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

Cabin fever, underwhelming bananas and a bucket load of coffee........

The next morning we were up early to knock down the miles to our next stop, some 560 kms up the coast to the north. The journey went by quickly, with the helping hand of sour worms and a barrel full of coffee propelling us through the kms.

To get to our destination, Seal Rocks, we had to pass through Sydney once again. Unfortunately the Satnav took us through Sydney's many suburbs to the west. In a way, it was good to see places like this, if only for a bit of grounding. Everyone who makes the move over here seems to think that this country is faultless. Well, it isn't. Sydney's suburbs are like sprawling, grey forgotten corridors of shit. If Katoomba was the Rotherham of Australia then the Sydney suburbs are the Moss side, Hackney and Frattons. Massive social problems, a large ethnic population with obvious integration issues with a State government that would rather polish the Harbour bridge than look after the hoards in the ever increasing suburbs.

In the end, we battled through the Sydney suburbs for nearly two hours before we were once again on our way and heading up the coast. In just over two hours we were pulling off the highway and driving what felt like endless gravel roads until we reached Seal Rocks, a truly amazing part of the world that had that aura that nobody knew about it. We spent a couple of days at Seal Rocks eating, drinking, batting away the turkeys who seemed to want to steal our tents and some good old sea fishing. It was a beautiful place and we all had a blast.

The next day we packed up camp and set off up the coast. We'd planned to travel the seven hours in as little time as possible, setting off early and arriving at an indeterminate campsite in Byron Bay but in the end we stayed for only an hour or so. I was last in Byron five years ago and was determined to go back and show shell what it was all about. Turns out it was not as amazing as I had remembered, probably because I was in a drunken haze for the vast majority of my time there. It was slightly seedy and brash and although we were there during the day it just didn't seem as though it deserved any of it's plaudits, in short it was a but if a let down. Actually before we got to Byron we had chance, just past Coffs Harbour, to visit another one of Australia's 'big things', much like the big sheep further south. This time the big thing was a 'giant' banana that when we arrived turned out to be about as unimpressive as you could imagine. I know it looks big on the photos but let's be honest here, if it's in the national mapbook your thinking it has to be huge. Well it wasn't, hence the photo....

Anyway as we moved further up the country we decided not to camp in Byron as we would need to pay at least 80 dollars a night for a basic, unpowered pitch. So on we went, travelling due north past the concrete jungles of the Gold Coast, including Surfers Paradise, until we reached outback country, around 50kms inland from Brisbane. It had been a defining feature of this trip, and something we were hoping to find, to stray away from the predictable and the bland in pursuit of the authentic Australia. Somewhere between Ramsay Street and the outback bar scene in Crocodile Dundee. This we got. We joined Teeny's family in a pub out in the country for ten dollar steaks, all washed down with the local favourite, Castlemaine XXXX. stereotypically delicious.

All you had to do was look around at the kind of people eating and drinking in there to know that no backpacker, maybe not even a guy from the next town, had ever experienced this place. There was even a guy on the adjacent table with a long black mullet...permed! Not to compare everything to that famous film but it really did seem that everyone was related to Donk. Google images search; Crocodile Dundee-Donk.

So there we go then. Our great Aussie Roadtrip. Soon enough we were heading onto the highway and up the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane to Rowan and Teeny's, our home for the next couple of weeks before our flight over to NZ.

These guys!!

Much love, Tommo and Flemmo xxx

Road trips, mountain pigs and wiggly worms in the Aussie outback.

This week you find us from the darkest depths of bush-tucker Australia as we were to 'go native' with a couple of our good Aussie mates. We were in Sydney a total of twelve days and like we said before, we had a blast. But we had been in the cities now for three weeks so a taste of the real Australia was calling us, good job we knew the right people then...

First of all we had to get out of Sydney so we said our last goodbyes to Morgan, who we are going to miss big time. I hate saying goodbyes, especially to such close friends. We then hopped on a train to Gosford, around 50kms up the coast. There we would be being picked up by Rowan and Teeny, two guys who we had met in Munich around three years ago and had stayed in contact with. They had both booked off time to come and pick us up and take us on a magical mystery tour throughout the 'real' Australia. We had absolutely no idea where we would be going but I guess that's the beauty of it!

It was great to see them again, I guess despite its many flaws Facebook has some benefits! Anyway, we shoved our bags in the back and set off on our way up to 'the entrance', a spit of land that juts out of the coast with the ocean on one side and a very large freshwater lake on the other. We had planned to get there and set up the tents before dark but the weather, already freezing cold, took a wet turn for the worse as the rain turned torrential. Due to this we changed our plans and booked a cabin instead, a small, self-contained unit where we sat for most of the night catching up and pouring over the huge map of Australia in front of us. At last though, we knew where we would be going!

The next morning we prepared the car, a huge Toyota landcruiser (proper bushmobile!), and headed south and into the Blue Mountains. First stop was to the three sisters, which given their fame were nothing compared to the scene surrounding it from the lookout at Katoomba, a small countryside town. The views were breathtaking from the top and despite the howling wind, you could see as far as your eyes would let you over forest, peaks and countryside without a single building obstructing the views. After buying supplies from the local supermarket we went off to find lunch and found a place that specialises in the Australian delicacy of meat pies, amazing. They were beautiful, the locals not so. It was like a mix between Rotherham and Crewe, all gangly legs and narrow eyes. In a funny way it's a nice feeling to know that special people exist out of places like the above.

Soon after we were on our way, winging around beautiful, desolate country roads until we made it to Oberon, a small country town, where we would be staying for the night. Unfortunately the weather was appalling with the rain coming down in furious clumps with the temperature no warmer than about 4 degrees, not quite the Aussie road trip we had in mind! Despite this, we cracked on, set up camp and munched on freshly cooked spaghetti bolognese, all mustered up by yours truly, not bad going considering the conditions.

In the morning, after a terrible nights sleep, we all piled back into the van and made our way over to Jenolan caves. This cave network, made up of six main cave systems was simply staggering. We chose the most popular cave and ascended down with one of those eccentric geologist types that could have taught a-level chemistry. He was great and the cave even better, completely silent, atmospherically neutral and huge, with some sections as high as a cathedral. Before leaving we had time for a picnic by one of the huge streams that were overflowing due to the amount of rain that had fallen in the area over the past few months. Like I said in the last post, this part if Australia has had a shocking summer, in fact according to Rowan and Teeny, have had nothing but poor summers for many years.

Anyway, from the caves we faced a 300km drive to the south to the nations capital, Canberra. It was obviously a long drive, almost six hours straight, but the scenery and towns we passed on the way were so beautiful that the time and miles flew past. Although we were in the Australian Highlands we still had to remind ourselves where we were, it could have been North Yorkshire or the Lake District, something we would feel for the next few days. As ever we entertained ourselves with a vast array of music spread over four iphones and three ipods (glampers!) and ate sour worms (unsurprisingly shell's contribution!! Such a kid) until we all started to go sugar crazy. We even stopped for a photo of a giant sheep, Australia loves it's big things, it's famous for them! We plan to visit the big pineapple and the big prawn on our way north...

After five or so hours of driving we arrived in Australian capital territory and eventually to Canberra, quite possibly the strangest city I think we've been to. Before we could get out and explore we headed off to Rowans brother's where we would be spending the night.

The next morning we woke late as we were all shattered from the bone chilling of camping in 2 degrees celcius with an added 6 hour car journey thrown in for food measure. In the afternoon we headed through canberra's infinitely annoying streets first to the mightily impressive war memorial and then to the Parliament building, the biggest building in Australia. Despite the bureaucratic and sterile nature of the city both buildings were impressive in their own right. Their stupid 10 dollar sandwiches not so. We took a guided tour around both houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Essentially an American based political system but with its roots and demeanour firmly British. It was all going fine until she asked if anyone wanted to ask any questions. Turns out the group had lots. In fact some of the questions left us all slightly open-mouthed. Heres a couple;

Question: What do they (the MP's) do if they run out of paper?
Answer: They can ask for more.

Question: Where do they plug in their laptops?
Answer: In the plug socket provided.

Unbelievable.

That night, after smashing a football around with rowan for a while (a good footballer may I add-and he's Aussie!) we ventured out for Thai food which in itself was a pretty strange experience due to it being our first Asian meal outside of Asia!

The next day we were up at six in readiness for our assault on the Snowy Mountains. After driving for about three hours we eventually stopped on the town of Jindabyne. After filling up on water, paying for the national park permit and munching down on yet more delicious pies we were on our way, this time to the base of Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak.

After slipping on our hiking gear the six of us, including Rowans brother and partner Guy, were on our way to smash down the 18kms that would take us straight to the top. Now let's face it, 18kms is a long way, especially up a mountain, but we all raced up there as if being chased by wolves. The sign at the start said it would take around three hours to the top and then two and a half coming down, we managed to knock two hours off that! Shell was loving it and totally up for getting to the top. It wasn't a massive mountain by any means but the scenery both from the track and the summit were extraordinary, almost like viewing the Peak District on a summers day. Whatever it looked like it did not scream Australia. At the top we posed for the usual photos where I, unfortunately, looked like a massive gnome. On the way down, within about a km of each other we encountered yet more Aussie wildlife. This time more of the 'I will kill you with enough venom to kill 200,000 mice' kind of animals instead of the fluffy and harmless variety. We saw a huge jumping spider that seemed intent on attacking Teenys leg plus two small snakes, one of which, the brown snake, has been called the worlds most poisonous. All in all then, a bit of an eventful hike! Despite teeny and shells big blisters they got round without any major problems which was amazing given the fact they'd never walked that far before.

Back on the road we went in search of a riverside campsite and found a perfect bit of ground which had perfect views of the surrounding valley and was completely silent apart from the sound of the river below us. It was amazing to be able to wash in the freezing cold river with not a soul around for miles, real wilderness. We even had a visit from a family of possums who, despite our every effort to pack away food, seemed to find something to get their big furry faces into. They aren't noted for their eyesight either so we were able to get right up and touch them before they escaped up a tree!

The next day, we were to leave the mountains behind. Before that we paid a visit to Thredbo, a small skiing village in the middle of their summer slumber. We found a great place selling delicious local ales and sat outside for a while to take in the fresh mountain air. It was stunning but deathly quiet, kind of like seeing an actor out of costume, maybe smoking a crafty cigarette around the back.

Feeling suitably nourished we hopped back into the car and made our way steadily out of the mountains. Before we knew it we were back in Canberra where we once again headed to Rowans brothers house for a well earnt shower and sleep before which Shell and I repaid the generosity by cooking up some pea and prawn risotto which went down a treat. The mountains section of our trip, for now, would be over.

We have never experienced topography such as this, esepcially in a country where the guidebooks would have you believe it is a country full of arid nothingness. Compared to the rest of Australia though the size of the area we camped through would be merely a pinprick on the map. It's not exactly the area you think of when you think of when browsing through the brochures. Thing is, this area is about the size of Switzerland. Just without the chocolate and obessesion with the time. What a country.

As you can probably tell we are having an amazing time. Shell said she will write some of the blogs but I tried to do it as we were going along. I'm not being greedy!

Much love, Tommo and Shello xxxx

Back 'home' in Sydney...

Just over ten days we had now been in Australia and already it was time to fly on to major city number three. We'd had an awesome time in Melbourne, a truly unique city full of little nooks and crannies to explore and like I said in the last blog, like we have both said in fact, Melbourne is a place you could easily find yourself in permanently. (just for the record, what you want and what you wish for are two completely different things!).

Anyway, we got to check-in just as they were closing the flight, the closest we had ever come to missing a flight and one that if we missed, would mean both a loss of money and a loss of our much-appreciated lift from Sydney airport, provided by Morgan and Kylie, who we would be staying with for the next eleven nights. Earlier in the day back in Melbourne, we had finally managed to track down shells cousin Lee who we had been frantically trying to contact in our last few hours. Amazingly, we managed to spend an hour catching up over coffee in federation square before once again we had to dash off on the train to try and make it to the airport in time for our flight. It was fantastic to see Lee who was the first familiar face we had seen in almost six months.

Anyway, back in Sydney we arrived at Morgans, in rushcutters bay, just down the road from the city. We dumped our bags then headed straight back out to check out an FC Sydney game. Now this is the second time I've been to Sydney after travelling over to stay with Morgan five years ago, where we caught an FC Sydney game for the first time, I can safely say that the quality has not improved. It was the equivalent of watching the third or fourth tier of English football. Abysmal but equally entertaining and far more importantly, shell loved it! She'll be off to buy a Forest season ticket as soon as we're back! Also, just like Melbourne, Sydney has a food heritage as rich as it's skyline. A city that has been populated by such a melting pot of different cultures that has seen a variety of food to match so we gorged on these amazing Naan bread wraps filled with tandoori chicken, sauce and potato, not as unhealthy as it sounds and beautiful with a couple of beers. On the way back we managed to crash a 30th birthday party with a friend of Morgans. We had a couple of beers and managed to help ourselves to some amazing food that was being bright round on wooden platters! It sounds a bit wrong I know but there were loads of people in there and way too much food, you take what you can get-we are budget travellers!!

The next morning we woke late and went out with Morgan for a walk into the city. We walked around the bay and through the majestic Botanical Gardens before approaching the mighty Opera House and Harbour Bridge but as the clouds had rolled in we decided to leave the obligatory photos until a better weather day. From there we walked up into the city and around Hyde Park before walking up to Morgan's, via the bottle shop (off licence), to buy enough beer and cider to last us at least a few days.

The next day we headed down to Bondi to meet Jai, my oldest friend, who had moved over here with his girlfriend Fi a few months ago. It was great to see him, if not a tad surreal but we had a good day on the beach in the sun. Apparently Sydney has had a terrible summer so far so I guess we were lucky to have had such great days so far, especially after not seeing a cloud for all of our time in Perth and Melbourne. Anyway, it was great to see Jai and meet a couple of his mates. We got invited back to one of their houses for tea and biscuits, how British! Especially when she whacked out the Hobnobs!

The next day the humidity was mental, storms were definitely a brewing. We walked, yet again, for the whole of the day. First to take 'those' pictures of Sydney's famous landmarks. After posing for some great shots we then walked around to The Rocks, a really attractive part of Sydney's heritage. This was the place, around 200 years ago, that Captain Cook and the first band of convicts set up shop within the harbour and decided that this is where they would send those really dangerous criminals that stole loaves of bread or blasphemed whilst hitting their finger with a hammer. I know you don't want to hear about the history, you can read a book to do that, but how ironic that in those days criminals who were sentenced to transportation I.e sent to the colonies, often asked for the death sentence rather than be sent to Australia. Imagine that now...

Its a strange one being here again. Obviously very little has changed in five years but it's just extraordinary how many British accents we have heard. I would be interested to know how many Brits have made the decision to start a new life over here in recent times but it must be a ridiculously high number. Geographically its obviously a huge distance but culturally it's scarily close. All you have to do is just look around, listen to conversations, jokes, supermarkets, even by switching on the tv and things are just so intrinsically linked. Fascinating stuff.

Anyway, the next day we walked up through the trendy districts of Darlinghurst and Paddington to a large pub on Oxford Street, one of Sydney's main thoroughfares. There, in one of the best spots in the city, our friend Ben, an old uni friend, had just become licensee of a new pub. It was great to see him, even better to see that he has landed completely on his feet, I would expect nothing else! Anyway, we were fortunate enough to be spoiled by Ben who treated us to lunch and beers for most of the afternoon (our first steak in six months tasted like heaven). From there, once Ben had finished, we headed down the road to some of the pubs that would be absolutely rammed come this time Saturday night. Sydney's Mardi Gras parade is the worlds biggest and as we sat here in a bar some three days before it was already full of people who had made the special pilgrimage to their beloved site. We stayed in there for the rest of the night, it was great to catch up with Ben and even better to have a good session with a mate, some things you just cannot do without! While we were in the pub the heavens opened, delivering rain and wind in huge proportions. It was so surreal, drinking with a mate who I last saw in a Pompey pub, shivering inside while outside was cold, wet and windy. Had we even gone anywhere??

Unfortunately the aforementioned rain just wouldn't shift, in fact it was so bad that even now as I type away in the sun, New South Wales and Victoria have been absolutely inundated by floods. Outside of the city, apparently, is terrible. It's ok, we only plan to camp in all of these places in the next two weeks...

Anyway, by saturday the rain showed no signs of stopping but the Mardi Gras of course had to go on, imagine the uproar here if they cancelled if they moaned about the name of a penguin! The parade itself didn't start till 8pm so we got up there at about seven to get a good spot which proved pretty impossible given the fact that the crowd was already seven deep, we needed a step! luck would have it that we had brought a couple of milk crates from ben's pub so despite the umbrellas obstructing our in front of us, we managed to get some kind of view.

Despite the rain the parade was typically over the top! It involved about two hundred floats of every conceivable gay and lesbian project, community, occupation and so on, culminating in an appearance by the demigod herself, Kylie. I've never understood the adoration of Kylie by the gay community until I came here, it is absolutely and phenomenally crazy!

The next day, to everyones relief, the sun finally made an appearance! With this, we shook off the remnants of our hangover and headed to Taronga zoo, which surely lays claim to the worlds most impressively located zoo. Obviously the animals were immense and when compared to the zoo in Thailand we visited it was like visiting the Savoy Hotel for animals. The real winner here though was the view, simply stunning and the only place in the harbour where you can take in views of all three of the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the city skyline in one view. As for the animals, we have now learnt that Australia is the only home to eleven of the worlds top fifteen most poisonous snakes. Even better to note that all of said snakes can be found in the places we intend to camp over the next few weeks! At least shell revised the 'what to do in event of snake chasing you' literature. I think it read something like 'don't count on boyfriend to be of any use, just run and cry like he does'....

From the zoo, Kylie (Morgan's GF, not the Locomotion singer) drove us around to Manly, sydney's second most famous beach. By now the wind had picked up and the rain almost within reaching distance but we did manage to get a few photos and a sense of what it was all about. In essence, too touristy and too much like Skegness on a bank holiday. I guess that's slightly exaggerated but compared to Sydney's other beaches it didn't really stand up.

Back at Morgans me and shell cooked up a Mexican chilli feast, at least to repay some of the amazing generosity! It went down a storm and what was even better than eating great food, was getting the chance to be unleashed in a kitchen once again!

With only a couple of days left in Sydney the sun finally came out to play. We took a walk down to circular quay, Sydney's famous city centre ferry terminal, and took a ferry over to the Eastern suburbs, arriving eventually at Watsons Bay. We headed off the ferry and immediately queued for fish and chips as this was, quite famously, Sydney's most well regarded spot. Watsons bay was also the place where I spent most of my time when i was last here, quite freakishly, five years ago to the day. It is a beautiful area with stunning houses and a perfect park running down to the sea. It also has, arguably, the most perfect views of Sydney in the entire harbour.

Sydney was, five years ago, a place that just took my breath away. I had an amazing time here and couldn't wait to come back, especially with shell this time. After six months of travelling it was amazing to be able to kick back with some of our oldest and best friends and not think about moving for a while. We've both loved it here, we can't lie. We're not saying we want to live here forever but you can't rule out the possibility of giving it a go for a while, the way of life is just incredible. The bars, the streets lined with coffee shops, the sport, the fact that everyone in the city seems to leave work to jog home and the fact that despite this health conscious last point, everyone seems to spend every last penny either eating or drinking. It's infectious, not without it's problems but then where is perfect?

So onwards! Tomorrow we leave Sydney to travel to a place called Gosford, to the north. There we will be picked up by Rowan and Teeny, two friends we made in Munich a few years ago and have maintained contact with. We don't really know where we are going but we will be off for about ten days up the coast and into the bush until we get to Brisbane. Time to get all Mick Dundee......

Much much love, Donk and Sheila xxx