Onward north, my precious.

Having travelled almost the entire length of the south island, we park Bertha for the last time. Though we've enjoyed the freedom of mobile accommodation, we look forward to a proper bed and a toilet that you don't bang your head on the wall whenever you try to sit.

The three hour ferry to the north island is uneventful, the highlight being a pod of dolphins playing along the side of the boat. We reach Wellington, the location that determined the timing and justification for this trip, the first AFL game for match points held outside Australia; not that we need much of an excuse to take a holiday.

Tracey's not-so-inner nerd comes out and within minutes she's on a bus off to the outer burbs to visit the WETA caves. This is were they design and make much of the costumes, weapons and props for films such as Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, District 9 and Narnia. Many of the original items are held there, plus a few life size creatures including Golum and three trolls that tower over you, looking menacingly real.

Disappointingly you can't photograph in the production studios but you'll have to trust that it's super cool. They have a 3D printer and a full-time weaponsmith. Whilst there they were creating life size trees with faces (Ent like) for a private commisioned event.

Meanwhile, Andrew scouted locations for dinner and lunch.

Matterhorn was selected for dinner. Earlier in the day it had been nearly empty, but not so when we arrived to a 40 minute wait for a table. We spent it strolling up Featherstone Place (frankly not so lovely) to eye off tomorrow's lunch location - good food demands serious research.

The food at Matterhorn was excellent. Bluff oysters, finally in the shell, didn't disappoint. A venison tartare of silky texture. Crisped beef cheek; a delicate courgette/broad bean salad; red deer dusted with cocoa and accompanied by beetroot & fig; cauliflower baked with taleggio......definitely Foodivore Approved.

ANZAC Day dawned and we strolled around the harbour, checked out Te Papa museum, and generally worked up our lunch appetite. The venue was Tasting Room where, despite being short-staffed (apparently some reprobate hadn't turned up for work), we had a most passable selection of jerk chicken sliders (not the fiery jerk we enjoyed in Jamaica, alas), sage/parmesan gnocchi and their signature beef Wellington.