Wishing all our friends relatives and assorted readers a very Happy New Year from fabulous Fiji. This is the most fabulous place and very relaxing after 7 weeks 'on the road'. Started with 4 days at Yawa island in the western Yasawa chain. That was a lovely place with a beach side Bure, from which the pacific virtually lapped our toes. Spent our time fishing (unsuccessfully), eating fish that someone else caught, swimming, snorkeling over the coral, lying in a hammock with a beer, and generally working hard doing nothing! Needless to say, Shirley is very happy..got her sun, heat (33) and sea,, and we stay in the same place for 4 whole days! Got cramp snorkeling on 1st day, and struggled to get out of a rip with only one leg working, so got dragged ... read more

Following the stunning beauty of Kaikoura and our Xmas day sunshine, we started boxing day watching albatross and whale, and finished off in the middle of a francophile filled volcano cone. Like an ice cream but without the flake. Apparently the French 'bought it' from the Maori in 1838...not in the military sense, you understand...in fact in that sense the Maori 'bought it' from a rival Maori tribe, virtually wiping out the locals, and somehow the British then nipped in and nicked it from everyone..under a sleight of hand called the treaty of Waitangi. Any roads, the subsequent descendants of the original FESMs decided to preserve their heritage and, it has to be said, have slightly overdone it. A beautiful South eastern NZ seaside town ( which does, actually sit in an extinct…we hope..volcano), has rues ... read more

Wishing you all a very happy Xmas from Down Under. Hope youse have all finished your shopping, trimmed your trees (isn't that a daft verb?), chopped your logs, set your fires, lit your tables, brandied your puds, minced your pies, and defrosted the bird in readiness for the annual stuffing. Missing you all and wish that we could be with you (but only if you can come to us)…..there's plenty room down here! Seriously though, have a wonderful time and try not to worry about us...we'll cope! Love. Ross & Shirley. XX... read more

That's glow worms. Larvae actually. Not allowed to take photos in caves as they believe that taking photos will steal their souls and they won't morph into moths. Or was that the Aborigines? It all blurs into one big dreamscape after a while. Actually the Aborigines believe that they come back as moths (or is that possums?), so probably correct anyway. Anyway you'll have to imagine a big cave in the dark with lots of tiny green and blue led lights on the ceiling....and they charge you lots of money to get in....a bit like Santa's Grotto at B&Q..except you don't get 10% off on Wednesdays ( that's a private pensioners joke..you'll understand one day....soon). Well, that was 2 days ago at Te Anau, if anyone's bothering to look at a map..and why would you, what ... read more

This is how I had always imagined NZ to be! Sparkling turquoise lakes and a backdrop of snow tipped mountain ranges. And Tekapo doesn't disappoint... It was just amazing.....no apologies offered for splashing about the superlatives but I don't know how else to describe this landscape. True, there can be miles of flat, almost boring plains, but then you turn a corner and...Ka Pow! Your blown away. We switched to Camper van after Christchurch, and are now doing our second overnight in her. Why do we tend to call boats, cars, etc after women? We still haven't given her a name, but she is big. Almost obese. And she is thirsty. In fact maybe we should call her whatsername....you know..Patsy's pal in Abfab? It'll come to me about 2 am...that's 1 pm your time. And we ... read more