I don't think it was long after returning from South America that Peter said he would like to go back. Now I did love Gerty (our Landrover Defender 110) but it was a little cramped and as Peter could not be trusted to stay holding a bath towel around me whilst I showered outside I agreed to the second trip on condition that we got a bigger vehicle so that showering and cooking could take place inside. What to get? We wanted a 4x4 with sufficient headroom for Pet...

Peter finally picked me up in our next campervan which is a 6 berth so a bit on the large size but rather comfy and spacious. It has three double beds so we had one each and the best sleeps ever. We named her Helga, as she is a Mercedes and the staff in the hire depot were all German girls, very efficient and a bit fierce. We drove south out of Sydney on a 6 lane freeway which was a little busy. We soon turned off and headed into the Blue Mountains. In fact it b...

Here we are in Sydney, Australia. We are not really city people but we have been rather taken with Sydney, although that is surprising considering our journey from the airport was with a driver who was a little odd to say the least. He started by saying he was working for a few more hours which was good as it would give him time to work of all the coffee he had drank. He went on to tell us about people stepping out in front of cars and trains and not paying atten...

On our final leg we headed to Timaru, on the east coast, to look at some rocks a bit like the Giants Causeway basalt columns (not as impressive). We stayed one night and then headed up to Christchurch via a nice little town called Geraldine which has yet another car museum but more interestingly a replica of the Bayeux tapestry including the missing panels believed to show the coronation of William. It is made from masking tape covered in tiny pieces of steel o...