Claire and James

As we reached the top of Dundas Street and turned onto George street, looked down on to the gardens and then across to the Water of Leith, we realised we were finally home....Except that we wern't, not yet anyway. We still had one week left of our global adventure and had arrived in the city of Dunedin. "The Edinburgh of the south" is its nickname - and we could see why, the entire city seemed to be some long lost prototype of the Scottish capital. Apparently when settlers from bonnie Scotland arrived on the Otago peninsula some 150 years ago they got to work on building themsleves a whole new Edinburgh. Hence the city - dunEDIN. After getting to grips with the history of this bustling student town, we found a spot to call home for ... read more

By now we were already well accustomed to the stunning scenery of Kiwi land. Turning many a corner, letting out a big sigh and muttering "wow" was becoming a pretty common occurence. So as we boarded the ferry taking across across the Cook Strait we really should have known that the Marlborough Sounds, the gateway to New Zealands south, was probably going to blow our socks off! It didn't disappoint - rolling green hills descending into endless channels of clear blue water. It was also getting bloody cold. As this country gets more beautiful our own faces seem to be losing their silky summer shine at a worrying rate. Besides the adverse weather conditions a diet of bread, pasta and rice seems to be taking its toll. For those greeting us on our return be warned ... read more

After basically spending the past 6 weeks on the beach we decided it was time for a change of scene and made a beeline for Cape Tribulation, the rain forest of Northern Queensland. Where World Heritage meets World Heritage in the form of the Great Barrier Reef and Rain forest (a wee Jamesy fact there!). It was indeed stunning but after camping by the sea for the night we left Cape Trib as there isn't too much to do, except try some tasty ice-cream and take in the rain forest sights! On our way back to Cairns we spent a couple of days in Port Douglas, we loved it right away and it is definitely one of our favourite places on the coast. So much so that within being there for only a few hours, Jamesy ... read more

It was a hop skip and a jump up the coast to meet our fellow travellers Tina and Paul!! We were looking forward to catching up on their tales of the North as we are heading in opposite directions. Our chosen meeting point was Surfers Paradise - unfortunately there weren't many surfers and it ain't much of a paradise, with all the high rise buildings towering over the beach. We hit the beach to catch some rays and rustled up some fajitas for tea and just as we were settling down for the night word gets round the car park that the police are on the prowl for campervanners parked next to the beach... And so begins a wild goose chase for somewhere to park our Syd - along with five other campers! In the morning ... read more

As we stand in Sydney Harbour both the Opera House and Harbour Bridge scream "Welcome to the other side of the world" - amazing!! We were warned that both these sights could be a major disappointment, but this definitely wasn't the case! These are the iconic Aussie images and we enjoyed them in all their glory as the sun set over the harbour! There was a great buzz about the place and whilst all the high fliers enjoyed the flashy harbour restaurants and bars we embarked on a grueling two hour hunt for a cheap bite to eat - no such thing exists, oh how we took the 60p street food in Asia for granted! Just as we are about to give up and have yet another Maccy D's we came across an Irish pub with ... read more