SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA - 21st November 2008 After Fiona dropped us off at Wellington airport, we boarded easily, then had about 45mins sat on the runway, the airline had misplaced the manifest! When we eventually took off, the flight to Sydney took about three hours. After a little faffing about with a taxi we finally arrived at the Marriott Hotel where Peter was staying. We more or less just dumped our bags in his room and headed out towards the harbour, food & beer with a few touristy sights were the priority. Pete had a plan! He took us to the [View Full Entry]

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23rd November 2008 Today was day to do the Sydney Wildlife World and the famous Aquarium. We caught the ferry and it dropped us right outside the venues. I could waffle on for ages about these great venues, but I won’t, it’s fair to say I highly recommend both, especially the sharks, check out the photos. (I can hear the sarcastic comments from certain people, “really, waffle on, NOOOOO” I know who you are!) Pete raced around and headed back to the hotel to sleep, you’d think with three kids behind him he’d have more stamina; we weren&rsqu [View Full Entry]

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24th November 2008 Pete headed off to work at approx 7:30 am. With our last full day in Australia upon us we didn’t want to waste anytime, we showered and went in search of coffee and food. After breakfast and feeding of the birds we headed to the ferry terminal. We came across three Aborigines busking by the terminal, all painted up and making the most of the tourists which were flocking around. Pili suggested we give a donation and get some photos. Of course I will always pay a good busker as I’ve been there myself, secondly this was probably [View Full Entry]

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GOA - INDIA PLANET INDIA Maybe I should first explain my overall impression after a week and a half of PLANET INDIA. It is a different planet without a doubt, someone drugged us and put us in an intergalactic spaceship and transported us to a new, but familiar world. Everything is new to us, the smell of incense, wood fires and glorious Indian cooking. The people are beautiful with smiling eyes and rainbow coloured clothes. Even the beach trinket and fruit sellers put our kings and queens to shame with their sartorial elegance & attire. I personally have come to the [View Full Entry]

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27 November 2008 The next morning we wake to the news about a series of bombings in Mumbia, 150 dead and many more wounded. We’d missed it by less than 12hrs. This was my worst nightmare, in our original planning for our trip I’d vetoed India for this very reason. We all called home to let everyone know we were safe. This might not be over yet so we’re staying low and on the beach. Well that’s really all we did for our first and second day, sunbath and swim, down several VLS’s (vodka, lime & soda) take the piss out [View Full Entry]

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5th - 20th November 2008- For the next few days we relaxed and kicked back on Jimmy Armers Beach in Kaikoura, it’s up with my favourite places in New Zealand. We phoned home, checked the internet and decided to give Australia and complete miss and go to Goa, India instead. This is a much better plan as the costing for three and a half month in Australia scared the life out of us. Pili bless her spent the next few days on the phone and the net sorting out our re-scheduled flight, what a nightmare. Most mornings for the next week [View Full Entry]

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30th October 2008 Today was the Glacier day! After a slow start at Lake Paringa (Pili couldn’t get out of the pit), toast and a meeting with an older American couple who were travelling in a car!! We headed toward the famous Fox Glacier. It only took us half an hour to get there as the view as we approach was awe-inspiring. The frozen river of ice was retreating back through the mountains, of course you couldn’t see the process but on the road in were placed various markers as to where the front of the glacier had been, going back [View Full Entry]

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On the way along Lake Hawea we stopped on the shores for a coffee and a sandwich. The lake was massive and deep blue, with sandy shores and surrounded on all sides by snow capped peaks. I though I’d investigate the shores and brave the wind to look for some wildlife. Within 5 minutes I heard the distinctive alarm call of a Banded Dotterel. This is a small and beautifully marked wading bird, no bigger than a large apple. I’d obviously strayed to near the scrape in the ground that it considered its nest. The brave little bird walked straight towards [View Full Entry]

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Our journey was hampered by a distinct lack of road signs and bad weather. As we gained altitude and dusk approach it started snowing, this was all we needed. We finally found a free parking area at Manapouri. We locked ourselves inside the van to ride out the storm. In the morning we headed off without even a coffee for Te Anau. Within 15minutes we were parked along side the deep blue waters at Lake Te Anau, what a great place for breakfast. Our mission today was to explore the Milford Sound Fiord. After our porridge and coffee we hit the [View Full Entry]

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After a casual start to the day we arrived at Invercargill & headed for the Information centre to find out about a trip to Stewart Island and more specifically Ulva Island bird sanctuary. We ran into a few problems but I won’t bore you with the details. As night closed in and so did the weather we headed west along the coast out of the city to find some parking for the night. As the rain came in we entered the oldest town of the south island, Riverton. This is the town the 21st century forgot. We headed for the fish [View Full Entry]

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