The Final Days

Hi Everyone,

After over four months our trip is at an end. Today is our last day in Australia and tomorrow we begin a mammoth 38hour journey to arrive back in the UK at 7am on Monday morning. The last couple of weeks have not been our busiest! We flew from Sydney to Cairns and stepped off the plane to a balmy 25degrees celcius :-) Warm at last! We didnt stop long in beach-less Cairns instead heading 60km up the coast to Port Douglas, a small holiday resort often hosting the rich and famous (indeed the Luxembourgish royal family had just been staying there). Being not quite rich or famous we were staying in the less illustrious YHA hostel, but, it was but a five minute walk to the lovely four mile beach.

Thus we spent all but one of our ten days enjoying the sun and relaxing on the beach or by the hostel swimming pool. It did not rain once and the temperature remained consistent with a lovely sea breeze - blissful. Our one burst of activity in Port Douglas involved heading out to snorkal the Great Barrier Reef. It was a very choppy day causing poor Laura to be a bit sea sick and making snorkelling quite tough but we saw plenty of fish and - the highlight - a Green Turtle! Not to mention all the beautiful coral.

Finally it was time a couple of days ago to leave Port Douglas abd return to Cairns from where our journey home would begin. Yesterday (Laura's birthday!) we had to do something special so headed back to to the reef on a lovely sailing boat in much calmer waters than before (no sickness - yay!) - but this time to scuba dive! Laura was a bit nervous (being the first time) but both of us found the experience to be marvellous, a wonderful way to end the trip and one of the highlights! We saw so many beautiful fish and coral from a wonderful perspective and best of all we saw a white tipped reef shark and a couple of blue spotted rays. Simply superb. A lovely meal was had later to cap a wonderful day - and indeed, a wonderful trip.

The highlights? Our Tongariro adventure is definitely still up there as one of the best things we have done - the most physically and mentally demanding, but, due to that, the most rewarding All our wonderful wildlife experiences as well - kayaking with seals, walking amongst sea-lions, viewing penguins from mere metres away and of course scuba diving admist the fish and corals of the largest reef in the world! More generally, simply travelling and always experiencing new things has been wonderful. Not worrying what day of the week it is (no nasty Monday mornings), not knowing where we will sleep - it has all been wonderful.

Thanks again to all the people who have helped us on our way - The Cookes, Amy and John and of course the Sutherlands!

Unfortunately the real world beckons and Monday mornings are going to hit hard. Many of you may not know that we are going to be living in Southampton on our return to spend a year completing our PGCEs so whenever anyone is down our way - do come along and you can see plenty more photos and meet Ruff!

Bye for the last time

Laura, Niall & Ruff xx

Ruff Down Under

Hi Everyone,

We know we have technically been "Down Under" the whole time but Australia is more "Down Under" than New Zealand!

We braced ourselves for the "worst storm to hit New Zealand in a Decade" last Saturday and were preparing ourselves for cancelled/delayed flights, but the storm was a little disappointing and not as serious as expected - far more devastating for New Zealand was a bit of a thrashing at Rugby by the Aussies!

We arrived in Sydney on Sunday evening and had time to explore our surroundings with an evening stroll where we glimpsed the harbour bridge and saw some flying foxes. On Monday we set off to see the sights and see them we did! Cockatoos were a plenty in the Botanical Gardens and after some fun with them we walked down to the waterfront to stunning views of the opera house and harbour bridge. We continued round and then took a very pleasent ferry to Manly where we checked out the famous surf beach before heading back for stunning views of the city from the ferry.

On Tuesday we were off to the Aquarium - and a very good one it was too. The seals were not too exciting (we have seen so many, closer, in the wild!) but the reef sections were great and really whetted or appetite for adventures to come! In the evening we went off to see the much hyped new Batman film at the much hyped Sydney IMAX (the largest cinema screen in the world!) Amazingly we were not disappointed - the film was highly entertaining, but was made even more so by the stunning cinema - Niall doesnt want to go to another cinema again! - But flights could make for pricey films.

On Wednesday Ruff was excited as we were off to Taronga Zoo. Said to have the best views of any zoo in the world it did not disappoint. A marvellous zoo with many animals from Australia and the wider world in generally well done, spacious enclosures. Laura particularly enjoyed the Koala with baby - look closely on the picture. We whiled away a whole day there and nearly got stuck as the zoo closed!

We awoke to glorious weather on Thursday so had to check out Bondi Beach - we even managed a little sun bathing - pretty impressive in winter! The highlight was seeing a Southern Right Whale, with calf, just metres from the shore. It really was amazing and was a news story in the evening! Check it out on http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=eKUWlmMs6fE - we were right there on that beach!

Friday saw us travel two hours by train to the much colder Blue Mountains. The weather was not the best but we went on a lovely hike anyway. The scenery was totally unlike anything in New Zealand with dense bush, steep gorges and very noisy birds! The weather today was a different story, bright blue skies, if a little chilly. We set off for Wentworth Falls and undertook a stunning walk past marvellous waterfalls and stunning vistas along an incredibl path cut into the cliff face itself. We are now preparing to head of to Cairns tomorrow. We certainly cant wait for the promised 26c temperatures!

Bye for now

Laura, Niall & Ruff

Goodbye New Zealand

Hi all,

After a whopping 103 days spent travelling in New Zealand, we have come to the end of this part of the trip. We have driven over 7200 kms around this lovely country, seen a great many beautiful sights and explored as many nooks and crannies as possible.

After leaving Arthur's Pass, we headed east to Christchurch to stay, once again, with the Cooke family who had kindly offered to put up with us again. Thursday night was spent enjoying a lovely traditional Kiwi Roast (complete with Kiwi Pavlova) at Erin's parents (thanks to them!) Instead of staying just the one night however, we stayed for 2, enabling us to take part in a party at their house. All in all we got to bed far too late, had slightly overcooked the booze department but had a cracking time. :)

Niall had lots of fun on the pinball machine with Jason and Sam. A small competition was had with Jason and I think it is important to post the results:

Niall 9: Jason 15

Many thanks to the Cooke family once again!

From Christchurch Laura drove straight to Picton for our 2pm ferry crossing - Niall did not enjoy the journey at all! Unfortunately for us, and especially Niall, the sea was a bit rough - not something that aided hangovers in the slightest. Despite that we made it to Wellington safe and sound and managed a good night of kipping to compensate. As we had already passed through we decided we would just stay the one night before cracking on to Napier on the east coast. It is a unique town in that, after an eartquake early last century, the whole town was rebuilt in an art deco style. T'was a lovely place and the weather was certainly a fair few degrees warmer than it had been on the South Island! We had a lovely stroll along the beach just taking in the sun and art deco sights.

From Napier we hopped back into the car for a trip to Rotorua, a popular tourist spot famous for its volcanic surrounds. For those die hard blog readers, you may remember our earlier trip to Orakei Korako. This time we went to a place known as Wai-o-Tapu - famous for the Champagne pool (not what we were hoping for - but very pretty nonetheless). A walk takes you past mud pools and boiling waterfall scenery for a very scenic 3 kilometers. We enjoyed ourselves very much but, now starting to tire from the long drives, were glad of the chance to soak our bones in the Hostel's own hot pool - bliss.

We had intended to go from Rotorua to the Coromandel but unfortunately the weather turned filthy so we opted instead to head straight to Auckland where Amy, who you may remember from our first few days of the trip, has put us up for the last few nights of our trip.

Fortunately however the trip does not end here. On Sunday we fly to Sydney where we will spend a week getting to know a bit about this famous city. In addition we shall be paying a flying visit to the Blue Mountains before once again hopping on a plance to the tropical Gold Coast where we shall spend 3 nights in Cairns and ten in Port Douglas. the weather should be a lovely 25C+ and the Coral sea (home to the Great Barrier reef) just as warm. :)

Until then,

Ruff, Niall & Laura

More Mountains and Glaciers!

Hi All,

We have been moving faster since leaving Wanaka and have been really enjoying the trip back to the North. The rain was pouring when we left Wanaka and it did not let up all day! Luckily we arrived at a lovely hostel in the Fox Glacier township, it had a huge TV room with over 200 DVDs available to rent. Amongst others we watcher Touching the Void - if anyone has seen it they will know it is not the best thing to watch when you are planning to go walking on glaciers! In true West Coast style (they get 5m of rain a year! - London gets 0.6m!) it poured all night and was still pouring in the morning so we stayed in bed watching rubbish UK TV (why would you buy and import 'Tenants from Hell?' A quick let up allowed us to go down and view the impressive glacier and some very impressive waterfalls. A pleasant afternoon was spent chatting with others in the hostel - including a guy who had cycled from Auckland! We spent the evening watching the All Blacks get beaten in the rugby! But, alas, it was South Africa that dealt the blow not England!

We awoke to glorious weather on Sunday and walked around Lake Matheson - famous for its views of Mount Cook (we are on the otherside of it!) and went back to the glacier as we could get closer thanks to receding rivers. We then drove 25km north to Franz Josef Glacier and booked ourselves on a full day hike for the next day.

Our glacier hike on Franz Josef glacier was truely remarkable and one of the best things we have done in New Zealand. Our guide, Bruce (from Bury St.Edmunds - for those that don't know that's 25mins from Soham!), led the way cutting steps with his axe as we climbed up the face of the glacier, giving us a good geography lesson along the way. Once at the top we began "free guiding" along less formed paths, squeezing (literally squeezing!) through crevasses and climbing over ice walls. It was all fantastic and great views were in abundance throughout the day. Ruff in particular enjoyed the day and didn't need crampons like the rest of us thanks to his four sturdy legs!

On Tuesday we set off across Arthurs Pass to get back to Christchurch. A beautifully scenic road, the highlight of which (so far) was stopping at a scenic lookout, only to be surrounded by 10 or more Keas! Keas are rare alpine parrots found only in New Zealand. They are one of the most intelligent birds in the world and their intelligence matches that of the most sophisticated monkeys! They were incredibly tame and great at posing for photos. Although we had to watch out as they tried to demolish our car!

We are currently staying in another lovely hostel in Arthurs Pass village after a day of beautiful walks and more Kea photography (they are awesome birds - they really really are!) and tomorrow will finish driving across the pass and arrive back in Christchurch before heading on Friday for Picton and the ferry back to the North Island! We have certainly enjoyed the South, but the warmth of the North and the trip to Australia are beckoning!

Bye for now

Love

Laura, Niall & Ruff

Queenstown & Wanaka

Hi all,

In the past week we have spent some quality time exploring the Queenstown-Wanaka region of New Zealand. Both are well known as year round resorts with plenty of adventure activites (bungy jumping, sky diving) and winter skiing on offer. It is quite evident that one could spend a fortune in these places, but we shunned this aspect of the towns and headed for the hills and the multitude of walks on offer - Ruff was especially pleased!

First up was the Queenstown Hill walk - a 3 hour round trek ascending 600 metres to a lovely vantage point with views over Lake Wakatipu (upon whose shores Queenstown resides), The Remarkables and other mountain ranges. The day prior to this had seen plenty of snow fall which made the climb a bit trickier but added significantly to the marvellous views.

The following day we set out on a more ambitious trek - a 1000 metre ascent of Ben Lomond saddle. The peak itself was off limits as, at 1700 metres, too much snow lay in our way. The day started out cloudy but cleared as we approached our destination giving magnificent alpine views in every single direction. As a reward for our efforts we allowed ourselves to dine out at one of Queenstown's many restaurants. A couple of beers, some wine, steak and lamb were devoured leaving us with a very satisfied feeling after a cracking day.

A little rest after the sharp ascent through deep snow!

From Queenstown we headed north to Wanaka. It is smaller than Queenstown and attracts a different crowd to Queenstown. Where the latter is besieged by English and Irish holidaymakers, Wanaka is home to a great many French who prefer the skiing and quieter atmosphere.

Once again we set our targets high and decided upon a trek up Mt Roy - a 1570 metre peak that would require 1100 metres+ of ascent (in just over 6 kilometers of distance). We hoped intently that the views would be worth it! In the end we need not have worried. Although the ascent was relentless the views were sublime. Not only did it feel great to reach the summit but we were witness to sun halos and iridescent clouds - quite the spectacle!

Laura and Ruff had to forge ahead to the summit as Niall had a sudden attack of nerves! But we were not going 1100m up to miss the last 10!

Asides from all the walking we have been to the cinema in Wanaka (big room with lots of comfy sofas making it a novel, but enjoyable experience). We watched Iron Man which isn't much to write home about but it did certainly allow for a good few chuckles. We also managed to watch the last few sets of the Federer v Nadal Wimbledon final - a cracker of a match that reminded us of the summer you must all be experiencing back home!

Bye for now,

Niall, Laura and Ruff

Fjordland

Hi Everyone,

The travel pace has slowed a little since the last place a we have stayed the last four nights at Te Anau - the gateway to Fjordland. We drove through yet more rain on the trip from oh so sunny Invercargill and arrived at our campsite to find that we had a cabin upgrade :-) which meant we had a TV, dining table and kitchen facilities all to ourselves! Not so luxuriously we had to go outside to the bathroom facilities - not pleasent in torrential downpours and gales!

We popped into the not too lively Te Anau town centre on Sunday afternoon and were soon suckered into paying for a coach/kayak trip on Milford Sound. So, we set our alarms on Monday morning to ensure we made the 7.45am minibus (painful when the sun doesnt rise till 8.15am and it is FREEZING!) It was nice not to drive the potentially icy, snowy road and to sit back and relax for once - especially as the Milford Road is reputed to be one of the most scenic in the world! Scenic it was! Particularly lovely were the aptly named Mirror Lakes which our drive made a photostop for.

As we arrived at the Sound any morning cloud there was, disappeared to reveal glorious blue skies - very luck for a place that gets 8m of rain a year! Changing into kayak gear was decidly chilly (Ruff wimped out at this point but did enjoying watching the Sound from the shore and chasing Keas), but once we were paddling we soon warmed up with the sun on our faces! The kayaking was glorious with stunning scenery and the odd seal to spot. Simply stunning. The day ended with the lovely return trip and plenty of photo stops with glorious waterfalls and towering peaks to be seen.

The next day we decided to head back out on the Milford Road as the road had been very driveable. We decided to tackle two walks - Key Summit (part of the Routeburn Great Walk) and Marian Lake. The first walk proved a tough one with a 400m ascent and snow and ice to contend with. We were, however, rewarded with marvellous views. The second wakl began with a stunning white water river. The walk was through difficult terrain but the forest was lovely - beautifully green with moss growing on all the trees. We didnt quite make it to the lake but he walk was lovely all the same and the weather was quickly clouding over. In view of the clouds we decided to head back to the Sound to see it in different weather. It was still beautiful but very different - moody and mysterious.

On Wednesday we awoke to torrential rain and thus abandoned our plan to walk part of the Keplar Track. In our 13th week we feel pretty chuffed to have only had to abandon our plan once - and tired from our previous days exertions we were happy enough to have a lazy day. On leaving today the weather was worsening and the Milford Road conditions becoming too difficult for our inexperience, once again our timing has been perfect. We hope there is no one doing our trip a few days behind us - they will be having a miserable time!

We have just arrived in Queenstown (a hugely popular ski/adventure resort) and it is certainly bustling and crowded - so a very different experience once again and we will update you shortly on the adventures we have had!

Laura, Niall & Ruff

Part Two: Penguins & Sea-Lions

Hi Again - If you are reading this first then please pause, scroll down and read the blog "Rugby Lows and Mountain Highs" first!

On Wednesday morning we drove from Mount Cook back to the East Coast to Oamaru and the Yellow Eyed Penguin Colony (the rarest penguins in the world) once again we were not disappointed and saw numerous ridiculously cute birds waddling in from the sea and up the cliffs to their beds. We were lucky to see four at very close quarters - but unfortunately the light was far too dim to take any good pictures.

On Thursday morning Niall was determined to get up early and head back to the penguins to try and get some good photos. Luckily the sun is rising quite late at the moment so we didn't have to be too early (8am). As we arrived the penguins were just waking up from their nights rest. We saw them waddling to and fro at incredibly close quarters. The highlight was watching a penguin couple building a nest (quite early as they don't lay eggs until August).
Once all the penguins were off for their days fishing we went back to the hostel for some breakfast before once again hitting the road for Dunedin.

Dunedin has Scottish heritage and Dunedin is actually the Gaelic for Edinburgh. As we arrived it was pretty Scottish in feel - pouring with rain and dull and gray! We set out anyway to explore the city which was pleasant enough. Niall went off to the Otago Museum where they have a simulated tropical forest with butterflies that he wanted to photograph (yes photographs again!) Laura meanwhile felt that a visit to Cadburys World was far more worthwhile - particularly due to the promise of plenty of free samples. A good time was had by all and we finished the day in very British style with beer and a Chinese takeaway.

We awoke to yet more rain on Friday morning as we planned to drive through the Catlins on the very south of the South Island. Many interesting stop offs are promised in the guide books the first of which was Nugget Point. An incredibly rugged, um, point! With a nineteenth century lighthouse, interesting rocks and big waves!

Next stop off was Cannibal Bay and the chance to see Sea-Lions. As we walked out the beach looked disappointingly empty but at the end was a solitary female sea-lion! Very exciting. She was pretty chilled out and undeterred by Niall edging closer and closer for a photo. A short walk to the next beach promised more sea-lion possibilities. This time we were really lucky! As we walked through the dunes we came across a big, fat, male sea-lion (we did not want to get too close and had to sprint past!) And also a very cute youngster having a good scratch against the rough grass. Down on the beach there were three sea-lions and they put on an exciting show as two males had a little scrap over a female (the larger of the two was the clear victor!) Niall then got a little too close and had to run for it when he reared up, growled and lunged! - See photo!
We had hoped to look around Cathedral Caves further along the coast but rough seas meant they were closed and we went, instead to McLean Falls. This was a really spectacular waterfall set in ancient forest. A really lovely place. We then moved on to Curio Bay (our home for the night) we stopped off at the very unimpressive Niagara Falls (a Kiwi joke) before arriving at our cottage. We couldn't believe our luck to be the sole occupiers of the cottage, positioned just off the beach with spectacular views and with Blue Penguin nests underneath!!! (We didn't see any though :-( ) so a cosy night was had as the wind roared, the rain poured and the waves crashed.

A pleasant but windy walk along the beach was had this morning. Some impressive waves were seen and impressive rainbows before heading off to Invercargill via a petrified forest (we couldn't see much due to high tide). Now in Invercargill the weather is still dreary and there is not too much to do, but tomorrow we head to Te Anau and the delights of Milford Sound.

Laura, Niall and Ruff!