Bondi Beach

Friday 11 April 2008





No trip to Sydney would be complete without a trip out to Bondi.... or so we've been told. It's nice when large cities have such attractive coastal resorts close by. We enjoyed watching the surfers & dipping our feet into the water. Later we did a short coastal walk before returning to Bondi one last time. It's a nice spot but at the end of the day it is just a beach, let's not kid ourselves. Before returning to the city we went into Peter Pans & organised all our transport, accommodation & activities between Brisbane & Cairns & shelled out a rather large wad of $$$$.

Sydney Bridge Climb

Thursday 10 April 2008





On Thursday afternoon we checked in for our twilight climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It's an expensive ordeal but thankfully we didn't have to worry about that cause the gang back at Wyeth had paid for our trip - Thanks!!! Initially we thought it's be typical tourist rip off but truth be told it is a very professional operation and we loved every minute of it. The weather couldn't have been better and that helped a lot. The whole trip moved along at a pace that allowed us plenty of time to enjoy the incredible views down to the Opera House back to the city and even as far south as the Blue Mountains. We were number 1 and 2 behind our guide so we were able to chat away with him, turns out he is just about to pack in the job to start some travels of his own. Obviously there are the obligatory cheesey photos that are taken that you are given the opportunity to purchase (2 of us at the top of the bridge). Normally we wouldn't consider buying them but these one's felt a little bit unique so I hope you enjoy them because they didn't come cheap!!



All in all it was a great experience that we thoroughly enjoyed. 3.5 hours later we emerged from Bridgeclimb HQ and who was waiting outside for us but our old friend James. We all enjoyed some excellent pizza in the Australian Bar and proceeded to chew the fat over a few beers. Great end to a great day.

We're in a land Down Under

Sydney, Australia, 8-14 April 2008

We arrived in Sydney on a wet & windy morning then we hopped in a taxi & sat in rush hour traffic for about an hour and a half. Give me the M50 any day! Not great first impressions. Thankfully things got better after that. Ian (Dave's cousin) gave us a very warm welcome to his apartment in Balmain before heading off to work. Then the sun came out & we decided to jump straight in at the deep end "two tickets to Circular Quay please". Let's go see the icons, and they didn't disappoint (I wonder if they ever do). Sitting on a bench in Circular Quay is the most surreal experience to look left and see the Sydney Harbour Bridge (a mammoth structure of immense beauty) and then to look right and see the Opera House in all it's glory. Having these two in such close proximity would be akin to placing the Taj Mahal across the road from the Eiffel Tower. Sensory overload.


For the remainder of the afternoon we acquainted ourselves with downtown Sydney visiting The Rocks, George Street and Darling Harbour amongst others. That evening we enjoyed a sociable evening with Ian & Emma at a Thai restaurant before hitting the Welcome Irish Bar for a few surprisingly good pints of Guinness. Keeping with the Thai theme the next morning we visited the Thai consulate in an effort to try and secure our visa's for Thailand (because we only have a one way flight) but alas the Thai New Year couldn't have come at a worse time for us and this would scupper our efforts in both Sydney and Brisbane. Afterwards we strolled through the Botanic Gardens (and were amazed at the copious amounts of fruit bats in the trees) and discussed "Thailand Plan B". That evening Ian & Emma prepared a fantastic BBQ, succulent lamb sizzling on the grill... oops I guess I should have mentioned that Claire doesn't eat lamb! Emma sprung into action and prepared chicken and salad for Claire.



Ian had recommended a guided walking tour of the Rocks area so that is precisely what we did on Thursday morning. The history of the area is fascinating. While in Sydney we also took the ferry from circular Quay home to Balmain, it's always nice when cities use the waterways as part of the transport system. On Friday night we visited James (Wyeth buddy) at his apartment where he put on a very impressive spread, another delectable BBQ and more tender lamb to be consumed! Martha (another ex-Wyeth employee) and her boyfriend joined us and we had a very entertaining evening . After several beers there may even have been a conference call made to Wyeth as the guys back there were just getting ready to finish up for the weekend. Good to hear the old familiar voices.

Ibis, plenty of them on view from Emma & Ian's balcony

All too soon it was time to catch our flight to Brisbane. I think we can hold our heads high in the knowledge that we gave Sydney a good run for her money. Ian and Emma - Thanks for your hospitality.

Goodbye New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand, 6-7 April 2008

Whilst in Christchurch we visited the Canterbury museum with it's excellent Antarctic exhibition then passed the statue of Robert Falcon Scot carved by his wife. Are you starting to see a theme here yet? The next day we met up with Una (Dave's cousin) and her friend. They had just arrived from Sydney and speaking of Sydney, it was time for us to get back to our hostel and get organised for our early morning flight. So long New Zealand, it's been great.... is that two months already?

Bonjour Akaroa

Akaroa, New Zealand, 5 April 2008

It really sank that our time in NZ was coming to an end when we rolled into Christchurch. As we still had the car for another day and there was gas in the tank (errrm I mean petrol)we only stopped off briefly before heading to Akaroa (80 km away). While in Christchurch there were plenty of activities taking place in the central plaza in honour of the Buddha's birthday. Not sure how old he would've been. There were dancers, singers, oriental food stalls, origami lessons, baby blessings & offerings to the Buddha taking place all around the square.



The road to Akaroa is very scenic as it twists & winds it's way over and around hills offering amazing landscape vistas. We booked into a lovely little lodge in the centre of town & went exploring. It seems like there is simply no escaping Shackleton & his crew because it wasn't long before we came across a statue of Frank Worsley. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story of the Endurance this is the man who managed to navigate the James Caird lifeboat 800 miles across some of the unforgiving waters in the world to arrive safely on South Georgia Island (Tom Crean was also part of the 5man team that made the crossing). It is considered to be one of the greatest navigational feats of all time. Well, it turns out that Frank was born and raised in Akaroa. Akaroas's other claim to fame, apart from it's incredible setting on Banks peninsula, is that the French came & colonised this region of NZ. So instead of streets there are rues and there is a distinctly Frenchy feel to the place. That night we watched Monty Python's meaning of life & enjoy some "world famous" fish & chips. With all the world famous fish & chip shops in NZ you'd have thought someone would've heard of them.


And with that we drove back into Christchurch, dropped off the rental car and kissed goodbye to our carefree travelling days. Trains, planes and long distance bus journeys for us from now on.

Frank Worsley

Mount Cook

Methven, New Zealand, 2 April 2008
Arthurs Pass, New Zealand, 3-4 April 2008



From Wanaka it was on to Mt. Cook - NZ's highest peak. You first see it from a long way off and it looms large and impressive. As we rolled into the small Mt. Cook village the mountain was a most imposing presence. The problem is that we had tried to book accommodation but to no avail. Then we thought we might sleep in our tent...but the night's had gone awfully cold...so feck that. After staying in town a couple of hours, visiting the Hermitage Hotel (NZ's most famous hotel apparently), photographed Kea birds ripping the rubber off cars, and enquiring about available accommodation (hmm, that would be exactly none), we got back in our car and rolled onto Methven.



We didn't arrive at the Skiwi lodge until 10pm. This really was nothing more than a stop-off on our way to Arthus Pass. The owner, Ian, a friendly Yorkshire lad who, along with his girlfriend had packed up their lives in the UK to come and run a business in NZ. He wasn't bothered about check-out so we enjoyed a long lie in before hitting the road to Arthurs Pass.

Kea mid flight (Mt Cook in background)

As we travelled through the Cantebury Plains we couldn't help topping off to sample some award winning pies in Sheffield. Scrummy delicious. It was a beautiful day meandering our waythrough the mountains but we were warned when we arrived that the rains were coming. Everywhere we have travelled in NZ people have told us how unseasonal the weather has been this year. Good if you're a tourist, bad if you're a farmer. We certainly couldn't complain. The following day, Dave's birthday, we enjoyed a late lazy breakfast before strolling up to the Devil's Punchbowl. As the rains still hadn't arrived we decided to tag on a hike up Mt. Aicken. It was Aicken by name and Aicken by nature. It was a grueling straight up track. None of that boring zig-zag stuff. What more could a boy ask for on his birthday? Just as we were getting off the hill the rains started. Put simply, once it started it never stopped. Still, it was nice looking out at it from under the duvet. Unfortunately we discovered that our bag of Cadbury's choccie was AWOL, if this wasn't bad enough we realised our Ipod had joined it :-(

That evening we drove the 50 yards to the restaurant in the pouring rain & enjoyed a steak dinner washed down with red wine & a few pints of Guinness. After dinner we relaxed in font of a roaring fire & Dave enjoyed speaking to Paddy (who'd called to wish him happy birthday).

Jumping Out of A Plane

Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, 1 April 2008

We drove 280km from Dunedin (east coast) to Wanaka (west coast) for one reason & one reason only..... we had booked a skydive with SkydiveNZ. We had our fingers crossed that this time mother nature would give us picture postcard weather. We spent a quiet evening relaxing & had an early night. Surprisingly I (Claire) slept well. We got up in the morning, pulled back the curtain to discover crystal clear blue skies. I made a call that confirmed it was all systems go, yarg!!

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As we arrived at the centre we witnessed colourful parachutes in the sky, gracefully gliding their way back to the landing spot. The reality of what was about to happen had well & truly kicked in.

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After watching a safety DVD & signing away all rights to life & limb we donned our colourful jumpsuits & were provided with a safety harness. Needless to say Dave was Mr Cool taking on a 15,000 feet jump. No bother to him (it was to be his 2nd time). Whereas, I had figured that throwing myself out a plane at 12,000 feet was enough for me to begin with! Next thing, I heard someone calling my name & I was introduced to my tandem jumpmaster Eugene. Dressed in black from head to tow he looked like he'd just walked off the milk tray ad. He run through a safety & landing briefing with me but the only question I wanted answered was "how many times have you jumped out a plane"?? 12,000 times he reassured me as we made our way to his office (the plane). Phew, this guy has gotta know what he's doing - right?

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Dave, 2 Japanese, me & our respective jumpmasters all squeezed snugly into the tiny aeroplane. I was last in, which meant I was first out. I was also sitting at the planes glass exit door which offered incredible views as we cruised to our jump height. I guess Eugene was trying to take my mind off the nerves as he pointed out Mount Cook, Mount Aspiring and Lake Wanaka and that worked somewhat until he started joking that he'd forgot something. What was that something?? The parachute?? Yarg. Needless to say I was in stitches laughing, not!

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Looking at his altimeter on his wrist he confirmed we were at 12,000 feet, the exit door started opening automatically & I felt a rush of cold fresh air. I had to swing my legs out of the door, Eugene was straddled behind me. It felt mad, it felt crazy but I had no time to entertain those thoughts, no time to think, it was time to jump. Head up, smile for the camera, exit position then I was plummeting through the air at 200 km/h attached to my new best friend. Even the slightest body movement or facial expression was a battle against the force of the wind.

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The wind, the falling, the vastness of it all overloaded my senses. I was hurtling & spinning for 45 seconds through space yet moving in slow motion then the pace changed dramatically. The parachute opened pulling us upright at first and the frenzy of a moment earlier transformed to utter calm. Eugene checked that I was ok then we glided peacefully above the incredible scenery of Lake Wanaka & the mountains before making a perfect landing back on terra firma.

What do you mean you forgot the parachute????????
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Ready, steady, aghhhhhh.

Is it a bird, is it a plane???

I give Eugene a bear hug