The BarraSmith Grand Tour

Eastern promise

2010-03-07T02:39:00.000-08:00

We left Fiji about 9am on Monday and arrived in Hong Kong some 17 hours later as our connection was via Sydney. We took the train to Kowloon and jumped in a cab. Unfortunately the cab driver didn't speak a word of English so we had to get his operator to translate over the radio. We arrived at the lovely Royal Pacific Hotel only to find we'd been given a smoking room - pong! We asked for a new room, but instead, they gave us some kind of air ioniser, which worked a bit.

On Tuesday morning we woke up with sore throats and that ashtray smell again and this time managed to agree a room change. We hit the busy streets and looked for breakfast. We chickened out of getting an authentic Chinese breakfast and had a Starbucks instead. Now with caffeine inside us, we promised to be a bit more daring. We walked down to the Star Ferry terminal and paid a whopping $2 (about 17p) for the short crossing to Hong Kong Island. Our first stop was Man Mo Temple which was literally bursting at the seams with every type of burning incense you can imagine. We paid our respects to the gods Man and Mo, took some snaps and ran outside to breathe air again. We checked out the curios at Cat St market and carried on past the fruit, veg and live fish stalls at Graham St market. We had lunch in a backstreet cafe full of locals with no English translations on the menu. After lots of pointing and gesturing, Em got spicy noodle soup with chicken wings and I got beef and mushrooms on rice - yum! With food inside us we headed to the Hong Kong Zoo and Botanical Gardens, where they seemed to specialise in all types of bird and primate. We then took the incredibly steep Peak Tram up Victoria Peak. We reached the top, but Hong Kong was under a blanket of cloud so we couldn't see much. We walked around the winding paths and headed back down again. Back at the hotel we'd been given a much better room, with great views out over Kowloon Park. In the evening we had some tasty Cantonese, did a walk along the promenade and headed for a pub called Ned Kelly's Last Stand which had become Em's second home the last time she was in Hong Kong with Chilts. We fought our jetlag with Tsing Tao beer and watched the excellent house jazz band doing their thang.

After breakfast on Wednesday we headed over the road to Kowloon Park and checked out the parrots and macaws in the aviary, the Chinese Garden and the sculpture park. There were lots of people doing thai chi and some even playing Chinese instruments. From here we visited the Museum of History and learnt a bit about Hong Kong's beginnings and it's ancient customs. One custom stated that marrying couples had to go through a series of tests. After the parents had found suitable partners, written to each other several times and had their star charts checked, the girl was locked in her parents loft where she sang to relieve her anxiety, while a "woman of experience" was employed to install and bless their marital bed - bizarre! After a whistlestop tour of the Museum of Art we headed north and walked around the epic Yue Wha Chinese Products Emporium and bought some jasmine tea. In the evening we took a cab to Happy Valley Races and bet on a few horses. After four straight losses, we finally won a whopping $4 and headed back to town on a tall skinny tram.

On Thursday we took a bus to the south side of Hong Kong Island and got lost around Aberdeen. After a harbour tour past the famous Jumbo floating restaurant, we got a cab to Stanley and checked out the market, temple and huge colonnial building by the pier. After a few public transport errors we finally made it to the start of the famous 'Dragon's Back' hike. Apparently the views from this walk had been voted 'Best in Asia' by Time magazine, but we spent most of it walking through a cloud so we couldn't see anything. Eventually the cloud cleared enough to see the quaint village of Shek O. We headed to the hotel making it back to Hong Kong harbour just in time to see the 8pm light show. Most of the buildings made some sort of contribution, including lasers, strip lights and Batman style lightbeams bouncing off the clouds. We'd both been suffering since leaving Fiji due to some ropey water we'd drunk, so we played it safe and had an Italian for dinner and an early night.

On Friday we went north to see the Tin Hau Temple and famous Jade Market. After finding yet another crazy street market we got the tube south to Hong Kong park and walked around the enormous dome aviary. The sky was much clearer today so we took the Peak Tram again and got some awesome views of the city. Had lunch on the peak then went to Causeway Bay to do some shopping in the collosal Japanese department store, SoGo. In the evening we headed north to Temple St Night Market, or as we now call it, "Hello Handbag", due to the amount of people trying to sell knock-off designer handbags. After searching all over Hong Kong we finally found a proper Chinese tea set we liked and I bought a t-shirt (surprise, surprise). We got a cab back to the hotel, dropped off our shopping and hit the town. We headed into Lang Kwai Fong aka party town and had our long awaited Chinese feast at the famous Yung Kee restaurant. We ordered roasted goose, BBQ pork, chicken and cashews, prawn and vegetables and rice. Dribble! After dinner we had some drinks on the town then took a tube back to Kowloon and had a couple more in Ned Kelly's. Managed to see the house bands last set, before heading back to the hotel about 2:30am.

On Saturday we were a bit hungover, so we had a lie in. After having some brekkie we checked out of our hotel and took the ferry to Lantau Island for our last two nights. We arrived in Mui Wo (aka Silvermine Bay) to see thousands of bicycles all parked up by the ferry port. After checking into the hotel we went for a walk around town and ended up in an ex-pat bar called China Bear as we'd overdosed on Chinese food and were craving something familiar. Mui Wo is a funny scruffy little town with an odd mix of retired ex-pats and Chinese holidaymakers. We decided to save our energy for tomorrow and just pottered around town and chilled out. In the evening we ended up back in China Bear eating nachos and drinking wine.

Sunday was the last day of our epic trip and we wanted to make sure we went out in style. We had breakfast and caught a bus from the ferry port to Ngong Ping. The weather was surprisingly chilly and a bit misty, but it wasn't till the bus climbed up the mountain that we realised the whole island was in one giant cloud. We arrived at Ngong Ping village and could barely see 5 metres in front of us. We followed the crowds to the steps of the Giant Buddha, although from the bottom you'd never know it was there. We climbed the steps and looked around the museum with it's comedy English translations. After that we walked back down to the Po Lin Monastery which was by far the best temple we'd seen. It was filled with gold statues, paintings, marble floors, ornate stone carvings and they'd made the clever decision to only allow incense to be placed outside the temple, so you didn't choke to death when you entered. Our admission ticket included a meal, so we went to claim our lunch and had green tea, noodles and dim sum. Throughout our whole trip we've been amused by Chinese and Japanese tourists in western countries taking pictures of what we consider the most mundane things. It was only now as Em took a pic of our plate of dim sum that I realised we were doing exactly the same. After lunch we did a short walk - actually more of a shuffle - to a viewpoint which was essentially just a cloud. Then the through the mist, a water buffalo appeared. Hooray, our final beast spot. After checking out the local tea plantation we jumped on another bus, this time to the fishing village of Tai O. Sunday is obviously a popular day for locals and Chinese holidaymakers as Tai O was packed and there seemed to only be a handful of westerners. The mist had now turned to rain and as we wound our way through the tiny alleys I realised being that little bit taller than the majority of people is actually quite annoying when everyone else has an umbrella. Tai O is a village of fishermen who've built their houses on stilts and you can buy all manor of fishy things, including, shrimp paste and live fish, but their specialism seems to be something that resembles giant dried fish. We walked right through town to a pogoda temple before stumbling across a huge theatre made from bamboo scaffolding and sheets of tin plate. On stage was a traditional Chinese opera, so we sat down at the back and watched for a while. After that we had one final walk through town and caught our bus back to Mui Wo. For our last supper we had an all you can eat buffet in the hotel restaurant, whilst listening to bizarre musac versions of songs, including the CD cleaner song from the 80's. There was also a house band, which consisted of a keyboardist and a female singer who sang songs like 'Killing Me Softly', badly. It only got more surreal when one of the guests got up and started singing Chinese karaoke.

Anyway, I'd better go as we're up at 5am tomorrow to catch our final flight back to London. I can't believe it's all over. A huge thank you to everyone who donated towards our adventure. It was extra special knowing that our friends and family contributed to the whole thing. I hope you've all enjoyed reading the blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Lots of love, Mark and Emily xx

Beast count: Buff-cheeked Gibbon, Golden Lion Tamarin, Giant Spurred Tortoise, Ruffed Lemur, Siamang, Ring-tailed Lemur, Bornean Orangutan, Flamingos, Macaws, Parrots, Cockatoos, Pelicans, lots of paper-mache tigers (it's year of the tiger) and a water buffalo.

Fiji time

2010-02-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Bulla everyone! We landed at Nadi airport about 4pm and took a short minibus transfer to the docks and clambered aboard our boat to Waya island. The journey normally takes 45mins, but because of the recent cyclone in Tonga, it took twice as long. It was a rough ride and the black clouds in the distance looked ominous. We powered straight towards them and into terrential rain. The guys battoned down the hatches and then... the engine cut out. We bob about in the sea while they check the engines and I start to turn green. Luckily it's quickly resolved and we're on our way again. As we approach Waya island and the Octopus Resort the sea quickly goes from huge swells to millpond. We jump into a smaller boat and are greeted by the house band playing guitars and singing to us from the shoreline. Our bags are taken care of and we are whisked straight to the bar and given a free cocktail - bonus! After the formalities we're shown to our Garden Bure - a gorgeous wooden hut with thatched roof and open air bathroom. It's perfect. At 7:30pm we join the rest of the days arrivals for the official welcome ceremony, which involves sitting on a woven mat drinking the local kava (ominous puddle drink which tastes like anesthetic) and introducing yourself. For dinner we had an awesome seafood BBQ and met Chris and Maggie from The Netherlands. We discover not only did they get married on the same day as us, but they also flew out on the same day as us and they're also on a six-month honeymoon - bizarre! Tonight is the famous "International Hermit Crab Racing" and after dinner we all go and pick our runners. Each hermit crab has a number tippexed onto it's shell, then they're all released into the centre of a circle drawn on the sand. Em's crab goes out in the early rounds, but mine makes it all the way to the final. It's a tight race and mine is just pipped at the post, but we get second place and I win us a $20 bar tab. We get back to our bure late and crawl under our ceiling fan and mosquito net. Tuesday was snorkelling day. After breakfast we hired snorkels from the dive shop and swam over the reef, which was literally only metres from the shoreline, right in front of the resort. We'd snorkelled in NZ and Oz, but nothing could prepare us for this. The visability was about 25 metres and the temparature of the water was like bath water. We spent most of the day gliding over the reef, spotting more and more exotic fish. We were out for so long that Em ended up burning her bum and I burnt my back, despite the factor 30 we'd slapped on. In the evening we watched Fiji vs The World (the resort staff vs the guests) at beach volleyball. Despite allowing the guests as many players as they wanted and as many hits, the staff still won 5 sets to nil. On Wednesday with new found enthusiasm for all things aquatic and went snorkelling before breakfast. After we'd eaten we went on a walk across the island with our tour guide, Api and Mimi from LA. It was hot, so we walked slowly, or as Api called it, "Fiji time". We went over the hill and up the coast to a viewpoint on the rocks. On the way back he took us through his village, which had been pretty badly damaged during the last cyclone. In the afternoon, we snorkelled... again and in the evening we had a cocktail on the beach and watched the sun go down. For dinner we had a fabulous array of curries followed by comical games on the beach with more prizes. One of the prizes was a candlelit lobster dinner for two on the beach, which was won by a couple of British lads staying in the backpackers together - ha, ha. On Thursday Em spent most of her time snorkelling while I spent most of my time reading. A few days in and I was totally hooked by Andre Agassi's autobiobraphy, 'Open' and Em was starting to get jealous. On Friday I made a concerted effort to leave Andre at home and spend more time with my wife. We booked onto a kayaking trip to the next bay along with Mimi and Ian from Hampshire. After a couple of false starts we made it around the headland and parked up on the beach. We snorkelled around the reef and saw some different fish to the ones outside the resort. On the way back the currents were against us and it was really hard work. Me and Em were on a double kayak so we had some weight on our side and reached the resort first. Mimi ended up getting pushed out to sea, but made it back and Api and Ian got washed onto the rocks and had to be rescued by boat. Api thought it was hilarious. In the evening everyone wore sulu's and flowers behind their ears and sat by the pool to watch the staff put on an amazing show of traditional Fijian song and dance. After that we were faced with another amazing spread for dinner, including a pig that had been slow-roasted on the beach all afternoon. On Saturday we had a really chilled out day (yeah, because the others were stressful, right?). We did more snorkelling, swimming in the pool, reading and sunbathing. In the evening there was another colossal BBQ and afterwards a party on the beach. Despite not going to bed till 1am, we were up at 7am on Sunday to get a cheeky swim in before breakfast as we were leaving at noon. As we approached the water, the owner of the resort called us over and said there'd been a tsunami warning due to a massive earthquake in Chili. We grabbed a few things, had a rushed breakfast and followed everyone to the top of the hill. Luckily nothing happenned and by 10:30 we were back by the pool reading our books. By 12:30 our boat had arrived and it was time to leave the island and head back to Nadi. We headed to the beach and said our goodbyes to the staff. By 2pm we were back on the mainland and heading towards our airport hotel. Tomorrow we fly to Hong Kong!

Beast count: Wild piglets, wild goats, butterflyfish, angelfish, surgeonfish, unicornfish, moorish idol, rabbitfish, scissortail sergeant, fiji anemonefish, damsel, halfbeak, grouper, diagonal banded sweetlips, parrotfish, picasso trigger fish, wrasse, giant blue starfish, baby squid and giant clams.

So juicy sweet

2010-02-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Sunday 14th February was Chinese New Year and Valentines Day, so to celebrate we decided to treat ourselves. We arrived in Waipu Bay and booked ourselves into a cabin with en suite and a TV (get us). Our cabin was only a minutes walk from the beach, so we wasted no time going for a swim. We couldn't find a local Chinese restaurant, so we ate at The Pizza Barn where all the staff were in fancy dress - the best costumes being the two blokes dressed as Antony and Cleopatra. After that we watched some Winter Olympics on the tele. On Monday we stopped in Waipu and found out about their Scottish heritage in the local museum. Stopped in the sprawling town of Whangarei to do boring things like laundry and eventually after a few unsealed roads arrived at another DOC (Dept of Conservation) site at Otamuri Bay, near Whanganuwi, overlooking the beach. On Tuesday we packed up and headed north to Russel, the first European settlement town in New Zealand. We booked onto the campsite and made ourselves at home. Russel is a beautifully preserved town with gorgeous Victorian architecture at every turn. The atmosphere was so relaxed and it took us no time at all to settle in and feel at home. On Wednesday morning we were up early and heading out to sea on a fishing charter. On the boat were three aussies, three pommes (including us), two scots and one kiwi. Once the captain had found a good spot, we all cast our lines into the sea and waited for nibbles. There was lots of talk from the aussies, but it was Em who hauled in the first snapper. Shortly after the aussies thought they'd snagged a big one. It turned out they'd just snagged the bottom of the sea. As we headed back to Russel, Em had managed to catch the first fish, the most fish and more importantly the biggest snapper. In terms of numbers of fish caught, the pommes thrashed the aussies 8 fish to 2. Back at the pier the chaps on the boat filleted our haul and we ate as much as we could for dinner. On Thursday it was raining so we took the ferry across to Paihai and had a look round. On our return we walked up to Flagstaff Hill, where the maori chief, Hone Heki, had cut down the British flag four times and forced them to leave Russel. On Friday we packed up and headed south, stopping to see Hundertwassers Loo (basically a fancy public toilet designed by an eccentric Austrian). We arrived just in time to see a female preacher giving a sermon outside the loos and behind her was a steam train full of maori children singing songs - bizarre! From there we had lunch at Mangawhai and then pitched our tent at Sandspit. After driving through the affluent Matakana and all the way to Goat Island Marine Reserve, we had a change of heart. It was our last night camping in New Zealand and we wanted to get it right. We went back to collect our tent and re-pitched it at a site overlooking Goat Island. On Saturday morning we hired snorkels from the campsite and went for an explore of the marine reserve. The visability was quite poor and the water pretty cold, so we didn't stay in long, but we did see lots of cool fish. We had showers and drove south towards Auckland. We arrived at my cousin Iain's place in Remuera about 2ish and took the landlords dog, Chi, out for a walk. In the afternoon, Iain took us for a tour of central Auckland, including the art gallery, and in the evening we went out with his friends for a curry and a few drinks in Purnell. After that we had a smashing time with Iain's lacrosse teamates at a house party on the north shore and a very late night. On Sunday we slept in and after breakfast in a fantastic veggie cafe, we took the ferry to Waiheke Island. When we got there we were taken on a vineyard tour by Brian, our comedy bus driver. Tipsy and tired, we headed back to Iain's place for our last New Zealand pint. The next morning we packed up and headed to Auckland airport. Fiji, here we come.

Beast count: Fish galore

All in a weeks "work"

2010-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

We left Tauranga on Sunday and took the scenic route south to Rotorua - a town built on a geothermal hotspot. There were barely any attractions or accommodation that didn't utilise this huge selling point. What nobody tells you though, is due to all the vast amounts of sulphur in the spring water, the whole place reeks like bad eggs. We pitched up at the Cosy Cottage campsite and used all the facilities, including a heated swimming pool, hot spa's and a place for you to cook your spuds using heated up rocks - genius! On Monday we packed up and drove south and climbed Rainbow Mountain in preparation for our big walk later in the week. From there we headed to Lake Taupo and found another camspite with heated pool, hot spa and... the best invention ever - a jumping pillow (essentially a giant bouncy castle that comes out of the ground). Tuesday morning I woke up nervous about 6ish. I'd booked my first tandem skydive, but it was totally overcast and looked like it would be cancelled. Then, just as I started relaxing, divine intervention stepped in and carved a huge hole in the cloud, right above the airport. It was going ahead. We arrived at the hangar at 10:30 and by 11am I was wearing my jumpsuit, harness, goggles and cap and climbing into the back of a tiny plane with Joel, my tandem master (aka DUDE) - who kindly informed me he was the least experienced skydiver there - great. We took off and climbed to 12,000ft, let two people out, then carried on climbing to 15,000ft. I was last out, because I hadn't bought a video package and didn't have the added complication of having a cameraman jump out with me. I shuffled to the door (with Joel attached), hung my legs out of the door, "smiled" for the camera and then aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! For the first few seconds you know you're falling and every muscle in your body tenses. After that the adrenaline kicks in, you see the view below and amazingly you relax. My little brain couldn't comprehend the height, so it just felt like I was floating with an icy blast in my face. I later found out we were traveling at 130mph and freefalling for 65 seconds. Joel opened the parachute and we glided gently down to the ground. After being papped by Em and the official photographer, we headed into town for a celebratory drink (a very British cup of tea). In the afternoon we had a much more sedate walk around the crazy geothermal landscapes of Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park (location for the BBC's 'Walking With Dinosaurs'). After that we drove south to Whakapapa Village which is in the shadow of some pretty mean-looking mountains. We spent the evening carb-loading (aka, stuffing our faces) and had an early night. On Wednesday we were up at 6am, on Comedy Dave's shuttle service at 7am and starting the epic 20km Tongariro Crossing at 7:30am. Hundreds of people from all over the world started with us, wearing all sorts of gear, from those who wouldn't look out of place on Everest, to teenagers wearing shoulder bags and unlaced trainers. The path was narrow and winding and it was obvious from the start that the German walkers weren't going to let anyone pass them, irrespective of how slow they were going. We scaled the first ascent and walked alongside the base of Mt Ruapeka (or Mount Doom for the LOTR fans). A few people were climbing it, but it was all skree and didn't look like much fun. We carried on along the tops and climbed again, this time choosing to divert to the peak of Mt Tongariro as we were ahead of schedule. We reached the top, and much to my amazement, didn't find a German towel. From our rocky seat we looked down across a blanket of cloud, then quickly about-turned as we saw a weather front rolling in. We ran/fell down the skree on the otherside, admiring the emerald lakes and red crater as we went. The last third of the walk was down never-ending switchbacks but we kept a good pace and made the 3pm chuckle bus, where I promptly fell asleep. We spent the evening in the local boozer eating burger and chips and shooting some pool. On Thursday we headed north for Waitomo and just made it in time for the 1:30pm 'Black Labyrinth' at The Black Water Rafting Co. We donned helmets, wetsuits and wellies and got driven to a river and asked to choose a rubber ring that fit our bottoms. We then had to practice jumping backwards from a height with our rubber rings in place. After much mocking and photo-taking by our Kiwi tour guides we were taken to the cave entrance. Emily led the way and when our cave guide pointed out an eel, Em said "that's not an eel, it's a stick. I don't believe anything you piss-taking kiwi's say anymore". It was an eel. We carried on through the caves, past the eels, over the rocks and into a cavern full of gloworms (which they explained was actually the shiny shit of canabalistic maggots - nice). In the evening we had one of the best meals of our travels so far at The Huhu, which served modern maori-inspired dishes. Unfortunately, after that, we were kept up till 3am by the local bar which played terrible music till 3am. I still have 'Achy Breaky Heart' by Billy Ray Cyrus in my head. On Friday we drove all the way to The Coromandel Peninsula and found a fantastic hidden paradise in Opoutere. We pitched our tent at the coastal campsite and went straight to the beach for a swim. After the first few waves the water was still, clear and the perfect depth for swimming. After dinner we lay on the beach looking up at a clear night sky with no light pollution whatsoever - fantastic. On Saturday we drove to Coromandel Town via the infamous 309 road and stopped for lunch at Waiau Waterworks. On the way back to the campsite we visited lots of remote beaches where all the posh Aucklanders have huge holiday homes. For dinner Em cooked her special campsite thai curry with chili-marinated mussels from the smokehouse in Coromandel Town - yum! On Sunday we were on the road again, heading towards northland and bay of islands.

Beast count: Sticky the Eel

Todd's Terrific Tour of Tauranga

2010-02-08T01:22:00.000-08:00

After a speedy drive from Whakatane we arrived in Tauranga city limits. We missed our turn and guessed we'd gone too far when we passed through a village called Bethlehem. We called Todd (my old tennis partner) and he guided us to his friend Scott's house, who was having a welcome home party. We arrived just in time for a slap-up Kiwi BBQ in the back garden overlooking the water. After we'd been thoroughly fed and watered we said our goodbyes and followed Todd, Maryanne and baby William back to their home in Otumoetai. When William was in bed we did some proper catching up, whilst watching the Rugby Sevens on TV and drinking our first cup of Milo. On Saturday morning William was packed off to Granny and Grandad's for the day and we all headed into town to check out the sights of Tauranga. We cruised through town, checking out the local bars and restaurants and parked near the beach. However, there was no time for slacking, so we set-off straight up Mount Maunganui. The views from the top were stunning. Em took lots of pics and we set off back down the mountain, this time via the steeper route. Once at the bottom we all had a sitdown and some lunch at a seafront cafe. Emily and Maryanne were somewhat distracted, however, by the local talent using their budgie smugglers to stop traffic and raise cash for the Tauranga Lifesavers. After lunch Todd drove us out to Maclaren Falls, where we went for a dip in the fresh water pools - aaaaaah. After we'd dried off, we picked baby William up and came back home. For dinner we were treated to another BBQ, this time with proper steaks and everything. On Sunday we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed south for Rotorua.

Beast count: A smuggled budgie

Deco, dogs and Moko the dophin

2010-02-08T01:08:00.000-08:00

The ferry glided across the calm seas to Wellington harbour without a hitch. We dropped our new hire car off at Martin and Jo's place and bused it back into town to meet them for some Friday night drinkies. On Saturday the weather was gorgeous, so we took a drive around the coast, stopping at Eastbourne for ice cream and wine before driving to the end of the coastal road and taking in the views on Wainuiomata beach. That evening we went for dinner at a local restaurant called the Cheeky Pipi and got home just in time to see the aussie open womens tennis final. Sunday was a huge contrast weather-wise, with rain, cloud and strong winds. Me and Em did a bit of shopping in town, then came home and had Jo's thai green curry and my apple and boysenberry crumble for dinner. We all stayed up to see whether Murray could beat Federer, but it wasn't to be. On Monday we drove north on highway 2, stopping at Greytown for some much fabled Schoc-olate (our favourite flavour was lime chili) and to look around the pioneers village, which was filled with scary papier mache dummys. The weather hadn't picked up, so we arrived at the lovely art deco town of Napier in the rain and bagged a great double room at Wally's backpackers. Tuesday we pottered around Napier, then carried on up the coast to Gisborne and Poverty Bay - famous for being Captain Cook's first landing point in NZ, where he was greeted by the haka and ordered his men to shoot six maori's. His second stop further down the coast at Bay of Plenty was more successful. We pitched up in the holiday park by the beach and spent the evening with the locals at a very kiwi pub quiz. The next morning we drove to Eastwood Hill Arboretum and did a lovely walk around the hundreds of collected trees from all over the world, including a great sequoia which looked a bit out of place. We drove back through Gizzy and had some lunch at The Poverty Bay Blues Club before heading up the coast again. En route we had to stop to let a herd of sheep past, before stopping again at Tikitiki to look around St Marys church. From the outside it looked like a normal church, but the inside was filled with beautiful mauri carvings. We arrived in Hicks Bay about 5ish and found Mel's place, which was a very unique backpackers/campsite built on the site of a maori pa (fortified village). The owner wasn't around, so we were greeted by two dogs and a cat. The welcome booklet said to make ourselves at home, so after much deliberating and Britishness, we pitched the tent on a small terrace overlooking the next bay. It was the best tent view yet. We clambered down the rocks and walked across the bay. We ate our dinner as the sun started setting and after saying good night to the pets, we both fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing over the rocks. By morning the owner still hadn't arrived back, so we packed up, said our goodbyes to our four-legged hosts and left our camping fee on the dining room table. On the way up the coast we stopped for a drink at a Macadamia farm cafe, then went for a swim in a warm and very choppy pacific before carrying on to Opotiki. After chatting to the owner of the Opotiki campsite (who'd moved to NZ from Slough) we bought some lamb chops from the local butcher and had a BBQ in front of our tent. On Friday we had a cheeky breakfast in town and drove straight to Whakatane, picked up a walk map and set off on a walk to the next bay. After stopping at every tree opening to see the views, we arrived in the next bay to see people playing in the water. It was only when we got closer that we realised they were all playing with the infamous dolphin, Moko. Em got changed and ventured into the shallows and within minutes was playing with Moko along with four other women. After taking dozens of photos (and getting thoroughly soaked in the process) we left Moko and headed back up the cliffs to Whakatane. We were late!

Beast count: Emma the Alsatian, Tasha the Rotweiler and Moko the dolphin

Beautiful sounds

2010-01-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

We drove along the coast, soaking up the sunshine, all the way back to Kaikoura. This time we booked into a campsite by the coast and a set off on our walk. We walked right around the peninsula to South Bay and back to Kaikoura. From the cliffs we looked on with amusement at a handful of wetsuited tourists trying to make themselves "interesting" to the nearby seal population who were busy sunbathing on a rock. It wasn't working. The next morning we packed up and headed north, stopping at The Store at Kekerengu for an amazing eggs benedict with sea views. After that we picked up more supplies in Blenheim and carried on to Picton, where the lady at the tourist info booked us onto our first DOC (Dept of Conservation) campsite. We drove around the Marlborough Sounds coastline - a journey which takes 15mins by boat or 90mins by car. Unfortunately we only had a car and it didn't float. We arrived at Cowshed Bay to find a small but busy campsite with two toilets and untreated spring water. It was situated right by the water and we didn't waste any time going for a swim. In the evening we cooked on the beach as the sun went down. The next morning we got up early, walked over the hill to Torea Bay and got our watertaxi up the coast. After dropping lots of other people and luggage off at various locations we finally arrived at Punga Cove. We walked up through an exclusive resort to start our 24km tramp (kiwi for hike) along the Queen Charlotte Track. I'm not sure whether it was the sign which said the walk would take us 9 hours or the lack of breakfast, but I was having issues going up hills. One magic pizza bun and a cereal bar later and I was back on track. The walk was hard going, but the views were staggering and just when you thought they couldn't get any better, they did. On one side you had a view over the bays up Queen Charlotte Sound and on the other views up the valley and Kenepuru Sound (see pic). We got back to the campsite at 5:30, slashing the predicted 9 hours to 6.5 hours. With no shower facilities, we improvised a wash basin using the plastic lid of our gas stove - classy. The locals, on the other hand, seem to relish the challenge of creating a home from home in remote campsites with no facilities. A few people had petrol generators, improvised showers and one family had even created a cinema for their kids using a spare awning, tv and camping chairs. In the evening we treated ourselves to a meal at the nearby Portage Bay Resort restaurant, went back to our tent and collapsed in a heap. On Thursday we packed up the tent, rented some fishing rods and went fishing for snapper. Between us we caught a stick, some seaweed, seaslugs and a starfish. After I'd lost my fourth hook and weight on a rock we called it a day and drove back towards Picton. We stopped at a family farm campsite for the night and spent the evening doing chores. The next morning we went on a short hike to the local waterfall before packing up and heading to Picton to catch the ferry back to Wellington. We dropped the hire car off, checked in our luggage and boarded the ferry with hundreds of AC-DC fans heading to Wellington for tonights concert. After admiring the views from the top deck of Queen Charlotte Sounds and Tory Channel we headed down to the bar, where we sat in bizarre 70's pub, listening to AC-DC and watching premiership footie on the TV. Goodbye south island.

Beast count: Stingrays at Torea Bay

Stars, spas and vintage cars

2010-01-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

After we'd waved Garb and Rikke off at the airport, we bought a few more camping essentials and drove 15mins up the road to a campsite in Arrowtown. We pitched the tent, went for a walk along the high street and on to the remains of their Chinese Settlement, left behind by immigrant gold miners. For our first al fresco meal we had a tin of Chili Con Carne and our latest kiwi discovery - pizza buns (basically, just bread buns with cooked cheese, tomatoes and veggies on top - yum!). After an evening stroll along the river, we called it a night and fell asleep on our rapidly deflating air matress. On Wednesday morning we packed up and headed north, stopping to have more pizza buns in Cromwell's old village overlooking the lake. We were planning to stay in Aoraki, but the black clouds over Mount Cook looked particularly menacing, so we carried on to Lake Tekapo where it was a bit brighter. We pitched the tent and set off up the nearest hill, Mount John (more of a big hill than a mountain, really). At the top we found NZ's biggest observatory and found out that Lake Tekapo was "the" place to star gaze. Unfortunately, by sunset, it was so overcast you could barely make out the moon, never mind any stars. The next morning we went for a walk along the lake, played mini-golf and spent the evening soaking in the outdoor spa pools just a stones throw from our tent. On Friday we packed up the tent in the rain and headed east to sunny Geraldine (well, for a while) and pitched up in a lovely little site right in the middle of town. We drove out for a walk in Peel Forest and got absolutely drenched for our trouble. We did find a special little waterfall called Ackland Falls (see pic) and watched to see what the local birds made of pizza buns whilst sheltering from the heaviest rain. Drove back to Geraldine and spent a couple of hours in the campsite laundry washing and drying our clothes. In the evening we found a local boozer with free pool and a free jukebox - genius, before eating a lovely meal at The Top Paddock restaurant. It carried on raining through the night and for most of Saturday, although it didn't stop the hardy types at the local farmers market. There we met a couple of folky ex-pats, she sold the veggies and he played melodeon - good combo. In the afternoon we visited Geraldine's Vintage Car Museum, which had (mainly English) classic cars from the 20's to the 70's as well as sheds full of restored tractors and farm machinery. The best exibit was a 1920's truck that had been restored and converted into a wooden gypsy caravan by a kiwi motorcycle champion. The rain had finally stopped, so we did a great walk around town, through the Talbot Forest and then Em thrased me 11-0 at petanque. Stupid French game! In the evening we watched Avatar from a sofa just beneath the projector, at the brilliantly quaint and lost in time local cinema. As we walked back to the tent we got a taste of how good the stars can be - wow! On Sunday we packed up and headed north towards Christchurch. Stopped for a few more supplies before having lunch at The Brew Moon Cafe. We arrived in Hanmer Springs about 4:30 and within minutes of pitching our tent, the heavens opened... again! After a good soaking in the local hot springs (the hottest being 41C), we went back to the campsite and spent the evening hiding from the rain in the kitchen, eating curry and catching up on emails. The next day we came down out of the mountains and out of the cloud and rain. In the distance we could see the coast and... blue skies!

Beast count: Weka

Queenstown - dudes, food, peaks and geeks

2010-01-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Queenstown just before 7pm on Thursday 14th Jan and checked into our fantastic 2-bed apartment. From our balcony we had awesome views across Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables mountain range. After we'd dragged ourselves away from the view we walked along the lakeside path into town and had some dinner. On Friday we wasted no time and went straight into town and up Bob's Peak on the Queenstown Gondola. As we climbed up the mountain we saw 'The Ledge' bungy jump which Rikke had booked herself onto. Just after midday, after much fingernail biting and camera positioning, Rikke jumped off the 47m jump and bounced around above the rocks and trees below. After Rikke had collected her photo pack, DVD and t-shirt we headed further up the mountain on a chair lift and discovered The Luge, which is essentially downhill MarioKart for grown-ups. We were addicted in seconds and had 5 more goes, this time on the advanced track. We finished our mountain activities and had a much less adrenaline-filled game of mini-golf, which Em won. In the evening we shared a whole loaf of garlic bread and amazing pizza at The Cow Restaurant. Saturday was our chance to make up for the missed opportunities in Franz Joseph. We were up at 6:30am and at Queenstown airport an hour later. Before we knew it we were strapping ourselves into a tiny Cessna 206 and being flown over the mountains towards the Fjordlands and Milford Sound. Despite all the rain and cloud we'd had travelling down the south island, it was perfectly clear and we could everything. The views of the mountains, lakes and glaciers were staggering. By car the drive would've taken 5 hours, but within 30 minutes we were over the ocean and flying back up Milford Sound. We touched down on a tiny landing strip, walked to the ferry terminal and boarded our boat. We cruised up and down the sound taking hundreds of photos of the collossal mountains which climbed steeply out of the water and the seals sunbathing on the rocks. On the way back the boat sailed straight for a huge waterfall and despite being pre-warned, we all got wet. It was a small price to pay. Before we knew it we were back in the plane and flying over the mountains again. This time Rikke sat in the co-pilot seat and even took control for a few minutes - aaaargh! After that experience we were exhausted. We grabbed some food from town and crashed back at the apartment. In the evening we had a BBQ out on the communal patio and watched the sun set over the lake. Sunday was separate boy and girl activity day. Em and Rikke went down the lake to Glenorchy for a proper ride on some ex-racehorses. They rode through Isengard (Lord of the Rings location) and rode through rivers up to their ankles before galloping home for all they were worth. Meanwhile, me and Garb drove to Arrowtown to find more LOTR locations, then panned for gold at the Goldfields Mining Centre - we didn't strike it rich. In the afternoon we met up had more rides on The Luge and another round of mini-golf, which Garb won. In the evening we checked out a couple of bars and had a posh dinner at The Botswana Butchery. I had the venison, which was - as my Dad would say - very deer. Monday was spent hunting down more LOTR locations. We had lunch at The Glenorchy Cafe and went a bit off-road to visit Kinock and a tiny place called Paradise, which consisted of one house and a paddock by a lake. Both Em and Rikke agreed that it was pretty much paradise. In the evening me and Em went shopping for camping equipment at a ridiculously cheap out of town warehouse by the airport. Had dinner at a fantastic seafood restaurant called Captains, a cheeky drink at Barmuda and stayed up late playing cards and drinking wine. On Tuesday we had a last game of mini-golf (which I won) and lunch by the lake before taking Garb and Rikke to Queenstown airport. We said our teary farewells and watched them leave on a jet plane, don't know if they'll be back again. The rest of Tuesday was spent kitting ourselves up for our camping roadtrip to Auckland (we decided to ditch the campervan idea). Once we'd got all our stuff, we drove 15mins down the road to Arrowtown and pitched the tent. Ah, the great outdoors!

Beast count: Sunbathing seals at Mildford Sound

Torrential rain and thick ice (no, really)

2010-01-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

From Nelson we drove to Mapua for lunch and bought some fish from The Smokehouse to go with our bread and cheese from Nelson market (hooray for guidebook recommendations). After lunch we drove on to Motueka and checked into our cute little bach which backed onto open fields and mountains. After we'd picked up more supplies, we had a BBQ on the patio and met the resident cat, Bella - which Rikke quickly adopted. On Sunday morning we got up early, drove to Marahau and took a watertaxi up the stunning Abel Tasman coast. We were dropped off in Barks Bay which was completely overcast, but that should've been a good thing as it was nice and cool. We set off south winding along the coast through the native rainforest and checking out each viewpoint across gorgeous abandoned bays. When we reached Torrent Bay it was low tide, so we decided to take the short cut across the bay instead of going around it. Everyone else was wise and took off their hiking boots, but I tried to balance on a log to cross a stream and got my boots wet - doh! We carried on barefoot through the mud and sand and climbed a small hill to Anchorage Bay, where we found a mini cove with rock carvings and caves (see pic). We all went for a paddle and me and Rikke had a swim, although it was only a brief one as it was bloody freezing. We dried off, had our lunch and set off walking south again. Shortly after leaving Anchorage Bay it started raining. We'd been caught out by all the good weather and not one of us had a raincoat with us. We were still over 4 hours away from civilisation and the further we walked, the heavier the rain got. At 5:15 we arrived back at the car drenched to the bone. We spent the evening drying out, eating comfort food (Em's fish pie) and playing cards under blankets (the bach didn't have any heating). Next morning, after a stint in the launderette drying out clothes, we headed south down highway 6, stopping every so often to check out the views between the heavy showers (we even saw a Pukeko in one of the car parks). Around 6pm we arrived at our chalet in Hokitika and went straight into the onsite hot-tub and sauna - the perfect remedy to our damp journey. After that we had a proper curry in town, strolled on the beach and after dark went to check out the local gloworm dell, where we even spotted a possum up a tree. On Tuesday we had a proper look around Hokitika, then drove out to Hokitika Gorge, where we had lunch on a rock overlooking the river. After another dart south we arrived in Franz Joseph and collected the keys for our next bach. It was a huge 8-bed alpine style chalet surrounded by native bush. On Wednesday we'd booked ourselves onto a Franz Joseph Glacier Heli-Hike, which would've taken us walking (with crampons) across the glacier and into ice caves. Unfortunately the cloud had descended over the mountain through the night and it was cancelled due to bad weather. So, we drove over the river and walked up to the base of the glacier instead. It was an amazing spectacle, but everyone was blue about missing out on the heli-hike. In the evening we went for a dip in the hot pools and drowned our sorrows in the nearest pub. The next day we packed up, cleaned the bach and even managed to spot a Tui (native kiwi bird) in the back garden. We tried the heli-hike company again, but the cloud was even lower, so it was cancelled again. We headed south through the cloud, but by the time we reached Haast, the cloud started to lift. The scenery from there to Queenstown was staggering and the journey took a lot longer than expected, mainly due to us having to constantly stop and take photos.

Beast count: Gloworms, Possum, Pukeko, Tui and sandflies

Bonjour Akaroa... farewell Nelson

2010-01-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Sunday 3rd Jan - said our goodbyes to Martin, Jo and P the cat, got a cab to the airport and flew to Christchurch. Saw some spectacular views of the mountains and coastline from the plane. We'd already booked our accomodation for the next couple of nights but a hire car was proving illusive. After taking our begging bowls around the airport we managed to get the last car in NZ. It was a baby blue Hyundai Getz which we nicknamed Goliath, and when he was filled with all four of us and our luggage, he struggled to get up hills - not the best. After some local tips from the hire car dude (who obviously felt sorry for us), we hit the road. We stopped in Little River and had an al fresco lunch at an amazing cafe/gallery/deli. We stopped again in Barry's Bay at a small cheese factory and stocked up. We arrived at the cute French town of Akaroa (built around the rim of an ancient volcano), checked into our B&B and went for a stroll around town. After Em and Rikke had been for a swim in the sea we went for dinner and ended up in the Madeira Hotel playing pool (the boys won). On Tuesday we set off on our 5 hour hike around Purple Peak mountain. All our hard work getting to the top was rewarded with views across Akaroa to the west and the pacific ocean to the east. We stopped to eat our cheese haul in a tiny wooden shelter and rolled back down the mountain into town. After some convincing from the fearless Dane we all went for a swim in the sea and got blown back to the B&B. After dinner we ended up in the Madeira Hotel again, choosing cheesy tunes on the jukebox and playing more pool (this time the girls won, but only just). On Tuesday we drove across the mountain and stopped at a tiny hamlet called Le Bons Bay with a beach full of ancient tractors (waiting to bring the boats back in). We headed back to Christchurch, stopped for supplies and headed north. After stopping at a couple of vineyards for tastings (well, those who weren't driving that is) we drove up along the beautiful east coast and arrived in Kairkoura about 7pm. We picked up the keys and checked into our bach, which turned out to be an old house trapped in a fifties timewarp. It wasn't pretty but it was huge and it was all ours. On the way into town we stumbled across a local kayaking place and booked ourselves onto a guided tour. We had a great meal at Tuti's, walked home and lay in the garden stargazing. By 8am the next morning we were in a minibus on our way to South Bay and by 9:30am we were in our two seater kayaks paddling around the 'Sharks Tooth' headland looking for seals. When we got past the rocks, the seals came out to play and were diving under our kayaks and playing around us. After we'd finished kayaking we went back to the house and had a picnic in the garden (more cheese). We spent the afternoon checking emails, researching our next move and playing Mauri style mini-golf. In the evening we went back to Tuti's for dinner as it was sooooo good. On Thursday we headed north, stopping to see the seals at Ohau lookout. We dropped Goliath off at Picton and picked up our Nissan Sunny which was a bit bigger. From Picton we south through the vineyards of Marlborough, had lunch at Hunters Vineyard and checked the wines in seven more vineyards - they all passed with flying colours. We arrived in Nelson about 7pm and checked into our hostel, full of acoustic guitars, dreadlocks and hammocks. In the evening we went to a couple of local pubs and listened to some live music as there was a Jazz & Blues Festival in town. On Friday we drove to Rabbit Island and walked along the beach, before heading up to Stonehurst Farm for our afternoon of Western style horse-trekking. Em rode Smithy, I rode Healy, Rikke rode Boxer and Garb was on Dinky. We were taken through a river, up some hills and through a windy valley before stopping for juice and cookies in a tiny wooden hut. We rode back past some mares which made all our horses get a bit feisty. When we were arrived back at the farm Em and Rikke went for a quick gallop and then we headed back to the hostel. For dinner we went to the Waterfront Cafe and got a bit tipsy in the blues pub. On Saturday morning we packed up the car and went into Nelson to check out the market, then it was back on the road...

Beast count: Seals galore

Balderdash, boulders and booze

2010-01-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Monday 28th - Garb and Rikke arrive in Wellington. We gave them a couple of hours to freshen up after their 28-hour flight from London (shudder) and then it was into town for more tourist-pace strolling, eating and drinking. While we were out we stumbled across the start of an International Unicycle Festival - bizarre! On Tuesday we visited the enormous Te Papa Museum filled with Kiwi culture, art and heritage. While we looking through the galleries, Martin spotted works by his Great Grandfather, Cyril.E.Power, which he didn't realise were there. The Mauri carvings were awesome as was the giant preserved squid. In the evening we had a BBQ back at Martin and Jo's place and attempted to walk it off with another stroll to the beach. On Wednesday we picked up our two hire cars (literally the last ones left in Wellington) and drove slowly North along highway 1. For lunch we stopped at Paraparaumu and walked along the beach, then it was back on the road up to Mangaweka. Martin had rented us an amazing bach (Kiwi holiday home) which slept 8 people, had a BBQ and a wood burning stove. It was perched on a narrow peninsula with a big garden and fantastic views in all directions. On New Years Eve me, Em, Garb and Rikke set off for a walk around the surrounding hills (roughly directed by the local farmer - who owned the bach) and... yup, we got lost. After being followed by a herd of cows we scrambed up an extremely steep hill and found the path again. When we reached the top we had lunch and looked out across the mountains. In the evening we (eventually) lit the fire outside using my flint and steel. Unfortunately, Martin was ill, so him and Jo didn't make it to midnight, but the rest of us partied late into the night, stargazing, drinking and playing with the fire (see pic). Happy New Year everybody!! On New Years Day we attempted the second recommended walk. This time we walked down into the valley, turned onto the old disused railway line and through a creepy tunnel. After fighting our way through the undergrowth, we found the second tunnel and halfway along found a tiny crawl space which led to a sheer drop and a view across the river. We felt like we were on a Famous Five adventure - all we needed was Timmy the dog. After taking a monumental number of photos we headed back to the main path and hacked through the overgrown path to the river. We'd borrowed a fishing rod from the farmer and even bought a licence, but didn't catch a thing - boo! We all got good at casting though, infact Garb was so good he nearly hit the opposite river bank. By the time we'd struggled back up to our bach it was evening and Jo and Martin had cooked us a fantastic dinner. In the evening we played Balderdash again. On Saturday we got up, cleaned up and hit the road about midday. We headed back to Wellington, stopped at a bird sanctuary along the way and dropped the cars. The evening was spent, with limited success, trying to book the rest of our trip. Tomorrow we fly to Christchurch and tour the south island - we hope.

Beast spot: A kiwi's bottom (at the bird sanctuary)

We wish you a Welly Christmas

2010-01-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

We left our cushy motel in Guildford and flew out of Perth around 9am. After a three hour stopover in Sydney airport we were on our way to New Zealand. When the bio-security team at Wellington airport had decided that our hiking boots weren't a threat to national security, we jumped in a cab and made it to Martin and Jo's house just after midnight. They live in a lovely single story house with their cat 'P' in Island Bay (named such because it's near an bay with an island - obviously). Despite working the next day we managed to keep them up chatting till 2am. The next morning me and Em slept in and just managed to get the bus into town to meet Martin and Jo for lunch at a lovely italian restaurant overlooking the harbour and mountains. In the afternoon, me and Em checked out town and had a coffee on the funky Cuba Street. The next day was Christmas Eve and after collecting the turkey from the local butchers we went into town for that other Christmas tradition, drinking lots of beer... in the sunshine!? I was duped by the Wellington wind, didn't put enough suncream on and ended up getting burnt - doh! On Christmas Day we managed to sleep in again, which is very easy as Martin and Jo's house is very cosy and quiet. We had hot croissants in the garden for breakfast, went for a lovely walk down to the bay and even had a paddle in the water. We passed people having Christmas Day BBQ's in the park and a few more going for a swim in the sea. When we got back home, Jo made us a lovely Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (even Yorkshire puds) and Martin made us a special Arrighi bread sauce - yay! By the time we got to the pressies it was about 7pm. Em bought me a British racing green water bottle and a flint and steel for lighting fires. I bought Em a sarong she'd seen in an aboriginal craftshop on the Great Ocean Road and a chocolate orange. In the evening we stayed up playing games and I phoned my Grandad about 1am to wish him a Merry Christmas. Boxing Day morning was spent Skyping everyone back home and eating Jo's delicious blueberry pancakes. In the afternoon we followed the coast around to Happy Valley and sat on the beach. When we got home we had a fantastic spread of fresh bread, cheese galore and cold turkey. Sunday 27th was supposed to be spent taking a ferry to Eastbourne, but it was too cloudy, so we visited the city art gallery instead. What a fantastic Christmas - thanks you guys!

Beast count: One turkey

Whipped by the winds of the west

2009-12-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

After a long flight delay, a two-hour transfer and a train ride we finally arrived at Pirates hostel in Freo (Fremantle), with it's outdoor patio and what must've been the largest VHS collection in the western world. We dropped our stuff off and went to check out the much billed "cafe culture". Yep, there was nothing but cafes, restaurants and bars, so much so, that it took me 40 mins to find a shop that sold bread and milk. On our first night there we found a great restaurant/bar/micro brewery called 'Little Creatures' and had the closest thing yet to a pint of English bitter - good effort! On Tuesday we shifted down to Freo speed and spent the day window shopping, lunching in Benny's Cafe and had a cheeky afternoon cat nap. By the evening we decided a brisk walk down the coast and a sunset swim in the sea was in order. That's when we discovered what WA stands for. Nope, not West Australia, Windy Australia. After being battered by the huge waves we got out and got sand blasted back to Freo where we had a fantastic curry (first Indian meal since leaving the UK). Wednesday was our daytrip to Rotto (Rottnest Island), where we hired bikes and snorkelling gear and set off on the 28km round trip. After a failed snorkel attempt at Parker Point, we found Little Salmon Bay and snorkelled around the reef, checking out the cool fish and sea creatures. About half way around the island we saw Quokka's hiding in a bush and stopped to get some pics. They look like tiny kangaroos or giant rats if you're a Dutch explorer, which is why the island's called Rottnest (Dutch for Rats Nest). After stopping at several more beautiful and deserted white sandy beaches we cycled back to Thomson Bay and got the ferry back to Freo. On Thursday we collected our next hire car and headed south, stopping at Bussleton for a car picnic and then a self-guided tour of Ngilgi cave. At the bottom of the cave was a guy who shone his torch on rocks until you agreed that you could see the gorillas back or the planes propeller. We arrived in Margaret River, checked into the hostel and walked into town to find dinner. Brilliant! Not only did it have great restaurants, but you could also bring your own wine. On Friday we drove to Yallingup on the coast and took the coastal walk to Smith's Beach, with it's picture postcard blue water and white sand. We battled the mid-day flies to the point overlooking the next bay, had lunch and walked back to the beach for a swim and a spot of sunbathing. In the evening we had dinner, went to the Settler's Tavern and watched an excellent reggae band called Saritah before stumbling back to the hostel stargazing all the way. Saturday morning with sore heads, we had one last culinary feast in Margaret River before heading south again, stopping at the beautiful Lake Cave along the way. Got a bit lost and ended up in Augusta, but luckily for us managed see three wild dolphins feeding only a few metres from the waters edge. We arrived at Walpole on Saturday night, which was like arriving at the end of the world. We decided to stay just the one night and the next morning we went to see The Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk, which is where we both decided that I must be descended from 'first branch, low-level monkeys' because of my fear of heights. Drove to Bridgetown and stopped at a crazy gallery/bric-a-brac/cafe where we were each given knitted finger puppets with our lunches - excellent! We tried to find accommodation in Bridgetown, but it wasn't to be, so we carried on North and stayed at a hostel in Bunbury instead, where we watched the sunset over the Indian Ocean (see pic) and caught the end of an outdoor Christmas carol concert. Sunday, and our last day in Oz. We booked onto a 'swimming with wild dolphins' tour at Bunbury's Dolphin Discovery Centre, but they weren't playing. Still we got to see lots of dolphins about 40 metres away. Drove up to Guildford and checked into our room at The Rose and Crown pub and finally had Barramundi for dinner - yum! Tomorrow we fly to Wellington, New Zealand!

Beast spot: Quokka's, tropical fish galore, wild dolphins and parrots.

Adelaide and Kangaroo Island

2009-12-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

From Robe we drove up the Princes Highway towards Adelaide, stopping once to walk around the desolate salt plains. We arrived at Tim's gaff, in the leafy suburbs of Unley, and caught up over a cup of tea and tim-tams in the back garden. For dinner we went out with Tim's mates to an Argentinian steakhouse and ordered whopping steaks. After beers in a couple of lively bars we headed back to the house and crashed out. Next morning we said our goodbyes and headed to Stretch and Alice's place in Morphett Vale, where we met the gorgeous baby Archie. After we'd dumped our bags we went out for burgers at The Victory Inn and spent the rest of the day touring the beaches south of Adelaide, including the one where Stretch and Alice got married. On Monday we dropped Archie off with nanny and headed out with Alice's Dad, John, to do some fishing along the coast. After watching dolphins playing at the side of the boat we caught 11 fish and 3 squid (although I only caught one). We headed back to the house to drop off the boat, gut the catch and drink John's fantastic home brew whilst admiring his paintings, veggie garden and chook coop. In the arvo we hit the beach and attempted to catch some waves with the bodyboard. On Tuesday Alice took us wine tasting in the MacLaren Vale. We started at a small winery called Alpha, Box and Dice and discussed wine labels with one of the owners (they'd recently won a D&AD). After that, we visited Tapestry and Olivers, had lunch at The Blessed Cheese and finished our tour at Hugh Hamilton. On Wednesday we set off early and drove to Cape Jervis to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. We set off for Flinders Chase National Park, at other end of the island, stopping once at a honey farm to buy ice cream - yum! After watching the seals and getting blown off our feet at Admirals Arch, we did a lovely walk following the river to the sea at Snake Lagoon (although we didn't see any snakes). After that we drove back to our hostel in Kingscote, narrowly missing a kangaroo that flashed across the front of the car, and managed to catch last orders in a local hotel - more fresh fish - wahoo! On Thursday we visited Kelly Hill Caves which was fascinating and only slightly tarnished by Mr and Mrs Geology Bore. We had planned to go sand-dune boarding, but when we re-emerged squinting from the caves, it was raining. So, we sought refuge in a lovely cafe/art gallery/orphan kangaroo refuge. Despite the hire car company forbidding it, we pretty much drove from the north to the south coast on dirt roads and found some beautiful beaches. First was Snelling Bay with it's shells and rockpools, then after lunch we visited Stokes Bay and found the secret tunnel through the rocks to a sheltered paradise bay. Unfortunately we were running out of time and had to dash back and catch the ferry. We were in such a rush that we didn't have time to refuel and did 40km with the empty light on - doh! On arriving back on the mainland we managed to beg a local landlord to re-open his petrol station so we could fill up. As we drove back towards Adelaide with the sun going down, we spotted a field full of Kangaroos just outside Myponga and stopped to take photos. On Friday we returned the hire car (covered in red dust) and went for a stroll around the shops and the lovely Central Markets, where we bought food for the weekend barbie. In the afternoon Alice drove us to Victor Harbour for a camping trip and we'd just set up two tents and the fly tent (aka the Pleasuredome), when Stretch, Tim, Dan and Sonia arrived. Dinner consisted of MacLaren Vale wines, Coopers Pale Ale and Pizza. Saturday we all woke to the 'morning chaos' of galahs, crows and magpies squawking their heads off. After a cheeky egg and bacon butty and various coffee experiments by Dan, Sonia and Tim we walked out to Granite Island - a nocturnal penguin habitat which is served by horse drawn trams. In the evening the boys went squidding off the rocks with Stewie (Alice's brother-in-law) and I managed to break not one, but two lines by casting too close to the others (clearly not a natural fisherman). Luckily one of the other guys offered to rescue the floats and lines. By the time we returned the barbie was well under way with loads of fantastic grub. On Sunday we packed up the tents, had breakfast at a local cafe and checked out the Victor Harbour market before heading back to Adelaide. For the rest of the day me and Em did washing, photo back-ups and planning for the next leg - oh the hardship. For dinner we had one last feast back at John and Bubby's - homemade pizza's, cooked in Johns very own wood burning pizza oven - fantastic! Tomorrow we fly to Perth...

Beast count: Echidna (formerly UBO), penguins, dolphins, squid, salmon trout and a now deceased whitetail spider.

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

2009-12-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

From Sydney we flew to Melbourne on Virgin Blue and took the Skybus to our next Hostel - Nomads. We arrived at 7pm on a Friday night and the place was in full swing. We dumped our bags and went for a gander around the buzzing alleys of central Melbourne. Eventually after much deliberating we found a nice little greek place and had dinner there. The next morning we got up early and went to look around Queen Victoria Markets - the biggest market in the southern hemisphere. They had everything from live chickens to jewellery and fresh veg to tourist fare. In the afternoon we got a train to Balaclava and met Brendan (my second cousin) who drove us into the country to meet the rest of my rellies. We had a lovely lunch and afternoon tea with the Hartley clan before Cristy and Daniel took us back into Melbourne for a cheeky beer. Back at the hostel, we were greeted by a wet t-shirt competition, which I'm glad to say the girls won. To balance things up the boys won back some pride by winning the pint downing competition. On Sunday we did a walking tour around the CBD, which involved lots of diving in and out of shops to avoid the rain. We walked through town, around Federation Square, down the Yarra and all the way to Docklands and back. In the evening Em cooked dinner in the smallest hostel kitchen in Australia before seeing A Christmas Carol 3D at the IMAX. Monday was almost entirely spent exploring the Botanical Gardens, which was fantastic. In the evening we had our best meal to date at Il Tempo down one of the funky alleys. By Tuesday it was time to leave Melbourne and head for the coast, so we picked up the hire car and drove west towards Geelong, where we picked up the B100, also known as The Great Ocean Road. Our first stop was Bells Beach, famous for the final scene in Point Break. We scaled the steps and paddled through the surf - no 50ft waves today. From there we drove onto Lorne, had some lunch, then stopped to do a walk at Sheoak Falls. By 6pm we had arrived in Apollo Bay to a super-modern eco-friendly YHA hostel, which was so nice we decided to stay in and play Scrabble by the fire (which a Japanese family spent half an hour photographing). On Wednesday we took the road to Cape Otway, stopping every few yards to photograph the wild Koalas snoozing in the trees. Also on the roads that day were several hundred cyclists all taking part in the Great Victoria Bike Ride, but luckily for us they were going in the other direction. Eventually we arrived at Gibsons Steps and the famous Twelve Apostles (see pic). This was tourist central, with coach loads of happy snappers everywhere. Somehow we climbed down Gibsons Steps and had the beach almost to ourslelves, alas the same could not be said about the Twelve Apostles viewpoints. We decided to crack on and get to our next destination, which was Port Fairy. The hostel was a lovely period stone house and our room was in the hayloft above an old converted stable block - Em was most impressed. To work up an apetite for dinner we took the owners recommendation and went for a walk around Griffiths Island, a nature reserve full of seabirds, wallaby's and a lighthouse. We spent so long taking photos that by the time we reached the town centre, all the restaurants had closed (it was only 9pm). Luckily for us there was a Thai takeaway which was delicious. The next morning we went for a walk up Tower Hill, which is an ancient (and dormant) volcano, set in a huge basin which was full of Emu's. After that we took it in turns to drive through the lush green countryside only stopping once at Killarney beach. Before we knew it we had arrived at Cape Bridgewater without any fuel. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but Cape Bridgewater only consists of one cafe and a handful of B&B's. We pulled into our B&B and checked into our room. It had the most ridiculously perfect panaromic sea view you could imagine, with balcony, spa bath and giant bed. Luckily, Dennis (the owner) took pity on us and gave us enough petrol to drive out to the headland, see the blowholes and the petrified forest, before driving back to Portland to refuel and have some dinner. The next morning we did a 2-hour hike to a seal colony (past three bus loads of school kids having surfing lessons) only to be set upon by thousands of flies - the kind that like to fly into your nose and ears (nice). Em fashioned a rather fetching headscarf and I battled the flies flies with handfuls of bracken and grass. We had lunch on the beach at Nelson and stopped again to see the Blue Lakes at Mount Gambier. After seeing a UBO (Unidentified Beast Object) we arrived at our next destination, Robe. This time the hostel was an amazing period stone mansion with 15ft high ceilings, wood panelling and more chesterfield sofas than you can shake a stick at. We dropped the bags off, put some washing on and went for a gander. Pizza, salad and hostel borrowed DVD later and it's time for bed. This weekend we're meeting up with Chimpy, Stretch, Alice and Archie. Watch out Adelaide, here we come...

Beast count: Koalas, wallaby's, emu's, black swans, seals, devil-flies and UBO (all in the wild)

The manly darlings of Sydney

2009-11-27T05:50:00.000-08:00

We flew from San Fran on Friday evening at 11:30pm and arrived in Sydney at 8:30am on Sunday. Somehow we managed to lose a whole day, which was very careless of us, but we've since been assured we'll get it back on the way home. When we left San Fran it was drizzly and cool where as Sydney was 40 degrees in the shade. We got a train into town and checked into our fabulous hostel in The Rocks that had been open less than a month. We dropped our bags off and went walkabout around Sydney Harbour. We checked out the harbour bridge, the opera house and the botanical gardens (excellent beast spotting). For lunch we found an amazing food court under a big department store and had salad, sushi and freshly squeezed fruit juices. Ah, fresh fruit and vegetables - how we missed you. In the evening we kept it local and had dinner at a pub with a roof terrace and watched as event organisers tried to drown out a live performance by Australian Idol "stars" outside Sydney Opera House with bursts of fireworks. Monday was much cooler, overcast and rainy but we carried on the walking theme and visited Darling Harbour, had a seafood platter at the Sydney Fish Market and walked on to the see the lovely period streets of Glebe. On Tuesday we took the ferry to Manly, watched the local surfers catching waves and then started the lovely 10km coastal walk to the spit. On the way we passed through amazing harbours, stunning sandstone rock formations and aboriginal carving sites. There were so many places to stop that we spent about 6 hours ambling along and didn't get back to the hostel till late. On Wednesday we got up early and went on a guided tour of the Blue Mountains. Also going from our hostel was Nicolas from Copenhagen. It was a long drive to Katoomba (made to feel longer by a Swedish family with a screaming baby and a puking toddler). We stopped for refreshments on the way and got lucky, seeing some (very tame) kangaroos. We stopped again to pick up lunch in Katoomba and see the three sisters rock formation before being taken for a hike into a canyon by our aussie bush expert, Jeff. The temperarture difference from the cliffs to the valley floor was vast and much appreciated. We saw a few lizards, birds, beautiful springs and crazy rock formations. When it came time to head back up, most of us wanted to stay, but we had a bus to catch. Just before getting on the bus we were lucky enough to see a Lier bird up close, scratching at the soil. In the evening we ventured a little further (but not much) and found a great pub called The Lord Nelson, where we had our best meal in ages. On Thursday we got the bus to Bondi beach and feeling very overdressed decided to do the coastal walk to Coogee beach via Bronte. By this time we'd plucked up the courage to de-robe and blinded a few locals with our pasty English complextion. After a swim in the sea (followed by a cheeky beer and a bowl of chips) we got the bus back to the hostel, did some washing and went to check out the barbie on the roof terrace. We'd arrived a bit late and most of the food had already been troughed, but we did get a bit of kangaroo steak, hot dog and salad. We met Nicolas again and after him and Emily had finished taking photos of the Opera House we went for a few beers at the buzzing Australia Hotel next door. On Friday we packed our bags, stored them and headed to Taronga Zoo with Nicolas. They had an amazing bird show featuring galars, owls, parrots and even a condor. We also managed to see lots of native animals including kangaroos, emus and very cute koalas. After seeing another show, this time with acrobatic seals, we got the ferry back to Sydney so we could catch our flight to Melbourne.

Beast count: Fox-bats, cockatoos, kangaroos, a liar bird in the wild, and... emus, koalas, komodo dragon at Taronga Zoo.

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

2009-11-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

On our last day down the coast we stopped at a few more places and despite being less than an hours drive away from San Francisco, it still felt so remote. We stopped at Stinson beach first and walked barefooted through the surf, watching the oystercatchers scrapping over morsels and the local dogs bounding after balls. Our next stop was Muir Point, a viewpoint that went right out over the cliffs where you could clearly see the city. Then onto Muir Woods which is a protected giant redwood forest. From here we drove straight into San Francisco, across the golden gate bridge and into downtown to drop off our bags and the hire car. Em found the hotel which is more like a building full of small apartments, three blocks from Union Square, and an absolute bargain at $69 a night. The next day we did lots of walking, up The Embarcadero past all the piers and up to Pier 39 and the touristy part of town. We'd done some research into flying tours and decided to take a classier seaplane tour (see pic) instead of a chopper. We gave them a call and booked onto the next flight. They picked us up an hour later and drove us to their seaplane in Sausalito. Before we knew it we were strapped in and hurtling across the water. Luckily for us, nobody else had booked onto our flight, so we had the plane to ourselves (apart from the pilot and co-pilot, of course). From the air we got an amazing view of Belvedere (where the billionaires live), Sausalito, the golden gate bridge, San Fran, bay bridge and Alcatraz. After checking out Sausalito, we came back to San Fran and carried on the tourist thing by walking up The Crookedest Street. On Wednesday we beat the majority of the other tourists and took the early-bird tour of Alcatraz. The audio guide tour was great, narrated by former prisoners and guards. On the day we were there an ex-con was visiting, promoting his new book. After checking out the Alcatraz movie and mooching around the gardens we hopped back on the ferry to the mainland and walked up to Coit Tower. We were a bit touristed out by this point, so we headed through North Beach and took a bus all the way to Richmond and went for a walk around Golden Gate Park. On the map was marked an 'Equestrian Arena' which we went to see. Unfortunately it had been converted into a running track and football pitches - boo! There were quite a few locals playing frisbee golf though, which was bizarre. For dinner we headed back to North Beach and had some award-winning pizza. Today we did a bit of shopping and both had haircuts. Getting ready for our flight to Oz tomorrow. San Francisco definitely definitely gets the Mark and Emily seal of approval.

Beast count: Piles of smelly sea lions at Pier 39 and oystercatchers

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

2009-11-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

From Calistoga we took the scenic route to the coast... uh-oh, more sodding mountains. After more epic hairpins Em spotted the sea and earned herself two salt water taffy treats (but gave one to me - aaahh). We arrived at Fort Bragg and drove a few miles down the coast to Mendocino - a lovely Victorian seaside town. We'd spotted another bargain online and booked into a garden suite at the very ornate and prestigious Mendocino Hotel. We dumped the bags and rushed down to the cliffs to watch the sunset. The plan was to stay one night and do another epic drive to Big Sur, but we liked Mendocino so much we decided to stay a few nights and take our time on the coastline north of San Fran. The next day we had breakfast in a funky pizza bakery and asked the visitor info lady for cheap room recommendations. She pulled a face when we said $100 a night and for a while it looked like it was gonna be a motel in Fort Bragg, but then against all odds she found the most amazing place. We stayed the weekend in our own private cottage with sea views, chicken coop and three ducks who live in a pond at the end of the garden. On Saturday we drove up the coast to Glass Beach, which does what it says on the tin. The locals dumped everything here, then tried to burn it until the 60's when they decided to bury it instead. The result is molten metal rocks and fifty years of pounding waves have turned the entire beach into a drift glass collectors paradise - Emily was in heaven. I managed to drag Em away long enough to see the Botanical Gardens which had an excellent outdoor model railway... and some flowers. While we were there Em managed to take this amazing shot of a Hummingbird (see pic). On Sunday we had a slap up breakfast and headed south towards Bodega Bay. Along the way we stopped at Elk Beach (where a few hippies were walking stupidly small dogs), Bowling Ball Beach (where the rocks really did look like bowling balls) and Point Arena Lighthouse. We arrived at Bodega Bay about 6pm and checked into an old water tower - as you do. We hit San Fran tomorrow - whoop!

Beast count: Hummingbirds, ducks, hens, abalones, raisin-sized dog in a tank-top

In't nature brilliant?

2009-11-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

From Yosemite we headed west to the central valley and north along the main interstates. I was expecting California to be a little more green in the car stakes, but for every Prius or Smart car I must've seen 50 gas guzzling pick-ups or SUV's been driven like they were possessed. The fact that we're driving a 1.2 litre Hyundai Accent (which feels like it's made out of dish cloths and empty coke cans) seems to enrage the locals even more - especially going up hills (our car doesn't do hills). We arrived in Napa about 2ish and had a Venuzualan lunch in the market. We'd already decided not to stay over in Napa (as it's full of wine toffs and lovies), so we headed further north to a great little town called Calistoga. We spotted a deal online and stayed the night at The Calistoga Inn, which is a hotel, bar, restaurant and brewery. We went for a look around and found a lovely restaurant called Jole, had some wine and stayed for dinner. Hooray! Our first 3-course meal since the wedding and the food was amazing. Less is definitely more. We got back to the hotel to find an open mic night going on, so we grabbed some drinks and checked out the local talent. They were fantastic, but we were shattered, so we hit the hay. The next morning we visited Calistoga's 'Old Faithful' geyser (see pic - not to be confused with the other Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone NP). They also had an odd petting zoo which included Jacob Four-Horned Sheep, Llamas and, wait for it, Tennessee Fainting Goats (which has to be the most ridiculous animal on the planet). From here we went to the Petrified Forest and saw lots of stone trees created by an ancient volcano - crazy.

Beast count: Jacob Four-Horned Sheep, Llamas, Tennessee Fainting Goats and Bison

Yo-yo-yo Yosemite

2009-11-10T19:35:00.001-08:00

Determined to get a proper hike in, we drove to Glacier Point and walked from there to Taft point. Taft point is essentially a collossal rock shelf that jutts out into the surrounding valley, so when you look over the edge it's a sheer drop of hundreds of feet. It is also flanked by fissures caused by an ancient earthquake. After having lunch overlooking the valley we headed back and stopped off at Sentinal Dome and arrived back at Glacier Point just as the sun was setting. The next day we headed for Mariposa Grove in Wawona, famous for it's giant sequoia trees. Not far into the walk we bumped into Jason and Sarah from Nantwich (who we'd met at the Grand Canyon) so we walked up to Wawona Point with them. On the way we saw 'The Grizzly Giant', an 1800 year old tree and the 'Clothespin Tree' (see pic). The funniest (and sadest) was the 'Wawona Tunnel Tree' which was so named because in 1881 they decided to cut a tunnel through the base of the tree, so tourists could drive through it. Unsurprisingly, it fell down (well, dur!). On our way back to Yosemite village we saw a small bear by the roadside and then lucked out again when we saw another climbing a tree on the road back to our motel.

Beast count: Woodpeckers, Stellar Jays, A Coyote (ran across the road) and two small bears.

Golden ghost town

2009-11-10T19:32:00.001-08:00

From Death Valley we drove north up Route 395 as far as Mammoth Lakes (LA's main ski resort). Luckily for us the snow is late this year, so the place was deserted. We stayed at a great little place called The Cinnamon Bear Lodge, which was run by a Tommy Lee Jones look-a-like and his wife and included a proper cooked breakfast and happy hour between 5-6pm, where they give you free wine and cheese - sorted! We managed to do a quick walk up to the lakes before sunset and heard coyotes howling in the distance. The next morning we got up early and headed for Bodie - an abandoned gold mining ghost town (cheers for the tip-off Jonny). We had to offroad for a few miles, but it was well worth it. A lot of the town had fallen down or burnt down, but what remained included saloons, hotels, a jail, bank vault, church, school and a huge mine in the distance. We both got a bit snap happy here and had to drag ourselves away and drive over the Tioga pass to Yosemite. Without having to divert hundreds of miles, the Tioga pass is the only route across the sierra nevada mountains and luckily for us it hadn't snowed yet. Normally the road is closed after the first big snow fall and when it's re-opened in spring they have to clear as much as 12ft of snow to make the road passable again. We made it across, stopping to admire the view from 9000ft above sea level.

Beast count: Heard coyotes howling in Mammoth Lakes

Yee-har

2009-11-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

We left Vegas early and headed west into the Nevada desert and over the border into California. We hadn't booked anywhere to stay, but stumbled across a tiny town called Furnace Creek, in Death Valley. Luckily for us there was a festival in town organised by the Death Valley 49ers who celebrate the 1849 Californian Gold Rush and re-enact the journey made by pioneers who tried to take a short cut though Death Valley (see pic). Not only that but the resort we stayed at had stables, so me and Em got up early and went for a morning trek. Hmm, riding western across the desert - ouch! While we were there we saw a gold panning competition, watched some cowboys performing off the back of a pick-up and ate pulled pork and beans with homemade lemonade - yum! Because there was so much going on, we left it a bit late to see the local sights and ended up walking back through Golden Canyon in the dark, waiting for the sand people to attack.

No more bets

2009-11-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

We only managed to get one night in Vegas as there was an Adult Expo in town the following day and all the hotels were booked out. We stayed at the Luxor (see pic) which wasn't that pricey. We arrived just after sunset and headed down the strip to see the Bellagio fountains, pirate battle at Treasure Island (lots of scantily clad women leaping around on a pirate ship - nice) and the volcano erupting outside The Mirage (cheers for the tips Disco). After all that excitement we had dinner and cocktails at Margaritavilles to try and get in the mood. Unfortunately, after six weeks of budgeting and penny pinching, we couldn't really get into the Vegas mindstate. We played some slots and then actually turned a profit on the roulette, before deciding to cash in our chips and run for the hills.

It's reet grand

2009-11-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

From Seattle we flew to Las Vegas, picked up the hire care and drove straight towards the Grand Canyon. On the way we stopped at the colossal Hoover Dam and gawped over the edge. From there we headed east along Route 66 - which was like being in the film Dual (without the psychotic truck driver). We arrived in Williams, which turned out to be a neon cowboy town with funky 50's diners and saloon bars. The next morning we drove to the Grand Canyon and despite being November, the weather was perfect. Pretty lucky really, as the week before it had snowed. For those who haven't been, the Grand Canyon is colossal. I don't think any description or photo can ever really do it justice, there's just too much to take in. We did have a hiking tour booked, but they cancelled on us at the last minute. We asked around and decided to try the South Kaibab trail, which took us past Ooh Ahh Point (see pic) and onto Skeleton Point. We stopped at Cedar Ridge, had our lunch and met a cheeky squirrel who actually tried to grab Em's bag of crisps off her. We headed back up and managed to get to the east rim just in time for sunset. By the time we were heading home the moon was rising, so we stopped again at the south rim to stargaze.

Beast count: One cheeky squirrel and lizards

Sleeping in Seattle

2009-11-05T21:57:00.001-08:00

After a 5am start in Vancouver we got the train to Seattle and received a warm welcome from the rubber glove brigade aka the US Immigration Authority. We stayed at an amazing hostel, The Green Tortoise, which gave you free brekkie and free evening meals 3 nights a week - bargain! On our first day we checked out Pioneer Square, Union Station, Pike Place Market and Chinatown. In the evening we found an Irish Bar and watched the Seattle Sounders footie team - who's star striker is Freddie Ljungberg - draw 0-0 with Houston in a league cup semi final. On our second day we checked out a great Michelangelo exhibition at SAM and took the Underground Tour, whilst also trying to find halloween costumes. On Sat 31st we visited Seattle Center and went up the Space Needle, watched stupid people get wet in the musical fountain and found costumes. In the evening we went to Sherry's friends Kandra and Scott for a civilised house party at their apartment. This was then followed by a surreal halloween/erotica night at a club called The Little Red Bistro (organised by the hostel). We had our picture taken with this lobster (see pic) who, like us, was a bit overdressed. Sunday was spent mainly sleeping and feeling sorry for ourselves, but we did manage to make it too Woodland Park Zoo* where we saw heaps of cool animals.

Beast count: A bald eagle in a tree (from the train)... plus, grizzly bears, penguins, artic foxes, wolves, elk, lions, jaguar, elephant, tapirs, giraffes, zebras and scrapping hippos.*

Wancouwer

2009-11-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

We arrived in downtown Vancouver in the pouring rain and dropped our lovely little Nissan Versa off at the Pan Pacific hotel, then walked to our hostel. Next morning we went on a walking tour with our Danish tour guide, Erik the Viking. Due to his strong Danish accent, he pronounced Vancouver, "Wancouwer" which is how we shall always remember it. He took us through town and up to Capilano Bridge via train, ferry and bus. To celebrate we had a beer in the local pub, The Fountainhead, which is when we realised our hostel was smack bang in the gayist part of town - doh! On Saturday we hired bikes and cycled the coastal path, through Stanley Park Forest, up to Prospect Point for a view over Lionsgate bridge and over to Granville Island Market. On Sunday we had another lesson in scale when we decided to walk to the Museum of Anthropology at BC Uni. It took us two and a half hours. It was worth it though as they had a huge collection of First Nations art, totem poles, boats and masks. On Tuesday we decided to do Erik's other walking tour, this time to Lynn Canyon (see pic) and in the evening we watched our new favourite ice hockey team, The Vancouver Canucks, get beaten by Detroit. We also met a young first nations guy who helped us understand about tribes and ice hockey rules. Wednesday's highlight was dinner at The Sand Bar on Granville Island overlooking the bridges and harbour.

Beast count: Spawning Coho Salmon

Bearly believable

2009-10-22T21:55:00.001-07:00

On Monday we got the ferry to 'Artist Land' aka Salt Spring Island, checked out the shops and galleries in the capital, Ganges, had a fantastic fishy lunch in Vesuvias and followed some trails around the coastline before getting the ferry home and witnessing the most amazing sunset. On Tuesday we went to the mahussive Royal BC Museum, watched an IMAX film about cowboys (straight ones) and checked out their maze of re-created Victorian homes, shops, coal mine, timber mill and canning factory. On Wednesday we drove out to Sooke with Nic and walked along the river to watch the spawning Salmon. On the way back down we finally saw our first bear. It was a black bear mum with two cubs (a toddler and a teenager, going by the hairstyles). The mum had just caught the most enormous salmon and promptly took it back into the woods to prepare lunch. When we got back to Victoria me and Em went to the Victoria Art Gallery and watched Tibetan Monks creating an enormous mosaic with coloured grains of sand. Nobody sneeze!

Beast count: Free range turkeys, spawning salmon and a black bear family

Having a whale of a time

2009-10-22T21:53:00.001-07:00

After Chermainus we drove south to Victoria and checked into Ocean Island, another huge hostel. We found a very grand and ornate Irish Bar called The Irish Times where the barmaids wore kilts - error. We had dinner at Pagliacci's and only had to queue for about 15 minutes, which apparently is good going for a Saturday night. The next day we went on our long awaited whale watching tour. We sailed out of the harbour and into the pacific. Within 15 minutes we were following a humpback whale as he came up for air and dived down to feed. At one point he was only a few metres from the boat and rolled around, showing off his belly. After that we sailed right through a colony of Steller Sea Lions, some of whom chased the boat and were promptly barked at by Sophie, the resident boat dog. In the evening we went to The Swan Pub for some pub grub and to watch a local bluegrass band called 'Flash In The Pan'.

Beast count: Four Otters, one Humpback whale, hundreds of Steller Sea Lions, pelicans, Californian sea lions and a family of raccoons

Goats on the roof

2009-10-22T21:51:00.001-07:00

From Powell River we got the ferry to Vancouver Island and headed to Courtenay via Comox. We stayed at a lovely hostel called Shantz Haus and adopted the owners cat, Jake, who spent most of his time asleep on our bed. The next day it was raining heavily so we headed to the Kingfisher Spa and had a day of indulgence. What? This traveling lark is hard work I tell yer. After another night catsitting we headed to Tofino. On the way we stopped to walk around Cathedral Grove where there 800 year old trees. Further up the highway we stopped at Coombes Old Market where they had goats living above the main shop on a grass roof. We spent the night in the hostel playing pool and table footie with a couple of overexcited Japanese tourists and Stefan from Hamburg. The next day we headed slowly back down the west coast through a real pea-souper. We walked the Ty-Histanis-Trail to Esowista and Schooner Cover, which was like something out of Return of the Jedi. From here we drove back east to Chermainus and stayed one night in a lovely B&B overlooking the water. We went out for dinner about 8pm and found that most restaurants were already closing. We grabbed what we could and caught last orders in The Dancing Bean. It was only 9:30pm! Bring on the city.

Beast count: Jake the cat and Goats on the roof

A hostel atmosphere

2009-10-22T21:48:00.001-07:00

After Kelowna we headed West through Merritt (cowboy country) and up the mountains to Whistler (Disneyland for Skiiers and adrenaline junkies). We stayed one night in Whistler and the following day watched hundreds of mountain bikers jump, skid and literally tumble down the side of a mountain. After that we hit the road again and headed for the coast. We took the ferry across to Langdale and drove to a motel in Gibsons Landing which was run by a lass from Sheffield. Had dinner at Smitty's Oyster House after waiting 45 minutes for a table - it was well worth the wait. We ended the night drinking whiskey and singing along to cheesy 80's petal metal tunes with the staff as they cleaned up. In the morning we looked around the harbour and snapped this seal doing backcstroke. From Gibsons we got the next ferry up the coast to Saltery Bay and went straight to Powell River for our first hostel experience. The hostel overlooked a ferry port, smelt of cabbage and was a bit creepy but the people were great. The next day was thanksgiving which we spent scrambling around Savary Island - a short boat trip from Lund (the end of the west coast road). While we waited for the boat we saw a stupid seagull trying to eat a starfish. He stood there for 10 minutes with 2 legs in and three sticking out. What a doughnut.

Beast count: Seals at Gibsons Landing, banana slugs and a greedy seagull

Wine ever not

2009-10-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

After Daves Goat Walk we headed south to Kelowna and the Okanagan wine region. Until now we'd been staying in small tourist towns, this was the first big town we'd been to. Despite it's sprawling burbs, downtown was great. We found a B&B run by a chap called Ed Monster who also ran a graphic design agency with his wife, so if things got tight, we could design our way out of trouble. On the first night we found a great sushi restaurant and ended the evening in a bar with live music and a big beer promo - the more beer we drank, the more chances we would have of winning a fridge. I didn't really occur that a fridge would be a bit of a hassle on a world tour. The next day we had a proper look around, booked ourselves onto a wine tour and bought tickets to see the local ice hockey team. The wine tour took us to six radically different vineyards, the most memorable had a crazy hippy bird who took us into their special pyramid for aging their wine. We got back to the B&B a bit pissed and headed into town to see the hockey. The Kelowna Rockets were playing the Medicine Hat Tigers and it went down to the wire. 5-5 after extra time so it went to a penalty shoot out. Kelowna won and only had two players sent to the naughty step.

Beast count: Ed Monster, Ice hockey players and the Ogopogo (Kelownas answer to the Lock Ness Monster)

Nothing corny about these goats

2009-10-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

So far this has been the highlight of Emily's trip. On the main highway between Vernon and Kelowna we notice a farm by the side of the road. It was completely covered with pumpkins and selling lots of homegrown produce, but that wasn't the half of it. As you drove in you went under an enormous 20ft structure called 'Daves Goat Walk'. The goats walk up the ramp and choose a spot above one of the pulleys. You then pay a quarter for a handfull of corn, place it in a steel mug attached to the rope pulley and the goats pull it up and eat the corn. In this case it was one bully goat gruff who ate all the corn. What a concept. Dave you are a hero!

Beast count: Goats and lots of them, and sockeye salmon

Clearwater meets it's match

2009-10-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

After Jasper we headed West out of Alberta and into British Columbia through the Rockies and straight to Clearwater. We found a campground with cabins overlooking Dutch Lake. On closer inspection the cabins were just wood-clad static caravans, but they were still charming. Outside each cabin was a huge rusted old wheel rim for lighting fires, so I bought a bundle of firewood from the office and lit a fire, using... wait for it... one match, no firelighters and no gasoline. Hooray for Scouts! Em made beef curry and we sat around the fire drinking Sleeman Honey Brown Ale. The next day we headed into Wells Gray Provincial Park and toured the waterfalls. The most memorable was Helmcken Falls which took us an hour to hike to from the car park, through hundreds of trees which fell during a huge storm a couple of years ago. When we finally reached the falls the path ran alongside a 150m high canyon with no railings. Aaaargh!

Beast count: A beaver in Alice Lake, near Rays Farm and a bobcat (although it could've been domestic)

Horny locals

2009-10-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

After our escapades through the Columbia Icefield, we arrived in Jasper. We went for a change of pace and booked a few nights into a log cabin at Jasper House Bungalows. We were surrounded by trees and open countryside and only a stones throw from the river. On our second night there we arrived back to find a huge male elk sat behind one of the cabins. Our neighbours that day were a coach load of octogenarians from New York who all stood around and papped him for about 30 minutes. He didn't seem to mind. The next day we drove up to Maligne Lake and decided against the boat trip, due to self preservation. When we got back to Jasper we spotted more Elk, this time another huge male herding his missus. After all the Elk spotting we decided to treat ourselves to a dip in the Miette mountain spa.

Beast count: Elk by the bucket load and deer.

Classy glacier

2009-10-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

Canadians are funny. In Banff people apologised for their "busy" roads. At most you might get five cars queuing at the traffic lights, but on the highways we could go several "clicks" without seeing another living soul. Let's hope none of them ever get stuck on the M25. On the way to Jasper we stopped at Bow Lake and followed the trail up to Bow Falls. Em found some interesting volcanic rocks and arranged them into photogenic piles. On the way up the ridge we found a massive boulder which teetered over a canyon, Wile Coyote style. Further up Highway 93 we stopped at Panther Falls, which were only about 20 metres from the car park. Until now we'd been used to being parted from dangerous heights by railings, but not this time. As the falls plunged several hundred feet you could stand and watch from a nearby precipice and feel the spray blowing in your face. After the falls we went up the road to Parker Ridge and walked through 3 inches of fresh snow until we could eventually look down onto the Columbia Ice Field glacier (see pic). If the scale had been hard to comprehend before, looking down over this enormous glacier was mind-blowing. The trees in the valley below looked like matchsticks.

Beast count: Abominable Snowman (?)

Mirror, mirror on the water

2009-10-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

On our third day in Banff we drove up to see the lakes. We went to Moraine Lake first and after circumnavigating the coach full of Japanese tourists we found a quiet spot and just gawped. The sun hadn't rounded the mountain yet, so it was bloody freezing but the blues in the lake were still amazing. The whole lake was like a giant mirror and when the sun did hit, it took on a whole new life. We did a short walk around the edge of the lake, had some lunch, then drove on to Lake Louise. Another stunning lake and even bigger than Moraine although slightly tarnished by the enormous hotel. Still, once you were on the path and away from the hoards it was something else. The picture was taken by a friendly chipmunk on the shores of Lake Louise.

Beast count: Grey Jays, Crows and Ravens

Rockies and Roll

2009-10-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

We landed in Calgary at about 9pm on Thursday 24th September. After convincing the Alamo guy we didn't need an SUV we hit Trans-Canada Highway 1 in our Nissan Versa (the smallest car in Canada) and arrived at our B&B in Banff about 11pm. It was pitch black so we couldn't see anything from the highway. The next morning we looked out of the window to see mountains all around us. Bev (who was making our breakfast) asked if we wanted to join her on a "short walk". Three hours of hiking later we found ourselves on top of a mountain called 'Wind Ridge' just outside Canmore (see pic) with our posse of retired adrenaline junkies. It certainly helped us get over the jet lag and not wanting to lose face, we struggled on right to the top, which involved more mountain climbing than hiking. At the top we could see right across two valleys. Me and Emily just sat their and admired the view, while our hosts cajoled each other into walking on to the next highest peak.

Beast count: A few chipmunks and hundreds of red squirrels.