The weather-man had predicted sunshine for the 25th December 2009 and this was just perfect for the Kiwi Christmas we had planned. This year was going to be extra special; Shay was back to enjoy the festive season for the first time since leaving home back in 2000. We also had guests who had come from far-away lands, eager to see how we did it down-under. We did not want to disappoint them.　As Xmas day loomed, we decided to high-tail it back to Tirau as Shay ha...

December had arrived in New Zealand and there was no more excuses; where the hell was summer! We were getting nervous, after the rain and mud chaos of our last road-trip with the Roberts in England, we had been promising them better and drier visit this time around. There was two weeks of camping, hiking, caving and sightseeing planned; not much fun in torrential rain. Every night we prayed to the sun-gods, and finally, the day they arrived, the sun came out.　B...

Finally, Aotearoa. The plane circled round the Manukau Harbour and prepared to land. We were over an hour late and somewhere down there, there was some very anxious parents awaiting our arrival. Shay had been looking forward to this moment for what seemed forever, it had almost been taken away from us with the tsunami wave, but as we touched down on New Zealand soil, we breathed a sigh of relief... we had made it!　Our flight from Samoa had been an emotional one...

As we sped down the bumpy track in the back of the ute, we could see the tsunami wave rushing into the bay of Aganoa. Within minutes villages and holiday resorts in Samoa were levelled to the ground and washed out to sea. The day of 29th September 2009 started pretty much like any other day. Ollie was planning on a early morning surf with a few other guys from the Aganoa Surf Resort but had decided to sleep in instead. At about 6.45am we decided to grab a mornin...