25 April - 2 May 2010 A sad update: R lost her battle with cancer a few years ago. There doesn't a day go by that I don't think of her....

22-24 April 2010 My final night in Kaikoura is a ‘sweet’ as one the owners of the backpackers makes a hot chocolate pudding for us to...

19-21 April 2010 Update: K & J and I lost touch for a bit but reunited last year. They are now married and have a lovely baby boy! As...

16-18 April 2010 As the British founders had intended when they arrived 158 years ago, CHCH remains steeped in colonial heritage and the...

15 April 2010 I am super grumpy this morning. This is in part because the English boys in the rooms next to me were incredibly noisy last...

14 April 2010 I meet up with P for a final drink and he takes me for a drive to Arrowtown which is famed for his golden past but now is a...

11-14 April 2010 R and V drop me off at the bus station in Lawrence and I get the bus to Queenstown and again, the drive is dramatic...

8-11 April 2010 It’s a beautiful sunny day in Sydney on the day I leave. I get the distinct impression that Oz is sticking two fingers up...

4-8 April 2010 I leave Newcastle with a sparkling hangover and Mr and Mrs G dropped me off at Cardiff station (yes, that’s what is it...