Hi Paolo

All the Hosts and Hostesses were so generous to us and provided wonderful meals and hospitality. The Waitomo Caves were great, the Sky Tower in Auckland was a thrill! even I was persuaded to go up in the lift! and watch bungee jumping from it! How scary can you get!! The weather was perfect and the view of the snow covered volcanoes was a picture postcard effect. Peter and Shirley Bowers were wonderful to us as were Chris Morgan's sister and husband at Sandy Bay where the lessons in surf boarding took place. Of course our time in the Bay of Islands was idyllic. We went across in the boat to Russell and enjoyed 4 hours there of absolute bliss and solitude. The historic places are beautifully preserved and painted in white paint. We walked along the beaches which have the water lapping at pathways. It is so sheltered being an inland harbour at that point.

We visited Dr. Erin Ratahi in Wanganui and enjoyed spending time there with his partner and darling little two year old daughter. Erin is one of the Orthopaedic Specialists in Whangarei. He is an old boy of Hato Paora College who certainly has achieved greatly.

We also had a lovely time with a previous teacher at HPC, namely Theresa McAllister who now teaches in Rotorua but lives on a large Kiwi Fruit Orchard in a magnificent home. She made us so welcome and gave the boys a look around the orchard. We even sampled a new golden Kiwi Fruit which has been developed.

On the return journey we visited the Thermal Wonderland in Rotorua, viewed the magnificent Huka Falls on the Waikato River, saw Lake Taupo with the three mountains covered in snow at the far end and finally reached home at 9p.m. on Thursday night.

Yesterday we took the boys to school to meet Staff and the seniors who are rehearsing for Kapahaka Competitions. Everyone was charmed to meet your boys. They attended a Service in the Chapel too.

This afternoon they are returning to Wellington. They have checked on their flight and will leave NZ at 6a.m. in the morning. They have booked seats beside each other and are ready for the journey via Singapore to Frankfurt then down to Florence.