The weather was lovely when I left Narooma but as I headed south the clouds rolled in and it started to rain again. On the way to Lakes Entrance I stopped off at Eden, only because the name sounded nice. It turned out to me another sleepy fishing port but was a good excuse to top up my caffeine and chocolate muffin levels. While sat in the café on the dock I was watching the pelicans who themselves were attentively watching the fishermen for any scraps that might be coming their way. As more fishermen came into port more and more [View Full Entry]

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Finally I got a lie in, well until 9am at least. Despite having my own luxury room (compared with the last few months) the sun was shining through the curtains and I felt guilty about staying in bed any longer. Yet again the weathermen have the forecast totally wrong. It was meant to be cloudy with showers today; it turned out the whole day was gorgeous. Leaving the car behind I got on a bike from the hostel and headed out to explore the local village. Heavily reliant on fishing there was a definite whiff in the air. After exploring the [View Full Entry]

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Again I was up really early, mainly because the car needed to be moved before Mr traffic warden came round. Unfortunately I forgot that it was Saturday and there would be no traffic wardens. Never mind. Canberra on a Saturday is like a ghost town. I was staying right in the city center and you had to wait to see a car on the road. Needless to say getting out of the city was very easy. I headed off towards to coast and Batemans Bay. It took just under 2 hours and although it was an easy drive I was a [View Full Entry]

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After waking up with just a slight hangover I soon got myself moving as I had a busy day ahead. I left the car in the garage for a few hours and went out to get some essentials from town. The car company gave me a cool box but I thought with the baking heat we have been having some ice blocks would be a good idea. I also got a picnic blanket, which doubles up nicely as a cover for all the stuff in my gigantic boot. The most essential purchase was a portable CD player with car kit and [View Full Entry]

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I went to pick the car up first thing in the morning; I finally got it at 11am. It’s a huge great Ford Falcon Station Wagon. It was a good job the car was big as I was heading to the Blue Mountains with Carol Anne who I met back up with the day before, an English guy called Rich and an American called Michelle. We made good time to the Blue Mountains but as we left Sydney the weather started to get worse. The town on Katoomba is 1000 meters up in the mountains and shrouded in fog. Before we [View Full Entry]

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After sorting my car out I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out the best way to go. I still don't have a clue but I’m sure it will come to me. Once it got dark I headed out with the camera and got some great shots of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The city is lit up so nicely at night. I then came back through the park and found a couple of possums playing in the trees. They were so tame and let me get really close. The rats in the park also seemed [View Full Entry]

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My last day in New Zealand seemed to go by really quickly. I couldn't believe that after 2 months this cosy little country felt like home and Australia was this big ominous place that I had to start all over again in. I met up with Abby who I first met in Wanaka. She is now working in Auckland. I spent my last night in the hostel polishing off the last of the alcohol and food as I can’t take any of it with me to Oz. Despite this hostel having lots of people living there long time it turned out [View Full Entry]

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We followed the signs for Auckland airport and soon made our way through the city. Being a Sunday probably helped. I dropped them off and for the first time in two months I was the only person in the car. To make life hard the Airport was at one end of the city and the hostel was at the other. Once I dropped my bags off at the hostel I then had to drive right across the city again to drop the car off. They seemed pleased that I got it back to them in one piece. That was that no [View Full Entry]

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Again the weather looked to be in our favour as we headed for the cape. By now we were on the smallest peninsula of New Zealand headed for the very top. It was on this morning that Garreth got a call from his mum in Ireland asking if the Tsunami had hit yet. Until that point we had heard nothing of it. It turns out that an Earth quake north of New Zealand could have possible triggered a Tsunami. Well we weren’t going to let a bit of water get in our way. It had taken us three days to get [View Full Entry]

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To get to the Northern Cape you have to drive right through Auckland. Driving on one of the countries only motorways Auckland is by far the biggest city in the country. It was not possible to drive the distance right to the top of the cape in one day so we stopped off at Whangarei for the night. The following morning we explored a bit of the bay and a few places around Whangarei before heading further north to Paihia. We stopped again in Paihia and headed out for a walk. No sooner as we had got far enough away from [View Full Entry]

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