Next day we explored Milford Sound. This is a very different place to Doubtful Sound-much more austure and on a grander scale.The drive was superb- most of the journey took us through the National Park which is one enormous temperate rain forest. Finally we arrived in the middle of bleak and snowy mountains at Homer Tunnel, the only way into the Sound. We had to stop at the traffic lights- well what do you expect in the middle of the wilderness! While w...

Great journey to Mt.Cook- drove alongside a lake with breathtaking mountain views ahead. We kept stopping to take photos of the great mountain! When we arrived we found superb accommodation at a greatly discounted rate. On entering the room we found ourselves looking out at one incredible mountain- Mount Cook was totally framed in the glass like a picture window. This must be one of the greatest hotel views in the world.( only problem-it did not look like th...

One more night in Kaikoura in an interesting B&B and a walk along the coast to the seal colony we headed for Hamner Springs. We found a superb motel overlooking the mountains with its own spa pool- with a glass of wine in our hands we had to try it. Later we scared the locals by pedalling a quad bike around the town! Having never ridden a bike and having a poor sense of direction it proved to be an interesting experience! Sandy was much relieved to return in ...

Sydney is a wonderful city. We have visited a great number of major cities on our travels, but Sydney is one of the few that we would like to live in. It is a vibrant cosmopolitan place with a rich culture and a fantastic location. The people are amongst the most welcoming that we have met anywhere( in fact most Australians are friendly and very helpful).The first night we went down to Darling Harbour- this is an exciting place and full of restaurants and ca...

One of the highlights of our whole trip! - an early start for a day in the rainforest. We  chose our trip carefully to make it as natural as it could be- our guide took only 6 people and what a truly wonderful day it was. We drove along the coast to the Daintree river which can only be crossed by cable ferry. Over the other side we stopped at Alexandra Point Lookout to view the rainforest- wow- sounds,mist, rain, trees....We drove further into the rainforest...