From the Coromandel to Cape Reinga, the final NZ chapter......

So we ended up staying a couple of days in Mount Manganui, a great little beach town just to the east of Tauranga. First we had to navigate ourselves past Mothers Day where, it seemed, anyone with a heartbeat had descended into the town to quaff on cake. Whatever happened to people just staying indoors whilst their kids conjure up failed attempts at breakfast in bed?? For the next three days the weather turned increasingly nasty. If the first five or six weeks in NZ went firmly against the meteorological grain then the past week or so have been, I guess, quintessentially NZ. On Monday afternoon we headed into torrential rain and gale force winds around the bay of plenty to a place called waihi beach, a beautiful stretch of coast that unfortunately resembled, on this day anyway, childhood holidays in Swanage stuck in a dark caravan for twelve hours whilst my dad recovered from a migraine. Despite the best efforts of the weather to put a dampener on things we got a great spot in front of the crashing waves where we whiled away the hours drinking wine and playing games...oh how the real world is going to hurt. The next day we were off to do a circumnavigation of the Coromandel Peninsula, a gorgeous slice of coastline that juts out northwards east of Auckland. In the summer the population of this part of the North Island almost quadruples with an influx of tourists both domestic and foreign, but this very much being Autumn it was very quiet. Still, despite the incessant rain and battering winds we drove onwards up the west coast along a road that literally hugged the sea for 45kms where, once again, NZ's drivers proved there capability for being utter wankers (sorry mum). We decided to stay in a small place called Coromandel town which, in the daylight the day after, was a really cute little place with cool architecture inhabited by residents who wore cowboy hats and wellies. You know the type.

So onwards we went, cruising around the north of the peninsula before stopping abruptly, a few kms outside of the Coramandel's main town Whitianga at a place called Cathedral Cove. Now although NZ's tourist landmarks have been in the most part extraordinary examples of nature, some have been tediously built up for no apparent reason other than to make bystanders stop and pay for the usual tourist by-products such as ice cream or magnets. This, thankfully, wasn't one of them. Even the weather, which up until now had been horrifically bad, decided to dramatically clear to leave beautiful clear skies. The cove itself was incredible, in fact the whole area, the beach, the bay, the giant arch created by years of erosion plus a perfect waterfall that created a rainbow effect as it cascaded from the cliff-top above were all really amazing to see. Even more so due to us having the whole place to ourselves until, just as we got up to leave, a packed bus full of loud tourists got off and came traipsing down the hill. Some things just work out too well. From there we left the beautiful Coramandel to stay at a campsite literally in the middle of nowhere but which had something we would remember for a long long time. At the side of the campsite, covered by a large canvas roof was a huge thermal pool. As we were, yet again, the only people around we quickly made use of this amazing pool with one of the most spectacular night skies we have ever seen, anywhere. It was almost as if, as we lay there in 40 degree water, that a thin layer of cloud was above us intermingled in the stars but amazingly we were staring at the milky way, up there in all it's super-stellar glory, just beautiful. So on we went, yet again trailing a path northwards but this time to NZ's largest city, Auckland. In the map, on the TV, in the papers and generally among the people it is almost as if Auckland has it's own gravitational pull, dragging other towns and people into it's orbit. In reality, it feels and looks like a bigger version of Basingstoke.

After paying for a pitch at a campsite on the edge of the city run by an Indian woman who took an instant dislike to me, we were on our way into the city, via public bus! Our first impressions of Auckland's centre was that it looked about as generic as it was possible to get. I suppose it had the feeling of a smaller Melbourne just without any of the buzz. It didn't look horrible or anything just lacked the character and vibe of other cities of the same size. We spent the afternoon walking around the city centre, grabbing some coffee and sushi in the process before heading back later in the evening feeling a little bit average. As we were giving the campervan back in a few days we decided to leave Auckland behind and head north in pursuit of something more interesting. We had four days and planned to do a circumnavigation of the northland without realising, in hindsight, that this was a huge distance.

We passed some fantastic beaches on the way up and by this time, thankfully, the weather had started to change leaving a landscape that looked more South Pacific island than new Zealand. Before long we had pulled into the Bay of Islands, one of NZ's top tourist drawcards which despite the guidebook exclaiming it's overhype was absolutely stunning. Cove upon cove of deserted White sand beaches with the clearest water you could imagine. They say that 80% of the time water clarity extends ten metres or more, which is incredible if you think about it. Due to our financial situation (or lack of there of), we turned down the opportunity of a cruise but then we could see how beautiful this area was, islands included, from the shore and didn't miss out on a bloody thing. You can see why so many people come here, it was, to all intents and purposes, pure perfection.

From there we headed northwards stopping briefly at a place called Mangonui to eat quite possibly the greatest fish and chips (fosh and chops if your from New Zealand) we have ever eaten. I know I keep dishing out these superlatives (amazing, fantastic, beautiful etc) like sweets but honestly, it is all 'that good'. We shared a weird but beautifully tasting fish called a bluenose complete with traditional chips. Not gourmet by any standards but these kiwis certainly know a thing or two about fosh and chops... So all that was needed to do now was drive the 200kms to the far northern tip of the North Island, a place called Cape Reinga, a magical place where it is said Maori souls depart to the after life. It was a huge drive up there, much longer than we anticipated, but we were rewarded with the arresting sight of two bodies of water- the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean colliding together below from the elevated position atop a sheer rock face adorned by a famous lighthouse. It was the perfect place to essentially end our NZ adventure due to the sheer symmetry of visiting both the far south and far north and over 6000kms in between.

So how can we sum up our time here?? Well, we've spent 61 days in a van. 61 days where we have traversed, in most respects, the entire country. It is a country that is unspeakably beautiful, incredibly remote and populated by people that have a deep love for their country without shouting it from the rooftops. In fact its a kind of subdued patriotism where 'all blacks' flags appear not waving high from the top of a ford transit but hooked discreetly on to wooden gates in some obscure part of the country. It's also a country that never takes it self too seriously such as possum patties being sold next to an animal care clinic or condoms, lube and pleasure products sold on a supermarket display entitled 'winter relief'. In the end, we spent over two months in a van and didn't kill each other. If that isn't testament to a solid relationship then I don't know what is.

Peace and love, Tommo and shell xx

Thermal Taupo, eggtastic Rotorua and a mediocre birthday...

So at last we had made it to the centre of the North Island and it's geothermal and scientifically important centre. First up was Taupo, sat on a huge lake of the same name, the remnants of the worlds biggest volcanic eruption of the past 5,000 years. Unfortunately our luck with the weather well and truly broke here; it was awful, like a wet weekend in Runcorn. You see you can be in the most faraway, exotically sounding place in the world but unless the sun is shining and the thermometer is up, the people look miserable and everything is tinted in that off shade of grey you see most days in places like Leeds. Even so, Taupo, much like Rotorua to the north, is jam-packed full of geothermal activity and we intended to make the most of it. First up was the Craters of the Moon, a unique place that stretched for a mile or so with piping hot steam filtering out of the ground and violently boiling mud dotted around the area. It really was like being on a different planet, just one that smelt like an egg factory. Due to the incessant rain we skipped most of Taupo but did stumble upon a wicked little cafe where the owner had spent years turning the large outside space into a kind of Gaudi-esque tiled, mosaic living room. We took pictures so you can see them above.

So on we went. After a wet night in Rotorua where the van decided to leak over our heads we headed over to waka-tipu, a giant thermal wonderland complete with the famous Lady Knox geyser which, after being told by a stern official is pronounced Gii-ser rather than the often used gee-ser. It explodes everyday at 10.15, not of its own accord but by a guy pouring soap crystals down its spout! The place was staggering though, I could not do it justice by explaining other than letting you look at the photos above.

The next day we decided to get acquainted with traditional Maori culture so visited a place called by a much much longer name but shortened thankfully to waka. This village is still populated by several Maori families and lies completely on the geothermal faultline that produces so much activity. All around the village was boiling hot pools, steam and at the head of the village, two huge geysers. We started the morning by witnessing a traditional Maori dance that involved the famous Haka. I guess most people have heard of this war dance as NZ's all blacks perform it before every game, whether Maori or not. But when witnessed up close and in a traditional Maori setting it made the hairs on your neck stand up on edge. They even had an audience participation part where they looked around for a volunteer (please don't pick us, please don't pick us) and opted for Bill from Ohio to perform the Maori greeting of pressing noses together. Our guide that day was brilliant, he showed us everything from the way the village is run through a network of chiefs and tribal councils to how the village all use the geothermal pit in the middle of the village to do all of their cooking (a whole chicken steamed to perfection in ten minutes!).

So there we go, another famous part of the world ticked off and memories secure! The next day was my birthday which promised so much but unfortunately delivered so little, unless you count a lot of toilet stops. Essentially my attempt at making eggs benedict in the camper wasn't the greatest idea, nor was it a good idea to do a 9km run up mostly steep hills the day before, silly boy! Whichever it was that made me feel bad I spent most of my day on a library toilet. We then drove north to Mount Mangunui where, brilliantly, we spent the night drinking champagne in a holiday park full of empty caravans. Not exactly the birthday dreams are made of but memorable nonetheless... Anyway, just over a week now until we move on to Fiji. I think it is safe to say we are definitely starting to get excited about beaches again! Hope everyone is well and you have all put the finishing touches to your 'what we are going to do when shell and Tom return' itineraries. Much love xx

Marlborough wine tasting, windy Welly & the Art Deco streets of Napier....

Five weeks we had now been on the south island and I think we were both ready to move on, over the Cook Strait to the North Island. Before that though we had one last thing we needed to do, wine tasting!

We had been looking forward to this for a very long time, not least due to shells fascination (I want to say addiction- just not in the AA sense) with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

We booked ourselves into a great little backpackers that let us park our campervan so we could still sleep in it which made it much cheaper. The guys that ran it, a lovely old couple, were like a long lost aunty and uncle. They called us by our first names and told us to be careful as we sped off on our bicycles in search of our first wineries.

There are over thirty wineries in the area so unfortunately we could only visit a handful of them but as we were later to find out, that would be more than enough.

So we left in the morning after one of the coldest nights I can remember and off into the vines, sliding effortlessly along perfectly flat roads until we reached our first cellar door, Cloudy Bay. The place was simply immaculate, decked out in mock Mediterranean paraphernalia. To be fair, they were all stunning so it would be a bit boring to explain them all to you but let's just say this, we had a staggering day, literally.

I think our favourites were Allan Scott and Giesen but we learnt so much that day from all of the wineries that simply drinking a glass of wine will never be the same again. For instance, the location of the wineries is paramount to the taste that you want to acquire. Riverside vineries will acquire a fuller-bodied wine due to the clay content of the soil whereas Coastal wineries will be cleaner with a slight metallic taste due to the mineral deposits found next to the coast. And so on and so forth...we learnt so much and spoke to so many different people that if you'd asked us at that point to drop our respective careers and head into winemaking, we'd have chewed your arm off.

The day after, feeling pretty awful after drinking wine for ten hours straight we headed around the glorious Marlborough Sounds, a maze of unspeakably beautiful little coves and beaches which, in the glorious sunshine, looked more than perfect. It would be the perfect antidote to what we had coming the next day, the famously rough Cook Strait crossing from South to North islands.

It was awful. No matter where we sat or stood on the boat it really didn't matter, the huge ferry rocked violently from side to side. To be fair, the first hour of the journey was just beautiful as we wound our way around the serene Queen Charlotte Sound, part of the incredible Marlborough Sounds.

After three hours we finally arrived on the North Island and into NZ's famously windy capital, Wellington. Thankfully for us it wasn't too windy but instead was bloody freezing! It was sunny and clear but so cold, like one of those crisp winter days we sometimes get back home. Anyway, we stayed in Welly for a couple of nights as it was a cool little city. It had a really interesting waterfront where the huge national museum, Te Papa sat and also a few microbreweries serving really delicious beer. Welly itself had some wicked little places to eat including tonnes of little Asain noodle houses where we ate really cheaply (for NZ) on roti chennai (that amazing Malaysian concept we ate every morning in Kuala Lumpur), spicy Hokkien noodles and spring rolls.

It was almost like a much smaller version of Manhatten in a way. The whole city, despite it's small size, just seemed to have a really nice feel about it. A really interesting place full of weird architecture, strange people and awesome food. Not a bad place to spend a couple of cold days in.

Anyway, from there we faced a five hour drive, cross country to the east coast through what can only be described as a part of the world that has absolutely nothing to offer. If we thought, as we do in the UK, that we are the only country in the world to suffer from a shite culture of fast food joints and aggressive looking youngsters in stupid looking cars then, if this area has anything to go by, we would be gladly mistaken. New Zealand is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but just like Australia you can't help but feel that when you leave the main cities and drive through the small towns, you are looking at people who still collect gollywogs.

For the next few days we spent our time in Hastings and Napier, two pretty towns sat along Hawkes Bay, a huge sweeping bay that resembles, to me anyway, a big bite of an apple.

We stayed a night in Hastings, but only to pay a visit to it's local farmers market, one of NZ's most famous. It was, as markets go, up there with the best of them. We bought some amazing bread and stocked up on fresh veg and tried a plethora of foods such as black pudding, sausage, houmous, Turkish bread, all locally produced in the region. You see, the greatest thing about these markets is that the people who attend them seem to take them more seriously. This in turn helps the Market to shed the novelty factor and in doing so brings down the prices. Which is the reason these markets should operate in the first place, to bring fresh and interesting produce to the general public, at affordable prices.

Up next was Napier, a town obliterated in the 30s by an earthquake and rebuilt in the art deco style of the day. amazingly, due to superb planning and conservation, every single building still remains to make the biggest concentration of art deco buildings in the world. It's fantastic to be around, it almost makes you want to walk around with a swagger and a tommy gun.

Hawkes bay is also a hugely successful wine producing area and Napier, being it's centre, provided us with yet more opportunity to divulge! It was here where we got the opportunity to do an interactive wine tasting. We had to pick from White or red, we chose White, and got ushered into a room that resembled a small theatre. In front of us was six White wines which, when the film started to play, all became apparent. We were essentially flown around six different wine producers who told us all about their wines whilst we drank. Amazing! Next up, was a tour around the aroma room. Essentially, every different kind of aroma you could acquire from a wine. From citrus to stone fruits, toast to leather. They even had soil and horse to represent which smell you would associate with an off wine. It really was fantastic stuff.

We spent two days in sunny Napier, taking in the town and planning our last month and a half on the road. It's a fair old distance to most places in NZ but if you ever get the chance, go to Napier, you will not be disappointed.

As for us, we are both really well. Looking forward to our last couple of weeks here and exploring the geothermal wonderlands!

Hope some of you are still reading on, we'll be doing tests when we return...

Much love. Tommo and shell xxxx

Whale watching, beer tasting and mussel chomping in Marlborough and Nelson...

It all feels a little strange really. We've been in NZ now for a month and we've had, believe it or not, only one day which was slightly wet- even then it was only a shower. Not bad for a wet country in the midst of Autumn! Everyday has just been beautiful, cold nights for sure but clear skies every day. Easy to get used to! With that in mind we parted Christchurch for a second time but this time heading north towards the wine regions and all that Sauvignon Blanc! First up was a small town a few kilometres inland from the Coastal highway, Hanmer Springs. As the Easter holidays had now finished and all of NZ were seemingly tucked up in their homes, the town was eerily quiet. Anyway, the next day we did what came out here for and paid our entrance money to spend the day in a series of geothermal hot pools. There were around twenty pools in total ranging from everyday jacuzzis to large, open hotpools, all between 35-40 degrees celcius. Apart from being stared at for the entire time by a strange lifeguard and sharing the pools with what seemed like New Zealand's entire nursing home population we had an awesome time, we came out like shrivelled prunes!

From the beauty of Hanmer Springs we drove onwards towards the coast past, amazingly, Sheffield, Rotherham and Chesterfield (really) and towards Kaikoura, a place most famous for it's abundance of wildlife, especially its whale population. It seems, according to our guide the next morning, that from the beach the sea depth is only around 80 metres and then all of a sudden, around a kilometre from the beach, drops almost 800 metres due to a huge continental shelf. Ocean currents then push nutrients that would otherwise lay at the bottom of the sea up from depths of nearly a kilometre to the relative shallow waters above. This creates a perfect feeding ground for large deep ocean marine life to feed so close to the shore. Although we've nearly run out of money we knew that whale watching would be one of those things, whatever the cost, that we just had to do. It was expensive but then the three hours we spent on the boat were some of the most memorable we have spent..anywhere. After getting to the freezing wharf just before sunrise we waited for the boat to pick us up and take us out to sea. As we stood there the sea and sky in front of us turned a kaleidoscope of different colours as the sun slowly but surely climbed its way over the sea's horizon. Reds, oranges and deep purples slowly appeared and the bright sun on our faces told us that we would soon stop shivering. Momentous news. Soon enough we were on the boat with a crew made up of genial Maori's, all explaining what we would be doing over the next few hours. After about ten minutes we caught our first glimpse of native wildlife as we sailed passed a pod of maybe a hundred dolphins, all vying to gain our attention. The guys only gave us five minutes to get acquainted with these beautiful animals before we were off again, in search of bigger mammals, a great sign of things to come.

After searching for maybe an hour (by a guy sticking a specially made piece of sound equipment to pick up whale communication in the water) we saw our first sight of this most impressive of animals, a giant, twenty-five metre Sperm Whale. We stood there on the top deck just staring. What a sight. It's in moments like these, on a boat in the Pacific, looking at one of the worlds biggest animals, that you understand exactly why you are here. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of gentle lolling we were informed by the captain that our whale had, well, fallen to sleep. We did return an hour or so later but by this point the whale was in an even deeper sleep, so much so that he was now vertical in the water with his scar strewn head bobbing gently out of the water. Different to what we expected but fantastic to see. On the way back, as if we had not already seen enough, we were lucky enough to see a huge albatross, a seal, many more dolphins and a shark. Such a great morning. One of the best.

In the afternoon, after our early morning exploits we found the nearest coffee shop and refuelled for a circumnavigation around the Kaikoura Peninsula, one of NZ's great walks. It didn't disappoint. We walked around the coastline for three hours in a large loop finishing 11 kilometres later back at the campervan. The walk took us past some of the old whaling grounds where we stood slack jawed after learning of the old whaling techniques at the turn of the last century. At least we finally got to know where, "there she blows!!" came from. From Kaikoura we headed north and into wine country. We had entered Marlborough district. One of the places we had both sat dreaming about on our sofa before we set off last September. Unfortunately, as the weather looked a bit dodgy for the next few days we decided to leave the wine-tasting-by-bicycle for a few days until something a bit calmer was forecast. So on we went, past Blenhiem and onwards towards Nelson, NZ's oldest town. On the way, due it's popularity and the fact that is just sounded so godamn tasty, we stopped in Havelock for some of NZ's famous Green Lipped Mussels. Moules Marinere this definitely wasn't. These buggers were monsters! If you can imagine the size of a normal mussel, you got it? Well these were five times bigger than what you've got in your head right now. The pot had 15 of these in and we struggled. Although they were delicious.

Over in Nelson, the streets were packed with local producers selling they're wears at the biggest farmers Market I had ever seen. It was awesome, school children reciting Maori songs and dances including a spine chilling rendition of the Haka (don't look in their eyes!). We wandered around in a food and drink induced haze, intoxicated by wave after wave of amazing smells. Tantalising of course, but to save money we headed back to the camper for soup, truly heartbreaking! Anyway, Nelson was a cool little town with a funky local population and some awesome looking buildings, apparently NZ's oldest. on our way out of town we visited one of the many micro-breweries in the area to do a beer tasting. We were given six beers in total, the full spectrum of pale ales to heavy stouts and sat there pretending we knew exactly what we were talking about, "mmm very hoppy this one shell"....think we had a clear winner though.

From Nelson we ventured further around the coast to one of NZ's most visited tourist sites, Abel Tasman National Park. Looking more like the Thai islands than a windy south Pacific outpost the colours in this area were out of this world. Although we didn't have the time or money to do the full 60km Coastal trek (you had to pay for water taxis to take you to the start point) we managed to do a three hour trek and get a good feel of the area. The park is made up of desolate, pristine White sand beaches and beautiful little islands. Shame we picked a freezing day to see it all! So there we go, another immensely packed week on limited funds! We've had to make the executive decision to change our flight date back to the UK as we've already mentioned, were nearly out of money! Still, we figure there would be no better place to be skint than Fiji! It will only be a couple of weeks early though-nothing drastic! Anyway, love to you and happy Mayday, Tommo and shello xx

A mouse, jetboating and getting chilly at the glaciers....

From the majesty of Milford Sound we travelled back down the Milford highway for about 40kms, through the 2km Homer Tunnel to a small and very rural little campsite called Cascade Creek, run by the DOC. to say it was dark when the sun went down would be an understatement of mythical proportions. You could not see a sausage. Also, due to parking up with no one around and next to a large, dense forest seemed to give the whole thing a bit of the Blair Witch effect. To compensate for the lack of any light the night sky was simply staggering, a superlative justified on this occasion as we saw satellites, constellations and shooting stars. Back inside the van, after settling down for the night trying to ignore the various unsettling noises surrounding the van I noticed out of the corner of my eye, whilst we watched a movie, a small friend had joined us. A small and not-so-timid mouse. I thought I was seeing things but knew what I had seen. And so started the worst night I can think of. Seven hours of trying to hit a small rodent in my pants with a wooden spoon. I'll leave you with that thought for a while. The next morning, with our little friend seemingly on board (he had probably fallen after all his excitement sleep bless him) we headed onwards and towards Queenstown, stopping briefly in Te Anau for coffee. After a couple of hours and after passing at least two Lord of the Rings film locations we reached Queenstown. We had heard about Queenstown a lot both in the guidebooks and from other people, essentially based around it's popularity as an adventure sports Mecca. What no one mentioned was how stunningly beautiful it was too. After spending a night in a horrible campsite that had both the look and atmosphere of a building site crossed with a drug-fuelled youth club we ventured out the next morning and out into Queenstown to explore it's salubrious surroundings. It was beautiful, and made even more so by the time of year. With it being Autumn the trees had turned a multitude of different colours and leaves littered the floor and gathered in big clumps. The smells were amazing.

Anyway, despite it's beauty, Queenstown is, as mentioned, a place where exhilaration is what people come for. So with that fact in mind we scoured the vast array of activities on offer and decided that as a treat we would pay for a jetboat ride that would take us at insane speeds across the lake and along an adjacent river. It was unbelievable, roaring along at around 60mph in water no deeper than a couple of inches. Awesome stuff. From there we took a self guided tour around the town then headed west through another stretch of truly amazing road until we reached Twelve Mile Delta, a stunning conservation campsite situated next to lake Wakatipu. Just another in the long line of stunning locations we have been fortunate enough to wake up in. The next morning, after a brief visit into Queenstown for coffee we headed north down a half-forgotten dirt road for around half an hour until we reached Lake Moke. It was another perfectly sunny day so we whacked on the walkers and started out on a 8km lake walk. We even had the energy to run the last two or three kms together, Shell running-believe it!

We ended up staying around the lake that night as it was just too beautiful to move. The lake, almost split in two by a jut of land was two separate colours on each side and was circled by pristine hills on both sides. Unfortunately, it's geography, come night time, was it's ultimate downfall. The way the hills enclosed the valley and lake meant that cold air being pushed down became trapped. This meant that an already cold night was made so much colder. The ranger the morning after told me that it had got down to -4. Not record breaking I know but when living out of a metal box it was painful, literally. The next morning we left the beautiful Queenstown behind and headed for Arrowtown, a small but perfectly formed little place that seemed to have everything just right, maybe too right. Almost like a show home. It was a complete humdinger for tourists but then hey, it was beautiful. After drinking coffee in another great little place we took a walk around the town finishing down at the Chinese settlement. These little stone cottages, almost 150 years old were used by Chinese gold prospectors who not only had to compete with the brutally cold winters but also a local population who despised their presence. Fascinating stuff.

From there I convinced Shell to go for a hike, one mentioned in the guidebook as moderate to hard that would take 3-4 hours. I can safely say that in nearly nine years of our relationship I have never seen Shell so momentously pissed off. To be fair, once again the walk started steeply. In fact for about an hour we snaked up hill through a gorge in between two mountains until we reached a plateau at the top. By this time Shell was convinced that we were lost and were going to have to call the mountain rescue or something but we kept walking and eventually got to the end. We even passed a couple of seasoned hikers who looked at Shell in one of those 'are you a little bit insane' kind of ways. Anyway, from Arrowtown we once again headed north towards Wanaka, another stunningly beautiful town set beside a large lake, lake Wanaka. After travelling so hard for a few days it was really nice to relax for a day so decided to stay an extra night and check out Wanaka's most famous thing to do, Puzzleworld. It was astonishingly good. Essentially two halves, one was dedicated to illusions and tricks of the mind (we will try to attach videos) and the other half to a huge fenced maze. We had a great time here despite the hoards of irritating children (NZ Easter holidays) and totally rolled back our inner child once again.

Before leaving Wanaka we decided to drive the tedious 40km down a very rocky gravel track to a small car park deep within the mountains. This would be the start of the Rob Roy glacier trek, 10km of paths of which over half were uphill. At the end lies Rob Roy Glacier, a huge foreboding arc of ice surrounding by dramatic rock formations. Once again we pummelled our way through the trek, the first half was a good workout but we made it to the top to be met by yet another stunning vista. They are never ending. From there we drove for around three hours to catch a sight of, in the late afternoon, Fox Glacier. We parked up then set off on the 2km walk to the ice terminal (front of the ice shelf). Although mightily impressive, it had that same dirty tinge that we had seen at the other glaciers we had visited, probably the worst time of year to see them. Still, to see such momentous examples of the power of nature literally a couple of kms from the roadside and more amazingly, from the sea, is something which makes it even more remarkable. The next morning, after our usual coffee fix at one of the little alpine cafes (real coffee snobs by now) we headed out for part two of glacier watch, this time to Franz Josef. Arguably more impressive than Fox due it's size it was amazing to see and even more impressive how these beasts had gouged out huge valleys, with sheer, jagged rock faces on each side. We could only get 500 metres away from the shelf due to safety concerns after two Indian tourists jumped over the fence to 'get a closer look' at the glaciers in 2009. Turns out a piece of ice, about as big as my mum and dads 4x4 landed on them. Only one body was recovered. Idiots.

From the glaciers we once again followed the road north, this time for almost 300kms up the lonely and desolate west coast stopping briefly in small Coastal towns including Hokitika. What we haven't mentioned yet, I don't think so anyway, is the royal nuisance that are sandflies. They are pretty much everywhere in NZ but especially along the wetter west coast these demons are just horrible. Smaller than mosquitoes, they only bite during the day and are, fall all of their nuisance, slow as f**k. You feel a tiny bit of pain and see the little black buggers enjoying a bit of leg. Fortunately, if you are walking, which is pretty much all the time here, you can outpace them as they are incredibly slow. Our legs have literally been covered in bites from these pests though and they itch more than mozzie bites, arrrrrggh! Anyway from the West Coast we then drive inland and over the desolate and foreboding Arthurs Pass, a remote wilderness area that connects pretty much the entire west coast with Christchurch, on roads you wouldn't want to take a soapbox down in. We even passed the remnants of a huge accident where a huge lorry had smashed through the barriers and down a sheer drop. The roads here are crazy! Just so you know, Shell did an exceptional job of winding our way through the slalom roads and delivered us, after stopping for the night next to a lake, in beautiful Christchurch. So there we go, pretty much full circle of the south island before we head up to Marlborough and all that wine! We've had to come back to Christchurch to swap the van as old mousey I was telling you about, well, he just doesn't want to end his free trip. Anyway, as I'm sure you can tell we continue to drive, jive and thrive in this wondrous land. Ta ta for now. Love Tommo and shello xxxx

Abundant wildlife, the Catlin wilderness and Milford Sound... (7th-15th April)

After an amazing time on the peninsula, we continued our journey south along the southern scenic highway and boy did it live up to it's name!

We made a quick pit stop in Dunedin to walk up the worlds steepest street. Honestly, you can't even imagine the incline of this street. From the bottom, the top section of the road looked almost vertical! We managed to walk up along with the many crazy drivers revving their cars so to reach the top - I'm pleased we left the van at the bottom. On the way back down we picked up our certificate, yes really, just in case you didn't believe us! Apparently there's a race every year called the gutbuster where people run up and down the street for fun, they must be mad!

Thanks to the good old lonely planet guide and the mass of leaflets we've managed to accumulate, we set out towards the catlins. It's an area renowned for fantastic scenery and wildlife encounters so we were both really looking forward to exploring the area.

Following our guide books, we pulled off the highway to make the perilous and somewhat bumpy drive to Nugget point. I'm loving driving the van but on nice smooth Tarmac roads, not narrow gravel tracks! The view from the lighthouse at the top was well worth the drive despite being battered by the wind. We found some shelter in the bird hide just before dusk to watch the yellow eyed penguins ride the waves back to dry land and waddle to their nests. We didn't have the best view due to gigantic zoom lenses and tripods everywhere you moved but we were pleased to catch a glimpse of a few before heading to our campsite for the night.

The next day, in search of our daily coffee fix, we found quite possibly the weirdest front garden we've ever seen. The garden was named 'teapot land' and was crammed full of any and every type of teapot you could think of, all neatly stacked and 'artistically' arranged around a water feature, strange people!

We continued along the scenic highway and stupidly decided to visit every 'brown tourist signed' attraction that we came to on the drive to our next campsite. It seemed like a great idea at the time..... We visited 4 waterfalls (all very beautiful and hidden deep inside amazing forests), 1 blowhole (a subterranean cave where the roof has collapsed), 2 beaches (deserted but lovely) and an old disused tunnel (creepy with a good echo). By the time we reached our campsite at curio bay we were exhausted! I was very excited though as we found out that there were penguins making an appearance down at the beach. We rushed down there and soon found ourselves up close and personal with the penguins. It was So much better than the day before as we were pretty much stood right next to them on the beach instead of being crammed into a bird hide. A Truly amazing experience and even better that it was all for free, no tours needed, bonus!

The following morning at low tide, we checked out the 'petrified fossil forest'. Basically it's a whole load of tree stumps and trunks that have been fossilised and uncovered by the sea. Tom loved it and spent ages clambering across the rocks and fossils whereas I spent my time watching out for more penguins!! We also ventured to the cathedral caves, which again can only be seen at low tide. They were huge caves in the cliff faces and got pretty dark and scary the further back you went. We forgot to take a torch, typical so ventured as far as we dared before chickening out and heading back! Our last stop on the catlins scenic trail was slope point, the most southernly point of the country. We took the obligatory photos as we stared out into the vast ocean in front of us. Crazy to think that the next land mass you would reach would be the antarctic!

Having fully experienced the catlins, we headed towards a place called te anau on the heart of fiordland. The landscape here was just amazing and I found it difficult to concentrate on the driving as all I wanted to do was take it all in. Luckily, there were lots of stops and Tom took lots of photos along the way, in fact I actually can't stop him taking photos (he's taken over my job!)

After checking out the town, we made our way to a place called rainbow reach (where there was actually a rainbow) to attempt to walk a section of the famous keppler track. It was a beautiful walk through forests and past some lord of the rings filmsets! Although I have to be honest, most of the scenery in NZ looks as though it's straight from the lord of the rings movie so who's to know the difference?!?

Having recovered from our walk the previous day, we set out on a 2 hour journey along the Milford highway. It is supposed to be one of the best drives in the world and we can definitely see why! The drive takes you into the heart of fiordland and allows you to access the stunning Milford sound at the end. The drive was pretty scary at times, horrifically windy roads and a huge dark tunnel that seemed vertical at points, through a mountain. We booked ourselves onto a scenic cruise and spent the next few hours being wowed by the completely amazing scenery. I don't think the photos do it justice at all. The sheer size of the fiord, the mountains and huge waterfalls either side was incredible! We were also lucky enough to spot some dolphins and seals from the top deck of the boat too. All in all a fantastic experience that I would totally recommend!

So that's us up to date for now and a very rare update from me I know, will have to pull my finger out! We are both happy, healthy and still very much living the dream :)

Love to you all, shello & Tommo x x x x

Finding 'big' things in a very Scottish looking New Zealand...

So with our introduction to campervan living going smoothly we left the confines of the beautiful Akaroa and drove on to another small campsite before leaving the area. Turns out this campsite, although we'd pretty much stumbled upon it, was slightly insane. I think we may have said this before about another place but it was like walking into our friend Clarky's head. The campground itself was small but had many bits and pieces coming off it. The stream which cut through it was flanked on both sides by furniture, small sofas, wicker chairs, seats shaped like eggs hanging from trees and even a chaise-long. As we ventured further into the trees we stumbled upon another area of weirdness, a giant mud toboggan. This area also had a wooden stage. We went further. At the top, with fantastic views down the valley were two white single sofa's, comfy chairs to watch a perfect sunset. Awesome. Bit of a strange place but a great find, seems perfectly set up for a small boutiquey festival or the setting for a bad dream.

That night we would start to feel the cold. This being essentially NZ's equivalent of October things are starting to feel very autumnal. Although the days are beautifully sunny in the most part, the nights have been clear but chillingly cold. Still, the bed in the camper is humungous! We just have to sleep in our wooly hats...

So the next morning we were on our way, this time away from the Christchurch area and out into NZ proper. We had planned to stay a night in a place called Methven but after arriving got the feeling that this wasn't really a place worth staying, not unless the rusty hammer museum took your fancy. From there we headed on to an area on the edge of the alps called Peel Forest. Completely deserted and totally devoid of other tourists we paid the DoC (department of conservation) fee and settled in for the night. The next morning we woke early to take on a trek through ancient Podocarp forests, essentially trees that have been untouched since the age of the dinosaurs. We walked though steep forest tracks, mostly in thick mud for about seven kilometres. We even managed to get a hug off of one of the worlds biggest trees, a massively impressive Totara. It was just one of those moments when we just both stood there slack jawed for what was in front of us. It just made you realise, in some little way, how small and insignificant we are when measured up to the size and significance of these remarkable trees, some more than 1000 years old.

From there we travelled through a mix of backward and interesting towns until we reached our next destination, Lake Tekapo. All along the national highway, never bigger than one lane. After pulling off the main highway we were introduced to a lake of the most stunning blue you can think of, much like the rest of NZ's water. Turns out what makes it so blue is actually a type of thick sediment ironically making most of NZ's lakes very unclear, Birmingham has unclear water's but they don't look like that! Anyway dodging past the hoards of Asian tourists we visited the Church of the Good Shepard, a small but amazingly positioned church sat strikingly on the edge of the lake. Also, a few hundred metres away sat a tall bronze statue dedicated towards the collie dog, apparently so instrumental to the success of the area as a major wool producer, from the sheep, not the dog.

Lake Tekapo is also famous for it's clear night sky with it being surrounded by tall mountains and being so far from any largish town. The skies here were astonishing, not quite as clear as when we were in Laos but clear nonetheless. Problem was that it was so cold outside, maybe something approaching freezing, that it made standing outside with your neck tilted a bit of a tough one. Still, at least the old man in the next campervan next to us would fill us with happiness. Or maybe not. Essentially the guy has cancer and his daughter, who he travelled with to this part of the world a few years ago, died of cancer too, so he was basically on some kind of nostalgic trip. Naturally, we felt so sorry for this poor guy but he talked about death in a way that made us both just want to sit in the dark for a very long time. In the end, and I think this is where you have to salute the guy, you just have to see the funny side. Not bad going for 8am.

The next chapter of our journey involved a long trip down a road that seemed to have not a hint of a bend for 80km. Fortunately the views were just out of this world. We had arrived at Mount Cook, Australasia's tallest mountain.

After posting our site fees through the letterbox we parked literally below one of the surrounding glaciers. Waking the next morning was just unbelievable with the sun shining directly on it with a distinct chill still in the air. In fact in the dark it just looked spooky, like a giant, silent White monster. The next morning we took on the three and a half hour trek to its base which happened to be the remnants of a huge glacier. In the lake below were icebergs which had fallen off the adjacent glacier but this being right at the end of the summer meant that the ice had been more than taken over by dirt and debris from the surrounding area which gave the whole scene a bit if a messy look, it still looked amazing. Before driving on we also did a short 40 minute climb over to the Tasman glacier, the Southern hemispheres biggest. Although staggeringly huge and visually arresting we found the same issues here as with Mount Cook, the time of year meant a distinct lack of glowing white.

All in all the area was beautiful, we'd never really seen snow capped mountains before and now we have seen a whole park full of them. To wake up to that will be hard to beat anywhere.

From the middle of the country we took a long drive south eastwards towards a town called Oamaru. On the way we passed even more mountains and huge lakes and our first sighting of NZ's famous winery's. Upon arriving in Oamaru it seemed like we had pulled into a horror movie set. The fog horrifically dense and the locals peered through the mist like League of Gentleman extras, it did not look inviting. Even so, we checked into a site, whacked on some hot food and bedded in for the night. Fortunately the next morning we were greeted with a much more appealing proposition. Oamaru is a great place to spend a day. Within five minutes of parking up a guy whizzed past on a penny farthing, this would set the scene for the next few hours. Essentially, Oamaru contains the highest number of preserved Edwardian and Victorian buildings of anywhere in the southern hemisphere. Harbour street, it's main historic thoroughfare, essentially had not changed one iota since maybe 1887. It was extremely surreal but highly appealing. 150% better than the night before!

From there we headed south towards Dunedin, stopping in briefly to check out the Moeraki boulders, around two dozen perfectly cylindrical boulders that seemed to be placed in patterns half submerged in the sea. After driving for another 20kms or so we also stopped in at Shag Point named appropriately for it's native bird species it still made for a good cheap photo laugh. This stretch of coastline also houses several important colonies of fur seal, it was fantastic to see them up close as well as a very rare species of penguin called the Yellow eye. In fact all of Otago, the state we are now in, houses nearly all of NZ's marine animals, mainly due to it's location further south and being the biggest land mass between here and say, the Antarctic. Unfortunately for shell, the worlds biggest penguin fan, they didn't start waddling in until after dark. Unfortunately we couldn't wait that long, we had a city to visit!

I don't know what we were expecting to find in Dunedin, but whatever it was it certainly isn't there. Grey, depressing and dull. I think we envisioned a small Edinburgh or maybe even a few cobbled streets. I think we were just a bit stupid. It has some fantastic architecture but it really did feel like a place at the edge of the world. We couldn't wait to leave.

So there you go, Dunedin is the gateway to the Otago Peninsula, which is where we currently reside. A beautiful stretch of land that has the feel of an island. It is jam packed full of seals, sea lions, penguins and albatrosses which are all free to explore in the many inlets and secluded beaches. Apparently David Bellamy has called it an environmental marvel and you can't get a bigger recommendation than that.

Tomorrow we head as far south as it is possible to get in NZ and will be the furthest from home we will have ever been and is possible to get. Ironically, it is here, among the rolling hills, the changing colours of the trees and the weather beaten faces that we feel as close to home as we have for seven months.

Happy chocolate egg weekend. All our love and if anyone reads this, we miss you all a lot. Tommo and Shello xxxx

EFE the campervan, 'scenic' mountain hikes and sunshine on the Banks Peninsula...

At last! Our two month nomadic journey around the land of the long White cloud was upon us. We have been waiting for this part with eagerness for a long time, maybe even as far back as when we left university, some six or seven years ago now. Although we have literally had the time of our lives so far on this trip I think it was this, the idea of full independence intertwined with the potential of a country as majestic and inspiring as it is possible to get that we have been looking forward to the most.

Anyway, after leaving our brother and sister, Teeny and Rowan, we headed down to Brisbane airport with one of Rowan's friends Blakey, another awesome chap who had kindly offered to take us on the hour or so journey south as he was off to see his mum in Brisbane.

After saying our goodbyes we got through immigration and onto flight number one to Sydney with Qantas. Although only an hour and a half the plane was huge and full of business men and women. What was also great and totally unexpected was that they were trialling giving all passengers brand new Ipads to use for the in flight entertainment, absolutely awesome! We whiled away the short distance watching An Idiot Abroad and thinking how much, even to the fucking idiots, travelling can do to the soul.

After initially being refused to check in for our connecting flight we were rushed through and soon enough we were on our second flight of the day, finally over to Christchurch, our first stop on our NZ roadtrip.

Now as you may have heard, Christchurch has been hit by several deadly earthquakes over the past eighteen months so we were expecting some lasting damage and continuing repairs. It would be completely astonishing then to find the vast majority of the city, especially the CBD, completely in ruin. The city actually suffered from five devastating earthquakes which caused the critical damage and loss of life but over 10,000 aftershocks have been felt in the last year alone. We booked a guide to take us out the following day, a big Old typical Kiwi called Al who took us out in his van to show us his city. Although obviously an attractive city it is an unfortunate reality that it's most unique sight is it's sheer destruction, a continuous story of what was there before. Al was a good man and showed us everything we needed to see both in and around the city, including Littleton, a town on the other side of the hill where the original frontier men founded the city and it's surrounding towns in 1840. Although Littleton and it's surroundings were stunning the depressing reality was that Christchurch was essentially a ghost town. We have never known a city be so devoid of, well, people. Only the sound of the demolition vehicles gave any hint of any sort if civilisation. In fact it is this last point which provides so much disdain for the local population. Due to finicky and overly bureaucratic insurance companies buildings aren't allowed to be demolished in the traditional sense but taken down piece by piece, taking care to save all of the furnishings. It's crazy that although the quakes happened over a year ago, to look at it could have been last Tuesday.

Anyway, after a couple of nights in the worlds most comfortable room (shell fell in love with the bed), we were off to pick up our baby. The campervan that we would be living and travelling with for the next 56 nights. Her name, beautifully, is EFE. we love her.

After being shown the ropes by the excellent guys at the rental company we were on our way, first stop to the supermarket to fill our EFE up with bounty. It's a sad reality that of all the things we were looking forward to, doing our first campervan shop was high on the list. What horrifically sad people we have become. After stocking up on beautiful NZ wine and something called food we were on our way, on the road for two months. It didn't take long for Shell to get used to things. After a tearful start, which was probably due to not eating anything till 2pm more than anything, shell was flying around the roads between Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula, our first stop.

We opted for a small and rural campsite in a place called okains Bay. It had nothing but pine filled, unpowered pitches but it was bliss. So silent except for the lapping ocean which we had to ourselves, right on our campervan doorstep. We set off for a walk around the desolate beach before heading back to our campervan to cook our first campervan meal and to well, soak up the surroundings. What has taken us so long to do this kind of thing???? We are in our absolute element.

The next day we were up early and full of energy and excitement so we put on our walking gear and headed around the coast on a half eroded old wharf path that used to be used by whalers at the turn of the century. Although not too long it made for some heart pumping moments! On the way back we found the small campsite had installed a huge flying fox, basically a huge zipwire, so like the big children that we are proceeded to spend the rest of the morning in a fun-filled haze.

That afternoon we drove up and over the huge hill and down into Akaroa, a stunningly beautiful natural harbour with a town of the same name as it's focal point. We decided to stay at the campsite on the hill looking down on the town and the harbour. Apparently it's one of the best places to stay on the south island and they did not lie! Of all the places to wake up in the morning we cant think of anywhere more striking or beautiful, especially lately as the weather since we arrived in NZ has been awesome.

Anyway, today would be the day that would test our relationship the most. Akaroa harbour, the place we are staying, lies at the bottom of a steep valley, formed by two huge volcanoes millions of years ago. Thing is, these peaks that surround it are indescribably beautiful and the views from the top were supposed to be even better. I tried my hardest to get Shell excited for the trip up the mountain but the look of sheer dread was just too hard to shift. In all fairness, I don't think I've ever walked up something so steep. With most steep hikes you are most likely going to start somewhere approaching a quarter of the way up, we started, naturally, from ground zero. It was a momentous ask really, even for the keen rambler. Amazingly, Shell battled through the pain and leg breaking, constant climb until we reached the summit. We were actually supposed to betaking a track across the tops to finish in a big circle but got lost, somehow, down a very long and overgrown sheep track. Turns out these sheep are the luckiest around as they get to potter around with one of the most beautiful backdrops behind them. Feeling sheep like ourselves, we plonked down and fell to sleep among the mountain top grass (it was like a soft mattress) and all in the beautifully warming sun.

This place, already, has gripped us like a vice. No wonder people look at us with eyes of envy when we tell them we have two months here. Get in.

All for now, Shello and Tommo xxx

Home brew, beaches and new family on the not-so-Sunshine Coast...

So after our nine day road trip camping all the way from Canberra to Brisbane we finally arrived at Teeny and Rowan's house, in a small town called Mooloolah, around 80kms north of Brisbane.

This part of the world is called the Sunshine Coast and compared to the monstrosity further south, the Gold Coast, it seemed beautiful. We'd gone past the Gold Coast on our way back which surely lays claim to having the highest number of bogans per square mile than any other place on earth. 'Bogan' being the Aussie equivalent of chavvy, maybe more wide-reaching though. It is interesting to witness how such a term of insult can be used in so many different ways, especially in a country that claims to live above the old English class stereotype. Over here bogan encapsulates a whole section of people but most notably the singlet (vest) wearing, rugby league supporting blokes. The Sunshine Coast, it seems, has a lack of them.

We've been here about a week and a half now and have loved every minute. The weather has been slightly tempestuous but where hasn't in Australia! The area we are in, The Sunshine Coast, even made national headlines last Friday after flash foods hit the area after a few days of squalid rain. And boy did it rain.

Despite the rain in our first week here we managed to do and see a lot. We went sea fishing down on Caloundra beach, Caloundra being the nearest beachside town, where I managed to catch a huge crab that flatly refused to let go of the fishing rod. After much persuasion he gave me his entire claw instead, something we were told they can do, all before they grow a replacement!

We've also been lucky enough to borrow Rowan and Teeny's huge 4x4 and go out and explore some of the amazing countryside to the west. This is prime wine producing territory so we managed to have our first wine-tasting experience and due to the weather managed to have the whole place to ourselves. The lady who talked us through the process was actually English and due to the time of year and the weather, was clearly happy for the company. We tasted two whites, an unoaked Chardonnay, another that was a close relative of the Sauvignon blanc, a sweet and fruity Rose, my favourite a good punchy Shriraz and then to finish, a fortified wine that isn't allowed to be called Port. They were beautiful wines and clearly very different to the mass produced variety in the supermarket. We were actually supposed to pay a fee for the tasting but I think she took a bit of a shine to us! Before we left we bought a bottle of the unoaked Chardonnay which, after drinking it that night with the others, was unanimously confirmed as amazing.

I think, again, one of the weirdest things to get your head around are the distances. At home, when we say 'I'm just going down the road to pick up some milk', it literally means what it says. Here, down the road can mean anything upto twenty miles away. Put it like this. Mooloolah, the small town we are staying in is pretty much classed as Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast, but then we are fifteen miles away from the coast. Look on a local map and it is so far you think they would need to take provisions with them, just in case, but then scale that back to a State map or even a national one and they merge into the same dizzying place. It will never ever cease to amaze me.

At the weekend we made the most of our last weekend in Australia. On the Saturday we drove about 45 minutes north to a local (hmmm) Market at a place called Eumundi. It was a beautiful place full of unique items and more importantly, gourmet food. We wandered around for a while before grabbing some food, shell went for paella, Rowan the tapas, I went for the Malaysian roti and lentil daal and Harry the savoury crepe. I wanted to tell you what we all had to get a sense of the variety on offer, it was beautiful stuff. We ended the morning in one of the local bookshops. As far as bookshops go this one was the best. The four of us were in there for well over an hour. It really was one of those places you could get lost in or choke on the mounds of dust collected in old books.

From there we hopped down to the beach to take in the last of the days sun before scrambling back home to get ready to drive down to Brisbane for a big night out. Unfortunately it would have been a big night out, if Shell and I had remembered our ID's! How stupid! Turns out, even if you are 55 and look 55 they would still ask you for ID. Bloody Australians. In the end we went back to Rowan and Teeny's friend's house, not far from the centre, where we entertained ourselves by making nuclear cocktails, both in look and potency.

The next day we explored Brisbane city. This would be our fourth major Australian city and in a way, one of the prettiest. Don't get me wrong, they all have their merits, but Brisbane seemed to retain that sense of a large town, even if it's skyline and obvious mining riches suggested otherwise. Although it was a Sunday it was so peaceful. We ventured around the Southbank, complete with 'Brisbane eye' and art gallery and fantastic Sunday markets. I may have said this before about other cities but the resemblance to London was simply staggering. The fact it is on a river and not a bay or harbour gives this even more levity, compared to other Aussie cities. Brisbane also has some fantastically old buildings that seem stuck there in limbo compared to the skyscrapers surrounding them, continually in battle to retain their former glories. It is a horrific reality that the Brisbane authorities, both past and present, seem intent on destroying everything that makes Brisbane great. It's almost as if Brisbane suffers from third city syndrome, where people continually prefer to move to Sydney or Melbourne in search of culture when in a way, they have everything and more right here.

Anyway, we leave for NZ tomorrow. Although the thought of spending 56 nights in a van might make us slightly worried and apprehensive, the adventure, I am sure, will be simply outstanding. A lot has happened over the past seven weeks, in a way we never really thought about what we were going to do in Australia as all we thought about, naturally, was how little we could afford to do! In the end, we have simply had the time of our lives. I don't think we could have seen more if we tried. We have seen the country's four biggest cities, swam in two Oceans and one Sea. We have eaten some incredible food from the four corners of the world in a country that is the world's most sparsely populated. We have made some exceptional new friends and more importantly cemented friends for life with people we already knew. The weather hasn't been amazing but then who cares, it's made things greener, more interesting and you know what, you find out more about a place when things aren't how they are supposed to be. It has problems, lots of them in fact. We know so many people who have made the move out here and I'm sure lots of people will continue to do in the future. If you come out here, you live in the cities, make only British friends and essentially live the life you did in the UK, why bother?? Just move to Milton Keynes.

So on we go, literally to the other side of the world. Time to get all Ray Mears, albeit with a DVD player and comfy shoes....

Much love, Tommo & Shello xxxxx