Ian and Liz Webber's Honeymoon

We arrived in Hong Kong after our flight from London at 17.30, on the first leg of our honeymoon. I'd booked The Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon and arranged for a Rolls Royce to pick us up from the airport. The car took us to The Peninsula, which was amazing, so after a long flight and as it was the first night of our honeymoon, we decided to order room service.

We woke up early feeling a bit jet lagged and decided to head to the Peninsula Spa. Spa was amazing with great views into Hong Kong harbour, well the smog in the harbour anyway! As it was 6am we had the whole spa and swimming pool to ourselves, lovely!



We had breakfast in the hotel lobby. The service and food were great and I'd recommend the fruit smoothies. Flip Flops or casual wear are not allowed in the lobby but Liz was wearing flip-flops, crazy I know,  but luckily the flip-flop police didn't apprehend her!





We took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and walked up to Hong Kong Park. There's a huge walk through aviary in the middle of the park full of all kinds of exotic birds. Then we headed to the Peak Tram, which goes right to the top of the mountains surrounding Hong Kong and had lunch at Pearl Restaurant. The views over the city are awesome and we managed to get the best seat in the restaurant overlooking the city and harbour.












In the evening we went for dinner in at Felix which is on the 28th floor of The Peninsula. Food was really expensive but the views were great. Managed to catch the laser show that goes off at 8pm each night from the top of all the skyscrapers in Hong Kong. You can see the lasers in the background of the picture

Day 3 in Hong Kong and we'd had a great 12 hour sleep, much needed after wedding and travelling excesses of the last few days.

We wandered round Kowloon and found an authentic Chinese restaurant. A little too authentic for our tastes as the duck we ordered was served whole, with beak and all intact! The restaurant was getting ready for a wedding and "Jenny and Joe" had their names written in flowers on the wall and a huge cake ready for them..nice.













After duck beak lunch we went to the Flower and Fish markets and had a wander round. I love a good flower and Liz loves a good fish so we were both happy.

We headed back to The Peninsula for their famous afternoon tea. The lobby where afternoon tea is served is so opulent and so British colonial. Liz was again flouting the flip-flop lobby rules and this time was apprehended. Eventually they sat us in the naughty corner of the lobby for afternoon tea but we still enjoyed it. We headed to the airport at around 4pm ready to fly to Sydney for the 2nd leg of our honeymoon.

Arrived in Sydney bright and early and picked up a Mini Convertible from Thrifty. We'd rented a harbourside apartment in South Mosman and went straight there from the airport as it was still only 8am. The apartment was called Kalinda on Goram Bullagong and was just what we wanted, a beautiful well furnished place with views over the harbour. Spent most of the day chilling in the apartment.

Saturday, and today we had planned our Oz wedding reception for friends from Austraila that couldn't make it to our wedding. Liz's friend Claire had booked a restaurant called Beaches on Balmoral Beach for our 14 guests.

We went to the bandstand in Balmoral Beach Park, took champagne and had a drinks reception before heading to the restaurant.

The restaurant had dressed our table in a wedding reception style and Claire had even arranged for the same colour flowers, good work! Had some great food and it was great to catch up with everyone. We ended up in a dodgy Piano/Betting Shop/Sports Bar in Mosman drinking Sambuca.

Sunday after the reception was hangover and sit on our balcony day. We invited Clare and Al over to throw some shrimps on the barbie and sit in the sunshine.

Spent the day at the apartment again, it's too nice to leave. Went to Bills restaurant in Surrey Hills for dinner. Hmm, not much else to put here, I'm not even going to add a picture to fill today out.

I got up early trying to look for something we hadn't done on our previous visits to Sydney. A friend had told us about Sydney Seaplanes that took flew from Rose Bay so I called them and booked us a flight. We arrived a bit late as I thought I knew my way round Sydney but obviously didn't.

However, all was good and Andy, our pilot, said he'd take us for a scenic flight around Sydney. Liz went all starry eyed when she saw Andy, the good looking blonde American pilot so I tried to be extra funny to get her attention back. Didn't work, I was still the pale bald English guy who was a bit scared of flying in what felt like a Morris Minor with a propellor.












The flight was amazing though, we flew over Shark Island and around to Bondi Beach, then back again towards the Harbour Bridge. As he approached the bridge Andy veered sharp left and gave us an great view of the Sydney Opera House.                                         













Headed to Watsons Bay after the flight for lunch at Doyles.

Today was our last day in Sydney. We decided to head into the city in the morning. The South Mosman ferry terminal was right by our apartment and it only  took a 10 minute trip across the harbour to get to Circular Quay. The ferry trip is lovely, taking in Sydney Harbour, this would be a great way to travel to work!

We left for Sydney Airport at 3pm to catch our flight to Port Vila, Vanuatu. We flew Vanuatu Air and arrived at 11pm local time after a 3 hour flight. There was still a local band playing in the airport to the 20 or so passengers and it felt like we'd arrived in paradise. We'd booked to stay in a beach bungalow at Tamanu On The Beach, which is located on the south of Vanuatu's main island of, Efate.

There was some confusion over picking us up and the Tamanu driver never arrived. By now it was midnight and we ended up getting a cab to Tamanu. Well, more like a large pram with a driver and us crammed in but we got  there by about 1.30am and everything was good.

Little coral beach bungalow is lovely

Had a well deserved lie in and woke up to clouds and wind, not what we ordered but we were happy. The restaurant at Tamanu On The Beach is apparently renowned for great food in Vanuatu so we stayed around for lunch. Our coral bungalow is right on a private beach and we're the only people staying in one of the 5 cottages, so today it's our very own private beach.

We woke early to blue skies. Had breakfast then onto the beach by 10am. We had the whole beach to oursleves again! After a lazy lunch at Tamanu and some husband and wife entertainment we had an early afternoon snooze, life's good!

In the late afternoon the clouds came over so we played cards in the restaurant and generally enjoyed our remoteness and the quite of Tamanu. No tv or mobile phone reception, nice.

Now we're settled in to our holiday in Vanuatu we thought we should explore more, so called Avis and hired a Chevrolet Jeep. Most of the roads around the isalnd are dirt tracks and really rough so we needed something  big and manly to get around in. Our cab driver "Jo Le Taxi" took us to Avis driving like a crazy man, he seemed to relish over-taking on blind corners while still chatting and smiling.













We picked up the big truck and headed first to Hideaway Island. The boat trip across was nice but the island resort wasn't that great. Especially as there seemed to be a lot of people on a small island unlike our seclusion at Tamanu. Still, the main reason we were here was to see the worlds only underwater post-box. Yep, it's true and the picture below proves it. Though we didn't manage to post anything as everytime we got to the post box the post cards were ruined!












After Hideaway we headed to the Mele Maat cascade waterfalls. These were a beautiful 150ft waterfall followed by a series of smaller falls and clear water pools. We never quite made it to the top as the mosquitos got the better of us. Really well worth a visit













When we got back to Tamanu they were setting up for a beach wedding. The happy couple also had a local tribe performing a dance and leading the bride onto the beach.













As we had the car we headed into Port Vila for dinner and went to a restaurant in the harbour called Chantillys in the Bay. The people of Vanuatu are so friendly and the waiter at Chantillys, called Alan, (think this may be his tourist name) even offered for us to stay with his family on the neighbouring island of Tanna. Being English we said, oo that would be nice but never really intended to accept his kind offer. Busy day!

Today we decided to explore the isalnd of Efate some more. We headed east to Eton Beach which had been recommended to us by Geri and Jan who run Tamanu. The drive to Eton Beach was dirt tracks all the way but the Chevvy truck handled it well.

On the way we stopped at The Blue Lagoon, Very unoriginal name but it was very Blue and it was a lagoon. Liz and I took a dip in the freshwater lagoon and both got a bit spooked as we were in the middle of nowhere, were the only people there and had no idea what was in there!













Eton Beach was only a few miles away so we headed there for a few hours. Eton Beach has a river running into the sea which creates a freshwater bay in the sea. I went snorkelling and where the fresh and salt water meet they create a champagne type bubble effect which is amazing to see but makes it rubbish for snorkelling.

On our way back to Tamanu we went to a shark feeding place. It was basically some big pools where you could hand feed turtles and sharks. All a bit run down and unloved but we hand fed a mssive turtle that was supposed to be 150 years old, not quite sure how they knew that but I believe them.

Today is Monday, I hate Mondays, oh we're in paradise so this Monday will be a good one.

We had to change the Chevvy Truck for a more feminine 4x4, a Hyundai Tuscan. Once we got the car we had breakfast at Chatillys On The Bay but still couldn't see what all the Port Vila fuss was about. It's nice enough but didn't have the colonial, cosmopolitan feel we'd been told to expect.

After breakfast we drove to a beach on the north of the island. (Don't have the name) We were told it's where the American and Australain Survivor programmes were filmed. Didn't see any survivors though!

The roads were crazy, huge pot holes, massive hills, driving through local villages, great fun! Though Liz got a bit sick of it after 2 hours! Today was a bit cloudy again, damn these tropical islands, but I still managed to get sunburn. We sat on the beach on our own, again, for a few hours then headed back waving at the locals on the way

Today it mostly rained, stopped for a very short while and rained some more. I dropped off the hire car in the morning and the dirt tract from Tamanu was like a river, 2 feet deep in places. Even the main road was flooded and the locals were jumping and swimming in it. Booked our trip to Tanna in 2 days time where there's an active volcano. Other than that we mostly stayed in our bungalow, reading, lounging and avoiding the torrential rain

Oh, it's raining again today, good! Still, Liz and I decided it's much better than being at work so we're happy.

The owners of Tamanu were driving into town in their Toyota Truck today so we decided to hitch a lift. Geri and Jan are dutch but have lived in Vanuatu for 20 years and told us that only once in 20 years has the rain been as hard as this!

Another day in isolation in the rain, good isolation though.

We woke early to head to Port Vila Airport and catch a flight to Tanna, one of the neighbouring islands. Tanna is home to one of the worlds most accesible, active volcanos and we've booked a trip to stay 1 night on Tanna and visit the volcano, Mount Yasur, at sunset.

The Air Vanuatu flight was only 40 minutes and we flew out of the rain we'd had for 2 days and into bright sunshine. We were met at the airport by a local driver who was going to take us to Friendly Bungalows, on the opposite side of the island. The driver decided to pick up another 10 or so people on the way and bring them all with us, so it was very cosy. None of the roads were sealed and were really rough but the scenery was stunning, climbing over the mountains heading to a volcano.

We got to Friendly Bungalows at around 2pm. The bungalows were really run down, in fact they were almost falling down and our one was at a serious angle. We also had a family of cats living in our house, though we didn't mind as it made the place feel more homely.













We were supposed to be collected at 4pm for our trip to the volcano but our driver never turned up, all a bit annoying! However, we re-arranged for  him to pick us up in the morning so we could see sun-rise on top of Mount Yasur! Here's to getting up at 3.30am!

This was probably on the best days we have both ever had so I’m going to write quite a bit and go on quite a bit, but it’s worth it.

The alarm went off at 3am, it was pitch black and there was no power, as the generator doesn’t work at night. It was tricky getting ready, making sure we didn’t stand on any of the 3 kittens, but the pick-up driver had turned up to take us to the volcano so all was good.  

The drive to the volcano was fun, really, really rough roads that I thought the car wouldn’t be able to make it up and a trip across the volcano ash plains that made it feel like we were on the moon. We couldn’t see the volcano yet but every 5 minutes or so it would erupt to a massive rumble, and throw lava and fireworks into the air.

Our driver stopped 150 from the crater edge for us to walk the final part. It was like following Frodo to Mordor! Pitch black with the runmbling volcano above, sh*t scared but excited. Our senses were telling us to run like crazy, away from the volcano, not keep walking towards it!

Frodo led us to within feet of the craters edge. Looking down we saw 2 blowholes glowing and bubbling with lava and 1 more slightly hidden. Within minutes we saw our first proper eruption, lava flying above our heads preceded by a massive thunder rumble. The eruptions got less scary after that, until Frodo told us that the last time Mount Yasur properly erupted was in 2004 when some Japanese tourists were killed!

 

 

 

The sun was staring to come up and it was getting lighter thank god, so we could now see everything around us and felt a bit more comfortable standing on an active volcano crater. The sun rise was truly amazing and this coupled with the volcano erupting behind us was a moment we’ll never forget, truly exhilarating.

 

 

 

 

We headed down and posted some post-cards in the worlds only post-box on top of a volcano, not sure what it is with Vanuatu and placing post-boxes in weird places but I like it.

Frodo then took us back for a 2 hour trip to the other side of the island for our flight back later that afternoon. We arrived at around 9am and headed to Evergreen Bungalows for breakfast and onto White Grass Resort to lounge about for the day. We were so happy to be at White Grass in the sunshine, what a fantastic day.

Our last full day in Vanuatu , booo. We’d read about Turtle Bay, only a few miles from where we were staying, so decided to head there for our last day on the island. We were given a guide tour on arrival around some of the turtle pools, plus an aviary and a crab compound. The guy who showed us around Turtle Bay , had a pet bird called “Jonathan”, I asked him why he called it Jonathan, and after a pause, he said “because I love him”………

 

We found a great spot on the beach, the water was totally crystal clear and the sun was shining, happy days! The snorkeling here was the best we’d seen in Vanuatu .

 

 

In the evening we went to Waterfront Bar & Grill in Port Vila. There was a dodgy pub band playing that was entertaining. Lots of people here which took some getting use do after our isolation at Tamanu on the Beach.

We left Vanuatu at 11am, sad to leave as we've had such a great time here. The people are amazing and the islands beautiful. We flew into Auckland at 3pm and went to collect a camper van we'd booked through Discovery Motorhomes. The camper is perfect for our 5 day travels around the North Island.

After picking up some provisions we headed north for an hour or so to Owera Beach to camp the night before we explore more tomorrow. A lot colder than we expected here, brrr!

Woke up in our trailer park to briliant blue skies and 2 ducks outside of our door!













We trucked towards Pakiri Beach, about 2 hours up the coast. The scenery was stunning, especially as we got closer to Pakiri. We were heading to Pakiri to go horse riding on the beach so we headed to the stables. Liz and I donned our bowl helmets and went for a one hour beach ride with 2 of the girls from the stables chaperoning us. As much as I tried to look cool on the horse it just didn't happen and we still ended up looking like kids on a sunshine bus day out .The ride was great fun though, very laid back.













After the horse ride we parked the camper up for lunch by the side of the road, in true camper style, before heading up north to The Tutukaka Coast where we were to spend our 2nd night in NZ.

In the morning we drove the scenic road around the Tutukaka coast, past Wooley Bay and through some great mountain roads on our way to The Bay of Islands.

We saw a sign after a few hours for the Kawiti Glow-Worm caves so decided to have a look. We were given a guided tour by a very eccentric guy who was a 16th generation family memeber of the cave owners, very entertaining.







                                                                                                                                                                                                      






 Just 20 minutes from The Bay of Islands is the small town of Kawakawa. My brother, Lee, and his wife to be Anna, had stopped here 2 months earlier and written a message for us on a cafe wall and we were on the hunt for it. We found the cafe opposite the "world famous" Hundertwasser toliets and wrote a message back to them.










It was on to Paihai, which is the main town in the Bay of Islands. Liz and I wandered round a bit trying to decide what activity we should do and opted for swimming with dolphins and kayaking to a little island in the bay.













We then headed down towards Auckalnd again, for a 4 hour drive and to get closer to Rotorua where we're heading tomorrow

The alarm went off at 6am, as we still had a few hours to get to Rotorua and wanted to make the most of our last full day in New Zealand. It was still pitch black and Liz tried to convince me we'd got the time wrong! We didn't leave the campsite til 8am and arrived in Rotorua until 11. We went straight to an information centre, as we had no idea where to head to, and they told us to head to Te Puia (a Mauri owned area of geysers, bubbling mud pools etc) and Waiamangu National Park.

Te Puia was interesting but the main reason we'd gone was to see the traditional Mauri ceremony held twice a day. They ask for a leader for the "tourist" tribe to go through the ceremony and I volunteered and led my tribe up to the house to see traditional Mauri dances and songs.













After the show we headed to Waimangu Volcanic and Thermal valley. We walked the 4km along the valley with Liz acting as tour guide and explaining all the interesting features. The valley was as close as you could get to Jurassic Park, steaming lakes, volcano crated, boiling hot streams and bubbling mud pools..














In the evening we went to Hells Gate Spa just outside Rotorua for a mud bath. Very strange feeling wallowing around in 40 degree sulphur mud. We were told we had to jump straight into a cold shower after to ensure our bodies cooled down and didn't overheat before we jumped into the hot spring spa. Liz did get a bit light headed but pulled through.

Liz said she couldn't remember Gollum jumping in the mudbath with her but I have the evidence!

This will be the longest day we have both ever had. We're flying from New Zealand to Las Vegas and because of time difference we gain almost a whole day back so Thursday May 15th will be 43 hours long! We got up at 6.30 forour double day bonanza to start but still didn't leave the campsite til 9. For some reason getting ready in a camper van takes 2 hours or more every day!

On our way out of Rotorua we thought we'd try some extreme sports and headed to The Agrodome, which has a choice of different crazy activities for us to choose from. We opted for the xtreme freefall skydiving which was so hard to get "flying". Liz and I had 2 x 2 minute sessions and managed to get in the air long enough to get a decent photo before hitting the deck.

 

 

 

 

After getting rad in the skydiving arena we headed up north and towards Auckland Airport for our 12 hour flight to Los Angeles. After waiting for an hour at immigration we headed to Avis to pick up our car, a Ford Mustang convertible, ready to drive to Las Vegas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive was ok, sounds romantic driving through the desert in a convertible but after an hour or so and already being awake for 30 hours, it does get a bit boring. We got to Vegas at 7.30pm and checked into the MGM Grand. We'd booked the celebrity suite, even though we're not celebrities but they didn't seem to mind. Headed to an Italian restaurant in The Grand and then frittered away 50c on a jackpot machine, gambling is a mugs game. Got to sleep at 11pm after our 43 hour marathon day.

 

 

 

After a long and well deserved sleep we headed to the MGM Grand Buffet. The buffet was huge, so much food, we could have stayed there all day and by the looks of some of the fatties in the queue, some people had plans to stay all day. Once we'd had enough food to sink a small ship, we went to the pool and chilled out in the sunshine for a few hours. The temperature was 35c today, fantastic.

 

 

In the early afternoon we thought we should explore Vegas a bit as we only had one fiull day there. So, we took the Mustang for a drive down The Strip to check out the themed hotels and see what it was all about. The hotels were amazing, New York and Paris were probably the most impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended up at The Ventian hotel,  a $1billion exact replica of Venice with canals, gondolas and all. We took a Gondola ride outside in the sun and were serenaded by an "Italian" Gondalier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening the plan was to head to the Bellagio for food, gambling and the famous fountain show. We caught the show at around 9.45 and it was incredible. After the show we headed to a noodle restaurant in the Bellagio and then for some roulette and a bit of bar poker, lost a few hundred bucks but headed home happy.

 

 

 

 

 

The last day of our honeymoon. I'm not too sad to be going home as we've had such an amazing time and seen so much. And we still had the 5 hour drive back to LAX to look forward to! The drive was ok at the begining for 10 minutes and at the end for 10 minutes, but in between there was desert. Liz was reading her book the whole way and the only thing that broke up the journey was an agricultural check point half way there. I was hoping we had some illegal fruit, but alas no, so I had to keep driving. Arrived at LAX ready for our flight back to London and the end of an amazing journey with my lovely wife.