Picking up Mitsy took forever because Apollo are the most laid back company I have ever encountered. Over an hour after starting the process we finally pulled out into Sydney school-rush traffic. We didn't really have much of a clue of where we were going, but after stopping at a random shopping centre to do our food shop, we eventually found the road towards the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains seemed more grey than blue as the whole area was covered in a dense fog. It was 'barely see the tip of your nose' fog and it was getting late in [View Full Entry]

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If there is one thing I learned from visiting Kyran in Melbourne, it is to accept people's generosity - especially when it is put in writing! Before we left to go on the tour in Alice Springs I emailed Kim, our friend from Tango night in Buenos Aires to see if she wanted to grab a drink when we visited Sydney. Her reply shocked me with its generosity. She said that she was out of town during the period that we are in Sydney, but that her apartment was empty and that we were more than welcome to use it. I [View Full Entry]

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“The time is 9.30am. Welcome to Alice Springs.” As we stepped out of the plane and into an oven I asked Philippe “What time did he say it is??”. I knew there was an hour and a half time change, but if this was the early morning heat, I dreaded to imagine what the midday sun would be like. Alice being such a small airport, we quickly found our luggage and our complementary hostel pick-up. Thirty minutes later we were in our swimmers lounging around in a 10ft pool desperately trying to cool our microwaved bodies. In the afternoon we strol [View Full Entry]

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Two days before we left New Zealand I received an email from a man called Kyran. The gist of it was “I'm your dad's first cousin... It'd be nice to meet you...you're welcome to stay here if you want”. While I had heard of him in passing before, I had never met him. Then I thought, hey, we are on the other end of the world, why not?! So I rang to introduce myself. I was overwhelmed by his generous offer to collect us from the airport and lodge us for the duration of our stay. And when I told him [View Full Entry]

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A strange but wonderful thing happened as we were travelling around the southern tip of the South Island. On the advice of several people in Milford Sound we set off on the Catlins Scenic Drive. The rain was pouring down, there were sheep and baby lambs everywhere and it was all very green looking. It was like we had been transport home to Ireland! I say it is a wonderful thing because while I was appreciating the scenery around me, it dawned on me that in a rugged natural way, it was special. Given the likeness to home it allowed me [View Full Entry]

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We overheard someone say that the massive amount of sand flies present in Milford Sound is God's way of ensuring that the place is not destroyed by over development. It was an excellent idea because you simply couldn't live there for any length of time without the flies driving you crazy. The population of the village in winter is 30 people and only jumps to 100 in the summer months, mostly made up of crewmen for the various cruises and flights on offer. We left Queenstown early the day after our activity packed day out and made good time to Te [View Full Entry]

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A lovely DOC camp site at the northern edge of Lake Wanaka was our home for one night. After an afternoon in the sun Philippe turned cub scout on me and made a camp fire out of twigs and a cornflakes box. We cooked a simple meal on our little gas burner and baked potatoes in the heat of the camp fire. Occasionally Philippe would disappear to collect driftwood from the beach to keep it burning. As the stunning evening views of the lake disappeared into the night sky we were able to pick out the stars we had seen in [View Full Entry]

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Getting up in the early morning is never nice. Getting changed in a van with a cold wind blowing through it is even worse! At 6am we rolled out of bed, grabbed our clothes and began driving towards the ferry. In true Counet style we were quite early for the ferry, so having checked in we made our breakfast in the back of the van. I have a new appreciation for the common snail - it is really useful to have your house with you everywhere you go! When we got on the ferry we found a quiet corner and I [View Full Entry]

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We left Auckland in Bitsy armed with a list of the places we would like to visit (thanks to Elisha) but with no clear schedule of where we would stay. We had booked the ferry for early on the morning of the 6th, but that was our only deadline. We headed south. Our first scheduled stop was at the Waitomo Caves however en route we passed by the Kiwi House in Otorohanga. We shrugged at each other and said why not? We are not bird lovers, but the Kiwi bird only comes out at night, so we were unlikely to see [View Full Entry]

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Never underestimate the value of seeing a familiar face. We certainly won't after this trip! South America was an amazing experience, but we were definitely ready for a change and for a few weeks of speaking the same language as the locals. After getting nice New Zealand stamps in our passports, the first 'local' that we had the pleasure of conversing with was a pleasant lady on the customs desk. As we declared to be in possession of some hiking boots, she checked our soles and then as us if we had a tint. This did little to sooth my paranoia [View Full Entry]

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