OZ Day 1 Camper

G'Day cobber... Is that the lingo?

We arrived yesterday, and had a kip at the airport hotel. Woke up early... don't know why!! We then waited for our taxi which never turned up, and we had to get another cab from outside the airport... Mr Stressy was our driver...! Not a good start to the day. We then picked up our camper and headed into the city of Melbourne to rent some cycles and look around. Unfortunately this did not pan out either... The damm sat nav kept trying to take me up streets with bridges too low to get under... Needless to say 1hr 30mins later there was a barrage of swear words from me aimed at the sat nav kit...

We eventually decided that before I lost my sanity, we would head to a suburb of Melbourne called Footscray. After we parked up at a camp site, we caught a bus into town.

Looking around the city in the small amount of time we did, it seems like every other major city, and I feel like I'm repeating myself... but I am not in that frame of mind at the moment, so it was a tad dissapointing. We did manage to sort out wireless mobile broadband, so you guys might be lucky and get some Skype calls if it all works out good.

After sorting the internet stuff out we wandered into a full blown demonstration, with riot police, helicopter... the lot.. So we dived down a back alley and grabbed some soup from a cafe. Then popping into a pub we supped the local beer (forgotten the name already) and then caught the bus home, whilst avoiding fire engines zooming down the street, and some drunken idiot falling over in front of the bus and almost dying! Popped into the supermarket where a row kicked off between 2 people... Oh the joy of big city life... Catching my drift yet.?

So, tomorrow we plan to head South about 120km to one of the greatest Moto GP tracks in the world. Phillip Island. Sadly the race isn't here till October... but at least we can say we were there!!

Thats all for now folks.!

SD

At the airport

Hey guys,

Well, we are waiting at Auckland airport, and have gone through check in.

This time I stayed cool, and pleaded lenience with Qantas due to British Airways completely landing us in the smelly stuff. They were extremely helpful and understanding. They took photocopies of our itinerary, and after a bit of chatting to other people, charged us a paltry $84 which equals about £30...! I must say I was totally stunned seeing as the weight we are over is 85kg... Many thanks to Qantas for this.... now we only have to repeat the process one more time in 6 weeks on our way home.

My final thoughts on New Zealand. Its quiet, beautiful... stunningly so... and few and far between towns where you can do stuff. Great place if you like walking through hills, or checking out scenery. But for me, being the kind of person that I am, I need more stimulus, and I now realise how much I despise big cities, traffic, cars etc.

Being on Koh Tao running full steam doing something every minute of every day, working our butts off studying, diving, assisting, climbing, paintball, motorbiking...was hard but so rewarding, and I think New Zealand has a much slower pace of life than we have been used to these last 4 months. Its hard to adjust.

Anyway, 2850km travelled in New Zealand at a breakneck speed, White Island and the Canyon Swing were major highlights, and we look onwards to further adventures in Australia. Hotel tonight and pick up new camper tomorrow. See you on the next internet connection!!!

SD

Day 12 Camper - The End of New Zealand (and a RANT!)

We camped at a park near the caves last night, and woke up to a nice sunny day. We then drove 200km into the centre of Auckland where trying to park a camper van turned out to be a £^$*ing nightmare.!

The reason for this, was that British Airways have passed the buck, and have put the blame for excess baggage charges we had to pay in Bangkok (300 quid!) in the hands of Qantas. After visiting their offices in central Auckland and speaking to them... I disagree. British Airways itinerary is wrong, and they know its wrong because they have recently added a sentence to the itinerary stating that other airlines determine my baggage allowance also.... Now this was not on my itinerary that I printed out before we left the UK, and I am now starting to smell something rotten in this whole fiasco.

The only evidence I have, is our itinerary which I printed from BA's website before we left the UK, and I guess I had better guard it with my life because when tomorrow comes and we have to board a flight to Melbourne, we could potentially be having to fork out £2500 for excess baggage charges.... Oh joy!! Legal battle when I come back then.....

Anyway, now parked on the outskirts of Auckland, having a beer and trying to calm down!

Next stop Melbourne!

SD

Day 11 Camper

Well.... what a dissapointment Zorbing turned out to be!!!

We turned up to a very small hill with the zorbs at the top, and us being the "life on the edge" kinda folk... we turned our noses up and moved on West.

We drove to a place called Waitomo Caves, a massive network of caves... totally massive!

In parts of the Waitomo Caves, they have something called Black Water Rafting. Basically, you stick a helmet on your head, go into the cave, wade into FREEZING water, jump on a rubber tube, and generally freeze your ass off until 3 hours of climbing, walking and tubing...... you finally appear at an exit for the cave.

I must say it was an experience. The feeling of claustrophobia, the freezing water... we still wonder if we enjoyed it!! I haven't been that cold in years.! Before we entered the cave, they tested our ability to deal with the cold water by making us jump into a river that feeds into the cave. It was so cold that one guy stopped breathing for 20 seconds or so... Bit of a scary moment...!

Anyway we survived it... cold and shivering we retired to our camper.

Day 10 Camper

Well, we woke up to bright sunshine (and stinky eggy smell) in Rotorua, and decided to grab a chopper to White Island. A very unique place that sits on the fault line of 2 tectonic plates. We were the only ones on the island, which is New Zealand's only active marine volcano.

It sits 50km off the shore, and when we landed, it was like being on another planet... just weird.. Got some fantastic footage!! Just incredible...

After a hour of walking in and around the crater of the volcano, our pilot took us to Mount Tanawera which erupted in 1886 killing 140 people. Also pretty spectacular.

We then went from there to the Skyline, and zoomed down "the luge" 3 times... much fun had.

Now, we are camping again for the evening before trying to get a go of Zorbing tomorrow... and moving on!

SD

Day 9 Camper

So, we woke up and travelled to Mokai Gravity Canyon where we decided to try out the Flying Fox... piece of cake really... alot less extreme than the Canyon Swing we did in Queenstown... but fun anyway... see the vid..

We then headed on our way to Rotorua where we shall stay the night before checking out the geysers etc... it stinks of eggs here....!!!

Day 8 Camper

Not much to report on Day 8.

We woke up to dismal weather which meant no whale watching (BOOOOO!!!) so we headed North to Picton and caught the ferry to Wellington. The crossing was pretty rough I must say.... waves were big!!!

Anyway, a few hours later we arrived in Wellington, and as the weather was so bad we pushed on North 200kms or so to a town called Bulls...


That was it really... a day of travelling!

Day 7 Camper

Today was a 350km journey from the West Coast to the East Coast, to hopefully go Whale Spotting tomorrow morning before heading to the ferry over to the North Island. Unfortunately it looks like the weather has foiled our plans, but we won't know for definite until the morning.

We shared the drive over, and halfway through, we had to stop for a herd of cattle heading on down the road. Further along we came upon a seal colony (see quick video that Jen took).. never seen wild seals before... cute... but vicious!! Now camped up in Kaikoura, and heading to Picton Ferry tomorrow, to travel over to Wellington.

Day 6 Camper

Day 6, and we worked our way up the West Coast, 200km North to Fox Glacier, and Franz Josef Glacier.

We spent the drive with blue skies, and sun... Very nice... but a couple of kilometres from the glacier, the weather changed to wind, rain, and cold... but once back out on the highway, it was very pleasant again.

We have just arrived in Greymouth, 200km North of the glaciers, and shall be working our way East tomorrow to try and get a whale watching trip... time permitting!

Day 5 Camper

Well, we were in the wilderness yesterday, so not able to access the internet.

We left Queenstown, after a early morning helicopter flight over the town (finally the weather was good enough!).

On our way through the mountains, we came across a monster truck park (see photo) and Jen and I decided to drive one ourselves... it was a cool experience, although my neck aches today!

We eventually camped at a place called Haast, on the West Coast... population 40 I believe.. What a party town!. So I cooked Sausage, Mash and Beans.... TASTY!

Day 4 Camper Post 3

Simon doing the Canyon Swing..... backwards!!!

Day 4 Camper Post 2

Jen doing the Canyon Swing...!! Sweet!!!

Day 4 Camper Post 1

Last night we walked into town.... freezing our butts off... and decided to go to the Boiler Room Bar before heading into the Minus 5 bar, which is a bar made completely of ice! You are only allowed in for 30 minutes by law due to possible hypothermia... the temperature inside was -7.7 degrees. Even our vodka cocktail glasses were made of ice... Groovy!

Day 3 Camper

Well, unfortunately with the cold front coming in and warnings of 20cm of snow in 2 hours, we upped sticks and got out of Dodge, well Te Anau.... and had to miss the sights of Milford Sound.. a shame but we plodded on to Queenstown, 2ookm North(ish) which is situation next to The Remarkables, a pretty nice looking mountain range...

Queenstown is "the adrenaline capital of the World" and as such, we have booked ourselves on a Canyon Swing, some Jet Boating, and a helicopter trip over The Remarkables (weather dependant !!)

See the following sites for more info!

http://www.canyonswing.co.nz

http://www.shotoverjet.com/

We shall be staying the night here, and probably tomorrow.... so no driving after the activities! Nice!!

Day 2 Camper....

Woke up and got on the road to Te Anau... another 300kms South and West of Duedin, near the Fiordlands....

The plan was to get a helicopter to see the sights from the air... unfortunately bad weather of high winds, snow and rain has cancelled all that and we have sat in the van... keeping warm!!! I took a couple of photos on a brief sunny 5 mins... Jen studying hard!!!

1st Day with Camper

Well we stayed in Christchurch to recuperate from a very long flight.. and much arguing with Qantas over baggage allowance... leaving me £300 out of pocket (to be solved when BA respond to me!!)

Gotta say that Christchurch is a clean quiet (YAWN!) city... the major attraction is the Cathedral which after seeing the Duomo in Milan a few years back is not very amazing.

Anyway, 360km South.... and we have arrived at Dunedin.... not much here... and its freezing!!! 1 night at a site and onwards we go!!!

SD

Leaving Koh Tao

Well, 100 days on the island, and we have finally left to further travels. In John Locke's words from "Lost" "The island may not be finished with you!" I hope this is true and one day we can return to what has been truly an adventure of a lifetime.

We are now in Koh Samui for one night, leaving early in the morning to catch a flight to Bangkok, then Sydney, then Christchurch, where we shall stay in hotel for the night before picking up our camper van (plush one!)

Koh Samui, sadly, does not have the beauty and affection attached to it that it once did. I am amazed at how over developed it has become in comparison to Koh Tao. So I am told, it was once a very beautiful island, but tourism has laid a heavy penalty, when now all I see is buildings, more buildings, and more buildings under construction.

Take it from me... if you want Tenerife in Thailand... this is the place to be...

p.s. Maybe I am being too harsh since we are only here for 1 day, but its just my point of view with the time we have...

SD

More Underwater Footage

We leave tomorrow, so if this is the last connection then we shall speak on my UK mobile which shall be active as from tomorrow or the day after. Much love!!

Goodbye to friends

Well as time approaches to leave the island, we said goodbye to 2 friends this morning who have left to have further adventures..

Good luck David and James, who are fantastic fellas!

IDC Certification Ceremony

Heres a pic from our IDC evening... I'm wearing sunnies cos I got sand in my eyes and couldn't get it out for 2 days!!!

The results

Hi guys,

Well, I have about 5 minutes to post before the power goes out, the phones don't work, or the internet goes down again. Major issues on the island for the next couple of weeks regarding contact but I shall endeavor to keep you updated.

The instructors exam has finished.... We both passed all the modules (Jen aced 5 of them, but just needs to retake an exam).

Finally the education is over, and we can chill a bit for the next few days.

We leave Koh Tao on the 14th May, and enter New Zealand on the 16th... soon another journey begins..... in the meanwhile... I have lots of filming to do.!