SmaviesAdventures

An adventure in New Zealand's South Island Our time is somewhat limited in New Zealand, we have just over two weeks to travel through the country and explore some of its sights, many would say that this is not enough. I am inclined to agree with this statement, however with financial constrictions and a desire to see a lot of South America and all the other wonderful places we've been, we were unable to spend too long in New Zealand's stunning scenery (but hopefully we will be back in the future!).  So we had a week to spend in the South Island where due to flights we started in Christchurch before moving to Kaikoura (I do now realise that a map may be helpful!) Ta da! Thanks to the Lonely Planet! So as you can see Christchurch is quite far north and we miss some epic sites from the rest of the island, but this was the best we were able to do. Christchurch Our time in Christchurch was somewhat odd. We stayed in a gentleman's house who was really...

Pacific Paradise Here you'll find links to each of our posts for our time in the pacific, covering both New Zealand and Fiji before we head off to South America for nearly three months. Below you'll find posts on 1. Fiji 2. New Zealand, South Island, Christchurch and Kaikoura. 3. Wellington, a Food Paradise 4. Rotorua, Hobbits and Glow Worms. 5. Auckland. 1. Fiji, an Albino trapped in Paradise Sunset on Mana Island 2. New Zealand, South Island A Misty Afternoon in Kaikoura 3. Wellington, A Food Paradise Olivia's happy face after eating 4. Rotorua, Hobbits and Glow Worms Bag End in Beautiful Hobbiton 5. Auckland. Sunset at Mangere Lagoon Extras! Overview European Ecstasy Adventures in Asia Pacific Paradise Southern South American Splendour Central Celestial Scenes Incan Delights Heading North See more photos  here .

An Albino Trapped in Paradise Sunset on Mana Island Day one : Arrive in accommodation, the aeroplane landing strip in the back garden sets off the neighbour's house alarm every 20 minutes. No sleep can commence, the Internet is only temporary. The beach seen from the garden, is a 2km walk away going around the air field. Listing suggested 'villa' was ideally located. Hmmm. The Albino and his accomplice go to cook dinner, whereupon the accomplice finds dead cockroaches and mouse poo in cupboards. One of the resident lizards joins them for their evening sleep. What do you do with a lizard? No glasses and blaming with a shoe doesn't seem smart...? The accomplice doesn't sleep. Additional thoughts : Fiji's not supposed to be like this. The Sea Day two: Dropped at the port to do the 'cool island hopping', Albino is shocked by prices, trip costs same as 1 week's accommodation for one person to take one trip. Albino's acco...

Singapore, The Lion Nation Singapore is a tiny nation found at one of the southernmost points of Continental Asia. It is also one of the countries with the highest population densities in the World, Monaco narrowly beats it. Oddly though if I'm honest Singapore feels less busy than China did, admittedly this is probably because China has large spaces of sparse population whereas Singapore is essentially just one big thriving metropolis.  Tiger Jaw Succulents found at the Garden By The Bay To be completely honest I found Singapore looked fascinated but at the same time seeing that it had a higher population density than Hong Kong I was prepared to hate it. We arrived from Beijing airport in the early hours of the morning and stopped for coffee at a very suspicious establishment... Couldn't they think of a better name? But then we were on our way, straight across from one side of this small nation to the other where we were staying in what felt like a very ...

Chaoyang and the Great Wall We Climbed the Wall, I have a certificate to prove it! After travelling throughout China my parents left us to go home and we decided that we would explore another part of Beijing. It was all very exciting although the day before moving day I realized that despite changing districts we were in fact moving about a mile down the road... Olivia made a friend It certainly showed a different side to the China we had grown to love. We had moved from the sights of Zhangjiajie where we could see stunning natural scenery, to Chengdu steeped with a strong cultural vibe. Xi'an and Dongcheng both offered us an insight into China's historical past. But Chaoyangwas different, there was a very strong up and coming vibe with it's spectacular modern feel. We had also found that the quality of accommodation severely dipped (but we'll try not to talk about that, just don't stay in that area of you go to Beijing...) Olympic Area of Sanlit...