Ahem... sorry about the blog

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Ok... so Sheila ta for pointing out that our "blog" is officially shoite. You're quite right. I agree. And I'm sorry all. It's just been all a bit, well, busy. Hard to believe I know when half of every day is suddenly freed up by not having to get to work, be in an office and then get home again. But there are all these cool things to do. Or (at least for the past week) there has been all this doing very little to do. Sorry.

I'd love to make up for it now but we've spent a week chilling out in Byron Bay with the hippies and appreciating life and love and peace and the single brain cell I have left is having a nap. I do recall that the last entry we made was from the North Island in NZ which seems like another life time away. I can't recall all of the whirlwind since then so I'll just add a few of the highlights and leave the detail to Jaggers (who is currently treating the internet cafe to her excitement at having just successfully got a Glastonbury ticket).

While we still have a very special place in our hearts for Northland (the bit above Auckland) which was so compressed and beautiful, they're right (all those people who kept going on about it), the South is amazing. It's so much bigger. And so much more breathtaking. And so very very Lord of the Rings. We loved it. We biked along the Queen Charlotte track on Malborough Sounds. Wine toured from Renwick (why did no-one ever tell me about Gervertztraminer wine?? I've probably spelt that wrong by the way). Whale watched and swam with dusky dolphins in Kaikoura (which is every bit as moving as I hoped - the dolphins are so playful, elegant and beautiful.... the fact we were all floundering around in an ungainly fashion in our wetsuits and snorkels making inane squealy-hummy noises to attract them takes away a little from the romanticism of the occsasion, but still a very moving experience nonetheless). We walked on the Franz Joseph glacier in our ice talons. Hooked up with some friends from Fiji in Wanaka and persuaded one of them to jump out of a plane with us which was, I'm afraid there's no other word for it, awesome. Took what was marketed to us as a "cruise" along Milford Sounds in the lashing rain and caught something called "Milford Madness" - involves standing on the front of the boat in the hurling gale in Titanic pose while the skipper blasts out classical music and drives you into pounding waterfalls (and loving it, that's the mad part). Millford Sounds in the rain should be one of the great wonders - thousands of white ribbon waterfalls streaming down the rock faces. Kayaked along Doubtful Sounds and listened the the beautiful sound of absolute silence. Loved Queenstown. Irrationally emtional about leaving NZ.

We'd decided after putting 4,000k on the car on the North Island and over 2,000k on in the South and mostly never staying in the same bed for more than one night that we'd relax a bit in Oz. I'll do an update later but it involves Sheila and Stu, the Makepeaces, Ma and Pa, Rowlsie, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Port Macquarie and very little in the way of relaxing until Byron Bay. Not quite got to grips with Oz yet. Or how massive it is. Or where everything is. Had to look at the front cover of Bill Bryson to see if we were still in NSW. Laters dudes.

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Comments

[Rosie]

You beeeatches
Sounds like you're having an amazing time. Any photos?!

[Kiran]

Jealous
It's great to hear you're having an amazing and hectic time! Also very pleased to hear that you got your glasto ticket! Wohoo!! Rest up an recuperate before the hecticness begins again! :-) Be safe and have fun!

[Beeler]

Vast Improvement
Well done on the 1 April entry ... but we're almost 3 weeks on now and it's all gone quiet again ... you two haven't been swallowed by Fergal the Sharky have you? xx

[Jen Watts]

Wow,
You are really doing this travelling thing properly! Harn- I love ya! and Trudy, I've never met you, but you write beautifully- ever thought about writing a book?