Sydney, Australia & New Zealand

We flew into Sydney on Boxing Day and spent 3 days looking around the City. Did the Zoo by ferry, the Shopping Centre, the Maritime Museum and the Speed Boat trip round the bay. The weather was very hot and you could feel the buzz in the air in the build up to New Year celebrations.

From there we flew to Christchurch on the 30th December. Picked up the Camper van from the airport and drove round to the nearest campsite for the night. The facilities in these sites are great, kitchens, showers, BBQs Spas. Bikes for the kids to hire.

We planned to have new year in Queenstown, but it took us 8 hours to drive as far as Cromwell (after I made a bit of a directional blunder on the map) so we saw the New Year in there. Its a lovely scenic place, right on the Clyde Dam, with loads of water sports going on and some lovely walks.

From there we drove an hour to Queenstown, which was very busy, all the sites were full and our only option was at a site at Arrowtown, which turned out to be perfect. An old goldmining town which still maintains its traditional features and buildings, just 10 minutes from Queenstown. We arrived at about 4pm, so we quickly changed and caught the bus to Queenstown, where we had dinner on the quay with Denise, John and family (from KL), who were also travelling round NZ. The next day we spent looking around the village and the local Goldmining Museum which was actually very educational and interesting. Hamish managed to find a fish fosil in one of the shops, so that was quickly bought, although I don't believe it was found anywhere near New Zealand.

Next stop was Franz Josef Glazier, which saw us drive 7 hours up the West Coast along some beautiful scenery along a very high mountain range and Lake districts. The weather was lovely so it was a really pleasant drive. Once settled in at another Campsite, we took a helicopter ride up to Fox Glazier. Stopping for 10 minutes on the glazier itself to take some pictures and have a look at the amazing view. Followed by lunch and a walk along the river basin to see the Glazier from ground level. We stayed at the campsite for two nights before driving over to the East Coast to Kalkoura to the Popular Whale and Dolphin area.

From here we went from air to sea travel to see the three residential male Sperm Whales that reside in the bay, and had the added bonus of seeing dusky dolphins, Hector dolphins and Albatross. I was very sea sick after seeing the Whales, so Graham took Sara on the Dolphin swim that she desperately wanted to do the next day. Charlotte was supposed to go as well, but she has had a bad cough for a few weeks now and woke up with a sore head, so stayed with Hamish and me to help pack up the campervan. Sara was all geared up in Wetsuits, flippers and snorkel and had three good swims with the Dusky dolphins. It was very cold and they were treated to hot showers, hot chocolate and ginger biscuits once back on board the boat. The boat had engine trouble and a lot of them were very sick on the way back.

After the kids and me had finished packing, we had a late breakfast in the dolphin cafe and bumped into Denise and John who had just been on the whale watch.

After meeting Graham and Sara back from their trip and having a quick lunch, we drove the 3hours down to Christchurch. After dropping the Campervan off at the depot and checking into a hotel for the night, we took a bus ride into town. Had a look around the shops and the lovely town centre before dinner and another trip back to the hotel for the night, before flying up to Aukland and then home to KL.