Singapore to new Zealand…Sorry it has been a while, we have been in camper vans for the past 3 weeks living like back-woodsmen, we will try and not leave it so long next time…Met up with Ant in Singapore after long journey from UK via Paris. We both went straight out on the town and hit Clark Quay - it was a good night that ended up with us eating chilli-frog hotpot on a street corner at 4am. We both felt like Ghandi the next day and walked around China town like Zombies. Ant was suddenly overcome by a desire to purchase every piece of silk bed linen in the market… I can only put it down to the frogs… Later that afternoon we got our first scheduled flight since leaving the UK in March, from Singapore to Bali…Arrived in Bali and went to 'Kuta', the seedy tourist Mecca - it was 2am, dark and full of zombies. The next day we navigated our way through several thousand souvenir shops and headed for the beach… After 10 mins in the Sea Ant cut his foot open badly on a rock (or a shark or a piece of glass, or even a blob of ice cream…) - after several hours at the local clinic and seven stitches later we emerged spirits high… unfortunately we had booked a 14km white water rafting the following day which Ant had to miss… b***** (it was brill but I did feel a bit guilty…) We then left for a 2 day stay on a nearby paradise island of the coast of Bali called Lembongan - this was a real find; we stayed at the Coconut beach resort with 4 poster beds (two singles), round rooms and stunning ocean views. We also hired a moped and explored the whole island - in one day I had to learn to ride a motorbike, carry an injured person on the back and scramble in the dark after a couple of ales (don't worry no cars on the island…). Lembongan was Indonesian bliss… anyway, after a couple of days here we had to return to Bali before catching the plane to Australia.We were greeted in Perth Airport at 5am by my mad uncle - he is a Latvian gold prospector and highly eccentric wearing Ug boots and a beanie - it was bloody cold. Ant and I were looking forward to a few hours kip at John's house which would be our base for the next 10 days, unbeknown to us John had a schedule of activities planned for us commencing with a 2 hour cycle ride by the Ocean in freezing fog - we both had shorts and flip flops on, Ant had a severely damaged foot and I had a girl's bike with a basket… the weather in Perth was pretty pants throughout our stay (apparently the worst winter they had had for seven years). We borrowed John's 4x4 and explored the local beaches, went to a few BBQs, had some nights out in Fremantle and Perth and went fishing - we also got to catch up with my relies.The next stop was Ayers Rock… Ant arrived a day before me (not that he got a faster plane, or I got lost, but our flights had changed…). Ayers Rock resort was very self contained, consisting of an airport and five hotels. We stayed at the Outback Pioneer lodge, which was apparently the most lively with live entertainment on every night (after three nights there, the night entertainment consisted of a bloke with a wobble board getting progressively drunk singing classics like tie me kangaroo down sport…), it was good fun and the beer and kangaroo wraps were welcome. We both saw Ayers Rock at sunset and sunrise (5am), taking pictures like a couple of lunatics to 'get the light just right' (I think Ant and I have secretly applied for National Geographic photographer of the year). Whilst we enjoyed Ayers Rock, the Olgars we thought were much better with their 'cake mix' rock structure (I made the mistake of showing an interest in geology to the guide who then got a stick out and proceeded to outline the differences between the Olgars (Cake Mix) and Ayers Rock (Single rock formation) using his ground flip chart… oh dear! After a few days staring at the rocks and the desert we were both ready to push on to the East Coast.When we arrived at the van hire depot in Cairns we both looked at each other and said...oh! - we had spotted a white van with large flowers - not quite the masculine hippie look we were trying to pull off. Shortly after we left the depot the contract blow out the window and we spent considerable time playing frogger avoiding cars to rescue it. The van was really good and compact with a kitchen at the back, although the sleeping arrangements were a bit cramped. The first day we drove over 700km down from Cairns via Josephine falls and a number of beaches. Antony was asking why I was travelling at such high speeds when we were in no rush and during the conversation in Townsville I picked up a speeding ticket on day 1 which curbed my enthusiasm for seeing what the beast could do… We spent the next 3 days driving, chilling (or rather heating) on beaches, getting moved on at night by security watchmen, police and local council jobs worths saying 'you cannot camp here… ' I kept saying what is the point of a hippie van if we cant behave like them… gibbons! We were both glad to get to Brisbane (about two-thirds down the east coast between Cairns and Syndey), we stayed with some of Ant's friends from London - Rach and Kate - they were stars and showed us what 'Bris-vegas' had to offer, including the man-made beach lagoon, some great bars and the amazing 'city cat' boat that is like a fast water taxi going up and down the river. Both Ant and I thought Brisbane was great - it seemed to have everything, but it was not in your face. I had a mid life crisis and tried to be cool by getting my eye-brow pierced to look like a surf/traveling/hippie dude, but after a few days I realized that I was in fact 33, not homosexual and failed to pull off the cool look - so it was a short lived experience. We also went to Surfers Paradise, where I managed to do the worst ever impression of someone boogie boarding (I blame the conditions, the waves were wrong…) After chilling out in Brisbane we were back on the road to Sydney (2962kms from our start in Cairns). In Sydney the weather was wet, but we had a good night out with Sam (my sister's best mate) who is now living out there with her boyfriend Steve - both were great fun. We both nearly missed the plane to New Zealand due to a minor error forgetting to set an alarm and having a few too many sherbets the previous night before an 8am flight but Antony saved the day again by looking at his watch in the night…The scenery coming into Christchurch was out of this world, we flew over the Southern Alps which were covered in snow and used extensively in the Lord of the Rings films. The landscape then suddenly changed to the flat green planes of Canterbury as we flew into Christchurch (it could have been the UK!) There was quite a drama at the airport when Ant declared to customs that he had a blow pipe that he had got in SE Asia, they fumigated it and thought it was full of ganja leaves. Bearing in mind NZ is paranoid about visitors bringing in diseased artifacts, there were big posters threatening hefty fines and prison to those who failed to declare banned goods. Once the confusion about possible drugs being smuggled into NZ and the police had examined it to see if he was carrying an illegal weapon the Customs lady asked Ant if he had anything else, he felt it prudent to say… 'oh yes and I also have 30 lamb knee bones with me' (which he had been given as a present from one of the Mongolian families we stayed with as they were used as a Mongolian game) - she nearly fainted and he was nearly fined $200 and detained…. Needless to say we now don't have the bones…Keep your eyes peeled for the New Zealand update…. Bye for now, Ant & James…