5, 4, 3, 2...1

As you know from our last blog, we spent St.Patricks day in Auckland. It seems the Auklanders celebrate it in a big way with parades, dressing up and lots of drinking. The Volvo Ocean Yacht Race was also in town, so we walked around the marina past many very pricey yachts in time to see the NZ team yacht leave for the next leg of the race. After a pint of Guinness we headed back to our campervan to make our way to our last campsite only to find some scumbag had broken in and stolen pretty much all of our belongings :( everything we'd collected along the way-even our journals worth nothing to them but everything to us! After a loooong phone call to the Police we were advised to leave the van so it could be finger printed. Finding new accommodation was not an easy task with a pop concert on in town and St. Paddy's festivities we had no chance in the city and ended up in a hotel by the airport. The next morning we had to buy a new case for the few things the robbers had left us with!
At the airport we briefly met up with Vicky, a friend from home who moved out here 3 years ago (we'd have met the night before for drinks if circumstances were better!). It was great to catch up and she did manage to redeem some of Aucklands good points!
12 hours and 7 films between us later (we don't sleep well on planes), we arrived in LA. We were a bit disorientated after departing at 2:05pm and travelling back in time to 6:20am on the same day. Being too early to check in and catch up on sleep, we headed to Santa Monica to see about replacing some of our clothes. After a real American breakfast of eggs benedict and coffee on free refill (much needed), we trawled the shops for some clothing bargains.
Up early the next morning, (NOT!) we headed over to Warner Bros studios for a tour. We learned the secrets of the trade and got to see some memorabilia from past films including the 'Tumbler' from the new Batman films and loads of Harry Potter props too. We even got sorted by THE Sorting Hat into Gryffindor House. Yay!
Afterwards we went for a walk around Hollywood to see the infamous sign on the hill and the walk of fame. It also happened to be the world premier of American Reunion, so we got within arms reach of Jim, Nadia and S*#tbrick!!! But the real highlight was seeing Jedward arrive at the premier!?! We celebrated with dinner and drinks at Hooters (Matt's suggestion).
We spent our last day taking it easy with a few beach walks and a coastal drive. First we went to Santa Monica beach and had a walk along the pier and took a look a Muscle Beach where all the Arnie wannabes pump iron. One supposed Beef Cake had sprained his poor lickle army warrmy and called the paramedics. How we chuckled! We then took a drive up the coast to Malibu for another stretch of the legs along the beach before heading to LAX to catch our flight home :-(

Happy St Patrick's Day

Cheers!

From caves to coastline

Next stop was Taupo, on the edge of the largest lake in New Zealand (Lake Taupo). We took it easy as we were still achy from the previous days shenanigans! We milled around the town for a bit before heading to the Huka Honey Hive where we unsuccessfully tried to spot the queen bee in their live hive display! We tasted about 9 different honeys - all very different but equally as yummy, from the light floral lavender, to medicinal Manuka to the god damn super tasty Tawari. We parked up at a free campsite and took a walk to Huka Falls. Quite spectacular falls on the Waikato river which starts from Lake Taupo and ends in Auckland making it the longest river in New Zealand. The flow over the falls is 40 cubic metres a second and as a whole the river produces 15% of New Zealand's power (hmmm interesting I hear you say!!??).
From Taupo we headed West to Waitomo, famous for its expansive cave systems, home to the even more famous glow worms. Here we took a legendary black water rafting trip of three hour adventure, hiking through a jungle, venturing into a dark cave, jumping off waterfalls (in the dark cave) and floating in tubes while glancing up at the glow worms living on the cave ceiling. It was quite amazing, they look like little blue stars in the night sky! After a much needed hot shower and soup we headed north to the Coromandel Peninsular where we'd spend the last few days in NZ.
We started by visiting the famous Paeroa (L&P) and had the customary photo taken with the giant bottle! We spent the following day driving up the west coast visiting various picturesque beaches, some of which featured nude sunbathing - not by us may we add! We finished the day by hiking up Mt Paku (all of 178 metres of it) for stunning panoramic views. The 'short walk' to this extinct volcano took somewhat longer than expected, so the offer from an older unfit American couple (who drove most the way up) back to the town was much appreciated!!! We rewarded ourselves with fresh caught fish and chips- red snapper and Dory-yummy!
Up early the next morning for our 3 hour sea kayaking trip around Hahei Marine Reserve to the famous Cathedral Cove among other beautiful secluded beaches. Luckily the sea was flat as a pancake and we managed to remain vertical at all times. Matt spent the rest of the day unsuccessfully fossiking in Gemstone bay for Sam's amethyst! That evening we thought seeing as we were in the area, we should do the customary touristy thing and dig ourselves a spa on Hot Water Beach. Natural hot springs under the sand provide water up to 75 degrees celsius, and 2 hours before and after low tide you can dig yourself a spa. We learned theres an art to it from the locals. Dig half in a hot area and half in a cold area and you get a good mix.
Next day we ambled down the east coast of the peninsula and saw some huge Kauri trees around 600 years old and 6 metres in diameter but still only a 10th the age of the oldest recorded, before heading up to Aukland for our last day in New Zealand.

Goodbye OZ...hello NZ!

Well what can we say, what a beautiful country! Having arrived at an ungodly hour on a total of zero hours sleep we picked up our camper van, a.k.a Sir Ed (you'll see why from the photo), and made our way sharpish out of Christchurch. Unfortunately due to the earthquakes its a shell of a city now, and a tremor a day keeps Matt and Sam away!
Our 1st stop was Akaroa, a small town about an hour south of Christchurch on the coast, very picturesque. We only spent a day here but did a lovely walk taking us high above the town and harbour. Our 2nd destination was Tekapo, about three hours south west, and on arrival very wet and windy - our dinner of beans on toast was nearly cold beans on bread but a nice Polish couple offered us their kitchen (a much more advanced camper van than our budget one) to cook in! Luckily we woke up to clear blue sky and hot sun. Lake Tekapo is famous for its strikingly turquoise colour (see photo-it has not been photoshopped, this is what it really looks like!). We decided to hike up Mount John where Canterbury University have an observatory. Its apparently one of the best locations to view the night sky in New Zealand but unfortunately our evenings were cloud covered. At the observatory we got to look directly at the sun through a solar filtered telescope which was very cool!! Our evening was spent at the local Alpine Springs - 3 hot pools varying in temperature from 35-39 degrees with a view of the lake.
The following day we made our way to Queenstown, Otago a three hour drive South West where we met up with Mark and Jen who we'd met at the wedding in Melbourne last week! They showed us the town by night with more than a few drinks and some great pizza in a place with a roof that opens to views of the starry sky.
At the time it seemed a great idea to do a bungy the next morning, after all Queenstown is home to the original bungy by AJ Hacket - so jump from a 43m high suspension bridge we did... Another extreme activity ticked off our 'to do' list :) the adrenaline left us shaky and exhausted for the rest of the day (this may have something to do with the night before too!), so we ambled around a small town called Arrowtown, once a gold mining haven for the rest of the afternoon. We camped out a few km's north of Queenstown on the way to Glenorchy where we spent the next morning before heading back to pig out on the famous 'Fergburger' with Jen and Mark - it certainly lived up to expectations and we WILL be having another before we leave the area!

The state of Victoria - 'The place to be'

We arrived in Melbourne just after lunch and spent the rest of the day taking it easy, wandering around the botanical gardens and going for the recommended Tea and scones!
On the second day we took a wildlife tour to Phillip island, home of the Little Penguin (30cm tall when fully grown).
The tour was lead by an amusing Aussie guy (with massive eyebrows) who showed us the sights including a visit to a chocolate factory (see pic!!). The penguins arrive from the sea at nightfall in small groups and make their way up to the beach (very slowly) to their nesting grounds. They're the cutest little fluff balls, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos to prove it as the flashes send them waddling back into the sea faster than they came out :( but we did get within a few cm's of them!
The next day was spent in Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsular, a beautiful coastal town with breathtaking views and a great beach with rock pools to bring back childhood memories. Unfortunately we underestimated our journey times so spent about 6 hours on public transport only getting about 2 and a half hours actually in Sorrento! But if nothing else, it was worth it for the gigantic ice cream we consumed when we arrived! The saying 'eyes too big for your belly' sprung to mind!!

The next day was the start of our Great Ocean Road whistle stop tour. Hours of the most amazing coastal driving! We hired the cheapest car possible, which struggled on the hills, but thankfully had air-con!
The first town you come to is Torquay - where the surfing brands Rip Curl and Quicksilver started out, and also home to Bells Beach where Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze filmed the showdown scene of Point Break apparently!
Next stop was Anglesey (seeing a British theme here?) with another fab beach! Further down the coast the road opens up to picture perfect postcard views of turquoise sea, bright blue skies, sandy beaches etc etc. After checking in to our hostel in Apollo Bay, we had a race against time to catch the sun setting on the famous sea stacks an hours drive down the coast; 12 Apostles, London Bridge, The Arch and The Grotto, All carved by the wind and waves over millions of years and utterly spectacular. We just made it in time to experience a not so spectacular (cloud obstructed) sunset! Our journey back to the hostel was VERY dark, slow and nearly ended up in tears when a Kangaroo forgot his green cross code by sitting in the middle of the road on a blind bend-Matts lightening reflexes saved all three of us! The following day we headed to the 2nd most southerly point in Oz - Cape Otway, however it wasn't the highlight of the trip, the most exiting thing about this little drive was the Koala lined road-no exaggeration there were 100's being their usual sleepy selves (they sleep up to 20 hours a day) high up in the gum trees, it became a bit of an obsession trying to see how close we could get to them!
Once we'd satisfied ourselves that we had some good photos we set off for Yarra Glen for the big wedding of our friends Gareth and Andrea. The drive was about 4 hours in total but this included a 20 minute stop off to harass an Echidna that Sam spotted at the side of the road for a photo (see pic!). Another wild animal ticked off our list!
The evening was spent catching up, eating and drinking with Gareth an his family and grooms men (bizarre seeing friends on the other side of the world).
We had some time to kill before the wedding the next day so thought it only right to visit some vineyards seeing as we were in wine country. We made it to two, one of which was Domaine Chandon (Moët Chandon). The wedding, also set at a vineyard 'The Stones of the Yarra Valley' was fabulous, the bride looking beautiful and the groom very handsome! The ring exchange brought back memories of ours... hot hands and a struggle to push the grooms ring on, but it got a few giggles! Then drinks were flowing for the rest of the evening and into the early hours, the speeches were great despite nerves, we think the brides topped them all though-very brave Andrea! Understandably the next day was a slow start but eventually we made it over to the brides family home (with a pool!) for our 1st real Aussie BBQ (I know, on our last day can you believe). Unfortunately that pretty much rounds off our time here in Oz! We're very sad to leave but exited by the next stage as we travel a little further round and down the globe to New Zealand ;)

Sydney - Round 2!!

Waking up on the first morning back in Sydney was a sad sight. Rain and dark skies over the city made our prospects of a nice day at the beach look grim. However, as optimistic as ever we push on and take the bus to Coogee, south east of the city. To our surprise and delight the sun had put his hat on had come out to play (inland was dark grey still). We took a 4 mile walk north along the coast past picturesque coves and bays until we hit Bondi Beach in full sun. Within minutes we were on the beach and in the surf, riding some pretty huge waves. After much fun and a snooze on the sand we took the bus back to the city and scrubbed up for a posh dinner at the Sydney Sky Tower, tallest building in the city. The circular deck of the tower rotates giving 360 views of the city, and as our booking was just before dusk, we got to see it all by day and night.
The next morning much to Matts delight (note sarcasm), Sam talked him into the Park Run of Sydney, as some on you will know this is a 5k run in a local park which started in the UK and has made it (just) to Oz, in fact it was just the 4th week of the Sydney run and starts at 8am due to the heat! Ouch! We both completed the run in respectable times (all things considered) and decided to walk the 3 miles back to prevent our (Matt's) muscles ceasing up!! The rest of the day was spent perusing the weekend markets at 'The Rocks' starting out hot and sunny, turning torrential and stormy, then back to some of the best sunshine yet. After lunch we wandered over to the Sydney Observatory for amazing views of Darling Harbour and the Harbour bridge. Incidentally this also seemed to be the place to go for wedding photos, we saw at least 6 different newly weds posing for the cameras-they may have us in the background (lucky them!). As the weather was so good we went back to the Opera House for a second round of photos, this time with blue sky backgrounds. Once back we'd clocked 16 miles of walking/running in one day!
For Our last day in Sydney we headed over for the Northern beach town of Manly, recommended by many friends who have been before. We got more than we bargained for, as it happened to be the Australian Open Surfing competition and a blistering hot day. We picked up tips from the pros (from the beach side), soaked up the sun and had a play about in the waves, but by 4pm a storm hit so we headed back to Sydney - exhausted!
In a nutshell thats Sydney ticked off the list, so now southwards to our final Aussie destination, Melbourne in the state of Victoria for city sights, the Great Ocean Road and of course our 1st wedding of the year :)

Sydney and the not so Blue Mountains...

Sadly our arrival in Sydney has marked the end of our good luck with the weather. Somehow we managed to dodge all the tropical storms up in Queensland and see nothing but blue skies. It's now a chilly 18 degrees in the Blue Mountains (but still 26 in Sydney).
We spent our first 2 days in Sydney exploring the city by foot, clocking up a respectable 20 miles. This of course resulted in 4 very sore feet, but allowed us to visit Darling Harbour and it's many attractions. First we took in the opera house, which from a distance looks spectacular, but becomes a little disappointing when you get up close to its roof which is tiled and surprisingly beige in colour. It wouldn't look out of place on Skem concourse or the London underground!!
We then visited the botanical gardens which are extremely impressive especially with the addition of the friendly cockatoos who landed on Matt for a cheeky feeding of white bread (don't tell, bit naughty of us!!) and the sleeping bats by day. We came back at dusk for the mass exodus of bats as they roused from their nocturnal sleep to squawk lots and feed! We opted out of the Harbour Bridge climb (due to extortionate cost) and settled with walking over it, the views we're still very impressive and even the sun put in an appearance for us!
Now we're in the Blue mountains, previously thought to named after the eucalyptus oils rising from the gum trees giving a blue haze seen from miles around (as far a Sydney - which is 65k east - on a clear day), however its actually due to a more boring scientific reason we won't go in to right now, besides we'd say they were more grey/white in colour at the moment :(
The most recognisable and visited feature of this area is the 3 sisters, three rock pinnacles which have Aboriginal spiritual significance, so we hiked over to have a look (and got temporarily side tracked in the most amazing chocolate shop for a much needed 'do it yourself' hot choc - see photo!!) and made it just in time before the mist descended and remained for the rest if the day but it didn't stop us from doing a bit of bush walking and working up an appetite!!
Today we got some good advise from our hostel about walks suitable for this weather (wet) and so headed for Wentworth Falls. We actually had great weather and were treated to epic views across the gum tree forests and saw some truly stunning waterfalls (4 in total).
Heading back to Sydney now and planning our next 3 days in and around the city.