New Zealand

'Happy Christmas, war is over, if you want it' John & Yoko and Murray & Lynn

Hello everyone

Well it's been 6 months since we started our round the world trip and we have 6 more to go. Tomorrow (Dec 21st) we fly to Fiji and then on December 28th it's on to Chile for the start of our South American adventure.

This is what we have been up to since I last wrote.

Sunday 16th December
We woke at 8.30am to the sound of our alarm and it took us a while to waken properly. We had breakfast and made our way to the Black Water Rafting Co to take part in their Black Abyss adventure!

We were in a group of 8 and the other 6 people were on holiday from Australia. We got kitted out in wet suits, boots, helmet, head torch and a harness and drove to the cave entrance. We were then taught how to abseil and then it was time for the real deal. We started off with a 35 metre abseil into the cave, straight down. At the bottom we then walked through to another drop. This time we tackled it by sliding down a flying fox in complete darkness as the guides asked us all to turn our torches off.

After another short walk we came to a dead end. The only way was down, into a freezing cold underwater river. The guides had brought flasks of tea and we dangled our legs over the edge and drank some nice warm tea. The guides then told us to take our harnesses off and then grab a rubber ring and jump off into the river. I thought he was kidding but this was no joke. One of the Aussies went first, holding his ring to his bum and jumping off, landing with a splash. I was third in and the force of my jump took me under before the ring brought me back to the surface. Lynn soon followed and we then paddled our way up stream. After 5 minutes or so the guide told us to turn our head torches off and there were gasps of amazement at the glow worms that lit up above our heads. Clubs in Ibiza would pay a fortune to have a lighting display like this. It was absolutely beautiful. The guide told us all to make a chain, turn our torches off and he would lead us back down stream. We floated down marvelling at the natural light display the glow worms put on for us.

After a while we ditched our rings and had to swim, scramble and climb our way down stream. To get out we had to climb up 3 waterfalls, the first was about 3 metres high and the two guides made sure everyone got up OK. The second one was slightly smaller and the third was easy to manage on our own.

It was nice to get outside into the sunshine after 2.5 hours underground. The caving experience was excellent and Lynn and I would both thoroughly recommend it to anyone visiting NZ.

After soup and a bagel we drove 2 hours to Ohakune and booked into a camp site for 2 nights so we could attempt the Tongariro Crossing the following day - weather permitting.

Monday 17th November
We got up at 7am as the shuttle bus was picking us up at 7.30am. The weather forecast was not good and we were told we would not be able to attempt the crossing due to winds and low lying cloud up the volcano. The good news was that there was an alternative lower level walk that we could do. We decided to go for it and we jumped in the mini bus. We arrived at the start around 9am and discovered that there was a fellow Scot on the bus - Jim from Paisley with his partner (from Surrey) Candy. There was also a Yorkshireman called Paul who now lives in Bearsden.

We all walked together for most of the trip and Paul in particular was excellent company and a good laugh. The sun was shining but the clouds were hanging over the volcano (Mount Doom in Lord Of The Rings). We walked until after 4pm, stopping at springs, streams and waterfalls on route. It was a good walk and our feet were aching at the end of it.

Jim invited us to his hotel for dinner as it was Candy's birthday the following day. Paul, his wife Gwen and son Neil were also staying there and we all agreed to meet up. We went back to our camp site for a shower and spa bath before heading to 'The Powder Keg' for a lovely dinner in the hotel where many of the Lord Of The Rings characters had stayed when they filmed.

Tuesday 18th December
Woke at 8am as it had been raining overnight. We decided to head up to Lake Taupo on the way back to Auckland with a possible stop at Orakei Korako. We stopped at the info centre at Lake Taupo and discovered that Orakei was rather like Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland we had visited and as it was raining slightly we just headed on back to Auckland, with a 45 minute stop over to see 'the craters of the moon'.

Traffic was terrible and the rain was pounding down as we arrived back in Auckland. Jennifer made a nice stir fry and I stayed up late to watch the replay of the Manchester United v Liverpool match, with United winning 1-0 courtesy of a Carlos Tevez goal. Nice one Tevez!

Wednesday 19th December
We had a very lazy morning. I sent a load of Christmas e-mails, Lynn did 3 loads of washing, we chilled out and then headed into town to meet Peter, Andrew and their Dad Mark. Peter has moved into a room in a grand old house in the cool Grey Lynn area of Auckland. It's a cracking house and with a spare room it meant Lynn and I could crash over after dinner and drinks. We went out to Ponsonby Road, the hi and happening street in Auckland. We had dinner and drinks and sang along to some guy playing guitar. It was weird seeing so many people on Christmas nights out in the sunshine!

Thursday 20th December
Ooh we were slightly rough this morning. We're getting too old for big nights out! We left Peters around 10am and went for a nice fry up in Ponsonby Road - Turkish bread with bacon, sausages, scarmbled egg and mushrooms, washed down with a cup of tea and a fruit juice.

Feeling slightly better we headed into town and picked up a few things for South America and sorted out some stuff for Christmas.

We're now back in Jennifers and Peter and Andrew are coming for dinner along with my Great Aunt Betty. Tomorrow we fly to Fiji after 6 fantastic weeks in New Zealand. If you have a list of countries you want to visit and New Zealand isn;t on the list, it's time to reassess the list!

Have a great Christmas wherever you are

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Hey all

Well Lynn and I are 6 months into our year around the world, or as much of it as possible. We've had a fantastic time so far, we've seen some amazing places, met some great people, tasted a variety of beers, ate some outstanding food and spent quality time together.

We fly to Fiji on December 21st and then on to South America on Dec 28th. After 3 months in New Zealand and Australia it will probably be quite a culture shock. At the same time, it will be very good for our budget! South East Asia was remarkably cheap and we lived well on only 50 pounds a day (for the 2 of us). That included a number of internal flights.

Australia is much more expensive. On a par with the UK and in the case of Sydney, more expensive! New Zealand is cheaper though and both countries have provided us with fond memories. Here is a little list of some of my highlights. I'm sure they are some of Lynn's as well.

Thailand
Chiang Mai night market
Feeding, walking with and washing elephants at www.elephantnaturepark.org
Haad Yao beach
Falling down a waterfall in Pai

Laos
The slow boat ride down the Mekong Delta
Hanging out in Luang Prabang, a gorgeous city.
Luang Prabang waterfalls and pools
Tubing and caving in Viang Viene

Vietnam
The junk boat cruise and overnight stay in Halong Bay
The gorgeous old town of Hoi An
A 4 day motorbike tour
Cu Chi tunnels
Saigon and the War Museum

Cambodia
Visiting an orphange for kids with Aids and taking them rice, fruit and footballs
The Killing Fields and the S21 museum - unbelievable to contemplate what went on here
Siem Reap
The Angkor Watt Temples - truly beautiful and awe inspiring

Malaysia
Trekking in the Cameron Highlands and Teman Negara Rainforest
A top night out in Melaka with Frank and Kate - singing on stage with the band
Kuala Lumpar

Philippines
Hanging out with Ken and Gwen
Swimming with a dolphin and false killer whale
Boracay Beach

Singapore
The zoo and night safari

Australia
The Great Barrier Reef
Fraser Island - we'll be back
The Whitsundays - we may be back
Sydney - gorgeous city
South West Australia - green and fresh, chilled and relaxed
Ayers Rock - camping out under the stars
Chill Island Music Festival
Hanging with friends Amy and Simon in Perth, Maureen and Innes and Julie, Andrew and Andrew in Adelaide.
Hanging with Ian, Felicity and Meg in Melbourne.
Enjoying home comforts with all of the above!

New Zealand
Hanging out with my 92 year old Great Aunt Betty, her daughter Jennifer and grandsons Peter and Andrew
Lynn's folks coming out
Lynn's folks paying for a few things!
The South Island - jaw dropping, lip smacking, tongue wagging scenery
Canyon Swing and River Boarding in Queenstown
My first ever game of golf with Lynn's Mum
Milford Sound plane trip and cruise
Helicopter ride and walk on the top of Franz Josef Glacier
Hike up Franz Josef Glacier
Meeting old friend Chris Chung and going caving in Clifden
The Waitomo Caves
Our hike in Tongariro National Park
Auckland - a cool city and somewhat under-rated

Fave beers
1. Monteiths Zesty (New Zealand)
2. Chang Beer (Thailand)
3. Beer Laos (Laos)

Fave food - Thai
Fave meal - Silver Elephant Restaurant in Saigon for Lynn's birthday

WOW - we've experienced quite a bit and I could easily add to that list. I have to thank the friends and family we've hung out with and stayed with in Oz and NZ for their hospitality. We're also delighted to hear that our friends Fraser and Craig are coming out to see us in Brazil and Peru. It will be great to catch up with them in person.

Our rough plan for South America is - Chile for January, Brazil for February and then the only other thing we know is that we'll be in Peru at the end of March if not before. Bolivia, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands are also on our wish list and we hope to end with 3 or 4 weeks in Argentina. Our flight back is booked for June 10th, hopefully our money wil last. We return to two weddings, our friends Kenny and Marjorie on June 14th and Lynn's brothers on the 19th. So it will be great to catch up with so many friends when we get back.

Oh, and if anyone knows of any good jobs going around that time, please get in touch!

Not sure when we'll next be online, probably after Fiji so have a fab Christmas and all the very best for 2008.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

'I am just a dreamer and you are just a dream' 'Like A Hurricane' by Neil Young

A beautiful lyric from an amazing song.

Hello everyone

Well it's been over a week since my last blog update so I'd better get cracking on updating you on what we have been up to. Hopefully I'll start getting back into the routine of updating it twice a week, although that nay have to wait until New Year as I'm not sure how many internet cafes there will be in Fiji!

Saturday 8th December
Well the John Lennon tribute night wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I think I'll have one in Glasgow next year but make it on John's birthday (October 9th) rather than the date of his death. The band that were orginally booked cancelled so we had a one man band, a guy singing and playing guitar to backing tracks. I don't think he knew many Beatles/Lennon songs as the first 3 songs showcased tunes by Crowded House and others I didn;t know. There was eventually a cheer when he played 'Love Me Do', before playing more non-Beatle songs. People were getting restless and the barman had a word, prompting another Beatles song, but we left after he murdered 'Oh Darling' - a McCartney song, not a Lennon song.

Sunday 9th December
Lynn and I mazed ourselves by getting up early and going for a run around some playing fields near our caravan park. Lynn lasted for 20 minutes while I gave up around 15 minutes. We're both a little out of shape from no running exercise, so we hope to try and go for a run 2 or 3 times a week if we can.

After a shower and breakfast we drove out to the Otago Peninsula to New Zealand's only castle - Larnoch Castle. It's actually more of a country house, but hey, who are we to argue? The castle was lovely, restored to it's former glory after year's of neglect. After the castle we headed back into town and climbed the world's steepest street, according to the Guiness Book Of Records - Baldwin Street. I'm sure a few streets in Glasgow must come close.

After that we had some lunch in the Octagon and then went on the Cadbury World tour and got some free chocolate, well it was part of the admission fee of $17NZ. The highlight was when we climbed inside a disused chocolate tower and watched in amazement as our guide let 5 tonnes of chocolate pour from a huge vault right before our eyes. Mmmmmm.

We went back to the campervan and sat outside reading in the sun before cooking our own dinner for a change, a lovely fish curry. We then watched a great film 'The Last King Of Scotland'. Well worth checking out if you haven't already.

Monday 10th December
We got up, packed the van, had breakfast and made some sandwiches for lunch before setting off on the road to Christchurch. Lynn phoned our friend Lyndsey before we left and enjoyed chatting to her for the first time in ages. E-mail is great for keeping in touch but you can't beat a good phone call.

We headed north to Christchurch and it rained lightly most of the way, so we picked a good day to travel. We stopped in St Andrews for lunch. We arrived in Christchurch and booked into the camp site where our South Island adventure had begun. We then headed into town and went to an internet cafe to book our transport for the north island and to check out Fiji prices. We then went to the supermarket and made Chicken Fajita's for dinner and watched the Spy Game on dvd. Not a bad film, one for the girls as it stars Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

Tuesday 11th December
We got up at 9am but we had been awake for a while as it was quite hot. We phoned a place called the Adrenaline Forest and booked in on a 12.45pm slot. We killed time by walking round a shopping centre and Lynn bought a pair of insoles for her new trainers.

The Adrenaline Forest consisted of Flying Foxes, rope bridges, rope swings and more. There were 4 routes - discovery, adventure, thrill and adrenaline. We booked on all 4 for $33NZ. It was great fun, the routes got tougher as you went on and we were swinging 17 metres above the ground at one stage - all harnessed on and extremely safe though.

The 4 route took us 2.5 hours all in and our legs and arms were aching a bit by the end. The flying foxes, or death slides as I know them, were brilliant and there were some fantastic swings and obstacles to climb over, under and through - all suspended from trees. All in all it was a bargain.

We treated ourselves to fizzy juice and ice cream in a nearby park afterwards before heading back to the camp site. We went for a dip in the pool and had a good laugh on the kids slide, which was surprisingly fast! You can't beat acting like a kid. We are both very young at heart!

We used the rest of our food to have chicken fajita's again and played draughts on a $2.99NZ magnetic travel board I bought at Franz Josef. Another bargain.

Wednesday 12th December
We left Christchurch and the beautiful South Island behind and flew up to Auckland. We said goodbye to our campervan and home of the last 3 weeks. The flight was on time and took a little over an hour, so we arrived in Auckland just after 3pm. We got our bags and picked up our new car/home called a Juicy Crib. Juicy is the rental company and this time we have rented a car the size of a people carrier that has a bed in the back, a fridge, gas stove and sink. It's a lot faster than our South Island campervan!

We drove to my Great Aunt Betty's and it was great to see her again, although her hip is playing upa bit, but she's magic for 92! My cousin Peter arrived after work and we went to his Mum Jennifer's for dinner of Salmon, salad and poatoes with some beer and wine. Peter's brother Andrew arrived and we got to see his holiday pictures from Fiji from the previous week. It looks gorgeous and we are starting to look forward to a week on beach. Travelling is amazing, but every now and then you need to veg out and our week in Fiji will be ideal before we head to South America. The biggest decision we'll have to make will be whether to swim in the pool or the sea.

Thursday 13th December
We had a lazy morning checking out accomodation options in Fiji before heading into town to pick up the new prescription sunglasses I had ordered our last time in Auckland. In the morning paper I discovered that the Australian band Architecture In Helsinki (brilliant name) were playing that night at the Kings Arms Tavern, so we went to Real Groovy Records and bought two tickets. We then drove to another area of town where Lynn bought a new pair of Birkenstock sandles as she has worn out her current pair.

We drove back to my Great Aunt Betty's and Jennifer met us for fish 'n' chips. My Aunt Betty had had a busy day, seeing a physio about her hip and finding out if she can get a wheelchair, she had her cleaner round, she got her haircut and also found out about getting her shower sorted so she can get in and out more easily. She was in good form and Lynn, Jennifer and I helped to dress her Christmas tree. As Jennifer works in a Christmas shop, the tree looked fantastic.

After sorting out the Christmas decorations Lynn and I headed into Auckland to the gig. We arrived at 9pm only to find out things were running 'slightly behind schedule'. That was a bit of an understatement! The first band, the unfortunately named 'Moron Say Yeah!', came on at 10pm. They looked around 17 or 18, 4 girls including a super cool Asian girl on drums. They announced that their first song was brand new and proceeded to play a shambolic pop, punk electrto throb before quitting after a few minutes to announce they needed to practice more. Their youthful enthusiasm had an instant appeal and despite the fact they played like they had maybe only practiced together a few times, their ideas and enthusiasm won over the crowd. They were kind of like CSS only nowhere near as polished.

The next band has all sorts of problems with their sound and took ages to set up, eventually coming on around 11.15pm. They had all sorts of keyboards, effects, delay pedals and percussion, despite the fact that there was only 3 of them. They were called The Ruby Suns. They were not very good, but full marks for trying to be different.

On to Architecture In Helsinki, who I first caught 2 years ago with my sister Carla when they played the fantastic Mono in Glasgow. They right infectious and experimental pop songs in a pretty unique way. There were 6 of them on stage, when they eventually went on at 12.05am. They launched into tunes of their recent album and after 20 mintes or so they announced they would also play some old songs, including the fantastic 'I Think Your Mum's In Love With Me' (I think that is the title). 'Do The Whirlwind' was suitably fantastic and an inspired cover version of Mental As Anything's 'Live It Up' brought the house down and had the older people in the audience (including Lynn and I) singing along.

We eventually got home and into bed at 2am!

Friday 14th December
We slept late and I got up before Lynn and phoned our friends Dave and Shona Taylor. It was great to speak to them and catch up on all the news from back home. We left Auckland at 12.15pm and started the drive north to the Bay of Islands. The scenery wasn't as stunning as the South Island and the weather was a little overcast, but it wasn;t a bad drive and we plugged Lynn's i-nano into the stereo and listened to Teenage Fanclub, The Beatles, Hot Chip and more on the journey.

We caught a ferry across to a small town called Russell and checked into a Top Ten caravan site. We walked into town and got a couple of beers in a pub called 'The Pub Round The Corner' and listened to a band playing covers of Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix before heading round the corner for a lovely Thai meal and some good old Chang beer.

Saturday 15th December
We had a bit of a discussion last night about what we were going to do with the rest of our time in New Zealand and decided we really wanted to go to the Waitomo caves, where you can raft, abseil and climb through the caves and Tongariro National Park where you can hike up a volcano. All of this stuff is actually south of Auckland, so we decided that if the weather didn't pick up we would not bother with a cruise round the Bay and we would just head down.

Well it's not raining but it's overcast. We got up and went out for a run to Long Beach. Lynn ran a little further than me, making it up the hill as well as down. My fitness is improving, slowly but surely.

We set off back down the south of the North Island and had a good chat about our travels so far - almost 6 months. We listened to tunes and had a good run right the way down to Waitomo, arriving at 6pm. We booked into the caravan park and then on a caving tour with the Black Water Rafting Company - the tour is called the Black Abyss and features jumps into pools, abseiling into the cave, flying foxes in the dark and a lot of scrambling.

Stay tuned to find out how we got on. We're now further south after the caving and tomorrow we are going to go for a bit of a hike (to say the least) up a volcano!

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

'And in the end, the love you make, is equal to the love you make' - The End by The Beatles

Hello from Dundedin in South New Zealand. It's been a week since our last blog entry so stand by for a super speedy update.

Friday November 30th
Our last night in Queenstown was very civilised, taking in dinner at The Cow restaurant followed by a couple of drinks at Irish bar Pogue Mahones. We checked out at 10.30am and began the drive to Franz Josef. Lynn and I soon sped ahead of her parents, marvelling at the tremendous scenery on route and stopping several times at rivers, lakes and waterfalls to take some photos. If only they did it justice.

The long and winding road went past Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea, so we were in no rush to get to Franz Josef, but we eventually arrived just after 5pm. We checked in and went into town to buy some food for dinner. Just after we got back Les and Winnie arrived and we had dinner on site. Lynn and I watched American Pie 2 on DVD, bought for the bargain price of $10NZ. We had bought Les the Monty Python classic 'A Life Of Brian', so there was a lot of laughter on site.

Saturday December 1st
Where is the time going? It's December! Lynn's Dad wanted a helicopter flight for his birthda, so the four of us booked on the 11.10am helicopter flight up to the top of the Franz Josef glacier. Winnie (Lynn's Mum) is scared of heights, but she did really well and seemed to enjoy the flight over spectacular scenery. The top of the glacier was covered in pure, untouched snow. The flight up took around 15 minutes, we had ten minutes on top - taking pictures, throwing snowballs and making snowangels, before the 15 minute flight back down. It was fantastic, words can't describe the feeling of walking on top of the glacier.

We had lunch in town and Lynn and I booked a Quad Bike tour for the afternoon, while Les and Winnie hired mountain bikes to cycle around town. The Quad Bikes were great fun. We were on them for 90 minutes and sped through the countryside, flying through rivers, hurtling round bends and skidding on the dirt tracks. There was an Irish woman of 70 on our group, with her husband and son!

We went into town for our last dinner with Les and Winnie. They were heading north and then over to Christchurch, while we were heading down to Invercargill to visit and old friend, not before a day hiking on the glacier.

Sunday 2nd December
We were up at 7.30am for breakfast and to say goodbye to Lynn's folks, as we were getting picked up by the tour company at 9.15am. After a tearful farewell (on Lynn's Mum's part) we got picked up and headed into town to get kitted out for the day. As we do a lot of hiking we already had a lot of the equipment required, but we got some crampons fitted to our hiking boots, so we could walk with ease on the ice.

There was a 45 minute hike from the car park to the base of the glacier. We then climbed for 4.5 hours through crevasses and over thick walls of ice. It was good fun, sliding through tight squeezes and climbing sheets of ice using ropes and our crampons. A few people in the group found it quite tough, but Lynn and I really enjoyed it.

We finished at the back of 5 and were back in the campervan having soup and bread to heat us up at the back of 6pm. The campsite rented out dvd's, so we snuggled into our sleeping bags and watched the excellent 'Get Shorty' before falling soundly asleep.

Monday 3rd December
We woke at 8am after a sound sleep. largely helped by our exertions on the ice the prevous day. We were on the road by 9.15am, heading to the Fox Glacier and stopping for a 1.5 hour hike around Lake Matheson, in honour of our friends Ian and Kerry Matheson.

We arrived in a beautiful town called Wanaka, about 2 hours from Queenstown. The scenery was so nice that we decided to stay the night. We had a late lunch and checked into a campsite before walking into town. I went for a swim in possibly the most beautiful setting ever, Lake Wanaka with the snowcapped mountains in the background. I've had the fortune of swimming in some beautiful lakes, rivers, oceans and creeks during this trip but this one might top the lot.

We bought some food and headed back to the campsite to cook some veg pasta and ate it outside watching the sunset on the mountains with a nice bottle of wine. Our film for the night (we're getting into a bit of a routine of watching a film at night) was 'In Pursuit of Happiness' starring Will Smith. We both really enjoyed it and would thoroughly recommend the film. Will Smith is a total star and of course he is the Fresh Prince!

Tuesday 4th December
We checked out at 9am and drove down to the Lake to have breakfast gazing across the water to the snowcapped mountains in the distance. One of the many benefits of having a campervan. We drove along a winding road that cut through, up and down the mountains, joining the Southern 6 highway at Queenstown and speeding along to Invercargill, down the very South of New Zealand. My childhood friend Dr Christopher Chung currently resides in Invercargill and we were to spend a few pleasant days and nights catching up with him.

We arrived at Chris's just after 2pm and immediately went for lunch in Waxy O'Shea's pub before a lovely walk in the sunshine through Queens Park. We then sneaked into the museum (that was closed) and had a quick look at the 'fastest indian in the world' exhibition, dedicated to a local called Burt Munro who was hellbent on being the fastest guy on a motorbike in the world. He succeeded. At night Chris cooked a superb stirfry and we sat up until 11pm chatting. It's great to find out that Chris has fufilled his dream of becoming a doctor.

Wednesday December 5th
We got up at 9.30am after a cracking sleep in a very comfy bed. A nice change from the campervan. We headed off up the coast stopping off at various waterfalls - McLean Falls, Niagra Falls, Horseshoe Falls and many more. We had a long day and arrived back at Chris's at 9pm for fish'n'chips and a movie , one of my faves 'The Incredibles'.

I'll possibly add in some more details of the places we visited at a later date as I'm currently in an internet cafe without the brochures of the areas we visited.

Thursday December 6th
Chris's 32nd birthday. We were thinking about getting the ferry to Stewart Island, but after discovering it was $110NZ return we opted for heading west to the Clifden Caves. It's possible to explore the caves independently, although all the brochures make sure that you are aware that it is challenging, there will be scrambling and you will get wet at one point.

The brochures were correct and we all loved it! With torches at the ready we entered the caves and pretty soon Lynn was sliding down a narrow section, leading the way to part where we could stand up again. It was pitch black and we all worked together to get over, under and around various sections before arriving at the 'swimming pool' section, mentioned in the brochures. The brochures and the info centre had advised that we would get wet at this point, ten minutes before the exit. Thankfully a group led by experienced guides had caught up with us and we could watch how they skirted around the edges of the pool on a narrow ledge, ankle deep. This didn't stop some of them falling in. I volunteered to go first and cautiously skirted round the ledge, slowly feeling each step to ensure I didn;t go in too deep or fall in. I made it and Chris was next. He made it over halfway before losing his rythm and falling/jumping in. The water was waist deep and cold, but he was out in seconds. Lynn made it round the ledge without falling in and after more scramblling, crawling and sliding we went out into the bright sunshine.

We all really enjoyed our caving experience and Lynn and I intend to do some more in the North Island. I think it is safe to say that Chris won't forget this birthday in a hurry.

At night Chris drove to The Cabbage Tree restaurant, about 15km outside of Invercargill. Lynn and I treated him to his birthday dinner in an excellent restaurant before heading back to Chris's to watch our movie of the night 'Mission Impossible 2'.

Friday December 7th
We're now in Dundedin (gaelic for Edinburgh and the city is modelled on Scotland's capital) after a lovely drive along the Southern Scenic HIghway, stopping off at beaches and a cool lighthouse on route. It was great to see my old friend Chris and catch up with him after so many year's. I am sure that it won't be so long before we see each other again.

We've immediately taken to Dunedin and it's funky bars and restaurants. It's a bit of a student town, indeed my cousin Pete studied here. We went for dinner and beers in the sunshine at a bar called The Lemon Room and they were advertising a John Lennon tribute night for tomorrow - the 27th anniversary of his death. So guess what we are doing tomorrow night!

That's all for now folks
Murray and Lynn
xxx

'I think the world is a beautiful place'
'With mountains, lakes and the human race'
'And this is what I wanna do'
'And this is where I wanna be'

Krafty by New Order

Hello from Queenstown in New Zealand, the adventure capital in the world and surely one of the most beautiful places in the world. The natural beauty of New Zealand's South Island is staggering. Read on to find out what we have been up to.

Saturday 24th November
Lynn and I got up and headed into Christchurch Town Centre for a walk around before hitting the road to Mount Cook National Park, while Lynn's parents opted to stay in Christchurch for a Tai Chi festival. We left Christchurch just after 11.30am and the drive to Mount Cook was very pleasant. The mountains loomed in the distance and we zig zagged our way across the country towards them. In the afternoon we stopped at the staggeringly beautiful Lake Tekapo, a truly beautiful turquoise blue lake, surrounded by mountains. We stopped on the banks of the lake beside a tiny church called the Church of the Good Shepherd. We went inside, it must seat a maximum of 50 people, and the views across the lake were worth going to church for. I can't imagine many people falling asleep at a service in there! I was going to go in swimming, but it was so cold so I stopped for a good old Scopttish paddle instead

We continued our drive in the sunshine, stopping again at Lake Pukaki to marvel at the size and colour of the lake. Another deep blue lake that looked like it had been painted into the valley. The scenery was truly memorbale and Dave Taylor's compilation cd's featuring Radiohead, Sigur Ros and Mercury Rev provided a suitable soundtrack, while other tunes by Prince, Deacon Blue and They Might Be Giants! had us singing along. Dave's taste in music also included little gems by King Creoste, Fionn Regan, Neil Young and more.

We checked into a campsite on the banks of Lake Pukaki at around 5pm and decided to walk down to the lake. We had to jump over several small streams on the way and use stepping stones to get there. It was a very pleasant walk in an absolutely gorgeous part of the world. Unfortunately on the way back Lynn tried to jump a rather large stream and slipped and fell on our camera. It can still take pictures but we can't view them on screen anymore. We've now bought a fab new 8 megapixel camera and hope that Lynn's Mum can claim for the cost on her insurance!

We had pasta for dinner and then watched the classic 80's film 'Stand By Me' featuring River Phoenix on our portable DVD player that came with the campervan. They don't make films like that anymore. One of my faves.

I got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and caught the snow capped peaks of Mount Cook glistening in the moonlight, lovely.

Sunday 25th November
We woke early after a good sleep and after a light breakfast we packed up and headed closer to Mount Cook to go trekking, or tramping as Kiwi's call it. The first tramp was a 3 hour tramp taht was really good. We had to cross a couple of rivers using suspension bridges and the majority of the tramp was by rivers and streams. The wind really picked up as we got to the end and grey clouds swooped over us and a light drizzle came down. We sheltered behind a rock and ate our sandwiches before heading back to the campervan.

The second tramp was a light 40 minute round trip to the top of a small hill to view a submerged iceberg. On the way back we took a short detour to view the blue lakes, that actually look green, and I had a refreshing dip in one of them.

With that it was back on the road and we headed towards Queenstown. About 40km ahead of us we spotted another Ezy campervan and wondered if it was Lynn's parents. We soon caught up with the van and discovered it was. What a small world.

We headed into Queenstown and checked into another Top 10 campsite and had a wander round town and a bite to eat.

Monday 26th November
Well if you are a regular reader you will know from the previous entry that Lynn and I did a canyon swing on this day. It's one of the best things we have done, providing a natural rush that I have never experienced before. Absolutely class.

Tuesday 27th November
After yesterday's high it was back down to earth, well the water, as Lynn and I had signed up for River Boarding. River Boarding basically involves hurtling down rapids on a body board. If only I could find the words to describe what it is truly like! It's now Thursday and Lynn and I still have aches in our arms and legs from the River Boarding. It's the most physically demanding thing the two of us have ever done. Absolutely crazy. Grade 4 rapid after grade 4 rapid comes up in your face, there are whirlpools, rocks and currents.

At one point I was hanging on for dear life and in no control of my board, hurtling straight towards a rock face when out of nowhere came on of the guides to pluck me to safety. This happened on at least 3 occassions. The guides were amazing, I don't know how they can take people down the river twice a day as it is incredibly strenuous and demands high levels of fitness that few people must have.

Our group consisted of another 11 people, all of varying ages, fitness and size. We left the River Boarding office at 8am and were back around 12pm. The hours between were the craziest I have ever experienced. We got suited up and had the 3 point safety briefing.

1) Always follow the lead guide - if only it was that easy!
2) Always stay in the middle of the river, away from rocks and in the fastest current - if only it was that easy
3) Look, point and kick in the direction you want to go - if only it was that easy!

The guides left us in no doubt that this would be among the hardest thing any of us ever did. They were right. In fact that was a massive understatement! We jumped into the water on our boards and had a little training session before starting for real. We had been warned that the fist 800 metres was pretty crazy. It was. White water all the way!

We all kicked into the side of the river for a rest after that. Lynn and I were both shattered. We'd been hanging on for dear life, kicking to stay on the board and directing our arms to steer the way we should be going. After 5 minutes we were off again, hurtling into the rapid section known as 'Roaring Meg'. Waves crashed over me again and again, I went under and up, under and up, finally coming out the other end and being relieved to spot a guide nearby. Lynn later told me that she got caught in a whirpool at this section and didn't think she was going to get out. She was under water and needed to breath and took in a mouthful or three of water before the whirpool spat her back out.

We were at the mercy of the rapids and I can only imagine what would have happened to us without the guides. Although this is a massively dangerous activity, the guides experience and fitness levels really do mean that anyone can do it. Or at least try it.

We all got the end in one piece, a little shattered mentally and physically though. Lynn and I were too exhausted to have a go on the water slide and rope swing!

We got back into town and went straight into the campervan for a sleep. Later on we woke and went into a crackinh Irish Bar with a roaring fire and I had a lovely pint of Guiness while Lynn had a large glass of Pinot Gris - look out for this wine back home folks, it's fab.

Lynn's parents met us for a drink and we had dinner in a Fish 'n' Chip shop. Ideal!

Wednesday 28th November
It was another early start as the alarm went off at 6.40am. We had booked a trip to Milford Sound for Lynn's Dad's 60th. He wanted to fly over the mountains to the Sounds, taje a cruise and then fly back again. This was rather than the bus, cruise, bus option that would have meant 8-10 hours on a bus to get there and back.

The flight was at 8am and we were picked up at 7.20am and driven to the small local airport. Our pilot was called Cilla (Surprise, Surprise) and she immediately set about settling Winnie's nerves. Winnie is scared of heights and flying.

The plane was a small 5 seater, with 2 seats in the front for the pilot and co-pilot. There was no need for a co-pilot, so it was just the 4 of us and Cilla. We headed up out over Queenstown, passing over mountains with lakes sitting in their peaks. Crystal clear water, pure white snow, the valley below. It was stunning.

We landed at Milford Sounds airport in 45 minutes and were on the 9am cruise. That's what I call service! Milford Sounds is 70,000 hectares of raw, rugged beauty. Mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, lakes and the ocean. The cruise was brilliant and we saw dolphins, penguins and seals, not to mention the scenery.

After 2 hours it was back to the shore and the short drive to our plane. The flight back was just as memorable, if not more so, than the flight there. The skies didn't have a cloud in them, we couldn't have picked a better day for it. We were back just after mid-day and we all got a bite to eat at the Queenstown bakery.

Lynn and I tidied our campervan as it's going to be our home until around 12th December while Les and Winnie headed to Arrowtown on the 1.05pm bus. We arranged to meet them later and we got the 2.05pm bus.

Arrowtown is a historic little town that formed as part of the gold-rush back in the 1800's. We walked by the river and Les attempted to pan for gold with no success. We had a couple of drinks sitting in the sunshine outside some great wee pubs and then headed back on the 6pm bus.

We had dinner on the campsite and Lynn and I watched the Harrison Ford classic 'The Fugitive' before falling asleep at 11pm.

Thursday 29th November
We slept late after a busy 3 days and we still have aching arms and legs from hanging on to our body boards and kicking for our lives when we went riverboarding. In the afternoon we lay in the sun outside our campervan and read, while Les and Winnie headed back to Arrowtown to watch the NZ Golf Open.

Late afternoon we got a cable car up the top of a hill overlooking Queenstown and went on a luge ride - basically a modern go-kart - and we hurtled down an 800 metre course. The views over Queenstown, across Lake Wakatipu and the Walter Peaks were gorgeous.

We've had a nice lazy day and tomorrow we'll head north towards the Franz Jospeh glacier.

Catch you soon
Murray and Lynn
xxx