Cazzi

Sorry for the lack of recent bloggage- its all been a bit busy really but here's the story so far... We arrived in Christchurch about 3 weeks ago now, wasn't much going on there but did manage to get tickets to see the All Blacks v Springboks which was awesome and such lucky timing! Other than that did not much else- booked our magic bus to take us around NZ and generally sorted out a bit of a plan! Left Christchurch and took the tranzalpine train across to Greymouth- was beautiful, covered in snow, a few lakes, lots of babbling brooks and other than that just nothingness! Stopped off for the night at Arthurs Pass halfway through the journey- did a pretty snowy walk there followed by lots of hot drinks and cozy fire! Greymouth- there ... read more

Sorry for the lack of blogging recently, just been up to too much fun! Have just come back this morning from a sailing trip round the Whitsundays for a few days. Was such a good trip and the sun shone for us which was pretty lucky after lots of rain and storms and general miserableness (apparently not supposed to be like that this time of year- global warming hey!) Slept below deck in the tiniest bunk beds ever- we were at the front of the boat so had v little space. Had a gret group of people on board so was lots of fun, lots of eating and drinking and getting wet! Got up at 6 this morning for some breakie and we were in the freezing waters for some snorkelling by half 7 (complete with ... read more

Just a very quick one to update more on the adventures, we've had so many recently... Spent a few days at Noosa everglades canoeing around, walking and sleeping in tents. Was so beautiful with the mirror rivers giving perfect reflections. Unfortunatley for us we were out camping on the coldest day in Queensland for 100 years and it was blinking freezing! Still had a really good trip- mostly with a group of Irish who knew how to drink! We did a three day trip on Fraser Island (a complete sand island)- hired a 4X4 and drove round camping on the beach and in rainforests! Was an amazing trip just a shame it rained for most of it- as in downpoured- and then our tents leaked. But the boys did a good job of making shelters to ... read more

After an eventful flight from Adelaide we eventually ended up in Sydney. We had to turn back as lightening had struck the runway and we didn't have enough fuel to circle for long enough- a tad worrying considering it was only a quick hop of a flight! Anyway we landed safely but poor Ben had to wait in his campervan for us to land a good few hours late! Had an awesome few days in Sydney with the boys even tho it rained pretty much constantly! Didn't know it could downpour that much- worse than England! Did all the usual sights- went up the Sydney tower, took the ferry across from the Opera House to Darling Harbour which looked amazing all lit up at night. We even managed to see a matinée performance in Opera House ... read more

So Jo and I have now returned from our adventure into the outback, I don't even know where to start...! We jumped on the 4X4 - a total of 10 of us- along with Ben our guide and a trailer full of tucker (Oz speak for food), water and backpacks! We ventured up to the Flinders Ranges, checked out some of the amazing views, saw some aboriginal art in some very old caves and collected firewood for the evening- something we became near experts at! The first couple of nights we spent camping out in our swags were FREEZING! Needed hats, gloves, jumpers, socks just to attempt to keep warm! Even woke up to ice on the swags one morning but luckily had a very keen frenchman who kept the fire going most of the ... read more

Well, we have been having quite a busy time over this side of Oz! Found a really great hostel with nice people and got a 4 bed dorm so didn't have to share with other smelly people (except for Ben and Ben!) We've explored Melbourne, even hired bikes for the day and experienced the infamous climate of 4 seasons in one day! We got completely soaked through but was fun way to see the city- had a break by jumping on the tram for a tour around! Went to Phillip Island for a day trip- were so lucky with a gorgeous sunny day (it is supposedly winter here now!). Went to a nature park to cuddle koalas, feed kangeroos (Ben ended up with a few claw marks up his arm from a huge 'roo called Roger!), ... read more

we have landed in sunny oz! after a day of discovering what the exchange rate really is i think we've finally got to grips with it! not very happy about having to share dorms with lots of other smelly people, and not only that but they is EXPENSIVE!! Also getting into cooking our own meals- reckon pasta will feature highly on our menus! Feels like being back at uni again, which is v odd. Sure we will get used to it, just such a shock after asia full of lots of yummy food and fruit shakes! So far Perth has been amazing- so smart and clean and tidy! Went to Scarborough beach today to check out the surfers and spent the afternoon in Kings Park with a wonderful view over the city. Planning to spend the ... read more

After a good slow start with a sit in the bakery- cheese croissants, cinammon danish pastries and iced choc shakes to keep us going- we went to the most amazing waterfall ever....! Beautiful tiers of turquoise flowing water each ending in a pool where you could swim before cascading down to the next one. All surrounded by lush green jungle, felt so hidden away (just a shame about the other tourists!) Have also discovered the wats of Luang Prabang- tho do feel very templed out now! Jo was keen and got up at 5 with an Israeli girl we'd met to see the monks go out for thier daily feed. The locals give offerings- mostly of sticky rice- and the monks parade round in their orange robes when the dong sounds! I caught up on ... read more