This was going to be a final post about the end of my summer travels. It's taken a long time because in all honesty I didn't know what to write. Its only now that I realise that we never really stop travelling. We may return home, see familiar faces and return to familiar routines but thats not an end, we still move we still grow. The journey is never really over, there is no destination, just a different road with a different scenery, climate and laws. So its while I'm probably on the biggest journey of my life that I can [View Full Entry]

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Back on the road and next stop Franz Josef, no not that 19th century ruler of Austria, but the glacier that was named in his honour. The town is a cozy little place complete with pub and a fish and chip shop. The only reason this place is even inhabited is because of the bloody big piece of ice sliding down the mountain at nearly 30cm a day. As geology goes this is super quick, faster even than Usain Bolt! What could anyone see in a Glacier, let alone make money out of it? Well lets see, there's the outstanding natural [View Full Entry]

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It seems an ice age since I last sat down to write, no matter, it takes more than fun filled days and drink filled nights to keep me away from a computer for too long. Allow me to bring you up t date with the latest goings ons from Kiwiland. So I leave Taupo for the second and final time. More about the first leavings later on. The Kiwi bus heads south towards an isolated lodge sat in a nice little valley with a river running through, hence the name River Valley Lodge. This is the 'home' of white water rafting, [View Full Entry]

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While writing from Raglan I realised I neglected to write about Raglan. So, Raglan, ok, cool. It would be an injustice to call this a sleepy town on the west coast of New Zealand. Now I'll give you that it is on the west coast of New Zealand but it isn't sleepy, its just resting. For you see, during the summer this town is home to nearly every surfer in New Zealand descends on the 3 local beaches to catch some of the best waves in the country. There is that "You weren't there man! You weren't there!" look in the [View Full Entry]

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I sit writing this looking out over the bay towards the steadily disappearing mountains that make up the local panorama. The closes the world in until there is no horizon but grey. Even in the rain Raglan is a beautiful place. Still, to recap the past few days since my last post. After a days break in Auckland I joined the Kiwi Bus and the 7 other passengers (a coach of 40 had left the day before). The bus took us out to Mercury Bay with a stop at Cathedral Cove along the way. Whitianga, as it is known to the [View Full Entry]

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Surely one of the strangest ways to welcome people into the country? After unloading from the 737 at Auckland Airport, the first sign is not for Arrivals or Bagge Reclaim. No, its is a large poster of Richard Hammond selling mobiles phones. This surely has to sum New Zealand up. With a population of only 4 million and a land mass roughly the size of Britain, celebrity takes on a jaunty colloquial next door neighbour quality. It is very likely that if you went to school here, every other NZ personality from the telly or sports field is a friend of [View Full Entry]

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Byron Bay is home to around 1.7 million backpackers during the year, not all at once of course, that would be silly. Just a few hours down the coast from Surfer's Paradise, Byron might as well be on a different continent. The contrast is startling, where Surfer's is high rise and tacky, Byron has a lighthouse and a shuttle bus to Nimbin, Nimbin being the unofficial drug capital of Australia. The propensity for drugs in and around Byron is due to its hippiish history. For years this place has been the hang out for all kinds of bohemian bums and wackos. [View Full Entry]

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Surf camp, otherwise known as Spot 'X'. Down the coast from Byron lies a small caravan park situated next to a beach. This beach currently smells to high heaven of rotting seaweed due to the incredible weather that the East Coast has experienced in the past month. Still for learning to surf, nowhere I've been can boast better waves for it. Surf camp is run by a company called Mojo Surf, founded on the principles of the Duke (the hawian guy who brought surfing to Australia) that is to look cool and have fun. On the OZ bus to Spot X, [View Full Entry]

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After record breaking rain washed away the beaches and towns along the east coast I decided to find drier scenery. Cue a quick jaunt to the Red Center, the Bush, the Outback, the err Middle. The flight into Alice was civilised enough, though it should have been for the price of the ticket, and the YHA was very liveable. Alice Springs is the largest town in these parts, with nothing but cattle stations for company, it boasts a couple of shopping malls, a Woolies, a Coles and a fun bar called Bojangles (more on that later). The town doesn't feel relaxed, [View Full Entry]

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After spending a nice couple of days relaxing in Agnes Water. The Oz Ex took me down the road to a quaint little place on the East Coast that goes by the name of Rainbow Beach. Home to probably more backpackers and holiday homes than actual residents, it feels fractured and un-centered. The main business in this town is four wheel drive hire for those intrepid explorers that want to gallivant along the sands of Fraser Island. Though Fraser can also be reached from Hervey Bay, it is Rainbow that is closer and more synonymous with the World's largest sand island. [View Full Entry]

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