An idea for a holiday...... and 25,000 miles later, we have a plan!!

So the conversation went a bit like this in mid September 2023, "Jo, you know I am finishing work and retiring in November 2023, which means we do not have to limit ourselves to just a two week holiday anymore - so shall we go somewhere for a bit longer?"

So that was it, Jo was onto it straightaway, the researching of possible destinations and flights.

A few days later, on a sunny Saturday afternoon we were sitting in Trailfinders in Cambridge, then just one hour later we walked out with our long haul flights booked.

So that was it, in January 2024 we'll be going on holiday for two months - a big shift from the regular two week breaks.

This time we are off to New Zealand and Australia, stopping for a couple of days in Hong Kong on the way out, and Singapore for a few days breaking up the home leg.

Just as we got home, more pondering took place ..... "Hazel, as we are going all that way to New Zealand, did you know Fiji is not that further, and as it's my birthday around then, what do you think......?

I was easily swayed, who could turn down a tropical island??? So it went a bit like "Ok, why not, since we are in the neighbourhood after all, we could make a 3 hour hop over to Fiji"

The route planning had commenced at pace so where else would we end up?

The next addition was an obvious inclusion, we agreed that since our last visit to Tasmania back in 2006, it had remained one of the most magical places on earth, now we could explore more of the island, which we both agreed was a great opportunity to revisit,

I then added "....and I know the twelve Apostles are sadly eroding and are now down to eight, so I'd quite like to do the Great Ocean Road before they run out of Apostles!

The route was shaping up nicely, after Hong Kong we would head for Auckland, then over to Fiji and back to Auckland, to commence the exploring of the North Island.

The plan is to do the North Island, then over the Picton Ferry to the South Island, spending just over 3 weeks in the land of the kiwi, hoping to see a fair bit of wildlife with whales, dolphins, penguins and glow worms on our list.

After completing the South Island via Christchurch, we will fly over to Melbourne for that Great Ocean Road trip to Port Fairy, and then back to Melbourne for a hop over to Hobart, then up to Sydney before heading home via Singapore.

Car hire sorted, covering most of the trip around New Zealand and Australia, accommodation is a range of airbnb's, hotels and motels plus quirky interesting places.

We'll likely have all manner of seasons and weather as we travel over the 25,000 miles in two months... the biggest question was "What shall we pack??"

The adventure starts tomorrow, the bags are now packed, boarding passes downloaded, please follow us if you wish on our little adventure to the other side of the planet.

Please feel free to comment, make suggestions or recommendations, as we visit some of the most stunning places in the world.

Vinaka (thank you in Fiji)

Hazel & Jo