Needing a coffee and toilet break, we stopped in the main street of Ross. Dean, having read about this town, felt there was more to it than a tired convenience store, a second hand goods place with way too many number plates on display and a public toilet that didn't rate higher than a 4/10 according to Dayna. A right turn at the junction and 100 metres up the hill and nestled amongst the cherry blossoms was a neatly presented historical precinct containing relics from the heyday of the gold rush. Eleanor took one step inside the old gaol and ran out, declaring it smelt like nan and pa's house. Yes, it did have that lingering odour of a pack a day chain smoker, so we made a hasty retreat but not before posing for the ... read more

Dean jumped in the driver's seat, much to the girl's dismay, for the trip to Franz Josef. Winding our way up the mountains, past Coronet Peak (where the girls relived their skiing adventures once again) and with sensational views across to the Remarkables, we said goodbye to Queenstown and hello to glacier country. With no radio reception, the soundtrack accompanying our journey had the girls reaching for their headphones. The three CDs purchased at the Queenstown Salvos (from a VERY ORDINARY collection, mind you) were not worth the $6 we forked out. 'Rule Britannia - 40 years of great British music' could also be renamed as '11 bands you know playing 11 songs you don't'. That particular CD had the girls almost declaring a mutiny. The Tony Bennett & k. d. Lang 'wonderful world, sing-a-long of ... read more

Waking to a gorgeous sunny morning, New Zealand breakfast television obsessed by the All Blacks and a shower that Dean christened 'the tattoo remover', I was looking forward to exploring the town. We spent the day wandering around and the girls stalking some Brisbane you-tuber. It was a truly magnificent day weather-wise and the forecast looked good for the next few days. Queenstown offers lots of adventure activities and we decided that skiing would be the major one. However, we wanted the girls to try some other things too. Having experienced 'Escape Rooms' in KL and Melbourne, we thought we could try the one here. It certainly challenged us and if we hadn't been given lots of hints, we'd probably still be locked in the study with the revolver waiting for Colonel Mustard. Our second full ... read more

Woke up on time but it took a while for the girls to get started. Departed the house at 6:15am for a 9:05am flight and hoped a) we'd packed everything; b) the Tulla was clear; c) queues for NZ were smaller than those for SE Asia on the first Saturday of the school holidays and; d) all of the above. Generally speaking, our wishes were granted. We only discovered we'd forgotten things once we needed them (Dayna's pjs and her black jeans, non-crusty toothpaste and tissues ...) and the automated check-in process was almost problem free. Yes, our first hurdle presented itself at the code sharing partner of Virgin - Air NZ. Dean, thinking it would be 'full service', didn't 'purchase' luggage. Condensing our bags, lightening our wallets, a little reshuffling and presto! We turned to ... read more

Landing 19 minutes early in the 'City of Cats', we walked off the plane and straight into a Marrybrown ckicken franchise. Eleanor's stomach was rumbling and we thought it could be fixed by a quick pitstop. In hindsight, we should have kept going because there was nothing 'fast' about this food outlet. Neither is Eleanor's eating technique - she wouldn't be winning any prizes on the eating contest circuit. Even Dean, renowned for his patience, decided to go and collect our bags. And this led to another humiliating immigration adventure at Dean's expense. Eleanor and I walked through Gate B, whilst unbeknown to us, Dean had entered through Gate A and had spent the better part of ten or fifteen minutes in immigration limbo. An officer greeted us, enquiring as to whether I was missing my ... read more