Finest sands in England

Today was forecast to be a scorcher in London, with temperatures up to 26 degrees C (yes, I know that's not a scorcher everywhere, but for early May in London it definitely counts). Given how pasty we both are, and how long it had been since we'd been to the beach, we made the trip down to Margate, a seaside resort about 1.5 hours away from London on the high speed rail.

It's the kind of place that had a heyday, fell into decline, and is now on the way back up. Think amusement and bingo halls crossed with craft beer and gelato. It's also got the Turner Gallery of Contemporary Art which was interesting but given the glorious weather we only really gave it a cursory glance.

We spent the most of our time on the beach, soaking up the sun and reading. I got to about waist deep in the water but it was so cold that was as far as I could manage - bit better than Adrian who didn't go in at all!

It was decidedly more chilled out than Brighton and the gelato was definitely just as good (we got salted caramel, peanut butter and jelly, pear and chocolate, and rhubarb and custard....mmmmm....).

If this weather continues we'll definitely be back!

A favourite place

Corsica is one of those places, where, if I could, I would visit year on year on year.  It just has everything that I love - beautiful beaches and crystal clear water, hot weather, great food, and is French!  My French is getting rustier by the day, so I always love an opportunity to try it out on unsuspecting locals...

We were incredibly lucky to go to Corsica and stay with good friends who were over in Europe from Australia.  The villa they hired was absolutely gorgeous and in a beautiful location called Porticcio, not far from Ajaccio.  We flew down to Marseilles, then picked up a rental car at the airport and got the ferry across to Ajaccio.  It was pretty nerve-wracking to drive on the wrong side of the road for the first time, but after driving for a week on the hair bend corners of Corsica, with seriously crazy Corsican drivers, I know I'll be fine anywhere!

It was the most relaxing week - we just slept, ate, swam, and then slept, ate and swam some more!  It was so much fun playing with our friends' daughters (two and four years' old) and we also went on two day trips, one to Corte, right up in the mountains in the middle of the island, and the other to Bonifacio, right down the bottom of the island. 

Both were beautiful but Bonifacio was particularly breathtaking - one day when I'm rich and famous I think I could easily have a villa there!  We could pop across to Sardinia for lunch even...  I particularly liked the cemetery right on the tip of the island, as it had lots of little houses almost for each family and was so peaceful and tranquil to walk around. 

The blue, blue waters of Bonifacio

It was also ridiculously hot, over 30 each day and lovely and dry.  My New Zealand tan was topped up nicely!  The memory of that will have to tide me over for quite some time though so I'm glad it was so good...

To see the rest of the photos click here.

 

Coastal meanderings

After months and months passing without seeing the sea, it was time to rectify the situation with a few spring-time trips to the beach.

First, we headed down to Brighton for a night to catch a band in concert that Adrian really wanted to see and completely lucked out with the weather.  Adrian had cycled down, and I met him there after getting the train.  We visited the Brighton Pavilion which was quite incredible (George V's boy's weekend getaway palace basically) and walked down the pier and just enjoyed the sun.  We were staying right on the seafront too which was fun and made it really easy to get around.  Lunch on the Sunday was at a delicious restaurant called Food for Friends, a vegetarian place where the food was absolutely beautiful - and yum!

On the rollercoaster on Brighton Pier

 

Our second trip was to Cornwall for Easter, where we based ourselves at Holywell Bay, just south of Newquay, and spent five days exploring.  We covered a lot of ground, starting from Exeter, crossing Dartmoor, then visiting various towns including Polperro, St Ives, Fowey, Padstow (where we had Rick Stein's fish and chips - yum!) and right down to the bottom to Lands End, and then Lizard Point which was really beautiful - quite wild and untamed.

However, probably my favourite bit of Cornwall was the Eden Project.  It's basically a huge garden, half of which is under these huge biodomes, built on the site of an abandoned clay mine.  One of the biodomes is a tropical rainforest and the other is a Mediterranean garden.  I would definitely recommend clicking on the link to find out more - it was so cool!  We spent hours there, just in awe at what they'd made.  I loved it and would definitely recommend anyone to go if they're thinking of visiting that area.

And then the third of our coastal trips was to Guernsey and Sark.  I've wanted to go to Sark ever since I read about it here at the beginning of last year, and it absolutely didn't disappoint - I've never seen stars like it!  We were really lucky apparently, with Venus super bright, and then Saturn and Jupiter really yellow and red respectively.  The local astronomy society's president (the 'Star Fleet Commander'!) Annie was so welcoming, and spent an hour with us in her back garden explaning everything, and even pointing out the International Space Station going overhead.  

Sark itself is so neat - there are no cars allowed, so it's only bicycles and tractors, and the main street is tiny!  It's only about 4.5km from one end to the other, so we explored the whole island in one day, just cycling about and walking down to the sea at the edges.  We had beautiful weather, and really enjoyed camping under the stars after boogieing down at the Mermaid Disco - Sark's premiere night spot!  We also had delicious food, including some amazing croissants and a half lobster - so good.

Here's a really cool video showing the incredible stars :

 

Guernsey was also really interesting (you have to go to Guernsey to get to Sark via the ferry) and we were lucky enough to have friends there who we could stay with.  We walked through a beautiful bluebell wood, visited Victor Hugo's house, did a circumnavigation of the island to see all the bays, saw the Little Chapel and again, ate really good food!  (I'm sensing a theme here...).

All in all, I feel completely rejuvinated by our time at the sea - unfortunately it's yet to get warm enough to swim, but hopefully that's not too far away!

Click here for the rest of the photos...there are some good ones I promise!

A summer story - part two

From Cape Reinga we south on the 1st of January to Kerikeri, with two very important detours. First we stopped for another swim at 90 Mile Beach (which was crazy cold compared to the first swim, don't know what the deal was there) and second, at Mangonui for the best fish and chips in the country. The half crayfish'n'chips option was tempting but slightly out of the price range!

Once in Kerikeri we met up with Bastiaan and Pip and then headed over to Bas' friend Andrew's place (well, his parent's place) where we hung out with him, his parents and their friend and his fiancee Bridgette for the night. The spit roast was delicious and having the chance to have a shower and sleep in a real bed again was great!


After a bit of sightseeing around Kerikeri the next morning we battled the traffic back into Auckland and then went to see Avatar with Dad. Very lame plot but impressive computer graphics skills nonetheless! The next leg was Auckland to Wellington with a night in Taupo at Adrian's aunt and uncle the Hancocks, followed by a few hours at the National Army Museum in Waiouru. It's one of those places I'd driven past a hundred times but never been in - so finally we did! The war medals were really interesting as were the bits and pieces about some of the minor wars etc. that NZ had been involved in. We hung out in Wellington for a bit - well, Adrian hung out, I had to go to work for three days... But after that brief sojourn it was back up to the sunny north. We drove up to the Coromandel on the 8th for Liam and Kelly's wedding in Pauanui on the 9th of Jan.
We met up with all Adrian's St Pats mates on Friday evening and then before the wedding we helped Liam work off his nerves with a bit of a hit around on a tennis court. It was a beautiful wedding, right on the beach and they both looked so happy which was lovely. The reception had great food and we all had a wonderful time dancing around and listening to the great speeches. The song the St Pats boys sung about how Liam and Kelly met was a highlight and I'll try to post it when this website lets me!


After the wedding we spent two nights at the campsite at Hot Water Beach, further north in the Coromandel. That place is excellent! Supposedly one of the top ten beaches in the world as voted by Lonely Planet, when the tide is out it uncovers some natural hot springs which you can dig into and make your own natural hot pool. We checked it out on the first evening, just to see what it was all about, and then in the morning we went down again trying to get a spot. It was pretty packed in the morning with all the kids (low tide was about 10am) so it was difficult to get a spot but we managed to get our feet into the incredibly hot sand for a bit! During the day we headed up to Hahei and Cathedral Cove which was beautiful, and then it was back to Hot Water Beach for our third attempt at making the perfect hot pool. Our reconnaissance mission paid off and we had the perfect hot pool which was nearly too hot to sit in! It's a fight to constantly build up your sand wall against the incoming waves but it's a good workout all the same!
From Hot Water Beach we did a small tiki tour around the Coromandel peninsula on the way back to Auckland - complete with hokey pokey and goody goody gumdrops icecreams, yummmmm. Once back in the big AK we did a walking tour (one of Adrian's most favourite things...) of North Head and had a fabulously extravagent dinner at Kermadec (extravagent because we completely forgot to use the Entertainment Card, d'oh!). And then it was over! Adrian hopped back on a plane to London via Singapore and I went back down to Wellington after a few more birthday celebrations with Mum, Dad and friends.


A holiday to remember - here are all the photos!

A summer story - part one

We're all going on a summer holiday, no more worries for a week or two (or three, or four...) Adrian and I have just finished up the most excellent summer holiday tripping all over the North Island and staying in some of the most beautiful places I think you'd find anywhere. It was so great to get out to the beach and laze around in the sun - and even though I didn't really deserve a holiday after only a month back at work, it was very much appreciated! Adrian turned up back in NZ in mid-December just before Veronika and Phil's wedding (which was lovely).

After the wedding, the whole Mazur clan headed up north to Paihia for Christmas while I worked from the Auckland office and then had Christmas at home. We cooked our ham Nigella Lawson styles which involved boiling it in coca cola of all things - and before you wrinkle your nose up in disgust it was actually really delicious! On Boxing Day I headed up north to meet up with Adrian (stopping, of course, at the Bendon outlet shop on the way up...I love that place) and then on the 27th we started our road trip in earnest. Stop 1: the supermarket where we bemoaned our lack of organisation (already) by not taking more food from the family coffers and thus having to spend nearly $100... Ah well, you can only live and learn can't you!

Stop 2: the Department of Conservation (DoC) campsite at Otamure Bay (Whananaki). We headed off full of hope that depsite the time of year, it couldn't possibly be completely full - but yes, after a long, twisty turny drive that's what the sign said... But, ever optimistic, we smiled and insisted that our tent was absolutely tiny (which it was) and they, very kindly, managed to find us a half site to inhabit. Yay for DoC! The campsites were incredible! People had brought everything from: full gas burner BBQs, tomatoes still growing in buckets, fridges, double layer air mattresses - and a group not far from us had even set up a kitchen area using industrial strength scaffolding! It was camping, but definitely not as we were doing it...

The place was absolutely lovely though; white sandy beach and even enough waves to do a spot of body surfing. Adrian was over the moon to discover that across the road they were showing movies in the woolshed - $3 and bring your own chair! It was Transformers, which wasn't the most appealing choice, but sitting in the shed definitely improved it! After a couple of days lazing around by ourselves, working hard on our tans, and appreciating all the absolutely beautiful stars we could see every night, Lisa came and hung out for a while. It was great fun to see her and chat about Oxford times.
From Otamure we headed right up to the northern-most campsite in New Zealand at Tapotupotu. It was completely different to Otamure - as the DoC ranger said, "things are a bit rougher up here"... One thing which was immediately obvious was the wind - after setting our tent up using every single guy rope available, it became quite clear that we were going to have to move it from our prime seaside location to a more sheltered spot back from the beach. It was just as well we did because even after having moved it it still was so windy it flattened the tent right over our faces several times throughout the night!

Tapotupotu is only two bays over from Cape Reinga and is in the middle of a wonderful area of national park. We did two walks, one south towards Spirits Bay, and the second, on New Year's Eve, to Cape Reinga itself. It should supposedly have taken us five hours but we monstered it in only three and a quarter - legends! It was a pretty full on walk, all up and down (mostly up...), but we distracted ourselves with reminiscing about the highlights of the previous decade (each other, obviously...). It was Adrian's first time at NZ's northernmost point (well, not exactly the northernmost point, but the legendary one!) and luckily it was a stunning day so we could see the meeting of the seas and the pohutukawa tree that has never flowered...
Not content to only do one bit of sightseeing that day, after the walk we went to the Te Paki giant sand dunes. They are absolutely awesome! You rent a boogie board from the guy at the bottom, and then after some muscle-trembling hikes up the dune, go as fast as you possibly can down! I'll try to get one of Adrian's runs from his camera so we can upload it here. After the dunes I was all, let's go for a swim, it's not far... Walking in our togs, barefeet and towels, it finally took us (at least) 30 minutes! Whoops... But, luckily, Adrian's first swim at 90 Mile Beach was everything we could ask for - it was so warm and the waves were huge! Definitely one of the best swims I think I've ever had. And then, thank goodness for Remuera Tractors because one of them picked us up on the way back and took us all the way back to the car...

New Year's Eve night was excellent; especially considering I thought we were so exhausted it would be a miracle if I saw 9pm even... We spent the night chatting to the friendly folks (from Hataitai!) who had parked up next to us and then headed down to the beach to listen to about seven different countdowns to midnight. We launched our sky lantern off into the ocean (finally, a prevailing wind that suited us!) and saw off the decade in one of the most beautiful spots I could imagine.

Part two coming soon!

Martin Society reading party

What is a reading society I hear you ask? (I have supersonic hearing obviously). Well, because when you go to uni here you ‘read’ Geography (or whatever else it is that you study), when you go out in the field you go on reading parties (because we’re in groups and because it’s all a whole lot of fun). The geography society at St John’s is called the Martin Society and this year’s reading party was to Norfolk. We stayed in the most charming hotel in King’s Lynn’s industrial estate, just on the edge of the motorway. Very conducive towards convening with nature I’m sure. ..

The group consisted of 9 undergrads, 5 of us postgrads and 3 staff. We spent the first half day hearing about everyone’s research (mine is currently tentatively titled ‘Biofuels backlash? Evidence, politics and the EU Renewable Energy Directive’ - catchy eh...) and continued it on the morning of the third day. But, on the far more interesting second day we went out exploring and managed to cover most of Norfolk, as well as taking a look at parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Our two main destinations were the north Norfolk coast (with some incredibly (read, aggressive) ducks who ate biscuits out of my hand) and Wicken Fen. The fens are drained marshlands which contain 50% of the grade A1 soil in the UK over a comparatively pretty small area. Wicken Fen is a nature reserve that preserves the fens as they would have looked in medieval times, replete with reeds, lots of mud, and all sorts of birds. Having gone to an extra special effort to make sure I remembered to get my gumboots (or wellingtons as I should call them here) up to Norfolk, the joy in being able to sink down into all the lovely squelchy mud was brilliant!


Overall a very successful trip, particularly considering I could pack two visits to London around it (all the trains and motorway systems here fan out from London as a central radius, there’s pretty much no way to easily go across the country). I’ve got more photos here.

Dancing with the stars

We’ve been learning to ballroom dance for several weeks now and at our last class we were asked if we would be available that weekend to go up to Blackpool to help out as volunteers at the University DanceSport Championships. It’s the biggest event of the year for all the uni teams and this year it was taking place at the Winter Gardens, a big venue in the middle of town.

The volunteering itself was a bit intense, as the day lasted from 8am to midnight (we didn’t know that it would be longer than working hours), but it was great to see the standard that we’re attempting to get up to! I think we’d actually need to practice rather than saying we were going to if we ever want to impress anyone...


We managed to escape a couple of times during the day for some food and to see a bit of Blackpool, but the following morning we had a few hours before the drive back to explore. It was great to be wandering around in the morning with hardly anyone else up (it was Sunday morning in a big party town so that wasn’t surprising!) and the tide was low so we could explore under the pier and all along the beach. It was brilliant to be by the sea again – even though Blackpool’s beach doesn’t really rate compared to NZ beaches!

The most fun was going to the pier though; we were the first on the Ferris wheel and laughed ourselves silly at the funny faces to stick your head through. We also spent £4 (although I was totally suckered in and would have spent a fortune!) on the dart throwing – man, those guys are good at what they do! We came away with two of the very cheapest toys, but they are some of the best airplane toys I’ve seen and have provided us with endless hours of amusement!


Check out the rest of the photos.

Noo Yawk

'Would it all be worth it?' I wondered as we dutifully offered up our fingers and irises to be scanned at the customs desk (do not under any circumstances annoy a US federal officerrrr). Thankfully, the Gattaca-esque interlude didn't last long and there we were: New York! (The Big Apple, City of Dreams...etc. etc.).

We were in town to visit Adrian's brother and his family, as well as other parts of the family who had trekked from the UK and NZ to attend baby Katerina's christening. Thanks to a whole lot of free airpoints this was remarkably less painful than it may otherwise have seemed! The only painful thing was my sickness (cough, general flu-like blah) which hung around like a bad smell for the first half of the holiday but fortunately died down enough for me to spend a good few days enjoying the sights and sounds of the city.

The first trek into the city was to eat some pretty good burgers and it was magical to see the snow on the ground and feel like we were in a completely different world! The best bit though was to see all three Mazur men asleep on the train on the way home - I bet their dreams were in sync...

The next few days were filled up with christening related events and we also had a great day up on the coast at Lookout Point (on Long Island) where the snow was still all over the sand! It was fantastic to be able to see a part of New York that most tourists who just see Manhatten would never have the chance to experience.

The majority of the second half of the trip was spent in the city however, ticking off all those 'must see' things like the Statue of Liberty (sneakily glimpsed on the free Staten Island ferry), the bull at Wall Street, Time Square, Grand Central Station, Brooklyn Bridge etc. etc. We managed to score cheap tickets to Avenue Q, a musical on Broadway, and even though it's well known that I'm not the biggest musical fan, this was actually really hilarious and well worth a look.

But then the big day arrived: BIRTHDAY! Everyone knows that I am a huge fan of birthdays (not only my own) and to have this one in NYC was fantastic! We started the day going up the Empire State Building and because it was early and the middle of winter there were no queues at all and hardly any people at the top. It was FREEZING though - the scarves wrapped around our faces like balaclavas should give some indication of the temperature (about -12C that day I think). But, again, because of the cold it was clear for absolute miles. I reckon we could see Connecticut even! After the Empire State we wandered uptown, getting a hot dog from a street vendor (mmmm....delicious...) and a fantastic deli lunch. Although it was one of the those places where you get salad and other food by weight and we got a bit carried away! In the grand scheme of things it wasn't too bad really, probably even cheaper than London.

After stuffing our faces it was time for some exercise so we headed to FAO Schwarz, the massive toy shop where they have a copy of the 'big piano' that was in the movie Big with Tom Hanks. We couldn't quite manage to play chopsticks in time, but I think our more eclectic creations would have gone down a treat with some alternative jazz musicians! I picked myself up a birthday treat in the form of an Ugly Doll who has been christened ‘Monster’ and who guards our house from marauding invaders whenever we’re out.

FAO Schwarz is at one end of Central Park so we wandered up through there (well, walked at a brisk pace because it was so cold!), marvelled at the amount of squirrels just hanging out, chewing the fat (and bark, and acorns or whatever it is they do), and arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Being such art snobs from all the fantastic museums we were lucky enough to see in Italy, we were a bit down our noses at some of the stuff (I mean really, why are these statues missing arms!), but on the whole it was a lovely museum and I particularly enjoyed all the shiny stuff and the fantastic Asian carvings.

That night we met up with everyone and went to Tortilla Flats, a Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village and had absolutely yum food, lots of frozen margueritas, and even a beer drinking challenge which I spectacularly lost against three other people from different tables who hadn’t eaten yet and had nice empty stomachs... Ah well, a lesson learnt for next time!

Our final day in the city we spent looking around at shops in the East Village and then to MOMA (the modern art museum). That was AMAZING! I absolutely loved it, there was so much fantastic stuff and we could have wandered round for hours. We managed to coincide our visit for when it was free which was good in some ways (as in, it was free!) but it was absolutely packed out with other people making the most of it.

Being on Long Island meant we could spend some time checking out the malls which was great as well, even though the £ was a lot weaker than we would have liked (although at least it wasn’t the NZ$ eh...). I managed to continue my bargain streak and get jeans for US$18 down from $80 which I was pretty pleased with, among other excellent purchases. Although, Adrian did most of the shopping, getting kitted out for his big trip, as well as a new ‘pulling shirt’ just in case he gets tired of me at some point!

All in all NYC was great. MOMA and the Empire State Building were my two absolute favourites and I would love to go back in warmer weather to get a different experience of the city (rather than rushing from one indoor place to another because it was so cold!). Qudos to Hannah for the great food and things to see recommendations and thanks so much to the Mazurs for hosting us too, it was such a wonderful birthday treat! There are more photos on this link.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux was originally planned to be a one night wonder before we jetted up to Stockholm. Fortunately plans changed and we stayed for two - Bordeaux was brilliant!


Planning paid off and our idea to ring and book at the youth hostel meant we got into one of the most popular places in town - it was completely full the whole time we were there. It was excellent having a kitchen again too, so we filled ourselves to the brim with pasta and loaded up on the free breakfast (well...included in the price) each morning.


But enough about food.


Bordeaux city has undergone extensive renovations in recent years and is currently bidding to become the European capital of culture for 2013 - they´ve got our vote! The city has a flash new tram system (which we avoided due to previous negative connotations from Nice) and the longest pedestrian shopping strip in France - 1.2km of pure temptation. The buildings were just beautiful and the water sculpture right on the river front which is basically where the pavement comes to life and starts squirting and spraying water at everyone. It was heaps of fun - the rest of Bordeaux thought so it seemed too, the place was packed! Although that is also explained by the fact we are right in the middle of high season...no more cheap and available all the time accommodation that's for sure.


No trip to Bordeaux would be complete without heading out into the surrounding area to check out some vineyards. Eschewing the kind offer of a 90 euro/pp guided tour, we got out the trusty Eurail pass and headed out to St Emilion, where there is something like one wine shop for every eight inhabitants. It was full of windy, cobbled streets and had great views out over the vines. We weren't really in the market for a St Emilion grand cru or anything like that (any single thing that costs over a day's budget is a bit out of our price range), but we did get into the swing of the wine tastings. The wine is about 70% merlot in that region, so it wasn't really something you can drink too much of on an empty stomach! We rounded off the day with a visit to St Emilion's underground passageways, catacombes and vast church.


Our last day in France saw us head off to the Dune de Pilat - the largest sand dune in Europe. It was 2.5km long, 500m wide and 117m high - and growing! It sure felt that high when you were climbing back up it, but it was definitely worth that (and all the sand in your knickers) to give it a good roly-poly down!! A short swim off the Atlantic Coast later and it was off to the airport to say 'hej!' to Stockholm.

The French Riviera

Continuing our grand tour of the Mediterranean Coast, we arrived in Nice, which unfortunately, turned out to be not so nice after all... It is a subject that we are not to speak of, but I think I am allowed to share that it involved the new tram system and a 20€ fine each. After that, we pretty much avoided Nice centrale...

Our ferry had arrived a bit later than anticipated, and the bus to our campsite at Cagnes-sur-Mer took forever, so we arrived closer to midnight than one would have liked, but it would have been much later than it would have been apart from the exceptional kindness of a couple of locals who saw us looking in bewilderment at the map and who drove us up to our campsite. And who said the French are unfriendly?!

Day one back on the mainland saw us heading to Grasse, the undisputed French capital of perfumery (obviously this day trip was Amelia´s idea). It´s up in the hills behind the coast and surrounded by fields of flowers, although we stuck to the centre of town. They have a lot of perfume factories offering free tours (aka, pre-shopping propoganda) such as Fragonard where we were so kind as to exchange some of our hard earned euros for some smelly water. It was only after we left the shop that we remembered the 10% off voucher in our pocket...

After Grasse we hopped back on the bus to Cannes to mix with the beautiful people. With our new fragrances we fitted right in...

The following day Amelia went to Monaco to get a stamp in her passport, watch the changing of the guards and admire the flash cars outside the casino. The afternoon was spent at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary chapel created by Matisse in Vence and at the Maeght Foundation which is a private art museum and garden in the hills of Provence. Adrian had already spent time in Monaco so went to the Nice modern art museum, for a swim at Cap-d´Ail, and strolled along the Promenade des Anglais. We are clearly becoming very cultured and interesting people...

La Corse

Our original plan had been to spend two weeks in Corsica, but it got progressively shorter and shorter as other places looked more and more interesting... And because of our short foray into Bosnia and Herzegovina we had to lop a few more days off again until we were only left with about five nights for the whole of Corsica.

We needn´t have worried...

Corsica is practically impossible to get around on public transport (as in, "No, there are no trains today, you´ll have to wait until tomorrow"), so even if we had had more time I doubt we would have seen much more!

But what we did see was absolutely gorgeous. So far it would be the first place that I (Amelia) would go back to with no hesitation at all - and that´s saying something that it actually lived up to the hype (I have been wanting to go to Corsica for literally years and years).

It started off with a mad rush for the ferry in Livorno, Italy, but once we boarded our luxury cruise liner (dance floor, free snacks at the bar, deck chairs included), we were definitely on Corsica time. We arrived into Bastia on the eastern side of the island at the top and headed pretty much straight up ´Cap Corse´ to a place called Pietracorbara. Being dropped off by the only bus that day to a campsite that was several kilometres away was a bit nervewracking, but as always, it all worked out in the end. The place had a giant pool, incredible value meals, and was definitely the cheapest place we had been for a while!

The following day we tried to go for a hike - it was, after all, the main activity we had planned for Corsica. However, despite the routes being ´marked´on the map (and yes, those quote marks are definitely intentional), we failed miserably to find anything remotely ressembling those illusive squiggly lines. Undeterred we crossed barbed wire fences (they leave quite deep holes in soft legs if you were wondering), marched steadily uphill, crossed rivers, scared a herd of goats, got completely entangled in tea-tree like bushes trying to find the road, and ended by having to cross a friendly local´s backgarden to finally make it back to civilisation. Eventful to say the least!

Heading back to Bastia we had ideas of going to Corte in the middle of Corsica before we headed back up to Calvi to get the ferry to Nice. It was not to be (see above...). We nearly ended up in Ajaccio because we didn´t realise that we had to swap trains halfway through the journey, but a mad dash from one to another and we were on our merry way again. The train trip was pretty incredible actually; they were these really rickety trains that went right through a series of jagged peaks and dense bush - will have to get a better look next time!

When we finally got to Calvi it was a bit of a shock, there were so many campsites and so many people, but completely understandable when you find out that the beach is 4km of golden sand with water so warm it´s like a bath. It was the first place that Adrian got into the water without taking about half an hour to ease himself in...


It was so nice to have some real ´holiday´time too after some pretty hardcore sightseeing in Italy, even though we managed to fit in a bit of citadel viewing and a visit to an exhibition of the French Foreign Legion (they have an alpine unit that was appealing to a certain Mazur). As I said, the beach was FANTASTIC - it effectively nixed any and all thoughts of doing any further walks! I´m trying to cultivate laziness as a virtue instead of a vice (Mum I´m sure you´re having a great laugh reading this, people never really do change their spots much do they).

Corsica gets a 10 out of 10 in my book. Photos on the next disposable camera!

Next stop, mainland France (bring on more croissants).

The Greek Islands

Well, we've done it. Survived the absolute hardship of two weeks lying around in the sun on the Greek Islands. And we've done it for you, people, so that you can live vicariously through our suntans and stunning scenery wearied eyes...

It wasn't all easy I tell you. We had to face the naked men (and women) of Mykonos, the stomach churning, 'low-squat' creating unripe loquats of Samos and Paros, the warm retsina and strong ouzo of Paros, and a night's free camping in Kos.

But, back to the beginning.

Arriving in Samos from Kusadasi in Turkey we were told that there was only one ferry out that day and none the next due to Orthodox Easter. So onto Syros at 11pm that night it was! Samos was relatively pretty, but nothing majorly exciting (sorry Samos). What was exciting (briefly) was the discovery of a loquat tree, something that I (Amelia) hadn't seen for years and years (there was one in Granny's garden you see). I convinced everyone (Adrian, Wayne, and Katie) that they should all chow down, and like any true blooded NZers and Australians in sight of a free meal, so we did. Unfortunately, later that night, and for the next few nights, that decision to have that one unripe-ish one came back to haunt Adrian badly. Again, unfortunately, this was not a lesson that Amelia took due note of, doing exactly the same thing on Paros. D'oh! (Note: here is the lesson, an unripe loquat will definitely give you the low-squats!!)

We only stayed in Syros for a couple of hours before boarding an early ferry for Paros where we discovered the campsite and the locals. George was an emaciated, wizened, tanned as leather Englishman living in exile in Switzerland who came out to Paros for 11 weeks a year to basically write crosswords and read during the day, and get rip roaring drunk on ouzo and retsina every night. The following day Adrian was recovered enough for us to go on a road trip around Paros and a neighbouring island (Anti Paros) with George and another English guy who came out there regularly, Steve. It was our first experience of the temperature of the Aegean Sea. It was not warm! Hopefully by the time we get to the Mediterranean Sea off Turkey it should have improved by a couple of degrees...

Amelia got the low-squats that night, but a ferry ticket had been bought and it was onwards and upwards to Naxos. We lucked in and got a pension for a mere 7.50 euro each/night for the three nights we were on Naxos - absolute luxury! On Naxos we hired a scooter to explore the island, for both of us the highlight of our stay in the islands for sure. It revealed some dramatic landscape, almost like a moonscape, as well as some completely hidden away coves and beaches. It was Amelia's first time on a scooter and apart from Adrian grabbing the handle bars to 'prevent a crash' (apparently), it was a pretty successful day! We had lunch in Halki, a village in the middle of the island, where they make kitron (a liqueur made from the leaves of the citron tree). It's about 40% alcohol so even a sip made the driving a bit treacherous! Amelia ordered the calamari and it came out practically intact (complete with pockets of white stuff that exploded when cut into) in a bed of hot stewed spinach. It's pretty authentic when the cafe doesn't even have a menu! That went down a bit strangely after a dodgy tum the day before, but the freshly squeezed OJ made up for it.

Naxos also has the temple of Apollon on the foreshore, the photos are pretty dramatic. The island's 'labyrinth' was cool as well, they were designed to foil pirates who came on raids and we managed to get pretty lost too!

After Naxos we headed south to Santorini (also known as Thira). We went out to stay at Perissa, on the other side of the island from the caldera cliffs. After a night in the youth hostel with what must be one of Australia's loudest snorers, we transferred to a great pension a few doors down - Katrina and John's if anyone's planning on heading that way! We met a few other people there (Danny from the US, Ian and Dale from Coff's Harbour, and Emma from Brisbane) and hung out with them for a few days. We all went out on a boat cruise from the port out to the active volcano in the middle of the caldera, then onto a swim in the hot mud springs - which are actually only 'luke warm' hot springs at this time of the year - before a donkey ride up the steps to Ia to watch the sunset. 500ml Mythos beer was only 0.80 euro at the minimart so a fun evening was had by all!

On Santorini we also walked up to see the ruins of Ancient Thira. It was a 550m (approx) climb up over pumice caves (legacy of the explosion) and miscellaneous tundra-esque landscape (complete with tiny church built into the cliffs about a third of the way up). Finally the tramping boots got a good work out!

From Santorini we had initially planned on heading south to Crete and Rhodes before heading back to Turkey at Marmaris, but ferry timetables and time constrictions meant this wasn't to be. So we got a fast ferry up to Mykonos for two nights of unadulterated sun worshipping at Paradise Beach. Alas, the water was still freezing, but the sun was doing it's best and we're now golden like toffee apples at a fairground. Mykonos afforded several interesting views, not least the various nekked men and women lolling around the beach. While most were relatively discreet, a few full frontals meant we didn't have to spend much on food while we were there!

We did make friends with some geckos though that were hanging around the edge of the beach and weren't shy about running all over your towel and through your stuff! 'Gammy leg' couldn't climb up the wall, but had it all over 'Glue Fingers' whenever they had a tussle on the sand. Much more interesting viewing than the other people on the beach!

From Mykonos we got an overnight ferry up here to Kos. We've got a ferry tomorrow morning to Bodrum - you can't buy a one way ticket bizarrely, so hopefully we can sell it off to some other people when we get back into Turkey! We intended to spend our only night here at the campsite and saw a sign for it near the port, so duly trekked the 3km eastwards with our heavy packs. Imagine our joy when we got there to find it abandoned and up for sale!! So, being as budget conscious as we have to be on a long trip, we decided for forgo paying 30 euro for the night and go free camping. Adrian was stoked, Amelia decidedly less so, but it all went fine in the end and it's off to Turkey we go this morning!

Anyway, here are the photos we've uploaded.

Epheristo (thanks) Greece, it's been a blast.

Vanuatu!

Thanks to Adrian winning a spot prize to travel to Vanuatu to do the Vanuatu ocean swim, and me getting airpoints tickets, we winged our way to the tropical paradise that is Vanuatu in late June. It is GORGEOUS! So warm and sunny, friendly people, and just great to get away and relax for a while. We stayed for the first night at the 'flashpackers' in Port Vila, then two nights on Nguna Island, a little island of the coast of Efate (main island with Port Vila on it), then two nights at a hotel in Vila, then two nights on Iririki Island - oh my goodness, that is one flash resort! Lap of luxury suits me I think...

We did heaps of stuff: bareback horse back riding in the ocean (heaps of fun!), loads of snorkelling, swimming, exploring around Port Vila, these incredible waterfalls, and just general lying in the sun. I would highly recommend it!!

The Nomads flashpackers in Port Vila.

Adrian and me soaking up the sunshine.

Having a great lunch on Nguna Island - loving drinking out of the coconuts! It was so beautiful, the fish were incredible (the marine reserve was right off the beach) and we went on a walk around the island with a guide and saw heaps of cool stuff.

A spider web on Nguna Island - don't get too close!

Street sculpture in Port Vila.

Adrian at the Mele-Maat cascades.
Getting a good back massage!

Nature's spa!
You could walk all the way up to the top, it was very cool.

Adrian and me at the bottom of the cascades.
Lost in the middle of the dance! There were a lot of 'kustom' dances and this little guy was having a bit of trouble remembering what he was supposed to be doing!

And the funniest part of the trip - instead of sitting on the beach and watching Adrian do his 3km swim (the whole reason for the trip), I decided that I'd do the 1.5km event. Because there were hardly any people in it I managed to not only win my age group, but come third female overall!! So Adrian's bronze medal for his event was no match for my gold medal and statuette! (despite the fact he actually had to work a bit harder for his than I did for mine...) Iririki Island was excellent, great food, cocktails in the pool, the works - I'd be back in a flash if I could!