So on Tuesday we left Tongariro Nation Park on Trouble's bus (all the drivers have Stray names!) & had a loooong drive down to Wellington only stopping for food and loo stops. It was still mid afternoon by the time we checked into our hostel (Base Wellington - the worst we've stayed in so far!) but myself & Debby decided to join Cora, Sandra & Justin in visiting the botanical gardens. After a slight detour we found the cabelcar station which took us up the hill to the botanical gardens before walking back down through them to the city. We treated ourself to cheap pizza from Dominos for supper & had enough left over for lunch on Wednesday. After a couple of drinks in the BASEment Bar we headed to bed just as the music started ... read more

Tiritiri Matangi (literally "tossed by the wind" in Maori) is an open island reserve (ie allows public access) where many rare New Zealand bird thrive. Tiri was originally home to a couple of Maori triebs the Kawerau-A-Maki & later the Ngati Paoa. During the mid 1850s European settlers arrived and since then the island was continually farmed until the 1970s. An army of volunteers have helped replant native species and create a series of footpaths allowing visitors to explore the island with minimal impact on the wildlife. It's also home to several researchers including one I met whilst ringing waders earlier this summer. She kindly invited me to join her as she showed an artist around the island which meant I got a brilliant tour of the place, a lot of it off the public paths, ... read more

So I left Australia & landed in New Zealand. So far I've been mostly lazing around in Auckland! I got to my hostel & met up with Jamie that first Saturday afternoon. We had a nice time catching up over tea & cake, then cider/beer & finally supper. Together with some wandering around the centre. Sunday morning I first got moved from one share room to another (amusing as I actually had a dorm bed booked!) then had a chat with my parents (having had a lovely long chat with Mark the night before) & finally met up with Jamie in town. Since it was a nice day we walked along the coast to Mission Bay where we had lunch followed by an ice-cream on the beach :) Back home for another chat with Mark before ... read more

So Wednesday we left Brisbane & the sun to return to Melbourne & the winter cold & rain... Flew into Avalon airport as was cheaper flights - won't try that again, it's miles from the city!!! Got bus to town & paid the extra to be dropped off at the hostel as it was getting late. Stayed in North Melbourne this time at YHA hostel. Nice place, bit old & drab but two decent kitchen & twin rooms!!! This last was brilliant! Especially after the chaos of Brisbane hostel! lol. That first night we found out from reception where we could find food then set off in search of it. & it started to rain, heavily. So first pub we find with food we duck inside to find a table. & there's a pub quiz going ... read more

Whew, where to start! Pick up & ferry over were uneventful but we did see a stingray from the ferry as we pulled in & we were met on the Island by Ranger Pete & all jumped into the 4WD coach(!). More people (22) than KI which I wasn’t sure about but it wasn’t too bad with that many. The Ferry had taken us to Kingfisher Bay Resort (where we were also staying that night) but we soon left the tarmaced roads of the resort for the sandy tracks of the island. Our first stop ws Basin Lake - Fraser Island has many of these freshwater lakes that source their water from rainfall - here some of the group went swimming, some walked around the small lake & we paddled then chatted & Pete showed me ... read more