Day 6 - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Manapouri (275km) Early start today as we try to beat the cloud cover which tends to roll in later in the day. We have a quick stop down at the shore of Lake Te Anau for a few snaps before heading on the eagerly anticipated journey to the heart of Fiordland and Milford Sound. The drive has to be one of the most picturesque on the planet with snow capped mountains, lakes, waterfalls and mountain streams aplenty (and thankfully an abundance of lookout/vantage points to enjoy them from). En route we stopped [View Full Entry]

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Well the rumours are true - New Zealand is beautiful with spectacular scenery, although we always knew that would be the case given it’s similarity to Scotland (albeit on a much larger/grander scale)! We arrived in Christchurch about a week ago and have been busy on the tourist trail - given the number of activities and location changes during our road trip round NZ we’ve decided to change our blog format to a day by day account - in a Big Brother stylee!! Day 1 & 2 - Christchurch Our flight form Sydney gets us into Christchurch mid afternoon and we [View Full Entry]

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Well we made it!!! We’ve finished work and hit the road again but not before a few final celebrations. Firstly Heathers work leaving do of drinks and dinner at a riverside Greek restaurant (and some belly dancing) followed a few days later by The Melbourne Cup. This is a horse race that stops the nation and H returned to her office (must be mad) for an Austin Powers themed fancy dress fashion parade followed by lunch whilst I hit the pub with Peter. After saying our goodbyes the next day we’re off to Sydney where we’re met at the airport by [View Full Entry]

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Well we’re rapidly running out of time in Brisbane (only a few weeks of work left) and have been trying to fill our weekends with fun-filled activities before we continue on our travels. Since our last instalment I’ve (SF) managed to escape the wife for an evening and have a boys night out at an A League football match of our adopted team - Queensland Roar - at Suncorp Stadium. The league’s only in it’s second season and the locals (who prefer playing with funny shaped balls) are still finding it hard to appreciate “the beautiful game” so the impressiv [View Full Entry]

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Well it’s been a while but we’re back blogging!!! Our lack of blogging is mainly due to being back in the world of work - which has taken some adjustment. Simon’s been working for a civil engineering company called AbiGroup and I’m working for a government agency however we are still tourists at heart and have been making the most of our weekends to continue exploring Brisbane and the surrounding areas. The Brisbane river runs through the heart of the city and is flanked by various districts including Southbank, Westend, Riverside, Kangaroo Point and New Farm which [View Full Entry]

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Despite our plan to hire a car on arrival in Oz we learn that the only way for any self-respecting traveller to get around is via campervan - so not to feel left out we hired our campervan and the morning after the night before we head off to pick it up. Now you may have visions of a nice high top campervan equipped with all modern amenities - erase this image from your mind our campervan was of the ‘Wicked’ family (www.wickedcampers.com.au), was called ‘U Beaut’ (in honour of Steve - crocodile hunter - Irwin) and had a paint job [View Full Entry]

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Another day, another continent! After a brutal journey, consisting of 5 flights in the space of 30 hours, we finally arrive in Cairns (bleary eyed and unsure what day of the week it is) for phase two of the adventure. The first thing to strike us is how easy and familiar everything is in comparison to the culture shock of Thailand - but unfortunately this homely feeling comes at a price and we struggle to try and revert back to Western prices! Never the less we resist the urge to head back to Thailand and live comfortably for the rest of [View Full Entry]

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All good things must come to an end - we reluctantly prepare to leave Koh Tao and head north to Chiang Mai for the final stint of our travels in Thailand. The thought of swapping beach life for city life is not particularly attractive when we recall the heat and intensity of Bangkok compared to the sea breezes and relaxed atmosphere of the islands. Despite this we say our goodbyes, head to the port (seasick tablets in hand!) and catch the boat back to Samui for onward travel to Chiang Mai. The thought of another “VIP” bus trip to Bangkok leaves [View Full Entry]

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At 9am on Tuesday morning we are picked up by Rumg and Tuktuk(!), our trekking guides, and meet our fellow trekkies - we’re a cosmopolitan mix of Scottish, American, Portuguese, French, Danish and English. After a brief stop at the market to collect supplies (mozzie spray in particular) we head for the hills in the back of a pick up truck. First stop elephant trekking, and armed with a big bunch of bananas (we want to keep the elephant on side) we climb aboard nellie and head off road. Nellie seemed to appreciate the constant flow of bananas and rewarded us [View Full Entry]

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Well, as promised, we took a camera with us as part of our Advanced Open Water course - although taking pictures underwater will require some more practice. We’re both now certified (or should that be certifiable?) PADI divers after undergoing 2 courses and 11 dives in a fun-filled week and half in wonderful Koh Tao - can’t wait to get to Oz now to start exploring the Great Barrier Reef! Our advanced course consisted of 5 dives - deep water, photography, naturalist, navigation and best (and scariest) of all a night dive! Armed only with our torches we descended into the [View Full Entry]

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