Goodbye to Australia and Hello to New Zealand

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We have now reached New Zealand - we are in Christchurch and have been here for a couple of days - we are staying in the South Island for about 20 days before we start our trip home via Singapore.

We had a great time in Australia - we loved Sydney - there is so much variety of things to do there. We went to Manly Beach one day - John managed to get us a game of 2 on 2 versus a couple of Brazilians - we beat them 5-3 and they weren't very impressed!
On the next day we went to the Blue Mountains about an hour outside Sydney - we got a old train down to the bottom of the valley - which the girls hated and a Cable Car up.
On the Saturday we dropped the Antonious' off in Bondi Beach - the weather had started to turn a bit by then but we managed to get an hour on the Beach.
On the Sunday Hayley and I did Jet Boating in Sydney Harbour - we both got soaked as we were thrown around in the boat whilst doing loads of twists and turns. Hayley was screaming in my ear the whole time and had her eyes closed!!
On the Monday we were walking down the main shopping street in Sydney and we bumped in Fuller and Jacqui! This was a bit surreal. In the evening we climbed the Harbour Bridge - which was a good experience. We were pretty high and I kept having to hold on to the railings. After that we had dinner with Fuller and Jacqui.
On the Tuesday we drove to Melbourne - the weather really turned on the way and it rained for most of the 2nd half of the drive!
On the Wednesday and Thursday we just chilled in Melbourne - we walked around the city - it was really cold and wet but we managed to explore the ciry a bit.
On the Friday we drove to my Mum's cousins house about 3 hours from Melbourne - they live in the country and have 2 Donkeys, 4 cats, some chickens and a Dog. We spent the weekend with them - we had a BBQ on the Friday night and I ended up cooking - they gave me some stick about being a Pom on the BBQ! On the Saturday we went to some wineries that are in the area and tasted some more wine - the weather was really cold - almost as bad as being in England!
On Sunday we drove back to Melbourne and meet up with my 3rd cousin and went to St Kilda - which is a beach in Melbourne - this was good as I haven't met him before!
On Monday we flew to Christchurch - New Zealand seems like another amazing place. The scenery is a lot more spectacular the OZ. We walked around Christchurch yesterday and went on the historic tram. Today we went on the Gondolas - which are like cable cars that take you to the top of a mountain and give you amazing views - then we drove around a really beautiful bay and went horse riding.
We are in Christchurch until Saturday and then I hope to swim with some wild Dolphins on Sunday before we explore some of the other areas of the South Island!

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Photos

Halfway up the Bridge
Opera House in the Background.