Travellin Monkeys

Having had a fantastic wedding day in somewhat monsoon conditions we were greatly looking forward to our honeymoon in the Caribbean. Indeed we were keen to do some 'proper' travelling again, albeit in somewhat more luxurious style than our last global adventure. We arrived, blinking into the sunshine, off our BA flight to be hit by a wall of heat. It had been a long time since we had felt any kind of sun. We were driven to our hotel along some pretty hairpin roads by a helpful taxi driver, we were to discover all the St Lucians are extremely friendly and helpful people, who acted as a guide pointing out the sights on the way. These included crashing atlantic waves, brightly painted local villages and Sainsburys Fair Trade signs posted outside the banana plantations. Apparently ... read more

Yasawa Islands, Fiji Alex & Laura Having driven over 6000km around New Zealand we were looking forward to some serious R&R in Fiji. We were initially unsure about travelling to Fiji following their coup last December but were reassured by a brusque Air New Zealand representative that "Europe had blown it out of all proportion and we would be missing out ion a great holiday." So off we went and indeed there were no signs whatsoever of any kind of disturbance. There was however, on arrival to Nadi, signs of a lot of rain. Hmmm... The following morning we were woken by tropical rains lashing down and palm tree shaking winds, perhaps not the greatest day to be setting out on a four and a half hour boat journey to the Yasawa islands, our final ... read more

All was good for our journey to the South Island. We made the short journey into Wellington from our camp site in Lower Hutt and parked up at the ferry terminal a couple of hours before we were due to sail, allowing us to potter around the city before catching the Blue Bridge ferry over to Picton. This included cashing in of Laura's 'Stuffed Kiwi Voucher' part of the 'unique' Valentine card she received a few days early. Needless to say she chose the largest stuffed kiwi to be found. So large in fact it wouldn't fit into any of the shops carrier bags and she was forced to walk around Wellington with it under her arm attracting a few admiring(?) glances. After some thought he was named Big Merv and now guards the campervan when ... read more

Aaaah New Zealand. Back to a climate that much more resembles our own in Blighty. Experienced the Kiwi humour almost immediately we stepped off the plane with our shuttle bus driver discussing the finer points of smoking the "green" and explaining that if he hadn't, he would have been a doctor instead of a shuttle bus driver. Our first few nights we were lodged at the Wildlife House Backpackers in Wellington. You can't miss it, it's a five storey building painted like zebra on the outside. First item on the NZ agenda was to attend Chook and Chelle's wedding on the Saturday. This meant hooking up with some old friends from NZ and home and to set about the serious challenge of getting sufficiently lubricated as is the custom of any wedding! The wedding and subsequent ... read more

Our next stop was Alice springs, we arrived here from Cairns for the specific purpose of picking up a trip to the Red Centre. We had already booked Wayoutback tours and were due to be collected the following morning at 6AM. In the meantime we browsed the shops in Alice and managed to purchase a didgeridoo and some Aboriginal artwork from some of the many shops selling indigenous work in Alice (both now enroute to England via airmail we hope). After a quick feed in the local pub we duly turned in for an early night and diligently set the alarm clock for 05:30..... At 06:18 Alex woke up with a start and realised that the alarm had not gone off and we should have been picked up nearly 20 minutes ago. Much panic and chaos ... read more