It is not just the destination by the journey itself that matters. I've heard this phrase a few times but don't know who actually said it. In this blog, the destinations are beautiful and magnificent but the journey we took to get there is just as much a part of the story. We've been traveling in buses or cars and planes most of this trip so this is a taste of something different. Fraser Island is a large island about 300km north of Brisbane on Australia's east coast. It It is officially the largest sand island in the world being made almost exclusively from... you guessed it: sand. It is essentially one giant sand bank rising from the sea 120km long and 20km wide which has, over time, been colonised by plants and bushes through the ... read more

So far on our travels whenever we've talked to people about New Zealand & asked them their favourite place they have, without exception, said Queenstown, and so I was obviously excited to go there. So much so that we'd allowed ourselves nearly a week there. Queenstown sits by the side of Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by giant snow-capped peaks and pine forested hillside that are reflected in its crystal waters. It has every essence of an Alpine town only it is surrounded endless valleys with rich vineyards and it has a cool backpacker vibe. The vast majority of the people we saw there were travelers. The towns official population is 16,000 but that is supplemented by a conglomeration of various nationalities, most young Europeans or Australians who, seemingly had travelled there and decided to stay ... read more

When we arrived in New Zealand we were picked up by the Duffy family, family friends of Jake's who'd moved to New Zealand 12 years ago. They really looked after us & we are totally grateful to them for giving us a house for a few days. We spent our 1st day in Auckland buying some warmer clothes for the cold weather out here. The second day we spent deciding what the best method of travelling the country & decided that a camper would be best. We got a deal for $26 a day (10 pounds) which works out sooo cheap we couldn't really turn it down! The van we got was a crazy little thing with funky paintings all over it. It’s cool but very basic & cosy inside. We drove to the north of ... read more

If you want to see the real Fiji, i.e. the one from the post cards, you have to get away from the mainland and head to the surrounding islands. We took the trip to Mana Island, part of the Mamanuca chain to the west of the country, about an hour by boat from Nadi. The island is a small thin outcrop of sand & palm trees with two hills at either end. The sands are pure white and when the sun is shining and the tide is in it every bit resembles the picture of tropical paradise. We stayed in a place called Mana Lagoon, the cheapest place to stay on the island. It was very basic. The shower was little more than a cold water tap mounted to the wall. The electricity was only on ... read more

lake Tahoe was beautiful. we spent our time there sunbathing and doing a bit of snorkeling in what looks like Caribbean esq water... it's not it's bloody freezing! We drove from here to the wine region around the Napa Valley. you could well be mistaken for being in the south of France, with the endless rolling hills and Vineyards. We stopped at a small vineyard about 20 mins outside the valley itself called Beaver Creek (with a name like that how couldn't we?) & went inside for a tasting session. The owners were a couple of Czech guys called Josef and Radin, who showed us around the place on a nice personal tour. these guys are pretty eccentric, with huge cowboy hats and quick wit. Josef was a Barca fan, and although he respected us United ... read more