Happy Aniversary Luv!

A little delayed admittedley, but the big 1 is upon us, yep, we've now been travelling for over a year on the other side of the globe. For some this may be considered a good thing and for others it may be tinged with a bit of regret. It's gone pretty quick all in all, the memory of standing in Heathrow airport about to board a plane destined for Sydney, is still crystal clear. Myself and Julia have managed to cram a lot into that year, between us we've done the east coast of Australia, two different Tropical Polynesian island groups, and of course where we now call home, both islands of New Zealand. Highlights are plentiful, but standouts include in Australia, the Whitsunday islands, Fraser island and Byron Bay, in New Zealand, the Corromandel region, Milford Sound, and Queenstown and the Fjordland area. But up till now, my favourite place is Tahiti, paradise on earth, the two weeks spent there was an unbelivable experience and one to be heartedley recommended. However the year hasn't been made by the places we've been, it's been about he people we've met, and 1 year on I can confidentley say we've made some very good friends, plenty of whom we'll continue to run into throughout our lives. But the best times have been the periods we've run into familiar faces. Our experiences in Auckland we're made all the better by living and sharing time with Julie. The visits of Jules parents and the Tanakas was an amazing happy time and the visit of John and Moa added even more to our stay. I'm pleased to say John has seen sense and after a period of time int he UK he's now living in Queenstown and working in the supermarket with me. If anyone is sitting at home and dreaming of a couple of shifts on the checkouts, I can probably sort something out for you! Vince hasn't yet taken up this offer but I reckon it's only a question of time. From what might have considered a little bit of a seperate starting point, both myself, Jules and Vince have managed to cram in a lot of QT together, which was always the intention, and highlights of the trip have to be Vince's birthday in Sydney, the time we had living in Auckland and of course our attempts at a traditional Christmas and New Year in Queenstown. And we might have had slightly different itineries, but 1 year on, we're still very much in the same place enjoying the pleasures of New Zealand not more than a bus ride apart. So all in all worked out pretty well. I'm not the most comfortable at writing a bit of a nostalgia thing, but suffice to say, we've had some wonderful experiences and I'm sure will continue to. When will you see our faces again? well probably sooner than you think. We now have only probably 2 more months here and then we start the trip home with a few stop offs along the way of course. So maybe 3-4 months, so not long. I guess the next entry of this nature will be the homecoming one, that's a bit scary!