We're back in Christchurch, where our tour of the south island started!
After leaving Lake Tekapo (reluctantly), we headed to Wanaka. Wanaka was a nice place to chill out, but we only used the place as a brief stop to break up the journey to the Fiordlands. We left Wanaka to head to Te Anau, which was to be our base for our trip through the moutains and into the fiordlands. It took about two hours to get to Milford Sound, which lies at the very northern part of the Fiordlands. The drive was spectacular as we meandered through the windy roads up and over huge mountains.
We arrived at Milford Sound early in the afternoon with a plan to take in the sights, then take a cruise the following day. However, being the spontaneous duo that we are, and given that the sun was beaming down, we decided to seize the moment and do the cruise straight away. As soon as we set off, the sun disappeared, and it turned exceptionaly cold. Nevertheless, the views of the mountains that suddenly rose from the waters edge were magnificent. Now and again, huge waterfalls cascaded from the mountain tops, some of which travelled Miles and Miles before falling into the water hundreds of metres below. We also saw our first fur seal colony of the trip, a group of about 10 lying on a rock, aptly named seal rock (genius). Once back on land, we headed back to Te Anau, where we stayed the night before heading further up the west coast to see the glaciers.
We arrived at Haast late in the afternoon on the 15th, and it felt deserted (and slightly creepy)! Not keen on the place, we ate our fush and chups and headed further north to Fox Glacier. It was already late, so we parked up beside a lake and slept in the little Diahatsu. By 'sleeping' we mean lying horizontally listening to the rain bounce off our little red tin, whilst the wind rocked us side to side. With the rain beating down, we decided to go a little further north to Franz Josef, where we checked into a hostel and waited for the rain to stop. Two days later, we were still stuck in the hostel, partly due to the fact that it hadn't stopped raining, and partly due to the road north being washed away (there was ALOT of rain). On the morning of the 18th, we woke up to clear skies. Knowing it wouldn't last long, we jumped up and headed for the glacier. With one of us being slightly impaired with a knee injury, we took a short scenic walk to view the glacier from a distance. It was impressive to see after only being able to read about it for the last two days.
With the glacier being ticked off our never ending list, we headed north to Abel Tasman, the most northerly national park on the south island. We arrived late at night, and after nearly taking the car off a cliff, we decided to find a place to sleep. We 'slept' down a little country road in the car, which was great. The weather was getting better now, and we decided to head to the beach for the day. We underestimated the distance to the beach, and we drove for hours before finding out that the last 10km were on an unsealed road. The Dihatsu wasn't scared though, so we persevered. When we reached the openings in the trees, we realised it was well worth it. The colour of the water was reminiscent of Thailand, and the sand was bright orange. We walked up the beach before having a picnic on a huge piece of driftwood.
Surviving the drive back to the city, we headed straight to Kaikoura, the place to do the whale watching. It was a long drive, and like most long drives, it ended with us sleeping in the car again. It was a night of rain, and first thing in the morning we checked into a backpackers hostel, which was run by a couple from Manchester. We had to put the whale watch on hold as the weather was awful, making the sea rough as a badgers backside. We kept ourselves busy by driving to the Peninsula to see a large colony of fur seals. We visited them a few times a day, so often in fact we started to name them all. They were local wildlife that were vicious if you got too close, but amazing to admire from a distance. Another past time was visiting the local winery, where we sampled some fine wine with amazing views of the coast.
The following morning, we rose before dawn. This was the big day, we had booked the whale watching trip in hope that the weather would be ok. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and as we arrived at the whaleway station, the sunrise was beautiful. We were told that the day before, no whales were spotted, and we were reminded of our tiger safari in India. We set off and after an hour, we hadn't seen any whales. The captain was using some sonar equipment which we thought was just for show. But, to our surprise, he used the underwater signals to locate the sperm whale as it appeared on the surface from its deep water dive. It was on the surface for just short of 10 minutes, and it was remarkable and stunning. Its size and presence was overwhelming, and everyone on the boat was in silence in awe of such a huge but graceful creature. We took our photos, and before heading to land, we also saw the dusky dolphins!
After leaving Kaikura, we got back to Christchurch to return the car. We spent two days couchsurfing before checking into a hostel near the city centre. Tomorrow we're heading to the north island, where the next stage of our trip starts!!

Much love,

Kav & Sara

written by  Kav & Sara on April 24, 2009 from Christchurch, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Its been a while since our last blog entry and we've been pretty busy! We spent the last few days of Australia on the coast near Brisbane which was really quiet and chilled out. We looked at all our pictures from Australia and realised how fun its been here!
On our final night before our flight we had our first couchsurfing experience. Couchsurfing as basically a community that let people stay at their house for free in return for good stories etc. Anyway, the only place that accepted our request in Brisbane were a bunch of students. Keen on experiencing the much missed student lifestyle, we accepted the invite. However, when we arrived, the house, nicknamed 'the forest', only insulted every forest we'd ever been. There were about 10 people who lived in the house permanantly and another 10 couchsurfers, all wasted on drugs and booze. To cut a long story short, we were both freaked out and after about 2 hours sleep (inbetween the heavy drum and bass till 4am and the wierd psychadelic funk at 6am) we left without saying bye! We laughed all the way down the street at how surreal the experience was, knowing that it would only do us good to go into something like that and come out the other end alive! Although it was the end of an awesome time in Australia, we were really excited about New Zealand. We hadn't heard one bad thing about 'the newest country in the world', and we were ready to check it out!
We arrived in Aukland on the 5th, and we were exhausted! We had booked a hostel online and hoped it would be half decent. When we arrived, we were over the moon to see huge rooms with comfy beds and a really quiet atmosphere. We had a hot shower and treat ourselves to an Indian which made us reminisce about our first adventure. We spoke to the waiter for a while about where he was from, and felt like real weathered travellers being able to talk about someone elses country and tell them about places they should visit.
After an awesome sleep, we headed back to the airport for our flight to Christchurch and the beginning of our travels of the south island. We had another couchsurf booked, and we prayed it wouldn't be another 'surreal experience'.
After catching the bus from the airport to the city, we headed to an address where we'd have our second couchsurfing experience. Verna's house was a pleasant change. It was close to the hills and had a country house feel to it, yet it was only 5 minutes from Christchurch city centre. We were made to feel welcome by Verna immediately, and felt surprisingly comfortable in a strangers home. We talked for hours about everything, including our travels, their travels, dancing, and all thats in between. We spent all afternoon planning our route with the help of Verna's travel books and experience. Verna had lived in NZ all her life, so we got some great tips about where to go and what to do. Later that evening, Verna's partner, Ian, arrived home and was equally friendly and had a whole load more must sees around NZ for us.
We spent the next day shopping in the city for thermals as the weather was the coldest we'd experienced so far! We also took a trip to the local park which was right behind Verna's house, and reminded us of Autumn in England, although the colours were so much more vibrant.
We left Verna's the following day after a refreshing break, feeling relaxed and ready to take on a new counrty. We rented a little car for two weeks to travel around at our own pace, and we were soon on our way to our first destination, Governors Bay. This spot was meant to be a quick one just for photos as it was raining quite heavily, but even in the rain, the bay looked awesome. We both agreed that the landscape was far from anywhere we'd been before, and we knew we were going to really like NZ, The only drawback being the temprature, something which we were to soon experience to the extreme!
After leaving Governors Bay, we headed to Lake Tekapo. The roads were fine until the rain began to bounce of the car, making visibility poor. As it we drove higher, it became much colder, and as the bouncing rain stopped, we realised it had began to snow. A blizzard soon whipped up, and we found ourselves driving through 5 inch snow in a tiny Diahatsu, an extreme sport for any adrenaline junky!
We arrived at a carpark near Lake Tekapo at around 10pm, and decided we'd be fine to sleep in the back of the car. We soon realised why eskimos build igloo's instead of cars. We had all our clothes on and were tucked inside our sleeping bags, but the heat disappeared faster than the money from our bank accounts! We woke up every 2 hours or so shivering, and had to drive around to get the heaters working. After doing this 3 times, it started to get light, and as we stepped outside the car, we soon forgot about how cold it was, and were overwhelmed with the breathtaking views of Lake Tekapo. Every piece of land surrounding the lake was white, and it felt like christmas. The last time we were in a place full of snow was when we were skiing just before christmas last year, and for the first time Sara and I said how much we missed home and how it reminded us of our families. After taking photos of every angle, we soon realised there wasn't much point. The photos didn't do the panoramic views any justice (nothing to do with the photographer!) and we decided to just stand in the cold and take a mental image of such a beautiful place. It felt slightly magical, as if we were going to stumble upon santas grotto at any point. But we didn't (still no presents this year :-P)
We decided it would be a good idea to stay at a hostel tonight, until we completely thaw. So were going to get some fush & chups and get some well deserved sleep!

Merry Christmas,

Mary and Jesus x
P.S. Pics are coming v soon, we promise, they're ready, the computer just wasn't ready for us!

written by  Kav & Sara on April 6, 2009 from Christchurch, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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We've been driving up the coast for the last week or so, reaching as far as Yeppoon near Rockhampton. We didn't stay long as it was a pretty dull place! Although we did manage to visit a wildlife sanctuary and get close to some roo's, koalas, snakes and loads more. Before we reached Yeppoon, we spent a few days in Noosa, a really chilled place famous for its surfing! We spent our days bodybooarding and fishing, and in the evening we ate whatever we caught- which ticks a box!!
After leaving Yeppoon, we came straight to Bundaberg, home of the worlds finest Ginger Beer and Rum- allegedly. We visited a glass blowing and crafts centre which was pretty neat, and as the weather is just like a typical day in England, were just passing the time playing cards and watching movies. Very cultural!! Hopefully the sun will come back out in the next few days and we'll get back on the beaches and have some fun!!

Sorry about the lack of pics, the internet access is scarce and expensive, so you'll have to contain your excitement and wait for us to get back!!

Much love

The travellers x

written by  Kav & Sara on March 18, 2009 from Bundaberg, Australia
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Since we arrived in Australia we've been so busy! We've been shown around Sydney by Kavs family and its been pretty eventful! After 3 months of junk food (mostly noodles, rice, and chilli!) we were treat to some awesome healthy food, which our bodies greatly appreciated!
After a week of trying to get a camper, we finally got a bright green and purple Jucy camper for 30 days! So, as of the 7th of March we've been on the road! We left Sydney and headed straight to Byron-Bay, which took just short of 10 hours. The scenery was fantastic, and we even saw a kangaroo jump in front of the van!
Our first night in the camper was spent right next to the beach in Byron-Bay, which was great until we were woken up by an Aussie official who threatened to fine us if we didn't go to a campground. Still half asleep, we drove round the corner and slept for a few more hours hoping the big green machine wouldn't be spotted again!
Our second night was spent just outside of Byron-Bay down a small street. With no disruptions we got a good nights sleep!
The following day we set off to Surfers Paradise, where we are now. We don't have a clue what to do here and the weathers a bit pants! But we'll cruise around in our Jucy camper and keep ourselves entertained!!

Kav & Sara

P.S. Sorry to be brief! Time is money in this upside down world!!!

written by  Kav & Sara on March 9, 2009 from Surfers Paradise, Australia
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Next time we write, we'll be upside down :-)

Take it easy peeps, lots of love as always xxx

written by  Kav & Sara on February 23, 2009 from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
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Sorry we haven't put the pics on of Mount Kinabalu or the orang utan sanctuary, the internet went down in Sepilok!
The last few days have been possibly the most amazing dats of our trip! We've been living in a hut on stilts on the Kinabatangan River for the past two nights, which, although scary, has been well worth the money we paid!
We arrived on the 14th with a Canadian couple called Bob and Jan, who were so down to earth, who spoke about travels and where they had been for 3 hours until our first boat cruise on the river. We set off at 4pm, and cruised along the river looking out for wildlife. The absence of a 'zoo-like' environment was amazing, and all the things we had seen on TV and only dreamed about seeing were either flying over us or swinging through the trees alongside our boat. The list of species we saw is almost endless, but to name our favourites, we saw:
Birds: Stork Billed and Sacred Kingfisher, various Hornbills, Red and black broadbill, White chested Sea Eagle, various Storks, and hundreds of other smaller birds.
Primates: Long tailed & Pig tailed macaques, Red lipped Langur, Silver Langur, The indiginous Proboscis monkey, and.... WILD ORANG UTANS!!! This was by far the best part of the boat trips. To see them in the wild was spectacular, and to see a mother and baby was reassuring for the future of this beautiful endangered species. We can't put it into words how gracefull and aesthetically pleasing these animals are. On our last boat trip shortly after sunrise, we spotted a group of three orang utans, a mother, baby, and dominant male. Its so rare to see all three at once as the male usually leaves during pregnancy to find another mate. We trekked through the trees with our fantastic guide, Nelson, who took us to the bottom of the tree that the orang utans were in. The dominant male was fine with us being there, he just chilled out and carried on sleeping. However, the mother became quite territorial and protective of her baby. As a result, she snapped off huge branches and threw them at us, along with peices of fruit! The longer we watched, the louder she shouted, and the bigger the branches became, until we backed off a small distance. At this point she became more curious than concerned, and watched us as we headed back to the boat.
Not too far behind the orang utan experience was when the painstaking search for the Proboscis monkey finally paid off. On the way back to camp on the last evening cruise before sunset, we spotted monkeys on the opposite side of the river. Expecting more macaques, we weren't overly excited, until we heard the unique grunting of the most perculiar looking primate in the world. A troop of around 10 of them were swinging through the trees, then stared at us as if just as fascinated with us as we were of them. Their gracefull movements made them look lethargic, as well as their huge pot belly's making them look like beer monsters! They were so amusing, the males sustain their 'excitement' in the downstairs department for 24 hours! Lucky fellas! The females have the cutest pokey noses in world, where the males noses are large and droop down, the females stick straight out! In this part of the jungle, the bigger the males nose, the more females he gets!
We saw numerous insects and reptiles, including many monitor lizards, and Sara's least favourite, the scorpions that were staying at the same lodge as us!
The Malaysian people are by far the most welcoming people we have ever met! Our guides were so friendly and had a real passion for both nature and the protection of all the animals that live among the people. Last night, one of our guides, Alloi, took us to his family home where there was a huge wedding ceremony for his younger brother. We were welcomed by everyone, and offered us their food, drink, and thoughts about the world. Everyone was so happy, and all the children were so open to us as outsiders, and their curiosity made them extremely likeable and we played with them in between dancing for the bride and groom. The whole village had come to celebrate the occasion, and everyone danced and laughed until the early hours. We were only meant to be there for an hour, but 4 hours later (after talking to half the village), our guides took us back across the river to our lodge.
We had so much fun, and it was the first time we really experienced such a genuine interaction with another culture. The combination of amazing wildlife and equally amazing people made these last few days a truly unforgettable experience.

After our last river cruise this morning, we planned to go back to Sepilok. However, being the spontaneous duo we are, we decided to do a Tony Blair and follow some Americans. It led us to Semporna, where we are now. The reefs of Sipidian Islands is rated in the top five dive sites in the world, so with a fine disregard for our budget, were gonna do it! Due to it being fully booked at the moment, we could only book the dive for the 22nd. So unfortunately, we've decided to spend the next 5 days on a remote island, where the resort is actually in the sea rather than on land, connected by a long jetty. We bumped into Bob and Jan today (the Canadian couple), who said its like paradise. We are promised to see turtles and possibly sharks, which is gonna be awesome!!

So we hope all is well back home and your having as much fun as us,
Missing you all,

Kayvon and Sara

P.S we got married Malay style

written by  Kav & Sara on February 16, 2009 from Semporna, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Sorry we haven't put the pics on of Mount Kinabalu or the orang utan sanctuary, the internet went down in Sepilok!
The last few days have been possibly the most amazing dats of our trip! We've been living in a hut on stilts on the Kinabatangan River for the past two nights, which, although scary, has been well worth the money we paid!
We arrived on the 14th with a Canadian couple called Bob and Jan, who were so down to earth, who spoke about travels and where they had been for 3 hours until our first boat cruise on the river. We set off at 4pm, and cruised along the river looking out for wildlife. The absence of a 'zoo-like' environment was amazing, and all the things we had seen on TV and only dreamed about seeing were either flying over us or swinging through the trees alongside our boat. The list of species we saw is almost endless, but to name our favourites, we saw:
Birds: Stork Billed and Sacred Kingfisher, various Hornbills, Red and black broadbill, White chested Sea Eagle, various Storks, and hundreds of other smaller birds.
Primates: Long tailed & Pig tailed macaques, Red lipped Langur, Silver Langur, The indiginous Proboscis monkey, and.... WILD ORANG UTANS!!! This was by far the best part of the boat trips. To see them in the wild was spectacular, and to see a mother and baby was reassuring for the future of this beautiful endangered species. We can't put it into words how gracefull and aesthetically pleasing these animals are. On our last boat trip shortly after sunrise, we spotted a group of three orang utans, a mother, baby, and dominant male. Its so rare to see all three at once as the male usually leaves during pregnancy to find another mate. We trekked through the trees with our fantastic guide, Nelson, who took us to the bottom of the tree that the orang utans were in. The dominant male was fine with us being there, he just chilled out and carried on sleeping. However, the mother became quite territorial and protective of her baby. As a result, she snapped off huge branches and threw them at us, along with peices of fruit! The longer we watched, the louder she shouted, and the bigger the branches became, until we backed off a small distance. At this point she became more curious than concerned, and watched us as we headed back to the boat.
Not too far behind the orang utan experience was when the painstaking search for the Proboscis monkey finally paid off. On the way back to camp on the last evening cruise before sunset, we spotted monkeys on the opposite side of the river. Expecting more macaques, we weren't overly excited, until we heard the unique grunting of the most perculiar looking primate in the world. A troop of around 10 of them were swinging through the trees, then stared at us as if just as fascinated with us as we were of them. Their gracefull movements made them look lethargic, as well as their huge pot belly's making them look like beer monsters! They were so amusing, the males sustain their 'excitement' in the downstairs department for 24 hours! Lucky fellas! The females have the cutest pokey noses in world, where the males noses are large and droop down, the females stick straight out! In this part of the jungle, the bigger the males nose, the more females he gets!
We saw numerous insects and reptiles, including many monitor lizards, and Sara's least favourite, the scorpions that were staying at the same lodge as us!
The Malaysian people are by far the most welcoming people we have ever met! Our guides were so friendly and had a real passion for both nature and the protection of all the animals that live among the people. Last night, one of our guides, Alloi, took us to his family home where there was a huge wedding ceremony for his younger brother. We were welcomed by everyone, and offered us their food, drink, and thoughts about the world. Everyone was so happy, and all the children were so open to us as outsiders, and their curiosity made them extremely likeable and we played with them in between dancing for the bride and groom. The whole village had come to celebrate the occasion, and everyone danced and laughed until the early hours. We were only meant to be there for an hour, but 4 hours later (after talking to half the village), our guides took us back across the river to our lodge.
We had so much fun, and it was the first time we really experienced such a genuine interaction with another culture. The combination of amazing wildlife and equally amazing people made these last few days a truly unforgettable experience.

After our last river cruise this morning, we planned to go back to Sepilok. However, being the spontaneous duo we are, we decided to do a Tony Blair and follow some Americans. It led us to Semporna, where we are now. The reefs of Sipidian Islands is rated in the top five dive sites in the world, so with a fine disregard for our budget, were gonna do it! Due to it being fully booked at the moment, we could only book the dive for the 22nd. So unfortunately, we've decided to spend the next 5 days on a remote island, where the resort is actually in the sea rather than on land, connected by a long jetty. We bumped into Bob and Jan today (the Canadian couple), who said its like paradise. We are promised to see turtles and possibly sharks, which is gonna be awesome!!

So we hope all is well back home and your having as much fun as us,
Missing you all,

Mr & Mrs Azadi

written by  Kav & Sara on February 16, 2009 from Semporna, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Sorry to those of you who have been worrying whether we're alive or not, inernet cafes are as rare as wild orang utans over here! So don't worry! No news is good news!!

Lots of monkey love,

Kayvon & Sara x x

written by  Kav & Sara on February 11, 2009 from Sepilok, Malaysia
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Stay sexy,

Kayvon & Sara x x

written by  Kav & Sara on February 6, 2009 from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Thats all for now, pics are coming soon once we find a computer that works properly!

Hope your all doing fantastically well,

Speak soon,

Lots of love, Kav & Sara x x

written by  Kav & Sara on January 28, 2009 from Ko Lanta, Thailand
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