In 1931 the small coastal town of Napier, nestling on the edge of Hawke's bay, collided head on (or is that feet first?) with the largest earthquake in New Zealand's history. 7.3 Richters flattened the town and, when it was all over, the survivors saw that the land had been jacked six feet out of the water. Hundreds of square kilometres of salty land had been reclaimed from the sea. The once wave-battered cliffs stood dry and slightly forlorn, a whole kilometre inland.

Slowly the citizens began to rebuild. They took their inspiration from the optimistic modern forms of art deco. It was some time before modernity became history and the citizens decided that what they had was unusual and defended it against the developers. So it is that Napier exists today as a frozen architectural moment. Dazzling pastel juxtapositions pick out the relief on frontages everywhere. I've never seen a colour photo from the 1930s, but if today's architectural pigmentations are representative then all those gloomy depression black and white photos weren't giving the whole picture.

Time ran out quickly as I roamed in search of the famed Rothman's building during another downpour. In the end I only just caught the coach that wound its way back north to Auckland. A brief relaxing weekend sojourn to the Coromandel peninsula with Christine, my Auckland friend of a friend, completed my list.

And so that's it. The end of this stage. Tommorow morning at 6.45am I fly out, back into the sunshine. I'll be leaving behind a lot. No doubt Orion will follow me to Hawaii - it's been my constant stellar companion these five months - wandering around the sky in a journey mirroring my own, but I'll have to leave the tiny Southern Cross here. I've learnt a bit of geography, a bit of politics, a bit of the lingo and met some of the people. It's almost begun to feel like home. I'll miss the scenery, the multiculturalism that has progressed further than anywhere else I've seen, and I'll miss the distinctive, dry and slightly warped sense of humour; I might even miss Shortland Street on TV!

The immigration department aside, it'd be easy to stay here, but I won't. I'll be back though. One Day.