A little update of what we have been up to in NZ. Stu, Simon, Steve(Simons dad) and Wayne (Sys friend from work) went on a 3 day/2night hike around Tongariro National Park (Whakapapa Village, Ski area for the North Island), they said the hike was excellant but challanging at times, poor Stus feet proved this, they were covered all over the bottom and heels of both feet, they stayed in huts which had a basic kitchen area and a long drop loo. Bonnie and I had a hard few days we had Pedicures and facials!! We have been to the local beach several times and played beach cricket, water skiing/biscuits on Kerepero Lake with Carl and Vanessa, which was good fun. Stu and I hired a car for a week and travelled the East Cape and ... read more

We arrived safely in Sydney but my backpack didnt!! Stu was happy he got his but mine was being flown to Melbourne, then to Sydney by 0730 Christmas Eve, I was glad to see it again! Our friend Mark picked us up from the airport, we're staying at his girlfriends flat in Manly, ideal location right next to the beach. Christmas Eve - We had a look around Manly town and then we hit the supermarket for some supplies and of course BEER and WINE, we spent Christmas Eve at Nicks flat in Manly (Marks mate), it was a good night. Christmas Day morning, we opened some presents, then headed to Syndey, Marks old old flat mate has a penthouse apartment onthe 29th floor overlooking Hyde Park in Sydney, what a great location/view to spent Christmas ... read more

We were recommended this small town/campground and it was great, we drove down past pineapple platations into a lovely campsite. We descided to chill out for 2nights. It was right on the sea front (no swimming - Salties) with a lovely pool and large ponds around the site. Again we didnt do alot apart from sunbathe, read, listen to the Cricket(borning!!), and go swimming in the big tropical swimming pool. We used their camp kitchen to save our gas in the van and i was reading a notice about Townsville snakes and I looked up and I thought there was one on the ceiling beam, Stu thought he would have a closer look, theres me telling him to be careful it might go for him, we then realised it was a pipe. God I am blonde! ... read more

We arrived in Noosa and we planned to have a day on Fraser Island, we would of liked to have done a couple of days with camping but time is running out and fast. The weather was good, clear skies and nice and hot, just how we like it! The campsite was pretty busy but we had a good shady spot and right next to the inlet, so we sat by the water for the afternoon. The next day we were up early for a 4x4 Day on Fraser Island, we had a good group of people (mainly familes) and we took a tour through a state forest and learnt all about the wildlife and trees, we stopped for morning tea/coffee and cake on Rainbow Beach, they have great sand dunes, all different colours, then we ... read more

We drove to Newcastle to stay with some friends (Holly, Pete and Little Matilda), the weather was rainy and non stop for most of it, but we had a great time, met some of their friends and had a BBQ. Holly did a grand tour of Newcastle by car due to the rain. We all travelled up to Nelson Bay for the day, Stu and I stayed up there and the weather was great, not a cloud in the sky (thats what we all like), we had a nice time and Matilda loved the sea and sand. We only stayed the night and travelled to Forster, but onthe way we took the scenic route and stopped off at different places along the way. We stopped at the Largest Sand dunes in OZ called Dark Point these ... read more