The feeling of sadness left us quickly as we waved goodbye to the old folks at the airport. We were glad that they had decided to visit the South island as they had taken so much effort to get to NZ and it would have been a shame if they had not experienced the beauty of the other island. While we had a couple of days to ourselves we thought that we would spend them wisely and move further north, up the east coast away from Napier and head for the city of Gisborne. Now NZ has only one dual carridgeway, [View Full Entry]

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So it has been a while since we have got in contact with you guys, I know that you have been concerned but we have been having such a riot in South America that we clean forgot that we should keep you informed. But after a bout of Ovenstone nagging, we all know that this treatment could bring down multi national organisations, I have come to my senses and we are trying to catch up. As the following blog is going to describe the time when my parents were visiting, I must state for the record that whatever comments are made [View Full Entry]

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After a couple of hard grafted hours behind the wheel we arrived in our very pleasant, if a little generic campsite in Waitomo. Before arriving in NZ I would not have had any idea what the fuss is about this place. So just to inform you guys, the region contains around 350sq m of cave systems that contain not just perfect specimens of glowworms but also adventure caving and experiences that would make the claustrophobic out there prepare a packet in the pants. Em and I stood in the Waitomo Adventures shop and chose what would be our fate for the [View Full Entry]

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Hola Amigos, The Smith-Ovenstone partnership has gone bi.............bi-lingual that is. All these reports are being created in some back alley interent cafe with swarms of flies for company. We have a long wait until our overnight bus picks us up so we are trying to catch up on some blogging and bringing you guys up to date. Moving on from the South Island was quite sad because we had experienced some of the most beautiful scenery that man can set their eyes upon, but after gliding our way through Wellington for the second time we knew that our next week would [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so we are seriously behind again with the blogs. Sorry, we will do our best to catch up, and fill you in with our last few months of adventure as briefly as possible. We have a few important messages for August first though- Congratulations to Marie and Ben on their wedding, and congratulations to Michael and Charlie on the birth of baby Mia. After a night in the surf beach of and Curio Bay, another DOC spot with an honesty box as payment, we drove through the scenic route to Papatowai, Waikawa, and stopped at Purekakanui.........the Maori names are a [View Full Entry]

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New Zealand isn´t about crazy stories of getting lost, or dodgy hitchhikers, or eating bugs, or language barriers. We didn´t ever feel scared or intimidated and we didn´t find oursleves doing anything unexpected. New Zealand is about jaw dropping scenery and wide open spaces, tranquility and a sense of the old fashioned, traditional life. There are the adrenaline junkie adventures of course, and we did touch upon those a little, but the most adrenaline we felt was pumping from me as a passenger to Stuey´s driving of a high sided vehicle on the mountain passes.... and of course the thought of [View Full Entry]

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After an exceedingly cold and frosty night spent in the car park on Picton Harbour we woke early to head for somewhere a little more picturesque, and quite frankly to thaw out. It didn’t take us long to find it. It was one of those icy cold mornings, but with clear blue skies and crisp air, and the mist was lifting off the water. The Queen Charlotte Drive is a winding coastal road that meanders around the northern tip of the South Island towards the Abel Tasman National Park. We didn’t see another vehicle for miles, just stretches of calm sea [View Full Entry]

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Our quest and mission after leaving Auckland was to travel South steadily, stopping along the way for regular wee stops, but making our way down to the South Island to get some adventure time in before the olds turn up. So with Stuart logic we headed West for the beaches of Phia and Muriwai, they are known for their surfing prowess and powerful undertows. Both the beaches were being battered with strong winds and storm surf, so it was just left to taking some time on the black volcanic sand and testing out the newly bought thermals. I don't know if [View Full Entry]

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So we are having less and less comments on each of the blogs, Em has put this down to the fact that it is summer back there with you guys and that with the warmer air and care free attitude you have forgotten your poor friends on the other side of the world. Personally I think that the world has experienced a much quicker ice age, from the south of France up is a frozen wasteland of snow covered rock and all of you are blocks of frozen aqua. Only the fat ones have been able to survive without the steady [View Full Entry]

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So we had spent over 2 weeks investigating the main island of Fiji, Vitu Levu, but we had yet to experience that real idyllic tropical south pacific island, and apparently the Manamanucas and Yasawas fitted the description. Try to say that, at any time, it is even more difficult after a couple drinks. The next task was to actually organise and book it, which should have been easy as we were now seasoned travellers and so far Fiji had been pretty easy and cheap to get around, but we came across the same problems we had in Borneo. Independent travel to [View Full Entry]

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