Tis the season to be...? Christmas can mean so many different things for so many different people and I thought I had a good idea of what that was about - until I spent Christmas in New Zealand. Be honest and take a moment to fill in the blank at the end of the first question.... What did you think? Joy, family, sharing, fun, parties? Or did you think major debt? We've all seen the madness that seems to envelope some people at this time of year,...

Well.... Well.... Wellington - a capital mess I'm guessing that when you've read the heading of this one you will have a vibe of what I felt about my stay here. Knowing that work would have to be done at some point during the year we figured what better place to get it than in the capital, especially around December time when people are looking for staff to do whatever, whenever and for not that great a wage. We arrived with work on the forefront of ou...

The air is thick and hot, a smell permeates the air and sunlight streams through smoky clouds. Mud is lucid, bubbling and popping. Steam is rising from cracks in the ground that have formed over millions of years and there are more colours than even the most perfect rainbow. Gravel crunches under feet and eyes dart around the surroundings which bring a new perspective with every inch. The landscape is sparse but in no way empty, the ground is alive, whisperin...

Well, so far in my postcards I have talked scenery, weather and many other joys of NZ, but the one thing I haven't talked about is probably the most important, food! Yes, the life force sustainers, the thing that brings joy wherever you are, whatever you are doing. So, if you do ever find yourself in NZ make sure that you pop along to Coromandel Town and take a trip to The Pepper Tree, one of THE best restaurants I have ever been to, and I'm salivating thinking...

Ok.... Thames.... hmmmmmmmmm.... another lovely place where nothing really happened... There were some lovely walks around, but cost a fortune to get the shuttle to and so spent time reading and planning other trips... oh, but i did get my hair cut which was very exciting, esp cos it was so cheap. I did however reacquaint myself with the joys of bicycles as the hostel let u borrow theirs for free and so spent some time each day reminding my bottom what it f...