An e-mail I wrote to my family in the UK last Tuesday: Hi Guys, I guess by the time you read this you will have heard on your radios and TVs about another big earthquake in Christchurch at lunchtime today. We have been watching the news all afternoon since, it seems it's worse than the last one as a) it's closer to the city centre, b) it's shallower than the last and c) it was in the middle of the day when people were up and about. People have died, 2 bus...

Some things we learnt while travelling around New Zealand: Top 10 Holiday Parks are in all the major tourist destinations around the country and have really good, clean facilities including showers, washing machines and internet. We found them leagues above any other holiday parks we tried and as well as powered and non-powered sites for campervans or tents most have cabins and dorm rooms too. Iced buns all have grated coconut on top here... Cake shops rather ...

When we arrived in Melbourne Phil's Aunty Roma and Cousin Sam picked us up from the airport and we drove the 45 mins back to their apartment in Ellwood via the West Gate Bridge and harbour area. That afternoon we took a walk to the beach, along the pier and back along a street with lots of cake and coffee shops, stopping of course to sample the cakes! On Day 2 Phil's cousin Katherine arrived home from Canada with her brother Dustin. We rode the tram into the cit...

On New Years day we treated ourselves to breakfast at a cafe on the waterfront which was an idylic setting and delicious food! Then we caught the ferry across to Taronga Zoo where the highlights were feeding giraffes, the seal show, the elephants and big cats. We came home before going back out for dinner to a restaurant recommended to us by Matt and his brothers called BBQ King in chinatown. We really enjoyed the food and had a wonder around and a look in a Japa...

On NYE day we got up early to catch the train into town and visited the Sydney Aquarium. The highlights were the mahousive stingrays, the sharks and the dugongs (mermaids). Afterwards we went to the Wildlife Park and had a photo with a koala, saw kangaroos, a sleepy wombat and the biggest crocodile in the world which couldnt be used for mating because he murdered any other croc they put it with. We came home for a nap, shower and to get changed before heading bac...