Day 31 home sweet home

Well I have woken up after my first night in my own bed after the long journey home.
It didn't get off to a good start, when our late flight (23:45 departure) was delayed and we were not going to be leaving until nearly 2am!

I have never been more grateful for my coloured blanket that I like to travel with. Callum bunked down an d managed several hours of sleep at the airport and then even more on the plane.

The downside was that on arrival at Singapore we were rushed round the corner and put straight onto the plane to London. As grateful as we were that they waited for the connection (although they didn't wait v long as we made good time to singapore) we found it tough to be cramped on a plane with such a short break to stretch your legs and back.

The last flight seemed to drag a bit, but a steady steam of juice, water, food and all 7 X-men films made the trip bearable.

I must commend Singapore Airlines. If you need to travel long distance I would really recommend them.

Now it is back to washing and unpacking to settle us back in ASAP.

A huge thank you to the Browns, the Randall's and Jeanneannefor opening up their homes to us, to Carey and Sara who flew up to Brisbane to meet us, to all our local friends for feeding our poor insane cat while we were away and to Maggie Burgess who provided so much useful advice for the Queensland part if our tour.

It's over but what an amazing adventure.


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Location:Southampton, uk

Day 28 Another Zoo and what a cracker

After a very lazy start today (Callum didn't even surface until after 8pm) we looked at the glorious winter sunshine and decided to head to Auckland Zoo, where Jeanne-Anne used to work.

Sometimes when you go to the zoo you hardly seen anything, but today the animals were really up for showing off. We saw rhinos, lions, zebras and giraffes, before we had a treat of feeding the giraffe - we thought cousin Isabella might enjoy that one! You have to move quickly but the male giraffe, Zabulu(born '98),  is happy to eat veggies from your hand. It's a shame you are only allowed to give them one piece each.





















We saw red pandas coming out of their house and climbing in the trees, the seals playing when they were being fed, followed by a super display of swimming from them while we watched from the underwater viewing gallery.
Callum sweet talked the ranger into letting him feed 2 different birds as well.





The best part was the trip to the kiwi house. The symbolic New Zealand bird is nocturnal so the display is set in the dark and the chances of seeing this shy quiet bird were slim. However we were lucky and after waiting for about 15-20 minutes we we're rewarded by one of the pairs of brown kiwis coming out.they are so fluffy and have such long beaks for getting grubs from the soil. A real treat and well worth waiting for.








So it is our last night in NZ and the end of our journey. Tomorrow we hope to learn more about Maori culture before flying home just before midnight.
It was a great day out.

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Location:Auckland Zoo, Auckland, New Zealand

Day 27 -Auckland

Having left Queenstown with heavy hearts, realising that end of our journey is fast approaching, we were lifted by arriving at Jean-Anne's in Auckland on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Jean-Anne is Richard's father's cousin and Richard stayed here while travelling and working in New Zealand in 1985!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To make the most of our Monday we headed out early to catch the ferry from Devonport to Rangitoto, one of the volcanic cones dotted around the city. Rangitoto is a volcanic island created about 600 years ago.

We climbed to the top to get some beautiful views of Auckland. It is 2.4km and takes about an hour. The boys also explored the lava caves and enjoyed making me worry when they turned up only 10mins before the return ferry. It wouldn't have been to bad, but they had the return ferry tickets!



After lunch we headed off to Ike's Emporium to invest in a bucked and spade and headed off to Milford Beach, where the boys created their biggest and best sand castle to date and then watched the sea wash away it's defences. It took some time as the defences were very large this time!! Finally the king's palace crumbled and we could go home - as it was getting cooler. It is winter here after all!











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Location:Milford, Auckland, New Zealand

Day 25 The sky at night

Again word of warning - post for day 24 was also done today so you might want to look that one up before reading this!

So back in Queenstown and what a most beautiful day.







We had a lazy brunch and then did some souvenir shopping before heading out on TSS Earnslaw for a cruise on lake Waikatipu.








The lake views were stunning and Callum went mad with my camera. Thank heavens for digital photography! It was great fun and you could see how the double steam engine worked and watch what was happening in the engine room, so I was in heaven!














We ended our day with a trip up he gondola again. We did a few more trips in the luge and then stayed to do a group astronomy session after dark. It was truly amazing. Seeing the Milky Way so clearly was magnificent but also to see the satellites and some shooting stars was brilliant. We can now find the Southern Cross and have seen Alpha Centari. We were also allowed to view things through a pair of 11" telescopes and we could see a binary star system, a cluster and the best part was seeing Saturn with 2 of its moons ( there are 63 we learnt).

As there were no clouds and no moon, we were also lucky enough to see the Magellenic clouds ( google it!) which basically look like clouds to the naked eye. It was a very special evening and brought back memories of star gazing with my dad and hopefully inspired Callum, although he seemed to know a fair bit!






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Location:Queenstown, New Zealand

Day 20-22 Sun and Snow

Monday was another early start as we headed off in the dawn light to drive over the mountains to Cardrona.

It was a windy route but eventually we entered Cardrona Resort. It is a full 20min drive from the entrance to the resort up a windy dirt track up the side of a mountain! That being said, Cardrona is a great resort and you could turn up here with no ski wear and hire clothes and kit and head out for the day.

Callum is booked into the kids programme, called Skiwees. He is with them from 8.45 - 4pm and skis for about 2hrs each morning and afternoon. His instructor is a lovely English girl called Charlie, who is keeping him under control! He is now working on maintaining his parallel turns and even went down some black modal bumps today! Not surprisingly his favourite place is the junior freestyle park. I have some videos to upload later.



Today was our third day on the slopes in glorious sunshine. The resort has lots of lovely blues and green trails and the lifts are never too busy. It also has a big freestyle park which you can watch while on two of the lifts. Everyone is very friendly as well. The lift guys are always asking if you are having a good day.

Tonight snow is moving in, which could be a problem, but we will have to wait and see.

The only downside is that we would love more time here in lovely Wanaka, but most evenings we are just too tired.




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Location:Cardrona Ski Resort, New Zealand

Day 24 puzzles

Yesterday was a horrid foggy, icy , windy ski day. It was shame for the children but they still got out on the slopes and also showed off their skills of skiing downhill in pairs holding each other's poles doing 360deg turns.

Day 24 was the final day on the slopes and Callum was showing off his new parallel turns. Looking really good I must say. Richard has improved a great deal this trip and we can now safely travel down blue runs without too much stress or agro. I have found that my own skiing has improved in speed and confidence since Monday, I even did the jumps in the children's freestyle park and one little box.

Callum loved the freestyle and if you are on Facebook you can see a video of him going over the jumps.

We left the slopes early at around 2pm to go back to Wanaka so I could take the boys to what I consider to be the best maze in the world.


When I did it in 1995 I loved it, so I wanted to share that with Callum. Thankfully it held up to my description and we all split up and tried to find our way to the towers. Shamefully Richard beat me by miles (although I was the only one who knew the way to the exit - having visited it 3 times !) and although I beat Callum, he did the 4 towers of the maze in the correct order, so I was really impressed. The place now also has an illusions room and that was a sheer delight to Callum, even though the slanted room made me feel very queasy.





We will have to get the old photos from travelling in '95 out to compare pics and prove I really did go there.

Finally we drove back to Queenstown using the longer route past loads of local vineyards to get back in time to return our skis and have a final Fergburger!

Location:Puzzling World, Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand

Day 19 - There and back again

NOTE: this is my second post today, so you need to click on "previous post" to read it if you missed it

Today we headed off to the top of Bob's peak, a mountain that over looks Queenstown. There is a gondola up to the viewing station and cafe, but Callum wanted to walk, so we agreed.

It is a steep climb on a rocky path through the yew and pine trees. It was great fun and reminded me of Bilbo and friends heading through the woods. Would we get eaten by spiders if we strayed off the path? We made it up in just over an hour, our thighs burning and our energy sapped, but feeling very elated.

After a reviving glass of mulled wine, we were ready to tackle the luge track situated up there. You have take a chair lift to the start of the luge and then hurtle yourselves down a concrete track. There are two different tracks and we tired them all and Callum went several times on his own. It was great fun and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.







Callum chose his own bone necklace and is embracing his adventurous side very well, asking to go kayaking, paracending and jet boating.












Tomorrow we head over the mountain to get to the Cardrona ski area south of Wanaka. CJ is in ski school (skiwees) for 4 full days and we will be cruising the blues. Not sure what to expect but we will give it a go. Sadly no new snow is expected this week, but it is the best weekend they have had all year apparently.

I will try to report back for all my ski addicted friends soon.


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Location:Queenstown, NZ

Day 18 - Welcome to Queenstown

A very early start on Saturday morning (thank you James for the lift to the airport at 4.15am) resulted in our arrival at little Queenstown airport in time for lunch. As the plane came in over the southern snow-capped mountains the memories came flooding back from my time here over 18 years ago!

Queenstown is a most beautiful township, situated right beside a huge blue lake. Even though it was only 6 degrees, the sun was shining and it set the whole scene alight. Callum's speechless reaction was amazing and he has since declared that he never wants to leave here!

If you saw the photos on Facebook you will see in more details, but here is one from today.




We spent our first day eating at the local "best burger bar" called Fergburger. Quite simply delicious "fast" food, which is cooked to order, so takes about 15-20 mins, but the local brew Speights is tasty enough to sup while we waited.

After that we spent some time exploring all the adrenalin-filled options available, with help from a lovely lady at the tourist info. Then we headed off to Minus 5, a sub- zero ice bar, where we supped cocktails from glasses made of ice, surrounded by ice blocks and ice sculptures. A unique experience.

We walked back to our hotel, which is slightly out of town, along the lake shore admiring the sunset. Stunning honest.

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Location:Queenstown, NZ

Day 17- Farewell Sydney

Sadly our last day in Sydney with the Randalls. Today we went off to Sydney Olympic Park and went to a superb part of it that is a great children's playground, including a splash park. The kids loved it and ran through the fountains screaming and laughing.

After a lovely lunch at the Bicentennial park and walk, we headed home happy and tired.

So all is washed and packed and ready to go for a VERY EARLY start (4am get up) to go to New Zealand. It has been great and a huge thanks to the Randall's for all the food and laundry services and beer and wine and WIFI - a 7* service.

Callum is sad to leave ( wants to do more surfing), Isabella is sad that we are all leaving but I am sure everyone else will be happy to have normality returned. So next stop Queensland, snow and ice await.


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Location:Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia

Day 16 - more surfing and seafood heaven

This morning Callum woke with excitement as Roz and James were giving him and earlyh Christmas present - another surf lesson, but this time 1–2-1.







It was a lovely sunny day on Manly beach and Callum quickly donned his wetsuit and grabbed his board ready to face the waves. Apparently this time it was blue waves not white ones (harder apparently). He had an epic instructor called Kelly, who soon had him up on the board and before the lesson was finished he was learning to turn and ride along the waves, as well as paddle out over the surf (although that needs more practise). Despite being dumped a good few times (usually while trying to get out rather than surf in) Callum didn't give up and put his all into it. A huge step forward from the child that whinged so much about salt water when we started snorkelling last week!!

Well done Callum. I do have some video footage, but cannot get it off the memory card at the moment!

After that we all headed off on a fast cat from Manly wharf to the lovely bay of Watson's Bay for the explicit purpose of eating delicious seafood. It was Isabella's first time on a boat, but she soon was excited enough to sit at the front of the boat with me and Callum, and giggling as the wind swept her face.

We had a stupendous seafood feast at Doyle's and only had one piece of fish stolen straight off the table by a cheeky seagull!

Everyone was ready for an early night tonight.



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Location:Watson's Bay, Sydney, Australia

Day 14 - 15 Divide and Conquer

These past couple of days Callum and I left Richard and family in Sydney (to get some work done - not a complete holiday for my hubby I'm afraid) while we borrowed Roz's lovely VW and ventured north to Raymond Terrace to see some relatives of mine.

Raymond Terrace is a near Newcastle and thankfully the sat nav did all the hard work correctly. Despite having to chug along at the slow Aussie speed limits (that people adhere to), we managed to arrive at my cousin's house without any excitement enroute - except for catching the news that Robin Williams had died.

To be totally correct Elissa is in fact my 3rd cousin I believe. My father's father (James Daly) is the older brother of Elissa's mother's father (Matthew Daly) or put it another way, she is my grandfather's brother's granddaughter!! Anyway we arrived to meet everyone for a lovely family lunch, including her two delicious little boys.

We chilled out that evening and had a chance to get to know each other a bit better and talk shop, as Elissa is a primary school teacher too. Meanwhile her lovely husband Rob kept Callum entertained with endless patience playing Super Mario! Santa if you are reading this, I think Callum wants to put that on the list

The next day, as it was rainy, we had the chance to visit Elissa's mum's house (Annette, being my Dad's cousin - are you keeping up still!!) It is funny because Annette reminds me of many of my Dad's sisters! After meeting her adorable dog we headed into Newcastle to something that all kids enjoy - soft play!

Callum went nuts and thoroughly enjoyed himself doing something so fun and familiar and be surrounded by kids. I think he really needed that. The place was similar to many UK venues, except the food was fantastic and so was the price. However the slide was really scary and if you look on FB Elissa has posted a pic of me on it. It was nearly vertical - honest!! Her 2 year old also had a good time and I felt v honoured when he wanted to go on the slide with me.

So after a great few days we beetled our way back down the motorway and I was relieved to hand back the car in one piece.

I look forward to keeping up with my cousin and swapping good classroom games in the future!!:0)

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Location:Raymond Terrace, NSW, Australia

Day 13 - Look who got picked at the seal show

What a day! We managed to see giraffes (Isabella's favourite), Red Pandas (Richard's favourite) and binturong (tam's new favourite) -all in the one day at Taronga Zoo.



After seeing the lovely bird display, we had a gorgeous lunch over looking the Sydney Harbour Bridge and harbour, followed by the seal show. Callum refused to sit with us and plonked himself 2 rows from the front at the end of a row next to a stranger (no surprise to anyone who knows him!- or my slack parenting skills). Then part the way through the show he was lucky enough to be chosen to meet a seal and shake hands with it. Very lucky boy and I had to do the walk of shame down the aisle in order to take some pics. All good, even the commentators sarcastic comment of " not confident are you."



However shame of shame when later in the show a different girl was looking for a volunteer and chose Callum as well! Along with the audience I thought this was too much! and we all cheered and clapped when he was soaked by the seal while taking a bow! What can I say- it was only fair!





All being said he was so chuffed and wore his wet red jumper with pride!
We also went to an extremely well presented spider talk and can tell you lots about funnel webs and red-back spiders.

To end the day my fab sister-in-law cooked a delicious roast lamb. Yum yum.
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Location:Taronga Zoo, Sydeny, Australia

Day 12 - Surfs Up

We have been spending a few lovely days in Sydney's northern beaches area, staying with Richard's sister and family. The cousin's have been getting on really well and we have been busy walking up to the Barrenjoey lighthouse (it's the one you can see on Home and Away). The weather here is not as warm as Queensland but we have been lucky so far that it has been nice.




On Sunday Callum received his first birthday present - a 2hr surfing lesson! He was in a group lesson with mainly teenagers and adults but he absolutely loved it!
Big thanks to Aunt and Uncle for such a good pressie. He managed to get up of the board quite a bit. All of this took place on world famous Manly Beach.









Today we are off to the fabulous Taronga Zoo and then tomorrow Tam and Callum are off to visit some relatives leaving Richard here in Sydeny. We are off to visit my paternal grandfather's brother's granddaughter! Figure that one out -my third cousin maybe?

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Location:Sydney, Australia

Day 10 Australia Zoo

 Friday was a special day. After leaving Noosa at 7.45am we made our first stop at a lovely coffee shop- The Coffee Cove. This fab little coffee house sold a great range of gluten-free cakes. Yum yum.
Next stop an hours drive south to reach Australia Zoo, just in time for it to open. The zoo was created by Steve Irwin and family and is still going from strength to strength even after his death in 2006.

We had the delights of meeting lovely koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and cassowaries. We also had the delights of meeting a gorgeous red panda and Sumatran tigers including a baby born at the zoo last year.

The funniest part was when a bush turkey stole Callum's bag of kangaroo food, much to his distress and our carefully concealed amusement.

Day 4 - 7 Lady Elliot Island

OMG just returned to the land of the internet after the most amazing 4 days on the beautiful coral cay that is Lady Elliot Island.  Situated at the southern most point of the Great barrier Reef, the island is a perfect place to snorkel and dive to see the amazing manta rays, sharks and 3 different types of turtles.  Our eco (i.e. budget) accommodation was a tent with a double bed and bunk bed. Perfect except for the wind blowing in from the south-east all night causing the tent to shake and make a lot of noise! However we were warm and dry and happy.

Considering we are not sea swimming folk or experienced snorklers, we soon got to grips with our gear and tried our hand out at snorkeling in the lagoon.  this shallow bay is full of a wide range of fish, friendly teenage turtles and everything you expect from a coral reef. We struggled with the shallow water, panicking that we were going to touch the precious coral. But only 10cm from the shore you could see the most amazing array of schools of fish as soon as you put you mask below the water.

By our third day we felt able to tackle the glass bottomed boat tour and snorkel trip off the shore and all three of us saw the most amazing tings, just like you were watching an underwater safari documentary! Finally we on the morning of our last day we did a snorkel safari with a guide at 8.15am! We saw both green and hawksbill turtles and a beautifully majestic manta ray. Callum did well for a small chap and managed half of the trip but was really happy.

The place is very relaxed and the staff are so friendly and helpful it made the stay a real joy. I cannot recommend this place highly enough as a family friendly haven on the reef.

Next stop Noosa Heads to relax with Richard's brother Carey and his wife Sara at an apartment complete with shared tennis court, splash pool and most important a washing machine!!!

Day 2- Brisbane Botanical Gardens and Segway

After a rather unsettled night (both boys awake complaining they were not tired) we got up and into the city, now feeling quite the experts at hailing buses and using our GO cards to pay. Today we planned to see the botanical gardens and possibly a museum on the South Bank again. We'll instead we managed the gardens and then Callum and I enjoyed a fun 30min adventure on some Xwings or Segways as we would call them. It was great fun. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Callum playing with a boy from the UK, while we supervised from the bar, which fleeced us for $16 (£9) for two glasses of lovely 28 Pale. Now we are off to Nando's for dinner, but are trying to walk the long way to get there at a more respectable time of 6pm instead of 5! Tomorrow it is a travel day as we drive up to Hervey Bay.

Day 1 - Brisbane's South Bank

Well I cannot speak highly enough about the quality service we received from Singapore Airlines on our journey here. Despite being reluctant to miss out on TV time, Callum did listen and slept on the first flight as we had planned, meaning we could arrive in the evening at Brisbane ready for a sleep. So no noticeable jet lag so far!

Today we ventured into town by bus and spent most of the afternoon at the  beach and splash park on the south bank- not unlike London's south bank- complete with theatre, museum, expo centre and Brisbane Wheel.

Callum found it hard initially at the beach, as he couldn't find other English speaking children. On the end we were saved by a lovely family from Adelaide with 2 and 5 year old girls who CJ latched onto. I was touched when he said at the end - by which time he was really getting cold - that he really must go and say thank you to the family.

We relaxed at a chocolate shop, where we were served by a girl from Devon
And then enjoyed supper at the surf club.

Finally we returned to the Brisbane wheel to use our night time free trip! Great view.

Bigger and madder than ever. Here we go round 2!

Yes I can't believe it! We are going back.  Tomorrow we are heading off on our next global adventure, returning to the land down under. But this time we are going one step further and adding New Zealand to the tour!

So for family and friends we will be blogging our way around again, as many of you are not on facebook, and so that we don't bore you with photos when we get back. Please comment on things it is nice to know people are reading it!!

I was not sure we would manage it, but we are virtually all packed and off bright and early tomorrow morning!.

Rough Itinerary is  - Brisbane - Lady Elliot Island - Noosa - Sydney - Queenstown/Wanaka - Auckland

I think I need to update the family photo though!!! It is now 5 years out of date.