Stories and tips from around the world.
This was the longest of days - I'd not been sleep since waking up for the Tongariro Crossing and now had a bus ride to Auckland to take a flight to Melbourne, and the very long flight home via Hong Kong. If only I could sleep on planes.
The day had come for our Tongariro Crossing. The weather was bad, and who knew what the crossing itself was going to be like...
After just a few days on the south island we were already moving on to the north island. Would our time there fare better? Only time would tell...
It was going to be a long drive from Queenstown to Christchurch; but we'd got a few stops planned along the way. One of these was to see Mount Cook; but in the spirit of the week: things didn't go to plan.
The morning after a big storm, we began the long coach ride to Milford Sound for what we hoped would be an amazing chance for photography. Sometimes things don't work out the way you think they will.
Yet another early start, and we were on our way to New Zealand for the last week of our Oceanic adventure. Hopefully this would go as well as our time in Australia had.
This day was all about the iconic sights of Sydney: climbing the harbour bridge, and having a look around the opera house.
We should really have planned more sleep into this trip; but we were out just after 07:00 to start our tour of the Blue Mountains and some of the sights we'd pass on our way from Sydney.
Our time in another city had come to an end, and to finish off we looked around a wildlife dome situated above a casino.
This was the day we journeyed back to land, paid the reef tax, and went out for one last meal with the friends we'd made whilst diving with Scuba Steve.
Our second and final full day of the live-aboard meant a bit more snorkelling for me.
Our first day out on the open sea didn't go quite the way I'd expected it to. The conditions were also very different to anything I'd experienced before.
Another day in the classroom, and also practicing some of the Open Water skills we'd need for this PADI qualification.
As we were in Cairns, it meant we were close to the Great Barrier Reef. It felt like it made sense to learn how to scuba dive whilst there so we could get even closer to the reef afterwards. For our first day most of the time was spent in the classroom.
To save on money we'd booked another overnight flight to Cairns; but it meant by the time we'd arrived in the city for a tour of Kuranda we were very sleep-deprived. To get to the rainforest we took a cable car up through the trees, then explored the village before taking the train back.
An unexpected city tour to avoid the heat, a deserted national park on a perfect sunny day, and some of the worst table service I've ever encountered. It was certainly an interesting day in Darwin.
Even before sunrise, the humidity in Darwin was almost unbearable. Fortunately we'd got a tour booked for the day which would be on an air-conditioned bus.
We hadn't made a plan beforehand of what to see; but felt like going up the SkyTower for a view over the city might be a good idea. When the day was over it was time for an overnight flight to Darwin.
For our first full day in Australia we had a guided tour to Phillip Island that included a few stops along the way. We saw koalas, and kookaburras, and got to look around a chocolate factory before seeing the march of the little penguins.
Travelling to the other side of the world takes a long time, and the massive time difference certainly doesn't help. It would be worth it though as this was the start of our self-guided trip around Australia and New Zealand.
