IanorBaz

Note from Ian - no need to read this one - I've only just got round to adding it for completion's sake (if that's a word/phrase 30/12/08: Ok, for once, or maybe the second time, I'm actually writing this blog on the day I'm on! Now, once again I'm writing once again to say that we are doing a yesterday as well! Ok, here we go. (Yesterday)This first bit is only tiny compared to what I'm about to write, which covers the whole day. First, we played a cricket match, which was cool, and by the time the match ended, the ball was in 3 pieces. Now the BIG one. At 8:30 pm we went to an enclosure called The Sanctuary. It is a place where there are no predators. Mostly it is made up of ... read more

Raratonga Raratonga isn't very busy but very relaxed all we did was kayak swim play French cricket and fish spotting. when we got here it was hot and in the gate there was a guy playing the banjo. We got picked up by a guy called Robin and we drove to our villa where we were going to stay that week. Later we went out and crossed the lagoon to an island and we walked around it seeing porcupine fish on the way. We did stuff like that all week. Just a notice the bus driver's are very happy (sarcastically) We are in USA!! We have touched down at Los Angeles airport and got a big blue mini bus to our hotel then we checked in crashed then later on went swimming and went to bed ... read more

Not ALL of the US obviously... Visited Countries Map ... read more

Song of the Day - Homeward Bound by Simon and Garfunkel Hello I'm writing this the day after we arrived back from LA. My body clock is well messed up - I've been sleeping whilst supposed to be working and now WIDE AWAKE... I don't think this will be the last entry - the boys and Kathryn have theirs to update and it would be probably nice to stick some more photos and videos up (something I got worse at as time went on). It was in the mid-20s in LA so we spent some time on the beach at Santa Monica. Hell of a contrast to come back to sub-zero in England (especially when we're without heating and hot water - joy)! On the reading front (if you care), I finished the holiday with Deception ... read more

Kia Orana from the Cook's. We've found an Internet cafe just down the road so I can blog you... Song of the Day - Les Fleurs by 4Hero The trip is now in 'chill out' mode. Having packed so much into the preceding countries, there is little to do and that we want to do where we are. The place where we are staying is on the shores of a shallow lagoon, and time is spent swimming, sun-bathing or playing French cricket. But for me the best bit is taking out a kayak and just drifting over rocks that are populated with a lovely array of tropical fish that puts my home tank to shame (for the Dalglish's benefit it is like paddling through some of Swallow Aquatics' tanks). Unfortunately I don't have access to anything ... read more

One way to spend New Years Day is to reach 150kph in 2 seconds - hope you can view the video. Song of the Day (Kathryn's request) - Strawberry Fields by the Beatles (nice fresh strawbs on the way to Auckland). Anyway, we finished New Year's Eve watching back-to-back episodes of 'Pulp Sport'. Kind of a NZ version of Trigger Happy TV with some tenuous sports links and NZ celebs who we wouldn't know. Then the following day we drove to Rotorua. The obvious first thing to do was to find the gondola/luge. Due to it's long descent it has now taken first place (Queenstown second, Sentoza third). The boys and I then went on the sky swing which was TERRIFYING. After a smelly and slightly sleepless night (Rotorua's thermals smell worse than Bridgwater), we've driven ... read more

DJ writes... 27/12/08: Oh no! End of Christmas! Anyway, yesterday we went on a walk, all 7 of us, to Rivendell off Lord Of The Rings! It was a nice sunny day, and there were lots of fields nearby, so we could play Frisbee, football and swing ball. It was a long walk on a path, near the river where you could see lots of rocks and water rushing. We circled round until we came back to the fields, when Hugo started to cry, so then Hugo, Rebecca and Dave had to go back since Hugo was tired. After that, we went into the river and me and Mark swam. Back to today, we went to a kayak centre, where it also had a climbing wall. For 3 hours, me, Mark and Dave sweated on the ... read more

Hi - Ian here Song of the day - You Wot by DJ Q feat MC Bonez. Highly inappropriate song to be playing as we were driving round the perimiter of Lake Taupo (should have been something with lots of strings and flute but good to sing along to). We're in the town of Taupo, on the biggest lake in NZ. A lovely little spot with ducks and geese sharing the shoreline with the swimmers. We've today been in the spa pools just up the road - another excuse just to lie around and be warm. This entry is being written on the Motel's PC where we're staying - you'll probably get more entries from the others plus photos when we get to Rotorua, so you'll have to make do with this for now. Reading Update ... read more

Song of the day - Celebration by Kool and the Gang (on Classic Hits FM 'the best of the Eighties, Nineties and today' - every country has one) Today was a day for swimming and sun. We went to Eastbourne and swam in their outdoor pool. I struggled to do about 10 lengths whilst the Olympic wannabees/10 year old girls in the next lane did about 20 without breathing. Then cafe, park, beach and back to Beccy and Dave's for a BBQ. A typical December day. IJ... read more

Sorry that i didn't post a blog for Queenstown because i did one but it didn't save which is annoying. Anyway we got to lake Takepo and i just got on my bed and slept because i was just so tired. later mum woke me up and said we had to go out and get something to eat so i got up (i was grumpy) and walked down to a place the guide recommended and had a delicious pizza Mario! After dinner we walked back to the hostel and dad dj and i played football then went to bed. Next morning we got early and while me and Daniel played football while mum and dad checked out and we ran to the car just as everything was ready and set off. We are back in Christchurch ... read more