Fraser Island

Hello all....Am back from fraser island which was the most amazing thing EVER! sooo much fun, there is no tarmac, all the roads are sand and only 4WDs are allowed onto the island so very lucky with our huge monster of a toyota landcruiser! Bens uncles brother gave us a crash course in how to work all the 4WD blurb and showed us all the stuff that was wrong with the car and just said 'Have fun'! Anyway so we drove to the barge crossing point (i forgot to mention that we drove around for about 20mins trying to find this place, Ben had neglected to ask directions and then neglected to tell us that he had neglected to ask until we were well on the way...AHHH the boy is so frustrating!) and fran had to back on to the ferry. The sand is so deep, and you skid around everywhere going over these hilarious bumps where the car is so long in the front that it comes up so you cant really see where u r going! Sooooo bumpy, and the tracks are really deep and the rainforest completely surrounds you. Really beautiful lakes with the whitest sand and the clearest water uv ever seen. Spend a bit too long by the lakes, and had booked to stay in this hostel up the beach, so we thought we could go up the beach really easily; HOWEVER, the tide had come in quite far and so we had to drive high on the beach where the sand was very soft....and yes u guessed it....we go stuck! Very scary when the tide kept coming in, on this bunch of novices stranded on the beach, luckily some friendly guys gave us a tow. Anyway so we had to drive all the way round which was blooming miles, and it kept getting dark. THE MOST TERRIFYING DRIVE OF MY LIFE as we had to keep going in this really deep sand but had to stop to read signs to find the way, so yet again when we lost momentum at a crossroads in the pitch black we got stuck! But the legends that we are we got ourselves out as ellie gunned it through the sand, all the while terrified that the dingoes were going to come and attack us (sort of fox wolf things, which inhabit the island and are very aggressive). Hilarious, but very scary. Anyway finally managed to get to our resort, and the boys had to go onto the beach and set up their tent. Next morning we went on another drive, much more comforting in the day - 4WD driving is a lot of fun, going right on the side like at Burghley when they have all the landrovers, and over these huge tree roots in the road when we had to keep getting out of the car so henry could yet again gunn it over! Brilliant, and the coast was absolutely beautiful with the huge waves crashing in. Best 3 days yet in OZ by a mile!

Skydiving and Scrabble

So, been to lots of places so far but they all pale in comparison the crazy activities which i have undertaken in the last couple of days! Moved to the north island where there were suddenly a hell of a lot more people when we were in the capital city Wellington, but still very small. Started our way up the island, first going to Lake Taupo where we planned to do a skydive because its cheapest there. However the rain absolutely bucketed it down so it was cancelled - have never had rain like it, it lasted for hours soaking us through on a 500m run from the cinema!! Anyway we moved on as Taupo was very small, although i must mention a hilarious trip to McDonalds when we couldnt be bothered to cook but didnt want to go out, so we went through the drive-thru. Big mistake, as none of us knew how to use the machine. Ellie was determined that there was a button and so got me to drive the car right up to the machine, and then almost got out of the car - but through the window, half her body was out...meanwhile the lady in McDs was just watching us aghast at our idiocy (we were sitting in hysterics for about a minute before actually attempting to order)...we found that all u needed to do was speak into the machine and ur order came up automatically! A very amusing night.....

Moved on to Rotorua which is where there are lots of geothermal pools, and the whole town reeks of sulphur, which is absolutely disgusting. The girls went to the geothermal spa where there were lots of pools at different temperatures (42 degrees was waaaay to hot!) right on the Lake, which was beautiful. The boys went to the last free spa in Rotorua as they didnt want to pay - apparently it was free for a reason, being merely a tepid stream you could paddle in! Still chucking it down though, which was a bit annoying! Next day was the day of white water rafting , still pouring in the morning, but didnt matter as knew we were going to get we anyway! One of the guides absolutely freaked us out by telling us that they probably wouldnt be able to catch us if we fell out of the boat, so we should just try to hold onto the side of the river, as the current would just drag us downstream, and that we might well hit our head on the billions of rocks which litter the river - AHHHHHH! We had to get all dressed up in wetsuits, helmets and lifejackets before having the quickest safety demonstration ever ('So, you row forward like this, hold on if i yell hold on, and i might yell get down' - i was like, erm are we getting shot at at any point???!! and that was it!) Absolutely amazing, going down these huge rapids, she took us into one and the whole boat almost went over, henry unfortunatley fell out (you arent strapped in at all, just perched on the side of the boat and they tell you to jam your feet in!), but everyone was fine and we dragged him back in before he could get towed away! The most amazing scenery as it poured and poured with rain, also had thunder and lightning - quite scary when you are holding steel paddles!!! Anyway we all survived - an awesome afternoon.

Then we had the big drive all the way up to the Bay of Islands where we had to go past Auckland, and we left relatively late so decided to stay the night just beyond Auckland and keep driving the next morning. Had the hostel all to ourselves where it was very creepy being so quiet! Next morning arrived in Paihia in Bay of Islands. Booked skydive (AHHHHH - the weather was good so knew it was going to go ahead!), and then took some kayaks to the beach and attempting to get 2 people into the 3 one man kayaks - very hard!! Ellie, Henry and I decided to go first on the Skydive so we had to get up for an 8am start. The most beautiful day with clear blue skys, drove there - a little alarmed that it literally was a shack in a field and a plane! Really nice guy and girl running it, got us all into our gear and then i was off up in the plane. No time to be nervous, and the 20min plane ride was amazing over the Bay of Islands with the sunrising, getting to 12o00ft. The pilot says 3mins and you haved to get the goggles and everything attached and properly roped to the guy with the parachute (doing it tandem is much safer) and then 1min, he shuffles us forward, the door is opened and i had to hook my legs round the wheel of the tiny plane so we can get ready to jump. SOOOOOO AMAZING. Plummeting towards the earth was so cool, surprisingly unscary, and i have some brilliant pictures! Quite painful when the parachute opens which feels like it yanks you upwards but is just slowing you down loads, and then float to ground, the views were just unreal, almost indescribable! I would love to do it again (hope mum isnt reading this!), best experience ever!!!

Now in Auckland for a couple of days and Ellie has left us. Fly to Oz on the 24th.

New Zealand cont....

And again!!! I keep forgetting to update despite my regular proximity to a computer, and as a consequence forget half what iv done....anyway, im loving new zealand more and more, definitely going to come back here. After Dunedin we travelled the extremely long distance to Te Anau, where we just stayed for one night to avoid having to travel the Milford Sound road when all the travellers do. So got up early and set off to Milford, to discover that our car has NO acceleration up hill, bless his little engine, but with five adults and five large bags none of us could blame him! The road was AMAZING, all through the mountains (so lots of uphill), and the mist made it really spooky as we passed all these waterfalls and sheer cliffs...we stayed in the Milford Sound lodge which was pretty cool, basically Milford Sound is a stretch of moutain surrounded water connected to the Tasman Sea but is completely protected from it's currents, it apparently cheats the marine life into thinking its much deeper than it is, and so dolphins etc live there, anyway there isnt a village or a shop or anything, just a visitors centre and this lodge. Absolutely stunning views, and we went on a cruise at 9am along the Sound and out into the Tasman which was beautiful as the mountains were gradually revealed. Saw dolphins, seals etc and then stopped off at an underwater aquarium which was just a glass bowl 15m below the surface, so ur pretty much in the sea, amazing to see all the fish in their natural habitat. Henry, Ben and Fran went on a 5 hr walk which they regretted as it ended up being less of a walk and more of a trek through untravelled rainforest...Ellie and I stayed in the dry!!! (oh yes forgot to mention it was pouring with rain!) Anyway next stop was Queenstown which is major backpacker area, spent 3 nights here in the most amazing hostel with free internet (+computer in the room! - yes one of the places I probably should have updated my blog, lets ignore that....), went jetboating along the Shotover Canyon, which was crazy as we were skimmed perilously close to jagged cliffs and through 10cm deep water. Also went luging, which is basically a gokart down a mountain, hilarious fun racing each other down it....oddly probably more dangerous than the jetboating! Went to the 'Minus 5 Bar' which was in fact -7.5 and entirely made of ice, even the cups which the drinks came in were ice (which Ben proceded to eat, and Fran to crack), and the barman I found out was from Raydon, weird!!! Left Queenstown the next morning for the Franz Josef Glacier, which again was another stunning drive to another remote location. Meant to go on a helicopter onto the glacier and then do a 2 hr hike, but soooo annoyingly the weather was awful and it was cancelled, oh well just gives me more reason to come back! After 2 nights there, we drove onto Nelson which is where I am currently. This was a seriously long drive, and we went to Punakaiki which was right on the coast and where the rocks looked like pancakes, but the more amazing thing was the chimneys where water rushed in from the sea and then got shot out in a spray over everyone, all very impressive. Arrived at Nelson, again a really nice hostel - and then MY BIRTHDAY! Had an awesome day, went riding with Ellie along the Abel Tasman coast, our choice of horses was a 5yr old mare, or an 8 yr gelding which had only been gelded for 2 years!!!! They actually ended up being quite nice, and good for galloping along the beach!!! Have just returned from a 3day walk in the Abel Tasman National Park which is apparently the best walk in New Zealand...I can vouch for that. It was just stunning, along the coast these amazing beaches surrounded by mountains and walking through rainforest where the scenery constantly changed. Had to stay in these huts designed for the walk which basically was just a bed, luckily Rosie (the next new travelling companion) had got a gas cooker so we were able to cook pasta and noodles. Really sweet though, as it was really sociable as the same group of people stayed at the huts both nights as we progressed through the walk; so we kept seeing them on the way round. Very very tired now (as over 12 hr walk), and ache a lot!!! Definitely worth it though.

New Zealand

Woops! Havent written on this for a while as it takes so long to compose a message but here goes! We are now in New Zealand, its AMAZING! Came into Christchurch after a horrific night in Sydney airport (airport seats are not built for sleeping!), and got the shuttle to the centre to find a hostel. Its absolutely bizarre after India, for a city this place feels like a ghost town, NO BEEPING, and people stay withing the lines when they drive! For most of u this might seem weird, but honestly the driving is atrocious in India although weirdly they drive much slower. We have also had to monitor our road crossing habits, where in India there are no traffic lights or pedestrian crossings, so we had perfected the art of merely stepping out into the road with a hand out to stop the oncoming car, here we actually have to wait for a green man....weird! Christchurch was like a return to luxury, going to Starbucks, nice showers and the loos! The best thing is definitely the loos, u dont appreciate a good loo until uv been to India!!!!! LOads of stuff to do in this peaceful city, went rowing on the River Avon (damn Ben and Ellie, continuously rocking the boat!!!), ended up in several accidental crashes into the riverbank. Also had to rescue this family in a pedalo who had lost their rudder so were consequently drifting up the river! Towed them back to safety....ah what heroes we are (i might add that we received no reward for this heroic deed.....). Also went up Christchurch Gondola which no is not a boat thing like they have in Venice but in fact is a cable car, which took us to the most amazing and beautiful scenery i have ever seen. We have also hired a car so we are currently driving around the south island in a white hatchback (cant remember the make sorry dad!) where the steering shudders a bit in low gears but otherwise is fine.....have driven to Lake Tekapo, which was a huge stunning lake carved out but a glacier. We stayed there for two nights, swam in the lake which was even colder than swimming in the unheated pool grandad! Really pretty if a little cold...., anyway then we drove to Mt Cook the highest mountain in NZ and did a 3 hr walk to the Hooker Glacier which is still retreating, and has carved out this amazing valley to walk along, with huge roaring rivers which we got to cross by enormous swing bridges....again the boys being very immature attempting to rock us over the edge, dont worry mum it was perfectly safe....The views of the mountain were stunning once the cloud unveiled it, and the walk ended at this big lake which is where the glacier starts and is currently melting so there were hjuge blocks of ice in it....(one weird man was sitting on one in the middle of the lake, must have been verrrry cold!). We are currently in Dunedin, a coastal city right in the South, and this morning we went to the Cadburys factory and got loads of free chocoloate...WOOOH! The smell was amazing! HAve also been to a beach which was full of surfers cos there were pretty much tidal waves there! Ellie and I decided to go swimming so we waded in, and this 5ft wave comes roaring toward us so we rapidly ran out, leaving it to the surfers!!!!! Amazing to watch, but very scary to face! Tomorrow we move on to Te Anau....

Udaipur

Hello all.....hope everyone is well, we are now in our final stages of rajistan in udaipur (where the james bond Octopussy was filmed, so very touristy). Only arrived this morning by sleeper bus, very scary experience as the roads from bundi where we were previously are shocking so it was the bumpiest journey iv ever experienced!!!! Bundi was lovely though, despite having a very large population it retains a village like atmosphere, we hired bikes and cycled out of the city to see some of the monuments further out....Henry was HILARIOUS riding a bike apparently not having ridden one since he was 8!!!! turning round to see him wiggling all over the road and eventually crash into a stationary car was quality entertainment (i keep wanting to write kwality as thats how the indians spell it here!!!!) We have also been through Pushkar and Ajmer, nobody told uas that Pushkar was just full of tourists (more westerners than indians) and that clearly all the hippies came here to take drugs!!! You could see why though, as it was stunning with the town surrounding a picturesque lake, with several ghats (holy washing steps) going all the way round the lake. The owner of our hotel there was clearly a total lune, and said that everybody in pushkar is half crazy, i would have said they were merely all high on drugs!!! Ajmer is the huge city next to pushkar which i didnt really like much as it was very big noisy and polluted but we did manage to p,lay a game of billionaire in a park and involved a load of indian kids into the game...it was quite difficult to expain the rules and then they would yell indian numbers which i couldnt remember what they meant!!!! Having a fantastic tiem though, hopefully going to watch Octopussy tonight ( as apparently every single restaurant in udaipur plays it!!!) and then we can appreciate the scenery even more!!!!! Lots of love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

India cont.....

Now in a place called jaisalmer.....its lovely, a desert town so its much quieter than the other cities......we are going on a camel safari tomorrow staying overnight out in the desert!!!! how exciting.....anyway getting pretty dam good at haggling for rooms/objects etc, alot more fun than i imagined it to be!!!!! no arguments as yet....but im sure they will appear....all i can say is india is more different than i could have ever imagined, like another world compared to the uk!!!!! xxxxxxxxxx

India

Well, erm what can i say bout india......OH MY GOD!!!!! it is a total sock to the system when u fisst arrive, the traffic is crrrraazzzyyy and everyone hoots continuously with no regard for lanes or inidcators, im loving the rickshaws though its a mixture of the thrill of it and the iminent fear of death......we are now in jaipur the pink city which is beautiful with some amzing architeture....the culture is carazy here like we cget asked reguarly if indians can have their pictures taken with us beacause white people are clearly a noivlety and we had the most bizarre experience of my life in the afternoon yesterday as we went and sat in a beautiful park (for once not getting hassled) and started playing hearts....these indian men kept on stopping and looking at our game and then suddenly a load sat down and watched!!!! people kept on appearing until it must have been about 30 people completely surrrounding us watching this card game....we had no communication however except they kept on insisting on shuffling our cards!!! i was in complete hysterics attempting to suppress them and play hearst simultaneously!!!!!!! but yes so loving it, but have an 8 hour bus journey to bikaner tonight on the sleeper bus (im hoping its like th night bus in harry potter...a faint but ever present wish....) missing u all loads and loads mucho love xxxxxxxxx