We had a stopover in Los Angeles on the way home from Australia in 2001. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, we didn’t get to see anything because our body clocks were buggered, so we spent the whole day sleeping then the whole night awake!! I remember we left Sydney, Australia at 1.30pm on the Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Los Angeles something like 6.30am Tuesday morning. So really, we had flown 13 or 14 hours but our clocks went back 19 hours. (more…)

Aloha! Hawaii was gorgeous – palm trees, beautiful coast, sandy beach, clear water. It ranks in my top three favourite places easily. The people there are quite relaxed and very friendly, giving off a very relaxed atmosphere. As soon as we arrived in Honolulu airport we were greeted by rather enthusiastic, chirpy, men who wore bright, flowery shirts. It’s funny how Hawaii is part of the USA, yet it is very different in terms of fashion and attitude. (more…)

We travelled by coach to Christchurch from Queenstown via Mount Cook.

What can I say about Mount Cook? It was gorgeous to look at but not something that made us go “wow” compared to Milford Sound. This was probably because we knew what Mount Cook looked like beforehand but nothing prepared us for the beauty of Milford Sound. I am glad we saw Mount Cook because you can’t really go to New Zealand and be in the area and not visit it. We had the chance to go up the top on a helicopter but we decided not to bother as we felt what we could see from a distance was enough. We had lunch in the café overlooking Mount Cook which was lovely and we took some pretty nice pictures.  (more…)

Milford Sound is pure magic. The scenery was magnificent, turning to majestic the further we progressed. The mountains go up vertically on either side. Countless waterfalls plunge down into the fjord. Photographs, of which we took many, cannot show the sheer size of the place. There are no words to describe its beauty; you just need to be there to see it. (more…)

Upon arriving in Queenstown, we were hugely impressed and immediately knew this would be one of our favourite places in New Zealand. Once we checked in and discovered our room was overlooking the delightful Lake Wakatipu, this confirmed that the setting was indeed wonderful. I’m not sure what it was about Queenstown that I loved. I guess it was because it wasn’t a city and not as busy as Auckland (although I’ve already said Auckland wasn’t that busy anyway) and compared to stinky Rotorua, it was fresher. I guess it had all of the charm and less of the hype. (more…)

The next stop in New Zealand was Rotorua. We travelled to Rotorua by coach through the rich farmland of Waitomo, stopping at the freezing cold Waitomo caves en-route. Waitomo Caves was quite an experience for two Deaf people being guided in the dark!! In the caves we saw stalactites and stalagmites formed over thousands of years by constant dripping of waters. We’ve absolutely no idea what the tour guide was babbling on about but he didn’t seem to shut up; it was impossible to even try lipreading him because the only light we had was the torch he was carrying! We were in a large group so just followed everyone taking particular interest in the glow worms hanging off the ceilings and making sure they didn’t fall on us. We also enjoyed a boat ride through the famous Glow-worm grotto, which is illuminated by thousands of tiny lights emitted by the Glow worms, suspended from the cave ceiling. Just as well as had our travel guide to gain information about the cave otherwise we really would have been clueless! (more…)

We spent the good part of a day in Waiheke Island. We caught the ferry from Auckland, which took about 45 minutes, and joined Ananda Tours vineyard tour. Waiheke Island was gorgeous, displaying spectacular views, superb scenery and white sandy beaches. We visited three vineyards and did our fair share of wine tasting and got a bit sloshed! I know, we’re not meant to swallow the wine but hey, who cares?! (more…)

With most cities, when you reach the city’s centre you get overwhelmed with the number of people there are, and the rather hectic atmosphere. However, Auckland was somewhat different. It felt like we were in a large village rather than a large city.

We started the tour of New Zealand by meeting with Bush and Beach Tours for an afternoon guided walk into Auckland’s spectacular Waitakere Ranges. This tour was a fabulous introduction to New Zealand nature with rugged coastline, magnificent waterfalls and wild black sand beaches combined with native rainforest and natural birdlife. The views were simply breath-taking. Our last stop on that tour was a visit to Piha Beach. Piha Beach was unusual – the sand was actually magnetic; placing a magnet close to the sand, you could actually see it being attracted to the magnet. Within seconds, the magnet was covered in sand. I don’t think this is common, but if it is, then it’s news to me! (more…)

The trip to New Zealand was the best holiday we ever had and worth every penny. After Australia, we refused to go backpacking or stay in hostels so it was five star all the way! Well ok, maybe not five star, but certainly made sure we stayed in decent hotels. We spent 12 days in New Zealand, arriving in North Island and making our way to South Island before moving on. Our trip included visiting Auckland, the unique Waiheke Island, stinky Rotorua, Waitomo caves, gorgeous Queenstown, Mount Cook, not so impressive Christchurch and Kaikoura. (more…)