Our first stop in the South Island was a town called Nelson. We don't have that much to say about it because we spent our time out in the Abel Tasman National Park - New Zealands newest and smallest NP and one of the most popular places for Kiwi's to spend Christmas. We took a cruise up the coast to the far end of the park passing the famous Split Apple Rock (see photos) and a small seal colony (also see pics) along the way. Because of the very high tide that ...

Hey everyone, sorry it has taken a while to write this blog entry but we have been busy!On our final leg of the north island we visited Rotorua, Taupo, Hastings and Wellington. None of which were as picturesque as the far North but still worth a visit.Rotorua is famous for it's geothermal activity, Maori culture and adrenaline activities. Needless to say we didn't engage in any adrenaline sports although we did attempt to go Zorbing but were refused on account ...

Hey everyone, here we are in a somewhat colder New Zealand. It's been abit of a shock to the system leaving the 25C - 30C which we've been used to for the last two and abit months. So it was jeans on, thermals out and hoodies on!! We arrived in New Zealand and recieved a free cup of tea at the airport, a good start by anyones standards. Especially Beckys! After finally clearing customs after having our tent and boots cleaned by Bio-Security we got on the bus ...

Sadly, we left Vorovoro on 22nd July - the place that so quickly began to feel like home. Despite advice from others to extand our stay we decided that there was more to see on the mainland and stuck to our original leaving date. Lisa (tribal chief) told us that when in Vorovoro, ' the first week you settle in, the second week you enjoy, the third week you fall in love and the fourth week you extend your stay!' We think that if we hadn't of left when we did then ...

Hi all, we originally posted a blog on Saturday but due to Fiji internet connections it never made it to the site!! So this one will be a long one - you might need a cuppa! here goes... Life on the island is definitely different and not what we are used to but it is a unique experience. Marks initial impression was that it was a bunch of hippies on an island - it's not too far from the truth in one or two cases but certainly not all. There are people from all wa...