Chris and Charly Down Under - chrischarly
Bye bye tuk tuks
Bye bye negotiating
Bye bye, 'Hello Mister'
Bye bye long bus rides
Bye bye heavy backpacks
Bye bye savings...
And G'DAY 'down under'!
After plenty of time spent in South...

From 40 degrees to 5 degrees... ouch
Perth, Australia
The lovely beach
The pilot announced that it was 5 degrees in Perth just before we landed. Not ideal wearing shorts and t-shirts… We had no idea it would be that cold! We stupidly thought it would be nice and toasty! As we declared our Kampot Pepper and spices, we thought that being honest would save us time and hassle. No it didn’t. Being honest obviously doesn’t earn you any brownie points in Australia. Anyone that declared anything went straight through to customs to get their bags x-rayed so we thought we might just as well kiss goodbye to our cigarettes now, and anyone that said they didn’t have anything went straight through to the exit! Bummer. So after queuing up for ages, a lady called us over and asked us what we had, we tried the ultra-smiley and friendly approach and straight away got out our food items out to show her. Unfortunately the supervisor walked passed and said that the pepper would definitely have to go, and being apparently the best pepper in the world, and as it was red impossible to buy overseas, Chris was obviously heartbroken! But being friendly obviously helps as she took pity on us and sent us on our way, without screening our bags! Yay, we got our cigarettes through! So, after power-walking as fast as we could for the exit just in case they turned round and changed their minds we waited until a bus arrived for the other airport, which we got on, then caught local transport into Perth and changed buses into Fremantle. Definitely the cheapest way of getting there, but also the most time consuming!
Chris and Gill dipping their feet in the icy water
Then we set up camp in a café until Gill woke up and came and got us. We then went for another coffee to help us stay awake before going back to hers. Staying awake was a struggle for the rest of the day as we didn’t really sleep much on the plane, but somehow we agreed to go out and watch Gill’s son, Jo DJ at a club down in town, but as he was the last one playing we didn’t leave until gone midnight.
Chris and I
Gill and I
Jo as DJ
Jo
Gill and Jo
I managed to fall asleep standing up a couple of times, but Chris was fuelled on beer so he was fine, but $10 a pint is a bit steep! Then came back and had the nicest exhausted sleep in a long time.
written by  chrischarly on September 24, 2011 from Perth, Australia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

Relaxing in Fremantle
Fremantle, Australia
A guy who made his bath mobile
The busy market
A dog that loves walking like humans
Enjoying a cuppa by the sea
Gill and I
After having the most amazing sleep I woke up at about midday and we went out to a street market just down the road where they promote sustainable living and recycling. It was a great market and we had a great time wandering around. I even managed to find a new jumper to replace my old battered Cardigan that is so full of holes; it almost looks like it was designed that way (but badly). Then chilled on the beach at a little café in before it started raining so went back and Chris cooked a tasty pumpkin soup to warm us up in the evening.
written by  chrischarly on September 25, 2011 from Fremantle, Australia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

WE HAVE OUR VAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fremantle, Australia
Just got back to Gill's
Even though we weren’t 100% sure we were going to buy the van off Gill’s friend, we stayed positive and went shopping for stuff. Although it comes pretty much equipped it’s surprising how any extras there are to buy! Then after shopping in Fremantle we went to Mike’s to have a look at the van. OMG it’s amazing and practically perfect.
Chris and I after just buying the van
We knew we would be in love with it at first sight and that we were! So after finalising things with him we drove away very happy people! Can’t wait for our many adventures! Then after driving back Chris cooked dinner for us, Gill and family. Tasty Chicken and beef, delicious!
written by  chrischarly on September 26, 2011 from Fremantle, Australia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly Down Under

Out on the open road
Collie, Australia
Big smiles!
SO HAPPY!
Did some last minute shopping in Fremantle to buy groceries and another spare battery for the campervan. Of course spent far much more than we intended or expected before coming back and sorted out the van for our first adventure! Then at 3pm we finally left, far behind schedule, headed for Collie as we left it too late to make it down to [[Australia/Margaret-River]]!
Chris happily driving
Driving into a rainbow
It was so nice to be out on the open road and Australia truly is gorgeous! As we brought the new Camps 6 book we had many camp sites to choose from so picked the nicest free one and by the time we turned up and parked it was dark so had some tasty vegetable fried rice cooked inside the camper to warm us up. But I have to say, the bush loos are something to get used to…
written by  chrischarly on September 27, 2011 from Collie, Australia

Plenty of wine tasty :) and a dead whale :(
Augusta, Australia
View from the camper
View first thing in the morning
Our little friend
Tucked up in bed
Our camper
Chris
Still not seen any kangaroos, so got excited when seeing a sign for them; my beady eyes on lookout. 3 dead ones spotted though on the side of the road; not exactly what I was expecting?! Very sad for my first sighting. Freezing cold 1st night in the campervan but part of the reason was discovered at 7:45am when we got up to see the passenger door open, oops!.. At least nothing was stolen. Anyway, we left Collie to head to [[Australia/Margaret-River]] and after stopping at many wineries along the way (Chris of course spitting his out until I start driving!) we didn’t make it!
About to blag our free tasters
Sad Chris after spitting out his wine
Grape vines
Ching ching
Our first winery
Standing outside the winery
But still had a great day stopping occasionally along the coast and enjoying the fantastic scenery, but also saw a dead whale which was pretty sad.
The lovely sea
Pathway to the sea
Climbing up
Rock climbing
Standing by the natural bridge
The bridge
Huge waves
Chris at the top of the rocks
High up and enjoying the view
The sea
Chris on the bridge
Awesome beach!
Dead whale
Too many dead things seen today, but still an awesome day!
We set up camp in a little forest for the night and luckily the Ranger didn’t come along so it was free and we started a BBQ to keep warm and save our gas, we didn’t have any meat to put on there though unfortunately, but Chris still cooked a delicious warming dish of corned beef, carrots, onions, potatoes and baked beans.
Our first BBQ
Our yummy feast!
Then we tucked up in bed to watch a film, blissfully unaware it was only 7pm!
written by  chrischarly on September 28, 2011 from Augusta, Australia

A fantastic day
Augusta, Australia
The old jetty
Early morning walk
What an awesome day! Chris woke me up at 6:45am all excited to go on our next adventure. First stop was to go to Hamelin Bay where you can see loads of stingrays in the shallow water just off the beach.
Footprints in the sand
Dead Blue Bottle jellyfish
Unfortunately we couldn’t see any but that could be because it was a cold morning and we didn’t want to wade up to our knees in the freezing sea. Still it was lovely to walk along the deserted beach at 7:30am dodging the washed up blue bottle stingrays. Then driving through the trees headed for the lighthouse in Cape Leuwin just south of Augusta 2 kangaroos hopped along the road just in front of us! Such an amazing sight to see them alive! Luckily we weren’t just a second faster otherwise we may have hit them! The lighthouse was a non-starter though as they wanted a $17 each entrance fee, so we thought we would give that a miss!..
As close as we got!
The lightouse
But we did go and see a really old water wheel which was pretty interesting.
The Natural Bridge
Walking around
The old battered waterwheel
Explanation
We then made a quick stop to see a water wheel before stopping for a coffee at a café called the last stop before Antarctica! Whilst waiting for the slowest and most expensive coffee Chris spotted out the window a dolphin! We couldn’t believe it! So after downing our drinks we went outside and was amazed to see about 10 of them right up close, about 15m away from where we were standing playing about!
The last stop before Antartica
Fishermen right by the dolphins
A dolphin!
A fin and a head of dolphins!
Dolphin!
2 dolphins, 1 a tiny baby 1!
A dolphin
Amazing! So, we sat and ate our muesli by the side of the River watching them swimming for an hour before we continued our journey. All this before 11am in the morning!
written by  chrischarly on September 29, 2011 from Augusta, Australia

Trees which you can live inside!
Albany, Australia
The trees
ting Ting trees
This morning we headed to see some ting ting trees which are famous for having large holes in the bottom near Nornalup.
A drawing of the biggest ting ting
Explanation
People even used to live in the bottoms of them, supposedly. We chickened out of going up the tree top walkway, but after speaking to a couple of others about it, they said it was amazing, so we kinda wished we were braver!
A fallen over ting ting
Standing by a ting ting tree
Then we went and found a lovely beach to have a walk on, which isn’t hard to find as the west coast is simply beautiful.
Me jumping in Chris' photo
Seagull island
The Natural Bridge
'The Gap'
Amazing blue sea
Spot the muppet at the bottom
Then, after exploring around Denmark and Albany today quicker than intended we decided we might as well head back up to Gill’s in Fremantle a day earlier than planned and along the way we saw loads of kangaroos lounging in the sun!
Kangaroos
A very friendly horse
Kangaroos playing in the field
So had chance to take a few photos, amazing animals. Getting to Gill’s was a long a boring drive up the freeway and by the time we got there we were exhausted but stayed up and chatted for a few hours before passing out.
written by  chrischarly on September 30, 2011 from Albany, Australia

Bye Gill! xx
Fremantle, Australia
Perth city
Bye Perth
We left Fremantle once again but this time heading North. It was sad to say goodbye to Gill and Jo as we have no idea when we will next see them again! We’ll miss you! Unsurprisingly we left a lot later than planned and did some more ‘essential’ shopping for the van along the way.
Sand dunes
(I swear Chris has an addiction with spending money!) We arrived at a little rest stop outside of Cervantes just before dark and parked up next to 2 friendly French guys and supped a little wine and shared travelling stories with them until falling into a blissful sleep.
written by  chrischarly on October 1, 2011 from Fremantle, Australia

The amazing Pinnacles
Cervantes, Australia
Woke up at 6am this morning and left straight away headed for ‘The Pinnacles’. We had read that the best times to see them are either at dawn or dusk so we decided to bite the bullet and get up first thing,
1) So we could make the most of the day and
2) So the Ranger doesn’t find us parking somewhere we shouldn’t be.
The pinnacles
Pinnacles
2 parrots
The Pinnacles are limestone structures made from compressed shells and natural erosion has made them into the jutty things they are today. No idea how old they are, just very old. It really was fantastic. It kind of reminded me of ‘The Plain of Jars’ but it is completely natural and in the middle of a dessert. Then after the pinnacles, we made our way in Cervantes the town close by made ourselves bacon sandwiches before walking along a few beaches.
Chris making bacon sarnies
So much sea weed
Sand dunes
View from the top of dune
Climbing up the dune
The huge sand dune we ran up and down
A bright orange crab
Lovely clear water
A lovely beach
A huge eagle
Awesome beach
We then made a brief stop off to see some stromolites which are the first living known to create oxygen.
Stramolites
Explanation
Then, on the way to find somewhere to camp up for the night, I even decided to take the van for a test run! It was ok to drive once I got used to it, but having not driven for 15 months, it took a little getting used to again especially a vehicle of this size and no power steering!
Me driving!
The leaning tree
Leaning tree
Just before finding somewhere we spotted some strange looking trees that were completely bent over! Pretty impressive, and after reading up on it discovered that it was due to some sever winds that force the trees to grow this way.
written by  chrischarly on October 2, 2011 from Cervantes, Australia

Rainy day, broken convertor & broken shower
Geraldton, Australia
It did look more pink than this
Pink lake
The pink lake
What the pink lake should've looked like!
Woke up again early leaving the North of Geraldton headed straight to Horrocks, but nothing was particularly interesting there so we headed to Port Gregory to see The Pink Lake, which was pretty amazing. But unfortunately it was raining and the sky was pretty black and if it was blue the lake would be a lot pinker. But it was still pretty fascinating. We then headed up to Kalbarri but as it was raining we didn’t do a lot and the 2 main roads we wanted to go along were closed. So we then continued driving and made our way up to Carnarvon.
Very windy
Nice coastline
Long day and a lot of driving. Oh yeah, our invertor broke as well along with a few fuses, so that also put a dampener on the day.
Memorial site
A very windy campsite
Chris making fire
Our shadows
Also, when we pulled up at a campsite we tried out our solar shower for the first time and managed to put it up in a sharp tree so it put a little hole in it. Not the best of days but at least we covered a lot of ground.
written by  chrischarly on October 3, 2011 from Geraldton, Australia

Crowded Coral Bay
Carnarvon, Australia
Overlooking coral bay
Beautiful Coral Bay
So beautiful
We decided to make our way up to Coral Bay today to do some snorkelling, so after a lot of driving we made it to find it full of people as it is the school holidays and there was nowhere to stay for less than $38 which put us off, and with no free campsites around we thought we had better give it a miss and head further North.
On top of sand dunes
Lamb and emus who live together
Lots of sheep wool
Our tent
We still had to pay for a sight but $24 is a bit better and we did kind of like it as it had hot outdoor showers and the sight was noticeably nicer than the free ones, so paying for them occasionally doesn’t hurt. Had a great evening walking about the campsite which is an old station and chatting to some other (if slightly bizarre) travellers.
written by  chrischarly on October 4, 2011 from Carnarvon, Australia

5ft Black tipped reef shark
Exmouth, Australia
River
Woke up bright and early at 6:15am to get away as early as possible to try and secure a place to sleep in the Cape Range National Park, but unfortunately as we lent 2 hard-core travellers our tent for the night as they only had a sheet of tarpaulin to sleep under we had to wait for them to wake up as well, plus we promised them a lift to the end of the road as they were hitchhiking their way around Australia.
Sandy Beach
At 7:30am, Chris gave up waiting and woke them up so by the time they were ready we were way beyond schedule.
Driving through a lot of nothingness
But we did feel better about ourselves for our good deed for the day! So anyway, off we headed towards Exmouth, filled up our water and then waited for the visitor information centre to open so we could book somewhere to stay. As the doors open a sign goes up saying, ‘No spaces left in The National Park’. Great. And it was only 9am!
Forest fires
But we decided to make the most of our day regardless and would just hop from place to place seeing as much as we could. Firstly though we had to go and buy some snorkels and managed to get a good deal for $50 a set. Still pricey but well worth it.
Nice views
First stop was Yardie Creek which is a huge gorge with some fantastic views. Then straight after we made our way to Sandy Beach which is a perfect swimming beach with very light blue clear water.
In the park
We had a nice refreshing swim in there before making our way to Turquoise Bay to do some snorkelling. Everyone had told us just how amazing it was for snorkelling so we were really excited.
Scenic driving views
They have quite a dangerously strong current just outside the bay, but the best way to get in the water is to walk as far up the beach as you like and just let the current take you but you have to get out before the shoreline changes or you’ll drift out to sea! Pretty scary but we listened to advice given so were fine.
Driving along a rough road
To be honest though, the snorkelling itself was pretty disappointing. There were quite a few fish in the water but most of the coral was dead, just think we have been spoilt by all the awesome snorkelling we did in Indonesia!
Walking along
The highlight of it was though; I saw a black tipped reef shark the same size as me and managed to swim alongside it for a while, completely unaware that it was in fact dangerous until I read the boards about them! But apparently if you leave them alone and don’t wind them up you’ll be fine. After snorkelling we had run out of time to do or go anywhere else so made our way to the next free campsite arriving just before dark.
written by  chrischarly on October 5, 2011 from Exmouth, Australia

A lot of driving
Tom Price, Australia
Rock face
Flowing falls
First thing we set off for Tom Price and Karijini National Park. A lot of driving but it was worth it. We decided to go straight inside the park and spend the night there and found a huge camping ground for $7pp per night.
Lizard number 2
A big lizard
It was a lovely sight, although busy. We considered going out for a drive to do some exploring late afternoon, but the gorge nearest to us, Dales Gorge was sadly closed due to a man and his child falling off a Cliff, so instead spent the evening relaxing with a glass of wine and some tasty BBQ Chicken.
written by  chrischarly on October 6, 2011 from Tom Price, Australia

Karijini National Park
Karijini National Park, Australia
Standing by a huge ancient rock
Circular pool
Woke up early to see that the Dales Gorge is now open, so that was our first stop in the Karijini National Park.
Chris and I
Falls
It was really beautiful and took a long walk down to Fortescue Falls and went for a refreshing cool off in the water below.
Chris having a wash in Fortescue Falls
Chris after his swim
Then after we dried off took a 3km rough hike to see the Circular Pool and again went for a swim and then a steep walk back to the top to find our van.
Hiding behind a rock
Where we went
It was a fantastic morning and as we arrived to both places quite early on, it felt as if we almost had the place to ourselves.
Chris standing in the middle of the gorge
On the walk from falls to pool
Then, starving we went and hungrily made ourselves bacon sandwiches and made our way to the visitor centre in the park.
Pigeons with Mohicans
Everyone advised that as we were here we should go and see some of the other lookout points North of the park making Weano Gorge the priority, so we got in the van and set off.
Strange but pretty tree
After 14km down a horribly corrugated dirt track taking us 35 minutes we gave up and turned back around scared we would permanently damage the van. It was 43km in total so would’ve taken us 2 hours to get there and as it was already the afternoon we wouldn’t make it back before dark. Gutted. We really were disappointed. So instead we headed out of the park and to a little campsite, which we had completely to ourselves, apart from the horrible disgusting persistent flies which drove us crazy!
Views looking back over park
Amazing views
I HATE FLIES IN AUSTRALIA!
written by  chrischarly on October 7, 2011 from Karijini National Park, Australia

Lots of driving
Port Hedland, Australia
Salt Plains
Chris hiding from the flies
We left camp at 6:30am this morning, the flies were out once again and the only thing we could do was leave as quick as possible for Port Hedland. But, Port Hedland was a bit boring with very little to do, so we soon moved on and drove for Miles to get a little closer to Broome so we could check that out tomorrow. Not a lot to write about just loads of driving.
written by  chrischarly on October 8, 2011 from Port Hedland, Australia

Stuck in the sand
Broome, Australia
Lifeguards
Well today was certainly a stressful one! Woke up and left for Broome first thing and arrived at 8am. First stop was to the Visitor Centre to ask them for some advice on the free campsites just north of the town. It said on our map, that 4WDs were recommended to drive along the road to get access to the camp, but the lady confirmed that our van would be fine to make it up there. Well, she lied…
Chris having a swim
But firstly we went to Cable Beach to have a swim, but there were too many jellyfish in there for me to go in, but Chris went in regardless and luckily didn't get stung. The road was awful and very badly corrugated and I had to sit in the back as all the cupboard doors kept flying open and throwing all our food and clothes out, but we made it to the campsite.
Big jellyfish!
The directions then said to make your way to the picnic spot where you could camp for free, so we drove on a little further, turned a corner and saw some very deep soft sand. Chris stopped as quickly as he could, did a U-turn and then got stuck. We spent about 15 minutes trying to get ourselves before Chris went and got some help.
Digging out the sand
By this time we were well and truly buried and I got underneath and started digging right down until I could find a hard surface for the back wheels to drive over, then, Chris came back with our 2 helpful travellers with a huge 4WD pickup and kindly towed us out. By this time we had had enough of Broome and thought our best bet was to just drive away and stay at another campsite outside of town. Unfortunately though at the end of the stupid corrugated road another driver flagged us down and told us that our door on the outside of the van where our gas bottle lived was hanging off!
broken down :(
Bugger. The bumps had sheared the lock off and it was nowhere to be seen, but luckily the gas bottle itself was still hanging in there. Great. Back to Broome to try and get the problem fixed as there was no way we could continue. But as it was 5pm on a Sunday so, nowhere was open, and with no free campsites accessible to us for a 60km radius we just had to bite the bullet and stay at the cheapest pay one for $33. On the plus side though, it had a swimming pool and with 30 minutes to spare before it closed once we arrived, I quickly showered to get all the sand off me and jumped straight in to cool off and de-stress.
written by  chrischarly on October 9, 2011 from Broome, Australia

Getting things fixed
Fitzroy Crossing, Australia
After a nice swim!
To make the most of our expensive campsite we woke up early and went for a swim before packing up and leaving to search for a new lock for our gas door.
Boab tree
After driving around and around Broome we finally came across a locksmith who could sort it out for us for just $15,
Finally in some shade!
which was great as we thought it would cost considerably more. Then, we were on our way. Quite a lot of driving to head as close to Fitzroy Crossing as possible so we wouldn’t have far to go in the morning. It was a scorcher of a day and we pulled up at about 3:30pm, desperately seeking shade, went to find firewood, made a fire, ate some food, watched a film and then slept.
written by  chrischarly on October 10, 2011 from Fitzroy Crossing, Australia

Too hot to do anything but jump in a pool!
Katherine, Australia
5 rivers lookout
5 river lookout
We woke up really early and went to Wyndam to see the 5 River lookout. This is where 5 Rivers all join up into one, but as it is quite dry, the Rivers weren’t flowing very much as it was a hazy morning so there was very little to see, which was pretty disappointing as we had driven out the way to see it.
Huge Croc
Lake with locals fishing
We then headed to Kununurra and it was so hot at just 8:30am. So the first stop was to the Leisure Centre to go for a swim and cool off. At 10am in the morning it was already at 43 degrees! We couldn’t believe it! Scared to get out and back in the heat we stayed in for just over an hour, showered and continued driving through the border, losing 1 ½ hours due to the time difference and stopping 100kms short of Katherine.
Forest fires
forest fires
written by  chrischarly on October 12, 2011 from Katherine, Australia

To Batchelor to meet up with Becks...
Batchelor, Australia
Piccitto the baby wallaroo
Woke up early and drove straight out to Katherine to have an explore around. However, when we arrived, I logged straight on to the internet and noticed I had a Facebook message from our friend Becks who we met in Laos.
Baby wallaroo
She only lives 200km away from where we were so we cancelled our plans and drove up to hers outside of Batchelor. It was great to see her and meet the family and all of their animals on the farm and inside the House.
Duck in a bird cage
They have 9 dogs, about 7 or 8 cats, 2 pigs, 1 cow but many more live on their land, 2 hand-reared goats, loads of chickens, ducks, geese, Guinea fowl, a lorikeet (talking bird),
he lives in a shopping bag!
some horses I think, 2 wild deer they feed all kept outside. Then inside, a duck in a bird’s cage, a baby Wallaroo kept inside a shopping bag as it’s like it’s mother’s pouch, 2 rats, a few snakes and I’m sure some other animals I’ve forgotten. Pretty amazing staying on a mango farm and walking around!
written by  chrischarly on October 13, 2011 from Batchelor, Australia

A baby cow!
Batchelor, Australia
The fence we built
I felt like I truly worked hard today! Being on a farm is pretty exhausting at times! Chris and I put up a chicken wire fence that took us 3 hours in the baking hot sun, with the animals not particularly being helpful. The goats kept trying to eat the cable ties and our clothes whilst the pigs kept pushing out the fence in the wrong direction. Pretty irritating but funny and the same time, especially when the goats fell out of the wheelbarrow!
Chris doing some work
But when we did complete it we were pretty proud of ourselves and a little sunburned. Rebecca went out in the afternoon to meet up with a couple of friends whilst the boys went camping so it was just Chris, Cheryl, Rick and I for the evening, so I went out and helped Cheryl move a couple of gates around so the cows had access to a waterhole and walk the dogs.
A massive cane toad
Whilst we were out there, Cheryl spotted a tiny calf out walking on its own at the end of the far field. How she noticed it, I’ll never know as it was so far away, so she went back to lock away the dogs whilst I went to try and grab it. I didn’t have a clue what to do, having never even stroked a cow before let alone go and grab a tiny baby one. So I slowly walked up to it and tried to pick it up, but it was so scared of me so I sat down and stroked it a bit so it could get used to me and tried to persuade it to walk, but it was so weak it just kept collapsing to the ground, so eventually I gave up and picked it up and started walking back.
Chris carrying her properly
Meanwhile back at the house Rick and Chris couldn’t believe Cheryl had sent me to go and get the calf, finding it hilarious so Chris came back with Cheryl armed with a camera, whilst I was struggling to walk back the length of the field with the calf (later named Ginger Princess by Chris). As soon as we got back Cheryl made up a milk formula for G.P and bless her, although she could hardly walk she drank 2 bottles until she fell fast asleep in the kitchen in an old dog cage.
Feeding G.P
Ginger Princess
Let’s just hope she makes it and is still alive in the morning.
written by  chrischarly on October 15, 2011 from Batchelor, Australia

Lichfield Park
Batchelor, Australia
Wallaroo playing by my feet
Taking the wallaroo out to play
Baby wallaroo
Playing with the goats
It was so nice to sleep in an air-conditioned room last night! But woke up and Chris went straight to work mowing the lawns whilst Becks and I cleared the twigs and hoses out of the way.
Dirty Chris
Mowing the lawn
After that, Daniel took us to go and see the magnetic termite mounds that point from North to south and the reason they do that is to get the sun when it both rises and sets to keep the mounds warm as much as possible.
Me and Becks
Magnetic termite mounds
The falls
The pools we swam in
Brendon
Becks, Daniel and Brendon
Quite clever. After, we went to go for a cool off at some pools at Lichfield Park. Nice way to finish off the afternoon.
written by  chrischarly on October 14, 2011 from Batchelor, Australia

Day of rest
G.P
I had a bit of a lie-in today which I felt was much needed and of course Sunday is the day of rest, but I did feel bad waking up at 10:30am whilst everyone else was out working. But I didn’t feel like I could do a lot anyway considering how achy I was after carrying G.P. yesterday, but it was great to see her still breathing this morning as I’ve already gotten very attached. I feel like such a girl!
Ginger Princess
None of us did a great deal today apart from check-up, feed and water a very sick cow that cannot walk and is slowly dying. We originally thought yesterday that this was G.P’s Mum, but then later today we found a dead cow with the same kind of markings as the baby so that wouldn’t give G.P a very good chance as it would be unlikely that she fed on her. Had a good day though, Rebecca, Daniel, Jesse and Brendon came back after lunch and just basically chilled with just a little bit of farm work to do.

Jumping Crocs!
Humpty Doo, Australia
Boxing croc
Woke up this morning, sorted out and tidied the van as we made the sad decision to leave the farm today.
Chris
We have had a brilliant time, but must go and do some more exploring. So after saying goodbye for far too long to Rebecca and Cheryl and of course to all the animals we finally left at 1pm heading for Kakadu National Park via Darwin.
The boat we went on
Enjoying the boat ride
On route we stopped off at Adelaide River and took a boat trip to see the crocodiles. It was a really good trip as they tempt the crocs with big chunks of meat to persuade them to jump out of the water and we did get to see and learn about some of the massive ones.
Flying eagle
Jumping croc
Head sticking out
They also fed the white bellied sea eagles and kites which was also pretty scary as they fly straight past you to grab the meat.
Sniffing the meat
Croc right next to our boat
Croc's belly
HUGE croc
We arrived a bit later than planned to the park and after travelling 5kms up a dirt track to a free campsite we came across a huge puddle so instead headed for the next available place to stay for $29.
written by  chrischarly on October 17, 2011 from Humpty Doo, Australia

Kakadu National Park
Kakadu National Park, Australia
Flying bird
Birds having a swim
A pretty bird
Floodplains
Went for an early swim in the campsite pool to refresh ourselves before our busy day ahead. Firstly we went to Bardedjilidji which was a beautiful 2.5km walk through layered sandstone outliers before stopping off at Cahills Crossing which had a viewing platform over the East Alligator River, where we stood watching some huge crocs coming up out of the water.
Kakadu
Climbing
A tree's long roots
Balancing act...
A croc hiding on the bank
A croc in the river
Road train driving through the flowing water
Road train about to cross bridge
Walking around
Chris
Finally we went to Ubirr which was a 1km track that takes you past several fascinating Aboriginal rock art sites, which some are a few thousand years old.
Aboriginal rock art
We then climbed to the top of a steep rocky lookout which has superb views over the Nadab floodplain which was beautiful.
Awesome views
Ubirr views
Amazing views
The views from the top
Checking out the views
Then, pretty tired, we went and found a free campsite and set up early before all the mozzies came out. At about 8:30pm we were tucked up in the van and we started to see lightening continuously 180 degrees around us, and slowly it got closer until the winds started to shake the trees and the van. We were camped out under a huge tree but decided as we were in a forest there was little point moving. So, we lowered the pop-top roof and just prayed for the best. It was pretty scary but a truly awesome storm and we don’t even think we got the full brunt of it luckily as the next morning there were many fallen trees.
written by  chrischarly on October 18, 2011 from Kakadu National Park, Australia

Another day in Kakadu
Pine Creek, Australia
Chris moving trees out of the way
Aboriginal rock art
Got up early once again and took a drive out to Nourlangie and went on a 1.5km walk past an ancient Aboriginal shelter and several more art sites.
Nice views
We then took a steep climb to Gun-warddehwardde Lookout and saw some impressive views of Kakadu’s escarpment and Nourlangie. After this we went to the Yellow Water Wetlands which is part of the South Alligator River floodplain and walked along a boardwalk to see the wildlife. Unfortunately most of the walk was closed as the water was too high but it was still a nice, if short walk.
Lots of fish
Ducks
The floodplains
The little lake
We then went to the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre and learnt many things about the culture and history of Kakadu before watching a video and I fell fast asleep until Chris awoke me.
Chris swimming in Kakadu
Crocodile warnings
Then after a quick lunch we drove to Maguk and took a 2km walk through monsoon forest and along a Sandy and rocky creek which led us to a small Waterfall and a clear plunge pool where we went for a quick swim reassured by the rangers that this area had been checked for crocs although later signs suggested otherwise. Next stop to Pine Creek to meet up with Jesse, Rebecca’s brother for a couple of drinks and a pizza before pulling up at the pub campsite, pouring with rain where we camped out for the night.
written by  chrischarly on October 19, 2011 from Pine Creek, Australia

A lot of driving and Edith Falls
Elliott, Australia
Me having a swim in Edith Falls
Left Pine Creek this morning with a lot of driving ahead of us as we are now making our way down south to Alice Springs. We camped up just outside of Elliot for the night after driving pretty much all day stopping briefly at Edith Falls for a refreshing swim and Katherine for a bit of shopping.
written by  chrischarly on October 20, 2011 from Elliott, Australia

Bush fires and the devils marbles
Alice Springs, Australia
Devils marbles
Devils Marbles
The alarm went off at 5:30m this morning to get on the road first thing for an exhausted day of non-stop driving. Drove pretty much all day, with just a brief stop-over at Devil’s marbles which are a collection of round-ish rocks seemingly scattered in the desert.
Chris pushing
Chris trying to push the marbles off
Chris tried to move them but didn’t have much luck.
Everything all black from the fire
Thick smoke
Huge bush fire
Driving through clouds of smoke
Tropic of Capricorn
Also drove through a bush fire, which was a bit too close for our liking considering we couldn’t see and had to drive on the other side of the road to avoid our jerry cans from exploding. Pretty scary. Then stopped for the night at The Tropic of Capricorn rest stop just North of Alice Springs. Long day, awesome sleep.
written by  chrischarly on October 21, 2011 from Alice Springs, Australia

First spotting of Ayers Rock
Yulara, Australia
Enjoying a beer and the view
Chris enjoying a beer
The view from our campsite
Drove to Alice first thing to fuel up with coffee and petrol and do some shopping before getting back in the van for another afternoon of driving. We found a really nice free camp spot for the night about 30kms away from Yulara with views of Ayers Rock for sunset up a sand dune with a beer; although sunset was a little disappointing. Nice early night in preparation for Sunrise but not a great sleep due to another bad storm.
written by  chrischarly on October 22, 2011 from Yulara, Australia

The almighty Ayers Rock
Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia
Chris and I
Me
After hitting ‘snooze’ to many times we did surprisingly get up at 4:45am and drove into Uluru to see the amazing Ayers Rock for Sunrise with a ton of other tourists.
Ayers Rock
Kata Tjuta
Walking around the base
Although it is a rock, it’s still pretty impressive and thought we would make the most of our entry fee and walk around the base 10.2kms and do a couple of the extra walks to the waterhole and a gorge.
Stupid people climbing in the midday sun
The mighty Ayers Rock
Exhausting day and very hot with not much shelter from the sun, so for the rest of the day we were a bit like zombies. In the afternoon we checked into Ayers Rock campsite which although it was a paid sight, was nice to just chill the afternoon away in the pool before heading back out to Uluru to see sunset although that was a non-starter much like last night but an excuse for another beer didn’t hurt.
written by  chrischarly on October 23, 2011 from Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia

The Olgas
Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia
Kata Tjuta
We couldn’t be bothered to wake up for Sunrise this morning but still got up early and went to Kata Tjuta which is still in the National Park and better known as the ‘Olgas’.
Us
The olgas
Me
A scary-looking spider
Walking around
Chris climbing up
Me a little behind
Cooling off!
We spent the morning walking around and exhausted ourselves once again before driving out to Kings Canyon National Park for another long walk tomorrow, staying once again in a paid campsite with pretty rubbish facilities compared to other paid ones we’ve stayed in for the money spent, but it was nice to go for another swim though in the pool although it did have some weird biting beetles in the water.
written by  chrischarly on October 24, 2011 from Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia

The beautiful Kings Canyon
Kings Canyon Resort, Australia
Over looking the Canyon
Lizard
Kings canyon
Chris climbing up
A little bird
Got up early once again to go and see The Kings Canyon.
Getting pretty tired now!
lizard
Another nice view
King Canyon
Kings Canyon
It was a right mission of a walk that took 4 hours at the top of the canyon and to the bottom of the Garden of Eden.
So amazing!
Standing on the edge, or at least close to it!
So amazingly beautiful!
But it was so worth the effort and the views were outstandingly beautiful.
Walking
Fantastic view!
A lost hat
Then, off we drove the 500kms back to Alice Springs, did a little shopping and then headed off to the West MacDonnell ranges but unfortunately missing the turn and went the wrong way! Long, long day and we are very tired people.!
written by  chrischarly on October 25, 2011 from Kings Canyon Resort, Australia

Donkeys, Spiders and Mice
Tennant Creek, Australia
Fantastic cool off
Drove back on ourselves and finally ended up at the MacDonnell ranges and went to Ellery Creek Big Hole for a nice refreshing early morning swim. By refreshing, I mean bloody freezing! Many other people went down, dipped their feet in the water before running off scared, Chris and I were the first and only people in the water all morning before some other brave people joined us.
A great water hole
Nice relaxing morning before we continued driving for the next few days. In the evening we made it further than we thought we would staying 100kms south of Tennents Creek. The campsite we chose was recommended in our Camps book, but we can safely say that it was our worse one yet…
Donkey
The ground was almost swimming with ants it was impossible to sit outside or even go outside without running, a ton of mosquitoes, a wild donkey that attempted to kick Chris, but luckily he ran away in time, tried eating our food,
Stupid bloody donkey
tried breaking into the van by bashing it all night at almost broke our wing mirrors. Not only that, a Huntsman spider invited it’s way into our van and scared me half to death and then awoke in the night to hear rustling in the front and petrified it was a snake, we tried to investigate, but found nothing until morning when Chris was about to get in and drive and found tiny mouse poos on his seat.
written by  chrischarly on October 26, 2011 from Tennant Creek, Australia

Now in Queensland
Mount Isa, Australia
Chris looking gorgeous
After a rubbish sleep, back on the road all day to see how far we can get. We did manage to drive almost to Mount Isa but it was a proper boring day. Miles and Miles of pure nothingness to look out of the window at…
The view out of the back window. aka nothing
Miles and miles of nothing
In the evening we camped up, too hoot for anything else but cheese sarnies and played some card games with a couple we keep bumping into.
written by  chrischarly on October 27, 2011 from Mount Isa, Australia

Well-hidden sunnies
Normanton, Australia
A load of cows
We headed from our rest stop to Mount Isa to get fuel and go to the visitor’s info. After passing pretty cheap fuel on the outskirts we continued on thinking it would be the same, it wasn’t. We headed to visitor info and it wasn’t open so decided to head back out to the first fuel stop. Refuelled and watered and noticed they had free showers for the truckers, so made the most of it! All refreshed we headed back to town, went to visitors info and then to get a new jerry can funnel to reduce the chance of Chris bursting into flames with our leaky one. All done we headed out of town until about 20kms out I went to put on my sunnies but couldn’t find them.
Having a quick stop over
After a bit of panic and Chris requesting a full search I was adamant I had left them in the shower room back the other side of Mount Isa. We headed back but couldn’t find them and no-one had handed them in, oh bugger, but wait, what’s this, under the pillows! Another Charly great search = an extra 40+km’s. This made Chris grumpy for a good while, but it was at least better than a grumpy Charly if she had lost them. The rest of the day was continuous driving of about 800kms, the last 200 were very tricky at dusk and with 100’s of roos unhappy with life and wanting to have a close encounter with our bull bar. We made it by dark to a nothing camp, Chris made me Macaroni cheese and ate cold chili from a can, then sleep!!
written by  chrischarly on October 28, 2011 from Normanton, Australia

Ice cold water
Ravenshoe, Australia
Nice view
Really nice waterfall
After waking at our roadside stop, we headed further towards Cairns, stopping at Millstream Falls for a look then stopped at Ravenshoe visitor centre were a nice man gave us lots of useful info. Heading further we got to Millaa Millaa falls where Chris braved the cold water for a swim under the falls.
Malanda Falls
How the curtain fig tree was made
Curtain fig tree
We then took a brief de-tour to go and see a huge curtain fig tree which was pretty impressive and after this we headed into Atherton and did some shopping before finally getting to Lake Tinaroo to camp the night. Enjoyed a glass of wine and a bacon and Camembert Sandwich. Yummy!
written by  chrischarly on October 29, 2011 from Ravenshoe, Australia

Turtle spotting
Atherton, Australia
The river
Bottom feeders!
Turtles
A turtle head
Turtle
Had a nice day with not doing a great deal. In the morning we drove to Lake Eacham and did a little turtle spotting before going for a nice early morning swim for an hour.
Great view
Then we made our way out of the Atherton Tablelands and headed North towards Port Douglas where we found a nice little place to camp and got chatting to a nice guy who was a dozer driver and a snake catcher who gave us this amazing drawing he had done of a crocodile, just need to find a way to get it safely back home now.
written by  chrischarly on October 30, 2011 from Atherton, Australia

Charlie's Restaurant
Port Douglas, Australia
Such a lovely beach
We drove up to Port Douglas and down the coast taking a look at some of the nice beaches along the way to Cairns. In Cairns we went for a nice swim at the huge free pool and chilled out there for a while before checking into a campsite in town. We then went for another swim in their swimming pool and then got dressed up to treat ourselves to some dinner out. We had heard that ‘Charlie’s’ a restaurant in town did an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet for $25pp and there would be loads of lobster, crab, prawns etc. etc. So we were really looking forward to it.
Nice look
Bubbly and prawns
After ordering a bottle of bubbly we checked out the buffet and unfortunately it was not what we expected, strange-tasting oysters, cold prawns, cold mussels, a little sushi and bland Western type food. But we paid so were determined to make the most of it, leaving very full but pretty unsatisfied. But we still made sure we had a good evening, but vowed to not eat in a budget buffet again.
written by  chrischarly on October 31, 2011 from Port Douglas, Australia

Trains and Sky rails
Kuranda, Australia
We left the campsite first thing this morning and drove to Freshwater Railway Station to go on the scenic train journey up to Kuranda.
The station
Going in a tunnell
The carriage
Loads of people waiting
Chris by the train
On the tarin
Nice view!
The train
Waterfall
It was a nice journey on a really old train which lots of tight bends, tunnels and Bridges up the Mountainside. Once in Kuranda we wandered around for a while, but what was once a cute little village in the rainforest has now morphed into a massive tourist hub but we made the most of it by getting all the free samples we could get our hands on.
The skyrail
On the skyrail
Skyrain
View from skyrail
Nice view
Skyrail
What a cassowary is...
When we had had enough we then took the Sky train back down to Cairns making a couple of stops along the way to walk around. Had a great time, but it did make our wallet a lot lighter at $99pp for the 14km train journey and 7km sky rail, but worth it. We then took a drive out to Babinda in the evening and stopped at The Boulders at a free campsite and spotted the rare and endangered cassowary bird! I followed it for ages until it ran off into the bush and unfortunately without a photo.
written by  chrischarly on November 1, 2011 from Kuranda, Australia

Off to Beth's...
Mission Beach, Australia
The lovely water
Windy but gorgeous beach
Didn’t do anything too strenuous today, went to MacDonald’s to take advantage of their free Wi-Fi and managed to book our New Zealand- Fiji flights which we found for a bargain! Then made a quick stop off at Mission Beach, but too many stingers for a swim and then drove to Townsville and gave Chris’ parent’s friend, Beth a call and turned up at her lovely House for a couple of nights.
written by  chrischarly on November 2, 2011 from Mission Beach, Australia

The lovely Townsville
Townsville, Australia
View from the hill
Completely cleaned out the van this morning and did a lot of re-organising and it now looks as good as new, before Beth took us out to check out Townsville. First stop was to Castle Hill and we took the easy option of driving up trying to avoid hitting the masses of locals on a keep fit regime trekking up and down, which did not look easy.
Stinger nets
After admiring the views for a while we drove back down and had a look at The Strand, but unfortunately couldn’t go for a swim as the man made pool was closed for cleaning. We then made our way back, Beth showing us other sights along the way, had a bit of dinner, played cards and chatted for a few hours.
written by  chrischarly on November 3, 2011 from Townsville, Australia

On the road again...
Bowen, Australia
Airlie Beach
Left Beth’s this morning after breakfast, sad to leave after being looked after so well, just like staying at your Nan’s! We then briefly stopped off in Townsville to pick up some things, before hitting the road and continuing south. We didn’t make it far though opting to stay in a free campsite but the only one for 200kms. In the afternoon we attempted to fix the cracks and chips in our windscreen as much as possible and chatted to a few people before getting back into our early night routine.
written by  chrischarly on November 4, 2011 from Bowen, Australia

Geike Gorge
Kununurra, Australia
Kangaroo
Chris and I on the boat
We left first thing this morning at 5:30am to head to Fitzroy Crossing and then onto Geike Gorge. The plan was to go for a walk around the gorge and then go on a boat trip. But when we arrived at the gorge, the boat trips were due to leave in 45 minutes so no time for our walk before it got hot, so we went straight for the boat trip for $28pp.
Croc
Crocodiles
Rocks
Tiny bird's nests
Geike gorge
Crocodile rock
White line= previous flood lines
Inside Geike Gorge
Impressive balancing rocks
We thought it was time to spend a little money doing something touristy and were glad we did as it was worthwhile and informative. On the way we saw a few kangaroos and along the River saw many freshwater crocodiles as well as many impressive limestone structures caused by weathering overtime. We then went straight past Halls Creek to make our way as close to Kununurra in preparation of crossing through to The Northern Territory border tomorrow.
written by  chrischarly on October 11, 2011 from Kununurra, Australia

Platypus spotting
Mackay, Australia
Amazing view
Drove straight to Airlie Beach this morning, but due to a lack of stinger nets, we went swimming in the manmade lagoon, lovely if you ignore all the toddler wee. We then made our way to Eungella National Park to go Platypus spotting
A platypus swimming
A platypus
Platypus
and we were lucky enough to see a few as well as many turtles.
Turtle friend
2 turtles
A turtle
The platypus' home
Then headed just North of Mackay and found a great free camping spot for the night.
written by  chrischarly on November 5, 2011 from Mackay, Australia

Chris' 1st fish!
Carmila, Australia
The monster flathead
Took a short drive today to Carmila Beach between Mackay and Rockhampton. There was a nice campsite directly on the beach so decided it was time Chris put into action his fishing skills. Only problem was the fact the tide was out and it was about 500m to the water.
Chris and his catch
At the end of the beach was a River mouth were the sea runs in so decided to give it a go there. With his cheap rod and reel and only Squidgee lures we setup and gave it our best. Still in Croc territory we were sure to watch the water and got a bit freaked when seeing something surfacing then diving,
Where we were fishing
after a few times we realised they were huge turtles coming up for air. Anyway, back to the fishing, we setup on the slippy bank and after about 15 mins Chris was in with a big fight he landed what can only be called a monster Flathead
Me
(we found out the name after). It was a monumentous fight and trying to find somewhere to land it was a job in itself.
Cleaning the fish
I even managed to slide over and get myself covered in mud whilst helping. Anyway, we got it in, killed it and carried on fishing for an hour or so, before deciding that we had enough fish for a few meals. We took it back to the campsite, Chris hacked it up best he could and we froze down some and left some out for dinner. Chris then cooked a yummy fish stew and we enjoyed our first free meal!! More please!!
written by  chrischarly on November 6, 2011 from Carmila, Australia

Another day of fishing
Maryborough, Australia
Chris fishing
Decided to give fishing another go, but was not lucky this time so packed up after an hour or so. Then we headed further south to another campsite by the Boyne River. Saw some local fishing so thought we would give it a go so wandered down the bank and chatted to the local.
Chris cleaning his fish
He advised us not to go barefoot into the water as there were lots of stonefish that apparently have a spike on them that is very poisonous and can kill you if you don’t get to a hospital, good old Oz.
What a great fishing spot!
He was fishing with livebait that he had caught with a net, but we decided to give the squidgee another go as that’s all we had.
The pretty river
A few hours passed and whilst enjoyable, there were no fish for us or the local. Then just as we were considering packing it in, Chris caught another flathead. One of the other campers was taking a walk and showed us the best way to clean and fillet it. We then headed back to the van and fried up the fillets to have with our leftover stew, once again very tasty and free.
written by  chrischarly on November 7, 2011 from Maryborough, Australia

Not a lot...
Gympie, Australia
Cute sign
Koala sign
Didn’t do a great deal today, a little driving and camped just south of Maryborough on the Mary River and went for a really nice swim.
written by  chrischarly on November 8, 2011 from Gympie, Australia

Catching Mary River turtles
Noosa Heads, Australia
Now a dead flathead
Chillaxing
Chris' catch
Chris went for an early morning fish in the Mary River and managed to catch quite a few catfish and the endangered Mary River turtle,
Gorgeous beach
all of which he threw back in, especially the turtle as quick as he could before anyone saw! We then drove up to Noosa Heads stopping off for an ice-cream on the sand and then drove south down the coastal road before camping just North of Australia Zoo.
written by  chrischarly on November 9, 2011 from Noosa Heads, Australia

Australia Zoo
Landsborough, Australia
Having a close look at a Koala
Joey feeding off it's mum
Koala
Me and a Koala
Koala having a snooze
Me and my bird friend
A big bird
Woke up early this morning, Chris all excited about going to pay tribute to one of his hero’s Steve Irwin at Australia Zoo.
Chris and Steve
Feeding a Kangaroo
Kangaroos having a sleep
Croc
Balancing act
A massive tortoise
Feeding a kangaroo
Feeding a croc!
So we arrived just before 9, paid our $118 entrance fee and walked around and around the zoo checking out all of the animals before leaving at 4:30pm with a flat battery on our camera to quickly recharge and then take a look at the animal hospital just outside.
A big tortoise
Chris and the Irwin family
Kangaroo
Chris with a massive croc
Lizard
Great day, but pretty exhausting! Then made our way to a free campsite just North of Kilcoy.
Otters
Mother and baby kangaroo
Australia Zoo hospital
written by  chrischarly on November 10, 2011 from Landsborough, Australia

Meeting up with Wil and Florence
Coolangatta, Australia
105 different pies to choose from
We left our campsite and headed further south stopping for a swim in Somerset Dam and then at an awesome little pie shop in Fernvale.
Chris tucking in
Yummy. We then managed to get in touch with one of Chris’ old work mates, Wil who now lives in Coolangatta so made our way down to the Gold Coast to spend the night with him and his wife Florence. We went out for dinner on the sea front at a surf club and had a great evening chatting the night away.
written by  chrischarly on November 11, 2011 from Coolangatta, Australia

Stunning beaches
Gold Coast, Australia
Gold coast
After saying goodbye to Wil and Florence we drove to a couple of the beaches along the Gold Coast understanding why so many people want to live here as the beaches are stunning.
Walking along the sand
We slowly cruised down the coast a little way before finding somewhere to camp up for the night earlier than usual and got chatting to a couple of friendly Aussies who invited us to join them at a poker night in town, so of course we went. Neither of us won though, but it was free entry so we didn’t lose anything and Chris even made it down to the final 5. Good evening though and was nice to go out to a true local pub.
written by  chrischarly on November 12, 2011 from Gold Coast, Australia

Huge lightening storm
Byron Bay, Australia
Near Byron Bay
Lighthouse
Drove to Byron Bay this morning and had a nice walk around and up to the lighthouse before trying to find a nice spot to have swim. This was pretty hard as it was a Sunday so everywhere was jam-packed so we travelled further down the coast before stopping in Iluka but before we could contemplate going for a dip a huge storm hit us and we took some amazing photos of some impressive storms, with one fork of lightening hitting the ground just in front of us!
Really black sky
Such black sky
Amazing lightening
So, pretty scared we drove away and stayed at a pretty rubbish but free campsite unable to go outside as it poured with rain all night.
written by  chrischarly on November 13, 2011 from Byron Bay, Australia

Moonie Beach
Coffs Harbour, Australia
Such a nice place to swim
Headed to Moonie Beach this morning avoiding all major beaches as they were too busy. We went for a nice walk through the coastal rainforest which is one of the only ones left here on the east coast.
Huge lizard up a tree
We saw a huge carpet python on the side of the road (unable to put photo on due to Chris’ Mum’s phobia) and also a huge Lizard which darted up a tree.
really clear water
On the end of the walk we sat on the headland to do a bit of whale spotting before making our way back down to go for a swim in the icey cold water and then Chris went for an unsuccessful fish. We then continued driving south and veered in land and stayed in New England National Park for the night.
written by  chrischarly on November 14, 2011 from Coffs Harbour, Australia

Carp fishing
Armidale, Australia
Awesome view
Left our campsite and went to Point Lookout in New England National Park before continuing driving south through Armidale and stayed just south of Tamworth in a lovely campsite right by the side of a creek. As it was a boiling hot day, the first thing we did was jump straight in it to cool off. Then, after some dinner early evening, Chris started chatting to an old local, Barry who said there is fantastic carp fishing here in the creek, so Chris decided to give that a go. Carp in Australia are a huge pest, introduced by us Brits for some unknown reason and they have just taken over the rivers so unlike in the U.K. when you catch one, you are not allowed to just through it back in, you have to kill it and leave it on the banks. Pretty gruesome and it felt pretty cruel, but better than getting a hefty fine if you’re caught throwing them back in!
Chris' 2nd catch
Chris' 1st carp
Chris' 3rd catch
Chris' 4th carp
Anyway, Chris managed to catch 4 pretty big ones!
written by  chrischarly on November 15, 2011 from Armidale, Australia

Hunter Valley... or not
Denman, Australia
Chris fishing
Chris decided to go fishing again this morning for more carp, but unfortunately they just weren’t biting today, so after a few hours we gave up due to it starting to rain once again and headed towards the Hunter Valley to do some wine tasting. This didn’t happen though as the weather was just far too horrible to leave the van so we camped up for the night instead.
written by  chrischarly on November 16, 2011 from Denman, Australia

To Pete and Anne's
Crows Nest, Australia
Peter and Anne's house
Still raining… Pretty depressing when stuck in the van and you get drenched through just walking to the toilet! Drove through the hunter valley to get to Sydney but didn’t leave the van again until in the outskirts of the city when Chris got his hair cut and I did a little shopping so I didn’t look too much of a feral over the next few days hanging out with all of Chris’ work friends!
Anne
Late afternoon we went to Anne and Pete K’s House in Crow’s nest greeted with a nice hot shower and a couple of bottles of champagne, how perfect! They then treated us to much more wine and the tastiest Japanese food I’ve ever eaten. Fantastic evening, a little hazy towards the end finishing at 2:30am…
written by  chrischarly on November 17, 2011 from Crows Nest, Australia

Home and Away Beach
Palm Beach, Australia
Chris on the harbour
Sydney Harbour and Opera House
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Near the harbour
A little hungover this morning, unsurprisingly. Pete and Anne had to work so Chris took me on a tour of Sydney showing me his old hangouts and the amazing places he used to live.
Where Chris used to live
Where Chris used to live!
(Above left= Chris' apartment right on the waterfront overlooking Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Above right= Chris' apartment on top floor on Freshwater Beach)
We then drove up to Palm Beach which is more commonly known as ‘Summer Bay’ to me as it is the setting for ‘Home and Away’.
Home and Away beach
On Home and Away Beach
Unfortunately there wasn’t any filming taking place but still great to check out. We then drove back and got ready to go out early evening to meet a few more of Chris’ friends in the local before going out for dinner and more drinks once again.
written by  chrischarly on November 18, 2011 from Palm Beach, Australia

Cruising in a porsche
Bondi, Australia
Me and Peter in his Porche
Before leaving Crow’s Nest Pete took us both out separately in his Porsche for a little drive around before
Such a gorgeous road!
we said goodbye to him and Anne as their parents were coming over and one of Chris’ other friends, Dave was having a BBQ, which we went to before lunch. Had a nice swim in their pool and ate lots of tasty food before we made our way to Pete C’s House for a nice relaxing evening pretty exhausted.
written by  chrischarly on November 19, 2011 from Bondi, Australia

Tour of Sydney with Ezzer and Treggars
Padstow, Australia
The beach
This morning we drove up to Padstow to see Erin and Treggars who we last saw at around 5am last year on Erin’s birthday in Kenya leaving in a taxi.
We couldn’t wait to see them again.
Amazing view
Then, at about 11 Treggars took us on a nice scenic drive along the coast south of Sydney through a National Park to see the sea bridge,
Erin, Mark and I
stopping a couple of places along the way for drinks and lunch. It was great to have a catch up and remembering everything we did back in Africa. In the evening we played a few games, had a BBQ dinner and consumed plenty of wine and beer.
written by  chrischarly on November 20, 2011 from Padstow, Australia

Last night in Sydney
Sydney, Australia
Where we went out for lunch
Out for lunch
Chris' dinner he cooked
Unfortunately Treggars had to work today,
Dog with the bone Chris gave her in her mouth
but Erin had the day off and was meeting up with a few of her girlfriends for lunch so invited us along and we’re glad she did as it was delicious! In the evening we stayed in and Chris cooked a feast for us for our last night in Sydney.
written by  chrischarly on November 21, 2011 from Sydney, Australia

Blowholes
Kiama, Australia
beach
Said goodbye to Erin, Mark and family this morning and started making our way down south again. Had a great time in Sydney over the past few days and it’s sad to leave but I’m sure it won’t be our last visit! Thank-you to everyone who made our stay here amazing…
Blowhole
Before we camped up for the night we went to Kiama to see the blowholes which apparently blow up to 60m if the waves are strong enough, but not today.
written by  chrischarly on November 22, 2011 from Kiama, Australia

A load of wildlife
Bega, Australia
Playing on the swings
Beach
Continuing south we found a nice little beach to walk along and climbed over rocks. We saw black swans, a bright red octopus, a stingray swimming in the water and some other pretty fish in the gorgeous clear water.
Waves
Rocks
Awesome beach
Black swans
Red octopus
On our way to find a campsite we took a turn off to a National Park to try and spot some wild koalas unsuccessfully but did see some kangaroos really close, one with a joey in her pouch.
Kangaroos
Baby joey getting in pouch
Mother and joey
Chris walking to get fuel
Then on our way to Bega to stay for the night we ran out of petrol so Chris walked the 300m to the petrol station. Almost made it!
written by  chrischarly on November 23, 2011 from Bega, Australia

Cheese factory
Eden, Australia
Cookaburra
Went to the Bega Cheese Factory this morning before driving to Eden where we had fish and chips over-looking the harbour.
Our camp site
Our van
Didn’t do much else during the day but found a lovely place to stay in the evening in the middle of the Forest completely to ourselves alongside the Ada River.
written by  chrischarly on November 24, 2011 from Eden, Australia

We struck GOLD!!
Club Terrace, Australia
Chris looking for gold
Woke up and re-made our fire to cook some breakfast before making a make-shift shower doing it the old traditional way of heating up water on the fire and washing with a cup.
Chris' fish
At least we had the campsite and forest to ourselves so we could do it. Chris took a walk down to the River and we found lots of small pieces of gold sitting at the bottom of the River and a pink Crystal! We then drove further on to find another nice spot and Chris fished once again catching many fish but all too small for dinner so instead of fish to eat, we had egg sarnies.
written by  chrischarly on November 25, 2011 from Club Terrace, Australia

Koalas in the wild!
Raymond Island, Australia
We left the wet and cold stop at the side of the Snowy River, after the rain keeping us awake all night. It was a pretty grim day, but we headed to Raymond Island just off from Paynesville to go and see our first Koalas in the wild!
To go to Koalas
Sleeping Koala
Mother and baby Koala!
2 koalas up a tree
Koala!
Koala having a nap
Koala
Such a cute koala
It was awesome and we saw 22 in total all spotted by ourselves up in the Eucalyptus trees.
After about an hour walking around we ran to the Ferry headed for our next stop as quick as we could trying to avoid the thunder storm brewing. This was an okay stop at the side of another River just near Rosedale. As usual Chris found someone to talk to while I setup the van, this guy was a local cherry farmer who had setup in the roadside stop with a sign off the road. He did pretty well and Chris promised to get some in the morning before we left. It was pretty cold and wet still, so we just played cards and then went to our nice warm bed early to watch a film.
written by  chrischarly on November 26, 2011 from Raymond Island, Australia

Flat tyre...
Walkerville, Australia
We've got a flat
Chris finding the spare
Completely destroyed tyre
Not the best start to the day by getting our first flat tyre on the van, in the middle of nowhere, but luckily we had a spare and I suppose we’re even luckier as it is our first one we’ve had so far, but Chris soon fixed it so we were back on the road again. After finally finding our campsite at Bear Gully Reserve, a little way west around the coast from Wilsons Prom, we found a great spot with a campfire already lit from the previous residents.
Setting up camp
Chris ran round and gathered a good pile of wood people had left behind and got the fire going well for the evening. Chris then disappeared to the beach rod in hand, but returned about an hour later with no fish. Apparently it was too rocky and he couldn’t get out without getting snagged up. He did manage to cook an amazing butter Chicken on the camp fire so it all ended well in the end.
written by  chrischarly on November 27, 2011 from Walkerville, Australia

Wilsons Promontory
Foster, Australia
:)
Wilson Prom
On the beach
Norman Beach
About to cross the tidal river
Left our campsite this morning and drove to Wilson’s Promontory and it was nice to see some sunshine for a change!
Chris squeezing through
We drove to Tidal River first and went for a nice walk through the Forest a little before coming to the North of Norman’s Bay and we walked down the end of the beach, crossed a small River and went back to the car before visiting ‘Squeaky Beach’ named after the fine sand that when you walk on it, it squeaks, and then to Picnic Bay.
Tidal river
Lovely beach to ourselves
Entering the 'Prom'
Great day, but sure enough before it was over it started raining again, which was pretty irritating, but I suppose expected as we are now near Melbourne. We then headed back to the same campsite as last night and posted our van for sale on Gumtree hoping we will be able to sell it, but not too soon so we can go down further south.
written by  chrischarly on November 28, 2011 from Foster, Australia

Penguins!
Cowes, Australia
Penguins
Woke up this morning to find 3 missed calls on our phone- looks like people are interested in the van already! That was quick, was hoping we could have it a little longer. Meeting a guy called Tom tomorrow who seems uber keen on buying it, so Chris dumped me off in MacDonalds whilst he went searching for a spare tyre and somewhere to get it serviced before tomorrow.
Then after getting everything ready for the van, which by the way nothing was found wrong with it, which is great news, we rushed down to Phillip Island to find the cheapest place to stay before going to see the penguins. Being super keen to get the best spot to see them, we sat out in the cold for almost 2 hours before the first one appeared, followed by the masses.
Penguin chick
They are so funny to sit and watch waddling up the beach to their nests and also so tiny being the smallest breed of penguins their maximum height being 1ft or 33cm! We even got to see some baby chicks feeding off their mothers, but the babies are so fat and fluffy they are almost twice the size of their parents, which looks pretty funny! Unfortunately though we weren’t allowed to take any photos of them outside of The Entrance, which sucked, but was worth going just to see them so the photos here are of pictures inside.
written by  chrischarly on November 29, 2011 from Cowes, Australia

1st viewing on our van
Northcote, Australia
Black swan
Had a pretty long a stressful day today. Woke up early with tons of rain and thunder storms. Perfect weather for gutting out and cleaning the van! Typical. Luckily at the campsite the lady took pity on us and didn’t make us leave by 10am, which is checkout and said we could stay longer so at midday we set off for Northcote in Melbourne to see Tom, praying that he would want it, even though we have had other people phone up interested.
A blind dog on the back of a bike
He did fall in love with it at first sight which we knew anyone would, but he wants his friend to look it over on Saturday and a few other checks done, so as usual things don’t turn out as easy as we hoped, so still searching for more people in the meantime… After driving for a couple of hours east of the city for a free campsite we realised it would’ve just been cheaper to stay in the city than use loads of petrol! We never learn. Anyway, rubbish site and pouring with rain again.
written by  chrischarly on November 30, 2011 from Northcote, Australia

We sold the van! :) Will miss it though :(
Melbourne, Australia
Just need to see a wombat!
Woke up to a dry day and after talking to a local Chris realised that we might not have enough fuel to make it to the next fuel stop and was told to go and ask nicely at the local shop. He did and the guy gave us 5L for the tidy price of $2 per litre. Better than running out, but after 2 months we should be better than this at planning!! We headed back into Melbourne to St Kilda to show the van to some Canadian guys that Charly didn’t think would buy the van.
Pretty parrot
They rolled up on skate boards and checked out the van and seemed to love it. Told us they had some more to check and would call us later. We decided to stay at a delightful roadside stop on the motorway between Melbourne and Geelong. Not our finest spot but close to the city and free. Chris made an amazing corned beef hash and we chilled waiting for a call. The Canadians did call us back and bought the van, yippee, but they want it on Monday (2 weeks before our flight), bugger! Oh well at least we sold it, and relatively hassle free.
written by  chrischarly on December 1, 2011 from Melbourne, Australia

Koalas at our campsite
Apollo Bay, Australia
Gorgeous!
Entering the Great Ocean Road
Went into Geelong to meet the Canadians and get a Deposit, all good. Then we headed, for our FINAL stage of our amazing journey, down the Great Ocean Road.
The coast
What an amazing road!
Campsite
Driving along the Great Ocean Road
The weather was great, at last, and the scenery was beautiful. Found a great campsite half way, with koalas in residence, ate some fire cooked pasta and chilled with our Aussie neighbours for the evening.
The Koala at our campsite
written by  chrischarly on December 2, 2011 from Apollo Bay, Australia

12 Apostles
Warrnambool, Australia
The arch
Woke up to a grey morning, we waited a little hoping it would clear before the rest of the Great Ocean, but it didn’t unfortunately.
12 apostles
But we still tried to make the most of our day and saw as much as we could in between the rain, including the 12 apostles which are rocks of the shore.
We then went in search of a campsite stopping at one rubbish one, followed by another rubbishish one due to the severe winds which meant we had to keep the roof down all night as we were scared it would blow away.
written by  chrischarly on December 3, 2011 from Warrnambool, Australia

Preparing to move
Geelong, Australia
Putting up our new home
Left our last free campsite this morning and drove back to Geelong and checked into a paid site on the edge of the city to start packing up the van and set up our tent which will be our home now for the next 2 weeks. Will really miss the van when it goes tomorrow but at least we have one more night to sleep in it tonight until we pass it over to Scott and Jordan first thing tomorrow morning.
written by  chrischarly on December 4, 2011 from Geelong, Australia

Moving house
Geelong, Australia
I waved goodbye to our first home we brought together at 9:30am as Chris drove it down into town to meet Scott and Jordan. He was gone for over 3 hours but most of this time
Our new home
I was kept busy chatting to Maureen, our neighbour who has been in the caravan park for over 30 years. She kept feeding me coffee and gossip so the time flew by. Chris returned with a tear in his eye, but all had gone well and Marcy was now in the hands of the Canadian Chuckle Brothers – we wish her well and hope that they look after her like we did. After chatting more to Maureen, asking her questions about the area etc. she decided to take us up to the town and show us around. We found the library where we could get free internet and the post office to send off all car paperwork. This killed a few hours then we checked out the local eateries and our local pub. We had a few beers to celebrate/commiserate and then some yummy dinner before staggering to the campsite and turning in for our first night in the tent.
written by  chrischarly on December 5, 2011 from Geelong, Australia

Cheap flights :)
Geelong, Australia
We woke to the sun shining through blue skies. We went back into town and visited the charity shop where Maureen works, she had found some nice thongs (flip flops) for me, Havaianas once again as the last ones broke yesterday for only $1. Plus I found some bargain tops all for $1.
The camp kitchen
We then grabbed some lunch and headed to the library to try and solve our issue of getting from Auckland to Queenstown. Because we had left it too late, and it being Christmas time, the flights were NZ$300 (£150), so not a great option. The relocation cars/vans were not offering anything good to us. The bus/bus/bus/ferry/bus/bus option looked painful to say the least. Then we checked flights to Christchurch and were pleased to find one for NZ$109, we jumped on it and booked straight away. It was about 6 hours after we arrive in Auckland. So perfect, now we just need to worry about getting from Christchurch to Queenstown, should be an easy bus if no car relocations come up.
Pleased with ourselves we headed back via some shops and then chilled out in the sun for the afternoon before Chris cooked up some yummy wraps with bbq’d halloumi, asparagus, tomato, Spring onion and salad. After chatting a while to a kiwi traveller, we retired into our cosy tent.
written by  chrischarly on December 6, 2011 from Geelong, Australia

Swim
Chris cooling off
Had another chilled day, nice and sunny so perfect for a swim in the pool before heading to town for a few beers and a lovely pizza and a bottle of wine.

BBQ
Lovebirds
Had a swim, went shopping, bought some bargain food, returned home and had a lovely bbq lamb dinner.

Happy Hour...
Chris and I in our tent
Happy hour started at the local pub at 4:30pm so promptly 2 minutes before we turned up. We took full advantage of the cheap beers and free bar snacks, but unfortunately we ended up staying for all the unhappy hours until closing. Met loads of friends, drank and talked a load of rubbish all night. Staggered home and fell over a few times, all good though, we survived!

My head hurts... in fact, everything hurts...
Chris cooking
Spent the day recovering… Ouch, everything aches, got bruises everywhere, Chris has a bad knee whilst I have a bad ankle, so we both hobbled along for the day feeling VERY sorry for ourselves. Unfortunately we did have to leave the campsite as we ran out of essential supplies, such as Comfort food and cigarettes.

All the way into the city
Ducks
Went into the city of Geelong, had a walk around for a bit. Weather= crap. Nothing particularly exciting occurred.

...
Same old...

Soon to be moving on...
Found out that we have got a place to stay in Melbourne from Thursday until we fly out on Monday in a REAL bed! After considering it for not too long we jumped at the chance to be out of our tiny damp leaking tent (although I do secretly like it) so tried, and failed to get a refund as we had already paid to Sunday.

Farewell dinner
The lake
We started to slowly start organising our things today ready to pack back into our backpacks with Chris discovering that I now had 17 tops. Bugger. So of course some had to disappear to the local charity shop. When you don’t have many clothes it is hard to part with ones that have travelled the world with you. But Chris didn’t of course fall for that and demanded that some had to go ignoring the argument that mine were half the size of his. It is going to be hard to leave the camp site tomorrow! We felt bad for leaving Maureen and will really miss her so early so cooked her (well Chris did) a farewell dinner and chatted for ages until I started drifting off to sleep on her sofa…

Puffing Billy
Belgrave, Australia
Leading the way
After doing pretty much nothing for far too long we surprised even ourselves by having a busy day. Woke up too early to finish packing away all of our things and left Maureen with everything we couldn’t fit in our bags to take to the charity shop or keep if she wants including our tent, mattress, doona, clothes, food, etc. etc. Tim, another friend we made then gave us a lift to the train station just in time to make the 10:24am train to Melbourne, then with a quick change over we caught the metro to Belgrave and then just a walk to find Eamann at the Puffing Billy Railway Station armed with free tickets for us to go on this famous steam train.
The engine of Puffing Billy
On the puffing Billy
The switch room
Chris and the captain
Nice view from train
On the bridge
Eamann and I
It was a great trip taking about an hour each way with fantastic scenery. We then met Eamann when we got back and we went to have a few drinks at his local before he took us home to his lovely House and cooked us a delicious dinner.
written by  chrischarly on December 15, 2011 from Belgrave, Australia

Fuzzy
Pakenham, Australia
Chris chillaxing in libray
Woke up with fuzzy heads again this morning. But to work it out of our systems a little we tidied up, did some washing before justifying sitting on the sofa for an hour or two before Phil kindly gave us a lift into town. So after using the free Wi-Fi in the library and then a little shopping we took a slow walk back and had a chilled evening watching a couple of films and Chris made some homemade pizzas.
written by  chrischarly on December 16, 2011 from Pakenham, Australia

shopping, chores and films
Pakenham, Australia
Did a little shopping, did a few chores and watched a couple of films and hung out with Eamann’s flatmate, Phil. But apart from that didn’t do a great deal…
written by  chrischarly on December 17, 2011 from Pakenham, Australia

Mission Impossible
Pakenham, Australia
We didn’t do a great deal in the morning, but went out to do a bit of shopping in the afternoon and we brought a new hard drive as our other one has broken. We then went to the cinema and watched the new ‘Mission Impossible’ film, which was I surprised myself by enjoying it! It was nice to go to cinema and it’s the first time we’ve been since we’ve been away, but it wasn’t cheap at $21 a ticket! We then came back and chilled on the sofa.
written by  chrischarly on December 18, 2011 from Pakenham, Australia

Almost in Auckland...
Auckland, New Zealand
Yummy pate
Cannot believe we are leaving Australia already!.. So we got ourselves motivated eventually to get on with stuff and to get ready for flying out in the evening to New Zealand.
Chris' delicious pork belly dish
Chris cooked a culinary delight in the evening consisting of homemade pate and his signature dish of pork belly for us, Eamann and Phil.
Eamann, Phil and I
Then Eamann kindly gave us a lift to the airport in the evening and we said a sad goodbye to both him and Phil who have been great to us the past few days. Our flight left at 11:50pm for Melbourne and by this time we were both already exhausted but I had a horrible middle seat on the plane with Chris on my left and a guy with no sense of personal space on my right, and an annoying brat behind, so although just a 3 hour flight, it was horrific!
written by  chrischarly on December 19, 2011 from Auckland, New Zealand

A building sight
Christchurch, New Zealand
Our plane
We are now 13 hours ahead of the U.K and we landed in Auckland on time at 5:20am both kind of in a daze. Chris did manage to sleep a little, but bless him, it was the kind of sleep where you jolt your head every couple of minutes, so that did keep me entertained most of the journey.
Control tower in Auckland
We didn’t have a great deal to do to kill time before our next flight to Christchurch in 7 hour’s time apart from, go through security and change to the domestic terminal so we did this as slow as possible. To be fair though, it wasn’t too bad as our flight left on time at 12:10pm with no hassle and this time we had 3 seats for the two of us,
About to fly...
so I passed out before take-off and slept until Chris woke me up to check out the awesome scenery before entering Christchurch. We had already booked somewhere to stay, which is a hostel is New Brighton called Point Break on the outskirts of the city so we took 2 buses to get there
Awesome view from plane
which was relatively easy and the last bus driver dropped us off right outside of the door. As we had a van when in Australia so slept in that, this was our most expensive accommodation yet at about £60 for 2 nights and it was the cheapest we could find, so different from the bargain places you can find in Asia.
The snowy mountains from plane
When we got off the bus though it looked just like a building sight and when we checked in and paid the remaining balance we got taken upstairs to be shown our room. It was tiny with just a bunk bed wedged in the corner with the windows open and a builder outside drilling so all the dust was blowing in the room. Fantastic.
A Building Sight aka our hostel
So obviously we weren’t happy, but before we said anything, the manager showed up, took a 1 look at our gob-smacked faces and instantly moved us to a room out the back with no work going on. We were so happy, plus it was an en-suite with 4 beds in, including a double, so we quickly shut the door and locked it before they changed their minds. Unfortunately though for them, some other people saw we got upgraded so had a bit of hassle from them! Oops! Chris then forced me to go out and join him for a beer so I didn’t crawl straight into bed and get jet-lag so I finally got to sleep properly at 10pm thankfully!
written by  chrischarly on December 20, 2011 from Christchurch, New Zealand

New Brighton
New Brighton, New Zealand
The beach
New Brighton Pier
A segull
The New Brighton Pier
After dragging myself out of bed for our complimentary breakfast due to the building work, I crawled back into bed and fell back asleep ‘till midday. Finally able to face the world Chris and I wandered off into town to have a walk about, going to the library and on the pier. It was a nice and relaxing day happily achieving not a lot just enjoying this lovely town.
written by  chrischarly on December 21, 2011 from New Brighton, New Zealand

Meeting back up with the ever-extreme Justine
Twizel, New Zealand
Leaving Christchurch
Stunning
The pretty wild flowers and blue lake
Woke up, packed bags, ate breakfast and checked out of the building sight and waited for Justine to arrive to chauffeur us back down to her pad for Christmas.
Driving to Q'Town
She arrived at about 1pm with Dan, her South African friend and a hitchhiker she picked up along the way and we drove slowly for about 8 hours down to Queenstown stopping a few times along the way.
The most gorgeous place
We were all pretty tired by the time we’d arrived but still stayed up chatting for hours having a couple of drinks and a catch up. She has an amazing House, full of character and people staying here all the time, thus it can never be described as quiet… Think we are in for another crazy Christmas!
A baby fallen through the roof
Justine's pad
written by  chrischarly on December 22, 2011 from Twizel, New Zealand

Enjoying the sunshine
Frankton, New Zealand
Makumba just before he goes to Oz
Got up and chilled for most the day in the gorgeous sunshine, reading books and drinking a few beers. Early evening we headed into the supermarket to get Christmas supplies, at the same time we found out that there had been two earthquakes in
Chris with a beer
Christchurch, exactly where we were just yesterday in New Brighton and Justine even felt it whilst lying in bed, but not being used to them, we were oblivious. We came back and Chris cooked yummy steaks with baked sweet potato, salad and pepper sauce. Yummy as ever.
written by  chrischarly on December 23, 2011 from Frankton, New Zealand

Christmas Eve
Frankton, New Zealand
Manakin modelling Justine's cast
Manakin we dressed up
Barbie zip-lining
Hung out at Justine’s and helped her organise the place for Christmas. It pretty much entailed a bit of tidying, lots of dressing the place up with some funky arty stuff, all mixed in with plenty of breaks in the sunshine. Chris then deboned the turkey which he was very pleased about and we had a nice chilled Christmas Eve.
Freaky
Cleaning the BBQ
Chris preparing the turkey
Mine and Chris' creation
written by  chrischarly on December 24, 2011 from Frankton, New Zealand

Merry Christmas!! :)
Frankton, New Zealand
A guy trapped in the sofa
Planking
Outside Justine's place
Mason breaking into the site opposite
Another manakin we dressed up and laid next to Justine whilst she slept!!
Got up and Chris got to work on food prep. Some early birds rocked up and we started on the cocktails early before a BBQ breakfast to ensure we could last the day. The whole day was a mix of drinking, chatting eating and having fun. Chris’s food went down really well and we all had a great time. Justine was clearly out of practice and ended up crashing about 5pm but did re-emerge later in the evening. Happy Christmas everyone…
written by  chrischarly on December 25, 2011 from Frankton, New Zealand

A little explore around town
Queenstown, New Zealand
An awesome road
Queenstown
The pretty lake
Mason
Although pretty hungover, we manged to get our act together and went for a nice tour around Queenstown with Mason, Justine’s son, which took in some of the nice parts of the lake and the town. We then went shopping for a few bits before headed back to base for a chilled evening.
written by  chrischarly on December 26, 2011 from Queenstown, New Zealand

Camping again
Albert Town, New Zealand
Me and Justine relaxing
Off-roading
We packed up the car and headed to Albert Town which is near Wanaka to camp. It was an amazing drive through the mountains and the views were even better than we had seen so far.
BBQ
Chris setting up the tent
Sunset
Found a nice spot and Chris setup the tent while we supervised and drank some wine. Later on, some of Justine’s paragliding crew turned up. They were running a course for two guys the next day at Lake Hawae. We cooked some tandoori Chicken and drunk more wine, then headed to bed as we had to get up at 7am to go support the paragliding course.
written by  chrischarly on December 27, 2011 from Albert Town, New Zealand

Paragliding and 4 wheel driving
Wanaka, New Zealand
Practicing paragliding
So pretty
Got up at 7ish and quickly packed up what we needed for the day before heading to the lake with the guys.
Our cars at the bottom across lake!
Waterfall in the mountains
Crossing a river
On the 4X4 trip
Views from Justine's car
Off-roading
Having a quick break
Awesome
Unfortunately it was too windy for the course so it was aborted after a few hours of waiting. We then decided to go on a 4WD tour around the lake which was amazing and the views epic.
So gorgeous!!
Sunset
We then headed back to camp; Chris and Dean went fishing whilst we went to town to get some more beer and food and had a chilled night. Good job we bought Salmon as Chris and Dean were rubbish at fishing!!
written by  chrischarly on December 28, 2011 from Wanaka, New Zealand

Another night binge drinking...
Justine
Woke up, too windy again for the course so we cleared and packed up headed back to Queenstown picking up an Italian friend of Justine’s along the way. When we got back we dropped off Justine and headed into town to pick up Tracy,
Drinking cocktails...
another friend, brought a load of drinks including 2 bottles of vodka and spent the afternoon and night consuming way too much for 5 people, including sending Mason, Justine’s son into town to buy 2 more bottles of vodka. Lots of yummy cocktails were consumed and all in all a pretty messy night. No idea what time we went to bed.

Recovering.... AGAIN
Awesome views from a lookout point
After a fantastic night’s sleep, Chris and I woke up massively hung-over at 1pm and woke Justine as she was supposed to be going to a hotel with a friend. She eventually got up at 2pm and left at 4 a few hours later than planned and we spent a relaxing day chilling out watching films.

End of the year
Sunset in Frankton
The last day in 2011. Been a fantastic year, been to and seen a load of amazing places and collected some unforgettable memories. We didn’t do a lot today. Justine had plans with a few of her friends and as New Year’s isn’t exactly that special to us; just another day, we stayed in and had a few drinks together as we don’t spend enough time together as it is!

Happy New Year!
Justine enjoying the sunshine
Happy New Year!! With Christmas and New Year out of the way, we are now on a search for a new van! So the first thing we did was to get a lift into town and take back and replace the broken portable internet stick we brought yesterday with another one twice the price that also didn’t work. So after about 5 hours of Chris playing with it, he fixed it, this time himself. We then spent the evening searching for cars and vans, loads available but most of them pretty rubbish.
written by  chrischarly on January 1, 2012 from Frankton, New Zealand

Looking for wheels
Had a look at quite a few vans and cars today, all of them over-priced for what they are and many things wrong with them which Chris could tell by having a look. Busy day but I suppose it is just our first day of looking for vehicles. Just hoped it would be as easy as it was in Oz.
written by  chrischarly on January 2, 2012 from Frankton, New Zealand

Still no wheels...
It is so hard to go and look at vehicles when we ourselves don’t have any wheels! But we still continued the search and saw a few more today, none we particularly fell in love with though.
written by  chrischarly on January 3, 2012 from Frankton, New Zealand

Final 3
Queenstown, New Zealand
Steve
Third day of frantically searching for cars. Saw heaps more today and Aston gave us a lift into town to have a look at some parked up around there. We did find the most perfect people carrier though and it was in mint condition for a bargain price. We took it for a test drive and certain we wanted it, started negotiating with the owner. However, a lady was driving over 2 hours to look at it, so he said he would give her first refusal, which he did and she brought it. We were so gutted! Later in the evening though we had a look at another couple of possibilities so we had narrowed it down to the final 3. None of them perfect, but and all would need a bit of work. In the evening we went out with a few of Justine’s friends to a nice restaurant in town and ate some awesome food and went to a few bars afterwards. Great night, but will suffer for it tomorrow…
written by  chrischarly on January 4, 2012 from Queenstown, New Zealand

Our new home!..
Queenstown, New Zealand
Our new car! Name=Lucy
Finally we have brought a new vehicle! It’s a Toyota Estima Lucida and we are so happy we now have wheels! There’s a couple of things wrong with it that need fixing, so a few pennies need to be spent to buy at least 2 new tyres, get the wheels aligned, check out the battery, fully convert it so we can sleep inside and a few other things. But at least we’re a bit closer! We decided on this one as it would have the most space and probably the cheapest to do up in the long run as it only cost $2500, which we thought was pretty good. Unfortunately the 4x4 we fell in love with failed it’s WOF (M.O.T) by a lot so the Estima it is.
written by  chrischarly on January 5, 2012 from Queenstown, New Zealand

Almost ready to leave
Gravel?
Spent the day clearing out and buying stuff for the van as it needs everything. Also got the tyres changed, the battery terminals fixed so it now re-charges and managed to come across an abandoned Toyota just like ours so ‘acquired’ the stays off the back, so the boot remains open. Another busy day and got a lot done, almost ready to leave in it!

First stop= Paradise
Paradise, New Zealand
The blue lake
We finally left Queenstown today in our van after buying yet more things. Only problem is that we haven’t managed to make a bed yet, so we will be sleeping on the floor for the next couple of nights until we come back to Queenstown and Justine’s neighbour said he would make one for us, so we can store everything underneath.
Beautiful!
Road we're about to drive on
Chris admiring the views
Our first stop was to Paradise an aptly named little settlement 20km North of Glenorchy. It was a gorgeous place down a rough road and we found a place where we could ‘Freedom Camp’ for the night right by the lake with amazing views, yet too many sandflies.
Our first adventure in our new car
Camped up
written by  chrischarly on January 7, 2012 from Paradise, New Zealand

Gorgeous NZ
Glenorchy, New Zealand
Chris fishing in Diamond Lake
Admiring Paradise
A place called Paradise, honest!
Beautiful!
Filling up our water bottle
Diamond Lake
Just gorgeous!
We slept pretty well last night especially considering we still need to buy a proper mattress for it and Chris was already out fishing first thing in the Crystal clear ‘Diamond Lake’. He was pretty disappointed that he didn’t catch anything though as he could see all the trout swimming straight past his line, but not biting, but maybe that’s because they saw him as well. We then went for a drive to the end of the road about an hour away and went for a walk down to the Dart River which is freezing, before driving back and walking some of the way round the lake we are staying at.
written by  chrischarly on January 8, 2012 from Glenorchy, New Zealand

Back to Queenstown
Glenorchy, New Zealand
Paragliders
Chris went for an early-morning fish whilst I still slept feeling optimistic about a fish breakfast. Unfortunately by the time I got up and walked down to him, he himself was walking back without anything but his rod. We then packed up and drove back to Glenorchy so we could get phone signal to call Ed, Justine’s neighbour who said he could fit a bed in the back of our Estima so we could store our boxes underneath. He just needs to have a look at it first, so we drove back to Queenstown. Once there, he said he could do it tomorrow, which is perfect so we went to buy some wood and then drove to Kingston to meet some of Justine’s friends who were paragliding and chilled there for a couple of hours before making our way back for the night.
written by  chrischarly on January 9, 2012 from Glenorchy, New Zealand

Finally our carvans kitted out!!
Mossburn, New Zealand
The back packed
The back of a car
After spending our last night on the floor of our ‘carvan’ we woke up at 7:30am to get ready for Ed to start fitting out the back with bed and storage. As expected he did an amazing job and much quicker and better than we could have done ourselves, well worth the money!
Storage space
Storage
Our new bed!
After it was done, Chris and Aston headed to Warehouse to buy a foam mattress, which Chris then had to cut down to size. When complete, we headed out on our adventures to pastures south of Queenstown. We headed to Mavora Lake which was in fact two lakes connected by a River. It was down quite a long gravel road, but after taking it carefully we finally arrived and it was worth it. The lake and scenery were, as most of NZ, amazing. Chris was excited seeing trout in the lake, so after finding a nice spot on the quieter southern lake Chris broke out the rod and went for a fish. Unsuccessful, we ended up with a yummy veggie pasta washed down with some white wine. We retired to our uber comfortable bed and watched Lord of the Rings 2, as some of it was filmed in this area.
written by  chrischarly on January 10, 2012 from Mossburn, New Zealand

Clever trout
Mossburn, New Zealand
A load of clouds :(
Chris got up about 8am and went straight down to the lake in search for the wild trout. He tried all of his methods, and fished most of the day, but other than one bite, we were fishless once again. We went for a short drive around the whole campsite ending up at a nice spot on the River, where Chris fished for a while, again unsuccessful – either the trout are clever or Chris is rubbish! We ended up returning to our previous night’s spot and had another yummy dinner before bed.
written by  chrischarly on January 11, 2012 from Mossburn, New Zealand

New sport = "ing"
Mossburn, New Zealand
Chris fishing
Day 3 of fishing and no fish, Chris has seen them, but they are just taunting him. We moved to the nice spot on the River and Chris continued his quest. The weather turned today, so fishing was broken, by sitting in the car. We met a local guy who gave Chris some advice on fishing and also gave him a lure that is supposedly good here. He also said the best time was 5am, so looks like an early morning for the fishless fisherman. We have now decided from here on, to call Chris’s new sport of choice “ing”, very much like fishing but without the fish!
written by  chrischarly on January 12, 2012 from Mossburn, New Zealand

Satan's spawn...
Te Anau, New Zealand
Satan's spawn
Woke to lots of rain, so the 5am fishing expedition was cancelled. We packed up and headed out to Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound and a refreshing break from Satan's spawn; the vicious sand-fly... We went to the visitor info, before finding a campsite and a nice hot shower. They are always better after three days without one! We then took a stroll into town had a yummy lunch, bought some raincoats (very much needed here) and then went to a little cinema and watched a film called Shadowland, which was made by a helicopter pilot and is about the amazing scenery and nature of the Fiordland area. Rest of the day spent chilling away from the rain and writing this……
Proving my jacket works
Chris' jacket works
written by  chrischarly on January 13, 2012 from Te Anau, New Zealand

Milford Sound, seals and flippin' dolphins!
Milford Sound, New Zealand
Milford Sound
Nice view...not
This morning despite the weather took the amazing scenic drive to Milford Sound. It is just a shame that after such fantastic weather over Christmas; the day we decide to go here it pours down. But determined we would enjoy it whatever the weather we went anyway armed with our new raincoats.
About to go on the Milford Sound cruise
Captain
The write-ups about the journey there itself weren’t exaggerated. It was simply gorgeous and a positive note regarding the rain there were many waterfalls to be seen along the way.
Drenched
Waterfalls
Once at Milford we booked tickets to go on the cruise and chose to splash out a bit and go for a 3-hour cruise for $115pp including a BBQ lunch and a trip to the underwater Observatory as this seemed like the best deal so we could get the most out of our day.
The Underwater Observatory
A fish
Underwater Observatory
Eggs
Unfortunately the day didn’t brighten up at all so we never got the ‘post-card photos’ we dreamed of but still a memorable experience. The highlights definitely involving spotting seals lazing on the rocks, but even more impressive, dusky dolphins swimming alongside our boat and flipping out the water!
Jumping dusky dolphins!
Dusky dolphins! Awesome!
Dolphins by our boat
Seals on the rocks
So not all was lost and luckily the boat had seating inside so inbetween bouts of freezing winds and rain to take obligatory photographs we could go back in the warmth.
Snow
After again a gorgeous drive this time away from Milford we escaped to Hollyford, Gunns camp to sit and dry off in front of a nice warm fire.
written by  chrischarly on January 14, 2012 from Milford Sound, New Zealand

A day of snuggling up next to a fire
Hollyford, New Zealand
Manager has a sense of humour
Way too cold for me to face the outdoors today. It was even snowing on the mountains outside our camp thus a plan for me to join Chris on another “ing” expedition failed and after just 5 minutes outside I swiftly turned back around and huddled up next to the fire for the day whilst Chris tried (and failed) once again with catching fish for dinner.
Nice fire
I was easily kept entertained though as a 3yr old boy happily destroyed a 1000 piece puzzle almost completed by a Belguim lady whilst she popped out for a few minutes. Completely gobsmacked the boy’s family and myself spent over 5 hours reconstructing it for the devastated lady.
Camp
In the evening at around 10pm when it finally became dark Chris and I went for a lovely walk up the tiny country road to have a look at some glow Worms hidden in the bushes under a small Cliff face. No photos possible unfortunately so a memory remembered in our heads. They are so pretty though; look just like loads of stars.
Snowy mountain
Snowy mountains
written by  chrischarly on January 15, 2012 from Hollyford, New Zealand

Return to Milford
Milford Sound, New Zealand
River
Finally a sunny day to take some photos!
Reluctantly left the safety and warmth of Hollyford and went to visit an old swing bridge over-looking a pretty River before going back to Milford due to the sun finally deciding to make an appearance!
A wall of snow
Waterfalls coming off the mountains
Heaps of snow
Snow tunnel
A Kea parrot
A kea doing what it's famous for- destroying cars
Thick snow
So we had the chance to see Milford with clear skies and snow on the tops of the mountains.
Milford Sound
To see it properly we would’ve had to go back out on a cruise but that would’ve been a bit pointless so we took a nice walk along the Shoreline and took a million photos on the way back heading south to Monowai lake and camped up next to nice couple, Ron, and Mel and their 1 yr old Max.
Snowy mountains
A load of snow
The road by our camp to see glow-worms
Amazing views
Nice view of snowy mountains
Snow and lots of it
Chris went fishing, yes fishing, not “ing”, and came back with a nice big trout for dinner, cooked it up with potatoes and salad, EXTRA yummy. Stayed up drinking and chatting to Ron and Mellissa until midnight.
Chris and his 1st NZ trout
Chris soooo happy!
Our dinner
Finally some fish!
Chris and Mel
Trout cooking
written by  chrischarly on January 16, 2012 from Milford Sound, New Zealand

Enjoying Lake Monowai
Lake Monowai, New Zealand
Chris gong for a refreshing dip
Fishing
Ron and our brekkie
Chris got up and went fishing at 06.30am and his luck had obviously run out as he came back without anything but a sad face. So cereal it was for brekkie before going for a nice long walk broken up with a little more unsuccessful fishing. Went then made our way back to camp and made a big fire again and Chris cooked a Butter Chicken curry to share with Ron and Mellissa. Then, feeling optimistic Chris and Ron went fishing and luckily Ron was successful twice, so we have nice trout to look forward to tomorrow morning.
written by  chrischarly on January 17, 2012 from Lake Monowai, New Zealand

Crazy night with a crazy local
Colac Bay, New Zealand
The beach
Chris collecting mussels
Chris and Ricky
Got up and ate trout and eggs for breakfast, left our friends and headed south for the coast. Found a nice spot by the sea at Colac Bay, and Chris went to collect mussels for dinner, then we went to the pub, got drinking with locals and it all went to shit. Ended up sleeping in someone’s driveway. Got drunk, free night, crazy local. Oh yeah and the mussels were a disaster!
written by  chrischarly on January 18, 2012 from Colac Bay, New Zealand

Yellow-eyed penguins
Bluff, New Zealand
The sign in Bluff
Woke up early and headed from our unknown driveway down to the sea for breakfast. After brekkie we headed towards Invercargill which was a medium city, so we passed through after refuelling.
Curio Bay
We did head down to Bluff, famous for its Oysters, but unfortunately they are not in season, Chris was most disappointed. At Bluff we did visit a cool AA marker showing distances to various places around the world, showing us we were over 18,000km from London.
What the wind did to trees
After leaving Bluff, we continued east along the coast towards Curio Bay, unfortunately the closer we got the worst the weather was; hence we skipped a 40 min walk to Slope Point, the most southerly point on the South Island.
The sea
When we arrived at Curio it was blowing a gale and raining on and off. We checked into a cheap campsite and found the most sheltered spot we could.
Yellow-eyed penguin
Then we headed down to the Petrified Forest which is basically a load of rocks with trees that were turned to stone by volcanic ash millions of years ago.
Penguin trying to get out of river
This was also the spot the Yellow eyed penguins exit the water to feed their chicks, we waited for ages in the cold, windy weather but it was well worth it as we saw 6, some performing hilarious exits from the water and up the rocks.
Yellow-eyed Penguin
After this we retreated to the car, made pasta in the extremely small and busy camp kitchen and hit the hay!
written by  chrischarly on January 19, 2012 from Bluff, New Zealand

McLean falls
Curio Bay, New Zealand
McLean Falls
Waterfall
We left windy Curio Bay and headed further along the Catlins coast. We made a nice stop and walk at Mcleans falls and then to Niagara Falls before finally finding a really nice campsite for $6.
Read this...
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls!
After a few hours of laundry, we hung our nice clean clothes up just in time for the rain to give them an extra rinse. It wasn’t too bad so we took a track down to the beach, more of a River inlet, and had a long walk in the very strong wind and occasional rain. We were hoping for some seal or sea lion spotting, but all we managed to do was get attacked by two very protective Oyster catcher birds.
A dead crab
A log
Oyster catcher
Rainbow
We soon realised they had chicks and we were way too close, hence a scene from a Hitchcock classic. We escaped without injury, but just a little scared of these 10 inch tall man eaters. We went back, had a yummy dinner, and got chatting to a nice couple from Switzerland, Phillipp and Silja, before retiring to the warmth of our cosy car.
written by  chrischarly on January 20, 2012 from Curio Bay, New Zealand

Sealions, Seals and Penguins
Nugget Point, New Zealand
Female sealion
2 Female sealions
Woke up at our nice campsite, packed up and headed off. We met our new friends at the next town, Owaka, and had a coffee before driving to Surat Bay in search of sea lions.
Sealion
We headed off along a track before reaching the beach, a short way along the beach the tide was very high and we took to high ground on the edge of the sand dunes. Well Chris, Phillipp and Silja did, I managed a small mound of sand and a big wave came in and soaked me to knee level. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t wearing trainers! I squelched on until we found our first sea lion, which was hard to spot as half buried in sand.
We walked further, for about 2 ½ hours, and we managed to see 6 in total including 1 massive male swimming in the sea.
Just cannot believe just how huge they are.
Surat Bay
After returning to the car we took a drive to Kaka Point and our next campsite, checked in, had some lunch then went for a drive to Nugget Point to see the lighthouse and amazing views and then more yellow eyed Penguins.
Birds
Us
View from the lighthouse
The lighthouse
Along the walk we saw Fur seals and Elephant seals and more sea lions and at the Penguin hide we saw 6 Penguins.
Yellow-eyed Penguins
Seals
Yellow-eyed Penguin
All in all a very good wildlife day! We then headed to the pub for a few beers and to watch Chris beat all the locals at pool………..
written by  chrischarly on January 21, 2012 from Nugget Point, New Zealand

Ice hockey
Dunedin, New Zealand
Too expensive, what a rip-off!
Such rubbish weather again today. Definitely does not feel like Summer at all. We left Kaka Point this morning and went to Dunedin. We found out that Aston was playing his final game of Ice Hockey in an international tournament, so we decided we would go see him, neither of us having seen Ice Hockey before. Before that we drove out from Dunedin to the Otago Penninsula to see the Albatross, however the weather was so bad we couldn’t justify the $40 pp charge, so drove back and found a campsite near to the Ice Hockey venue.
Before the game
New Zealand team
The game
Ice hockey game
The end of the game
We made it to the Ice Hockey and met up with Tony, Astons father, and continued to ask lots of questions about the game, before watching NZ U21’s, with Aston in goal, beat Turkey 16-1. It was great fun and good to see Aston play. It was late when it finished so we grabbed a pizza and headed back to camp.
written by  chrischarly on January 22, 2012 from Dunedin, New Zealand

Moeraki Boulders
Kakanui, New Zealand
Chris admiring the view of 'Shag Point'
Woke up to slightly better weather, so we did a few chores around Dunedin before heading North. We called Ron and Mel, friends we had met camping in Fiordland, and arranged to go and stay with them on Tuesday. They also told us a good donation campsite to stop at enroute. We made our way to a nice stop on the coast for lunch, and then onwards to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are boulders that started off as small pebbles or shells I think millions of years ago.
Driftwood
I’m sure there is much so more to it than that though, so sorry for the rubbish explanation.
A cracked-open boulder
They were nice to see, but the tide was a little high and the sky a pretty grey, so not perfect.
We then moved on to a nice campsite on a Cliff overlooking the beach and had a yummy dinner before retiring to a really nice starry night.
written by  chrischarly on January 23, 2012 from Kakanui, New Zealand

Seeing Ron, Mel and Max again
Kurow, New Zealand
After breakfast we drove to Oamaru and then took the highway up to a tiny village, Kurow to meet up again with Ron, Mel and Max after spending time with them last week. Kurow is right in the heart of the south Island deep in the countryside and it is simply beautiful. We were really happy to see them all again and had a great day catching up and spent the evening in the hot tub laughing at Chris and Ron’s antics after a few too many martinis.
written by  chrischarly on January 24, 2012 from Kurow, New Zealand

To Oamaru
Oamaru, New Zealand
Ron and Max
We took a drive to Oamaru today which is Ron and Melissa’s closest town to get their shopping a good hour and a bit away. Chris and I took a nice walk around the town whilst they went about their jobs for the day. We first went to the visitor centre where we watched a video on the history of the town and early settlement there before walking round having a look and the old buildings for ourselves and the wide streets. Then after a few hours we headed back to Kurow and chilled for the evening whilst Chris and Ron went hunting and fishing.
written by  chrischarly on January 25, 2012 from Oamaru, New Zealand

An awesome but knackering walk
Kurow, New Zealand
Mel and me far behind
The walk we went on
Today we all went on a walk to the Benmore Peninsula Track. It took about an 1 ½ hours and to say it was easy would be a lie!
Amazing view after our hard walk
Ron and Max
Nice views
View on our walk
Nevertheless it was a fantastic walk with amazing views but it is safe to say we were exhausted afterwards!
Tired after our walk
But the hot tub was a nice reward after dinner to soak the tired muscles! But it was so freezing outside that is was so difficult to get out, so I wasn’t surprised to see snow-covered mountains the next morning.
written by  chrischarly on January 26, 2012 from Kurow, New Zealand

Another day in Kurow
Kurow, New Zealand
Ron and Max
After planning to leave Ron and Mel’s today, we finally succumbed and stayed with the promise of Chris’ cooking and another day for me to play with little Max, something pretty difficult to resist!
written by  chrischarly on January 27, 2012 from Kurow, New Zealand

Last time in Queenstown, for real this time
Wanaka, New Zealand
Viewpoint
The back country
We finally left Ron and Mel’s House today to continue exploring the south Island. It was hard to leave as we have had such an amazing time here! So after sad goodbyes we headed back to Queenstown and this time for the final time to pick up and drop off a couple of things at Justine’s before driving up to Wanaka to camp up.
Ignoring the sign
Mountains
Quite a lot of driving today but still nothing compared to our trips in Australia and we stayed in the same campsite as before when here, Kidds Bush as it was the best option. So after finding a nice spot Chris and I went for a long walk broken up by some unsuccessful fishing before calling it a night at 10pm.
written by  chrischarly on January 28, 2012 from Wanaka, New Zealand

Fiordland Crested Penguins!
Jackson's Bay, New Zealand
Nice scenery
The lovely beach
Woke up with the sun blasting through our windows so we were lucky to be blessed with a great day to hit the west coast. So after leaving Wanaka we drove to Haast and then south a little to Jackson’s Bay where we went to Cray Pot Café which is a cross between a rail carriage and a barge which is famous for its fish and chips.
Fiordland Crested Penguins
Chris enjoying his Fish 'n' Chips
So of course we had to give that a try before going for a lovely walk in a coastal Forest. This area used to be home to many Fiordland Crested Penguins but according to the visior centre in Hasst they know longer call this place home.
Cray Pot Cafe
But they were fortunately wrong as one took Chris and I completely by Surprise by running out straight in front of us just in time for a quick picture before it jumped straight back into its nest. Amazing. We were so close to it and as mentioned before, the main visitor centre was clueless about their presence here! So we were of course very happy and after our walk started to make our way back to Hasst to find somewhere to camp for the night as hidden as possible from sandflies and where Chris could go fishing.
written by  chrischarly on January 29, 2012 from Jackson's Bay, New Zealand

Monro Beach and a vicious eel
Haast, New Zealand
Coastline
Beach
After leaving the campsite we headed to Monro Beach to try and see more penguins. After a nice walk to the beach, we sat back and waited in the lovely sunshine. Unfortunately no penguins appeared but it was a nice walk and we did get the chance to see an Albatross.
A big seagull
The sea
After this we had a lovely drive down the coast road before camping in Lake Paringa. Chris went for an ing, then he went for a swim. After taking an age for him to get in the cold water he swam out a way then back, before feeling something Brush against his toes, thinking it was a submerged branch he turned to see a massive eel chasing him, and probably trying to eat his inviting toes. To say he exited the water quickly is an understatement!
written by  chrischarly on January 30, 2012 from Haast, New Zealand

Fox Glacier...
Fox Glacier, New Zealand
Nice view
We drove to Fox Glacier in the rain and gloom, and went for a coffee and to get some info, hoping the weather would clear. It didn’t and we found that the access to the Glacier was limited due to a car size rock falling onto the main access road. We decided to go for a walk on the other access road to try and see the bottom of the Glacier.
River
Chris hugging a cardboard man
We got to the point where the road was closed and a taxi (who was allowed to go on) gave us a lift to the Glacier terminus (face).
River at the bottom of the glacier
Glacier
Stood near Fox Glacier
Fox Glacier
Me looking at Fox Glacier
We had a nice walk and then he gave us lift back to our car, and didn’t ask for any money, strange! We drove to Franz Josef and checked into a paid campsite hoping the weather would clear and we could go on a guided walk the next day. The camp didn’t have a kitchen but did have a yummy Indian next door.
written by  chrischarly on January 31, 2012 from Fox Glacier, New Zealand

Franz Josef Glacier!!
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
Today was certainly a memorable day for 2 reasons. 1 Franz Josef Glacier and 2 for mosquitoes…
We woke up this morning in our little campsite to see the sun trying its hardest to break through the clouds, so seeing this as a perfect opportunity to climb a glacier we drove straight to the booking
The glacier
office in Franz Josef to see if they could squeeze us in on a tour today. Unfortunately the 12pm slots were all
Chris getting emotional
taken so the 3pm time looked the best option, although we wouldn’t return until at least 8pm. But the lady behind the counter noticed that there were 2 places left on the 10:30am tour and being 10:15am already
The glacier before we went on it
we thought we would just book it and go straight away, less chance of backing out that way. So Chris ran off to find some parking
Walking through thin walls of ice
whilst I ran to the supermarket to grab us some quick breakfast/lunch to wolf down before collecting all of our gear and getting on the bus.
We chose to go on the ½ day tour which took about 5 ½ hours of walking both to the glacier and on it, with 2 hours on the ice itself. It was an
Blue ice
absolutely fantastic experience but one of the most tiring things I have ever done in my life but so worth it! I could write for ages about it, but just look at the photos and you will be able
Hot and tired
to see just how beautiful it was. When we got back it was about 4:30pm and as mentioned before we were knackered and went for a well-deserved drink
In a ice cave
with a friendly couple we went on the tour with before going and sitting in some hot pools to soothe our aching muscles.
Steep climb
Then thinking an early night was in order we drove to a DOC campsite and found a lovely spot underneath some trees at the far end of the site, made some dinner, chilled out for a while, jumped into bed,
Climbing down and down
watched a film and heard some buzzing… The west coast of New Zealand is mostly famous for 2 things, 1, its outstanding beauty and 2, sandflies.
Chris looking gorgeous
And although sandflies are a right pain and there are literally swarms of them, they are easily killed as they are just so stupid.
Miles and miles of pure ice
Mosquitoes however are far more difficult to control and I think we undermine them as the clever creatures they are.
Loads of ice
So anyway, we thought that the sand-flies would be the things that would break us here, but no, it was in fact the mozzies, that are in fact way worse than in the whole of Africa and SE Asia,
Franz Josef Glacier
which we never would’ve thought possible.
Climbing down
After over 2 hours with the light on and head torches we must’ve squatted over 100 of the buggers with no idea whatsoever where they were coming from.
The fantastic blue ice
I know it sounds unbelievable, but it isn’t.
We were exhausted and completely fed up, but by 1am we gave up, thinking we had killed the worst of them, wrapped up in covers,
Walking through a cave in the ice
sweated so much due to the humidity but determined to ignore the buzzing and get some sleep.
After over an hour of trying and failing to get some sleep,
Climbing up the glacier
Chris turned back on the lights to check just how many there were and we were shocked to see our beige carpeted ceiling the colour black with hundreds and hundreds of them just sitting waiting to attack.
It was now 2:30am and we just had enough and outside our windows we could see hundreds more just waiting to get in, so the only option left was to get dressed and get the hell out of this place and find the next open petrol station to buy some insect spray.
So we decided to drive north and drove and drove and drove through thick fog on windy roads for 3 hours before we got into Greymouth and finally found a petrol station at just gone 5:30am,
Didn't know ice could be this blue
bought some bug spray and then tried to work out somewhere we could finally sleep. Of course everywhere was closed so we drove in circles for almost another
Getting the ice ready for us to walk on
hour until we found a back street away from houses that we prayed we wouldn’t get a fine for parking up, sprayed the whole van, stood outside shivering until the smell disappeared and finally went to sleep!
written by  chrischarly on February 1, 2012 from Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Relaxing day
Greymouth, New Zealand
Thick fog
At about 10:30am we reluctantly woke up sleeping a lot longer than intended and the only thing we could face doing was to drive and find a campsite with a TV room or something similar where we could just sit and relax on sofas all day. Luckily being in a town we easily found this, and that was precisely what we did all day, doing nothing but watching day time telly, a bit of laundry and cleaning up the dead mosquito carcasses from all over the van. Perfect day and just what we needed!
written by  chrischarly on February 2, 2012 from Greymouth, New Zealand

Rocks that look like pancakes
Punakaiki, New Zealand
We had a few things to do in Greymouth in the morning and early afternoon, and then headed up the coast and took a nice walk to see a seal colony.
How far we are from everywhere
A seal
Pancake rocks
After this we headed a bit further to Pancake rocks, which are a strange layered rock formation.
Coastline
We then headed inland to a DoC campsite by the Buller River, which is supposed to be good for fishing.
A weka
After getting to the campsite Chris went for a walk to find an access point but couldn’t, so no fishing, or “ing”, was done. We just chilled and had another yummy Chris creation for dinner, fought off the sandflies for as long as we could take it then retired to bed.
written by  chrischarly on February 3, 2012 from Punakaiki, New Zealand

In the back country
Hanmer Springs, New Zealand
High up
River by our camp
Once again, sick of the sandflies we headed off to cross the Southern Alps at the Lewis Pass, which was a really nice drive. We ended up in Hanmer Springs which was ultra-busy so after a refuel and a visit to the Doc Office we chose to take an adventurous route through Molesworth Station – the biggest farm in NZ. The road was rough, so slow going, but the views were great and we got to Accommodation House by mid-afternoon. This was another Doc campsite at an old cottage, used by trekkers. The site was really nice and near a River, so of course Chris went off “ing”, returning unsuccessful.
Chris cooking
Gorgeous countryside
Wild flowers
Walking through the Cobb Valley
After dinner we took a nice loop walk around the campsite to take in the amazing views and then Chris went for another “ing”, nearly fishing, as he did get a bite, but still no fish, very frustrating.
written by  chrischarly on February 4, 2012 from Hanmer Springs, New Zealand

Molesworth Station
Molesworth, New Zealand
Scary-looking cow
Waterfall
We headed off up the gravel road across the Molesworth Station, taking in the bumps and amazing views before coming to the further DoC campsite. It was quite early so we stopped for lunch then headed on, after being advised of a free camp just outside of the station.
Amazing view
It was a long, bumpy and slow drive but finally we found a really nice free campsite with very few sandflies. This was paradise! Chris went off for an “ing” and came back with a big smile on his face after fishing, yes he actually caught one. It wasn’t the biggest, but cooked up with some pasta in a carbonara style it was simply delicious.
Chris and his catch
Well done Chris, keep it up!
Some other campers were off to try and catch eels, so Chris joined them and returned well after dark, as he didn’t have his torch and had to wait for them.
written by  chrischarly on February 5, 2012 from Molesworth, New Zealand

A load of seals
Kaikoura, New Zealand
Seal on the rocks
Seal pup feeding
We left our campsite this morning and headed south for a while to Kaikoura as we had read that you could go on a whale watching tour which you could see, well whales obviously, as well as dolphins and other animals as well. On the way we stopped briefly at a lookout point from where we saw many seals playing really close up this time which was fascinating to stand and watch for a while.
Seals playing on the rocks
Seals
A seal
Seal swimming
Seals on the rocks
We then drove a little further and stopped at a little shack called ‘Nin’s Bin’ which is famous for it’s crayfish/lobster, but at ranging at $45-$96 for just one crayfish tail that would never in a lifetime fill us up we ran away from the tourist trap and continued to Kaikoura.
Chris' tiny trout
As today was in fact a public holiday, but the reason for this we have no idea, the town was crazily busy jam-packed with other tourists, such as ourselves though I suppose we made a quick drive around and called into the booking office for the tours, but at $145pp and all we would be likely to see were sperm whales, and of course that is not guaranteed either we solemnly turned back around, did a little shopping and went back to the campsite we stayed at last night as it was so lovely, and of course free, and even more importantly, on the way back North. Oh yeah, and Chris successfully managed to catch another trout, albeit a small one!
written by  chrischarly on February 6, 2012 from Kaikoura, New Zealand

A nice shower...
Blenheim, New Zealand
Pigs getting friendly
Got up and left the campsite and headed straight for a much-needed shower at a campsite down the road in Seddon which they kindly let us use for $3pp. Then we headed North for a while into Blenheim and then headed west and stayed camped up for the afternoon and night especially enjoying Chris’ delicious trout he caught last night.
written by  chrischarly on February 7, 2012 from Blenheim, New Zealand

Peninsula Walk
Saint Arnaud, New Zealand
A very rare tree
The view from our walk
We headed to St Arnaud today, camped out in a café and caught up on the blog. We had a delicious lunch then went to the lake for a walk, only to find Charly only had one trainer. We drove back 25kms to last night’s campsite, to luckily find it sitting on the grass.
View of the lake
Back on track we took a nice 1.5hour walk around the Peninsula of the lake spotting rare trees and wildlife, but unfortunately no Kiwis, even though this is a great place to spot them. We then went out of town to another free campsite and went for a nice walk to the River, did some fishing before returning back for dinner and bed.
written by  chrischarly on February 8, 2012 from Saint Arnaud, New Zealand

Thru the drive-thru
Motueka, New Zealand
Enjoying a nice ice cold pint
We headed North to Motueko stopping for a nice coffee enroute. The café owner told us that there was a cheap local campsite by the sea pool, however upon checking it we saw that it was only for self-contained vehicles. We had some breakfast there and then headed to the cheapest paid campsite in town at $20 per night, and it was really nice.
What NZ is famous for
We did all our washing before taking a nice stroll into town for a few beers. Chris had been told to go to the Sprig and Fern as they did all local beers. They did and Chris did his best to try as many as possible. Several pints later and a wee bit tipsy we staggered home via McDonalds (not our usual choice but nothing else was open), where we tried the door it appeared locked up so we assumed it was only drive thru. Chris thought it was hilarious to walk through and try and order at the drive thru, whilst I actually found a door that was open and saved him from his embarrassment.
written by  chrischarly on February 9, 2012 from Motueka, New Zealand

Cool caves and 2 fishies
Takaka, New Zealand
The weather was a little gloomy but we headed off towards Golden Bay regardless. As we climbed up a massive hill we met the clouds and it got very grim so we decided to pull in and have a coffee at a caves attraction. It actually looked a pretty nice cave trip so we decided to give it a go.
Chris excited
Ancient marble
Climbing down and down...
About to go in the cave
Chris getting friendly with the cave
Stalactites and Stalagmites
Moa remains (bird that's now extinct)
Scary ladder
Kiwi remains
Moa remains
It was pretty awesome and we found out that they filmed some of Lord of the Rings 2 here and also recently some of the Hobbitt. After leaving The Caves we decided to head to a free DoC site in the Cobb Valley.
So high up in the clouds!
We thought it would be a tough drive and we weren’t wrong, lot of twists and turns and rough gravel with sheer drops off the side. We went very slowly and carefully especially as we were in the clouds again.
Happy Chris!!!
We finally reached the Cobb Reservoir a decided to give it a fish before setting up camp. We found a nice spot at the end of the water by the River entrance. We tried a few different areas with no luck then we caught 1 and then a second. Officially Chris’s best fishing day in NZ. We headed to the camping area just in time to see two blokes stripping off and jumping in the River for a wash.
Dinner time
A nice big fire to keep the bugs away
Chris setup the van and collected some firewood whilst I watched the two naked men scrubbing their muscly bodies. Chris made a nice fire and this helped deter the sandflies. It was a clear night and it got pretty cold but I had Chris as my personal hot water bottle to snuggle up to all night.
written by  chrischarly on February 10, 2012 from Takaka, New Zealand

Walk through The Cobb Valley
Cobb Valley, New Zealand
The river
Walking along the Cobb Valley
We woke to a partially cloudy morning, but along the valley seemed not too bad, so after a yummy trout brekkie we decided to head off to walk the valley, well at least some of the way.
Fast-flowing water
A little hut
It was really pretty and we made a pretty good pace, all in all walking around 12 kms in about 4.5 hours.
Chris tried for more fish but was not so successful. Instead we cooked some potatoes on the fire and had them with baked beans and franks. Then we went to bed and watched Little Rascals which is a terrible film, unless you are 5.
written by  chrischarly on February 11, 2012 from Cobb Valley, New Zealand

A stunningly beautiful beach and a cabaret...
Wharariki Beach, New Zealand
Wish we could've had a swim
A little info...
We went to Takaka and checked out the DoC info to find out the best stuff to do before going to ‘Pupu springs’, the largest in Australasia and one of the clearest in the world.
Beautifully clear water
So pretty
Chris on the walkway
The water was amazingly clear and if only you were allowed to swim in it, but in fact you can’t even touch it. We then went to the Mussel Inn for a yummy lunch and beer before going to the most amazing beach up at the very North of the Island where Chris entertained us both by rolling down sandunes.
Chris collapsed at the bottom
He fell over
Hidden cave
First look at the beach
We walked about half way up the beach and we both ran straight for the water.
Almost low tide
High rocks
Walking along the beach
Beautiful
A seal pup
Such an awesome beach
The water was cold but bearable and we splashed around for nearly an hour before spotting some big jellyfish which scared us off. We continued walking along the rest of the beach seeing a baby seal pup and some amazing views before looping back another route to the car.
The caberet
Circus performers
Dunno his name
Our friend, Neil
She is so tall it's intimidating
Swallowing a whole balloon!
We then raced back to the Mussel Inn to watch a cabaret; well I watched it, whilst Chris, as usual, found a couple of drinking buddies to drink the night away. And by the way, the cabaret/circus performers were awesome and Chris truly missed out especially when I recollected that there were in fact some very ‘raunchy’ acts on stage.
written by  chrischarly on February 12, 2012 from Wharariki Beach, New Zealand

The Labyrinth
Takaka, New Zealand
A hobbit-sized hole
Chris trying to squeeze through
Having a rest
After waking up and leaving the pub car-park that we camped in for the night we went for a walk in Takaka called ‘The Labyrinth’ with amazing rock formations that you walk around and around in getting lost a couple of times and with some tight squeezes to fit through. Then, with Chris feeling sorry for himself we headed back to our previous camp in Motueka, to chill, shower and then in the evening went for a yummy curry before early to bed to continue to sleep off any remaining alcohol.
written by  chrischarly on February 13, 2012 from Takaka, New Zealand

Valentine's
Nelson, New Zealand
Chris rescuing the cat
We left Motueka to head for Nelson after Chris helped to rescue a cat stuck up a tree, as we were advised of a cheap camp nearby. We diverted through Richmond and had a lovely lunch, me – sushi, Chris – Chicken Laksa. We also bought supplies for a nice Valentine’s dinner. We found the camp, and although ok, the sites were pretty rubbish and the guy was pretty annoying. We finally found a nice spot after negotiating the fact that the one selected for us was pants and after chilling for a while Chris cooked up some amazing fillet steak (mine blue of course), with smashed cannelloni beans cooked in garlic and rosemary, flat mushrooms and a delicious salad. The sand-flies were pretty bad which of course they are most nights here in the south Island so we headed to bed early to escape them.
written by  chrischarly on February 14, 2012 from Nelson, New Zealand

Waterfalls
Pelorus Bridge, New Zealand
Where Chris went for a dip
After getting ready to go for a nice shower, we realised we had left our towels in Motueka, oops! So back we headed 40 mins each way to collect them. After this unplanned detour we went to Pelorus Bridge campsite, which was lovely,
and whilst more expensive than other DoC sites we have been to, it did have a great kitchen and hot showers. After setting up camp we went on a nice walk to see 2 waterfalls; challenging ourselves to get there in
½ the estimated time, which we surprised ourselves by succeeding over very rough terrain, up and down. He did beat me with his super-fast and long legs and I arrived to find him bathing in the small pool at the bottom of the falls, in his boxers! He exited freezing and quickly dressed so we could walk back to go rock hopping along the River, to try and fish. We then hungrily used the camp kitchen to cook up a nice healthy veggie curry.
written by  chrischarly on February 15, 2012 from Pelorus Bridge, New Zealand

Mussels
Havelock, New Zealand
Tucking in to some mussels
We went to Havelock for lunch, which is supposed to be the Green Lip mussel capital of NZ. Chris was excited so we had a nice lunch of fresh local mussels, even though we both agree that we prefer the smaller black mussels that we get at home, and here.
A green lipped mussel
For some reason the Kiwis like the big ones?! After lunch we headed into the Marlborough Sounds and as the sun was shining, and sky blue, we enjoyed the amazing views all the way. The road was probably the windiest we have been on and my mussels kept repeating on me, making me feel rather ill by the end of it.
Nice...
Mussel farming
Chris and his spotties
We chose to go to the furthest DoC camp, Waimaru, to try and get away from the crowds, and we weren’t disappointed. The camp was in a lovely bay and only a short walk from the water. As usual Chris got chatting to some other campers, an English guy Andy, from Doncaster, and his kiwi better half Tracey. Andy advised Chris on a fishing spot and method, so he trotted off rod in hand and a few hours came back with two tiny fish, but fish nonetheless. When he returned we went over to see Andy and Tracey, and Chris had a few of Andy’s homemade whiskeys whilst we chatted about our travels. We then returned and Chris made some yummy Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) with the little fish chucked in. We went to bed and opened the moon roof to see the amazing starlit sky. Another amazing paradise we have found in NZ.
written by  chrischarly on February 16, 2012 from Havelock, New Zealand

Lots of tasty seafood
Waimaru, New Zealand
Chris almost stranded on a rock
Another absolutely glorious day, which made the sounds look better than you can imagine. We packed up and went to Chris’s fishing beach which was all ours. Chris went off rock climbing and brought back a huge bag of mussels, before quickly grabbing his rod and heading off across the rocks again to try and catch some fish to go with our shellfish friends.
Gorgeous
I got on my new swimsuit and headed to the clear blue water to cool off. He returned after nearly getting cut off by the rising tide, with only half a spotty (small fish), the other half used as bait in search of a monster snapper or blue cod. We decided to try and take the coastal route back, 1) to avoid the steep climb up the hill, and 2) to see if we could find anymore fishing spots.
Lots and lots of jellyfish
We had to be quick as the water level was rising and making the rocks harder to cross. Although it was a tough scramble, having to avoid lots of jellyfish we made it safely around then walked the length of the bay before returning to camp.
Stupid jellyfish
Upon return we stopped in on Andy and Tracey, who had also been fishing but the other way, and had managed to get a small bag of mussels, 2 blue cod and a handful of spotties. They were planning to cook up some chowder and crumb the blue cod. Chris suggested we both cook something and share our fare together.
Rock climbing
We then returned back to the car and Chris tried his best to make something, with nothing. The result was an amazing Moroccan couscous salad with mussels and he also managed to make some damper bread with rosemary to complement the chowder. I don’t know how he does it! We had the chowder and bread to start, then blue cod with couscous for main. It was all delicious and Chris helped Andy knock bag a fair amount of his home made whiskey. All in all great day and night.
written by  chrischarly on February 17, 2012 from Waimaru, New Zealand

Such a gorgeous free campsite
Robin Hood Bay, New Zealand
Where we camped up for the night
We decided to leave our campsite this morning so went to find Andy and Tracey to say goodbye before heading out of the sounds and towards Picton.
Nice view of the beach
We got our bearings in town in preparation for catching the Ferry on Monday, and refuelled, re-gassed and went food shopping.
View from our campsite
We then headed south to check out a couple of DoC sites, the first White’s Bay was packed full of people soaking up
Sunset
the good weather and thus didn’t really appeal so we moved on along a very windy, steep, rough, gravel road to reach Robin Hood Bay. The bay looked amazing on our decent, and was free nice spot and Chris went sea “ing” before returning empty handed, blaming his lack of sea tackle. As usual, we had a yummy dinner then retired, looking forward to another sunny day tomorrow…
written by  chrischarly on February 18, 2012 from Robin Hood Bay, New Zealand

What a shitty day
Picton, New Zealand
A very pregnant cow
After such a gorgeous day yesterday we woke up with rain and lots of it. Hoping it would clear a bit we waited at the campsite sitting in the car but soon gave up and drove to Picton in search of a warm place to sit for a while supping on coffee. Then, after drinking way too much coffee (which we later regretted when trying to sleep later) we found a free place to camp up for the night just outside of Picton, not particularly great, but like I said, free, so we would be close to the Ferry for tomorrow.
written by  chrischarly on February 19, 2012 from Picton, New Zealand

And onto the North Island
Wellington, New Zealand
The Bluebridge ferry
Waving goodbye to Picton
Drove the 10kms to Picton before going to the harbour for a shower, and then a coffee followed by checking in to the Ferry bound for Wellington.
Bye bye south island
Leaving the south
It was a huge Ferry with lots of comfy seats to relax in for the 3 hour journey which we soon camped out in before waving goodbye to the south Island. Had a great time there but now excited to see what the North Island is like in comparison.
First sighting of the north island
Almost there...
As soon as we arrived and finally drove off the Ferry, we exited Wellington and drove to the nearest free camp site outside of town driving down a gorgeous windy road.
written by  chrischarly on February 20, 2012 from Wellington, New Zealand

And then the rain came down
Woodville, New Zealand
Red-sky-at-night-shepherds-delight...not
Free camp spot
Woke up and left our free camp, drank some coffee, did a bit of driving and found a place we could secretly freedom camp alongside a River. Enjoyed the brief amount of sunshine there was by Chris going fishing and by me soaking up as much vitamin D as I possibly could before the rain hit.
written by  chrischarly on February 21, 2012 from Woodville, New Zealand

Boring day, sorry...
Hastings, New Zealand
The river
Well it was predicted to rain today, and yes, rain it did. So we went and hung out in a café, and then another before going to find a paid camp just outside of Hastings which is the ‘driest’ place currently in NZ even though it is still raining here. So we just chilled, caught up with a few things e.g. washing and Chris went for a fish. Apologies- another boring day to both write and read about…
written by  chrischarly on February 22, 2012 from Hastings, New Zealand

A 660m wharf
Gisborne, New Zealand
The 660m wharf
The wharf
Driftwood
Today we headed up the east coast, stopping a few times for coffee before going to Gisbourne to try and find some cheap or free camps. We had been told there were loads of free places to camp on the east coast, but it was all lies. Same old same old, you can camp if you have a toilet on board, even in places with toilets, go figure! We ended up in Tolega Bay which had a nice long wharf to go down and then to a paid campsite for the night, hoping for better weather soon, anytime soon!
written by  chrischarly on February 23, 2012 from Gisborne, New Zealand

A wharf, a church and a big tree
Opotiki, New Zealand
The sea from the wharf
The old and falling-apart wharf
Weather was nice today so we had a nice explore up the east coast, stopping at some nice beaches and wharfs for walks.
An old wharf
We then went and checked out an old Mauori church, trying to fit a bit of culture into our trip. It was nice with lots of cool carvings.
Inside the church
Maouri church
We then scooted around the NO FREE CAMPS OR DOC SITES coastline till we got to a place near Opitiki that had a DoC camp, and a free one at that. Problem was the directions were really bad, and unsure if we were going the right way, we managed to somehow find it.
A massive tree
The huge tree
Oh yeah, and we saw an awesome huge tree with a 19m spread! It is very famous around here apparently and the Maouris used to use it for it's healing properties. It was a really interesting drive, down a little track, with a few stream crossings. When we finally got there, it was a cool little camp right next to a stream with lots of Boulders in it, hence the name “Boulders”. Chris went for an “ing” but after all the rain the River was running pretty rapid and not suitable for fishing – another excuse I’m sure. We had the place to ourselves until a nice French fella turned up and we got chatting and got some good info from him.
written by  chrischarly on February 24, 2012 from Opotiki, New Zealand

A great campsite down a cute permit road
Kawerau, New Zealand
Lots of sheep heading my way
Went from Opotiki to Kawerau to check out another off the track DoC site. At the information office they said we could go on a private road with a permit. It seemed like an adventure so we headed off and found the site pretty easily. It was a nice camp on the side of a lake with a River outlet. There was a walk down the River to a Waterfall, but it was a few hours, so we decided to save it till Sunday. Chris made friends with some Kiwi neighbours and we joined them for some drinks and banter.
written by  chrischarly on February 25, 2012 from Kawerau, New Zealand

An under-ground river that changes into a waterfall
Kawerau, New Zealand
Fast-flowing river
Lovely clear water
Rapids
Very violent falls
Underground waterfall
We got up and had some energy brekkie before our walk. It was really nice, down the River to a few small Waterfalls and then the River disappeared underground before emerging half way down a Cliff in a really spectacular Waterfall. It was a nice 8km walk, a little bit tough, and I even beat Chris after he slipped over and stretched his leg badly and we managed to venture off into some ‘out-of-bounds’ areas to check out some of the good bits. But Shhh don’t tell the DoC people we went there.
The collapsed bridge
Sneaking past the 'no-go' signs
It was only one collapsed bridge! We got back and had a good feed and chilled out in the sun just as everyone disappeared from the camp and we had it to ourselves.
written by  chrischarly on February 26, 2012 from Kawerau, New Zealand

Thermally active town
Rotorua, New Zealand
Thermal pools in a park
Natural thermal hot springs
We had a lazy morning before packing up and we moved out towards Rotorua which is a very thermally active area around a lovely lake. The town itself was very touristy but we did manage to find somewhere for Chris to get his head shaved. After this we went for a walk around a local park that had lots of bubbling thermal pools. It was nice to see but very smelly due to all the Sulphur. After this we headed down to a DoC site on a lake which was very nice. Chris went for an “ing”, but to be fair to him he nearly made it into a “fishing”, but as usual… IT GOT AWAY!
written by  chrischarly on February 27, 2012 from Rotorua, New Zealand

Chris on a kayak!
Rotorua, New Zealand
On the hunt for fish
We woke up to a nice day and made friends with our neighbours, Ian and Candy. Ian had a kayak and was keen into fishing, but he hadn’t EVER successfully landed a trout. Maybe it’s not just Chris! He went out for a paddle and when he returned offered Chris a go. He was in it in a shot and although said he was only going for a paddle close in, it wasn’t long before we couldn’t see him. Sometime later he returned but without any fish. He had a break and then was off again, it started to rain but that didn’t stop him and he only returned when it got really grotty.
The hook stuck in my finger (not the big one)
We retired to the car to escape the weather but it only got wetter and colder. But when we got back, Chris did actually manage to catch something... my hand in one of his hooks which has been dangling from our mirror in our car. It hurt, a lot and took a lot of pulling. Of course, Chris thought this to be hilarious, but of course he had the third degree for leaving it up there! We went over to Ian and Candy’s for a drink and then Chris made dinner in the rain before an early night.
written by  chrischarly on February 28, 2012 from Rotorua, New Zealand

Another typical NZ summer's day
Taupo, New Zealand
The most active volcano in NZ
Surprise Surprise, woke up to grey skies but not too much rain, was still pretty cold though. Went “ing” for a bit then packed up and headed to Lake Taupo. Well after driving 50kms in the wrong direction (I of course was blamed as navigator), before finally turning around and going the right way and finding Taupo. Went to the town centre and found a well needed shower before checking out the info centre and finding a free camp not too far from town. Weather still pretty shocking so just chilled and rode it out. Did camp next to a really nice River though, which is the only outlet from Lake Taupo but unfortunately our fishing licence didn’t cover us to get some free dinner.
written by  chrischarly on February 29, 2012 from Taupo, New Zealand

Some imaginary tourist attraction
Turangi, New Zealand
Fast-flowing water
Huka Falls
After a night of rain, woke up to find the River at least 1 metre higher than the night before. Packed up and headed downstream to Huka Falls. They are seriously powerful, especially after all the rain. The amount of water flowing can fill 20 Olympic pools every minute. After this we headed south around the very windy and rainy lake before making our way towards a free DoC site and checked out ‘The Pillars of Hercules’. Still have no idea what they were about as we couldn’t see anything that looked like pillars, in fact, nothing interesting at all, apart from a swing bridge which made me dizzy after Chris kept jumping up and down on it.
Imaginary Pillars of Hercules
Swing bridge
I hope the weather gets better soon so these blogs might be more interesting!
written by  chrischarly on March 1, 2012 from Turangi, New Zealand

A great walk, and some way too hot, hot pools
Tokaanu, New Zealand
View on our walk
We woke up cold and damp, so headed straight off. We made our way to the Tongariro Park, even though the weather was grey it wasn’t raining, and in need of some activity we decided rain or not we should do a walk.
Silica Rapids
The main crossing (20km) was closed due to the weather, so we would have to miss that one. We did go on a nice walk though, up to Silica Rapids, around 7.5kms (2hrs).
Chris on the bridge
A bit hot and bothered from the climb
It was a very muddy walk
It managed to stay
Chris in the hot pools
dry until about 30mins before we got back. A nice walk with some great scenery and amazing gold and yellow rivers, due to the Minerals in the water. After this we made our way to a nice paid camp in Tokaanu, it had free hot Mineral pools. We had a lovely dip in the supposedly therapeutic waters before Chris got too hot and had to get out. There was a serious storm hitting the North Island with winds reaching 150kmph in the night so we huddled up in our car to ride it out.
written by  chrischarly on March 2, 2012 from Tokaanu, New Zealand

Back in a comfy bed!
Pyes Pa, New Zealand
Checked out of the camp this morning, found some tasty coffee, did some shopping and then headed to Pyes Pa to visit and catch up with Ian and Candy again at their beautiful House in the country. Had a great evening with a few drinks and a tasty Indian in town with Holly their daughter before retiring to a nice comfy bed.
written by  chrischarly on March 3, 2012 from Pyes Pa, New Zealand

McLaren Falls
Tauranga, New Zealand
Ian having a fish
Chris having a fish
Me having a fish
Chris and Ian decided that their luck would be in today to try out some fishing. They of course were wrong, but regardless of this we still had a great day at McLaren Falls walking up and down the canal and onto the lake. It was a gorgeous day with bright blue skies but quite strong winds and after a few hours came back, drank some beer and bubbly and chatted all evening.
written by  chrischarly on March 4, 2012 from Tauranga, New Zealand

Chris' sea fishing expedition
Turangi, New Zealand
The boat
Chris just about to go out fishing
Woke up this morning to hear Chris and Ian’s excited plans to go sea fishing on Ian’s boat! Thinking this sounded like an awesome idea, I was soon informed that unfortunately this was a ‘boys-only’ trip and due to our car only having 2 seats in, I was out numbered and thus left behind to have some ‘me-time’ to catch up with things, which suited me just fine!
A little island
They came back quite a few hours later with 4 fish between them, 2 snapper and 2 kahawai ( a silvery kinda sea trout), which of course meant fish for dinner.
Fish number 1
Fish number 2
Fish number 3
Rescue mission
Chris and all the fish they caught
They had a great time out on the boat but their fishing was impacted including having to rescue some guys that had run up on the rocks due to steering failure. In fact that boat had gone to pick up a snorkeller who was spear fishing and a shark attacked his fish. He got spooked and asked them for a ride back and then they broke down. A double rescue really!
written by  chrischarly on March 5, 2012 from Turangi, New Zealand

Baby trout
Dickey Flat, New Zealand
Pretty river
River bed
After leaving Ian and Candy’s we headed up towards the Coromandel, finding a Doc site at Dickey Flat. Chris went for a fish, catching two trout but only babies so he returned them.
The little fish Chris set free
Thankfully Ian was kind and gave us the smoked kahawai that they caught yesterday, which we used half of and made into a lovely warm salad with poached eggs.
written by  chrischarly on March 6, 2012 from Dickey Flat, New Zealand

A nice long walk
Dickey Flat, New Zealand
We awoke to nice weather so decided to go on a nice walk from our Doc site along the River to Karangahawke gorge. Our plan was to see how we felt and if up for it, take a longer harder walk back.
Gorge
The views down from our walk
The walk was really nice following the River and through some tunnels made during the gold mining days. There was lots of interesting mining history and rail tracks which we followed through more tunnels.
At the gorge we stopped for a coffee and then headed back across the tougher route.
Check out the view!
It was pretty much uphill for a good hour; the views being spectacular, then along and down for a while.
Chris' new look
He found his sunnies, luckily
We reached a stream crossing that required a bit of boulder climbing, Chris went ahead and then waited to help me. As he did he managed to drop his sunglasses into the water. After I made it across he got a stick to try and fish them out, but in the process managed to slip on the rocks and land square on his arse and sliding down the rocks into the running water, ouch! After getting himself together he stripped off to his boxers and jumped in the water to finally get his sunnies back. After this long break the rest of the walk seemed very hard and we were pleased to see camp again. We had a good feed of Kedgeree using the rest of the smoked fish, plus plenty leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
written by  chrischarly on March 7, 2012 from Dickey Flat, New Zealand

Quick sand
Hikuai, New Zealand
The frog I almost stood on
Nothing much to say today, we moved to another nice DoC site, went for a "ing" after a nice long walk through the countryside and Chris nearly got swallowed up into some semi quick sand, then had some feed and off to bed.
written by  chrischarly on March 8, 2012 from Hikuai, New Zealand

Another successful day's fishing!
Pauanui, New Zealand
We had a flat battery this morning so Chris had to go and find a friendly camper with jump leads. After getting going we went to Pauanui , Chris bought some sea fishing tackle and we went for a fish off the beach and then the pier.
Killing dinner
He had just bought a spinner and some hooks, thinking of giving it a little go, but after chatting to some other locals they kindly left us with the rest of their pilchards for us to use as bait.
Chris setup off the wharf and we had a good afternoons fishing, including catching 3 kahawai, but unfortunately it should’ve been more but some got away,
Chris and another fish!
and I was even there to witness it this time. It was all very eventful. As the tide came in about 4 stingrays came swimming in under the wharf, they were massive and very elegant in the water and we heard that just 2 weeks ago they saw some killer whales in the harbour and I am gutted we weren’t there to see them! But the fish was tasty nonetheless!
written by  chrischarly on March 9, 2012 from Pauanui, New Zealand

Hot Water Beach
Hot Water Beach, New Zealand
Cathedral Cove
We went to Hot Water beach today, which as the name suggests a lovely beach where there are hot freshwater springs under the beach. This brings literaly 100’s of people at low tide with spades in hand to dig their own hot pools.
A load of tourists
We chose to observe from a distance thus avoiding the crowds instead taking a lovely long walk the stretch of the beach and back.
A bird, I think from the seagull family
Nice beach
After hot water beach we headed to Cathederal Cove, which is ‘The Highlight’ of the Coromandal. On the signs from the carpark it said this walk was ‘Easy’ and takes 50 minutes each way. So we set-off from the car thinking we would make it there and back in under an hour if we were quick, stupidly without water or sun cream. We stopped at the first point, Gemstone beach which was a long way down off the track.
Awesome beach
Me walking on the beach
Wanting to remove the climb back up we decided to rock hop around to the next place to see Stingray Bay – this took a lot longer, well over an hour and was a lot harder considering I was wearing my useless $1 flipflops. We then walked up to the track tired and thirsty before continuing on to Cathedral Cove, which was well worth the walk as it was beautiful, although we had a long steep climb back to the car. After this we decided we needed something to eat and somewhere to camp up for the night after our long 4 hour walk. So we treated ourselves to a paid campsite and a nice shower for $25.
written by  chrischarly on March 10, 2012 from Hot Water Beach, New Zealand

Batt Flattery
Coromandel, New Zealand
Woke up, packed up and got into the car… Click Click… nothing… Flat battery. Great. This isn’t the first time either, over the past week we’ve had to suck up to 3 other campers to help us jump-start the car. So first stop today will be to buy a new car battery. Not ideal to spend money on a car we will only have for a couple more weeks. Plus it is a Sunday so no Breakers will be open to buy a second-hand one. But we did find one for a reasonable price of $99. After this, we decided to head across the Coromandel and see what the weather was doing. It was raining, Surprise, so decided to keep moving towards Auckland, finding a camp about 1 hour from the city in a nice park. In between showers we did manage a quick walk up the beach, but other than that it was pretty much a dull afternoon hiding from the rain.
written by  chrischarly on March 11, 2012 from Coromandel, New Zealand

Anyone want to buy our van???
Huia, New Zealand
Forest walkway
We figured that in order to be able to sell our car before flying out to Fiji that it would be best to get a WOF done which is a New Zealand version of an M.O.T. We were taking some risks by getting this done as it doesn’t run out for another month and the chances are that there are quite a few things wrong with it, but who would buy a car without one we thought. So we booked it in, kept our fingers crossed and luckily it passed after adjusting and replacing a couple of lightbulbs! So we were really happy. Now for selling the car! So we hit McDonalds to drink lots of coffee and use their free Wi-Fi and to start advertising. We then headed west to stay in another nice beachside campsite, and yes you guessed it, it rained, so we did bugger all once again. But does anyone reading this want a Toyota Estima ???
written by  chrischarly on March 12, 2012 from Huia, New Zealand

THE BIGGEST TROUT IN THE WORLD!
Kai Iwi Lakes, New Zealand
We were so excited today to get our first text about the car! So we went and found a café to sit and email them, only for it to dawn on us that this is an obvious scam. What a waste of time. Idiots.
Chris going for a swim
No other emails or phone calls for the rest of the day, but I suppose there’s still time. So we got in the car and drove for about 4 hours North of Auckland in search of a campsite and managed to find a great one alongside a beautiful lake where Chris went for a swim.
Chris' monster of a trout
After dinner he decided to try his luck at a bit of fishing although the water was Crystal clear and very shallow. I have to say that I did doubt his luck so waited behind tidying and washing up. Then just before the sun set I heard footsteps walking towards the van and was amazed to see Chris holding something huge. OMG it is a fish! The biggest trout I have ever seen and Chris was so happy it was hilarious. Shame we had just eaten, but with a bit of re-organising and pushing managed to fit it inside our chilly bin. Look forward to breakfast in the morning!
written by  chrischarly on March 13, 2012 from Kai Iwi Lakes, New Zealand

Yummy brekkie
Rawene, New Zealand
Brekkie
Chris cutting the fish into steaks
Rainbow trout and scrambled eggs… What a perfect start to the day! And there is plenty more trout for another few meals yet. Probably get sick of it by the time we’ve finished it! Spent far too long sitting in a library trying to post adverts about the car everywhere we could in the hope that someone might want it. Then we headed to a free campsite to eat yet more tasty trout, this time in a curry.
written by  chrischarly on March 14, 2012 from Rawene, New Zealand

The tip of New Zealnd
Cape Reinga, New Zealand
Chris driving on the beach
Driving on 90 mile beach
We decided to drive to the top of mainland New Zealand today and luckily the weather was nice. On the way we took the car for a quick spin on 90 mile beach before driving as far as we could to Cape Reinga and had a nice walk to the lighthouse, and whilst not the furthest point North, it was pretty close.
Coastline
Views from the lighthouse
Lighthouse walkway
Lighthouse
The view down
The top of mainland NZ
Then we found a really nice campsite, which is supposed to be the most Northern one followed by a nice walk on the beach and yes you guessed it, more trout for dinner.
written by  chrischarly on March 15, 2012 from Cape Reinga, New Zealand

Nurse Chris
Te Hapua, New Zealand
Sand dunes
Beautiful beach
Beach
River inlet
I have a stinking cold, and everything aches and hurts, so Chris is busy looking after me and doing a great job of ‘playing nurse’. We headed out of our campsite and straight to another, with an equally nice beach to walk on, which we did.
written by  chrischarly on March 16, 2012 from Te Hapua, New Zealand

Purple jellyfish
Maitai Bay, New Zealand
From our campsite to the beach
Nice coastline
Jellyfish
Enjoying the camp we are in and the sunny weather, we decided to stay another day and did bugger all except another walk on the beach. We were planning on a swim but the beach was covered with purple jellyfish so decided against it, so just plain sun-worshipping it was.
written by  chrischarly on March 17, 2012 from Maitai Bay, New Zealand

Another huge storm...
Kerikeri, New Zealand
Once again we woke to pouring rain, packed up and headed out. Found refuge at a café in Keri keri and worked on our onward travel plans for a while before driving to Paihia to find a campsite with a lounge and a kitchen inside away from the weather. We found a nice one slightly outside of town and settled in for the storm.
written by  chrischarly on March 18, 2012 from Kerikeri, New Zealand

A T.V. and sofa day
Paihia, New Zealand
Relaxing from the rain
The big storm hit overnight and was very wet, we left our cool box outside and open and when we got up it had around 25cm of water inside. Glad we chose the camp we did, as the one below us on the River was flooded and everyone had to leave! We settled in front of the TV and didn’t move all day.
written by  chrischarly on March 19, 2012 from Paihia, New Zealand

Severe flooding
Northland, New Zealand
Still bad weather, did nothing once again. The whole of the North Island has been hit really badly, especially where we are in [[New-Zealand/Northland]], severe flooding and roads closed everywhere. So we are stuck where we are for the time being! Which, to be fair is a good excuse for us to do nothing as no one wants to face the outdoors in this weather.
written by  chrischarly on March 20, 2012 from Northland, New Zealand

....
Paihia, New Zealand
See Tuesday 20th March!
written by  chrischarly on March 21, 2012 from Paihia, New Zealand

SUNSHINE!!
Haruru, New Zealand
Haruru Falls
View on the walk of the river
OMG, woke up to Sunshine! What a lovely Surprise! So I got straight up and took a walk down to Haruru falls which due to all the recent rain were flowing super-fast and then took a 5km walk down one on the tracks alongside the River and sea before coming back pretty exhausted as I stupidly didn’t take any water with me and although the temperature of the day was just 24 degrees the humidity was 85%. The rest of the day Chris and I didn’t do a lot, made a couple more calls to a few people to see if they would be interested in our car and chatted to some other people staying at our campsite.
written by  chrischarly on March 22, 2012 from Haruru, New Zealand

Slim Chris!
Paihia, New Zealand
Slim Chris
As it wasn’t raining again today Chris decided to head off fishing and came back empty-handed, of course! Had someone interested in the car and so came to have a look at it, but unfortunately they wanted a manual. What a pain… But check out how much weight Chris has lost! We have been carrying this T-shirt around with us since Chris' mum brought it with her to Sri Lanka and now he can finally fit into it and comfortably! So proud of him! :)
written by  chrischarly on March 23, 2012 from Paihia, New Zealand

A load of rain, again.
It poured and poured and poured with rain today, so we did nothing again.

11+km walk
Waitangi, New Zealand
The walkway
Chris stood by Haruru Falls
A fish and chip restaurant
Somebody else called about the car today! So we excitedly rushed around tidying it and again he wasn’t interested and instead wanted something bigger. Not long ‘till we fly out now, so better get something sorted, quick. But it was a gorgeous day today so we went on a 11+km walk on the same track as the other day but to the end to Waitangi and back the road way. Which was great and gorgeous but exhausting, then had a tasty dinner before enjoying having the campsite to ourselves once again. It’s like our own private House.
written by  chrischarly on March 25, 2012 from Waitangi, New Zealand

Another headache from trying to sell our van
A bird
A few days ago we had an offer of $1500 for our car from a dealer just down the road where we are staying. Rubbish price, but it is now low season so no one is buying and the dealer is obviously clearly aware of this so is going to hold out and sell it in a few months when it is high season again so will more than double his money. Cheeky, but understandable and if I were in his position I would do the exact same.
A load of birds on a little island
So Chris went off to go and see him this morning as it is now our last option as no one else seems interested but he wanted to check it over as well, which is a pain. He found that the brake pads are seriously worn down and the bushes which affect the suspension need replacing and he is baffled as to how they ever passed the WOF. So, of course he haggled us down even further but luckily just to $1400 before having the cheek to ask us to leave him with enough petrol so he could run around in it. Yeah right, as if that is going to happen!

Car= sold, finally!
Whangarei, New Zealand
Walkway
We actually had a busy day today! Woke up at the crack of dawn (8am) and quickly got ready and drove to Whangarei as I had a doctor’s appointment. It took about 1 ½ hours to get there and I was in and out pretty quickly. We then had to do some shopping for the Pacific Islands, which included buying a new pair of shorts and swim shorts for Chris and a pair of trousers for myself as all mine have holes in! We then went and searched out some bargain snorkels and fins as well as some reef shoes for 4 months of snorkelling and a new day bag as ours has a gaping hole in, which Chris managed to get the guy to knock $25 off (with him thinking it was $15 as he couldn’t add up properly! Haha!) Then, just time for a quick hair-cut for me before driving back to seal the deal with the car sale. When we got back, Dick the owner of the campsite we’ve been staying in said he has another friend interested in buying the car and was coming to have a look at it in 5 minutes so we hurriedly emptied and tidied the car and he came, seemed interested, left and later text us offering us just $1300 for it. No way. So Chris replied saying he wanted $1700 followed by an hour’s wait before he responded with $1500 and not a penny more. So of course, Chris tried his luck one more chance and said $1600 and we would have a deal and we were in a stalemate with him for a few hours before Chris finally caved in and accepted $1500, cash and he sorts all the paperwork. So the dealer has some bad news! Oh well, he shouldn’t have messed us around! The rest of the afternoon consisted of us unpacking the contents of the van into our backpacks, involving many items to be thrown away to make this task possible. Then, at about 9pm we had 1 text and 1 email enquiring about the car! How irritating! Why couldn’t they have just asked us earlier or yesterday! But it is done now and I have had enough thinking of this car. So much hassle and stress, time to just enjoy our last couple of days in New Zealand now before going to Fiji!
written by  chrischarly on March 27, 2012 from Whangarei, New Zealand

Hello Public Transport and Bye Down Under Blog...
Auckland, New Zealand
On the bus to Auckland
Did a final tidy-up of the car and packed the rest of things before Rick came at 11am to collect his new car and give us $1500 cash. Will miss that little car! Katie, the manager of the campsite we were staying in kindly gave us a lift to the bus stop for our 4 hour journey to Auckland to meet up with Sam, a girl we met travelling in Borneo. The bus journey was pretty painless but no chance to keep yourself occupied reading books as he drove too fast around the tight corners so I felt a little sick. When we arrived in Auckland it was a bit of shock as it was pretty chaotic and busy as it was the last of rush-hour but we found a bus pretty easily to Sam’s although we did get off a couple of stops too early as Chris was a little keen. Then, just a short walk to Sam’s where we were delighted to take off our heavy backpacks as they are so crammed full of stuff and we are just not used to carrying them anymore! After a quick catch up with Sam we went for a few drinks at her local before eating some tasty food at a Mexican down the road before retiring to bed at 10pm as she unfortunately had to get up early for work. Super-comfy bed and it was nice to not shiver to sleep! This is the end now of ‘Chris and Charly Down Under’ as we are off to Fiji tomorrow for some much-needed Sunshine!
written by  chrischarly on March 28, 2012 from Auckland, New Zealand

Bye Perth

Perth city

The camp kitchen

Chris and I in our tent

Our new home

Putting up our new home

Chris cooling off

Chris cooking

Peter and Anne's house

Such a gorgeous road!

Where Chris used to live

Chris on the harbour

Sydney Harbour and Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Where Chris used to live!

Near the harbour

Freshwater Beach

On Home and Away Beach

Home and Away beach

Me and Peter in his Porche

Anne

Erin, Mark and I

Out for lunch

Where we went out for lunch

Dog with the bone Chris gave her in her mouth

Chris' dinner he cooked

Walking along the sand

Such a nice place to swim

Gold coast

View from the hill

Stinger nets

Too expensive, what a rip-off!

New Zealand team

Ice hockey game

Awesome view from plane

The snowy mountains from plane

Leaving Christchurch

Almost there...

First sighting of the north island

Awesome

Gorgeous beach

Bubbly and prawns

Where we stayed

Nice look

The station

Loads of people waiting

The carriage

Going in a tunnell

The train

Nice view!

On the tarin

What a cassowary is...

A bush turkey

On the skyrail

Skyrail

View from skyrail

Skyrain

Control tower in Auckland

About to fly...

Our plane

Lifeguards

Chris having a swim

Big jellyfish!

Digging out the sand

broken down :(

After a nice swim!

really clear water

Awesome view

Huge lizard up a tree

The glacier

Steep climb

Climbing down and down

Loads of ice

Didn't know ice could be this blue

Chris getting emotional

Miles and miles of pure ice

Chris' 1st carp

Chris' 2nd catch

Chris' 3rd catch

Chris' 4th carp

Slim Chris

On the bus to Auckland

Haruru Falls

A load of birds on a little island

Walkway

View on the walk of the river

Chris stood by Haruru Falls

A bird

The walkway

Relaxing from the rain

Pancake rocks

Amazing lightening

Lighthouse

Near Byron Bay

Such black sky

Lightening storm

Really black sky

Huge storm clouds

Very windy

Nice coastline

Lamb and emus who live together

Our tent

Lots of sheep wool

Sandy Beach

Koala sign

On top of sand dunes

So beautiful

Overlooking coral bay

Beautiful Coral Bay

Standing outside the winery

About to blag our free tasters

Grape vines

Ching ching

Sad Chris after spitting out his wine

Rocks we climbed

Standing by the natural bridge

Early morning walk

Entrance to a vineyard

The lightouse

As close as we got!

The old battered waterwheel

The Natural Bridge

A dolphin!

A fin and a head of dolphins!

A dolphin

2 dolphins, 1 a tiny baby 1!

Dolphin!

Fishermen right by the dolphins

The last stop before Antartica

'The Gap'

Amazing blue sea

Another awesome beach

Spot the muppet at the bottom

Great view

Such a lovely beach

Airlie Beach

Our first winery

Awesome beach!

Our yummy feast!

Chris on the bridge

Our first BBQ

Haha...

Pathway to the sea

The lovely sea

Dead whale

Rock climbing

Climbing up

High up and enjoying the view

Chris at the top of the rocks

Huge waves

The car park below

The bridge

The arch

12 apostles

Tropic of Capricorn

Outside Justine's place

Planking

Off-roading

A guy trapped in the sofa

Drinking cocktails...

Steve

An awesome road

Barbie zip-lining

Sunset in Frankton

Justine's pad

A baby fallen through the roof

Makumba just before he goes to Oz

Cleaning the BBQ

Chris with a beer

Justine enjoying the sunshine

Freaky

Manakin modelling Justine's cast

Mine and Chris' creation

Chris preparing the turkey

Mason breaking into the site opposite

Another manakin we dressed up and laid next to Justine whilst she slept!!

Manakin we dressed up

Gravel?

Storage space

Moeraki Boulders

Entering the Great Ocean Road

What an amazing road!

The coast

Driving along the Great Ocean Road

Campsite

Mother and joey!

Chris collecting firewood

The Koala at our campsite

Blowhole

Blowholes

Playing on the swings

The lovely beach

Chris and Gill dipping their feet in the icy water

Gill and I

Jo

Jo as DJ

Gill and Jo

The busy market

A guy who made his bath mobile

Enjoying a cuppa by the sea

Just got back to Gill's

Chillaxing

Now a dead flathead

Chris' catch

The pinnacles

Pinnacles

2 parrots

Stramolites

Chris making bacon sarnies

So much sea weed

View from the top of dune

Climbing up the dune

The huge sand dune we ran up and down

A bright orange crab

Lovely clear water

A lovely beach

A huge eagle

Me driving!

Leaning tree

The leaning tree

Everything all black from the fire

Devils marbles

Chris pushing

Chris trying to push the marbles off

Thick smoke

Devils Marbles

Driving through clouds of smoke

Huge bush fire

Fantastic cool off

A great water hole

Donkey

Stupid bloody donkey

Me having a swim in Edith Falls

Piccitto the baby wallaroo

Baby wallaroo

Duck in a bird cage

he lives in a shopping bag!

Taking the wallaroo out to play

Wallaroo playing by my feet

Playing with the goats

Mowing the lawn

Dirty Chris

Chris filthy after mowing the lawn

Magnetic termite mounds

Me and Becks

The pools we swam in

The falls

Becks, Daniel and Brendon

Brendon

A massive cane toad

The fence we built

Chris doing some work

A tiny calf

Trying to catch her

The reason I have pulled muscles!

Struggling to carry her

Carrying G.P

Chris carrying her properly

Ginger Princess

Feeding G.P

G.P

Chris picking some mangoes

5 river lookout

5 rivers lookout

Boab tree

Chris having a fish

Ian having a fish

Me having a fish

Lake with locals fishing

Huge Croc

The view

The view from our campsite

Chris enjoying a beer

Enjoying a beer and the view

Ayers Rock

Walking around the base

A scary-looking spider

Stupid people climbing in the midday sun

The mighty Ayers Rock

Kata Tjuta

The Olgas

Me a little behind

The olgas

Us

Chris by the train

The skyrail

Bottom feeders!

Such gorgeous scenery after the red centre

Chris making fire

Our shadows

Our food cooking away

Penguins

Penguin chick

Stunning

The pretty wild flowers and blue lake

Driving to Q'Town

The most gorgeous place

Having a stop-over

Just need to see a wombat!

Pretty parrot

Mason

The pretty lake

Queenstown

The Bluebridge ferry

Waving goodbye to Picton

Leaving the south

Bye bye south island

Memorial site

A very windy campsite

Finally in some shade!

Kangaroo

Chris and I on the boat

Crocodiles

Geike Gorge

Rocks

Tiny bird's nests

Geike gorge

Crocodile rock

White line= previous flood lines

Croc

Impressive balancing rocks

Inside Geike Gorge

Pink lake

It did look more pink than this

The pink lake

What the pink lake should've looked like!

Driving through a lot of nothingness

In the park

Scenic driving views

Driving along a rough road

Chris hiding from the flies

Salt Plains

The old jetty

Dead Blue Bottle jellyfish

Footprints in the sand

Walking along

Flowing falls

Rock face

Falls

Lizard number 2

Chris having a wash in Fortescue Falls

Chris after his swim

A big lizard

Hiding behind a rock

Chris standing in the middle of the gorge

On the walk from falls to pool

Where we went

Standing by a huge ancient rock

Pigeons with Mohicans

Circular pool

Karijini National Park

Strange but pretty tree

Views looking back over park

Forest fires

Jumping croc

Head sticking out

Flying eagle

Boxing croc

Croc right next to our boat

The boat we went on

Croc's belly

Little croc jumping

Enjoying the boat ride

HUGE croc

Sniffing the meat

Cute sign

A load of tourists

Gorgeous!

Ayers Rock sister

A pretty bird

Dunno what this is?!?!?

Chris climbing up

Cooling off!

Over looking the Canyon

A lost hat

Fantastic view!

So amazing!

Kings Canyon

Standing on the edge, or at least close to it!

King Canyon

Another nice view

Getting pretty tired now!

A little bird

So amazingly beautiful!

Walking

lizard

Kings canyon

Lizard

Me looking at Fox Glacier

Chris hugging a cardboard man

Fox Glacier

Stood near Fox Glacier

Glacier

So gorgeous!!

Awesome views from a lookout point

Waterfall in the mountains

Having a quick break

Our cars at the bottom across lake!

Waterfalls

Milford Sound

Seals on the rocks

Drenched

Satan's spawn

Chris' jacket works

Nice view of snowy mountains

Waterfalls coming off the mountains

Thick snow

A kea doing what it's famous for- destroying cars

A Kea parrot

Snow tunnel

Heaps of snow

A wall of snow

The river and snowy mountains

Snow

Eggs

The Underwater Observatory

A fish

A load of snow

Huge road train overtaking us

Me driving

forest fires

Chris rescuing the cat

Australia Zoo hospital

Turtle friend

A platypus

A platypus swimming

2 turtles

A turtle

The platypus' home

Platypus

Otters

Chris with a massive croc

Chris and the Irwin family

A big tortoise

A massive tortoise

Balancing act

Feeding a kangaroo

Feeding a croc!

Kangaroos having a sleep

Feeding a Kangaroo

Chris and Steve

A big bird

Me and my bird friend

Koala having a snooze

Koala

Me and a Koala

Joey feeding off it's mum

Having a close look at a Koala

Mother and baby kangaroo

Windy but gorgeous beach

The lovely water

The view out of the back window. aka nothing

A load of cows

Having a quick stop over

The monster flathead

Chris and his catch

Where we were fishing

Cleaning the fish

Chris sitting on the boulders

The boulders

Chris walking to get fuel

Our camp site

Our van

Cookaburra

Chris looking for gold

Floodplains

Birds having a swim

Flying bird

Balancing act...

Aboriginal rock art

A tree's long roots

Climbing

Kakadu

A croc hiding on the bank

Road train about to cross bridge

Road train driving through the flowing water

A croc in the river

Ubirr

Checking out the views

The views from the top

Ubirr views

Awesome views

Chris moving trees out of the way

The little lake

The floodplains

Ducks

Lots of fish

Maguk in Kakadu

Chris swimming in Kakadu

Crocodile warnings

Eamann, Phil and I

Yummy pate

Chris' delicious pork belly dish

Eamann and I

Our camper

Chris and I after just buying the van

Big smiles!

A dog that loves walking like humans

SO HAPPY!

Driving into a rainbow

Chris happily driving

View from the camper

Tucked up in bed

Our little friend

View first thing in the morning

Chris chillaxing in libray

New Brighton Pier

New Brighton

A segull

A Building Sight aka our hostel

The New Brighton Pier

beach

Waves

Black swans

Red octopus

Mother and joey

Baby joey getting in pouch

Kangaroos

Tired after our walk

Chris fishing in Diamond Lake

Beautiful!

Diamond Lake

Camped up

On the 4X4 trip

Crossing a river

Practicing paragliding

Me and Justine relaxing

So pretty

Views from Justine's car

Justine

Chris setting up the tent

BBQ

Chris looking gorgeous

Miles and miles of nothing

Very bad weather

Really nice waterfall

Malanda Falls

Curtain fig tree

Pretty plants

How the curtain fig tree was made

Turtle

Turtle swimming

A turtle head

Turtles

bottom feeder turtles!

ting Ting trees

The trees

A drawing of the biggest ting ting

A fallen over ting ting

Standing by a ting ting tree

Me jumping in Chris' photo

Seagull island

A very friendly horse

Kangaroos playing in the field

105 different pies to choose from

Chris tucking in

Somerset Dam lake

Chris cleaning his fish

What a great fishing spot!

The pretty river

The ferry

Black swan

A blind dog on the back of a bike

To go to Koalas

Me as a koala

2 koalas up a tree

Koala having a nap

Mother and baby Koala!

Such a cute koala

Sleeping Koala

Koala!

Lovebirds

Chris finding the spare

Completely destroyed tyre

We've got a flat

Chris squeezing through

Wilson Prom

Norman Beach

Setting up camp

On the beach

Entering the 'Prom'

Lovely beach to ourselves

Tidal river

About to cross the tidal river

On the bridge

On the puffing Billy

The engine of Puffing Billy

Leading the way

Puffing Billy

Chris and the captain

The switch room

Nice view from train

The lake

Yellow-eyed penguin

Penguin trying to get out of river

Fossilised forest

Chris enjoying his Fish 'n' Chips

Fiordland Crested Penguins

Cray Pot Cafe

High up

The walk we went on