Well we certainly felt the full force of the waves on the Cook Strait, after a fairly rough crossing both Lisa and I arrived in a misty Picton with limited visibility of the sounds. The wind was so strong that we spent our time coat surfing on deck which seemed like the thing to do hence the lack of any ferry photos. Well what to do on a rainy day in Picton? We decided to go and see the Edwin Fox, a migrant ship (now more of a hulk really) that was built c. 1853 to sail the voluntary migrants from GB to NZ. It has an interesting history and had been used for many ventures and cargoes, even as an Australian prison ship where the surname of Holloway appeared on the inventory of Australian prisoners ... read more

Well after tasting NZ wine we both decided to biff the idea of the East coast and head out West. First stop the tunnel beach at Waikawau. A tidal beach only accesible at low tide, the tunnel was originally built by two brothers to drive sheep through to get them by boat to market (Lisa felt strangely at home here). This beach was a mixture of beauty and excitement as the waves of the Tasman sea were very large and undoubtedly this is one of the best surfing spots in NZ if you dare! Also a really strange feature was the black sand, not sure what this is caused by but we got a deposit for further analysis. One local past time seems to be as the tide comes in they jump on quads and scramblers ... read more

Heading down from the Bay of Plenty we travelled towards Taupo, made famous for its massive lake that forms the largest inland stretch of water (over 600 sq/km), actually a huge caldera from the 2nd century AD!! The first stop was the craters of the moon, a geothermal walk named for an other worldly atmosphere. The walk visited bubbling mud pools, steaming vents and craters and the walk along the ridge produced high pressure steam vents spewing out the side of the mountain. Some areas were hot enough to cook an egg on! Following on we needed to cool off and where better than Huka Falls, a falls with a difference. At the Huka Falls, the Waikato River which is normally 100m wide, is squeezed through a 20 metre wide gorge and over a 20m drop. ... read more

After a long journey from Melbourne (via Adelaide obviously) to Auckland we picked up the spaceship on the 1st Dec. Our first priority was to see a little of Auckland and what better way then going up the sky tower directly next to our hotel. Starting off with a seafood buffet for breakfast!!! (well brunch to be honest) However neither Lisa or I felt like the sky jump from the top we are saying due to jet lag and sticking to it. Spectacular 360 degree views as far as the eye can see, we could see Rangito Island, One Tree Hill and all the 48 volcanoes surrounding the city. On that evening we drove up to Gulf Harbour and really enjoyed the company of Darren & family as we dined out overlooking the bay. The following ... read more

Well we have arrived in Melbourne for what is possible the shortest visit every to Oz, we are here fore 1.5 days on our way to NZ. Hong Kong was a very vibrant place with lots of different architecture and parks. We were staying in Kowloon with a hotel room overlooking the amazing harbour views of HK Island and its many skyscrapers of the finance district. First night was spent exploring the night markets of Mong Kok with their wide variety of cuisines. We ate spiced hairy crab which was laced with amazingly hot chillies but Lisa turned her nose up at the chickens feet. The following day I did my haggling bit and bought a camera (see attached photos for proof), WRT price I found the chinese always like to round up where as I ... read more