Had a fabulous New Years Eve (from what I can remember) visiting 3 wineries in the Nelson region - Neudorf, Kahurangi and Moutere Hills ( for all you wine buffs) and enjoyed tasting 21 wines! Excellent. Then headed to Punakaiki to see the famous pancake rocks. Unfortunately we had almost 3 days of rain (stop laughing) and so had to cancel our heli hike on Franz Josef. We did however go on the half day Glacier hike which ran in the rain, hail and thunder storm! It was great fun trying not to slip off the ice steps and trying to remember to stamp our feet to make sure the crampons took hold. I think even Dad enjoyed it once he had warmed up and had a nice pint inside him. Luckily the sun came back ... read more

Said goodbye to Sydney and made a quick 24 hour stop in Canberra. Went on an excellent tour of the New parliament and the War memorial. Both highly recommended! Then headed on to Melbourne where I spent 5 nights with my friend Wendy and her parents on the Mornington Peninsula. Wendy proved to be an excellent tour guide and I managed a trip on the great ocean road, a pictoresque ferry crossing, a Brit Art exhibition in Melbourne, shopping and the highlight a drive to Ramsay Street. No sign of Lou Carpenter or Harold Bishop but it was great to see where Neighbours is filmed after 20 years of watching the show. Poor Wendy has never seen it so didn't have a clue whose house was which! Next stop New Zealand!... read more

Since my last entry I have spent three awesome days on Fraser Island - the worlds largest sand island. I decided on a guided rather than self-drive tour staying in the Kingfisher Bay resort rather than camping. After two minutes on the island it prooved to be a very wise choice with torrential rain and skidding and sliding all over the sand. However, after a wet walk through the rain forest to Lake MacKenzie it soon brightened up. I guess it can't be sunny all the time. We crammed lots into the 3 days but the highlight for me was swimming in the crystal clear waters of Lake Birrabeam and seeing dolphins and sea turtles swimming off the coast of the Indian Rocks. Sadly no Dingo's were spotted but never mind. I still remember Dinky from ... read more

Well, I did it. This morning at 11.30am I was collected from my hostel taken to an air strip, given 5 minutes training, flown to 14 000ft and then thrown out of an aeroplane! I have to say that for some reason I wasn't scared at all and loved every minute of it! It was such an amazing experience and I can't wait to go again. My instructor - Bruce (No I am not making it up he really was called Bruce) was really fun and has done an excellent DVD so you can all see for yourselves when I get back exactly what I went through. There was a 60 second freefall and then it took about 5 or 6 minutes to land on the beach. Amazing, breataking scenery over the reef and great views ... read more

Well, since my last blog I have now travelled through central Australia and made it up to the capital of the Northern Territory Darwin! I have had a fantastic trip and seen some more great sights. The highlights were swimming in the thermal pools at Mataranka surrounded by hundreds of fruit bats, eating green ants and kangaroo tail while learning how to throw spears on an aboriginal experience day, a yellow river billabong cruise only topped by a jumping crocodile cruise and a hike in Kakadu National Park. Now arrived in Darwin for some much needed air conditioning after temperatures reaching 45 degrees! Not nice when you are camping. Had a wild night in Darwin last night and now have a few days to chill before I head to Cairns!... read more