagley Park after checking out of the hotel. We had a laugh at the antics of the local birds, while having a brunch at the cafe in the centre of the park.

Then we headed to the airport to catch our 12.30pm flight - domestic air travel is a joy compared with international flying, all is so smooth and relaxed. We had perfect views flying up the north half of the south island and arrived at 1.30pm to find Dawn at the baggage claim to meet us. This was extremely helpful as we had hired a much smaller car for the next few days and there was no way we could get all our luggage in it, so some went into Dawn's car, and we followed her home. [The previous two cars we had hired had been Ford Territory's which are brilliant for this sort of trip, and when we get to the USA, we will have a Ford Explorer, which is a very similar model - they are roomy, comfortable, have a nice high ride height, and are very easy to drive - I want one !]

In Wellington it was extremely hot, and once back at Dawn's house we had to head straight for the garden for a drink, and in my case a game of badminton with Dewi, who eventually gave in as he was too hot !

At about 4pm once Ross had got back from work, we headed across the hills to the west of Wellington, to Makara Beach, where we had a bit of a walk then a picnic, and most of us went into the Tasman sea for a quick dip. There were also sveral people in speedboats jetting back and forth.

Later we came back to the house for a nice evening meal of fish or chicken, and then a game of "Shout it out" which was quite funny.