Yesterday I got back from a place you can wear shorts and T-shirt – not to mention jandals / thongs / flip-flops – just two weeks out from winter.

Russell, in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands, sits on the same latitude as Sydney and a steady (and not shocking) couple of 23 degree days in mid-May saw us sail with dolphins, view the surrounding islands from the hill-top flag-pole Hone Heke so famously cut down (four times no less), absorb the history of Waitangi and wander the streets of this country’s original capital.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the trip: