Think this has to be the friendliest place in the world! The people here are lovely and have genuine smiles and welcomes for the masses of tourists who pour into their laidback way of life. We stopped here for 5 days as we had to change planes here anyway en route to LA and as it only cost a few bucks more to stay we thought it'd be rude not to! We also thought that after 3 weeks in a campervan in NZ we would probably want a few days just chilling in the sunshine, and would you believe, we were [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Christchurch late on a friday night and the place was still buzzing. After a 5 hour flight however, we weren't so we stocked up on food and settled in to watch Oceans 13. Can't beat a bit of Brad! Next morning, after a quick scout round town to get breakfast and a fishing rod, we were picked up and taken to our new home for the next 3 weeks, our very own Campervan!!! It was a transit van but was quite spacious inside as long as we didn't both want to move at once. After going though some [View Full Entry]

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We only had four days in Sydney to see the highlights but fortunately, we were staying with Cazy so he directed us to the best bits (pubs). After a day wandering around the rocks and main tourist areas (the bridge and the Opera House) we did a night-time tour of the highlights of Circular Quay. Another day was spent shopping (briefly), trying out the mono-rail and ferrying around the harbour. We spent our last day enjoying a fabulous brunch at Cazy's restaurant and wandering along Bondi beach. It'd be a different place in the summer, wouldn't be able to move for [View Full Entry]

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Doing this the other way round now, you get to see the pictures first instead of a big long essay on where we've been and what we've been up to! Stories will follow, but heading out for last few hours of Melbourne sightseeing and that's more important right now! As you may have noticed I've gone back and put on loads of other missing photos, only a couple more entries still to go (Thanks very much to Bettina for the unlimited computer access (as well as many other things including your wardrobe, home and fridge!). Unfortunately we lost a few entries [View Full Entry]

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Our next big adventure took us South, as far as we could go. En route we stopped off at The Cidery where they make delicious cider and apple juice from Pink Lady apples, yum! Once we dragged ourselves away from the tastings and from chatting to another Scot (they are everywhere out here!) we managed to crowbar a few bottles of cider into our 'packed to the gunnels' car and continued south through magnificent Karri forests which towered above the road. These trees are giants! We spent a couple of nights in a lovely cottage, complete with spa and wood burning [View Full Entry]

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We've been on the road (sea) again, hooray! Our mums arrived in Perth on Tuesday and after a couple of days acclimitising (to the cold and rain????) and getting over jet-lag, we headed off to Rottnest Island, a mere 26 km from Fremantle Harbour. The crossing was a tad choppy and Kay got soaked but we spotted dolphins bobbing around in the harbour before we left so that made it quite exciting (Mark and I have spotted dolphins every time we've gone to Freo on the train so I guess they are quite common for Ozzies who laugh at us when [View Full Entry]

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Home to Perth!We've made it to Perth! It kind of feels like part of our adventure is over but I'm sure a new one is just beginning. Instead of travelling around enjoying ourselves on holiday for several months, it's now time to settle a bit and find jobs to pay for the next leg of our trip and our journey home. Not quite as appealing but a whole different kind of fun. After clearing customs (no mean feat, they go through everything, no wood, certain types of paper, food, animal products etc etc), we were met at the airport by [View Full Entry]

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It was so hard to leave Mabul! I got up for an early morning dive on the last morning where I saw lots of really interesting stuff - rare nudibranches that looked like flowers and a mum and dad fish blowing oxygen onto their eggs! It was just me and the dive master so we were able to take our time and look at all the micro stuff that Mabul is famous for. The way the sun was streaming through the water picking out colours was just amazing and even down there the light has that special early morning quality to [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Mabul yesterday after a 45 min trip from Semporna (not a town to hang out in, an overnight stop to catch an early boat, although we found a cafe that sold pizza and baked bean toasties so it wasn't all bad!) in a boat skippered by William Wallace. Another Braveheart fan (Asia is full of them!). En route we passed three huge barges full of recently chopped down rainforest. The logging here is outrageous. William Wallace made us all take photos so that when we go home we can write to the Government to protest against it (all [View Full Entry]

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We stayed at the Sepilok Jungle Resort which really is a jungle resort. It was a stunning setting with wooden walkways through the trees to the accomodation past lakes and over bridges. There was so much to see there, loads of birds, butterflies, beautiful plants, big lizards, turtles and the noise they all made was incredible! The cafe was full of people swapping stories of their adventures so far in Borneo, people had been up mountains, through jungles and down to the depths of the sea! We didn't boast about how many James Bonds we had seen as we knew they'd [View Full Entry]

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