We spent 7 days in Beijing, seeing all the major sights like proper tourists and getting really hassled like proper tourists. At times it was not fun to be accosted and pulled by hawkers trying to flog dodgy gear. But the sights were really good. The Forbidden City was amazing, but in a massive state of renovation so we only saw half of it. The rest is hidden under canvas. Chinese renovation techniques seem to be a bit slapdash and you are left with the feel...

Hong Kong is mad. Officially. It is near impossible to walk down the streets due to the sheer number of people and the noise is constant day and night. That said, it is a vibrant city with lots to do and we've done a lot. We came here mainly to sort our visas for China and Vietnam, both of which we require for longer than you can arrange from outside China. However we have managed to go up the world's steepest tram way - and my god was it steep! We were literally...

Hi folks, It feels like a lot longer than a month since we were with Benny-boy in NZ but the time has flown by as well. On leaving the homely country of New Zealand we visited Tony and Ainsley in Melbourne and had a cross country adventure with them, before heading on to the organised chaos that is small-kiddie-cousins with Michele and Daminder. Hugo was a star and amazed us with his car ID skills, Priya cute and amazed us with her vocal chords! Then onwards t...

6 weeks later and we have successfully circumnavigated the whole of NZ. There are very few pages left in the map book of NZ that we have not travelled through - a fact of which we are inordinately proud! The ferry trip to the South Island was stunning, arriving in the Marlborough Sounds in the northern fiordlands. The weather let us down again the next day as we walked a section of the Queen Charlotte Track, high on the ridges above the fiords. Then we headed up...

Hi from NZ to everyone following our journey. We have been in the North Island for 2 1/2 weeks exploring around in a car. It has been a massive culture change after 4 months in Africa. For a start we arrived to 3 days of heavy rain. What is that stuff?! We had forgotten what it is like to be cold and wet. Apparently NZ is experiencing its worst summer in ages. We have had some great days since but the nights are blimmin freezing. Still we have managed t...