Category: New Zealand

  • Some videos

    I’ve taken a few videos at points over our travels. They now have a home on the web so I will share them with you. Click on the video name to view each video. In chronological order: Gannets flying – I know you all didn’t get enough of the gannets with the crazy number of…

  • The last word on New Zealand

    Here are our observations: Good Birdlife Although there are many introduced British birds such as sparrows, blackbirds and finches; the birds in NZ are very different. They are extremenly tame. Sparrows were everywhere and wouldn’t think twice about flying into a building and seeing what’s in the Kitchen. The Gannets we saw were adorable. They…

  • The silver bullet is sold!

    Well hello again and a special hello to Random Stranger! This is Viv again and not John i’m afraid. I’ve got a little less to do on the internet. As you can see from above we’ve sold the silver bullet. It is not a very good time of year to sell so we’ve been extremely…

  • They appear on the north island again!

    Hello to everyone! We’ve been up to all sorts since the last post so i’ll try to only include the details you may be interested in reading about. Hmm We’re back in Taupo now and will spend the night with Ros and Tony again. It’s a really nice unexpected visit. We’re also meeting John’s cousin…

  • Sky diving!

    Just been sky diving – WOW!! What an awesome experience! 🙂 It was absolutely fantastic, I was pretty nervous on the 25 minute flight up to 9000ft but surprisingly chilled out when my legs were dangling over the side of the plane getting ready to plummet towards the Earth. It was an amazing rush during…

  • Now for the other bits

    Ay up! Got a bit of time to kill before I go white water rafting so thought I’d add to John’s post. He’s gone off to do a sky dive. He’s using his leaving money from Ufi to do it, so thanks guys! What a nutter though, I’m really nervous for him. Can’t wait until…

  • Back in Sheffield!

    Been a while since our last post so we’ve a fair bit to update you all on, I think we were heading to Akaroa on the Banks Penninsula when I last posted… well the drive was spectacular, Akaroa quaint but limited in attractions and the rest of penninsula that we saw beautiful if a little…

  • The untitled post

    Easy everyone, hope you are all well after the Christmas break with renewed enthusiasm for work! Thought I’d give you all a quick update on what we’ve been up to recently, which isn’t an awful lot, but here goes: We passed through Kaikoura and saw lots of seals which was pretty exciting – they were…

  • Enough free wine I tell you. Enough!!

    I have been like the living dead today so i’m suprised John is happy enough to let me loose on the blooog…..ar bugger. Anyway, he’s distracted by amusingly dubious pictures containing the adventures of Speake in Thailand. He he. We are having much fun, we must share: Have a click on this little baby! Anyway,…

  • An update on our future travel plans

    Easy all, Thought I’d update you all on our future travel plans as we now have a better idea where we’re going to be if any of you would like to come and meet up with us somewhere around the world. Towards the end of this month we will be flying out to Brisbane and…

  • Well, New year was certainly ‘eventful’

    New years eve wasn’t quite the long-promised blow-out that we had anticipated, not unless you count having an increasingly heated discussion with a racist white supremacist bigot who was also an anglophile. A few of his choice views were that all muslims were fundamentalists, that people with white skin are superior and more prosperous to…

  • It’s new years eve

    Ay up you lot. Happy new year in advance. We’ve moved on to Napier now. Many thanks to Ros and Tony for looking after us so well. Ros sent us off with some of her wonderful banana and chocolate muffins, happy days! Napier is a cool place, certainly our favourite town in New Zealand so…

  • Christmas in the sun

    Happy Christmas everyone! We are currently staying at my Aunt Ros and Uncle Tony’s house hear Taupo which is where we spent a slightly odd-feeling Christmas in the sun. Christmas is strange over here, there aren’t the usual triggers that we get at home – decorations everywhere, Christmas shopping, going home to see family and…

  • Egg Fart City

    Yes it’s me again! John is busy uploading more photos. Plenty more pictures of birds ;). I need a camera cable before I can do any of mine so you will have to continue waiting in suspense. Anyway. Rotorua (city of rotten egg aromas) is our current location. It has sulphur rich thermal vents which…

  • My first post for a while…

    It’s been a while since I last posted – most of my internet time has been spent sorting other things out so not had a chance to get on here as much as I would have liked. Anyway the last week or so has featured two of the highlights of our trip so far –…

  • Up to 18th Dec.

    Thanks for all the comments you lot. Looks like we’ll have to turn around and head back up North for more Gannet action! We’ve had a bit of a slower pace of life this last week. This internet connection is certainly slow so there will be no more photos for the time being. You will…

  • An update at last

    Hello all! Nice to see you all debating amongst yourselves. The Silver bullet has not (yet!) broken down although John has taken to covering the curtains in velcro. At least they close properly now! The downside is that the stuff keeps getting stuck in my hair. We’re currently in Kaitaia and have just spent three…

  • We have wheels!

    We’ve bought a camper van! It was surprisingly easy and, not wanting to tempt fate, but I reckon we’ve got a good un. It’s a toyota ‘town ace’, is pretty simple with just a mattress in the back, but has a stereo and some very funky skylights too. It has been monikered ‘The Silver Bullet’,…

  • We made it to Auckland!

    Hello all! We’ve finally left the UK! The 30 hour flight was a bit of a killer, was sure my knees would explode. We did manage to catch the most excellent new Wallace and Gromit movie which I would recommend you all to see. It has some very clever touches and had about half the…