Xmas in Wellington was great - Tom joined us and it went pretty quickly. Weather has been glorious. Yesterday we arrived at Tongariro National Perk in the middle of the North Island with snow capped volcanos and great walking. We are here for another day then to Taupo and Rotaruo thermal springs before flying to Christchurch and then Queenstown for the New Year. New Zealanders are extremely relaxed and casual - so getting our bookings mixed up was treated as quite natural and nothing to worry about - and so it turned out! Here is an example of what we encountered on our mountain tramp today.