Day 131-132 : Byron Bay

• (29/10/11) Very little sleep on night bus so quite tired
• Went on a rib boat out to Julian rocks out from Byron Bay to go snorkelling – I was quite scared as everyone else was diving so we were by ourselves snorkelling and they were all talking about how many sharks they had seen that morning! The swell around the rock was also quite big but, after an initial freak out, I jumped in and it was really cool. We saw sea turtles they are so amazing – the way they swim is so peaceful to watch. They look like they know the secret to eternal happiness! Similar to when we did dolphin swimming and whale watching, the turtles leave you wanting to see more glimpses of their amazingness. We also saw lots of cool fish like huge puffa fish and also Woobygong sharks sitting on the ocean floor. When we got out Will took off his mask and he had a crab in his ear!
• (30/10/11) Walked up to the lighthouse and the most Easterly point in mainland Australia – very warm, saw some dolphins
• Spent lots of money on tours for further up the coast.
• Went bodyboarding.
• Now sitting watching an impressive lighting storm

Day 129-130 : Water–skiing and relaxing in Copa

• Chilled out in Copacabana. Took Dolly for a walk on the beach – she went mad running in circles
• Looked at the rock pools – funny coral or sponge squirting water in the air!
• Phil got back from work and we went (+ Dolly) out on their speed boat along the water ways it was really cool. We tried water skiing it was awesome fun and much easier than I thought it would be. Went to Terrigal for dinner with Phil.
• Went for a lovely brunch in Avoca with Sally and Dolly.  Chilled out in the afternoon (Phil and Sally at work) watched Downton Abbey on dvd. Had pizza then took the night bus from Gosford to Byron Bay.

Day 128 : Sydney fish market / Copacabana

• Lunch in Sydney fish market
• Visited Sydney Maritime museum
• Said goodbye to mum and dad
• Train to Gosford. We're staying with Phil and Sally - friends of Mel and Gaz - for a few days.

Day 127 : Manly scenic walkway

• Weather rainy today after 4 days of glorious sunshine.
• Caught the bus to spit bridge and walked / picnicked along the Manly scenic walkway in the drizzle. 
• Very nice dinner at the Opium Den in Kings Cross with mum and dad.

Day 126 : Meeting mum and dad

• Met up with mum and dad early at Darling Harbour (they arrived in Oz last night). 
• Walked around Darling Harbour, the Rocks, Circular Quay and the Botanical gardens. 
• Enjoyed a champagne picnic in the botanical gardens. 
• Dinner in Darling Harbour then caught the ferry under the bridge to circular key – spectacular night view of the harbour.

Day 125 : Surfing at Manly

Took the ferry to Manly - walked past Mel and Gaz's old flat and went for a surf on Manly beach.

Day 124 : Getting arty in Sydney

• Visited the White Rabbit gallery.
• Took the bus to Paddington - had a look around the art and craft market.
• Walked around the botanical gardens some more.
• Visited the NSW art gallery.
• Went for a swim in the 50m salt water pool near the domain.

Day 122 - 123 : Arrival in Sydney

• Arrived safely in Sydney and checked into the blue parrot hostel, had a wander around.
• Walked around the botanical gardens -  saw lots of rainbow parakeets, cockatoos and flying foxes. 
• Visited the exhibitions at the NSW state library
• Enjoyed a fantastic 5 course lunch at Marque – thanks to Tom, Mila, Barney and Lucy for an awesome wedding present!

Day 121 : Meeting up with old friends

• Up early today and checked into a campsite near the airport. Set about cleaning the van for its return. The torrential rain is coming through the whole we made n the roof so we are catching it with a frying pan!
• Had lunch at my old Stroud next door neighbours – not seen them for 12 years. Met Chris and Sonja and one of their daughters Becky (I used to baby sit Becky and Hannah – they are all grown up now, makes me feel old!). There house is beautiful and sits on a big hill overlooking Christchurch.
• Met up with Will’s family friend Tom for dinner in the evening (who he also hadn't seen for 10 years!).

Day 120 : New Zealand fur seals

• Went for a rainy walk up to the view point above Okiwi bay
• Drove back into Kaikoura past the fur seal colony – we have seen lots of seals (or sea lions really not quite sure why they call them seals - my zoology is failing me….) but this by far the most interesting bunch and it is a huge colony which stretches across the rocks and beach for ages along the coast. Some of the seals sit on the grass verge of the coastal road! The mums are weaning the pups (which are quite big now), the pups play around in rock pools like children in paddling pools. The dominant males are defending their territory and throwing their weight around. I could watch them all day, Will had to drag me away! Unfortunately conditions weren't right for seal swimming :-(  

Day 118-119 : Snorkelling with dolphins!

• Drove to Kaikoura. Had a coffee and banoffee pie and wandered in the little town. Set up camp in a DOC site about 9km from town along a gravel track.
• Got early and went swimming with dolphins! Saw seals and huge albatross on the way. There a re loads of dusky dolphins that live not far from shore due to a massive gorge in the sea where fish live. They are very acrobatic and playful dolphins. We sat on the back of the boat kitted out in full wetsuit and snorkel gear and jumped in the water on 5 occasions. You have to “entertain” the dolphins by singing or diving down to get them to come and interact with you. They are very quick and speed by – the visibility was poor so could only see them underwater when they were close by. They circle you if you’re interesting enough. Will managed to get 3 circles with a dolphin a few times and even got squeaked at by diving down I got a 3/4 circle a few times it was amazing. Really weird when they look you right in the eye as they circle you. A really amazing experience.
• Unfortunately could not swim with the seals as conditions not right :–(
• Camped at another DOC site on the coast (Okiwi bay)

Day 117 : Christchurch and New Brighton

• Had more lack of direction – drove on to Methven but not much to do here when the snow has melted.
• Ended up in Christchurch – our 2011 free guide book and map we picked up in the airport was printed before the earthquake. I’m not sure what I was expecting but the whole city centre is cordoned with high fences. The buildings are a mixture of completely flattened, normal looking or just oddly wonky with cracks everywhere. A couple of large churches had their spires placed on the floor beside them.
• We drove onto New Brighton where we hoped the campsite we had picked was still open (which it was) and went for a nice surf.
• Had fish and chips. Found a pub to watch the match in. Will nearly cried when Wales lost. It’s very rubbish Wales losing.
• Walked back to the campsite over the wonky, cracked pavements.

Day 116 : Dunedin to Geraldine

• Had a look around Dunedin. Went to the public art gallery, had a coffee.
• Saw the Moeraki boulders – weird! Cuddled a friendly deer.
• Drove on to Oemaru –the most random town we’ve seen so far. It is a Victorian town with where things seemed not have changed like the tea rooms and book binders. It is the capital of “steam punk” art and has amazing features around the town and in the art gallery.
• Drove through Geraldine – not much here – stayed in a DOC site nearby. There are giant hares everywhere!

Day 115 : The south south coast

• Got our windscreen chip repaired (we can claim back on extra insurance we got – haven't told the van company about the hole we acquired in the skylight – not so good when it rains! )
• Drove with little aim to the Caitlins. Wanted to surf at porpoise bay but the surf rental guy was not there (and it was also a bit windy)
• Saw a pretified forest (some logs on the beach)
• Kept driving and seeing nice surf but no hire and ended up in Dunedin
• Drove on to a campsite in Portobello village then on to Sandfly bay look at the seals before sunset. 

(Note: everything’s “world famous” in New Zealand!)

Day 113 : The Kepler Track

Today we walked the 6 hour return trip to the Luxmore Hut and back on the Kepler track, having been warning off attempting an overnight route by the people at the DOC centre (apparently there is still too much snow for it to be passable). It was a nice walk, mainly through the forest, but with great views once we passed the bush line and up towards the hut.

Day 112 : Milford Sound

Went on an early morning cruise around Milford Sound. Very quiet – no crowds – and more impressive scenery (very high sea cliffs). Went for a couple of short walks on the way back to Te Anau and met some native birds (Kea and Weka). Hoped to walk the Kepler track in the next few days but some of it is not passable at the moment so just going to do a day walk tomorrow if the weather holds out. Camped at another DOC site near Te Anau.

Day 111 : Fiordland

We left Queenstown mid-morning and drove to Te Anau – the gateway town to Fiodland and Milford Sound. We booked ourselves on a cruise around Milford Sound for tomorrow morning and camped at a DOC site halfway between Te Anau and Milford Sound – spectacular scenery and glorious sunshine. Lazy afternoon by the lake / campsite.

Day 110 : River surfing and rugby

 

Left the house at Wanaka and drove to Queenstown again. We'd booked ourselves on a “white water sledging” trip, as we had seen people doing it in Rotorua and it looked like fun. Unfortunately, nobody else was on the trip with us, so instead we went “river surfing” – cruising down the rapids on bodyboards. We went down a 6km stretch of river twice – the second time going down some of the stronger rapids and getting to do barrel rolls and “squirts” where you position the board under a rapid so that it sucks you under for a few very cold seconds!

We got back from river surfing just in time for the Wales vs Ireland world cup quarter final, so headed to a bar in Queenstown for an evening of rugby. We celebrated Wales’ victory with a Furgburger, which lived up to its reputation as a “must do” in Queenstown.

Day 109 : Skydiving!

Went for a skydive in Wanaka it was amazing! One of the best things I've ever done.

The plane we went up in was tiny and had a corrugated plastic door. We were split into 2 groups and got to watch another group first, then went up with only one other “jumper” which was good not being in a queue of people jumping out of a plane! At 6000ft I thought that looked pretty high up! The views were incredible but hard to appreciate at the time. At 12000ft we jumped – thankfully when you jump you have to start with your head tilted back onto the instructors shoulder so you can’t look down (I had my eyes closed until I was out of the plane).

It was so amazing never had such an adrenaline rush – it was like flying and falling, it was something else! Even with the parachute open it was really scary and amazing and Wanaka is meant to be the most scenic place in the world to skydive (we didn’t get photos or a DVD because that cost almost the cost of the jump!).

Day 108 : Horse riding in Isengard

• Went on a 3 1/2 hour ride in Glenorchy  - managed to get on the “advanced” ride as there was only one other girl and she was a bit rusty.
• Took in amazing scenery much of which was used in Lord of the Rings.
• Did lots of river crossings and long canters.
• Will managed to fall off for the first time ever, whilst he was practically stationary by losing his balance after a transition to trot then an abrupt halt (you have to fall off sooner or later).
• Will was riding a horse that featured in Narnia – Prince Caspian which was cool – we have to watch Narnia and all the Lord of the Rings now!
• Drove back to Wanaka to Dave and Jessica’s beautiful holiday house (Dave is our Bristol friend Ali’s brother) and had a lovely bbq with them. They are heading back to Dunedin tomorrow for work but have offered for us to stay here tomorrow night as well which is great.

Day 107 : Queenstown

• Drove to Queenstown. Had choc cake sitting outside at a cafe. The town is nice and vibrant.
• Got the gondola up to Bob’s peak. Saw some bungee jumping – decided the one in the centre is to short and over too quick and that the 140m Nevis bungee would be the only one to do…but I’m too chicken!
• Went down the luge which was awesome fun and amazing views.
• Went to the Kiwi and bird park and saw our first kiwi (in the day – night reversed enclosure)
• Booked horse riding and booked a sky dive as that will be less scary than bungee and we have to do one or the other!
• Set up in a conservation site just outside of town.

Day 106 : Recharging at Wanaka

• Left conservation site and drove on to Wanaka
• Visited Puzzling World - did a maze and illusion room stuff (Will loves it)
• Parked up at a posh camp site to re-charge the battery and do laundry
• The campsite was surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains
• Did some skyping as first time in NZL that the internet was fast enough and with no limit

Day 105 : Franz Josef Glacier

• Went on a guided hike onto the glacier
• Used crampons
• Squeezed through blue ice crevasses
• Saw our first kea so cool
• Got free admission (with the hike) to some outdoor hot pools (not thermal)
• Discovered sand flies (none in the North island for some reason). So our bitey bitey count has gone from 0 for the past month to about 5. They are so brazen they have the cheek to bight in broad daylight.

Day 104 : Driving day

• Woke up with a lack of direction as its raining lots and we were thinking of driving to Abel Tasman to go canoeing but it’s meant o keep raining for 3 days. Decided to drive South and hope weather is better!
• Drove to just north of Franz Josef.
• Noticed they like round–abouts with rail road crossing through the middle! And the use of corrugated iron for things like models and signs.

Day 103 : Wine tour in Blenheim

Went on a wine tour (Na Clachan tours) in Blenheim, Marlborough. It was cool and we learned lots but it was a bit hard work as we were the only ones on it (it’s a rugby match day) so we had the full attention of all the merchants. They make a lot of sav blancs and Rieslings. Some wines we liked…

• Wither Hills 2010 chardonnay
• Lawson’s Dry Hills Gewurztraminer, 2009. Chardonnay 2007, pinot rose 2011
• Hunter’s Kaho Roa 2008, chardonnay 2009, Hukapapa Riesling 2009
• Framingham F-series old vine Riesling 2010
• Mahi Chardonnay (Alchemy) 2009, Pinot noir 2009

Went for a walk on the beach we are staying at (Rarangi) and looked at the big waves crashing on the beach.