whereisemma

It might not seem that far from Melbourne but you will be surprised at how long it can take to get there from Melbourne via Geelong and Sorrento... :-/... read more

Well, the answer is Melbourne. After farewelling Elizabeth in the gala style we have all become accustomed to, I settled back into life in Tasmania for hmmm... about 2 weeks. Then it was back to New Zealand for ANOTHER fabulous holiday! This time to the west coast and it was absolutely wonderful. Fresh fish every day, a long bike ride (that Lisa enjoyed more than anyone, right Lis?) a absolutely stunning coastline, pancake rocks, greenstone gems and lots and lots more! I'm already planning my next trip :-) Then there was a brief trip to Sydney where I stayed with David - following the theory that the reason why you travel is to meet more people and give yourself more accommodation options for further travel ;-) I got more than I bargained for with a very ... read more

Fuelled by all that wonderful food, we were off to Freycinet National Park. Full of energy and the excitement of people who have no idea what to expect we decided to take on Mount Amos upon arrival (recommended by my lovely sister - I'll deal with you later Lisa). Not so much of a walk but a semi-vertical rock scramble, we made it to the top in under the recommended time. It was all worth it as the views were absolutely spectacular. Surprisingly enough (?) we had it all to ourselves which made it even more special. The walk down was nowhere near as terrifying as we thought it would be and every step we were rewarded with amazing views of the peninsula and the Hazards as the sun set. Some stiff gin and tonics and ... read more

After a wonderful time in NZ it was time to go home. A mildly traumatic goodbye to Elizabeth in Wellington over many Linhausers was followed by my first flight by myself in two months arriving safely in Launceston to be met by Mum and to be re-aquainted with all the alpacas (they weren't at the airport of course but I'm sure they would have been if they could have been). No time for resting though, I was immediately put to work at the vineyard helping out Dad with out signs and other odd jobs. In my free time I commenced planning Elizabeth's debut tour of Tasmania. On Sunday, Mum, John, Gwen and I enjoyed a boat trip to Peppermint Bay just south of Hobart, which was absolutely stunning. A beautiful day on a calm Derwent River, ... read more

The Milford Track still fresh in our minds, it was with our hearts feeling a wee bit heavy we left Queenstown. Our feet had recovered (with the help of some marvelous pedicures) and we arrived in Christchurch to visit Lisa and Mikey. Four fabulous days of NZSB, homemade pizzas, salmon, bbqs, lots of love from Basil the cat, walks around the city, shopping and a spirited round of mini-golf (that Lisa won) gave us the "holiday within a holiday" we felt we deserved. Today, Lisa and Mikey drove us to Nelson via a few cafe stops and a wonderful wine tasting and lunch at Montana winery. Nelson is a little quiet on a Sunday so we are chilling out in preparation for our 7.30am pickup tomorrow to take us on our kayaking and walking adventure in ... read more

Well we have made it to the land of the long white cloud and heavenly sauvignon blanc. Along with two bottles of pisco sours (it's going to be hard to let go...) and a healthy supply of alfajores (not all for our consumption of course...) I'm not going to talk about how awful LAN Chile is or how we've already managed to get lost looking for the Qantas lounge in this tiny airport... The important thing is we're here and have managed to upload a few photos yay! So feel free to browse the previous entries for some shots of our holiday so far. More photos to follow when we have a bit more time. Off to Queenstown now...... read more

It´s been a fabulous weekend in Santiago. Despite being passportless we were determined to enjoy the weekend. Saturday was spent wandering around the city and climbing the city´s highest point, then promptly falling down it much to the delight of a travelling Kiwi called Mike (could there be another??). Sunday was spent in Valparaiso. A shockingly scary port town where we managed to wander through all the dangerous high crime areas before stumbling across a funicular that took us up the hill and to a nicer place, some fabulous views of the sea and very yummy pisco sours. We managed to replace our American, with another one called Chris from Colorado, but just as our fab four was bonding again, Carolyn has returned to London today and we leave Chris behind in Santiago when we head ... read more