KEY POINTS:
Winston Peters began yesterday in typically bullish fashion.
He called Radio New Zealand's Morning Report programme to correct what he said was an inaccuracy in an interview the network had broadcast with Sir Robert Jones.
He spoke defiantly and at length, calling the furore around donations to his party a "kangaroo court".
And he said he would present the Prime Minister "the concrete evidence" to show "that these allegations are vile, malevolent, malicious and wrong".
He then travelled to Auckland to front a series of meetings _ pursued at every step by a media contingent.
Beginning at Mahurangi College in Warkworth, he told students "a few lies" wouldn't stop him doing his job.
At his next meeting, with Grey Power members at nearby Snells Beach, Mr Peters was defiant in front of the supportive crowd.
The media should be focusing on issues such as the 95,000 job losses the Reserve Bank predicts, he said. That story, not the "pathetic" issue swirling around him, should be leading newspaper front pages. The electoral donation allegations amounted to nothing more than media innuendo, he said.
"If you don't know who you're dealing with, if you don't think I take this issue deadly seriously ... you may not like the facts but that's what I'm going to choke you on."
Omaha retiree Ivan Jones said he thought Mr Peters was the most honest politician around.
Another local applauded the fact Mr Peters had turned up at all.
"They were all so surprised to see me," the NZ First leader said. "Their problem is they keep on believing what they read."
Asked if he thought he would still be Foreign Minister at the end of the day, Mr Peters told reporters not to waste his time.
He spent the first half of his next appointment in front of Grey Power members at Orewa attacking the media, the Serious Fraud Office and big business. Afterwards, he climbed into his car and left, trailed by about eight media cars.
His Holden Caprice was followed down the Northern Motorway by the media contingent, but his cat and mouse games continued.
His car exited at Shelly Beach Rd and his driver began stopping at traffic lights until they turned orange, then speeding off _ leaving the media cars unable to follow.
Free of his tail at last, Mr Peters met the Prime Minister at 4pm in a private Parnell home.
Just before 6pm, Helen Clark briefed the media on his decision to stand down.
She said Mr Peters was hurt but calm during their meeting, was confident of his innocence and was determined to clear his name.
