India. What can I say about this country? I both love it and hate it. There are so many incredible, beautiful and almost magical things about this place that it’s overwhelming. Yet there are so many other things that let this fantastic country slip away from what it could be. But that is what makes it India, and without those things it would be a different place. Here’s what I think about it.

The country throws a lot at you. To the point where you’re pretty exhausted by it. It’s hot, loud and smelly. People in the street push so much that they don’t take no for an answer until you’ve said it three times, and even if you’ve just got out of a tuk tuk or a taxi they will still try to get you to go somewhere else! But you can’t blame them for their persistence. They are amazingly resilient people who don’t get enough credit for what they do (the genuine people anyway). They do what they have to do to survive and don’t give up, whether that’s following you in a tuk tuk to try and get your custom or shouting you from across the street to go into their shop. It’s admirable, if mildly annoying.

Although it does take some getting used to. It’s difficult not to end up suspecting everyone, even if they’re genuinely trying to help, because there are so many scams. Taking you to shops where they get commission is the big one, they prey on tourists not knowing where they are going. And they almost always call to confirm your location if you’ve booked an Uber or Ola – the location is on the app!! Either that or drivers just don’t turn up sometimes. Or when they do they don’t have a clue where to go. I’ve spent so much time directing drivers where to go using Google maps, and even when you show them they can’t read it. But again, it’s part of the beauty of the country. And you get to see more of the place that way using the long way round 😉

There have been some interesting and funny sights along the way. The other day I saw someone selling crisps off a washing line. And motorbike riders tend to carry their helmets rather than wear them, unless they spot a cop up ahead, in which case they wear it until they’re out of sight. There’s not really any seat belts in the back of taxis and motorbikes ride around with no lights on. The list goes on but you get the idea..

Now onto the shops. Wow, their customer service is either shoddy or the best I’ve ever experienced. In some shops it’s hard to get them to even notice you’re there, but in others they will bend over backwards to help you out. Even calling you sir. And there’s so many people working in one shop here!! You’ll walk into some shops and five people will stare at you until you tell them what you’re after. Even if you explain that you just want to browse. Getting a receipt is an interesting experience too. Once you pay you get an ‘ordered’ receipt, then it’s stamped, then a ‘delivered’ receipt, then it’s stamped, and they still check it on the way out of the store – all for a £2 book!! And don’t take a bag into the shop, they will cable tie it up so you can’t nick anything!

There’s a real culture to also not care about the environment, with people throwing rubbish everywhere. The side of the road is littered (pun intended) with crap, and men taking a piss on or next to it doesn’t really help the situation. Some rivers are the same, even their holy river Ganges. It’s been pretty frustrating to see and it’s a real shame that such a populated country has this mentality. It needs to change to save our environment. At least the government has taken the first step by banning plastic bags, there’s still a long way to go though. I looked disapprovingly at one guy littering in Varanasi and his reply was “India dirty”. Yep, because of people like you, I told him.

It’s been interesting to experience the interest that some Indians have with western people. Being white is almost like being a celebrity here with so many people staring, taking photos and asking for selfies. It’s okay to be asked, but some just take photos and video you, like we experienced in Indonesia. Some people are genuinely excited to meet you, which is nice and we have met some really lovely people along the way. Kids will stare with their jaw on the floor as you walk past.

That is just some of what travelling around India has given me in memories, but there is so much more that I can’t explain. The colours, the smells, the noise, it really is an attack on your senses. But that’s what makes India. Change any of that and it changes the country. Yes, there’s so many things that they could do better, but try changing the minds of 1.3 billion people. I had to realise that from the start. If you don’t go along with it, then you’ll never be able to enjoy the place.

One piece of advice if you visit; watch out for the cows!!

P.S There’s just so much more that I couldn’t write about yet. Watch this space for more in the near future! Here’s a few photos in the meantime..

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Melbourne feels small compared to other cities. ‘Smoky’ is actually still a regular part of the weather report here though – smoky with a chance of rain.

Traffic seems to be better regulated with vehicles able to turn left as long as pedestrians aren’t crossing (this did almost catch me out the first time I saw it) and big 4 to 5 lane highways leading into the city. There is still congestion, but nothing like other cities I’ve seen. Less people does contribute to this but I really think Australia has got it right when it comes to traffic regulation.

We really can’t complain about the weather whilst we’ve been here, it’s been pretty sunny and unusually hot for most of the time! It’s now getting cold, but nothing like a cold British winter. And the transport is spot on too. Trams run smoothly most of the time, although they can’t be compared to the London Underground in terms of efficiency. They still have to wait at the lights but generally the system is very good. Transport is cheap as well, it’s capped at $8.60 a day and the CBD is free to travel around by tram. Other cities should wake up and take a leaf out of Melbourne’s book.

There’s so much to do in Melbourne as well. Albert Park is a favourite of mine, something to do with it being the venue for the first F1 race of the season 😉 There’s always events going on and plenty of places to go out, even if it is a tad expensive, but if you look you can find some really great value places.

Oh and what is it with all the wireless earphones around the city? Maybe other cities are the same now but the only place I’ve really seen them is in Melbourne. People are obsessed with them here!!

And just as a last thought – I’ve never seen so many varieties of KitKat!! They even have a shop where you can make your own (for about 4 times the price though)! Who’d have thought it?!

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We still had a fair few miles to go up the east coast, with some of the longest drives still to come. Our next stop was Noosa, but we had no idea what to expect here. We hadn’t researched the place much and we arrived in the dark so didn’t see any of it on arrival. We decided to head into the town after we’d dropped our stuff at the hostel, we were surprised! It’s a mix of backpackers and middle class Australian families on their stay-cation. There are up market bars and restaurants, with hostels dotted in around them. The next day we saw the beauty of Noosa, with the intertwined waterways and beaches. We saw most of this on our boat trip, where we visited islands and got to kayak in the Noosa Everglades. It was hot, very hot! But we managed it and had a really nice BBQ on one of the islands! If you get chance definitely visit Noosa, it’s chilled but beautiful!

From Noosa we drove to Rainbow Beach for our trip to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. Rainbow Beach is essentially just the station for Fraser, with a lot of backpackers staying here before their trips to the island. Although on the night we stayed at Rainbow Beach there was the most incredible electric storm like I’ve never seen before. The Lightning forks were so visible in the pitch black sky and the air was so warm that it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Such a spectacle.

The next day we prepared for our trip to Fraser Island where we were put into groups to drive one of the Toyota Land Cruisers onto the island. We rammed our stuff into the back of the 4×4 and I decided that I wanted to be the first to drive, which was epic as I got to drive off the boat and onto the beach, then down the ‘freeway’, also known as the west beach. Over the next two days we drove through forests, swam in fresh water lakes, chilled in ‘champagne’ pools filled by waves and Trekker to the most beautiful spots on the island. As expected, there was a LOT of sand, even showering didn’t get rid of it and I think I’m still finding it now!! But it was one crazy experience. The lack of sleep was a low point, as was one of the team getting bitten by a ‘brown’ snake and having to be air lifted to hospital, but luckily that turned out well as it was just a brown coloured snake – any bite from a brown snake would have probably killed him. The island is beautiful and well worth heading over to from the mainland, it’s like nowhere I’ve been before and driving there was really unique and will help my future driving skills (I hope)!

Next up was Bundaberg, known mainly for its rum! I’m not going to lie, this was the main reason that we decided to visit and we went on a rum factory tour, it was so good! Free samples and the smell of rum everywhere! It was also really nice to stay in a proper bed again after camping at Fraser, it was so comfy and we slept so well. The family that we stayed with using air bnb were so nice and couldn’t help enough!

The town of 1770 was next on our trip, so called for the year that James Cook landed here! It’s a really small place with lots of character and less backpackers than most other places. There’s a great tour called ‘Scooter Roo’ which we did on scooters made to look like we’re part of Hell’s Angels, so I was a bit sceptical as to how good it would be, but it was great fun and Vicki really enjoyed riding the bike which was her first time – she did amazing! A great way to see the town and its surroundings too and we saw more kangaroos just jumping down the road.

Then we drove onto Rockhampton and met Nat and Lawrie, Vicki knew Nat through uni so it was really cool to meet up with these guys and for them to show us where they live. It’s a nice town and had even less backpackers so was great to see a place with so many locals! Nat and Lawrie were amazing hosts and their place is amazing, it was fun. We did some clay sculpting at the local art gallery where Nat works and I think they turned out OK. Well, judge for yourself..

We loved Airlie Beach! A really cool place right on the beach and with the Whitsunday islands just a stone’s throw away. We did a boat trip out to the islands, they are beautiful as you can see from the photos. I’ve never seen so many fish before when we were snorkelling, some of them are bloody massive which is weird when you’re in the water with them! Some of the GoPro photos are below. The view from the top of the hill inlet was incredible and the day was perfect. We went down to Whitehaven beach and chilled for a couple of hours, what a beach! Being in the water with stingrays was an experience too, I couldn’t believe how close they swam to you! Being on a boat speeding through the Whitsundays was just amazing, I didn’t want it to end. We visited a fish restaurant and rum bar whilst we were there as well, you’ve probably guessed by now that I love a bit of rum. There was so much to choose from that it was pretty overwhelming, Vicki enjoyed some of it too (or so she says).

Then it was the long drive to Cairns. This was about an eight hour drive, which isn’t too bad, but it was lashing it down and towards the end of the journey there was a massive thunderstorm which lasted a few hours. What a journey!! We stopped off at Townsville and Cairns on the way. We thought Townsville was a bit of a nothing town, not much there or surrounding it. But it was where they launched the boats to do the Great Barrier Reef filming for the Blue Planet 2 programme, which is pretty cool! Then we called at Mission Beach, which is where the thunderstorm started. What a storm, there’s some crazy lightning on the east coast! We were hoping to see a Cassowary as they live in the wild here, but they we’re nowhere to be seen unfortunately. But we did head to the beach to watch the storm from afar, then carried on our journey north.

We got to Cairns pretty late, so we were hoping the Air bnb we had booked was nice so that we could relax. It wasn’t. It was basically a room in a shared house, almost student like really. Ah well, it was what it was. Until the air conditioning unit started to make random loud noises during the night – fair to say the sleep in Cairns wasn’t the best. The boat trip the next day was incredible though, even if we were a bit sleepy. It included snorkelling and an introduction to diving. The diving was amazing, like nothing I’ve ever done before and I really hope to do it again one day and do a course to become certified! We saw Nemo on the dive and plenty of coral, but the most spectacular wildlife we saw was actually when we were snorkelling. We saw so many different kinds of fish, a shark, a stingray and the one animal we had been wanting to see for the whole trip – a turtle!! It was so amazing to see these animals on the reef in their habitat, a really beautiful experience. Whilst in Cairns we also visited Port Douglas, a small town north of Cairns, which is really nice and has a great reputation amongst Australians. Here we went to the Wildlife Habitat and saw so many native animals including a Cassowary and we held a koala – such grippy claws!! On the way back we stopped by Mossman Gorge and trekked through the forest, well worth a visit!

It’s fair to say that we crammed a lot into our trip up the east coast, it’s an amazing part of the world that we will remember forever. Then it was onto Melbourne to see what was waiting for us there!

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We flew Emirates to Sydney… worth paying a tenner more for a more comfortable flight, with free food and drinks, at a convenient time!

We arrived quite late so our first glimpses of Sydney were from the Uber we caught from the airport to our accommodation. Newtown looked like a cool area. We stayed in uni accom as it was still hols for students. The building was impressive but the rooms and toilets etc were not. However, we did get free shower gel and shampoo which was nice. We arrived and went for a short walk around the area. The first thing we noticed were the very huge and very loud bats right outside. Omg. Massive. And so cool. Loved the bats.

Highlights of Sydney –

– banana bread. We discovered the Aussie love for banana bread for breakfast. So nice toasted with butter. (Did get sick of it after the trip though!)

-opening a bank account. Aussie banks are efficient.

-the Scary Canary drag queens. It was an interesting bingo evening we witnessed whilst having a well deserved beverage.

-7/11 $5 Slurpee with drinks bottle and $1 refills. Served us well.

-Blue Mountains were pretty although parking prices were not.

– bratwurst at Kings Cross market.

-nice beaches.

-rather famous views of the opera house and bridge- especially beautiful at night.

Overall thoughts about Sydney-

It was alright but not much character. We walked about 14 miles around the city and I can’t understand the general love for Havaiana flip flops. Mine made my feet blister.

Port Macquarie

On our drive to Port M we spotted our first kangaroo. Roadkill.

When we arrived at the Air BnB no one was home but they had kindly left the place open for us. It demonstrated how trusting some people are. The house was gorgeous and when we finally met the couple they were lovely. Like really really lovely. We had a great time chatting with them, exchanging travel stories and getting advice. They also took us out for a drive the next day to spot our first alive kangaroos. It was ace!

We didn’t have much time in Port Macquarie as it was intended as a quick stop on the way to Byron, however by the suggestion of our generous hosts we visited the koala hospital on the way out. So glad we did as it was incredibly precious seeing these amazing animals being rescued and cared for. It was our first sight of koalas and they didn’t disappoint.

Byron Bay

4.5 hours later we arrived in Byron. The whole place reminded us of The Inbetweeners movie. The town had a cool vibe with slightly pretentious undertones as the dreadlocks and baggy trousers were quite literally taking over. We enjoyed the ample live music as we walked around and I enjoyed the many, many crystal shops.

We had the most incredible experience kayaking with dolphins here. Curious and playful bottlenose dolphins swam right up to us… wow wow wow!

On our way to Gold Coast we drove via Nimbin, a tiny hippy village. The weed dealers weren’t out as the police had been there in the morning. That sums the place up.

Gold Coast

Gold Coast was a cool place! It had beautiful beaches and a modern skyline. We spent a couple of days in water parks which was lush. The parks were fairly quiet as it was during the week. It was the first time we’d experienced those standing pods at the top of steep water slides. It was an adrenaline rush and a half.

Main takeaway points-

-Australians have feet of steel. Our poor feet were scorched on the burning pavements in the hot sun.

-water slides can cause painful burns if you happen to randomly get flipped over during the ‘ride’ and get slammed down the slide on your back, desperately gripping the mat on top of you.

We also went up the sky deck in Gold Coast and saw the golden sands stretching for miles and miles. A highlight at GC for me was an evening at Dracula’s- a vampire, rocky horror-style place where we watched a bizarre cabaret whilst enjoying a three course meal.

Brisbane

Reunited with Peachy, my Squirrelly friend from uni in Brum! So happy to see this girl again. She’s still as beautiful and lush as ever! Brisbane was amazing because it was the first time we didn’t feel like tourists or even on hol as we were just chilling with Peachy with beers for 3 evenings. I can’t express how chuffed I was to see Anna, have a huge catch up and relax. Nat (Anna’s housemate from uni) and her partner Laurie also popped by which added to the amazingness.

In Brisbane we visited the Lonely Pine Koala Sanctuary which is a must for anyone in the area. We saw all kinds of amazing Australian wildlife.

Peachy also took us to a shipping container food market which was very cool.

Very sad to leave my friend but onwards to Noosa we went after 3 happy days in Brizzy. Thank you Squirrel for your warm welcome and great hospitality! Next time we’ll win that pub quiz!!

One more thing worth mentioning. On the way out of Brisbane we stopped at a discount shopping centre and I purchased the most wonderful flip flops ever created. I am proud to admit that I got Crocs wrong. I am a true converter to Crocs and will be a customer there forever more. But I will never ever ever wear those nasty clogs.

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It feels like quite a while ago that we left Queenstown, and I guess it has been now. It’s taken a while for us to write up about our trip which took us from the place we set up home in for eight months up to Christchurch, over to Sydney and all the way up to Cairns. What a journey it was.

We were sad to leave Queenstown, but we knew we had to say bye at some point. It’s a difficult place to set up home, so we are proud of what we achieved there in such little time. On January 26th we said our goodbyes to the people we had met there and made our way north, up to Christchurch, in the camper van we rented on a one way deal. We were heading for the Weaver’s house, in what we discovered to be the beautiful Governor’s Bay just outside of the city. Before that, we were heading to Mount Cook using the beautiful roads that lead to the highest mountain in New Zealand. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking here. It was beautiful. The trek to the mountain was hot and tiring but rewarding, as the photos below try to convey, although just can’t do the view justice.

As we drove away the sun was setting which made the whole place feel pretty magic. We knew we needed to find somewhere to stop overnight though so we pressed onto the freedom camping spot we’d scouted out. It was dark when we arrived, plenty of camper vans already there, so we creeped in and set up camp for the night.

When we woke in the morning we had the most amazing view over Lake Tekapo. We knew it would be rude not to go for a swim, so went straight down to the water. Not as cold as expected, but the view towards Mount Cook was epic. The best place I’ve ever been swimming.

We carried on up towards the Weaver’s place, knowing that the road was pretty windy in places, trying to make it in good time for the Christchurch beer festival. Once we arrived, Gail was waiting for us and made us feel instantly at home. What a place they live in, I can see exactly why they decided to move there. Their house is perfect and is really homely, the big balcony with the BBQ is my favourite part! We sat there for ages some nights..

While we were there we visited Akaroa and Kaikoura, both very beautiful in their own ways. Akaroa is very picturesque and we saw some of the rarest dolphins in the world there. The penguins there are amazing too and we witnessed lots of baby chicks and TWO yellow eyed penguins which even the guide was amazed about; they’re pretty rare and it’s the furthest north they ever come! Such an incredible spectacle to witness in the wild.

Whilst in Kaikoura we did some whale watching, and we were not disappointed!! Watching a sperm whale flick its tail and begin its dive down to the depths of the ocean is probably something I’ll never see again. I was so happy to see Orcas, they are beautiful and they swam alongside the boat – just wow. And as if that wasn’t enough we saw more dolphins, this time flipping out of the water. We couldn’t have asked for more.

Exploring Christchurch was an interesting experience. Some of the views around the city are breathtaking. The aftermath of the earthquake is still visible, especially in the cathedral area, but they are doing a fantastic job of repairing and strengthening the city. It’s a great place with lots of character. A massive thanks to the Weavers for having us and being such great hosts!

And that was just the start of our trip..

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Just incase you hadn’t guessed yet, we’re now in Melbourne! We’ve travelled from Christchurch over to Sydney, up the east coast then back down to Victoria. But a post will be added on that trip soon!

I’ve been looking forward to the Formula One in Melbourne for months, and last weekend it finally arrived. It’s definitely a different track to others I’ve visited, mainly due to the fact that it’s built using the roads in Albert Park. This makes it known for tight corners, bumpy track conditions and less overtaking than a traditional track. But saying all this, the race was good and the atmosphere was amazing. Pretty good for a nation where the races are normally on in the middle of the night!!

Vicki was also excited in the build up to the Grand Prix. We found a shop in Melbourne selling cheap previous year team merchandise so we bought ourselves some Kimi Raikkonen Lotus caps and some t-shirts for the occasion. Not quite the full team kit that you see some fans wearing but we were supporters all the same. The city was gearing up for the race with merch stands and transport information starting to pop up everywhere, so I was enjoying being able to walk up the street to the sight of F1 all over the place!

Just before they closed the roads to the public to put the finishing touches to the circuit, we went for a bike ride around the track. Riding down the pit straight, standing on pole position, jumping into the pit lane; it kept me entertained for ages. We rode around the whole track, but trying to take the apex on each corner became difficult when faced with oncoming traffic – weird seeing road cars on the track going the opposite way to what I’ve seen on TV. There were piles of gravel waiting to be raked out and I also didn’t expect to see car parking spaces on the pit straight! But it still looked and felt like the track, one that I never thought I’d see never mind ride around..

For Friday practice we had a great view from the outside of the first corner where we’d managed to get into a grandstand. My first impression of the new 2018 cars was how much better they sounded than last year. The new aero designs also look really cool this year, the cars actually looking wider with sleek, gliding front and rear wings. McLaren have done a great job with their new paintwork and the car really stands out on the track.

I was excited for qualifying on Saturday so we got to the gates when they opened, still expecting a queue, but not expecting as much rain as there was. The moment we entered the line the heavens opened and we were drenched within a few minutes, even with ponchos. Determined not to let the weather get us down we entered Albert Park and went straight to the Melbourne Walk, where drivers can walk down on their way into the pit lane. We saw a few, Daniel Ricciardo the main star, who was looking unusually down due to his three place grid penalty for not slowing enough under a red flag during practice. He carried on all the same, fulfilling his duties to the fans who were going crazy for the Australian at his home race. After we’d got a bit more wet we explored the fan zone and watched some of the support races, looking for good vantage points to watch qualifying from. We settled on turns 9 and 10 on the opposite side of the lake, which had great viewing of the cars for longer than most other places on the circuit. Qualifying was dry at this point, which was a shame as it would have spiced things up a bit. But Lewis Hamilton put in a stunning lap to take the pole, with the Ferraris behind and Bottas crashing out putting himself way down the grid. It set up an interesting race on Sunday if Lewis didn’t run away with it.

We woke up early on Sunday to head down to the Melbourne Walk again, which was much more successful this time as the weather had improved! We saw most of the drivers except for the top three, who almost seemed too good to see their fans. A shame as the new owners are trying to make the sport more fan-orientated. We were pretty thrilled with the famous faces we saw in the couple of hours we were there, one of my favourites actually being ex-driver and commentator Martin Brundle who stopped for a photo and a quick laugh about Vicki calling him Brundle rather than Martin. A nice guy who talks a lot of sense.

We then scoped out some more vantage points for the race, deciding on the outside of turn two where Bottas had binned it into the wall the day before. This wasn’t a main factor in choosing the spot; it’s also a notorious couple of corners for action, with the very first turn of the season happening right in front of us. It didn’t disappoint in a race that was pretty good, not thrilling, but with some unexpected turns and a great atmosphere from the crowd. We saw Max Verstappen spin in his Red Bull and the two Haas drivers break down in front of us after problems in the pit lane. The latter of these incidents determined the outcome of the race with Sebastian Vettel leapfrogging Lewis Hamilton by gaining time under a safety car. Not a fantastic way to see a race won but for the first few laps it looked like Lewis had it all under control, although Ferrari were somewhat keeping up the pace. Despite being British and waving my Union Jack flag I did cheer for Vettel to make it a race, and he is still the underdog in this year’s championship.

During the weekend I had just missed meeting Lewis by about five metres as he had to run off to the pit lane after signing a few autographs in the area I was in, pretty gutting. I do like him as a driver but not so much as a person, his ego is definitely getting the better of him. It was also a real shame for the fans that Lewis, Sebastian and Kimi didn’t make an appearance on the Melbourne Walk, maybe next time guys. We did wait around after the race and saw them all leaving the circuit in their cars, but they were making an exit pretty quickly. This is where we also managed to see a few more drivers leaving and I got Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert to sign my flag – that was bloody amazing!

Overall, the experience in Melbourne is the best I have had at an F1 race so far, but let’s see where the new owners take the sport in the next few years. Kudos to the organisers of the event here, it seems to be one of the best races on the calendar for the fans. I can’t wait to go to the next race somewhere new and see these amazing cars and their drivers put everything into being the fastest in the world.

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Last month we went on a couple of trips which we’ll remember forever. It’s taken me a little while to write these down in the blog and it even took a while to get over how good they were, with a few unexpected bumps in the road along the way. It’s a bit of a long post this time just to prepare you.

As mentioned in the South Island road trip blog post, early in November we attempted to get onto the helihike up at Fox Glacier and land on the glacier. The trip involves a hike checking out the flat section which is otherwise inaccessible unless using a helicopter. It was a once in a lifetime trip, so we were gutted when it was cancelled the first time due to bad weather.

So we decided to do the drive up to Fox Glacier again. We chose a day when I finished work a bit earlier the day before so we drove up to Haast and stayed a night there. Even though we were arriving at midnight it was better than doing the 6 hour drive straight to the glacier. Up until the day we were keeping an eye on the weather forecast, as we knew the west coast was notorious for downpours that could last for days. It wasn’t looking good but as we don’t have many opportunities to travel that far very often we decided to chance it.

We couldn’t have chosen a worse day. As we approached Haast the rain was bucketing down and I could hardly see the road 10 metres in front of me. It was dark as well which didn’t help. We got to our accommodation in Haast late on Friday evening and the scene was pretty bleak. It’s a town of roughly 300 people and we could tell as we got there that most of the town was already asleep, probably including the staff at the hostel. I rang the out of hours bell and felt slightly uncomfortable as the guy slowly opened the door and welcomed me in from the dark, empty, rain soaked car park outside. I couldn’t help feeling a bit bad about it, even though I was the one outside in the rain.

The place we stayed that night did the job for a few hours kip, and we woke early to make our way up to Fox Glacier. The rain was just as bad, if not worse than the night before. Vicki and I only had to look at each other to know what we were both thinking, that the trip would be cancelled. We decided to head up anyway, just in case. As the sun rose it became even more evident that the rain was getting worse, the clouds were low and the view of the mountains that is normally incredible in that part of the country was nowhere to be seen. We drove on up tentatively, avoiding big puddles and rivers that ran across the road in our little rental car, a Toyota Aygo.

When we arrived at the helihike reception we were almost ready to tell the reception staff what we knew they were going to say. Cancelled. We were gutted, again. After some lunch we decided we were going to make the long journey back home again. So we jumped in the car and began the drive. We stopped at Bruce Bay on the way back as we had heard this was a good place to find greenstone, which Vicki really wanted to find while we were on the west coast. It was still raining a lot at this point, but we weren’t about to let that ruin our chances of discovering the hard to find greenstone. So we jumped out and searched the beach. After 10 minutes or so we were soaked, but it was kind of cool as there was no one else around and the stones are easier to find when wet.

Getting back in the car I whacked the heating on full bore, even though it didn’t do much. And then we began the drive down towards Haast again. The road conditions were getting increasingly dangerous and there was so much water in the ditches that it had began to overflow onto the road. I was concentrating pretty hard at keeping the little car in the lines at this point. We soon came up behind a bus, which had slowed almost to a standstill, until it did. A lady ran out under an umbrella which wasn’t really doing much and told us that there had been a mudslide on the road ahead. We weren’t sure how she knew this, so having already driven for hours that day we decided to see if it was passable. We drove a few miles further until we got to a bunch of cars queued, with people standing at the front of the line. Vicki jumped out and took a walk down to the front. When she came back she said there was no way anyone was getting through and that people said there were at least two mudslides, with some cars stuck in between. We knew the emergency services were on their way and so we made our way back to a motel which we had seen a few miles up the road.

After two hours of waiting the police turned up. He drove what we had two hours earlier, came back and told us what we already knew, that the road was blocked. After this he moved us further down the road, only to tell us shortly after that he had found out the road would be blocked for another 6 hours, until 7pm. We both looked at each other and hadn’t even discussed our decision before we were driving back up to Fox Glacier to find somewhere to stay for the night.

We stayed over in Franz Josef, which is another glacier just a few miles away. In the morning we woke to clear skies, so decided to head back to the helihike centre to see if the morning trip was running. We couldn’t believe it; third time lucky, it was on!!

The helihike was indescribable, except for that it was amazing! The photos do a good job of showing it, but still don’t do it justice. We got kitted up at the centre then shuttled to the heliport, where we had the safety briefing and waited around for the helicopter, the first time I had ever been in one! It was crazy, just hovering above the ground felt weird, a sensation I’d never felt before. The journey to the glacier was five minutes or so, but the view was incredible. After landing we were kitted up with crampons, they were definitely needed. The next hour and a half took us around the glacier, where we saw waterfalls, climbed through ice caves and drank the fresh glacial water. It was awesome. Here’s a few photos.

The journey home was great. We stopped at Haast again to try our luck at finding more greenstone. We picked up loads, but it’s hard to distinguish between a “green stone” and greenstone. We were amazed when we got back home and found out from a local expert that one of them was actually greenstone! So he took it for us, cut it in half and made it into two necklaces. I’m not a necklace person but I love it. Greenstone is supposed to be a gift so we both gifted it to each other!

The next big thing we did was to skydive! I saw a flyer advertising half price skydives for locals so we decided to just do it as we wouldn’t get it for that price anywhere else. Similarly to the helihike our first jump was postponed, although this was due to a plane malfunction!! Our second jump was also postponed due to the weather so it had to be third time lucky again.. We booked in really early this time to try and beat the weather and luckily it paid off! I wasn’t as scared or nervous about this as bungee jumping, I think because I didn’t have to actually do the jumping! When you’re standing on a platform just wider than your feet then that’s scarier.. But that didn’t take away from the fact that we were jumping from 15,000 feet above one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The safety briefing and preparation was much the same as the bungee, except this time it was a full suit, helmet and goggles. I’m still bemused at how relaxed New Zealand is, even when it comes to safety (although it’s not quite to Thailand safety standards). We watched everyone else go up in the plane in groups of three, then they would land, the plane return and the next group would go up. We opted to do the jump without photos or video as we wanted to enjoy it without thinking about that and also because it was bloody expensive!

When it came to our jump we met with our tandem masters and made our way to the plane, with one other person jumping with us. We shuffled onto the plane, with me at the back (or front of the plane), Vicki in the middle and the other guy at the front (back). We didn’t know that the first guy was jumping from 12,000 feet but we got the idea when the sliding door suddenly opened up. They moved towards the edge of the plane, sat for a few seconds, rocked backwards and forwards a few times and then just fell out. The door closed. Vicki screamed. The plane pointed up to space and started ascending again. I looked back to where he was sitting before he fell out, that was weird, less people in a plane still going up. At this point the tandem master nudged me and I looked to my right and could see Milford Sound, then looked to my left and saw Mount Cook. Incredible.

Then the door opened again, we were at 15,000 feet and about to jump. Vicki was laughing excitedly at this point, whilst shuffling towards the open door. I looked on waiting for her to disappear. Then she’d gone. I was up. Shit. Can’t back out now, so I just went with it and before I knew it I was falling from 15,000 feet strapped to some bloke that I’d met 10 minutes earlier. My head suddenly felt tight, like it does sometimes when the flight you’re on is landing, but this was ten times worse. We fell looking up at the plane, which was nose diving, then spun around to see the ground. I didn’t really have time to think about what I was doing but if I did it probably would have included a load of expletives. We fell for 60 seconds looking over the unbelievable skyline of Glenorchy and Queenstown, it was crazy and something words can’t describe. Then he pulled the parachute and I could think about what was going on a bit more, which was that the view was amazing but the harness was really killing my knackers. Ah well, once in a lifetime, haha. The tandem master loosened my harness, which helped, but made it feel like he was setting me free. My heart skipped a beat until I realised what he was doing. Scary shit.

We glided slowly to the ground where Vicki had already landed and was laughing at the face I was apparently pulling as I prepared to land. I was trying to keep my feet up as far as I could so that I didn’t face plant the ground with a fifteen stone bloke doing the same on top of me. Thank god that didn’t happen. Once back on firm ground I gave Vicki a massive hug and we walked off the airfield together. Bloody amazing and if you ever get the chance to do it then do it!!

A few days ago we were really saddened when a skydive went wrong and a skydiver and tandem master crashed into Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. The details of the crash are still unknown, or unreleased anyway, but the skydiver hasn’t been found and is presumed to have died. The skydive master was pulled from the lake and luckily is recovering. We feel so sad that someone went out to feel the same excitement as we did and didn’t come back. RIP.

So some ups and downs in our trips, but we’ve definitely had some experiences in the last few weeks. We’ll be travelling up the east coast of Australia soon and then heading to Melbourne so watch this space for more blog posts…

VF

Firstly, I’m sorry that part 2 of our travels has taken a while to emerge! But it is finally here! An account of North Island antics.

Wellington

Arriving in a city was a bit of a shock to the system. Suddenly there were people…lots of people! We stayed in an Air b’n’b and it was pretty amazing. It was a beautiful house in a ‘trendy’ area off Tinakori Street. We settled in and went out down the main street for dinner. We ended up in a French bistro and had the most delicious steak and the best dessert of the trip: dark chocolate mousse and banana icecream. Dessert of kings.

The next day Craig, Sean and I set off on our Lord of the Rings day. It was a little bizarre but I loved it! Basically we drove around the city, stopping at scenes where Ted and Kate (the guides) would show us photos of the scene and point out where it was. Obviously there wasn’t anything left there so we kind of had to put two and two together. Kate was a mega, obsessed fan so she was very knowledgeable and we were treated to many funny stories along the way. The other funny thing was that we reenacted several of the scenes with the group, for example the scene where the hobbits had fallen down the hill in a pile while they were running away from the farmer at the beginning of Frodo’s adventure. Seany was a horse at one point, with a Belgian dude riding him. It was great.

The tour ended in the Weta Studios which was amazing. We got to find out how they made props etc which was very interesting. We drove back past Peter Jackson’s studios and he was actually there as his Tesla was parked out front! Wow!! That evening Craig and I sampled a bit of Wellington’s night life. It had such a good vibe, we both really liked it. It didn’t seem too big for its boots and despite it being a big city, it still felt welcoming and homey. It’s definitely a place worth visiting.

The next morning we left to go to Napier. My parents and Sean went a seriously long way round so Craig and I checked out the Te Papa museum before we left. I’d recommend it to anyone…a really good museum. They had a Gallopoli war exhibition on, which was very emotional. It just so happened to be Remembrance Sunday and 11am when Craig and I laid down our poppies in respect and remembrance. It was extremely poignant.

The drive onwards to Napier was rather uneventful. The highlight was a $1 giant cookie.

Napier

After waiting 2 hours for the others to arrive, we went out for dinner at a fish’n’chips restaurant. The food was amazing and they even had mushy peas!! I did almost die on a grape stuck down my throat, but no-one was bothered.

The next morning was for exploring Napier and we loved the 20s style of basically everything! We found a great bookshop where I bought my favourite book yet: a big children’s book about the history of New Zealand. The pier and beach front were just beautiful. We stuffed ourselves with bagels and then made our way to Taupo, stopping off at another scenic waterfall on the way.

Lake Taupo

We settled into our nice motel accommodation before heading out to the docks and going on a 2 hour cruise on the lake, with pizza and beverages. The weather was warm with clear blue skies, so the cruise was very relaxing! We went to see some carvings in the rock face and we also saw Mount Doom.

There were some kids who were feeding ducks some of the pizza. What a waste. Poor Phoebe, who was serving us, was run off her feet trying to keep up with drink demands. I think we made the most of it! After, we went to Maccas for dinner. But this wasn’t just any old Maccas. It is in the world’s top 10 coolest Maccas. It had a plane behind it where you could sit and eat! Unfortunately this part was closed in the evenings, but we still stayed and enjoyed our burgers. Amazingly, we got table service…that’s right. Table service in a McDonalds. It was great. Craig and I decided to explore the town, however we found out that there was nothing really there. So we went back and chilled. I read my new book and it really is stunning! That night I had the best sleep of the whole trip.

Rotorua

We started our journey towards this smelly place the next morning. We first stopped off at Huka Falls. The colours of the water were beautiful and we learnt that there is enough water going over the 9m drop to fill up 5 Olympic size pools every minute.

Sean also found a cool cache, disguised as a tree trunk. We also found one which was bungee jump themed. Caching is fun! We drove on to some sulphur pits. It was a bit smelly. We had to get a boat over to them. It was a 2 km walk but very exhausting, especially in the hot sun. We stayed a little way out of Rotorua in the holiday park, so drove in for dinner at a Mexican place. Amazing food as per usual. After dinner Sean, Craig and I went to visit the Redwood wood and do a treetop walk at night. I liked the concept of this, and the swing bridges were fun, however you couldn’t really see the trees in the dark! There were some cool fairy lights and lanterns though. We walked around it twice to make the most of it.

The next day we went to a Maori village to see some more geysers. We waited a rather long time for the big one and we weren’t disappointed. It was huge! It also went on for ages.

Back at our accommodation, we had decided to split up and Craig and I were planning on going kayaking in the lake where we were staying. However, these plans were quashed when we were informed that they only hired kayaks out in the summer. What a bummer as it definitely was summer weather and was only a few days away from the *official* summer date. So Craig and I joined in with the others and went to a park in town where there were lots of sulphur vents and mud pools in the grounds. It was very stinky. And at times we couldn’t see much from the steam coming from the pools. But interesting it really was! I’m not sure I’d want to live around there though, with the permanent eggy smell.

In the evening we had an amazing time at Hell’s Gate hot pools and mud baths. The mud was so gross but cool at the same time and the hot pools were very warm. I’d forgotten a part of my swimming costume, so had to rent one, which made me look really cool. We stayed in there for almost three hours, way longer than anyone else. I think we might have discovered why afterwards. We reeked! I think it gave the sulphur even more time to penetrate our skin and pores, even deeper.

The next morning was an early start as Sean, Craig and I went to HOBBITON!! I was so excited!! The set was amazing!! Loved the hobbit holes, the pub, the quirky little details like the *plum* trees. The only part I didn’t like, was the guide. But he couldn’t dash my Hobbit dreams. What a cool place. Matamata was funny because it had so many LOTR and Hobbit references around. The i-Site was hobbit themed. The cafe where we ate was Hobbit themed. The food itself was Hobbit themed! I love it!

We then drove on to our final destination of the trip: Auckland.

Auckland

We stayed in another amazing Air b’n’b in another cool area of the city, Parnell. That night we ended up walking a very long way for icecream in Britomart. It was rather posh. We got an Uber back. The next morning we had our last family breakfast together, so we went out for the occasion. My mum and I both had monster ‘pancakes’. Neither of us could finish it, but my mum did considerably better than me! After caching, lunch, sightseeing, a bit of shopping and finally packing, we drove to the airport for an emotional farewell. However, I felt very sorry for the people sitting close to my family on the first 17 hour plane journey; the eggy smell was still very fresh!

Craig and I spent the evening chilling together at the house and then explored parts of the city a bit more the next day. We enjoyed the war museum, especially the volcano parts and the Wildlife Photography of the Year exhibit. It felt like we were back at the Natural History Museum! Then it was time to fly home to QT.

I have to say it was the best trip I’ve been on with my family. Every day was truly amazing and my parents really made sure we had the best experiences in the time we had. We were really spoiled. I feel so lucky to have been able to see my family on the other side of the world and show off this incredible country.

To my mum, dad and Seany – thank you ❤

CS

Christmas Day isn’t just a special day for the obvious reasons, it’s a day to reflect on what we have and sometimes what we have had. It provokes thoughts and you remember the good times with good people, those that are still here and those who aren’t.

Being away from home heightens this even more and having time to sit back, listen to good music and feel nostalgic is probably good for the mind. I’m also looking forward to next year and seeing everyone again. I never thought I’d say this but I miss the cold weather and dark nights that make it Christmas (I’ll probably look back on this next year and wonder what I was thinking)! Although it’s a nice change, it’s just not the same in summer. Drinks on the beach are pretty cool though 😉

So tell your family and friends that you love them, wish your neighbours Merry Christmas and enjoy the season. Lots of love and Merry Christmas!