So there we are.......

Well we are packed and just going out for a final coffee.....it has been the most amazing trip and writing the blog has been great fun.....

We are looking forward to coming home and seeing family, friends and of course Will.....we have discovered that four weeks is ideal as it means you stop counting the days until you have to return from your holiday but you continue to enjoy yourself...

So hopefully the blog has been fun for you.....and until next time:o)

Iconic Sydney

and finally what have we been doing between keeping fit and eating out .....



For Rich and John these were the first buildings we spotted as we emerged from the train in Sydney....










but of course the bridge and the opera house just dominate Sydney...















and at sunset its truly amazing











and of course The Rocks area where the first convicts landed and were held is now a buzzy, fun area of shops and cafes....












and a visit by ferry from Cronulla to the Royal National Park meant a day spent on an almost isolated beach..









Looking at Sydney in the distance..

Life with an Aussie ........

Well here we are - the final couple of postings.

Many of you dabbling with our blog met Sharyn when she visited the UK - so here is a taste of life staying with her.....


She is a keep fit addict - so power walking, sea swimming and cycling are the morning norm.....











Shame the tyres always need pumping up before a ride - but we finally got away...






The 'unit' in Cronulla is lovely - airy and open



and ideal for sending postcards of New Zealand sheep!

Although Sharyn now has a PhD in Education, technology is still a complete mystery so lots of tasks for Arthur...










and finally a Skype with Sarah:o)






....but some things never change and we have laughed non-stop and eaten out every night...just like old times.....






and for those of you who know the whole story here we are with our old boss!!






so its been fantastic to catch up with a friendship which started 33 years ago

......and guess where we are now???

Yep its Aussie -





and this is where Sharyn now lives - Cronulla just south of the city and Botany Bay.

Sharyn met us from the airport which was interesting as she now has a 2 door coupe and had not emptied all her boxes etc etc ....getting our huge bags in was a challenge AND it was raining!

But you can see today is beautiful and we have been walking for miles - I will definately write a couple more blogs from Sydney but I can see that chilling out is going to be popular.

Take a look at one of the local birds -






Seriously they are flying around in the trees......next blog from the City:o)

Reflections on a great trip

Packing up reminded me of when we arrived - it was complete chaos and Arthur was stressed!! Finally we had jammed everything back into the three huge cases and left the van at Auckland airport.

We had driven 3542km over the three weeks and it had been a stunning experience.

I thought it would be interesting to select 6 words each to sum up the adventure and try to capture the spirit of New Zealand so here are mine......

Invigorating
Exhilarating
Dramatic
Clean
Friendly
Varied

and here are Arthur's

Dramatic
Peaceful
Unpolluted
Friendly
Natural
Idyllic


and we did not compare:o)


Our conclusion regarding the van was that it was the perfect way to see New Zealand......and New Zealand is really geared up for campervanners - we chose to stay at good sites and the facilities were great.





Shower facilities at one of the better campsites.......

Arthur would not let me take a shot of him in the bed but here are a few others:o)





pulling blinds











and of course the van went everywhere.......

a truly memorable experience........we really hope you have enjoyed following our adventure and of course its not over yet:o)

The closing chapter

Well it was a long haul to get to Auckland .....on the way we passed Lake Taupo, which is larger than Singapore, another definate WOW













and our first black swans - for some reason I thought you only found them in Swan Lake!






and then would you believe we made a detour to Rotorua - which is a major volcanic area. Having driven past three active volcanoes ....






we then entered the area of major thermal activity. Rotorua is situated on a volcanic rift which stretches in a 200km line fro White Island off the coast to Lake Taupo and the volcanoes we had earlier driven past in the Tongariro National Park.

It was pretty impressive - as we drove along steam was coming out of bushes and rising from streams and rocks.


We only had time to visit one main area of activity and we chose Te Puia. We saw geysers, bubbling mud pools and hot thermal springs.























The smell of sulphur was awful - but it is pretty sobering to see the earth bubbling away using its own power.

We made it to the final campsite just south of Auckland.

South to North

This has been a long day - 12 hours but 3 of those were spent on the InterIsland Ferry.


The ferry leaves Picton and goes out into the Cook Strait through the Queen Charlotte Sound - again a really lovely journey (apart from the days when the sea is rough!)


Picton reminded us of the South of France - it was sunny with lots of pavement cafes - after 3 weeks in the van it was surprising how quickly we slotted back into that way of life!






and of course always the odd problem - this is sorting Sarah out who has an issue with Sky back at Oakmoor:o)







and then onto the ferry -















So we are now well on our way to Auckland.....we arrived at the current campsite at 9:00pm so have not yet seen our surroundings. We have completed the bulk of the journey so hoping to break the day up tomorrow as we complete the journey north.

Abel Tasman

Our two days and three nights in the Abel Tasman National Park have been great and the weather fantastic. The coastline is rugged with lots of golden beaches and these can only be reached by boat.






There is coastpath which is really the only way to cover the Abel Tasman coastline and both days we spent walking the path.











The views through the forest down to the clear blue waters were amazing...











Now the tricky part of walking the coastpath is working with the tides - if the tides are low at the right time walking across the estuaries is possible - although it can still be rather wet.....and of course this is what I wanted to do. So on the first day Arthur went knee high into the mud....







and had to recover






and on the second day he went thigh high through an incoming tide :o)






I was not popular......










Look at the empty beach!

And some great health and safety.......in December heavy rain had washed away the one and only road into the park and there had been a lot of collapsed cliff - but the path was still open







The sign says 'one person at a time'







and this was underneath....

and round the corner






more collapsed cliff.






Absolutely beautiful :o)