Up bright and early, a transfer bus took us back towards Christchurch Airport to collect our campervan from Apollo Motorhomes - another Hippie Camper - this morning. We'd got a decent deal, having hired one in Australia a few weeks back, and we were happy to see this one was called George. After John in Australia, it looks like we'll need to hire two more in order to complete the band. We'll spare you the Beetles song references in this post though (well, apart ...

Cold. This has to be the coldest place on Earth. Ok slight exaggeration, particularly as temperatures here in Christchurch are in the teens, but waiting for a public bus outside Christchurch Airport in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops, the chilly NZ wind caught us by surprise. "Enjoy your holidays?" one fellow bus passenger wrapped in up in a winter jacket and scarf asked. Oh dear. We need to change. After two buses to the city centre, we arrived at our hostel -...

As we came in to land at Sydney Airport yesterday, we were treated with glorious views of the famous Harbour. And with a rare sense of familiarity, we eased through arrivals and straight to the railway platform for a fast train into the city centre. We'd contemplated sticking around the airport area for the night as we had less than 24 hours before a connecting flight to New Zealand, but there was one last place we wanted to check out in the city - Darling Harbou...

It didn't take long for us to realise that Port Douglas is the flashy playground of tropical northern Queensland. The main road into the town is lined with huge palm trees that were imported, one by one, at great expense in the 1980s. It cost a bomb to transfer them, yet it was done with one intention, apparently: to impress upscale tourists as they arrive, a la Los Angeles. If the palm trees failed to do the trick, the huge pick of upmarket accommodation and e...

We have yet to visit all the wonders of the world. Hardly surprising, really, given the bewildering range of nominations for a place on contemporary lists. But here in Cairns, we pulled on some rather snazzy lycra suits and face masks, dived into the Pacific Ocean and ogled at the most beautiful collection of ocean reef life we could ever have imagined. In the currency of natural wonder, the Great Barrier Reef is pure gold. But it took some training to get there...