Hi guys!!
After spending far too much time in Laos we realised we only had 10 days left to do Cambodia and Vietnam before we had to fly to Sydney. Hmm 2 countries in 5 days? - quite a challenge i hear you say! We only really had time to do a couple highlights so whizzed round for 10 days. Went to see the temples at Angkor in Cambodia - really impressive - Angkor Wat is the largest (and possibly oldest?!) religious building in the world so that was pretty cool. Then went on to Phnom Penh on a more serious note and went to see the killing fields from the Kymer Rouge period and the S21 prison. Really savage stuff but so interesting and really moving to think it all happened only 30 years ago. Shot off to Vietnam then and spend a couple days exploring Ho Chi Minh City. Ive never seen so many motorbikes on the road in my life, it was mental, i think i was lucky to get out alive!! Learned all about the Vietnam war while we were there and visited the Chu Chi tunnels where the soldiers used to hide out during the war. Originally they were only 30cmx20cm wide but theyve made them bigger now so us fat western tourists can get down them! Took a trip to the beach in Nha Trang hoping for some sunshine, but rainy season had taken full force by that time so opted for a boose cruise and a day in the spa instead.

Before we knew it it was time so say goodbye to Asia and hello to Sydney. We spent a week in Sydney and Rich flew out and met us there so has been really nice seeing him for the last few weeks. Sydney was a cool city and can see how people would enjoy living there for a while but the week we spent there felt a bit like a box ticking exercise of tourist attractions - opera house, harbour bridge, botanical gardens, the zoo, bondi beach - so didnt excite me too much to be honest, although the trip out to the blue mountains was pretty spectacular.

Ventured out to New Zealand after that which so far has claimed its place as my favourite country so far. Stunning scenery and loads of cool stuff to do. After being in Asia for so long it was strange adjusting to somewhere so westernised again and i do miss the dodginess of Asia but im sure there will be more dodginess waiting for us in South America. We hired a car in Auckland so weve been scooting about all over the place. Slight hitch on day 2 when i went off roading and gave it a flat tire but luckily we had a man with around to save us!! Cheers rich! Spent a week on the north island - Rotorua was a very cool place with lots of natural hot springs and mud pools bubbling away. They smell like rotten egg though which is less appealing. Did some zorbing while we were there, where you basically climb inside a massive inflatable hamster ball which they pump water into and roll down a hill - very fun! And went white water rafting which was awesome. Went down the biggest commercial waterfall in the world, 7metres high and managed not to stay afloat which was quite an achievement, apparently 1 in 3 boats flip. Further south we went to Taupo where i ended up doing a skydive on the spur of the moment - was fantastic!! And we walked the Tongariro crossing, a 6 hour hike which takes you across the mountains (one of which was Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings) - absolutly stunning and one of my favourite day so far. Sulphur lakes, volcanoes, forest and snowy mountains galore. Made our way down to the south island and went glacier climbing in Franz Josef which was brilliant. In Queenstown now which is supposed to be the adventure capital of NZ so will see what i can get up to here. Rich is off back to UK on saturday, then me and hannah are spending another 3 weeks adventuring round NZ in the beast.

Gossip from home appreciated as always!! And thanks to those who made video messages for me, they were great and made me laugh alot, its funny how people freak out and dont know what to say when a camera's pointed at them!

Love to you all, Amy xxx