Checking in...

Hey all, a quick update. We had an amazing time in Sydney and spent a full day exploring the city, taking in the opera house, Darling Harbour and the aquarium. We also managed to see the immigration office (not quite as pretty as the opera house) and it looks like we will be spending 3 months here as they want an extra $250 each to apply to extend the visa, so we may well spend 2 months on the East Coast, 1 month on the West and an extra month in Indonesia...

So where are we now? Well we drove for one hour up the Pacific Highway towards Newcastle and decided to stop here on our way to Corindi which is where our friends Jeff and Linzi have a house. Once in Newcastle we called Martin and Michelle (regular blog followers will remember these as the lovely Aussie family we met in Gisbourne) anyway we called to see if they would be up for a surf at the weekend. Michelle invited us over, that was Thursday evening and we have been here ever since (today is Saturday).

They live at Marks Point which is a beautiful place on the lake, surrounded by the ocean and we have surfed, canoed (not sure if that's how you spell it) Sam has played on the playstation, jumped of the pier, played tennis, skateboarded and currently Will is out sailing with Martin. It has been amazing - we have eaten well, drunk well and are really being looked after. They also have a little cottage nearby which looks over the lake and is just gorgeous inside and they have offered to let us stay there Sun, Mon and Tues nights. It seems like the Australian people are just as wonderful and welcoming as the New Zealanders... awesome.

Today we went to Moons beach which is a secluded surfing spot along the coast and Sam and Will surfed with the boys whilst Michelle and myself sat on the beach and chatted, perfect... now I have had a little too much sun and am going to veg on the veranda overlooking the lake... it's a tough life I know.

Love to you all.

Plans

We are now a few days into the Australian leg of our journey and a plan is starting to form. We are staying with my mum's friend Chris who lives in Sydney and kindly offered to put us up in her house for a while. Sam thinks this is brilliant as Chris has birds and dogs (and lots of huntsmen - which I don't think is quite so brilliant but have managed not to look around to much just in case I see one).

Yesterday we went into Sydney and looked into buying/renting a van - we decided not to go with the juicy vans even though they are amazing as they were a bit too expensive however we have now picked up a high top van for the next three months - Will worked his Bristolian charm and negotiated us a great rate - so we now have wheels and a home when we need one. The next step is to try and extend our visa which is currently three months and we would like 4 so we will try and sort this out with Aussie immigration tomorrow. We have not really had a day in Sydney doing touristy things although we have seen the bridge and the opera house, i hope we will see an opera there but I had a wee (just to see the loos - which were suitable posh) just in case we didn't get back there. Hopefully we will do more touristy stuff tomorrow.

The weather has been fairly overcast since we arrived and right now we have rain - but that's alright as we are just sorting things out so don't need the sunshine. Tonight we are going to meet Will's friend Ferg for tea which should be fun.

All our love to our NZ friends and I hope that all your friends and family are ok following the earthquake.

Picture attached of Sam taken by Sam with his waterproof camera!

Oz...

Well it has been a long and stressful introduction to Australia. We got up at 5am and got the shuttle to the airport for our flight which left at 8:30. The flight was actually pretty good as the nice attendant gave me two bottles of free champagne and Will a beer - I think he must have felt sorry for us, perhaps the last 6 months have taken their toll.... but no it was lovely feeling a bit pissed at 9:30am (and that was when we landed as Australia is 2 hours behind).

We arrived here with airy fairy plans - all we knew was that we would head for Manley (North of Sydney) so after a speedy exit through customs we hired a car at the airport and drove to Manley planning to rent a hotel room. The drive was pretty cool and we drove over the harbour bridge and glimpsed the opera house which sam thought was brilliant. When we got to Manley however it was a real shock, i had pictured a small town like Piha but this was massive and packed, like Newquay or something, not at all what I had pictured - but then the first day is always a bit strange. We went into a few B&B's but they were all packed and we were informed we would be lucky to find anywhere to stay! We found a room in a hotel for $250!!!! that's about £170 so we drove around for about 4 hours, trying to decide what to do. As you can imagine, being locked in a car with two tired, hot, grumpy, hungry boys is no fun and eventually we managed to find a hotel outside of Manley in Nutbean (or something like that - I'm too tired to know or care).

We have been having lots of tired chats about what to do next and here is the current plan - back in the van (but maybe a rental this time with Jucy - check their website out - Jucy rentals - their vans are really cool and Sam has the penthouse - you'll know what I mean if you have a look) anyway we will rent a Jucy van and then head North and perhaps stay at Will's lovely friends as they have offered us their house whilst they are away... but after a good nights sleep these plans may well change again so watch this space.

Picture attached Will and Sam after being locked in a van with me after a tin of beans (he he he) if only it was really that way round!!

Sydney tomorrow

We have finally left Piha and handed over the lovely van (Ron) to Tom and Claire. As we are about to end our adventure in New Zealand so theirs is about to start. We have mixed emotions about leaving NZ. I am very excited to move to Australia and can't wait to see the Opera House. I am also really looking forward to renting a place and not living out of the van for a while.

Will is a bit sad as he has had to leave his friend behind but I'm sure he will cope once we are on the plane, and Sam is as usual just living in the moment and is currently excited about the mini bar. It's a very early start for us tomorrow as we have to be at the airport for 5:30am and as yet we still have no where to stay!

It's so nice to say, 'tomorrow we are going to Sydney' and that not fill me with fear, freeze my blood and have me running to the loo. For any of you who don't know, travel used to make me do just that, in fact at one point even a simple trip to the cinema would do that - so it's amazing for me to think, tomorrow we are going to Sydney and be really excited about the fact. I'm sure many people will remember my trip to Belfast for work, when I arrived at the venue in floods of tears because I had made it in one piece, and that fact scared the life out of me and all I wanted to do was go back home, the clients had to take me for a glass of wine to calm me down. Or the time I left the office for a holiday in Spain, waving everyone goodbye and sobbing my heart out because I didn't want to go.

Do you know I think I might be growing up - Another thing is that I am far less tollerent of people and really quite like that fact. There was a time when I would have just gone along with stuff because it was easier than arguing or standing my corner, but now I enjoy saying, 'no, I don't think I would like to do that thank you very much' and not care what people think about me. Perhaps I'm turning into my dad (not that I have a grey beard and look like a gnome).

So now we are going to make the most of the hotel, Will is watching the rugby, Sam is making Hot Chocolate and I am charging everything in sight and am about to have a bath and then lie on a comfy bed (yipee).

Last week in NZ

Have not been able to update for a few days as we have not had internet access. Tom and Claire arrived safe and sound from the UK and appeared like two people who seriously needed sunshine, sand and relaxation after the stress of the British Summer, I'm pleased to report that after 4 days in the sun they are now looking and feeling much more healthy. We have had to shift the dynamics of our little trio to accommodate the new comers and this has been an interesting shift but we are now all camped up on the Piha campsite... and of course we are counting down the days to Sydney. I am really excited about going to Sydney. I was chatting with a German guy on the site the other day and we were discussing the fact that although we (and he) are travelling for some time, the part before you move to another country (or back home) needs to be a period of quiet contemplation, to reflect on and absorb all that you have seen and learned over the period of travel... this time in Piha feels like a little beach holiday before we leave Oz.

So thoughts on NZ - After the leaving the mount I think it took me a while to get into the swing of NZ, the space and the countryside. I was amazed by the way that NZ reminded me so much of England even though it was on the other side of the world, with a similar climate and lush green fields. NZ is very clean and there is little rubbish here (from what we have seen), the people are very friendly and you very rarely see police cars or police men around. In Central America the three of us were a tight unit, unified by the strangeness of Central America, here we have had to share each other with more people and this has sometimes changed the dynamics of our group. In some ways I miss the closeness we had in Central America but we all enjoy the freedom that other people bring to the trip. It's lovely to lie on the beach now and chat to Claire whilst Will and Tom surf. Sam has enjoyed fishing with Tom and not just having to talk to me and Will, he has also made friends with some of the local kids. I am no closer to understanding the integration of Maori culture into the NZ way of life but we have tried our best...I would have liked to get Sam a greenstone before we left but ho hum.

But much as I have enjoyed NZ I am sooo looking forward to Oz and can't wait to see Sydney and walk over the bridge and maybe see the opera at the opera house. Most of all I can't wait to get out of the van and into a house!!!

We are all fine here but Sam has strained his wrist and is a bit upset that he has to stay out of the surf for a few days (poor little Sam) but he is on the mend fortunately!! Am off to make food now but will update on Sat night from our posh hotel (yay!)

Piha Cafe...

Still in Piha, only quick update today because will and Sam are hassling me. So we love Piha and are going to stay here for evermore - well for a few more days anyway. The usual things are present here, good surf, kids and a cafe. Today me and Sam were home schooling and a lady took a picture of us for the facebook page check it out here http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Piha-Cafe/327904323645?v=wall

Only a couple of weeks left in NZ now and then we head to Sydney - just need to sort out accommodation but have a few friends on the case...hope all's well back home x

ps. pic of Sam paddling onto a 'bomb' will explain surf lingo in another post - wait until you hear about the 'wax jobs'!!! No pic sorry - stupid computer

Piha

We are in Piha at the moment which is a beautiful little coastal town close to Auckland, at the foot of lush green mountains, slightly reminiscent of El Salvador. You wind your way down the greenest, windiest road to get here and then find yourself on a beautiful beach with huge rocks on each side, one is called Lions rock because it is shaped like a sleeping lion. You should google it, it’s lovely. The campsite is 2 minutes walk from the beach down a winding walkway and the site is very cheap to stay on and run by really welcoming people.

In the kitchen there are 'Instructions for Life' written on the wall. So in honour of my new found hippy travelling spirit (which Will keeps putting a dampener on by being grumpy) I have written them out for you all:

1) Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risks.

2) When you lose, don’t lose the lesson

3) Follow the 3 R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions

4) Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck

5) Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly

6) Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship

7) When you realise you’ve made a mistake take immediate steps to correct it

8) Spend some time alone everyday

9) Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values

10) Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer

11) Live a good honourable life. Then when you get older and think back you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time

12) A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life

13) In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past

14) Share your knowledge it’s a way to achieve immortality

15) Be gentle with the earth

16) Once a year go somewhere you’ve never been before

17) Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other outweighs your need for each other

18) Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it

19) Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon

Dalai Lama

Nice eh? Well it's 9am here and Will is surfing and I now have the increasingly more difficult task of peeling Sam out of bed, don't know if it's because he's 13 now but he reeeeally likes to sleep in. We will head up to the lovely local cafe, drink coffee, eat cakes and learn French overlooking the ocean, now who wouldn't want to get up for that?! Pic attached of Sam opening his camera from his Dad on his birthday, I think his face says it all.

The spirit of adventure

Well Hot Water Beach lived up to it's name, we dug a hole in the sand and the hole filled with hot water, actually it was bloody boiling in some places and we spent a good three hours lazing in our own private volcanic pool. It wasn't quite as private as it sounds as there were actually about 100 other people lounging in their own equally private hot water pools but there you go. After our soak we found a campsite down a long winding track, the track went on forever and soon turned into an unsealed road and then we crossed a river and by this time I was getting flashbacks to Nicaragua, but eventually we pulled up in the Coromandel national forest and paid a pittance to stay in a lovely forest. The only downside were the showers, I had hoped for a nice shower to wash off the mountains of sand which had accumulated in my pants in our private hot water pool, but showering in a forest is never fun and so I decided that a few strategically placed wet wipes would suffice.

The next day was great, a really unplanned brilliant day. We got up and did some French and then walked into the forest along a stream, passing old gold mine tunnels on the way. We wandered down to the stream and paddled out, jumping on the rocks and building a damn in the middle with all the huge boulders. After this we drove into town and went to the supermarket buying fresh bread, ham, cheese and avocados for a delicious sandwich and then headed off to find another camp site. The main sites are all very expensive this weekend as it's New Zealands national day on Sunday but we managed to find another site off the beaten track where there were no other campers so we had the whole place to ourselves. We unpacked and cleaned out the van and made a lovely stir fry with loads of fresh veggies, got the washing done, read books, played cards and generally had a nice relaxing evening (I even managed to get that much needed shower). Then I updated the blog and booked our final nights accommodation in Auckland at the Travel Lodge yippee!!

I also thought some more about the trip, sometimes I lose sight of what we are doing and slip back into not doing the things I want to do (for example I'm really mad that I didn't ride the advanced Luge in Rotarua, I mean when will I ever get the chance to do that again). So I have decided to lighten up again and make the most of each moment, I'm not sure when I stopped doing that, I think it was around Napier, maybe that's what I needed to do then after the manicness of Central America, but it seems like such a waste. Anyway I feel like I have woken up again to the spirit of what we are doing and the spirit of adventure. Enjoying the freedom and I realised yesterday that I actually really like travelling (even in a small van with two smelly boys).

So today we are heading out of the Coromandel I think and moving towards the Bay of Islands, we need to be in Auckland to pick up Will's friend Tom and his girlfriend Claire who are arriving and travelling with us for the last week of the NZ leg. So I invite you all to embrace your day today and perhaps do something a little off the wall to also embrace the spirit of adventure - please let me know what you did.

ps. In the forest I had a dream that I met Laurence Delaglio (is that how you spell it?) and then another dream in which my Dad was due to have lunch in Gold Brick House with Joe Cocker but cancelled it because he thought he was too fat (my dad not Joe) so instead myself and Debra Wren went and met him and Debbie was wearing a wedding dress, make of that what you will!!

6 months in

We are now in The Coromandel which is a peninsula just around the bay from The Mount. We drove up here yesterday to amazing views (although if I’m honest I’m a bit over views at the moment). We stopped at a place called Hot Water Beach which is a gorgeous white sand beach and at low tide you dig a hole in the sand which fills with hot water to bathe in. The water is heated by volcanic rock close to the surface. Actually a lot of volcanic rock seems to be quite near to the surface in NZ and truth be told it’s a little unsettling if you think about it too much, and someone told us yesterday that there have been 3000 aftershocks following the Queenstown earthquake in August last year!! Still we will come back later today and dutifully dig our hole. We were planning on visiting Cathedral Cove just around the bay but it’s been closed due to the heavy storms that hit the region last weekend.

We are now 6 months into the trip and it seems to have flown by , I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times when I wished the finishing post were in sight but to be honest the time has gone surprisingly quickly. I look back on Central America now and wonder where the time went, I can’t believe that was three months ago, I also can’t believe that I was that brave, I mean honestly, jumping off a platform in the rainforest attached to a bit of wire, who do I think I am... Lara bloody Croft!!

We have also learned a lot on the trip, at least I have. I think you have to when you are all living in such close proximity. For example it’s important to take your own space when you get the chance, for Sam and Will that’s surfing and for me that’s walking around the towns or sitting on the beach watching the sea, or reading. We also have to be very organised to live in the van, everything has its place and there is no waste and no rubbish, we can’t accumulate more that we can carry so have few unnecessary possessions, for example as soon as a book is read it’s offloaded to the nearest reader and replaced with a new one. Even walking around the shops isn’t so bad anymore as you know that you can’t have more than you can carry so new clothes replace old ones and old ones are given away and anything new has to be travel sized. Money is precious and each purchase is thought about, if we treat ourselves to a meal then we know we will be drinking tap water. If we want a milkshake we know we will have to forego the cookie, it’s a good lesson for us all, not just for Sam.

It has also been great spending all this time with Sam. It’s true you can learn a lot from kids and I realise how good he is at living in the moment and not worrying about the past or the future. It’s also great that people we meet along the way come up and tell me what a lovely boy he is. For example a family on the campsite all came to me individually and said how lovely he was with the younger kids, organising them and looking after them, making sure they didn’t get hurt. At the Maori meal the family next to us said how great he was as he offered to make everyone a cup of tea after the food. He also has such a good way with adults, asking questions and taking an interest in their lives. Very proud! He is also a pain in the arse and a stroppy teenager so let’s not get too carried away and still a bit of a tyrant!

And speaking of tyrants then there’s Will. Will is loving the trip and I don’t think he wants to glimpse the finishing post, he is loving surfing, meeting people and living in the van!! He is our driver, wheel fixer and cheif looker afterer and is generally very happy so long as there is surf around. I think one of the hardest things about travelling as a couple is that when you are pissed off with each other there is nowhere to go – I can’t sit in my friends house and cry and he can’t go and knock down a wall but together we have managed to create enough space to go off in our own strops and then come back together once the storm has passed.

So there you have it, 6 months in and we’re still rolling along, sometimes more jolting along actually but for the most part it’s pretty smooth... that said there is a bit of jolting going on in the front right now as Will and Sam do maths which can go either way, some days it’s all laughter and others days there is definitely NO laughter (it’s like that today)!!!! So I’m off for a walk on hot water beach... have a great day y’all.