Day 15 to 19 Hi Everyone! I made it out alive, did anyone miss me? Below is our account of the fabulous Milford Sound Trek...expect blood, sweat & tears! Milford Sound Trek Day 1 This is easy! So we got up at 6am, had our final shower, got our packs ready with food for four days and tried to prepare ourselves for what lay ahead. Yep, we’re crackers, a four day hiking trek 53km long, with mountains, avalanches, waterfalls, raging rivers and viscous sandflies! Its 9am and we are being collected by the DOC trip organisers at 9.15am…the battery on the [View Full Entry]

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Day 7 Fishy encounters We arrived in Kaikoura last night and spent the night in a very nice campsite directly by the sea. The facilities where fab and I had as many hot showers as I could fit in . On the way to the campground we came across a rather special treat of a fur seal colony. They even had some pups for us to goggle up with our camera. Today was whale watching day and we choose a rather choppy day to do it on. However, we didn’t get seasick thanks to those great travel sickness tablets from mom. [View Full Entry]

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Day 4 Finally getting our act together It feels like we have just wasted the last couple of days with the camper, our gear and getting over the jet-lag. But today we have finally ticked the first adventure of our list which involved a trip to Dawson Falls. The falls sit nestle just underneath Mount Egmount, a rather majestic looking mountain that set Jaime on fire to climb. (Managed to talk him out of that one thank god, but had to promise to let him look into at least climbing some of Mount Cook - YIKES) So, its now 9.30 at [View Full Entry]

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So we’ve finally made it to the start of our big adventure…..its taken a few days to find the facilities to update my blog so apologies for posting a summary in one go. Day 1. Good’day! We have made it to the other side of the world and yes the sky is blue (sometimes). The water drains the same way down the sinkhole as it does in the UK, and YEP jet-lag hurts! The flights were as long as expected, but what was unexpected to us was the amount of stopovers not mentioned when we booked our flight tickets. We have [View Full Entry]

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Day 2. Auckland Our first day in Auckland was unfortunately spent sorting our camper and organising our gear. The camper is comfortable, but basic. We have called her Ellie, as her license plate reads ELLI14. Mom will be please to hear that we only had a quick walk round Auckland but felt so zombiefied from the jet-lag that the base jump from Auckland Skytower was postponed til our return journey. We left Auckland late afternoon and spent our second night in a very rainy campsite in the Watomo Cave area. Hot Shower at last!!!! Day 3 Feeling human again…. We’ve driven [View Full Entry]

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Day 5 Get your Wellies on in Wellington! They don’t call this the windy city for nothing. Wow 100 miles an hour winds are the norm here. You can actually lean in to them like a kite and nearly take off! It rained and felt rather cold, but we spent most of our day the in the Te Papa Museum having fun with the interactive exhibitions. We are spending the night at another DOC campsite just outside Wellington before we board the ferry to the South Island tomorrow. Hope the camper doesn’t get blown away!! Day 6 Ankers Away Wow, that [View Full Entry]

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Hello All how's things? We have just booked our camper for New Zealand. Its a very cool A-Team van, check out the pic! Pretty much everything is ready to go now, well except Jaime who is chasing himself into a tiz by worrying if he has the right 'technical' sleeping-bag or if 10 sets of earplugs are really enough.....Men! I'm staying at moms until we set off. Feels like being a teenager again...I even get dinner made and my clothes washed for me! Speaking of which, can I just say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me make [View Full Entry]

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Hello All its T minus 9 days and counting! (Don’t know why I’m compelled to mention that all the time). Last weekend was supposed to be dedicated to packing up all my belongings and making a clear concise plan of where its all going to be stored, but the god of sniffles had another plan in store for me. Yep I caught the dreaded lurgey and worked my way through two boxes of MAN size tissues ...yuk! Anyhow, snuffly me was rescued by two ladies in shining armour attending to my box packing needs for me! Thanks so much to Tracey [View Full Entry]

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Our first entry....where to start?! Well it’s T minus 13 days and counting until we embark on our adventure to far, far away New Zealand! Today’s another itinerary day, i.e. we discuss and try to agree where on earth to start with our adventure! There is so much to do and see that we feel like needing 2 years to fit it all in, never mind 2 months. Heyho, we're not complaining! So for now it’s getting on with saying goodbye to family and friends (sniff), packing our backpacks and sorting all our earthly belongings into other people’s homes....... See you [View Full Entry]

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