Singapore

Welcome to Singapore...

Its hot, its sticky and it hits you as soon as you step off the plane. But what a city it is, so much to do and see and well the food mmm its to die for.

We arrived around 7 ish and decided to grab a bite to eat and a beer then pretty much call it a night after the flight we were done for the day. We found a small local looking place that served me laksa. It changed my world and I have had cravings for this fishy spicy soup ever since.

Next morning we were up early and ready to see what Singapore had to offer. First up was the streets themselves so quiet I don't know what I expected but it was not this. It was well... peaceful believe it or not. We made our way through the grand prix track to a huge mall for breakfast and more Singapore food fed and ready for adventure we then headed off to the building shaped like a boat for our first views of the famous city skyline. It is quite the sight beautiful in its own way. Then it was off to the gardens they are really cool both temprature and as a place they have air con a word I have grown to love very much in South East Asia.

The gardens are huge and walking around them takes time but its worth it there are two big indoor green house areas with tropical plants of all varieties. You climb up to the top and then come down a winding platform to see the whole place. Plants, trees and waterfalls are everywhere you look.

After the domes we went outside and climbed to the sky walkway it takes you through the trees and you can see for miles.

Gardens conquered we headed back for some relaxing in the pool at our hotel roof top pools are a definate plus when its this hot.

Later we headed out for our chance to see the singapore skyline by night its way better. We jumped on the big wheel its bigger than the london eye so its pretty impressive and gives you great views of the whole city.

And thats it 24 hours in Singapore and ready to board our flight to Phnom Penh Cambodia...

My Final Month in New Zealand

My final month in New Zealand, so much has happened up to this point that I thought it would be a quiet wind down waiting on our flights how wrong I was...

Rugby time

I know nothing about rugby I picked up some basic facts in New Zealand but still couldn't tell you much about the game, however we managed to get free tickets to our first ever game and you know, when in Rome right?

The same week one of our guests at the hostel was the Tongan rugby team who were lovely it was cool to meet them and also get some answers to rugby questions before my first game.

The game itself was good but confusing Christchurch won the game though so it was a good atmosphere. It was nice to see a game but I don't think rugby matches are for me.

A message from the blue offering some work was a nice excuse to see Auckland one more time which I will never say no to. So it was off to the North for a few weeks. I stayed in an Air bnb with a guy called Bruce right next door to my old appartment no place like home ha ha I could have touched my old balcony if I tried. Bruce was a great host super chatty and made me feel at home, thanks Bruce.

A trip to Auckland means time to see old friends and make some new ones too. A quick visit to Frienz hostel for a few beers with the team was nice, turns out I missed the crazy bunch. I also got a chance to meet up with Sue and Brian who took me in last time I wandered up this way for work it was great to catch up and hear how they had been getting on. Word travels fast in Auckland and soon a few friends had heard I was back in town so it was time for more dinner dates and good laughs as I caught up with them.

I have spent a lot of time on my New Zealand travels in Auckland and feel I know most of it like the back of my hand however there is one place I have not been yet, I put it off for so long out of fear mostly but its an icon and needs to be experienced. The Sky Tower. So I did it the highest building in Auckand. No I did not bungy off the edge but I did walk round the rim on a glass floor which was enough for me. Even the elevator up is glass an interesting experience is how I would put it. At the top I was not alone in my fear of walking round the edge so me and a woman held hands and decided to do it together.

Work was good too I held 5 full day courses teaching managers how to have effective conversations with their teams to maximise performance, met some amazing people and got a catered lunch every day not too shabby.

But as quickly as I arrived it was time to leave again half way to the airport I got a message my flight this evening had been cancelled. I had been on my feet delivering a course all day I was tired, hungry and just wanted to get home to Christchurch and Chris this was not ideal.

I've not really had many cancelled flights and assumed I would be sleeping in the airport until I could get a flight out aw well such is life I suppose. When I got to the airport people were angry shouting and demanding answers from a young woman at the desk, she looked defeated she also must have been on her feet all day just like me and probably wanted to go home because she was tired and hungry too. All my frustration melted away as I looked as her. I stepped back and waited my turn I was last in line. When I got to the desk she was ready for me to shout like everyone else. But I smiled made her laugh we spoke about how bad her day had been. I told her not to worry it was almost over and she couldn't controll the weather (the reason the flights were cancelled was a storm over Christchurch) I explained that I was tired and didn't know what to do, she explained that the airline would provide accommodation for everyone and lifts to the hotels. This was better news than I expected. I took a seat and she handed me some vouchers for food, result! Fed and watered I felt better just tired now. She came over to explain that there were no more seats available to get me to my hotel (all the shouty people got on first) So we agreed that I would make my own way there on the bus.

I got to the hotel around 9pm people were still shouting as they must have been from the airport. The guy at the desk asked my name and smiled "there is a note next to your name" eek this can't be good! Miss Eaton you have been upgraded this evening! He handed me another dinner voucher and showed me to a huge suite it was beautiful. He winked at me and left. Thank you lady at the airport! Sometimes it pays to be nice. I had already had dinner at the airport so didnt't need the voucher but it said it was good for today so I popped into the restaurant as I expected still shouty airport people everywhere giving the staff jip. You would think they would have calmed down by now. I ordered a drink and then gave the rest of the voucher to the manger thanked the staff and explained that they all deserved a drink tonight so to use the voucher between them. It felt right and a perfect end to my time in Auckland.

I spent the next few hours in my room watching the bustle of Queen Street below and smiled this could be the last time I see this city for a while and no matter what other people say I really like Auckland the good the bad and the ugly.

Next morning I was up early for the flight and by 9am was on my way home to my bed, a real cup of tea and the boys ahh.

Only a few days left to work they flew in. We said our goodbyes to the guys and prepared for one final night in New Zealand. The hostel owner gave us a leaving present of money for our travels so nice of her. Our final night in Christchurch was great we went to a gig David Bryn from the talking heads what a gig, it was awesome and one of Marks birthday presents. Then it was time to get going we made our way to the airport for 4am said goodbye to Mark who was off to Bali for some family time with his mum and Sean and boarded our flight to Singapore for the next stage of our journey.

Two short years in New Zealand was the perfect start to our journey we have met amazing people seen amazing things and travelled every inch of this magical country. The mountains, the beaches, the cold, the extreme hot, the families who took us in, the friends we have made the incredible wildlife and so much more. I will miss it all I believe there will be no place quite like it thank you New Zealand for being simply incredible.

Christchurch

We have arrived in Christchurch eathquake town!

After the beauty of the mountains Christchurch is a bit of a culture shock gray and looking a bit like a construction site that someone forgot to finish. I hope it grows on me.

The hostel is great really quiet nothing like the hostels I have stayed in before where parties go on into the night. Because I will be working here rather than partying this is good news!

We settled in on our first night and spent the next two weeks in training. Our job is night reception in a hostel in the city centre. The hours are better than we imagined we work Monday - Friday 5pm-9pm and weekends from 8am -9pm so between the two of us its pretty easy. All we really have to do is check in some guests, answer questions, mainly about directions and keep the place generally tidy.

We have a bell that rings when someone wants something so we just get to stay in the appartment most of the time. Ideal! (I'm becoming lazy but it does give me lots of time to work on my own online design stuff)

For the past year I have been a remote storyboarder, this basically means I turn text books into online learning for adults. Its really fun, and allows me to work anywhere (they call me a digital nomad).

But enough about work we are here to travel.

Our appartment is like a palace after living in Norman. We have a living room and kitcen combined a separate bathroom and shower and then a cabin outside where we sleep. Its pretty comfy until you need the bathroom during the night and its freezing making the dash across the garden in your PJ's

Now we will be here for a while we decided to get some home comforts for the first time since we left Scotland. Chris bought some weights and has a little gym in the garden. I have a new laptop, my old one was ridiculous I don't even know if you could still call it a laptop. It had a broken keyboard so had an extra one plugged in, had a broken mouse pad so needed a plug in mouse, needed constant power as the battery was goosed and looked more like it was on life support than making it on its own with all the cables it needed to function ha ha.

It was also time to say goodbye to our faithfull travel buddy Norman. He did well and it was now time for him to start a new adverture without us. I was quite nervous about selling him, as we had so many other backpackers fantically trying to sell their cars with no joy as the winter season started and no one was buying. Eek

But I worried needlessly even before I could put up all the adverts a guy turned up and even after a test drive from hell where Norman didn't start and cut out halfway through the drive he fell in love. A few days later he was back with his mechanic friend again given that Norman is erm not the best of vans I held my breath when the mechanic started having a look.

But it was all good a few comments about tyres and general damage and they gave me the full asking price. Kerching!

Bon Voyage Norman enjoy the rest of your travels it would not have been the same road trip without you mate.

It was also time to sell another travel buddy Chris's guitar it was cheap but sounded good and filled some long nights camping. Who needs a electricity when you have your own music and the stars right?

Christchurch a few years ago had a huge earthquake that pretty much flattened most of the city centre. I decided this was worth exploring and it is. There is not much to see in Christchurch but you cannot help but be surrounded by memorials, half built buildings, and quake related tourist attractions.

The local park and botanic gardens are nice and I often take a walk through there to feed the ducks or head to the swimming. Most days you see trams on the way there and punting boats on the rivers. Christchurch is flat, really flat almost like Amsterdam so taking a walk is pretty easy and very different from the rest of New Zealand.

Working in a hostel has its perks and we managed to get two free tickets to a Maori experience day out. We spent the first few hours walking through the wildlife park seeing all the native birds, then it was off to see a cultural Maori show. We we were welcomed by the Chief and a warrior dance before heading to a little village scene they had set out showing traditional Maori wepons, cooking tools and houses, all of course accompanied by some Te Reo basic words which is always fun.

From there we headed inside to learn some traditional dances Chris learned the Haka and I learned the Poi. I don't think we would make great warriors though.

Then it was time for the Hangi my favourite. Hangi is like the best Sunday roast ever but cooked underground in a pit, the meat and veg is placed in a deep pit outside then covered with hot stones leaves and dirt, its then left for several hours. When they dig it up its good to go the meat falls apart and they serve it with fried bread fresh seafood starters and soups. The people of New Zealand know how to eat.

Winter in New Zealand arrives around May you start to notice a difference and by the end of June winter is here and everyone starts to wind down and look for work. This is my first South Island winter, last winter I spent in Northland holding on to the last warmth of the sun in the subtropical tip or the country. I have a feeling this year I will not be as lucky and may have to put away the shorts for a few months.

But we have four walls around us and heating this winter so we'll make it. Last winter I slept in the van for a few months then a barn for a month how times change. This should sound like the start of an orphan story but it was the best winter I have ever spent.

Winter here is not as wet and this year has been great lowest around 2 degrees but around 8 degrees most days. Its a different cold though without the rain its nice clear skies, warmish if your in the sun but it drops quickly at night. Kind of like a ski holiday I suppose there is a lot of slopes around here.

Talking of weather we finally experienced an earthquake well sort of there was three of us in the room one of us felt it and heard it, one of us just heard it and one of us had no idea anything had happened. But it was 4. something so pretty shaky.

Mark was finally free from the farm hooray! The cows let him go after a 4 month cownapping he learned some great stuff about milking but dont think he'll be putting on wellies any time soon.

My other friend who is staying in the hostel (we met in Auckland) is working on a cow farm too but he is doing calfing and his stories are awful. Does not sound like the job for me being a cow midwife.

Finally a weekend off freedom from the city!

Having spent a few months tucked up in the city we were all ready for some adventure and fresh air, so we jumped in the car and headed for the mountains. Our plan was to head straight for Mount Cook a 4 hour drive. There was four of us and our French friend was working until 4ish so we knew that we would drive most of the way in the dark and arrive late.

By the time we hit the turn off from the main highway it was dark you would think that we would miss loads of amazing scenery and yes we did but we were driving on the Starlight Highway so night was perfect for a different kind of scenery. The Starlight Highway cuts inland from the east coast taking you into the mountains of the Southern Alps. It is in the international dark zone where there is little to no light pollution. The few people who live here use special lights to limit the light given off and it is a protected star gazing area.

We arrived at Mount Cook Village about 10.30pm, it was so dark, you can make out the outline of the mountains but cant really see much, other than the white caps reaching up. Its a clear night the stars are pretty cool and we are crossing our fingers and toes it stays this way. We have a helicopter to catch at 8am to see the Alps up close and its meant to be a bad storm we think we can sneak in before it hits. Well hopefully.

6.30am and we are up and getting ready to go. The weather is just closing in we can see the exact line of the storm against the blue skies behind it. Its coming fast and by the time we are all ready to leave two mountains have been eaten by the grey clouds and cannot be seen. Not a good sign.

By the time we get to the helicopter site its spitting rain at ground level thats another bad sign and sure enough the lady behind the desk tells us sorry its a no go for today the storm is too bad and all flights are grounded. Ah well maybe next time.

So with extra time on our hands we head off to Tekapo  where we plan to spend the night. A last view of Mount Cook and we were on our way.

Mount Cook and Tekapo are places I have been before but they are beautiful and they do remind me of Scotland. Apart from that colour, the blue in Lake Tekapo is something I have never seen before and still have no photo that does it justice.

Travelling means you get to follow activities you enjoy and sometimes that means on your own. Tekapo is one of those places. The boys decided to head for the slopes and try out the snow tubbing its like sledging in a rubber ring and I decided I wanted to see some of the lake before the weather caught up with us.

I always think if you go somewhere you need to get out and see it no matter the weather. I'm not a fan of just sitting in the car on road trips I think I've been this way since I was a kid on trips to the glens with my grandparents. I would insist on at least eating lunch outside the car normally in the cold ha ha.

I could already see the line of the clouds that I had just ran away from coming from Mount Cook and decided I had about 2 hours tops before the rain found me. It was already spitting when I set off and the wind was picking up but off I went. After about 30minutes the wind really picked up and I discovered I had to cross a bridge to get to the next stage of the path. The wind was so strong I had to hold on to the side for balance and kind of lean forward.

It was worth it though the walk is beautiful round the lake I made it about a quarter before I had to turn back.

Then it was time to let our hair down in Tekapo there is a small village with a pub, we went down to watch a live band they were great. We rallied some other people from the hostel too and had a great night. We made friends with the band, bar manager and their families as well as an aussie couple and ended up getting a lift home from the owner.

Chris decided to take me to Akaroa for my 30th, a peninsula near Christchurch. We rented a cute little cottage outside of Akaroa just the two of us over looking the ocean. the cottage sits on a hill with great views.

The cottage came with a hot tub and we spent the next three nights watching the sun set over the mountains looking out to the ocean with a glass of wine in hand. It was perfect. Mars in really close to us right now and we got a great view of Mars and the stars the first night.

We had a family of swallows sharring with us and every day they would fly about in the patio it was nice to watch them when we had breakfast. There was so many birds to watch wood pigeons and fantails especially.

Then it was back to Christchurch to save for the next part of the Journey. Nothing blog worthy has happened since my birthday other than Mark's birthday to be honest I am on a kind of settled routine of work eat sleep save repeat. I struggle to fill a whole conversation with anyone from back home who asks what I have been up to as not much really does sum it up this past 6 weeks. Travel life is not always travel sometimes its just working.

We have however managed to do some key "life admin" and set a date for our wedding its all official and set for the 8th October 2019 at 4pm  in Port Douglas.

We have also finally decided and planned the next stage of our trip from New Zealand to Austrailia. The Aussies have given us a visa for a year, thank you Austrailia. So we will head there at some point in January to start a new adventure our basic plan is to complete a whole lap its quite a challenge in a year theres so much to see!

But whats next and what could have been?

I am writting this blog in September many months after any of this happened and I smile thinking what it would have been like had I written it at the time. I now have a solid plan (and even a flight booked) for where I am heading next, Cambodia. However when all this was happening I had a few (to say the least) plans or options I was looking at here are a few ha ha how times change

Plan 1

1month Cambodia - 3 weeks Tonga - 4 weeks Samoa - 1 week Fiji - Austrailia

Plan 2

 2 weeks Tonga - 3 weeks Samoa - 1 week Fiji - 1 week Hawai- 10days Solomon Islands - Austrailia

Plan 3 

2 weeks Thailand- 1 month Cambodia - Austrailia

Plan 4

Straight to Aussie/ Sydney for New Years

Plan 5

Claim New Zealand as my own and never leave

At some point over the past few months these have all been THE plan and I can imagine you all being very confused about what I was up to and frustrated that I was unable to make a decision but that is how travel is when you can go anywhere its hard to decide where to go. 

So what is the actual plan. Well I have a gig on the 15th of November and will head from there to the airport to fly out of New Zealand on the 16th November at 6am (one final sunrise for the road) and from there head to Singapore for two nights. 

After the bright lights of Singapore Chris and I are off to Cambodia we are headed for Kep for 1 month its not touristy and a quiet village on the beach we are going to a fitness camp where you can do classes use their gym and get fed healthy traditional cambodian food sounds great I can work keep active and get some local culture. 

Mark is off to Bali to visit his mum and will join us after the camp. After Kep we are heading around the bottom of Cambodia to Kampot and Sihanoukville before we jump to the island of Koh Rong where we will spend new years with friends.

Well so far you just never know ...

Arthur's Pass, Nelson and Kaikoura

We left Mark again and planned to meet him in Christchurch once he was finished on the farm. We were getting short on time and knew we needed to be in Christchurch in a week or so.

The journey

We set out for Arthur's pass which is a road through the Southern Alps taking you from the east coast popping out at Greymouth on the west.

This national park takes you through the heart of the alps and through the backbone of the South Island.

When we get there the light is against us so we park up for the night by the side of the road and try to get some sleep.

The next day we wake up to the mountains all around us and set off its a beautiful drive pretty flat the first bit then you head up through the pass and over the alps. You come down a steep road and drive under a bridge and your almost at the west coast. Its raining hard so we are not going to do the walks as there are weather warnings (if it rains on the ground it snows at the top).

We stopped at the small town of Arthur's Pass for breakfast and to dry off a bit then we were off to the west coast once again on our way to Nelson for some knife making.

They west coast was still as wild, raw and beautiful as I remember and we make our way from Greymouth to Westport to spend the night for the last time at the little pub we liked so much last time. The owner is happy to see us and welcomes us like long lost friends.

A few pints and games of pool and we settle in for the night ready for an early start to Able Tasmin in the morning.

Back to Motueka and the freedom campsite we stayed at last time. Last time we were here it was hard to get out of the campsite and you needed a running start and a bit of luck to make it out in Norman. But this is the first time we have been back since the cyclone a few months ago and its a completely different place.

What was once steep and bumpy is smooth and shorter, the trees lay flat on the ground twisted and torn from the roots. The top entrance is a muddy area clearly been used for large diggers in the last few days. When we head down to the camp it has halfed in size now you cant get to the back of the campsite from the flooding damage that remains.

The river still flows peacefully next to you and the campers are still in good spirits ready to share travel stories with us and play music in the dark. We met one guy last time we were here with no actually stuff just a tarp and his instruments its a proper hippy camp.

Morning comes and we are ready to make knifes we need to be in Nelson for 8am so its an early rise to get there in time.

We make it to Nelson and are welcomed by a really excited puppy Chris brought him back from the bathroom with him.

We head over to meet they knife guys and get introduced to our other knife makers for the day and get started.

You get handed a piece of steel and are pointed towards the furnace. You draw out your design and then get hammering. Hammering is hard work the guy makes it look easy but trust me its not. My arms are killing I'm using muscles I didnt know were there.

Halfway through and the puppy reappears happy that he brought us a present a dead possum, that he spits at our feet as he wags his tail all pleased with himself. For the rest of the day the poor pup was banished from the workshop. Poor wee guy.

Lunch is pizza and laughs at who has broke their knife already and how impressed everyone is with how well they are looking. Turns out if you leave your steel in the fire too long it melts and you loose your knife I  was pretty lucky but one guy broke his just before lunch and it was panic stations to get caught up with the group.

Knifes almost made we put the handles on and finished the last of the design and polishing they look very professional and I am pleased with my work.

A night in Nelson and a motel bed for the night is a nice treat we eat dinner and chill out while planning our journey to Christchurch via Kaikoura.

The Kaikoura road is recently open after the last earthquake well sort of. Constant land slides close the road week to week and eveytime it rains you can expect it will be closed.

Its a nice drive down the coast though apart from the road works. It is lined with seals playing in the surf of the waves. We stop in Kaikoura for a view of the sea its a small beach town famous for whale boat trips all year round.

Our last night of freedom has arrived. We park up in a quite little area and decide we need to clean out Norman. Its a big job and even with just two of us the van is full of stuff. A few hours later we are done he looks like a new van and we have ditched half our stuff.

Then that's it off to Christchurch to work and live for a bit in a hostel. We make the drive to Christchurch settle in to our room in the hostel and try to adjust to life after the van.

McKenzie Region New Zealand

We said cheerio to Mark and set of for McKenzie country. The home of Mount Cook New Zealand's largest mountain, Tasmin Glacier, turquoise lakes and other large mountain ranges.

The Journey

We took the drive from Marks and headed west towards the mountains. Stopping at Twizel for supplies we decided to keep going as there was not much to see.

We decided to camp at Lake Tekapo and entered the dark zone. The dark zone is a natural protected star gazing site in New Zealand, hardly anyone lives here but the people that do use special lights in their homes to reduce light pollution and you can see some of the best stars in the world because of it.

First the lake, the blue is something else and I still dont have a picture that does it justice but when the light hits the water the minerals from the glacier turn a vivid aqua colour that I have seen no where else.

We took in Lake Tekapo and decided to head for the observatory and our camp for the night. We camped on the side of Lake Alexandria, about 100 caravans lined the campsite but no one was there but us all night it was a bit eerie but we had some ducks for company.

Blanket ready we unfolded the camping chairs wrapped ourselfs in blankets and with tea in hand settled in for the stars to come out and give us a show.

They were good but I have seen better in other parts of New Zealand it was a clear night but the moon was quite bright so didnt get to see the purples of the milkyway.

Next morning we woke to rain our plans for walks and adventure didnt seem likely but we had come all this way we were going to see Mount Cook.

Not far from where we were about 90mins drive is Mount Cook Village surrounded by mountain ranges as far as the eye can see you are officially in the heart of the Southern Alps.

So with the weather against us we decided to head back to Mark's before we took on Aurthur's pass and the next leg of our journey.

The Catlins and Southland New Zealand

Well its back to just the three of us Chris, me and Norman are about to set off for the Catlins.

A quick stop off in Invercargill for supplies and we are on our way.

The journey

Described as a rugged sparsley populated area with a scenic coast and dense rainforest. The Catlins are home to many endangered animals such as the yellow eyed penguins, fur seals and sealions. Its exposed on the coast meaning it is known for wild weather and good waves.

So it sounded right up our street and a chance to get up close to sealions. We headed for Fortrose and explored some of the bays and back roads of the Catlin coast. The roads are bumpy and dirt track and my hands are buzzing when I pull over from all the vibrations.

We searched so many beaches for sealions and penguins. Its the wrong time of year for penguins so think we are out of luck but we are determined to find sealions let the hunt continue!

We head for Slope Point the Southern tip of the South Island no sealions here but lots of sheep they give us a wide berth as we cross their field and get our photos.

Next waterfalls something New Zealand is not short of is waterfalls. We took the climb to the falls only 40mins walk and had some lunch.

Still having no luck with the sealions we headed for Surat Bay rummor has it they might be there. We walked along the beach for a while and saw nothing then in the distance we see the sand moving. could it be?

Sealions everywhere there must have been about 15 or so. Males massive cooling off burried in the sand. The smaller females sunning themself by the water and one sitting up giving us a bit of a show. I didnt appreciate just how big they are until I was next to one.

We bunk for the night in a small campground near Kaka Point. The locals this time are cats and cheeky cats at that, who want not only my dinner but a space in my bed for cuddles.

Washed, fed and rested we are ready for our next leg of the journey. The Catlins is small so after a few days we have seen all we wanted to and are heading back to civilisation in the form of Dunedin. The Scotland of New Zealand named and designed after Edinburgh itself!

We arrived a Mosgiel a town on the outskirts of Dunedin and stayed at a horse racing track. We were the only ones there apart from one other van and managed to park under the stands and get some power. Its the little things you find on  the road like power or hot water that make you smile. So we plugged in a watched the first whole film we had seen in months. My laptop is really old and only holds power for 45mins so this was a treat.

Next morning at 5.30am a fitness class started above our heads in the hall so we made a break for it to the other side of the field and went back to sleep.

We planned to do a few days in Dunedin and enjoy the city we spent the day on the peninsula and drove to the top to get a look at the Royal Albertross a coastal road takes you up the peninsula curving slowly through little fishing villages.

There is a castle but we gave it a miss instead opting to see the city before heading to our accomodation for some relaxation and a real bed sleeping in the van is great but sometimes a hot shower and a comfy bed is needed.

Having spent a few days here it was time to get moving we had missed our travel buddy Mark and it was time to catch up and see how life on the farm was treating him. There's not much to see on the east cost between Dunedin and Timaru so we took the long drive to Marks in record time.

Mark is on a dairy farm which means 4am milking and lots of dirt and cold mornings better him than me.

We arrived at the farm just as it was getting dark, Mark has a really nice place here his own house with garden, bedroom and separate living room. After months cramped up in Norman it was like a palace.

We planned to stay for a few days and sort ourselfs out we are nearly at the end of our road trip and really should be looking for a job. Mark said we could stay as long as we wanted to we ended up there for a few days just catching up. He has one bedroom so we slept in Norman in the garden but it was comfy and warm.

We got a call back from a hostel job we applied for and were told we start in a few weeks that didnt leave much time we better get moving. We needed to be in Christchurch for the start of April and still had a few places to see.

So the next morning it was time to say goodbye to Mark and set off for Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo that's right star gazing was up next.