mickandshukee

Finally I have managed to get this to load, this short video is one of the more unusual modes of transport we encountered in South East Asia... read more

Hi everyone just a quick update on what we have been up to, we have mainly been in coastal areas mainly on the east side of the North Island, the beaches and bays here are so stunningly beautiful and quite desolate at this time of year we spent a lot of time in the Coromandel Region,mainly because is is not very populated, unlike some parts of the North Island we planned this as Julie was due to go home but her flight was cancelled due to certain circumstances as you know???? We are now in The Bay Of Islands region which is 150 undeveloped island out in the sea a very beautiful peaceful place.we went to the bay where Captain Cook anchored in 1769 he must of been gobsmacked,We had a problem with our campervan and ... read more

Hi everyone its been a while since we have been in touch but we are in a very remote area now and it is more difficult to find Internet. We left the South Island and crossed from Picton to Wellington on the car ferry, we have driven right up the middle of the North Island, passing through Tongariro National Park this is a very barren mountainous region. This is where Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings is, all the mountains here are active volcanoes. It is surrounded by lakes, it is quite high up here and during the winter this becomes a busy skiing area. We continued on through the lake Taupo Region and Orakei Korako a thermal area with lots of active geezers, mud pools, hot springs one of only two geothermally situated caves ... read more

Hi everyone just to update we have been in the Marlborough Region we visited Kiakoura where we wanted to do a whale watch but the weather was bad so we had to wait a few days,in the hope it would improve. We have visited the wine regions in Marlborough which is well known for sauvignon blanc a white wine, Juiles favourite wine!!!!!! this area produces very good wine because it has hot days and cold nights we have been quite lucky with the weather in this area.We went wine tasting and had a tour of a vineyard. We have also visited the Marlborough Sounds which is similar to Milford Sounds, Marlborough Sounds are a crazed geographic omellette of inlets, headlands, peaks and beaches, formed from the sea flooding into deep valleys after the last ice age. ... read more

Hi everyone just to update you on our travels We have been in quite remote areas, New Zealand has many of them considering the total population of both islands is 4 million people.We arrived in Christchurch which was quite a nice city very English lots of English names it varies to Scottish, Irish.They punt on the rivers as they do in Cambridge. We have hired a campervan which will enable us to see a lot of the areas. They have shuttle buses in some areas not all, and there is not a train service as such, except the Trans Alpine which takes you through amazing scenery, but doesnt cover much of the country, a lot of travellers hitch hike not so handy if you are on a time scale? We have explored the west Coast in ... read more

Well, we are now in New Zealand and after temperatures in the forties and at times very high humidity and after 3 plane rides, 5 mini buses, 5 moto taxis (as a passenger on the back of a motorbike) 4 motorbikes, 9 coaches, 3 taxis, 1 cyclo, 4 night trains, 3 days treking, 1 jeep, 1 junk, 5 local buses, 3 ferries, 4 boats, 6 tuk tuks, 1 dirt bike, 1 night boat, 2 bicycles, 2 vip buses, and a scooter oh and lots of tramping around the streets with our bags, we have finally left and we are very sad because we have loved the places the people, the smells (well some of em) the food (most of it) and the scenery it has really been fantastic. Love from Mick and Julie.... read more

Hi Shane just to let you know we have arrived safely in New Zealand after a very long flight we did not sleep on the way here so we have missed a nights sleep, Tom picked us up from the airport so it was nice to see someone we knew, the bad thing is the weather is quite cold here my tan is going to fade, it is like autumn here, cloudy, quite windy bit different to Asia we are waiting to pick up our campervan then we plan our route, there is going to be so much to see here so we will need to be quite selective in what we do? We are in fleeces and long trousers here it is very English here lots of English street names etc we are in Christchurch ... read more

Hi Shane sorry to be a pain but the dates for my arrival home are 21st April sorry to be a nuisance you have porobably booked it of at work but we have just checked the tickets is that ok love you so much Mumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx... read more

Hi Shane good to hear from you thanks for sorting the house bits for us thats great. So pleased you can come to meet me Im so excited to see you and your brother I have missed you both so much. Glad to hear your cats are ruling the roost they wont when I get home joke, bet they love the freedom, wonder how they will react when Meg walks, back i... read more