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New Zealand - The Challenge

We arrived in NZ on the 22nd November, at about 4:30pm, and 24hrs later we had a car - a toyota hilux surf 4WD. It is the most red thing you have ever seen - inside and out. An ex fire vehicle, which we have named Sam. Although we are only in NZ for 5 weeks we thought we would buy one and then sell it once we finish. That way we can go where we want when we want and really get off the beaten track.

Our challenge now is to camp for free in the back of the car for the time we are in NZ. So far we are one night down, this was our spot...

We've already used the 4wd to get down some pretty hairy tracks, so there will be more to come as we venture into Lord of the Rings country.

Surf Safari

We picked up our surf safari from Byron that was going to take us, over 5 days to Sydney. It is about 700kms, but luckily most of the driving was done in the first couple of days. There were 7 girls and me... lucky me!

The idea of the surf safari was to go to secluded beaches along the coast, avoiding the crowds and learn to surf, or in my case turn professional! ;) It didn't disappoint, all the girls were standing by the first day, and the beaches were beautiful and very quiet.

For the final 3 days we stayed at a surf camp, which was in the middle of a national park, and in the middle of nowhere. It was a great spot, and a bit wild. The rules were. There are no rules (except you can't use a hairdryer or straighteners - I was gutted).

On the 3rd day we went to a beautiful beach called boomerang bay. The water was crystal clear and we were greeted by a few dolphins and some nice waves.

The fourth day offered a bit more excitement. On arriving on the beach there were masses of dolphins, over 70 across 3 pods, with the closest pod only about 10 metres from the shore. So we went in with them - amazing.

A bit later on, a dingo was spotted chasing a wallaby from the dunes and into the sea, a couple of the guys and another 4wd chased the dingo whilst the wallaby was rescued from the sea, with a gash to it's leg. Wallaby is a bit tougher than kangaroo, but still a nice rich meat and went down well at the meal that evening...

Rella is now going to take over the telling of this story. WE DIDN'T EAT IT! Thankfully an hour later animal rescue came to the beach to take the wallaby to safety - quite rare, so they were glad we'd saved it.

Back to Ed "Animal Rescue" mmmm more like butchers!!

That evening there was a party as two northbound trips rolled into surf camp so there were about 80 of us and many drinking games were played. As you can see the evening deteriorated pretty quickly.

The final day of surfing included a twenty minute surfing competition, won by Rella. I think I got docked points for pulling a mooney!

You may be wondering why there are no shots of us 'hanging ten' or 'carving it up', well our surf instructor was only blessed with a six pack and a few other bulges and not brains. He left my camera in the car.

Byron Bay

Whilst in Surfers we spoke to our backpacker bar man about Byron Bay, he told us "it's alright...not much going on there. Cheeky Monkeys is alright, coz they mix things up a bit, with the odd wet t-shirt competition" what a twat! In comparison to Surfers, Byron was paradise. A more advanced Croyde, with stacks of restaurants, bars, a beautiful beach and a lighthouse.

We had simply the best fish and chips ever in Byron Bay, at a gourmet fish and chips place (can't remember the name). In our 1/2 family box came fish, oysters, calamari, prawns and wedges. It was all super fresh, and we had it grilled. That way we could go back again!

Whilst in Byron, as well as eating fish and chips, we kayaked in search of dolphins, no amount of mating simulation paddle slapping could attract the critters. I also surfed a bit by a surf school to pick up a few free tips, whilst Rella got naked on the beach (almost).

We also ventured up to a lighthouse and then we spotted the dolphins, at Australia's most easterly point. They were jumping through the surf and having a whale (or dolphin) of a time!

Gold Coast

After Noosa, Ed and I drove to Brisbane...nothing to report here...jumped on a train to Surfer's Paradise - what a dump! Determined to enjoy something about it we headed for Wet'n'Wild, a water ride theme park. Must say that it improved the Gold Coast no end. We spend about 4 hours throwing ourselves down different water slides and enjoying the thrill.

This ride was like a big funnel, where you flew down a pipe and into this (see people in a ring on left, then you fly through the bottom, twas much fun.

Straddie

Whilst in Hervery Bay, Ed and I had both decided that we didn't want to visit Fraser Island, although it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places to visit we didn't want to spend a lot of time in a 4x4 with people that we didn't want to be around. It was therefore, that we visited North Straddie island, an island to the east of Brisbane within the Moreton Bay Marine Park. We stayed for two days just enjoying the sunshine and having some down time. It was great!

Lazy Days

Ed preparing dinner...a Moreton Bay Bug. Deeeelicious!

Sometimes dreams do come true!

After our short time in Noosa we headed to Australia Zoo, hope of the late Steve Irwin. What a place. I think that this has possibly been the best zoo that I have ever visited...and I have visited quite a few! The day was jam packed with feedings, talks, animal demonstrations and close encounters. Steve's philosophy was to get people to interact with animals as much as possible at the zoo, therefore giving them exciting education that would/could lead more people to consider conservation issues more seriously. Due to this, opportunities to meet and touch the animals were readily avaliable. Within an hour of being at the zoo we had already fed this elephant.

Bimbo

As we progressed around the zoo we noticed that we weren't the only ones enjoying ourselves!

After a couple of hours it was time for the "big show", where they bring out a variety of animals and demonstrate some of their characteristics. The main focus on the show was the croc element. I am glad that I was not in the ring with them, apparently the 'salty' that we watched had bitten three rangers whilst doing the show, including Steve.

What a croc!

As the day continued we were provided with further opportunities to meet some of the animals, whilst looking at the larger versions, we were introduced to this baby alligator.

Soon we reached the 'Tiger Temple' where they had three tiger cubs on show. For a $5 donation the zoo keeper would take your camera in with them to get some close up shots. I smartly remarked "How much of a donation do you need to get a cuddle?"

For $80 we were invited in with ten others to stroke and play with the cubs. I cannot tell you how amazing it felt to be so close to one of these wonderful creatures.

I must admit to there being a tear in my eye after our short 15 minutes was up...I didn't want to go. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience.

It was not only the tigers that brought a tear to my eye, I could not imagine what it must be like to be Mrs Irwin, with constant reminders of her husband, photos, films, pictures, cups, postcards all around the place, hearing his voice echoing around the park. I feel for her, she must be finding it so hard.

Noosa

Noosa was a real luxury, we were invited to stay with a family friend. I must say it was such a treat after sleeping on hard bed rolls, lumpy mattresses and in noisy hostels. The house was gorgeous and our every whim answered. Thanks Jocelyn!

Unfortunately we were unable to experience the wonder of Noosa's beaches as the heavens opened and it poured for the duration of our trip. Bugger! Still, it was lovely just to spend time 'at home' enjoying all of the creature comforts.

nicked this off of the internet...too grey and cloudy for any decent shots.

Canoeing in the rain!

After leaving Rainbow Beach, we hit the road and headed for Noosa. It was here that we decided to try our hand at canoeing rather than kayaking, we've got to work off our excesses some how! We booked ourselves on a camping/canoeing trip and headed for the Noosa Everglades and the river of mirrors, within the The Great Sandy National Park.

We headed off at about 10 and made it to our campsite after a couple of hours of paddling. The river was beautiful with some nice wildlife to spot on the way.

Token Wildlife

Our view along the way

Although much of the river was the same, the river of mirrors was stunning, the weather wasn't great but the water was like glass. We had a lovely, peaceful time paddling through its waters. Having reached our campsite, we quickly set up camp and settled into our goon of wine with the other campers.

Campsite visitor

Happy Campers

It was then that the rain started! It rained solidly from around 4, all through the night and well into morning. Knowing that we had to paddle for at least an hour to reach our pick up point we were keeping our fingers crossed that the rain would die off and Queensland would be as warm as we had been promised. It didn't. What a wet, wet and cold ride home. Good fun, great experience...not sure I would do it again!

Fun in Rainbow

After a disappointing time in Hervey Bay (we missed the whales by two days!), we rented another car and headed down the coast to a small seaside spot called Rainbow Bay. There wasn't a huge amount to do here but we soon found something to float our boat. Kayaking with dolphins. Bring it on! We headed out with a few others at 7 in the morning, hoping for the best.

Our Ride

Views of Rainbow Beach

We were told not to expect to see anything as the dolphins were wild, sometimes you would see loads and on other days you would see none at all.

Ed on spotting duty!

After we had been paddling for about half an hour some dolphins were spotted a little way away. Before we knew it, they had reached our kayaks. There were about 20 dolphins surrounding our little kayak. They were swimming next to it, underneath it, round the front and round the back. It was an incredible experience! As you can see we were both delighted.

What a feeling!