Last few days on the road... Singapore

The last few days of the trip were spent in Singapore. We were passing through so we thought, why not stay a few days. It's a rather bonkers place: we felt a bit like we never really left the airport because of the superfluity of spotless, shiny air-conditioned (dare I say soulless) malls, as shown below. What we liked more was the fabulous zoo and night safari (We officially love mouse deer!!) which treats its animals so well: better than we've ever seen in a Zoo. The Indian quarter was fascinating and uncannily like really being in India.

Stupendous Sydney

We spent just about 3 weeks downunder and spent most of that in Sydney (will have to come back to see the rest sometime...) It's a really fantastic, beautiful city. There's SO much to do - museums and cafes and walks and beaches and incredible views. We loved it! Here's a few iconic Sydney shots and Em writing a postcard or two. Wendy's friend Liz was kind enough to put us up for our stop in Sydney and even took us to the Opera house to see the Magic Flute. That's got to be on the list of things to do before you die, right?

Rarotonga, the Cook Islands

This place was beautiful. It was the hottest and muggiest place ever though! The air humidity can hover around 90%... isn't that like breathing in water?! It didn't cool down a jot in the night either. We also got bitten to pieces by mosquitoes. Which just shows that paradise really isn't as simple as washing up on a desert island!

Did some amazing snorkelling in the lagoons which circle the whole island. You can walk out to this small island in the pics from the beach - the water reaches about to your waist. The water is crystal clear and warm... properly warm, like bathwater!

Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula

First settled by the French, this is a lovely little village south of Christchurch that is nestled in the hollow of a large volcano. This was our last jaunt in New Zealand before flying on...

Road warning sign from Oamaru...

You don't get many of these in Old London Town.

Moeraki, place of large balls

There is a complex geological reason why these strange spherical rock balls emerge from the cliff-side in Moeraki, roll onto the beach, then slowly crumble like honeycomb into the ocean. However I never did look it up. The boulders were too large to pinch as souvenirs, so Emma had to make do with some beautiful shells from the sands instead.

Milford Sound

Milford Sound is actually a fiord, it's a huge opening from the Tasman Sea that comes in between staggeringly large mountains. It's one of the UNESCO world heritage sites, along with cool towns like Carcassone in France. We took a coach from Te Anau, where we saw some great glowworm caves, along to the Sound, and took a cruise all the way out to the sea and back. On the way out the tops of the mountains were misty, and when we started to come back in from the sea the sky cleared and sunlight opened up the route back. It was stunning. On the first picture, look at the small white dot at the foot of the mountain side bursting from the water to give you an idea of the scale of this place... that's a massive ferry! The second picture is called The Lion Rock, and the third is one of many waterfalls that cascade down the mountainsides along the Sound, this one called the Bridal Veil waterfall. Emma particularly enjoyed the cruise because she got to drive the boat at one point (luckily we survived that one, I don't know what the captain was thinking). We also went into one of the waterfalls, so just for the fun of it we stood on the foredeck of the craft and let the waterfall gush over us. It was so powerful that you couldn't actually open your eyes for the spray when you got within ten feet. It was a spectacular day!