The final leg of my journey was visiting Rob, Jen, Elliot and Arianwen in Waterloo. Had a lovely relaxing few days with the Smiths who were brilliant in making me so welcome even though they had literally moved in their new house about two days beforehand!! I got into my parent mode spending lots of time with the kids and had loads of fun (will have to think seriously about having my own before I am 40!! Any takers??). Had a day out at Niagra falls, a great...

Spent five days in Vegas with Jim and Jade and had a great time (except for one moment of MADNESS!!) Stayed at the New York New York Hotel which is on the main Strip and has its own rollercoaster straight outside the room window...this is where double glazing and me being deaf came into their own!! The highlights of Vegas were the shows, the gambling and the Grand Canyon Saw one of the magic shows...Lance Burton has been doing Vegas for 14 yeasr and has his ow...

My final stop in New Zealand was Christchurch so took the bus across from Queenstown. Went through some stunningly scenic places with beautiful turquoise lakes, ice capped mountains and a partial view of Mount Cook (from a distance). Christchurch is lovely with loads of parks and gardens in the city. It has a very English feel to it (without the crowds) with many of the areas and streets named after English towns and cities. I was on a bit of a wind down afte...

Got to Queenstown which is known as the party / adventure capital of New Zealand. Its a really nice town on lake Wakatipu. Its a really beautiful area and as were have just missed the skiing season and we are not into the summer season the town is pretty quiet, which is great for us. Had a day trip out to Milford Sound (one of the fiords). It is apparently the number one destination in NZ but we were left really disappointed. The weather was rubbish...cloud cov...

Travelled down the West coast of South Island through Greymouth (very forgettable) through to the Glaciers. Stayed at Franz Joseph which is one of only three areas in the world where glaciers meet rain forest. Had a fantastic 8 hour trek of the Glacier. We got decked out in ice boots and waterproofs and then it was off to the huge river of ice. It was a real experience, we were climbing up and down sheer faces of ice about 30 metres high. The guide would cut...