Inspirado - Jude & Glynn Harris

Hello! Welcome to Jude and Glynn's travel blog. We're a pair of newlyweds freshly back from a wonderful year spent traversing the globe and about to embark on our newest adventure - emigrating to New Zealand!

About us: Glynn's 34, a Batman fanatic and graphic novel afficionado, a Warehouse Supervisor when he has to be and a general all-round nice guy. Jude is 33, a hardened gig and festival goer, a Lecturer dabbling in IT, Literacy and German and a general all-round nice girl.

We met in 2004 over the internet and were married in Feb 2006. We've so far been to Japan, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Chile, Easter Island, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina not to mention a couple of locations in the UK and Germany but I guess it's just not enough! We loved New Zealand so much, we're leaving the grim old UK to try and settle there permanently - provided they let us back in!!

So, throwing caution to the wind we have sold everything (yes, EVERYTHING!) in readiness. We've sold our cars, house and virtually all our possessions and quit our jobs. With nothing more than a few boxes tucked away at a storage depot and just the contents of our packs to our names, phase 2 of our new lives is about to begin...

Private Message Subscribe 12 Forum Posts Top Photos Blog Map

Guestbook Search Blogs Favorites First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: April 17th 2006
Last Login: October 30th 2009

Blog Entries: 341
Photos: 2562
Recommends 2

TB Code: [blogger=15502]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Inspirado, order by Date newest first.

By Inspirado
October 11th 2009

What a Load of Old Riff Raff Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hamilton

Churstle
Is it a church or a castle?

The last couple of weeks have seen a sudden onset of cold, wet weather just when we were starting to think spring was finally on its way. Then suddenly this morning the sun came out to play! Not wanting to waste the opportunity, we jumped in the car and headed south to Hamilton, about 1.5 hours from Auckland. Hamilton is one of NZ's major cities but with a population of around 130,000 it is small enough to explore on foot. We started our walkabout with a quick pitstop to Subway to buy our lunch and then made our way to Lake [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
September 20th 2009

A Stroll along Clark's Beach - but not a superhero in sight! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Little House on the Shoreline
Some sweet little holiday homes known as 'baches' line the shore at Clark's Beach.

One of the things I love most about living in New Zealand is having so much great scenery right on our doorstep. Even now after living here for almost 2 years, we are still finding new nooks and crannies to explore. Today we took a drive to pretty Clark's Beach, a small beach-side community made up primarily of baches (holiday homes), just a 30-minute drive away from home. It's been a long while since we were out exploring properly as winter, although not as harsh as back in the UK, has been pretty damn cold this year. Now that spring has [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
July 26th 2009

A Long Way to Home & Away Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Palm Beach

Manly Bay
Perfect skies mirror the perfect seas at Manly Bay.

With a head stuffed full of cold and a nose that refused to stop running, I had pretty much decided to not bother going out today, even though it's my last day in Sydney. Then, at around 11.00 am, my nan and Jeanie announced they were going for a walk from Manly to Shelley Beach and I was surprised to find I was actually starting to feel a little better by now and said I would join them. I popped on my trainers and headed out into the bright winter sunshine. My uncle Kev had said that if I was back [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
June 25th 2009

A Hazy Shade of Blue Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains
Just in case you needed proof that we really did make it to the Blue Mountains! That's my nan Betty on the left, Jeanie in the middle and me on the right :-)

At the tail end of yesterday, I was starting to come down with a cold and was dreading the fact that I might have swine flu - not because I'm scared of the virus but more the fact that I might not be allowed back into New Zealand! By this morning I was confident it was only a bad head cold but it really couldn't have come at a worse time as today we were heading off to the Blue Mountains. I made sure I packed an entire toilet roll to keep my runny nose at bay and set out determined [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
June 24th 2009

Lost in Translation Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Sydney Harbour

Sydney Eye
It could almost be London. Almost but not quite.

Halfway through my stay in Sydney, I felt the urge to finally get out and into Sydney's central districts. My nan and her friend Jeanie had originally intended to tag along but the long Bondi to Coogee walk yesterday had left them wanting to rest up back in the Manly apartment instead. My uncle Kev kindly drove me into the city, right into the heart of Chinatown where I was on a mission from Glynn (not God) to track down a particular electronics store and pick up some goodies that are hard to come by and much more expensive in New [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
June 23rd 2009

A Cemetary by the Sea Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Bondi Beach

Bondi Babe
OK, not quite the beach yet but close enough to smell the sea!

Another day, another bright ray of sunshine to greet us. Last night we all stayed in Sharmilla's apartment in Bondi with the intention of walking the Bondi to Coogee coastal path. Sharmilla had stayed with my cousin Danny overnight and was die to meet us around 10.30am. I slept surprisingly well considering the grown-ups got the bedrooms and I was relegated to the couch and I was really looking forward to stretching my legs. Sharmilla rang to say whe would be a little late but that she was going to being her mum, Lydia, along which was a bonus and would [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
June 22nd 2009

Kangas, Koalas and Kookaburras Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney

The Queen
My excellent nan, Betty.

Last night, after our lovely meal at the house exchangers, we headed over to seemy cousin Danny who lives here in Sydney. It's easily been 20 years since we last saw one another and it felt good to re-establish contact after all this time. We also met his girlfriend, Sharmilla, who was just lovely and invited us to stay at her apartment on Bondi Beach tonight. Awesome! The weather forecast today promised showers today but sun for the rest of the week so we decided to save the majority of sightseeing for when it would be dry and today paid a [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
June 22nd 2009

Where the Bloody Hell Am I? Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney

Surf
Manly men on Manly Beach.

Where the bloody hell am I? Oh yeah, Sydney. Australia. On my own with no Glynn and a Jish in my pocket and a whole week off work! In case you're thinking I'm the world's worst wife for abandoning my husband, allow me explain. My nan, Betty, who is 82 has flown over to Sydney from the UK to for a holiday. She's staying with my aunt and uncle who are seasoned house-exchangers and have landed themselves a pad in the beachy suburb of Manly. I haven't seen my nan since we left England 1.5 years ago so I jumped at [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
March 22nd 2009

It's Tiritiri-tastic! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Tititiri Matangi Island

CBD Skyline
No boat trip is complete without a view of the Auckland CBD skyline. Lovely, isn't it?

For Christmas this year, Glynn and I received a wonderful present from our friends Liz and Allard - two tickets for a trip to Tiritiri Matangi Island complete with guided walk. We've been itching to go and this weekend we had no firm plans beyond dinner with our new French friend, Cecile, on friday night. We left it too late to book for Saturday morning so had a lazy day at home and instead booked for Sunday. It was an early start for a Sunday - up at 6.30am, on the road at 7.30am and down at Auckland Harbour in plenty [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
March 7th 2009

Under the Gorge Walk Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Plenty » Karangahake Gorge

Kiwi Motorway
Yes, this really is a motorway - State Highway 2 in fact!

It's been a good few weeks since we set out for a long walk so I was determined to get out of the city this weekend and see some more of NZ's fine countryside. I've been hankering to visit the Karangahake Gorge ever since hearing about it from Liz last year. So with DOC (Department of Conservation) leaflet in hand and Mayuko, our Japanese friend, along for the ride, we headed eastwards, loosely in the direction of Tauranga. We travelled along State Highway 2 which is technically a motorway but by UK standards would barely qualify as an 'A' road. In [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » Inspirado

Inspirado | Jude & Glynn Harris | Travel Blog

Inspirado - Jude & Glynn Harris

Blogs & Travel Journals