NZ Update

So the big news is that having avoided lethal bites from the many and varied poisonous snakes / spiders / jellyfish / scorpions etc around Australia and Asia, I have been attacked by one of the only dangerous creatures in New Zealand. Yes - I was stung on the face by a bumble bee who flew in through the window of our camper van as we were driving away from the Franz Josef Glacier. Luckily, we did have the anti-venom required (in the form of Wasp-eze) in order to counteract the symptoms, so we could wend our merry way up to Hanmer Springs where we stayed for a night and went to the thermal springs there. They were very relaxing although the sulphur baths left a less than delightful whiff in our swimwear.

I should back-up a bit though as we have had a fab time pootling around in our camper van. Milford and Doubtful Sounds were amazing if very wet (average of 7-9 metres of rainfall a year) and we saw one incredible waterfall after another interspersed with dolphins and seals and all sorts of dramatic views and scenery. We also went through some caves one day to go find glow worms which lead to this little rhyme being discovered:
I wish I were a glow worm
And then I'd never be glum
'Cos how can you be grumpy
When a light shines out your bum!

From the glow worms we went for an explore around Queenstown for a night - went up the gondolar and luged part of the way down followed by jet-boating the next day which was wicked ... 360 degree turns in a canyon on only 10cm of water. We then headed to Lake Wanaka where we did a whole load of walking (tramping to use the NZ terminology) up and down some hills / mountains and had a swim in the Lake. Next stop was Franz Josef where we headed over to the Terminal Face of the Fox Glacier when we arrived and the next day did a guided walk up over and into the Franz Josef Glacier. It was fab if not slightly nerve racking at times leaping over in crevices with only your crampons to stop you slipping.

We are now in Kaikoura and off to do some whale watching in a couple of hours. We then have a couple of days in Christchurch before we leave our van behind and head off to Wellington to see Sarita & Hamish and spend some time in the North Island. We'll add a load more photos onto the site when we get there.

Have a good week!!! (and those in Prague ... enjoy / good luck with the massive snow!!)

The land of the long white cloud!

Hi all,

We have arrived in sunny (!) New Zealand, and are being wowed by increasingly beautiful vistas - there seems to be a better one around every corner.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and were picked up from Christchurch Airport and whisked off for dinner and a comfy bed for the night --- many, many thanks to Tina, Dave, Kim and Alistair for getting us off to such a pleasant start in NZ.

We picked up our camper van on Thursday, and headed south to the lakes in beautiful sunshine. We spent last night at a camp site south of Lake Tekapo, and are heading round towards Doubtful & Milford Sounds today (currently stopped for a break in Queenstown and using the local internet facilities). Stopping at Te Anau for the night.

So far, we are loving NZ and can't wait to see more. Obviously, Anne has also already taken tons of pictures and we hope to post some to Flickr soon.

Must go now ... time for lunch!

You should see the size of the one that got away

look at the size of the little fella!
Originally uploaded by domfells.

Arch and I had a very successful fishing expedition last week --- excluding the first hour and a half, where we caught some branches, a piece of old rope and another fisherman!

We both caught a flathead - mine was about 12-13 inches, so we threw him back; but Arch caught a 16 incher and hooked him right through the gill so he had to come out.

As you can probably guess (and see from the photos) we hadn't actually planned on the eventuality of actually catching something! Consequently Arch was very unprepared for his first exercise in gutting a fish and needed me to help him out. He did have to carry the little fella home under his arm though.

Anne was our plucky camerawoman -- in between hysterical giggling at our general ineptitude.

Singapore Zoo

Singapore Zoo
Originally uploaded by domfells.

Hello all, we have added a heap of photos from our day out at Singapore Zoo to Flickr. Click the picture to see the set.

Goto http://www.flickr.com/photos/domfells/sets/ for all of our photos on Flickr.

Off to the Hunter Valley this evening for the weekend --- will report back on wine tasting next week!

Happy New Year!

Hi all

Happy New Year from sunny Sydney. We arrived from Melbourne on 29th December and are staying with Adam & Lizzie until 17th Jan, when we head off to Christchurch in NZ.

We had a fantastic New Year - starting with a water taxi from Manly across Sydney Harbour to Circular Quay in the early evening. We then spent the evening at Lenin Bar at the quay with more than a few drinks and fantastic views of the fireworks and Harbour Bridge (thanks and kudos to our hosts for organising it all). Finishing the evening with very wobbly legs and another water taxi back from the Opera House to Manly.

Lizzie & Adam have a fab house in Balgowlah nr Manly - and have been graciously entertaining us with fishing (I caught a small fish, and what appeared to be a big pair of pants!), cricket (terrible performance from England - great performance from the Barmy Army), picnic'ing, bar-b-q'ing, and seeing the northern beaches.

We have also spent some time being proper tourists in the city - taking pictures of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

In the next few days we plan to do more fishing (well me, Arch and Adam anyway), go to more beaches (including Coogee and Bondi), visit the Blue Mountains and/or the Hunter Valley, and we may even go to the 20/20 cricket match next week (if we can stand the pain!).

Once again, best wishes for a very Happy New Year from both of us.

We will post more soon - don't forget to keep an eye on our Flickr photo gallery for new additions too (http://www.flickr.com/photos/domfells/sets/)