Up mega-early to go and pick up Mama J. She was in better form than Claire and I, and we'd only had one late night!

Mum arrived safely, and only one hour late after the BA crash at heathrow. We went and got our car (a Toyota Starlet called Trevor) before picking up Claire from Onehunga. We had a few domestic things to do and packed our stuff up while Tim and Cindy kindly entertained Mum. We went and piked up our bikes then popped up Mt Eden to have a look at the view and have any cobwebs blown away by the strong winds.

Fairly early in the day I realised that I'd been bitten alive at Brendan's party, with about 50 or so bites, some of them in incredibly straight lines. They weren't too itchy but generally very uncomfortable - antihistamines would have been good, but driving needed to be done.

We finally got on our way with enough time for a stop at Tirau to see the corrugated iron fun, before getting to Rotorua and the Polynesian Spa for a few hours, before a fantastic meal at the Millenium Hotel. Our accommodation at Jack and Di's Motel was very good (albeit with Mum in the lounge) and fairly spacious, all at a pretty good price!