Flying out of New Zealand we touched down in Sydney on the 4th October for the last time and for one more roll of the dice in the company of Mr Jace O'Connor. It was a short but sweet visit as we were flying out to Perth on the 6th at 7am. We had said our "See you later" for the last time to a sleepy eyed Jace at five in the morning before heading to the airport. We cant thank Jace and Deb enough for putting us up not once, twice but three times and we ...

Have you got a cup of tea with you? Have you been to the toilet? Because we got up to so much in the South Island that this is going to take some time. So if you have been fed and watered I will begin... After a couple of choppy hours on the Cook Strait we arrived in Picton with the contents of my stomach still in tact, just. My sea legs are good but for the first time in my life I was plagued with sea sickness for the ferry crossing much to Ashleigh's amusement...

Well what a first week we have had in New Zealand. It only took around 24 hours to fall head over heels in love with the place. We arrived into Auckland airport on the 12th after a short flight and we were blown away with the sights just from the aeroplane window. As you are coming into land you are met with picturesque views of small islands, turquoise waters and lush green fields and hills. We hadn't even landed on the runway and we were already getting a taste...

Just as things were looking up we received another b*tch slap from fate. The van was driving like a dream and after collecting it from the garage we drove 30 minutes down the road to spend a couple of nights in a caravan park. Celebrating the end of the drama of the past few weeks we bought a case of cheap plonk and a take away to help kick it all off. We had a great two days and not having a care in the world was a refreshing change from the previous two weeks. ...

We made it to Melbourne by the skin of our teeth and we had grim faces due to our trip. Old Bert decided enough was enough and he became nearly impossible to drive during the last 45 minutes of the drive to Melbourne. Once again the problem with the gear box had raised it's ugly head and it was something we couldn't ignore or put off. Limping into our camp site, we were relieved to make it there and luckily there was a mechanics right next door to have it looked ...