*Updated 1st March with more Australia plus first part of New Zealand!*

helllllllo, well it hasnt been a looooooooooong time, ive finally got some time to update you all on our travels. So im going to do the end of oz and tom will fill you all in on the place we love....new zealand

So gem ended with a little bit on fraser island, so i suppose i'll do from there. Ok, so fraser island. Bit of history, it is said that all the sand from the east coast of oz eventually ends up in fraser island, a gigantic world heritage-listed sand bar measuring 120 km by 15km and created by 800,000 years longshore drift. wow hey. In our big ping van we, or tom drove the 12 of us onto and off of the barge and onto fraser island. We entered the sand lanes and boy did we have a drive, skidding and bumping here there and everywhere haha. was so much fun, maybe a bit too much fun for some of us. drove through the centre of the island to central station and made our way up the east coast of the island to find a little campsite for us. And then came the irish...just think of drunken men chasing wild dingos into the woods ahoutings 'shovel the dingo, sovel the dingo' haha. Went to lake mackenzie wich was just spectacular, clearist waters i have ever seen, just looks klike something off a post card. Saw the campagne pools (but had to drive on the sand, well i did, and had a screaming german in the back crying and panting like an absolute insaniac. Dont think she likes english drivers). Had a few bbq's on the beach...mmm sand sausages...and just had fun really.

then on the road we go. Had the tightest schedule in the world, so needed to be up in airely beach in 2 days , so just put the pedal to the metal and hit that east coast road rather fast. few road killed kangaroos past us by and then we hit the wet season of queensland. And it rained and it rained. met up with our mates rob, tom and adam and did a little convoy session up the main highway. We all stopped at one place at night called Clairview and i have never seen a frog the size of a house before....cane toads are beasts and make the loudest croak ever, think thats way every ozzie we see says kill them with a bat ha.

Made it up to Airley Beach in the torrential rain and bought our supplies for the boat...goon, and then boarded (still raining). Went on board the Habibi and met the really cool people onboard. Found a slot of sunshine on the first evening when we anchored in a bay, also saw the rare fish eating eagle in its natural environment. Really beautiful. Unfortunately the weather kind of spoiled the views from our scuba diving but was still just amazing to be there. The captain and his little crew of 3 were really decent too, made the most amazing food, hilariously funny and made my poorly thumb slightly better again. We also did a bush walk onto whitsunday island and saw aboriginal drawings in caves....and got eaten alive by mosquitos, again. Had just the most amazing time with the group and then there was the journey on the boat home back to the mainland after a heavy night of many a drinking game. And lets just say the sea wasnt very kind and decided to make me and ash very sea sick.

Back down the Bruce Highway to Brisbane this time. Drove straight past the city on our way up as we have 5 days to just relax and do nothingish for a while. Down we went and just in time i suppose. The flood warnings were slowly creeping their way down Queensland, and the roads we got out of were slowoly filling up with water. However, the rain suddenly stopped when getting down the coast...thank the lord. Dont think we have been so pleased to see the sun before. Brisbane in our views wasnt the best. Was a nice place to be, but just another city really. but we did really enjoy our time there; visited the xxxx beer factory, tom and i drank our 4 different varities of beer (including a sparkling ale!!!), did the walking tour around the city, went to the cinema, spent a day at the man made city beach and just relaxed after such an incredible by tiring australia month and a bit.

So thats it for Australia, and i can say on behalf of the others it was just such great fun with the four of us in our little big camper van. Have so many amazing memories of all the isolated places and tourist places we have been and will miss oz greatly. However, New Zealand is round the corner so all is not lost.......BUNGY JUMP COUNTRY HERE WE COME.

Nath xxxxxxxxxxx

Hello all, tom here and ill be taking you through our first couple weeks in New Zealand.

Firstly having arrived in Christchurch very late, and noticing how everything looked like England, we hunted for food. Only thing open was a Mcdonalds, so not the best culinary start but the hostel was nice so all was good.

Had a wander round Christchurch which was a lovely place, again very reminiscent of England, think Oxford or Cambridge. Walked round the gardens, and met some odd characters in the town centre (Particularly an eccentric old englishman dressed as a wizard telling anyone who would listen that Great Britain rules the world.) Spent the night in the hostel bar which did some filthy cheap drinks, just over a pound a pint. Was an old mining pub so very nicely laid out.

Following day was the Gondola (Basically a chairlift upto the top of a big hill). Some lovely views and a quick walk later we returned for an early night.

Got on the Kiwi experience bus (Which has a variety of nicknames, many unprintable on a family-friendly blog such as this). Went down to Kaikoura, where we spent a long time walking round. Checked out a seal colony, bought some lovely meatballs from a friendly butcher, and joined a couple of random dutch for the pub quiz. We came a bit far down, but was a good laugh. It had some very random questions, an example being, - In a test, scientists got some ants drunk, then introduced them to some sober ants, did the sober ants either A) - Ignore them B) - Attack them C) - Carry them home. Answer at the end..

From there we headed to nelson, having had to put up with some very loud Canadians for a few painful hours. Didnt do too much today other than walk round town. I went to the pub to watch the rugby, everyone else stayed in the hostel and managed to butter up some Irish guys enough for them to give us their food! Result. Next day again not much happened, Nathan bought a camera, checked out more of the town. Had a big swim, and sat in a bus that was parked in the back garden which had been converted into a makeshift drinking den.

Next day Nathan and Gemma walked round the national park of the area, lots of lovely views and photo opps. Myself and Ash wandered to the centre of NZ (Nath and Gem having done so the previous day),. Not sure if it was genuinely the centre, if it was then it happened to be a great spot! Lovely view of the city...

Left nelson and got on a new bus, with a top driver called Dallas, bit of an animal, definite womanizer, but a top guy and looked after us well. Having stopped off in Nelson lakes national park (With myself Ash and Gem jumping into a river full of eels), we ended up in a very quiet place called Westport. Went for a few beers with the people on the bus, were with the same group for a week or so and met some quality people. Oh I also went jetboating this day, some 360 degree spins, drove dangerously close to rocks, also chucked it down with rain.. Found some dirty cheap fish and chips for 1 pound fifty, food is very cheap here.. So is beer, pints are generally around 1.40 or so.

Next stop was Lake Mahinipau. The scene of a very random night. Was fancy dress night and the theme was Bin liners and plastic bags. Ash and Gemma plumped for birds, Nathan went as a rock and roll jesus complete with tight leather trousers, and I went as a chef complete with hat and oven glove. I would describe the outfits further but im sure some carefully selected pictures will be made available at some stage. The pub was owned by an eccentric, legendary man named Les, 83 years young, and still a party animal. He also cooked us a big meal beforehand, including possibly the biggest steak ive ever seen. Was a fantastic night, and im sure more details will emerge soon...

From there, we went to Franz Josef. On the way we stopped off at a hunting museum, ate some possum pie, and learnt about how kiwis hunt deer (Apparently they jump out of helicopters and try to wrestle them to the ground..) First night in Franz was spent with Nathan nursing a massive hangover, a trip to the hostel spa, and a few beers in the hostel bar with a load of our group.

The next day we got up bright and early to walk on the glacier, a very cool thing to do. Was very surreal walking on a massive block of ice, surrounded by forest. After that we treated ourselves to another spa, and another session in the bar.

Next destination was Wanaka. On the way we stopped off at a lake which reflected everything around it (Mountains etc), very picturesque. Stopped off at a fish n chip van in the middle of nowhere. Oh and took a trip to a waterfall. To get to said waterfall, a trip across some rapids + dangerous rocks was required. Well worth it though, even though it was possibly the coldest water we have ever been (Legs numb within seconds) Eventually we reached the beautiful Wanaka, a lovely town surrounded by a gorgeous lake and mountains. A theme had begun to develop, and predictably we spent the night in the ba with our group of mates, accompanied by a massive BBQ, where I personally ate myself to a standstill.

Next day was the trip to Queenstown. On the way Nathan and myself lost our minds for a bit and decided it would be a good idea to a Bungy jump off a bridge, along with our friend Kelly. Nathan was a bit nervous having planned it for a few days, but executed a beautiful jump; I on the other hand was cool and calm beforehand having made a snap decision to do it, but having started the crowd off on a countdown from 5, the legs turned to jelly at about 2 and made a bit of a mess of an attempted dive. Either way was pretty special, and the pictures look great.

Once at Queenstown the whole bus retreated to the bus for a court session. Our driver read out the list of charges, Nathan was charged with constantly moaning about being cold, and subsequently received a free lasagne, jammy git. Other funny charges were a group of girls we knew well who got lost on a walk, they received a compass and a few shots for their efforts. From there we ended up in a bar serving cocktails out of teapots, very random but a lot of fun.

Today we made a big group fry up, ten hardy souls cooked 50 dollars worth of greasy food and ate until we could eat no more. Used up half a bottle of cooking oil, just to give you an idea of the state of it all. From there we went up another Gondola and took part in a few races on the luge. 12 people on a luge probably wasnt the best idea as it led to several crashes and pile-ups, very good fun though.

And thats about it! That was a long one.. Tomorrow the other guys are going on a jet boat, im going river surfing on some white water rapids. So assuming we all make it through in one piece you shall from us all soon.

All the best
Tom

PS - The sober ants, on encountering the drunk ants, actually carried them home!