Morgan Fell World Tour

We had somehow managed to arrive back in Christchurch much sooner than we had expected and, although it was a lovely city, we had seen it all and done everything we wanted to in the few days we had spent there when we first arrived in New Zealand. Ian blamed me for not reading the magic bible and informing him that we only had two stops after Queenstown...nothing to do with the fact that he hadn't bothered to read the book himself...but none the less we had to spend a couple of days here before we needed to head to Kaikoura for the dolphin encounter which we had pre-booked when we passed through the town first time round. So, first thing we did after arriving was to check out what we could do to occupy ourselves, ... read more

So, after death defying helicopter rides, caving through true blue ice caves and possibly the best pizzas we've ever eaten in the Blue Ice bar, we moved on again, this time headed further down the west coast of the South Island to the picturesque Lake Wanaka. As with most of our journey's between towns we stopped off at a few photo stops and sights that you'd probably see on postcards! We stopped at the Fox Glacier. We're not sure whether it was this or the boiled mint that was discovered first, but I can assure you they are both equally impressive! We were glad, however, that we'd decided on the Franz Josef glacier as that was a bit more impressive from where we were sat! We also saw the famous Lake Matheson, also known as the ... read more

So, after losing about two and a half stone each through stress after thinking we were going to miss our flight, we safely arrived in Christchurch at Base Backpackers. Luckily it was better than the Base at magnetic island and there wasn't a portakabin or Israeli in sight. We didn't arrive until midnight so the following day we explored the city and the hostel was conveniently placed by Cathedral Square in the centre of the city. So, we thought it was only fair to venture into the cathedral itself and absorb some culture! Inside was, according to our guide book, "One of the world's finest pipe organs". Obviously the Kiwis have not been introduced to our very own Linford Christie, whose steroid use didn't have the usual side effect. Anyway, after that exhilarating five minutes, we ... read more

Our bus journey from Brisbane down to Byron Bay was a decent trip, apart from Mamma Mia, which had been chosen by the good folks at Greyhound Australia as slow torture for its paying passengers. So, with Lizzie singing along like a demented five year old watching the Tweenies, I put my iPod on as loud as possible and counted down the miles. We stopped at the Matilda roadhouse for lunch and with our pockets severely being burnt in Australia, we had chosen to avoid the meals on offer and ate our economy ham sandwiches on economy bread with economy ketchup BUT with top class chilli flakes! We did however manage to treat ourselves to some doughnuts, which were good but not on a par with the Greek lady on Great Yarmouth sea front. Our first ... read more

After experiencing the bus driver smashing into a traffic lights 16 seconds after departing from Townsville ("Sorry about that folks, we'll should have a safe trip to Airlie Beach as there aren't many more traffic lights for me to hit!") we arrived at Airlie Beach where we were due to catch our sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands. Luckily he didn't hit any more traffic lights or Kangaroos on the way so we arrived safely as predicted. Another quality film on the bus in the form of Nancy Drew was on the menu. The greyhound movie selection is a bit tame as there are families about but the Oz Experience bus (kind of an 18-30's tour bus) had been playing Wolf Creek, a film based on true events of people being murdered while backpacking in Australia! ... read more