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16th September 2008 Commenced on our round the world trip that I won through Travel Counsellors.

17th September 2008 . Arrived into Hong Kong and stayed in the Mandarin Oriental a lovely hotel in a central location. Hong Kong was very hot and humid at this time of year however this did not stop us hitting the ladies market together with many more bargains to be had. Main restaurants seemed to be in the big shopping malls however we did find if you go up the side streets you can eat with the locals and eat out very cheaply.
A must is the symphony of lights over the waterfront this really does have the wow factor. We stayed in Hong Kong for 3 nights which is enough as full of bright lights and very busy.

21st September 2008 . Arrived into Auckland staying at the Langham Hotel a fairly old fashioned hotel but very comfortable.
The start of two weeks on a luxury coach tour of New Zealand. Visited a working dairy farm whereby we had a superb roast lamb lunch in lovely surroundings. Travelled onto Rotorua where we stayed for two nights. We went to a cultural maori show and had a hangi feast. It was really interesting learning about the maori's. The following day we saw bubbling mud pools and the pohutu geyser which explodes from the ground shooting boiling water upto 30 metres in the air. I experience a 4 wheel drive which was very exciting driving through mud rivers and down steep banks. One bank was so steep it left me physically shaking but I had done it.

Onto Napier which has a mediterranean climate in the mid 20's . Went to the Hawkes bay museum and learnt about Napier's history. In the evening did some wine tasting and once again had a delicious meal.

Wellington - Unfortunately we were not there long enough to appreciate it but went to Te Papa which is New Zealand's national museum. The following day we travelled on the Interislander ferry which takes us across to the south island . I would highly recommend paying the extra and going into the Kaitaki plus premium lounge as loads of drink and food was provided to pass the journey. Stayed overnight in Christchurch.

On through the southern alps on the tranzalpine and then onto Franz Josef whereby we saw the glacier. It was freezing here but the sky was blue and it was a clear day for us.

The following day we went on a scenic jet boat ride on the Haaest river in a national park. Again we were very lucky with the weather as it was a clear day. We saw awesome waterfalls and it was great fun being on the jet boat.
We spent 3 nights in queenstown which is young lively town whereby you can go on lots of adventures from here. Bungee jumping being one of them. We went for the shotover canyon jet boat road which was exhilarating. The boat went really fast through the canyon sometimes I thought we would hit the side. It is recommended to wear a hat as your ears get freezing. We also did another 4 wheel drive along skippers canyon which had sheer drops with no road protection at the side - very scary. My daughter is studying film studies in sixth form and was thrilled to see where Lord of the Rings was filmed. The scenery again was very beautiful.

The trip followed with free time and a trip across Lake Te Anau to the glow worm caves. This is no good if you suffer from claustrophobia.

My daughter and I opted for a homestay with a local family one evening and I would thoroughly recommend this. We stayed in a beautiful house with acres of gardens and we had a fabulous home cooked meal teamed up with good new zealand wine. It was lovely to chat with people who lived there.

You cannot go to New Zealand and not visit Lake Tekapo and view Mt Cook. Unfortunately for us the weather was misty and the visibility was not good for Mt Cook.

Now heading for Fiji this was hot and beautiful with clear crystal water and white sugar sand. I would like to add it is expensive.

Finished up in Los Angeles whereby we went to universal studios , saw the hollywood sign, sunset boulevard.

What an amazing trip and its all down to Travel Counsellors.