The Promised Land

Turning west, away from the coast, we arrived in the hippie town of Bellingen. The 'town' (more like a village) had lots of shops selling everything from Tofu to eco-friendly clothing and jewellery, with insense wafting from every shop front!




Our hostel had great views of the countryside and the river and our room came complete with Buddhist mantras on the walls! More worryingly...the hallway was decorated from floor to ceiling with hundreds of naked photos of previews guests! (check out the gallery! I'm not sure what is worse... the naked pictures or that fact I was taking photos of them?!)



Despite the nakedness, the hostel was great! The countryside surrounding the town is called The Promised Land. We borrowed a couple of car tyre inner-tubes from the hostel and headed off to a stream called Never Never Creek (very Peter Pan....or Michael Jackson). We had a great day swimming in the crystal clear stream and floating down the small rapids!






After two days with the crusty hippies and Nigel the resident giant lizard, we set off in search of the sea again. A few hours up the coast road we stopped at Lennox Head. A world renowed surf spot, this tiny town has a great laid-back holiday feel. Our hostel is opposite a seven mile beach that is almost totally deserted. On the other side of the hostel there's a fresh water lake that is surrounded by Tea Trees that turn the water red with Tea Tree Oil! Swimming is supposed to be very therapeutic and Nikky loves nothing more than soaking in the cool medicinal oil for an afternoon!

After our hippie experience in Bellingen, we thought we had 'ticked off' that experience from our list. But little did we know that Graeme who runs our hostel had kept a treat for us! Upon checking in we were told that we had "the best room in the house"..."Great!", we thought....until we realised that he meant HIS house! We were shown to our room...next door to his. We opened the door and were greeted by our room mates: a dozen teddy bears! We thanked the owner, closed the door and cracked up laughing! Despite the room we decided to stay here for a few nights, as the location is fantastic.

It's Australia Day here tomorrow, so the entire country is going BBQ crazy! We can't wait to join in the fun!

Coming up next time...we drive north into Queensland towards Noosa for our last week in Australia!

Sand, Surf and....Snakes!

We dragged ourselves away from Sydney and hopped into our tiny little Hyundai Getz for the two hour drive to the Blue Mountains. It took a while to get used to being in a 1.2ltr manual petrol car, after driving a chunky 3ltr automatic diesel for six weeks in New Zealand!

The Blue Mountains were fantastic. We arrived in scorching heat and it was almost unbearable to be outside, but the heat meant the mountains were very blue (eucalyptus oil evaporating) and the view was stunning!

From the Blue Mountains we drove back towards the coast to Newcastle. We had tickets to go and see the John Butler Trio play there, so we booked a hostel near the venue. The place was a dump. The hostel was a flea-pit! The sort of place where you don't want to walk on the carpet because it's so dirty! Luckily we had an eveing planned, so we just had to bear a few hours of sleep there.

The gig, however, was amazing! The best live performance we have ever seen! The drummer was incredible! They played for almost three hours...which was great beacuse it meant less time in the hostel for us!

The next morning we woke up very early and hit the road towards Port Stephens. We were a little bit apprehensive, as we had booked another hostel there and were praying it wasn't another hell-hole. Luckily, it turned out to be one of the best hostels we have stayed in!

Nestled in native bush land, just a few minutes from all the beaches, was our own cabin. It was surrounded by gum trees in a Koala habitat (although we didn't see any!) and we could hear the Kookaburras and Possums. The owners had made a real effort with the place and the pool was a welcome relief from the heat!
The place was buzzing....with mozzies! But I guess every place has to have it's downsides. The people at the hostel were all really nice and our next door neighbour was an 81 year-old danish man who was cycling around the world!

One evening the slightly eccentric owner of the hostel came out to the kitchen with his pet Python! The huge snake was still a baby and apparently far bigger ones roam wild around the bush here! I got up close and personal with Syphon the Python as he slithered around my neck and shoulders! Nikky stayed clear and took photos with a nervous smile when the owner threatened to hide the snake in our room one night!

We reluctantly moved on after three days in the bush, to Port Macquarie. Another stunning coastal area, the town is surrounded by miles of beaches with great surf and good swimming. (grote mastandontes pavel!)

We ended up in an outdated cabin on a campsite that was infested with cockroaches! After a sleepless night with our sleeping bags zipped all the way up despite the heat, we complained and got most of our money back. This was put towards the next night's accommodation in a clean, tidy and self-contained apartment right across from the beach! It even had a pool and a washing machine (which we made full use of!).

Today we are back on the road, driving a few hours north (and inland) to Bellingen. A hippy community! Should be fun! We will keep you posted!


[We're having some problems uploading photos to the gallery. Will try to get the pics up soon!]

Sydney: Sights and Sounds

Catching sight of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as we walked to the harbour, we couldn't quite believe we were actually there! The Opera House, with its white sails against the bright blue sky, is the iconic image of the 'other side' of the world. It was a stunning sight and even the locals can't get enough of it! It's surrounded by nice bars and cafes, with views of the harbour bridge, so we sat and savoured the moment for a while. To escape from the blistering sun, we walked back towards our hotel through the Botanical Gardens. These were a little different to all the other gardens and parks we have been to, as the trees were laden with thousands of huge bats! The noise was incredible!

We timed our visit to Sydney well, as Saturday evening was the opening night of the three-week long Sydney Festival...just outside our hotel! There were lots of stages set up throughout the parks, with music, dance and circus acts everywhere! The streets were packed with people and the grand-finale of the evening was a performance by Al Green (the 65 year-old Reverend gospel/soul singer, whose hits include "Love and Happiness" and "Let's Stay Together"). Over 100,000 people crammed into the park to watch him perform for free! We had a great time!

Escaping the city centre, we took a bus to Bondi Beach. And we thought the Brazilians were good-looking! There was not a fat or ugly person in sight at Bondi! The great thing about this city is that its surrounded by beaches. The next day, we jumped on the ferry to Manly Beach, with great views of the bridge and opera house from the water!

The city has a really good vibe. It's not stressed and rushed like London and people seem a lot happier here than back home! Sven....Citi bank is in a great location here! And it's still warm enough to go for a swim when you finish work at 3am!

We also met up with a couple of old school friends from the European School. One of them lives here now, so we were guided to some cool bars and got some tips for the rest of the city!

We are now heading off to pick up our hire car and travel inland to the Blue Mountains. There is a red-alert for bush fires at the moment, as temperatures near here have reached 42 degrees! Hopefully we won't be affected.

Next update in a few days!

G'Day!

We have arrived in Sydney! It's hot and sunny and we have an amazing room in the Marriott Hotel, overlooking Hyde Park. We got some funny looks checking in with our backpacks!

We'll update the blog in a few days, with some photos too! Now we're off to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge!

Enjoy the snow everyone!

4472kms and what a journey!

We spent New Year's Eve in Wanaka, had a very nice meal in a restaurant (!) and joined the crowds on the lake shore for the midnight fireworks! A great evening, very friendly people and not a drop of alcohol to be found anywhere. The party was in a Liquor Ban zone. Luckily we had indulged in a very nice bottle of bubbly already!

The next monring we stretched our legs and walked up a small mountain behind Wanaka, with stunning views across the lake. By this time it was New Year's eve in the UK! Very odd feeling!

After a few more days in Wanaka, we dragged ourselves away and headed up through the middle of the South Island towards Mount Cook. We ended up at a campsite near a bright turquoise coloured lake, but apart from that it had nothing going for it. Certainly nothing we wanted to pay for! So we decided to be a bit adventurous and drove to another lake nearby where we had spotted a small woodland on the lake shore. A tiny dirt track led down to the shore and we couldn't believe our luck! We had uninterrupted views of Mount Cook  with the lake in the foreground....perfect! We set up camp for the night (for free!), cooked up a nice pasta meal and watched Mount cook turn red in the sunset. All was well until the sun set...after that it was FREEZING! But waking up to the sight of the mountains and the lake was worth shivering through the night.

Our final long drive was from there to Christchurch. We had a great day exploring the city and it's Botanical Gardens. We felt a bit homesick watching the Punts go up and down the river!

This morning was tough. Emotional. Heart-rendering. We reluctantly said good-bye to our beloved van. She had done us proud. Six weeks and 4472kms and we survived! We managed to put up with eachother for over a month, living in a space no larger than your average bathroom!

This morning we flew back up to Auckland and booked ourselves into a nice apartment for a relaxing evening before we fly to Sydney tomorrow afternoon. We are looking forward to getting there, spending a few days in the city and pickup our 'Economy' hire car for another road trip. Although this time, we will share a space more akin to a broom cupboard than a bathroom!

Next update from OZ!

Queenstown and Fjordland

Queenstown is the adrenalin capital of New Zealand, with bungy jumping, sky diving, jet boating and all manner of variations available to hordes of British backpackers. We were more than happy just chilling out by the lake and watching the Brits do what they do abroad. It was a hot day, so that suited us just perfectly!

The following day we drove down to Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound. We spent a grey but amazing day in the Fjords, saw seals and got a bit snap-happy with the camera! In a brave attempt to get the ultimate waterfall shot, I got soaked to the bone as our Milford Cruise boat stuck its bow straight under the falls...with just one British idiot (me) on deck! Nikky had wisely moved inside for a complimentary cup of tea!

Thoroughly soaked, but a great day in amongst some of the most spectacular scenery we've ever seen!

We are back in Wanaka for New Years tomorrow. Our home from home! Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for all the comments so far! We will enter 2010 a day earlier than you so we might just have to celebrate twice!

Love Jan and Nikky. x

An Upside-Down Christmas

Merry Christmas! Vrolijke Kerstdagen! Frohe Weihnachten! Feliz Natal!

We left the beach in Golden Bay and started working our way down south. Overnight at the Nelson Lakes we were surprised to find Mr Van Bommel's doppelganger camping next to us! A good look-a-like but unfortunately nothing like the real thing.

The next day, after fighting off hundreds of vicious little sand flies, we hit the West Coast. Living up to its wild reputation, we were battered by the wind and covered in sea spray as we drove down the coast road. The road goes from Westport to Haast and is the same distance as Auckland to Wellington on the North Island. The beauty of having six weeks in New Zealand is that we can take our time and so we didn't need to rush down the road.
We stopped for lunch on rugged, drift-wood covered beaches, went to see the famous Pancake Rocks and gradually worked our way down towards the glaciers.

At the Franz Joseph glacier we found an amazing campsite, just outside of town with spectacular views of the glacier and surrounding mountains. The sun came out and we could see the snow, but unlike you all in England we could sit outside in our T-shirts and shorts, drinking beer and keep up our suntans!

By this time the rest of the Kerridges were in Wanaka on the otherside of the mountains, so we jumped in the camper for a long drive to meet them. The road led us away from the coast at Haast and through the Haast Pass with its stunning rivers and waterfalls, to Lake Wanaka. We met up with the rest of the clan on the shores of the lake and after swimming in the icy-cold water, had a BBQ.

Wanaka is probably our favourite place so far in New Zealand. The huge lake is surrounded by mountains, with snow-capped peaks in the distance. The town itself has a really nice vibe and lots of cafes and bars to go people watching.

On Christmas Eve, rather than the usual day's skiing, we hired bikes and cycled around the lake. Nikky, who was was adamant to prove that she could cycle the fastest, led the way and soon disappeared into the distance. Once we had all caught up, we caught our breath had a picnic at the lake. Back at the campsite, we managed to dig out some lesser-creased and stained clothes from our backpacks, polished off a bottle of local bubbly and made our way to a nice seafood restaurant in town.

I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas and festive days! It's Christmas Day here now, another beautiful day in New Zealand and we're looking forward to another BBQ by the lake tonight. Tomorrow the family heads to Christchurch to fly home and go skiing. We will certainly miss them and it will be back to pasta and cheap wine for us!

We are heading to Queenstown tomorrow and then on to Milford Sound. We will be back in Wanaka for New Year's Eve. So if we don't manage to update this blog before then, it's Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us!