With work on the orchard starting to dry up until the next variety is ready we headed up to Auckland to spend a few days with my parents. Our friends Steve and Lynn very kindly put us up for a few days (cheers Guys). Fisrt stop in Auckland, we decided to take my parents to the Viaduct (probably mentioned this in previous Blogs) a swanky waterfront resort by Aucklands main harbour lined with restraunts, bars and expensive boats and Yatchs, where we enjoyed a meal and a few drinks in the sun, (how is the weather back home by the way?). [View Full Entry]

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1st of February 2006 - Auckland After another 20+ hour flight we find ourselves back in New Zealand, but this time with a couple of honeymooners! Once again we were met by Steve and Lynn who took us to our hostel, the rest of the evening was took up by drinks and catching up on wedding talk and life in New Zealand before a relativley early night. The next day we left Sarah and Gareth to go off touring Auckland while we went Car shopping at the Backpackers Car Market where we picked up a 1990 Toyoto Corona for $2,000. After [View Full Entry]

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Hello everybody. Just a quick one to let you know that we are both still alive and kicking! Sorry it has been so long since we have posted a blog. We are currently updating our blog and having problems with getting internet access locally, especially somewhere where we can upload photographs. We should get them done and out to you all soon! Just to let you know we are both well. We bought an old car in Auckland and after a short tour of part of the North Island (In the upcoming blogs!) we headed down to Hawkes Bay where we [View Full Entry]

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15th January 2006 We landed in Auckland just after lunch time after a relatively short flight from Tahiti. It was all a little bizzare as we landed in New Zealand and although it was only an hours time difference we had lost a day! Sarah and Gareths former next door neighbours Steve and Lynn who have emigrated to NZ met us at the airport which was great. They took us into Auckland and helped us find a hostel for the night (all of which seamt very busy) and then we headed off to the viaduct with them for lunch. The viaduct [View Full Entry]

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After all that hard work travelling around South America we decided we needed a holiday and where better than French Polynesia. We had already booked our flights from Papette in Tahiti to Rangiroa and accomadation once we got there. Rangiroa is, as you would imagine an idylic tropical island except it's got coral beaches and not soft sand, however it is still beautiful. The second thing you notice in French Polynesia after the scenery is how expensive it is, we were told this is due to there being no income tax here and all government income is generated by their equivalent [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Santiago at about 8pm on the 30th December. We went to the hostel that we had previously stayed at expecting it to be getting full ready for the new year celebrations in the capital. However when we got to the hostel we found quite the oppoiste, it was much quieter than when we had previously stayed here. Speaking to people it sounds like many travellers in this part of the world at new year head to either Valparaiso or Buenos Aires. The day of new years eve we set out sight seeing, however the heat got to us [View Full Entry]

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We are in Santiago waiting for the celebrations to begin. They are just closing off the roads and a big sound system is being erected so should be a good night. We are having a meal with all the guys at the hostel at 9pm and then we are going out to the street party and fireworks display later on. We have lost our mobile phone charger and the battery is flat so sorry we cant send or receive any messages. So a few quick personals: Mr pallet have an excellent 30th birthday you old git! Dad Kelly happy 60th birthday [View Full Entry]

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22nd December 2005 We caught the morning bus from Bariloche to Osorno. We had planned to go to Valdivia but to get there it would have meant Andy and I going on seperate buses on different days as they were so full, running upto Christmas. Therefore as Osorno was described in the guidebook as a transport ´hub´ and in the right direction we headed off there. We arrived in Osorno at 1pm and found that the next bus to our desired destination was a night bus leaving at 11pm. So we booked our bus tickets and headed off to see the [View Full Entry]

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We both wanted to wish you all a Happy Christmas and send our best wishes to everyone! Thankyou for the messages we have received, it is nice to hear from poeple at home, or whom we have travelled with. We are currently in Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley in Chile - where most of the Chillean wines come from! Courtesy of Sam as our wedding gift we are in a five star hotel over the Christmas period which is great. The luxury is great, comfy beds, aircon, a swimming pool and a bath! Our first Christmas as Mr & Mrs [View Full Entry]

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We caught the bus to El Calafate in Argentina, a short 6 hour journey where we planned to go to see the Perito Moreno Glacier and then move further Northern towards Santa Cruz our Christmas destination. When we arrived we went throught the usual procedures, find somewhere to stay, book tickets to leave then organise trips. El Calafate is quite a touristy little town so finding somewhere to stay was quite easy, however trying to get out on a tight time schedule proved a little more difficult. We tried to book air tickets but unless we wanted to pay about 400 [View Full Entry]

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