Day 57 As you can imagine it is very hard work travelling around the world so Aunty Rose and Uncle Tony have booked us a holiday! The four of us are off to Margaret River for a few days. After rush hour we set off on the 3 hour journey south to Margaret River. We stopped at Busselton for lunch and went for a walk on Busselton Jetty to the underwater observatory. Busselton is a popular holiday resort with a famous 2km long jetty, the longest wooden structure the Southern Hemisphere and second in the world (Southend has the longest). The [View Full Entry]

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Day 55 Perth We spent Sunday morning at Yanchep National Park which is a bushland park with a lake and filled with plenty of wildlife. A colony of protected koalas also live here in a natural habitat of eucalyptus trees. We enjoyed seeing turtles in the lake, a rare bitten bird and endangered black cockatoos. In the afternoon we chilled out and spent time in the pool again (Oliver should have been born a fish!). In the evening we enjoyed a family bbq with Jo and Simon and all the cousins at Sally and Phil's, another lovely house!. 23/3 Day 56 [View Full Entry]

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Day 51 This morning we wake up and smell Tony cooking us breakfast, it is great to be in a house and we are being very well looked after by Aunty Rose and Tony. They live in an area North of Perth called Duncraig and only 5 minutes from the beach and 20 minutes from the city. Tony and Rose took us on a scenic tour of the area starting with the sea which has some good waves for the surfers this morning. There was also a big life saving surfing event on up at the next beach which is called [View Full Entry]

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Christchurch is located on the north east coast and has a population of over 300,000 and is the biggest city in the South Island. It is a modern city but with gothic architecture. Our first trip this morning was on a tram ride of the city. This 25 minute ride took us around the city centre showing us the sights and informing us of interesting facts about the city and its buildings etc. The main square is home to the cathedral and is the heart of the city. We do a bit of shopping while waiting for the kiwis to wake [View Full Entry]

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Day 49 Christchurch Christchurch is our destination today so after packing our bags and tidying the camper van we set off on the short journey of an hour or so to the city. Once entering the city we head straight for our hotel for tonight so we could drop our bags off. We then had to return Camilla the camper to her depot which was near the airport. The Antarctic Centre is next to the airport so this is where we spend our afternoon. When we arrive we are just in time to catch the end of the blue penguin feeding. [View Full Entry]

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Day 48 Peel Forest Another fine day in paradise, a day white water rafting! We drive to Peel Forest to get to the Rangitata Rafting lodge by 10.30am. We arrived a bit early and we were invited in for a drink and told to chill out while we waited for the other people to arrive. Once everyone had arrived at the lodge we were instructed on how to wear all our gear, wetsuits, life jackets etc. After everyone was dressed we all jumped onto a mini bus that took us to the top of the river. Our guide was called Vincent [View Full Entry]

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Day 47 Timaru This morning we went in search of the wild blue penguins again as we had stayed near a colony. Apparently they come ashore here on a night and in breeding season. As we approached the shore we noticed that it was yet again another visitor centre. To see a few penguins round on the cliffs you had to pay for a tour but you were allowed to the breeding area where we saw sea lions sunbathing. We continued to drive north and stopped in a town called Timaru as we had heard on the radio that there was [View Full Entry]

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Day 45 Milford Sound We made an early start to miss the coach loads of people on the pilgrimage to Milford Sound. We had stayed the night at Te Anau which is 120km from Milford Sound, it was a very scenic drive. The weather had improved and we managed to see the tops of the peaks for the first time since arriving on the South Island. Milford Sound is not actually a sound it is a fiord (yes they spell it wrong here!). A sound is carved out by water whereas a fiord is carved out by a glacier. Milford Sound [View Full Entry]

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Day 46 Dunedin We set off a bit later this morning as we could use Skype here and managed to call Laura's family. It is great to be sat in a camper van the other side of the world chatting to your family while waving over the web cam! The drive to Dunedin was only an hour and it was a lovely sunny morning but still very windy. We parked up and had a walk into the city centre, as usual there was many shops, museums and even a Cadbury World!! We didn't go in as it did not seem right [View Full Entry]

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Day 44 Queenstown Part 2 To wake us up today we booked a ride on the Shotover river jet boat ride. At 11am we board a bus to take us just out of town to the Shotover river which is famous for its narrow canyons and shallow water. After putting on a waterproof and life jacket we board the boat with 10 other people, we managed to sit at the front! After the usual pose for a photograph our jet boat set off straight down the canyon. Each turn we made was designed to take you as near as possible [View Full Entry]

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