Venice Beach, Hollywood, LA Lakers and the LAPD!

Yesterday we were up early (ish!) and went out and explored LA. Our first stop was Venice Beach where we strolled down the promenade people watching and boy are there some funny people! We also saw a bulldog wearing sunglasses outside a tattoo shop - you see it all here in LA!
We then continued up the coast and walked around the pier at Santa Monica, a totally different feel to Venice Beach despite only being 10 minutes further up. For lunch we stopped off at the university campus of UCLA in a district called Westwood just a few blocks away from Beverly Hills. It gave us a good feel for typical American college life. After filling our stomachs with Mexican and pizza we drove along Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive! No celebs though, despite Rach thinking she saw Bruce Willis in a car!! We then made our way to Hollywood driving along Sunset Boulevard. Once we arrived at Hollywood we parked and walked along the strip where they have the stars on the pavement. We walked around the Kodak Theatre were the Oscars took place just three days before - again we saw some funny people in fancy dress not necessarily for any reason apart from just being noticed walking around! Later on we looked at the skyline of LA from the Griffith Observatory before heading to the Staples Center for a bite to eat prior to the LA Lakers game. We met up with Chris & Diana, Diana's brother Brian and a chap called Michael who is working with Chris on his Africa project. The game was fantastic with Kobe Bryant scoring in the last second to win the game! We also saw Eddie Murphy and Russell Brand on courtside!
It was pretty late when we headed home and just before we turned into where we were staying suddenly from behind us we saw flashing blue & red lights!! The LAPD stopped us because one of our headlamps had blown! Mark kindly explained to the policeman he was from the UK and borrowing the car. The cop asked for his license which he looked at like it was a coupon for a McDonald's meal - he had no idea whether it was real!! A great end to a great day and our last on our travels!
We leave today at 6pm from LA arriving home tomorrow at 12:30.
We're really looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone. We've had an amazing time and memories we'll keep forever.
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx

The City of Angels!

We arrived safely at LA on Saturday and experienced the evening of Saturday the 6th twice! Chris kindly picked us up and saved us the effort of trying to get to the Wades pad - thankfully as we were very tired. That evening we were taken to a very nice Japanese restaurant in Seal Beach. The chefs were very entertaining and had obviously been on the saki along with their guests! Despite them being probably being a bit squiffy the food was fantastic. Back at the house we spent the rest of the evening sharing stories of traveling and showed 50% of our photos!! Even better than that Chris got out his old slides of his and Diana's travels in the late 70's. It got to midnight before we knew it and decided to have the second installment of photos on Sunday.
Yesterday we had a very lazy start and slept really well - much needed. Chris & Diana returned from church and we went into town for brunch. We met up with Shane (Chris and Diana's son) and continued sharing our stories. After brunch we took a stroll down onto the Seal Beach pier and saw locals fishing and hungry pelicans hovering for scraps. In the afternoon Chris took us on a great tour of Orange County stopping along the coast so we could appreciate the beauty of the area. That evening we again got the photos out and we compared ours with Chris & Diana's pictures of NZ which were taken 28 years ago. Again another late night, this time after midnight and several bottles of red wine consumed.
Today we went to Universal Studios!! As we drove to the theme park we found it funny that our experiences during our travels have been so diverse - our third day into our time away we were at the Taj Mahal and our third to last day would be spent in Universal Studios!! Two places at different ends of the spectrum. We spent the day going on the various rides including the Simpsons and Jurassic Park! We got back to the house around 7pm and watched the Oscar ceremony which happened just down the road yesterday.
Tomorrow we're going to see more LA sights including downtown, Beverly Hills etc before going to watch the LA Lakers play basketball against the Toronto Raptors at the Staples Center.
Not long now so there will probably be one more blog update before we get home.
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx

Chilling in Christchurch

Yesterday we left Akaroa and headed to Christchurch. It was quite an emotional day really seeing we wouldn't be camping again (not!). Despite the trials we've had with the tent and the weather we have really enjoyed camping and have met some great people in doing so. Now we have to master camping again back home but with the added complexity of Poppy!!

We arrived in Christchurch around lunchtime and checked into the hotel. Immediately when felt spoilt with real pillows and duvets!! It was difficult to leave the luxury of a room and knowing we wouldn't have to blow up our bed when we returned but we had to try and get rid of our camping gear, either selling it or giving it away to charity. Unfortunately 'Cash Converters' wouldn't take it as they had too much stuff already so the Salvation Army benefitted! After getting rid of the gear we spent the rest of the day strolling around Christchurch, a very English feeling place. Last night we ordered a take away from a Thai restaurant and sat watching TV.

'Ah Heaven' was the feeling this morning after a full nights sleep and knowing the toilet was only 5 metres away and you didn't have to get fully dressed to go there! Today we have spent the day again walking around the city visiting the Botanical Gardens and the various squares. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year so there is a lot going on over the next couple of days. Tonight we plan to go out for our first meal in 8 weeks and are very excited.

We leave for LA tomorrow via Auckland so most of the time will be spent in the airport tomorrow waiting for flights. The flight to LA takes around 12 hours so hopefully we'll sleep seeing it leaves at 23:00.

Looking forward to seeing you all in less than a week.

Love

Mark & Rach. xxx

Dunedin - Sandfly Bay

We arrived in Dunedin on Monday afternoon and thankfully it wasn't raining, however, a tent pole broke while putting it up - Mark is looking forward to Christchurch and no tent erecting! Dunedin is a little city really but very busy due to the student population. We spent the afternoon walking around the town before picking up some supplies for dinner. That night we spent most of the time chatting to a French Canadian (FC) couple who had sailed from Peru to New Zealand - very interesting (proper travellers)!
Yesterday we drove out of the city to the coastal area and walked along Sandfly Bay where we saw 5 lazy sea lions chilling on the beach. It was fantastic to see these large animals in their natural environment and not in a park. After spending several hours there we drove further round the peninsula and walked to a place called 'The Chasm' - a deep gorge in the rock with the waves crashing below. Back at the campsite the weather came in and Rach spent the afternoon doing a jigsaw while Mark read his newspaper! Last night we again had dinner in the camp kitchen with the FC couple discussing travelling and our experiences.
Today we had intended to stay at either Oamaru or Timaru on the East Coast but after chatting last night we headed to Akaroa which is 83 km from Christchurch. It's a small town with a big French feel! The scenery as we drove into the various bays and channels before we arrived at the campsite reminded us of Russell in the Bay of Islands (one of our first stops in NZ). No surprise - another beautiful place. We spent the afternoon walking along the marina and mooched along the row of shops on the front, stopping for a refreshment along the way! Tonight is our last night camping in NZ as we're staying in a hotel in Christchurch (for convenience) before flying to LA on Saturday.
Hope all is good at home and this time next week we'll be flying home!
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx

On Saturday morning we left Queenstown for Te Anau about 200km South. The journey as ever was filled with stunning backdrops and mountain ranges. In some areas the scenery almost looked like it was painted on - it really is just endless here! We arrived in Te Anau around lunchtime and after pitching our tent we had some lunch and then went for a mooch around the pretty town. That evening we planned our trip to Milford Sounds and then made a very hot curry for dinner before relaxing in the camp TV room and watching a James Bond film.

On Sunday morning after breakfast we got on our way towards Milford Sounds. The journey can take over 2 hours if you get stuck behind the rows of tour buses but we had left early enough to fortunately be ahead of them all. Along the way there were various stop off points to admire more incredible scenery. It was raining which added to the impressive waterfalls cascading down the cliff faces as we drove through the valley created by a long gone glacier. Many of the slopes had snow gathered in cracks and crevasses where the sun was unable to reach.

When we arrived at Milford it really was teaming it down. This was expected as they have up to 7 metres of rain a year and it usually rains for 200 out of the 365 days. We had a while to wait before our 1.15pm boat trip around the Sounds so found a cafe to keep dry.

At 1pm we went to the terminal which was heaving with tourists and as expected lots of Japanese snapping away with their cameras!

We boarded our small boat with 68 other people and set off. The trip took 2 hours and the commentary about the Sounds was very imformative. Due to the heavy rain the waterfalls were really impressive, however it did make it a bit tricky to take pictures without you and the camera getting soaked! We saw a fur seal colony and even got to see penguins, which is very rare this time of year. The boat took us out to the edge of the Tasman Sea where it got a bit choppy but sadly due to the weather we couldn't see very far out. The most impressive thing about being on the small boat was it allowed you to get closer to the rock face and under many of the larger waterfalls.

Back on dry land we drove back to Te Anau and had a chilled out evening hiding from the rain. It continued to rain all through the night and this morning we woke up to it still hammering on the tent. The tent had also leaked during the night and Mark woke up to a soggy sleeping bag where he'd been dripped on all night. We had to pack up so chucked the very wet tent in the car and prayed for dryer weather in Dunedin our next destination.

We arrived in Dunedin around lunchtime to thankfully no rain. Pitching the tent for one of the last times was no less stressful however, as another pole broke as we tried to put it up. Without reserves we just had to snap the broken piece off and after nearly an hour it was up. With one pole considerably shorter now than the other it's a bit lopsided and we just hope we have no rain or wind for our last 3 nights camping!

We plan to spend the next couple of days in Dunedin doing some walks and hopefully seeing some of the wildlife.

Not long now!

Lots of love

Rach & Mark. xxx

Queenstown and our biggest falling out.......of an aircraft!

Well we've only gone and done it! This morning we were up early (due to the cold or the fear) and had a hearty breakfast before heading into town to the NZONE skydive centre. We had a briefing and signed various forms and a special one for wanting to dive at 15,000 feet! After watching the video explaining what was about to happen we boarded the minibus which took us to the airfield some 20 minutes away!

On arrival Mark was very quiet and due to his 'worry genes' went through everything that could go wrong in his mind! Rach was a perfect example of calmness! Within minutes our names were called and we were kitted out with the jumpsuit, harness, gloves and hat. We had brought a small rucksack with us and were asked to put it in a locker - Mark picked number 13 unknowningly but changed to number 3 quickly! We were then given another briefing on how we would leave the aircraft before meeting our jumpmasters. Tom looked after Mark and Marius looked after Rach. Mark had been told that Tom's parachute didn't open on his first jump this morning - Mark was delighted and Tom confirmed it was true later after this one opened!

Before we knew it we boarded the aircraft within two others who were jumping at 9,000 feet. The plane journey took about 5 minutes before the first two were thrown out! We then climbed further up to 16,200 feet above sea level. The door opened and Mark was first to go followed by Rach 30 seconds later.

The sense of leaving a perfectly serviceable aircraft is bizarre as you fall below it! But then after the sensory overload has washed away all you have is the stunning 360 degree views around you. You don't feel like your falling just flying! We were so lucky as there wasn't a cloud in the sky and you could see Mt Cook some 400km away! As we reached 5,000 feet the parachute opened and we then spent the next five minutes taking in more of the scenery! This was the one bit Rach didn't like so much as when we spun into land she felt a bit sick - or was it just the adrenaline?

Mark was down first and watched Rach land safely. A truely incredible experience and as ever Mark was the one buzzing the most after being such a prophet of doom earlier in the day!

It's hard to think of an experience like it and it remains to be seen whether we'll ever do a skydive again and plummet towards the ground at 200km/hr (Terminal velocity)??!!

Tonight we're going out for a celebration curry and a few beers!

Love to all at home.

Mark & Rach. xxx

PS:

I must not fear, fear is the mind killer.

Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

(Frank Herbert) - he never skydived!

Walking up Franz Josef Glacier

Yesterday was an early start and a carb filled breakfast ready for our all day adventure up the Franz Josef Glacier. We arrived at the trek centre around 9am and got kitted out with boots, crampons, socks and jacket etc. Then we boarded the bus which took us to the bottom of the glacier. Arriving at the site we were put into groups depending on what speed you'd like to go and of course we wanted the fastest No1! The Glacier was far more impressive then Fox Glacier and as we stood on the river bed next to the car park and the start of our walk we were asked how far away the glacier looked - we reckoned 1km, in fact it was over 2.5km away!

When we arrived at the front of the glacier (terminal) we were again split into smaller groups - fortunately we'd been chatting to our guide (he used to be a mechanic in Bury St Edmunds - wonder why he's here now!) so we got in the lead group - fresh terrain to explore!

Getting up onto the glacier was the hardest part especially getting used to the cramp-ons (or clamp-ons as Rach called them!). Surprisingly it was still pretty warm but as we gained height it did get a bit colder, especially when having to touch the ice to keep your balance. The guide took us through the large crevasses that had been formed and you were in a world of blue clear ice standing 30 metres above you at times. We stopped occasionally for the guide to go and explore ahead trying to find new things to look at. About half way up he'd spotted a large ice tunnel that was safe to go through. It was tight at times and we had to take off our rucksacks to get through - pot-holing in the glacier - amazing! The tunnel was about 15 metres long and it took us into another large crack heading up. We reached the highest point of our trip around 2pm after trekking for 3 hours to get there. We got up to about 650 metres and the views looking back down the valley were incredible. Sitting on top of glacier having lunch we felt so lucky to experience something like this. Luckily the weather held off and as we ventured back down the clouds were there but no rain. On the way down we were again taken through some tight spots along the ridges and allowed to explore some more ice tunnels. We got off the glacier around 5pm so we spent a good 6 hours exploring - totally worth it! We all felt pretty tired and were looking forward to getting back to the campsite for a cup of tea and a ginger nut biscuit!

Yet again another fantastic day in New Zealand and to top it off Rach and I went to the glacier hot pools after going back to the campsite. It was a great place to rest and soak our tired bodies - they had three large hot tubs all at different temperatures (36, 38 & 40C) and we relaxed in the heated glacial water for about an hour or so before heading back. Last night we had a simple but tasty meal of potato wedges and veggie chilli with a glass of red.

Today we're heading to Queeenstown, about a 5 hour drive.

Love to all at home and hope things are good.

Mark & Rach. xxx