Argentina, Chile and The End

Arriving in Argentina’s port town of Ushuaia on such a high after our voyage around Antarctica, there was only one way our spirits could go unfortunately. Thankfully a couple of days of planning our journey ahead and a trek around the coastal forests of Tierra del Fuego National Park sorted that out and we were filled with excitement about travelling in our fifth and final continent, South America.

Argentina is the world’s eighth largest country, only slightly smaller than India. Stretching from the sub-tropics in the north to the subantarctic islands of Tierra del Fuego in the south, Argentina has an enormously diverse array of environment and terrain.

Sixteen hours on a bus across the border and we were in the Chilean town of Puerto Natales, gateway to the Torres del Paine National Park. After a day to prepare for our trek, we made the journey in by bus and were blessed with a clear view of the infamous Torres del Paine spectacle synonymous with Patagonia; the three sheer granite pillars that are the ‘Torres’ or towers, and the neighbouring black tipped peaks that are ‘Los Cuernos’ or the horns. Our decision to walk the five day ‘W’ rather than the ten day full circuit turned out to be a great one as the god of weather was unfortunately against us on this trek. We were hit with nonstop torrential rain, wind gusts that would come out of nowhere to blow us over on a couple of occasions and flooded rivers which made for some imaginative and wet crossings. Trekking in totally sodden clothes and boots filled with water (Gore-tex, my arse) with no view of the mountains whatsoever certainly brought the question ‘why’ to mind. However walking alongside the huge blue coloured Glacier Grey on our second day was a beautiful sight.

Crossing back into Argentina en route to the village of El Chalten, we stopped at the magnificent Glacier Perito Moreno with its very active terminal face. Situated at the entrance to the northern sector of Los Glaciares National Park, our stay in El Chalten should have given us the chance to walk to the base of Mount Fitz Roy, however again the weather and low cloud was against us. Being on the edge of the world’s largest ice mass outside the Polar regions however, we took the opportunity to go ice climbing at the foot of the mighty Cerro Torre mountain, a chance to hone in on our technique ahead of our future careers in mountaineering. As well as several trips to the local microbrewery, we managed to fit in an afternoon’s horse riding with the chance to gallop along a beautiful mountain valley floor, the only problem being Dan’s so called ‘tranquilo’ horse bucking every time the whip came out giving him the fright of his life.

We travelled for two days up Argentina’s western Andean lined border along barren Route 40 to reach Bariloche at the heart of the spectacular Lake District area. Situated on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche’s soaring peaks backdrop turn it into a ski resort in the winter and along with that has come some beautiful alpine architecture. Taking the chairlift up Cerro Campinario revealed perhaps the most beautiful scenic view we have ever seen; 360° of mirrored lakes, mountains and forests, apparently listed in National Geographic’s top ten. After cycling around some of those lakes on the Circuito Chico with a stop at a fine artesian microbrewery on the way, it was time to sample some of Argentina’s finest beef, in fact the best we’ve ever tasted. Next we drove up to San Martin de los Andes via the much hyped but slightly disappointing Ruta de los Siete Lagos for a relaxing boat trip around Lanin National Park.

Our first experience on one of Arentina’s overnight sleeper coaches complete with reclining leather lazy boys and red wine service took us to Mendoza, Argentina’s home of wine. A lively cosmopolitan city with a pavement café culture, it wasn’t long before we were having our first taste of the local nectar at an evening with a local winemaker showing off the fruits of his work. With labour being so cheap here, nearly every grape in the country is hand picked, a claim that only top end wines in other countries can make. The following day with slightly jaded heads, we hit the outskirts of the city on a couple of clapped out old bikes to visit a handful of Maipu’s finest vineyards.

Another overnight bus and we arrived in Cordoba, Argentina’s second largest city with an architectural and cultural heritage courtesy of the Jesuits who set up shop here when they arrived in 1609. French legend Manu Chao happened to be headlining at a music festival in nearby San Roque that evening, not only a good leg shaking opportunity but also an introduction to the Choripan, Argentina’s answer to the hot dog.

Our starting point for visiting Argentina’s rugged north west corner was Salta, a city which manages to retain the feel of a small town with a beautiful plaza at its centre. The Museo de Arqueologica de Alta Montana made for a fascinating visit with its focus on the child sacrifices of the Inca culture. In 1999, three mummified children were discovered at the peak of Llullaillaco, a 6739m volcano in the sacred Andes, perfectly preserved thanks to the low pressure, oxygen levels and temperature. One of the three, a fifteen year old girl was on display with her intricately plaited hair and clothes also preserved. Controversial it may be, however it was Inca culture to offer the lives of highborn children to please or appease their gods from time to time, sending them to sleep with large volumes of a fermented maize alcoholic drink.


We headed north with our own set of wheels and it wasn’t long before giant cactuses started to appear by the roadside as we drove through the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a canyon of spectacularly carved rock formations with the most deep red colour. We spent the night at the dusty little indigenous town of Tilcara, its streets lined with typical adobe houses. A monumental thunderstorm hit that evening as we were walking around the surroundings and it was a perfect opportunity to visit a Pena, a bar where locals meet to listen to traditional folklore music. Heading out early the next morning to capture the colours of the canyon at their most vivid, we were again blown away by the scenery. After a brief stop at Humahuaca with its cobblestoned streets, we turned onto the ripio road in a bid to reach the remote settlement of Iruya across the mountains. Unfortunately after only 10km of fairly rough going, we came across a riverbed which thanks to the previous night’s storm had a torrent of water flowing down it. Despite hoping there was a way through, a local confirmed our suspicions and we decided to head for the little village of Purmamarca situated under the Cerro de los Siete Colores, a jagged formation with an amazing spectrum of colours sweeping across its sedimentary strata. From here we drove up the long and winding road through the spectacularly bleak highland puna over a 4,150m pass to a plateau partly occupied by the remote salt flat, Salinas Grandes.

Routing back through Salta to avoid an impassable section of road, we drove southwest and entered Valles Calchaquies for three days of some of the most striking scenery we’ve seen on our whole trip. Our first stop was enchanting little Cachi, a village of cobbled streets, whitewashed adobe houses and a tranquil central plaza. Cachi was so beautiful and peaceful that it was almost as if it had been designed as a showcase for tourists but the reality is that it is just the way the Calchaqui people live there.

Driving to Colomé vineyard, famed for being the highest in the world, the corrugated road turned to the worst we’ve seen since the Kalahari. The unbelievably remote location had us crossing a damp riverbed and before we knew it our VW chasis was making very good friends with the mud. After several failed attempts to separate them, out from the desert came a lone passer by whom within seconds was lying in the mud helping to dig and lift us out. Whilst this was an incredible act of kindness (as well as luck), it was actually a fairly typical portrayal of friendliness from the Argentineans as we experienced it.


Heading further south down the ripio road through the Parque Nacional Los Cardones, the otherworldly scenery was nothing short of breathtaking with its wild lunar landscape, giant cactus filled plains, snowy mountain backdrops and starkly coloured sandstone canyons with unearthly rock formations, all brought to life as the sun went down. The town of Cafayate, Argentina’s second home of wine, made for a great overnight stop and with it an introduction to the tantalising torrontes grape, unique to Argentina. We drove through the spectacular Quebrada de Cafayate back to Salta from where we picked up a bus across the top of Argentina to Iguazu in its northeastern most corner. Visiting the falls from both the Brazilian and Argentinean side, the sight was most definitely memorable, however Victoria still remains our firm favourite.

Yet another long bus ride south and we were in Buenos Aires where we had the pleasure of spending five days with old school friend Adam Cowan who had flown out to see us for a long weekend of restaurants, wine, Pacha and the Boca Juniors. A true playboy mission if we’ve ever heard of one, even managing to squeeze in a day trip to Colonia in Uruguay with a sunset dance festival atop the four hour return ferry.

Our final destination was Peninsula Valdes back down in Patagonia but on the east coast this time, almost completing an entire circuit of Argentina. Famed for its visit by the Southern Right Whales in the second half of the year, Valdes is pretty quiet for the rest of it. However from mid-February to April the resident orcas spend their days around Punta Norte, the remote northern tip, hunting for sea lion pups by intentionally stranding themselves on the beach. Ever since seeing the footage on the original BBC Trials of Life series in 1990, this was something we’ve always wanted to see but never really thought we would have the opportunity to do so. We were incredibly lucky to be staying at Punta Norte with the local Orca Research Project which meant twelve hour days on the private pebble beach under the baking sun, waiting for the unpredictable orcas and the ensuing spectacle to unfold. The resident population is only eighteen strong of which only eight of them have acquired the incredibly complex ability to strand. These eight are the only orcas in the world to demonstrate such behaviour. Our patience over several days was rewarded with some mind-blowing sightings of orcas patrolling the beaches just a few metres from the shore and hunting and stranding as little as 10m in front of us in what must surely be one of the most extraordinary wildlife shows on earth.

Press play below to see some of our amateur video footage.


Returning back to Buenos Aires on such a high, the current account smashed and just over a year on the road, we decided that it was time to return home. After a quick call to British Airways, we were on a flight within hours and are now residing safely back on home soil.

Our year of travel has certainly been a life changing experience with memories that will stay with us forever. The world is an unimaginably beautiful place in parts which can all too easily be forgotten from the confines of city living. We feel incredibly privileged to have seen and experienced the things we did from the rawness of Africa’s landscape and its people, to the magnificence of the Bhutanese Himalayas and its mountain villages, to the indescribable uniqueness and fragility of South Georgia and the Antarctic at the end of the world. The wildlife encounters we had around the planet were a real centrepiece for us and have served to further strengthen our passion for nature’s beauty and innocence and our desire to help protect. We met some amazingly inspirational people along the way from all walks of life, but sadly also learned about the atrocities, past and current, caused by others, leaving us with a sense of sadness about society. Tourism has visibly colonised large parts of the world as we saw it, yet at the same time we were lucky to witness pockets of untouched diversity. A recurring theme seem to be that the happiest people we met were often those with the simplest of lives as we would define them from the western world.

Trying to sum up our experience over the last year is an incredibly difficult task, however three things that we can say we’ve really learnt are a true appreciation for what we have in our lives in the UK compared to the majority of people in the world, the desire to always make the most of our time and the importance of family and good friends.

Click on the album cover below to see some more of our pictures.

Argentina and Chile

Lots of love,
Susie and Dan xx

Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica

Imagine a place as big as the United States and Europe combined.
Sunnier than California, yet colder than the freezing compartment of your refrigerator.
Drier than Arabia and higher than mountainous Switzerland.
Emptier than the Sahara.
Only one place in the world fits this description.
It is Antarctica.
The Strange but beautiful continent at the bottom of the Earth.

- Joseph M. Dukert, 'This is Antarctica'

Flying half way around the world from Auckland to Santiago, we crossed the international date line and conveniently added an extra day to our travels. We had one day to explore Chile's capital city, namely its beautiful colonial era architecture, the view of the city from the top of Cerro San Cristobal and the culinary and artistic enclaves of Bellavista and Barrio Brasil with a Pisco Sour to round it all off.

We then flew straight down to Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world at the tip of South America, incredibly excited about our Antarctic voyage ahead and relieved to have made it without delay since missing our boat would have been an expensive option. After a day of sightseeing, it was time to board our ship, a Russian-crewed research vessel named the Akademik Ioffe.

Heading out through the Beagle Channel we sailed northeast for a day towards the archipelago of the Falklands which previously unbeknown to us there are 778 of. Our first landing was on the island of West Point which our zodiacs approached with an entourage of beautiful black and white Commerson's dolphins. West Point has a resident population of thousands of Black-browed albatross and Rockhopper penguins as well as one human family proudly flying the Union Jack on their front lawn. As with all the wildlife encounters we had, what was so special was that none of the animals have any land based predators and therefore had absolutely no fear of or concern for us. Being just a few feet away from so many courting albatross with their grey fluffy chicks sitting high on their throne-like nests made out of mud was completely unique. It was also fascinating to see them living in such close harmony alongside the Mafia looking Rockhoppers with their long yellow eyebrows. Walking across the island's windswept hills, it felt great to be back on British soil.

After landing on Saunders Island and spending an afternoon with its Gentoo, Rockhopper and burrowing Magellanic penguins, Black-browed albatross and Antarctic shags on the hills surrounding the white sand beaches, we sailed to the capital Stanley. Stanley, the one and only town in the Falklands had the feel of a village on the South Coast of Britain perhaps twenty years ago, albeit surrounded by marked landmines from the 1982 conflict (oops, can't mention that here in Argentina). After fish and chips in one of Stanley's eight pubs, we set sail on the Scotia Sea for bleak and remote South Georgia two days away, another overseas territory of the UK.

Despite being on roughly the same latitude as the Falklands, South Georgia sits on the cold side of the Antarctic Convergence where the Antarctic chilled Southern Ocean meets but doesn't mix with the relatively warm waters of the sub-Antarctic. This gives it a completely different climate with the rugged mountainous island being permanently covered by ice and snow. A force ten storm as we approached the northwest corner with waves crashing over the bow meant we had to miss our first planned landing and continue around the sheltered east coast.

Our first stop was the magnificent Salisbury Plain with its glacier-covered mountain backdrop, home to one of the largest King Penguin rookeries in the world estimated at well over 100,000 pairs. The inquisitive and incredibly photogenic Kings with their Jeeves-like appearance were fascinating to watch as the males courted the females and the oversized brown woolly young squawked for more food in the form of parent regurgitation. Other adults were busy undergoing their annual catastrophic moult whereby they change their entire plumage in one go with the new feathers pushing out the old. Thousands of newly born Atlantic Fur seals paraded the shoreline which made for a hilarious walk across it as the cute little beings chased after us in an effort to impress their peers.

The next morning we awoke at Prion Island which we were incredibly fortunate to have been given permission to land on, the only place in the world to see nesting Wandering Albatross. At up to 3.5m, the majestic Wanderer has the largest wingspan of any bird.

The next landing was at Fortuna Bay, home to a mere several thousand King penguins, bombarding Antarctic Terns protecting their nests and herds of reindeer which were introduced to the island by Norwegian whalers in the early 20th century as a source of food. It was here that we felt our first hurricane strength gravity driven katabactic wind coming off the slopes of the polar plateau which literally hit us like a brick wall from nowhere. Walking from Fortuna Bay over a mountain pass to Stromness in the bright 5am sunlight, we retraced the end of Ernest Shackleton's ordeal of his failed attempt to cross the Antarctic continent and subsequent eighteen month bid to reach the outside world in one of the greatest feats of survival in history. At Stromness are the rusty old remains of a whaling station and a beach littered with old whale bones which along with those at Grytviken were interesting to learn about, despite their gruesome past. In the first half of the 20th century, the worldwide whale population was totally decimated to the extent of an estimated 95% having been captured and slaughtered. With only a few thousand remaining by the sixties, it became uneconomical to continue whaling and it virtually ceased. Sadly the population today has barely recovered at all. By example, humpbacks are thought to have been reduced from up to 1.5 million to 20,000 today. Amazing to think that the consummation of whale meat continues in some parts of the world, mostly Japan, with the International Whaling Commission having next to no power to stop it.

Grytviken is home to South Georgia's permanent human population of two and also the final resting place of Shackleton. Accompanied by some enormous Elephant seals and Fur seals we undertook our first kayak trip at Grytviken and subsequently Gold Harbour with its incredible hanging glacier backdrop. With the water temperature at around -1°C and capsizing being a fairly risky event, we had to don dry suits with multiple layers underneath.

As we moved further South along the coast of South Georgia, we passed our first icebergs which had drifted up from the Antarctic continent, some taken hostage by penguins. Our last excursion on South Georgia was sailing up the incredibly picturesque and narrow Drygalski Fjord with its totally still brash ice filled blue waters and multiple glaciers draped over the surrounding high mountains descending right down to the sea.

Rounding Cape Disappointment and leaving South Georgia behind, we turned southwest towards Antarctica for a three day sail against the clockwise flow of the Southern Ocean which thankfully and unusually was relatively calm. Our days at sea were spent on the bridge or the observation deck looking for the white splash of a whale blow or a fluke as it dived deep. We were also frequently accompanied by seals and penguins, and constantly by a whole host of seabirds from albatross to petrels and skuas. When not, the crew provided us with numerous interesting presentations on the wildlife and fragile environment around us.

The South Shetland Islands were our first port of call passing Point Wild on Elephant Island where the majority of Shackleton's men had to over winter for 105 days under an upturned boat with the resident Chinstrap penguin colony as they waited for him to return with help from South Georgia. The inhospitable outpost of Half Moon island with its Chinstrap penguins and towering ice cliff backdrop provided us with a great opportunity to kayak as did the volcanic caldera of Deception island with its dramatic red and brown walls high above us as we maneuvered through Neptune's Bellows, the narrow opening that allows access to the active volcano. A quick swim in the ice cold water of the crater was called for, made bearable only with the aid of some geothermally heated water dug up from underneath the beach to recover.

Finally it was down to the Antarctic peninsula, the white continent good and proper. Antarctica covers almost one-tenth of the earth's surface and supports the greatest mass of ice in the world with 99.6% of the continent being covered in a very thick cloak of it. Having travelled overnight across the Bransfield Strait towards the peninsula, we awoke to the marvel of the frozen world in a snowstorm; the outer edges of the enormous ice sheet, the ice cliffs as it pours off the continent and the free flowing intricately textured blue icebergs in a myriad of shapes from small to outright scary. Traversing the Gerlache Strait, Wilhelmina bay was our first stop and the scene really was beyond words. Kayaking around the amphitheatre like bay with its totally still water was just entrancing as we paddled through the crackling brash ice, past the most spectacular icebergs with the silence only being broken every now again by the calving of a glacier into the sea, the loud rumbling of an avalanche or an iceberg breaking up and turning in the water. The experience became even better when we heard the loud snort of two minke whales surfacing near to us as we were getting out. They breached right in front of our zodiac and then later took an interest in our ship for about twenty minutes giving us the most spectacular viewing. One was close enough for us to see her eyes as she looked over the strangers in her domain before diving in the crystal clear water in which we could see her every move as she swam underneath and twisted to see us from below.

The afternoon took us to Cuverville island which we kayaked around, again with sheer ice cliffs all around and this time several thousand resident gentoo penguins who would porpoise towards us, poke their heads up and have a good look as if to say 'what the hell are you', and then swim off. The break in the silence as the penguins leaped out of the glass like water around us and reentered brought a real feeling of being at one with the environment in our kayaks. Coming across a reptilian looking leopard seal dozing on an iceberg brought home just how big they are, particularly for Susie who drifted within a few metres of it and sent support guide Sergey into a panic. A huge iceberg collapsing not too far from us created a tidal like wave in the bay and highlighted our vulnerability to the hostile surroundings. A scenic evening barbecue on the deck with some gatecrashing humpback whales circling the ship brought one of our best days ever to a close.

The scenery just got even more spectacular as we sailed down to Paradise Harbour, dodging icebergs along the way. Neko Harbour was our first landing there which again made for a spectacular kayak, and subsequently Almirante Brown where we kayaked with a leopard seal, cruised on a zodiac past numerous weddell seals resting on an ice floe and set foot on the Antarctic mainland.

With a breathtaking pink and orange sunset to finish it all off, it was a two day sail across the notorious Drake passage back to South America, AKA the roughest stretch of sea in the world. Having been briefed by our crew to expect the worst, we were let off relatively lightly. Whilst we said it would have been great to experience the wrath of the high seas, we were both quite secretly relieved. We rolled around Cape Horn in light winds with little swell to speak of and sailed back down the Beagle Channel to the port of Ushuaia where it all began nineteen days and 3,109 nautical miles earlier.

Visiting the wildlife of the Falklands and the wildlife and scenery of South Georgia was just amazing and most likely a once in a lifetime for us. The Antarctic was even more so, truly like nowhere else in the world and a place that we feel unbelievably privileged to have visited, particularly having been able to kayak there as well.

From here our travels through South America begin, starting with Argentina.

Click on the album cover below to see some more of our pictures (quite a few this time).

Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica

Lots of love,
Susie and Dan xx

New Zealand

The collapse of the Great British Pound means that the GFC has finally caught up with the global travellers amongst us, otherwise shielded from its destructive warpath (so we hear). As a result, we were reduced to purchasing Frank the tent at the first opportune moment in New Zealand in a bid to slow the rapid depletion of our cash. Given the outdoor lifestyle synonymous with New Zealand, camping our way around it turned out to be no bad thing.

The first stop on our tour around the South Island was the picture perfect peninsula town of Kaikoura with its snow-capped mountain backdrop, known for its abundance of marine life thanks to the 800m deep continental shelf lying just off its shoreline. Our first encounter was a sunrise swim with a pod of 300 or so wild dusky dolphins out at sea. Similar in experience to visiting the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, there was a real sense of interaction with the dolphins who clearly saw us as their morning's entertainment as we sang down our snorkels, rather than the other way around. A truly magnificent experience. Next was a helicopter flight over the ocean where as well as seeing the large dolphin pod from above, we were lucky enough to see one of the resident sperm whales on its brief stop at the surface before it breached the water and dived down to the depths for a long feed. Our final marine encounter was at the table with a huge array of freshly caught seafood on offer, particularly crayfish.

The sauvignon blanc filled vineyards of Marlborough provided us with an introduction to New Zealand wine as we drove north en route to the Marlborough Sounds where we attempted to complete the Queen Charlotte Track, one of New Zealand's great walks. The lush forest along the coastal ridges overlooking the sound made for a great tramp with some spectacular views, however the third and final day eluded us owing to a complete collapse in the weather. A long drive down the west coast with an overnight stop in Nelson brought us to the dramatic Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. At around 13km in length each, they are known for their incredible rate of descent at anything up to 5m per day, the fact that they uniquely descend into colourful forest and also the ocean being just a few kms away. As well as walking to the terminal face of both glaciers, we went helihiking on Fox which meant being dropped off halfway up the glacier by chopper and spending a few hours walking on the ice with the aid of some crampons, tackling its beautifully carved deep blue crevasses and caves.

Driving further south, we reached sedate Wanaka on the shores of a lake by the same name, again with a sublime snow-capped mountain backdrop. We spent a day in the Mount Aspiring national park nearby with a superb walk to the Rob Roy glacier through a wonderful mixture of remote wilderness, high mountains, beautiful river valleys and thousands of sheep. Amusingly, the fluffy four legged population in New Zealand outnumbers the two legged variety by ten to one. Wanaka also has one of the most comfortable cinemas we've been to, set up like a living room with large sofas to sprawl out on and freshly baked giant cookies and homemade ice cream served at half time, a chance for us to catch up with several of Hollywood's finest.

Next it was down to Queenstown where we had arranged to meet up with old school friend Dev who was in New Zealand for a week and would travel with us for a few days. Trying to cram as much as possible into our few days together, we managed to white water raft and jet boat on the Shotover River which for our enjoyment was at the highest water level for several years after some prolonged rains, wine tasting and fine dining at the nearby pinot noir filled Central Otago vineyards, a visit to some glowworm filled caves in the Fiordland area, and a day's kayaking on the incredibly remote and serene Doubtful Sound. Technically a fiord rather than a sound, Doubtful is one of the largest in New Zealand with rugged sheer peaks towering above the dark waters and dense forests precariously clinging to the near vertical moss-covered slopes. We were lucky to come across a group of enormous bottle nose dolphins at around 3-4m in length, and also the rare fiordland crested penguin. After a final night back in Queenstown, it was farewell to Dev after a great few days travelling together and consequently a couple of days to recover. The mountain backdrop of Queenstown was comically the first of many places around New Zealand to claim to be Mordor from Lord of the Rings. Returning to Fiordland, we made the obligatory trip to Milford Sound for a boat trip around it which true to its reputation was spectacular, particularly with so much rain having fallen the night before yielding hundreds of waterfalls down its cliff faces.

Driving around the southern scenic route at the end of the South Island, we entered the enchanting Catlins National Park, an area of rugged bays, native forests and lush farmland. Camping on the coast and looking out across the roaring Southern Ocean from Slope Point, the southern tip of New Zealand closer to the South Pole than the Equator, we were filled with excitement about our forthcoming trip to Antarctica. Furthermore, it put the fear of God into Dan about the potential for a bout of savage seasickness on some of the roughest seas on the planet. We also had the chance to see some rare hectors dolphins and yellow-eyed penguins whilst walking along the cliffs.

We turned north towards the university town of Dunedin and made the trip out to the end of the Otago Peninsula to visit a colony of Royal Albatross, the only mainland colony of any albatross species in the world. They may look like oversized seagulls but after learning about their year long trips out at sea in which time they circumnavigate the world several times, their monogamous tendencies, their 3m wingspans, their life expectancy upwards of 50 years and the fact that they can fly at up to 120km/h, we found a new level of respect for them.

A long drive up the east coast and a ferry crossing to the North Island on Christmas eve took us to Wellington where we celebrated Christmas in a suitably flash restaurant. We're afraid to say that despite all your complaints about the weather back home at the moment, the festive season in the middle of the summer just didn't feel quite right. After a visit to the Te Papa museum to see the colossal squid exhibition which houses the only intact one in the world, we headed to Tongariro National Park to walk the Tongariro alpine crossing, reputedly one of the best one-day walks in the world and again apparently home to Mordor. It was easy to see how this time though, as we traversed some spectacular lunar like volcanic terrain, active craters filled with deep red coloured rocks, steaming vents and some dazzling emerald lakes.

Placid Lake Taupo was our penultimate destination and gave Dan a chance to renew his skydiving licence after many years of not jumping which needless to say put a smile on his face. We also visited Huka Falls and one of the nearby geothermal hot spring areas known as Craters of the Moon with its steaming vents and bubbling mud pools.

After trundling nearly 4,000km in our dwarf sized Toyota Starlet, we reached Auckland. Old school friend Satyen and his girlfriend Lisa made the most unbelievable hosts, showing us the best around the city, putting on a New Year's Eve gathering to remember and taking us to Waiheke island for a tour of some of the best vineyards in New Zealand. In fact the company, food and wine at beautiful Stonyridge vineyard one lunchtime (thank you Steven) were so good that we decided to extend our stay by a week to spend some more time together. Our send off was a two night stay in a bach (pronounced batch, AKA a beachhouse) New Zealand style in the Northland with nothing but a private beach, a barbeque and a lot of beer and wine.

New Zealand really is a stunning country, particularly the South Island. The scenery as we drove around was consistently jaw-dropping, utterly photogenic and the people so welcoming. To our surprise, we found Auckland to be one of the most liveable cities that we've come across with its green volcanic surroundings, beaches, wineries and most importantly the outdoors on its doorstep.

From here we fly to Chile and head straight down to the southern tip of South America to board our boat to Antarctica.

To see some more of our pictures, click on the album cover below.

New Zealand

Congratulations Annie and Tom on the birth of baby George!

With love,
Susie and Dan xx

Australia

Australia was our first western country since leaving home which brought with it a slightly different mindset, one less focussed on the culture and history (of which we all know there is none) and one more on the beauty, experiences and lifestyle it has to offer. Australia was also the place that we had arranged to meet Dan's parent to celebrate his 30th birthday which we had been excited about for a long time. What we didn't know though was that our parents had plotted a surprise visit by Susie's Mum and Dad as well.

After a brief stay in Brisbane, we headed up the Sunshine Coast on the comically named Bruce Highway, making straight for Australia Zoo to pay homage to the late Steve Irwin. Crikey. As well as seeing an impressive array of crocs, koalas and other indigenous wildlife, Susie managed to sweep up an award for best animal impersonation in the 5,000 seater crocoseum. A couple of nights in Noosa gave us time to explore the eucalyptus and tea tree filled coastal national park as well as engage in Australia's flat white culture, a cross between a cappuccino and a latte for those not in the know. At Rainbow Beach further up the coast, we did a days kayaking on the ocean in search of dolphins with an impressive multi-coloured sand dune back drop, as well as visit an unusual tanin-coloured lake. Next we flew to the idyllic coral cay eco-island 80 km offshore called Lady Elliot for four days of some of the best diving we've done. Alongside seeing all the giant turtles, sharks, rays, wrecks, coral reef and beautifully coloured fish, it gave us the chance to obtain our advanced diving qualification.

We had one more night back in Brisbane where we went to an aptly named world music gig called 'From Tibet 2 Timbuktu', and then we flew to the Whitsunday Islands where we were greeted to our amazement by not just Dan's parents but Susie's as well. After a frantic first couple of hours of overexcitement and us all trying to catch up with each other, an incredibly relaxing five days ensued in a beautiful resort on Hamilton Island. Our days were spent doing morning family yoga (yes even our dads joined in), endless hours of eating and drinking, sailing hobie cats and a flight over the Great Barrier Reef on Dan's birthday.

After a decadent start to our time together, our private plunge pools were swapped for the open ocean as we sailed around the Whitsundays on a 41 foot catamaran called Stargazer for five days. Some strong winds made for some great sailing in the sun through turquoise waters past pure white sand beaches and deserted islands with barely another vessel in sight. Each evening we anchored in a bay even more beautiful than the last with the opportunity for some great snorkeling on the reef and nights sleeping on the trampoline under the millions of southern hemisphere stars.

Finally we all flew to Sydney and after cruising Bondi, the harbour, the restaurants, the gardens, a night at the opera house and Watsons Bay, it was an emotional farewell. We had the pleasure of staying with friends Dave and Dawn in Sydney and had a lovely time with them including a trip to the Blue Mountains for a days canyoning. Perhaps just slightly out of our depth given our non-existent experience, we had one of the most adventurous days we've ever had abseiling down waterfalls, squeezing through rocks and jumping off cliffs into near-freezing water, all in a stunning setting with the feel that time had stood still for millions of years. The only downer, the attack of the leeches.

Australia clearly has a lot to offer from what relatively little we saw and the draw to migrate is very apparent. Australia for us though will always be remembered by the most memorable time we shared with our parents after eight months apart.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas from New Zealand!

Click on the album cover below to see some more of our pictures.

Australia

Love Susie and Dan xx