If you want a winter break away from a cold, wet place like Palmerston North (bless its damp little woolly socks), head east by north to Gisborne. We took a July break and had a glorious time. Gisborne and its region is packed with exactly the sorts of things we love doing. This trip (and there will be others in future) was mostly walks, interspersed with good coffee at Gisborne's cafes. We stayed at Utiku Beach, and I mean at the beach. You walked across the road (speed limit 60km/h, not some superhighway thundering trucks all night), ambled through a thin strip of grassy marine reserve planted with pohutukawa, and bingo, there was the beach. That lovely gold-pinky-brown Gisborne sand, and brave surfers black exclamation points out on the waves. In the waves, when they slipped off. We were brave, and paddled. You have to get sand between your toes at the beach, even in winter. A short walk along the beach (turn left out the front door) took us up a headland with glorious views. To the left was a long sandy beach with creamy surf breaking out on the reef, to the right was "our" beach, leading back to Gisborne, and out in front was wild blue yonder, all the way to South America. Back to the bach to pack a picnic lunch. Warm and welcoming, with the heat pump chugging away, and an easy modern kitchen, comfortable beds and couches, and rain water! I'll say that again, rain water. Tea actually tastes like the tea of your childhood when you use rain water, and your hair is soft and shiny and so happy after a rain-water shampoo. We went north to more beaches and walks (Tolaga Bay wharf, and then the two-hour walk out to Cook's landing place), but the place I'd really recommend for a damp winter afternoon is the national arboretum. Gisborne has a national arboretum, I hear you ask? Indeed it does. Follow the signs for Rere Falls (worth a look, even in rain). The arboretum is acres of trees, mostly deciduous and under bare poles at this time of year, but you get hold of a tree's soul when it isn't all covered in leaves. We walked for several hours (the place has a myriad of tracks, all easy and many wheelchair friendly), and the trees kept off the light drizzle and the wet smelled wonderful, warm and growing even in winter. The light effects were amazing as sunlight broke through clouds. When it rained, and yes, people, this is New Zealand, this is winter, it will rain, bank on it... when it rained too hard for comfortable adventuring, we went home to