Australia, Singapore, UK, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia again.

Leaving the warmest May in NZ ever and arriving into the coldest May in Australia... bit of a shock to the system! Sydney however was first stop, and was still nice 'n warm - just how we remembered!! Had a great time revisiting old haunts and saying g'day to old friends (thanks for having us Charnoiette!)... then onto Melbourne which really was freezing for a mini Bags family reunion. Luvly. Few days mincing around the city, and trying to thaw out before heading on to Perth - luckily (or not so luckily) just before Tiger Airways got temporarily shut down for 'safety issues' (ARGH).

We loved Perth - beautiful beaches, cool CBD, Freo (and Little Creatures brewery), and SUNSHINE! To be returned to.....Next stop Singapore, which was a lovely relief beer price wise! We enjoyed a couple of days mooching around before a quick trip back to the UK....sorry for our carbon footprints! Had a great (brief) time back home before packing our bags once again and hitting the road, a quick stopover in Colombo - amazing food, beer and pool and catch up with friends then onto 2 weeks in Bali. Phew. Time to chill out! Bali = lots of snorkelling, beach sitting, bit of hiking, lots of Bintang and even more food. Man, that Indonesian food is good!! Our aussie visas miraculously got finally issued the day we were due to fly on - talk about good timing!

Final destination for a while - Perth once again.... our new home for the next little while :) Looking forward to it!

Final weeks in NZ

Time to discover the delights of the North Island, luckily the winter held off and we travelled in the hottest May on record in NZ - none too shabby!! Leaving the grapes behind, but with wine in hand we headed to Napier - the art deco capital of NZ, followed by a few days of tramping in Te Urewara National Park - where unfortunately the sandflies were starved of human flesh (us being the only ones in the entire park!) so naturally they took it out on us - argh.

Enjoyed a bit o thermal action in stinky Rotorua before heading to Mt Manganui - awesome surf beach and even more awesome weather - mmmmm. Next stop the Coromandel Peninsula - a land of sun, sea n sand.... did a nice little 8 hour stroll up to the Pinnacles too - spectacular views, very Lost World-esque.

Onwards to north of the north - The Northlands - where the beaches were even more stunning and even more deserted. Attempted some independant caving too.....with only our mobile phones as torches - luckily the glow worms lit the way. Fun times over, time to sell good ole Venus back in Auckland.... which proved to be no easy task, multiple price cuts, advertising attempts, avoiding of scammers and two car fairs later we managed to get rid of her - phew.

Bye bye New Zealand. Next stop 'Stralia!

Life at Flatpoint

Leaving shaky Christchurch behind, we hit the road yet again in search of sun, sea and flushing toilets. Heading up the east coast we made sure we sampled as many vineyards delights as possible in Blenheim (wine country) to educate and prepare ourselves for our new job at Flatpoint farm and vineyard. Next, to Abel Tasman National Park for one of the top walks in the country with jaw-droppingly pristine sandy beaches and sunny skies (glad we didn’t do the whole walk though….9hrs was enough for us!). Met up with Jayne and Sash to travel to the very north of the south island to uber remote Wharariki beach and Pupu springs (the clearest springs this side of Antartica!).

Made it onto the ferry crossing to the north island after only 27 breakdowns (oh Venus, have you had enough of us already??) and enjoyed the sunrise crossing almost as much as the dolphins seemed to, who were playing in the ferry’s surf all the way to Wellington. After being messed about by greasemonkeys, we made it along the 60km gravel track from civilisation to Flatpoint Station (our next job venture) where we were immediately handed a glass of wine on arrival, a sign of things to come! The 9,000 ha coastal estate holds 4 holiday homes, a golf course, air strip, 16,000 sheep, 8,000 cattle, 1 pig and very very few humans (only 6 permanent residents). What have we got ourselves into!?!

The next two months were spent grape picking, gardening, cleaning, pig feeding and seal dodging (our new home being very close to the beach). One month solid work (and extreme isolation) was clearly too much for us and we needed a weeee break, so headed to Whanganui and Tongarairo National Parks. The volcanic Alpine crossing was a definite highlight (Mt Doom territory) as well as the spa and beer afterwards naturally. Also headed up to Lake Taupo and the thermal extravaganza of Orakei Korako (a less touristy but equally steamy and pongy version of Rotorua).

Back to work another month and the amazing microclimate of Flatpoint continued to shine down on us. Jayne and Sasha joined us again for a spot of grape picking with some Irish backpackers and gourmet paua dining (unfortunately grape picking fell on Jaynes birthday but made up for it in evening celebrations with more tasting of Flatpoint’s own wine). Every man and seal at Flatpoint seems to own some form of aviation machinery- Sarah managed to bag a free flight and lesson in a gyrocopter (cross between a helicopter and plane….but nothing like either, which is why Matt could not be persuaded to have a go!).

After an excellent sunny Easter, we have decided it is time to move on before we completely lose our human social skills!! Civilisation here we come………

Life in Christchurch

Hard to know what to say to sum up our 2 and a bit months living in Christchurch - some of the photos show what we got up to and some trips we made in the area pre quake. Christchurch itself was a lovely place to live, with great beaches and nearby mountains to explore. We ended up finding a really good house on Manchester St to live in with a great combo of French, Scottish, Irish and Kiwi housemates (our house quite often resembled the UN!). We had some great times there pre-quake, even started to get used to the aftershocks relating to the September quake, but nothing quite prepared us for Feb 22nd. Although it was very sad leaving Christchurch, it definitely felt like the right thing to do to get out of there, and for all those who have to stay we wish them all the best, hopefully life there will begin to get a little easier as soon as possible. Power has now been restored to almost all the city, so the next step is getting all the Eastern suburbs back on water, then follows the big job of sorting out the CBD.
Next for us.... a spot of grape picking on the North Island, to be surrounded by trees is defintely preferable to buildings for the time being!

The Big South Island Roooooooad Trip

With a happy fully serviced Venus we hit the road.... first stop Lake Tekapo, and what a drive, snowy mountains and thousands of lupins - luvly. An absolute beaut of a lake too, crazy turquoise waters which we couldn't resist leaping in (being glacier water we were pretty darn quick to leap out again). Then onto Mt Cook National Park, found an awesome campsite at the base of a huge snowy mountain, and the weather was amazing. Did several 'tramps' around the mountains there, probably ended up being the highlight of the south island! Tasman glacier was nearby too with a lake filled with ye olde icebergs (obviously we couldn't resist shouting 'icebergs dead ahead...'). Heading on down the coast, there was loads to see en route, like the elephant rocks, odd limestone cliffs, old whale fossils and of course a whole lot of penguin spotting! The Otago Penninsula was definitely THE place to see wildlife, we stumbled across loads of blue penguins, some rare yellow eyed ones too, seals, sealions and very impressive albatrosses (which unfortunately seemed to aim at us!!).

Dunnedin was the busiest place we saw in a while, and we particularly enjoyed the cheap chocolate in the cadburys shop (pretty much the only thing here that we can say is cheap!). Further on round we did more wildlife spotting in the Catlins, and lots of walking around in the rain.... which is where we first realised Venus is most definitely not a waterproof van! After hitting Slope Point, the most southerly point on the South Island, and a suitably cold and windswept end of the earth type of place, we headed to the bright lights of Invercargil - the 'butt' of many NZ jokes.... we could see why! mwahaha.

Spot of caving in Clifden and a chuckle at the Clifden Suspension Bridge (home from home... though they spell it wrong!) then onto wet wild Fiordland. We luckily got a break in the crap weather for a cruise around Milford Sound- beautiful, and the bonus of all the rain was that the sandflies didn't stick around all day (plus the van got nice and clean!). We camped one night in a remote place in the mountains, with one 10km track being the only way in or out of the camp. A gigantic storm hit in the night, we got told in the middle of the night we had to move the van to higher ground, and the whole campsite flooded. The nearby river had burst it's banks, and the rain just kept pelting down. Their prized 1000 yr old tree then came crashing down blocking our exit out of there! There were loads of other landslides further up the road too.... safe to say no one was going anywhere for a while! Luckily it was a nice campsite with a kitchen and a fire, so we all huddled there revisiting the joys of jigsawing!! Eventually we all got escorted down off the moutain, all quite exciting and all that rain made the waterfalls uber spectacular!!

After conquering Ben Lomond it was Christmas time in Queenstown.... possibly the only town in the world to have zero Christmas decorations anywhere!! So not a particularly Christmassy Christmas, but we enjoyed some lugeing down a mountain and some frisbee golf fun, plus of course lots to eat and drink! Headed over to Glenorchy next to do some of the famous Routeburn Track (apparently number 10 in the world's top ten walks), it was lovely though four hours in the rain turned torrential so the last four hours wading back to the car were slightly less lovely! Doh.

Thought it was about time to do some wine tasting, so headed to Bannockburn area, home to muchos wine (and finally some sun!!) so had a lovely old time there, then on to Wanaka for New Years Eve fun - supposedly the most happening place around for nye!? Barbie, band and fireworks = good stuff.

Onwards up the west coast to glacier country. Unfortunately most of the walks up to and around Fox Glacier had been washed away by all the rain, but we did manage to get up close and personal with Franz Josef glacier = very cool. The hot glacier pools there were lovely too. The van by this point was well and truly fed up with the wet conditions and not only leaked everywhere, but the engine conked out several times a day - all a bit hairy when we were passing up and over Arthur's Pass!! We made it back over to the East Coast - phew! What a trip!!

Kia Ora to the land of fush 'n chups!

Spent a lovely few days back in L.A at Universal Studios, on the beach and lots and lots of shopping! Comedy moment at LAX when the immigration officer corrected our pronunciation of 'Auckland' (what a cheek!) and then asked what date we would be arriving in Auckland, Australia.... duhhhhhh. We know the yanks aren't known for their geography knowledge.... but really!

Arrived in Auckland and spent a few days mincing around the city, weren't too fussed on it really (sorry Em!) so we decided to endure a 12 hour coach journey to check out Wellington, spectac scenery en route. The weather here has been bizarre, every place we have been we have enjoyed a glorious 25-28 degree day, cloudless skies, and the next day its freezing cold, hat and coat weather.... keeps you on your toes I guess! We liked windy Welly a lot, and boy was it windy, but heard that Christchurch is the place to pick up some cheap wheels, so headed over on the ferry (hat and coat day!), then had an awesome day in Picton where we had our first 'tramping' experience (boiling hot day)!

The journey down to Christchurch came complete with lots of Lord of the Rings type scenery and plenty of seal spotting. In (very English) Christchurch we certainly did find some wheels, we are now the proud owners of a Nissan Serena van, goes by the name of Venus (she's a well built lass). It came complete with everything necessary for a road trip so we headed out to Banks Pennisula to test her out. Went on a few more tramps around here and were lucky enough to spot the world's rarest dolphin, the Hector dolphin. Venus came up trumps and the only thing we had to buy back in Christchurch was a couple of chairs (only cos we are posh!).

Time now for a proper road trip, the sights of the South Island here we come!

Deepest Darkest Mehico....

Started with a very hairy bus ride, not only ridiculous hairpin bends, but also one of the most dangerous roads in Mexico, thankfuly again no bandits, guns or machetes present. Phew. San Cristobal de la Casas is high up in the mountains, meaning we had to crack out our jumpers, jeans and in fact every item of clothing possible. A beautiful colonial town and hot spot for Zapatista rebels and supporters. We learnt all about the Zapatista problems in a documentary at a cinema, hard to imagine so much death and violence in such a beautiful little town! Did a trip to the Canon del Sumidero, absolutely spectacular, apart from one section that was jam packed with rubbish, Mexico blaming it all on Guatemala of course!! Loads of gigantic crocs and vultures too (caused by Guatemalan toxic waste!?), defo not a place for a swim!

Then had a tricky two day journey, we were hoping to end up in Puerto Escondido, but unfortunately there were 'political troubles', our Spanish limiting our understanding of the problems somewhat, but the jist was small puebla was mega unhappy with their mayor so barracaded the entire highway for a few days. Ho hum, we decided to settle for the Pacific coast village of San Agustinillo, a mission to get to on various modes of transport but we eventually made it. Got a room slap bang on the sandy beach and spent a lovely few days chilling out, drinking Coronas and watching the pro surfers attempt the humongous waves!! (Not for us!). Had another day further along the coast in Puerto Angel, not so nice, very odd locals.... time to move on!

To Oaxaca next, much easier to get a bus once we had learnt how to pronounce it!! (Wah-ha-ka!). Another nasty journey complete with old man on the verge of death puking his lungs up by the sounds of it..... not the most pleasant six hours! The soldiers at the military checkpoint en route luckily found it funny when the guy puked up on their post! Oaxaca is known for its local delicacies such as chapulines - deep fried crickets in chilli (bit of a dodgy after taste), mole negro and verde -chocolate sauce for meat dishes (tastes much better than it sounds), and tasajo pounded beef (average), not forgetting their famous hot chocolate with sweet bread for dipping (yum). Oaxaca itself was pretty nice, lots of art galleries and nice buildings but the traffic was terrible, bordering on black bogie territory! Had a nice day trip out to El Tule to see the biggest tree in the world, it sure was a whoppa.

Next, the gem that is Puebla, offers everything that Oaxaca has but better. Pristine streets and lovely bustling zocalo with loads of bicentary celebrations, we stumbled across a whole symphony orchestra outside the cathedral one night playing a free concert, only in Puebla! Wish we had longer here!

Finally Mexico City.....for some reason we didn't have high hopes, but it surprised us no end. It is a gigantic city with its fair share (and more) of crime, but there are also lovely areas throughout. The genius metro system made getting around easy and cheap (at 15p a ride you can't complain!!). We decided to go to Plaza Monumental on Sunday afternoon to see the weekly bull fight, controversial we know but we had heard so much about the tradition and atmosphere that it sounded like something of a spectacle...... however after the first fight Sarah felt more than a little queasy and we had to leave. The crowd were incredibly bloodthirsty and got their money's worth as every Sunday six bulls are slaughtered. Amazingly everyone was downing their Coronas and red wine and knocking back the tacos no problem, no way we could eat anything, way too gruesome!

Day trip out to Teotihuacan pyramids was excellent, though the heat out there was incredible, climbing the 70m high pyramid of the sun was no picnic! Spectac views though. Back in Mex City we spent the next few days exploring the sites, parks, museums, art galleries, zoo and tortas stands (the best sandwiches in the world). The best thing we saw was probably the voladores rite, four indigenous Totonac people fly down a 20m high pole upside down spiralling bungee jump type of thing. One even playing the pipe and drum as he goes down! Why they thought this was a good idea back in the day, who knows? Magic mushrooms? Still, it was great to see!

We have had a fantastic time in Mexico, probably our favourite country of the Central American leg of this trip, the locals have been so friendly, food awesome, lovely colonial cities and beaches that knock your socks off and put your flip flops on for you.....