The camp-site was basic but nice, and I had only booked it because of the Lord of the Rings theme (following our trail of filming locations in NZ last year), Rivendale even has a pub called The Prancing Pony where we enjoyed a couple of dinners and drinks.

Highlights included a day at Alton Towers, walking around Chatsworth (Mr Darcy!), and shopping in the artsy shops of Matlock Bath, Bakewell and Buxton.

The big event of the trip though was Rob’s proposal camp-fire! Open fire, big jumpers and a bottle of bubbly, and a big yes from me!

Returning as fiancées and to more bubbly and lots of phone calls we barely had time to stop before I headed down to the Suffolk coast with the girls and Rob had a week of quiet relaxation. Even more wine and good food and walking and the beginnings of wedding planning (over more wine)!

And that’s about all the news I have for now; back to work and real life next week.

Nic & Rob xx

We returned to a much nicer Sydney than we left. It was probably the change in hostels (from the cheap and not-so-cheerful Sydney Backpackers to the clean and airy YHA Railway Square. We had also had a lot more time to get used to the size and population of the city, whereas when we first landed it was a big shock after the relative calm of NZ and Asia.

We had a few days in which to revisit our favourite places, (the Rocks and Darling Harbour) and try out some of the beach suburbs of Sydney. We caught the ferry out to Manly, on a very misty, humid day which ended up being incredibly hot and sunny. After walking the length of the beach and watching the surfers we headed into the town to explore the markets and find lunch and shade. If we go back to Sydney I would definitely look at staying further out, somewhere like Manly as there was such a nice atmosphere, and it was pretty easy to get to the city centre and sights.

After some last minute shopping for souvenirs we headed to the IMAX in Darling Harbour where Rob had really wanted to see Tron in 3D on the world’s largest IMAX screen. It was pretty good, but even better was stepping out to dusk and seeing a crowd gathering around the harbour. We found some good seats and stayed for the last of the New Year fireworks celebrations and a fantastic end to our trip.

The next day we flew to Singapore where we spent six hours exploring the city and having free foot massages before finally arriving back to the shock of a British January, somehow just missing the insane amount of snow.

So we are back in the real world now. We’ve spent the last six months in a sort of limbo, travelling between Kent (where I found work teaching) and Yorkshire (where Rob found work), but next week I will be moving up to Yorkshire where I start a new contract in September. Something a bit more permanent – for now at least!

Nic & Rob x

After a quick flight to Sydney we caught the train to Katoomba, a town right in the heart of the Blur Mountains. This was somewhere that I had read a lot about and heard from friends about, so I was expecting something with a decent view.

Unfortunately, although we have managed to avoid the flooding so far, we have not escaped the rain. For our first day in the Blue Mountains, all we could see from about five feet in front of us was cloud.

We stayed in the very cute Flying Fox hostel, which was very cosy and full of other people eager to go walking but stuck inside because of the weather – nearly everyone that we spoke to had been or was planning to go trekking in Nepal, so there was plenty to talk about.

Luckily on the second day the rain at least had stopped and we walked the few kms to Echo Point where we had our packed lunch and giggled at all the tourists staring off the view point into the clouds, hoping to see something, anything.

As if by magic, as soon as we were getting ready to leave and head back the sun came out and the clouds began to disappear, and we got to see the view that everyone had come for, looking out over the Three Sisters rock formation and across the very hazy valley.

The nice weather didn’t last long and we spent our final day in the artsy town of Leura, wandering around galleries and avoiding the rain, coming up with get-rich-quick schemes for our return home! Although we weren’t blown away by our first impressions, when it came to leave Katoomba we were both a little sad, not looking forward to the end of the trip, and not really looking forward to going back to Sydney which wasn’t our favourite Australian city. Luckily Sydney has been way better the second time around. More on that later though,

Nic & Rob

We went searching for Kangaroos on Christmas Eve when our hosts found out that I still hadn’t seen a wild one. Saw loads just a short drive away, and even chased a couple of emus too.

Next came Christmas; some crazy skype calls to the USA and UK, a trip to the pub and then a big Australian outdoor Christmas Meal with Bob’s family. A surreal but awesome day.

After recovering from the drinking over Christmas, we heading up the road to the Barossa Valley for some wine tasting. Beautiful countryside and yummy wines.

Next, a musical interlude.

And then we went to Cuddlee Creek, the cutest sounding animal park ever. This was an awesome day out, beautiful scenery, got to feed kangaroos, wallabees and camels that we just wandering about. And of course, the must have photo-op from a trip to Oz, we got to cuddle some koalas.

On the way back we stopped off to see a giant rocking horse (self-explanitory really) and the Whispering Wall, where Rob and I stood at one end of a massive wall, Becca and Bob at the other, and we could hold a clear conversation. We in reality Rob whispered ‘nipples’ and we could hear Becca laughing in reply.

Next was New Years, Australian style. Drinks, BBQ and just a little bit of crazy.

After some rest we were ready to head back out sight-seeing again, and this time went to Victor Harbor. There were nice shops, a beautiful beach and Granite Island that you could walk to along a footbridge.

We stopped off on the way back for a drink and Rob and Bob acted their ages at the playground.

And then Rob turned 25 – which he wasn’t very happy about.

So he went fishing with the boys while Becca and I crafted it up.

We played bowling and mini-golf. Rob won the bowling, I didn’t win anything, but at least I avoided the pond, unlike Becca!

And then to round up our visit, we went on a Dolphin Tour from Port Adelaide, where we saw lots of dolphins (and one crazy guy selling tickets).

And that is about it for our time in South Australia. We loved it all, especially getting to spend time annoying with Becca and Bob. Thanks again for being such brilliant hosts.

With only ten days left of the trip we flew to Sydney and then the Blue Mountains, which I will update later today!

Nic & Rob

We’ve fallen very behind on our travels. Arriving back at Becca & Bob’s house on Christmas

Eve meant that we were straight into the Christmas, New Years, Rob’s Birthday rush and have only just resurfaced!

We started in Adelaide, catching the Ghan train all the way up to Alice Springs, a journey that took about 25 hours. Having YHA cards meant that we got a massive discount on our seats (well worth the ten quid before we left the UK) but limited us to the cheap seats. On the way up though it was pretty comfortable, and we both managed to sleep quite well. The seats reclined almost all the way back and there was so much room in front that you hardly noticed everyone else doing the same.

To avoid going mad from sitting in the same place, and looking at pretty much the same view for the whole journey, we spent an extra $10 each to use the Red lounge where we had free tea, coffee and fruit, and could charge up the netbook to watch films. Definitely worth it.

The views were amazing, but as I said, repetitive once we got beyond the towns. For a good eighteen hours it was just flat bushland, although it made for some incredible sunset photos.

Annie’s Place, our hostel in Alice was great. Arriving there signaled the end of the strange cold weather and I was glad I had booked somewhere with a pool as it was very hot. We spent the first day swimming and relaxing after three days of train travel.

We had been told by various people that a trip to Uluru was not really worth the travel and expense unless we had more time (which we didn’t), so instead we opted for just a day tour of the West Macdonnell ranges. We went with Emu tours and had a very funny driver and tour guide for the day. Even just a couple of hours outside of Alice Springs, the rock formations and views were amazing, and we got to do a little bit of hiking and swimming in the water holes.

And that was about it for our time in the Northern Territory. While we were in Alice, The Ghan had headed up to Darwin and then made its was back where we got back on for another 25 hours to Adelaide in time for Christmas.

Lot’s more with photos to come soon. A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone, and a big thanks for the lovely messages we got.

Nic & Rob x

The day after our Muse concert we caught the V-Line train out of the city for two hours, opposite the most excitable three year old, who spent the whole time looking for his house and tunnels out of the window. All training for the equally excited and sweet Simon, Jude’s son who totally won us both over with his enthusiasm for trucks, trains and lego.

While Simon was in Kindy, Jude took us out on a road-trip of the tourist attractions near where she lives, and we visited an area of amazing old forest, where we climbed down to see an impressive waterfall. Good to know our calves can still do stairs after a month of laziness and western food! We then headed towards the coast and the main tourist route of the Great Ocean Road.

The weather at the moment is pretty unseasonal, and kept flitting between cold but brilliant sunshine or wind and rain, so we opted for a lunch in the cloud and rain before heading to our first coastal sight of Loch Ard Gorge, where the sun came out for some great photo opportunities. Weirdly enough the ship that sank there and gave the bay its name, set sail from my home town of Gravesend in England. It was so beautiful, and we even got a chance for a quick paddle in the sea, although the water was freezing, not surprising, seeing as it comes straight up from the Antarctic.

Next we headed to the main attraction (at least as far as the guide books are concerned), the Twelve Apostles; a rock formation just away from the coast which was crawling with tourists. Not sure where they had all come from as the roads were quiet all day.

Apparently there were never twelve rocks in the first place, and now only a few are standing alongside a few more piles of rubble, just peeking out of the water. A good place for photos and the ol’ long arm shot which we have just about perfected in the last four months.  It was just as beautiful as it looks in postcards, and a big tick off of my ‘to-see’ list. I’m not sure why other places along the road don’t get the same attention though as it was all pretty spectacular.

Our final stop for the day was at Jude’s Uncle’s farm – a massive dairy farm out in the Victoria countryside. It was great to get a taste of how remote some areas are, and we got to see some interesting milking on what looked like a giant merry-go-round for the cows. Those that weren’t being milked were busy staring out the intruders, and to be honest they were big scary cows!

That evening we took to the road again, this time with Simon on a tour of the Christmas lights around the town. Starting to get into the mood now, especially with this rainy weather. It feels more like our usual Christmas, probably more than the current UK snow would.

It was such a lovely couple of days and I can’t wait to catch up again next time we are on this side of the world! From Jude’s we caught the Overland train back to Adelaide on the first of three days of train travel – but more photos and ramblings about our adventures on the Ghan and Alice Springs later!

Nic & Rob

We spent most of our time here wandering about, enjoying the sunshine and sights. There is a free city circle tram which was a slow but interesting way to get about, and we even got a bit of shopping done. Unfortunately we arrived at the wrong time and missed the Neighbours pub night, although I’m not sure that Rob would have actually come with me – spoil sport! We really liked the atmosphere here, wider streets, friendlier people, and so much cheaper than Sydney.

Yesterday the good weather broke and so we had to find something other than the beach to do, so headed to Captain Cook’s house. Bit of a let down  as it had been on the list of free things to do when they actually charged, but from the outside it was clearly a house from Yorkshire, which had been moved stone by stone to Australia, making it the oldest house in the country. Sort of.

We then headed to the Australia Centre for Moving Images (or something like that) which was free and pretty entertaining. Lots of interesting bits of trivia about Australian film industry and hands on activities. We also saw a very odd short film called The Raft, where about fifteen people are filmed in slow motion as they get knocked down by a powerful water hose.

Finally, our time in Melbourne was wrapped up with Rob’s Surprise – something that I have managed to keep from him for six months, despite telling everyone else that we know! Wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep it a secret once we got here, especially when we walked by a group of people wearing Muse t-shirts on our way there. Luckily he was totally oblivious and didn’t see anything until we got to the arena. Well worth the pre-planning as they looked to be completely sold out. The concert was absolutely amazing, such a great show and luckily Rob enjoyed it.

Today we head out of Melbourne, a little way west to meet up my friend Jude. We met through a penpal club when we were ten and have kept in touch ever since, so it will be very odd to finally meet her after fifteen years!

Nic & Rob

We stayed with Becca, her husband Bob and their adorably entertaining pets for a week, and it has been so nice to rest and catch up with her. We’ve loved seeing where they live and work (we got to help out in the sweet shop for an afternoon – so much fun!).

Becca had told us that she had a surprise for our arrival, which was the adorable Ollie – the most mischievous and cute kitten I have ever seen. We spent most of our mornings laughing at him pouncing, at his toys, my pen, Rob’s feet, and then his new favourite toy; the Christmas Tree.

As promised (although I did try and talk him out of it at the last minute) the Beard has been shaved off, now that Becca and Bob have seen it. Shame Luckily there were no visible tan lines where it had been, although I think Rob had a lot of fun shaving it in stages.

For the weekend we spent with them, Becca and Bob organised for us all to go to the town of Morgan, a tiny holiday spot on the River Murray. It was so peaceful and beautiful there, and we had a few days there to enjoy the weather (finally sunshine!) although we saw a lot more of the river than is apparently normal, as it had flooded the holiday park where we stayed only a couple of days earlier and was still very high.

Another feature of the town was a big old quarry where Bob took Rob (very confusing) out to try 4x4ing going up steep hills and back down into creeks, also speeding through water as there was a lot more than there normally was. Rob also got a chance to have a go at Bob’s motorbike and took it round a local off-road oval just before the quarry, but not on the quarry as was his first time on a proper bike. Photos of it looked very cool, but Becca and I decided to be wimps and enjoyed the sun and craftiness (still working on a scarf for when we get home to cold cold England).

While in Morgan we got to experience some proper Aussie grub (on the BBQ of course) and by chance were in town for their annual Christmas fair, with stalls, music and a parade of Christmas floats going through the main road. It is still quite surreal to be preparing for Christmas when it is so hot, but seeing giant Santas and moody kids dressed up in costumes  helps!

Now we are back on the road, in Melbourne (more about that next time). Another ten days to see more of south and central Australia before we arrive back at Becca & Bob’s in time for Christmas.

Nic & Rob

Our last stop in New Zealand was a pretty brief one. Just enough time to get all of our things together and ready to fly to Australia. We did get a chance to see some of the highlights though, Cathedral Square being the focal point of the city, and wandering along the River Avon and Gardens. It is a very English-styled city, but it didn’t feel like England. It was odd to see all of the English references though, pubs and street names. The earthquake damage was a little odd; at times hardly noticeable but some of the streets near where we were staying we very badly affected and there were a lot of condemned buildings (luckily ours was fine).

And then it was time for our flight to Australia – surprisingly short. We were excited to be on our way to see Becca, but it was odd leaving New Zealand. Even more odd when we got to Sydney and had to deal with the massive volume of people. I suffered culture shock on a par with our first few days in Delhi. It didn’t help that Sydney is so expensive, leaving us in a pretty grotty 8-bed dorm. We don’t really have anything nice to say about where we stayed, but once we got out and about in the city Sydney ended up being much nicer.

We spent our first day at Darling Harbour, feeling daunted and hot but enjoying the more Christmassy feel. Rob spent his leaving pressie-money from work on the Sydney Aquarium, which was really great. Saw some amazing fish, mermaids and sharks and we had a lot of fun, and everyone nearby had a laugh when I got scared by the animatronic Shark.

The next couple of days were spent in the more obvious tourist sites; The Rocks where some of the original settlements were. That was really cool and there was a great market on and we spent a long time watching sweets (lollies) being made and getting to sample them. We also walked (a lot!) around the bridge, opera house and botanic gardens, getting lots of great views and some red noses (we still haven’t got the hang of this sun burn thing).

Armed with some mini-cupcakes from the market we headed into the suburbs last night to meet up with a friend from Leeds, Anna. Had a great evening drinking wine and catching up over a very yummy Aussie BBQ style meal. A highlight of the Australian leg of our trip is definitely getting to catch up with some friendly faces.#

And now today, after checking out of our hostel we are waiting to fly to Adelaide where we finally get to see Becca – yea!

Nic & Rob

After a quick night in Queenstown (at the very noisy Bungi Backpackers), we boarded another Great Sights bus, this time to Mount Cook Village. It was a long journey, but there were plenty of stops to explore the small and quirky towns along the way. Despite some cloud when we set off, by the time we turned off on the Mt Cook road the weather was brilliant, and made for some impressive photo stops at the view points along the way.

Most people on the coach were going all the way through to Christchurch that afternoon, but we jumped off at the YHA in Mount Cook Village, which has about a hundred residents living with amazing views of Mt Cook, Sefton and Wakefield.

We spent two very relaxing days there exploring the village, enjoying the views and eating ice cream at the Hermitage. We also bought Explorer Passes at the Edmund Hillary centre which meant we could go and see the films and planetarium presentations during our stay, most of which were really good.

On Tuesday we jumped on the same bus as it made its way again to Christchurch, to our last stop on our tour of New Zealand. We had a brief break at Lake Tekapo to take photos of the Church of the Good Shepherd (and the crowds of other tourists). That was beautiful but a little crazy and over-run.

Now we are in Christchurch, making final plans for our journey over the Tasman to Sydney tomorrow. Staying in a pretty nice hostel, although we seem to be in the red light/religious district. An odd mix I know, but walking back to our room last night after dinner was interesting; a whole street of churches, and prostitutes in every gateway & street corner. Felt very safe though, I guess because the laws are different here.

And that’s about it for NZ!

Nic & Rob