Happy New Year from Singapore! I am writing this on our first day here, sheltering from the torrential rain which we're hoping is going to stop before the countdown to midnight tonight. Before we get into all that though, there is the small matter of Melbourne, Christmas and that little Ashes urn to attend too!! So, we left Queensland after more rain and a fairly dismal few days watching england get battered in the Perth test match. Luckily enough, Cairns, o...

So after nearly 3 weeks of serene beauty, we landed in Brisbane with one heck of a bang, raining, cold, expensive and minus one bag after Qantas decided transporting both our bags really wasn't worth it, we spent a miserable first 24 hours in Oz. Thankfully the bag turned up, as did the weather and after a great night with John's old housemates, Marty and Perry featuring Australia's answer to the premier league (featuring Robbie Fowler, 5 goals and 3 red cards ...

New ZealandSouth IslandOur first stop in the south island after leaving the ferry was the Marlborough wine region. it's an extremely challenging & twisty drive from the ferry terminal to Marlborough with numerous hairpin bends and hill climbs. You are rewarded with beautiful views of Marlborough sounds ("sounds" are kind of inland beaches/coves). Upon arriving in Marlborough, we got lucky by following one of the Lonely Planet recommendations and sta...

Greetings from New Zealand! Firstly sorry to be so tardy writing this, we haven't had as much internet access in New Zealand as we did in the states, anyway...this is what we have been up to down under, so far... New Zealand Part One - The North Island 14 hours and one whole day lost later, we arrived in Auckland, two days after we left LA. Westarted off by picking up our banger of a hire car (14 years old, 180000 miles on the clock!) before heading to Devonpor...

Virtually no-one has had anything good to say about Los Angeles so it was with some reluctance that we entered the city in rush hour (7 lanes of standing traffic) having had the bright idea to skip San Diego to spend 3 days in downtown LA! We reasoned that given the population of the city, surely it can't be that bad and thankfully we were right! We landed on our feet immediately having chosen to stay in a hotel near Hollywood Blvd behind the Kodak theatre, calle...