Apologies to anyone who is actually following this blog as I realise I haven't updated it for ages...

Since my last entry we left New Zealand for the warmer shores of Fiji and Tahiti - which were both excellent - and then headed through a US gripped by election fever (even saw Laura Bush). We eventually arrived back in London in September.

It hasn't actually been that bad getting back. The sandwiches, EastEnders, the moody tube travellers, the dark evenings - it feels like home. And half our mates in Sydney want to live here so it can't be that bad!

Seeing family and friends in the UK again was fantastic and we both found work really quickly which was great as we were heading for a cash crunch.

I would thoroughly recommend taking a year out to anyone - we've never once regretted leaving our jobs to go and we've got so many amazing memories.

Take care and happy travelling x

There are sheep everywhere in NZ , little fluffy white dots on the hills in the distance, huddled together in the corner of fields by the roadside. You get used to them but a few days ago we had a very close encounter of the sheep kind...

We were happily driving along State Highway 3 when suddenly running towards us was a huge flock of sheep blocking the entire road. We came to a stop amazed, obviously in NZ sheep have right of way even on state highways! The sheep were gaining ground pretty fast and heading straight for our van, at the last second one brave sheep branched left, another right and the herd branched around the van. Now we were completely surrounded by sheep, we turned off the radio and listened to our little furry friends baaing as they trotted past for several minutes.

They all looked a bit nervy and not really surprising when you think that they were being chased along by fierce looking dogs and were likely to end up as lamb chops or ugg boots one day... poor things. Finally the sheep swarm passed and we were on our way again, that's probably the closest we've got to rush hour traffic while we've been in NZ!

New Zealand definitely lives up to the hype. We've been in the South Island just over a week and its so beautiful, every bend in the road reveals a new picture-postcard view, its just breathtaking. We've driven past turqoise lakes, snow-tipped mountains reflected perfectly in the still water, lush ferny forests, stunning gorges filled with rushing green glacial waters.

We had the most amazing time a few days ago, at Franz Josef glacier we decided on the spur of the moment to do a Heli-hike, which meant we were whisked 800m up the glacier by helicopter, did a glacier walk, then caught the helicopter back down to the village.

It was fantastic, I just loved the helicopter flight, the pilot took as right up to the top of the glacier to its massive 35kmsq snowfield, then banked and swooped over all the ice flows below. He dropped us off into an artic wonderland, we climbed through tiny narrow crevasses and explored the amazing shapes and caves in the ice.

We were both on such a high afterwards, we just kept saying to each other all night, 'we went on a helicopter today' and grinning. It was expensive, but so worth it, we're saving up for another one!

We're in Queenstown at the moment where our heli-hike is pretty tame compared to the people who seem to be throwing themselves off every conceivable object on the end of a bungy cord or parachute. It is absolutely freezing here and the heater in our campervan, which has about as much power as a travel hairdryer, is struggling. We are sleeping in our thermals with three duvets on top, already looking forward to Fuji, where we'll be in 4 weeks time defrosting on the beach.

As we crossed the Tully river, muddy brown water swelled around us, from my window I watched the ripples lapping against our side. The river had burst its banks and was about half a metre deep at this point, and we were attempting to cross it in a bus! Even the water markers which show the depth of the floodwaters were submerged. Every so often a bright yellow crocodile warning sign just poked out the top of the waves. We passed an abandoned potato truck lying on its side that had accidentally strayed from the road and ended up half submerged in a ditch.

We had spent just over a week in Tropical Queensland and following almost constant rain, it was proving pretty difficult to head south to less tropical parts. The Tully river is notorious for flooding and when it does break its banks it blocks off the only road South. But thanks to our bus drivers' nerves of steel we did make it through the officially closed road and the whole bus erupted into cheers and applause when we were safely through.

We headed onto our two big East coast adventures - sailing in the Whitsundays and 4x4 safari in Fraser Island. Sailing was fantastic, but pretty stormy and my dreams of sunbathing on the deck were crushed by driving rain and wind. The reality was more big yellow fisherman coat with hood pulled tight against the rain and spray, hanging onto rails and trying not be sick. Fraser Island was lovely, the best bit was driving along 75 mile beach right next to the crashing waves and spotting wild dingos trotting through the sand dunes. By this stage though we were really starting to believe we were cursed as it rained constantly (again!) and, just like the Whitsundays, the weather was perfect just before we left and when we got back.

Anyway fast-forward a few days and things get better, we're on Sunshine Beach, on the Sunshine Coast in the Sunshine State (up to now the Sunshine State tag has felt like a cruel joke)... and it's finally sunny! Sunshine Beach is in Noosa and it is beautiful, a long stretch of golden sand with pounding surf and unspoilt sand dunes leading into bush behind. We stretched out like cats in the sun and the best bit was there was almost noone else there, amazing that such a lovely beach on such a perfect day was so empty. That's one of the things I love about this country, tons of breathtaking scenery and so few people.

‘Tasty on Turkish toasted', a couple of months ago that would have been double-dutch to me, but now I’m speaking Aussie! A cheese called ‘Tasty’, Turkish bread, flat white (coffee), vegemite, lamingtons, schooners of New, bundy and coke. But speaking Aussie isn’t just about food, there are dozens of sayings that capture the laid back nature of the place, ‘no worries’, ‘no drama’, ‘she’ll be right’, you get the picture...

Anyway apart from learning the lingo, we have been busy venturing out of Sydney at the weekends. In the last few weeks we’ve visited Canberra, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley.

I really wanted to like Canberra as it gets such a bad rep amongst the Sydneysiders, but in all honesty they’re probably right. My everlasting memory of Canberra is of walking for two hours alongside what looked like the M4, encountering no signs of life apart from a hungry looking German tourist who asked us if we knew where ‘all the cafes and shops were’. The last we saw of him he was muttering ‘in the City Centre, there must be, there must be something’ as he made his way under the concrete underpass, problem was we’d just come from there and there was nothing there either…

The Blue Mountains was much more like it, cosy little towns filled with bookshops, cafes and buskers. We stayed in Katoomba in a beautiful hotel just 10 minutes walk from Echo Point lookout. The Blue Mountains weren’t like I imagined them at all, I was thinking along the lines of Scottish or Welsh mountains (cold and desolate!), but they were so much more tropical. From Echo Point we had a view across what looked like the Grand Canyon filled with thick jungle. The landscape was totally unspoilt, no signs of human disruption at all. From the dense canopy below rose a wall of jungle noise, we were convinced we could hear monkeys until we realised there are no monkeys in Australia. In the evening, the fog rolled down and it became clear why there are so many shops selling thick fleeces and waterproofs in Katoomba. But we warmed up in a packed pub listening to a fantastic local singer with Chelsea vs. Bolton live on the TV behind the bar, perfect!

But my favourite weekend getaway so far is definitely the Hunter Valley – peaceful countryside, as much wine as we could drink and a cottage with a spa. It was beaut!

The best way to describe how we felt stepping off the plane in Sydney is culture shock. Not that it was an alien culture but more that it was so familiar to us, after three months in Asia it was strange being somewhere that looked so like England. The houses, the people, the shops, the cars all reminded us so much of back home, where were the hawker centres, the night markets, the tuk tuks?!

We found ourselves in Coogee Bay which is real backpacker territory, second only to Bondi which seems to backpacker central. They say that you can tell a new backpacker arrival by the way they run down to the sea, yelp when they realise how cold it is, then get sent flying by the surf, washing up on the beach a bedraggled mess minus bikini top. Sad to say, but I think we pretty much fitted that description in our first few days in Oz. I find the waves just huge and it took me about a week to master the art of diving through them rather than have them break over my head and send me tumbling. Next step was buying a body board and although we are both completely rubbish at least we look the part carrying it on our back on the way down to the beach.

Christmas day was different but great, it was absolutely baking and we spent the afternoon on Coogee beach with friends from the backpacker hostel. It was a busy day for the surf lifesavers - on Bondi they rescued 150 drunk, sunburnt backpackers from the waves. New Years Eve was amazing, we got down to the harbour front at 11am to secure a spot and settled down on our picnic rug to empty the contents of the coolbox while we waited for the big moment. At midnight the bridge just exploded with light and colour and everyone burst into applause and cheering. I have never ever seen a fireworks show like that, it truly put London's millenium 'river of fire' spectacle to shame!

As for the boring stuff... we have found a nice little flat and both got jobs and it looks like we'll be in Sydney for a few months before we head off around Australia.

Singapore is a hi-tech, super-efficient and ultra-clean bubble at the tip of the Malaysian penisula. Arriving in the city was like stepping forward in time to a place where taxis have interactive TV screens in the back of the cab, zebra crossings count down the seconds remaining and where mobile phones work everywhere even on the extremely reliable underground metro system. What Singaporeans must think of London when they visit God only knows, no doubt they scoff at its dark age technology and transport systems!

Anyway, what a great city (well, provided you have pots of money!). Although on a tight budget, we did manage to see and do plenty, mainly thanks to JP's sister who put us up rent-free for two weeks and subsidised our nights out (Sarah, we owe you bigtime!) We also met up with JP's mum who was visiting Singapore and it was lovely to see some familiar faces after three months away from home.

One of the best free things to do is the Botanic Gardens, a peaceful oasis of green. It's also free to wander and we did plenty of that, exploring Chinatown, Little India and the Arab Quarter on foot. It's widely accepted that eating and shopping are national pastimes in Singapore, and the standard of food was fantastic - whether it was cheap street food or upmarket restaurants, we were never disappointed. We had tons of seafood - pepper crab, chilli stingray, butter prawns...

Everyone should go to the New Asia bar/club on the 71st floor of Raffles City, we got there at 5pm to make the most of happy hour and drank gorgeous lychee and vanilla martinis while taking in the breathtaking views of the city below.

Langkawi has restored our faith in Malaysia! No more agonising between spending the daily budget on beer or food - because here we can afford to do both. Langkawi is a tax-free haven, beer is cheaper than water (well almost!).

The beaches don't really compare too favourably with Thailand's, but it is a tough comparison as Thailand's beaches are some of the best in the world. Nevertheless, Langkawi offers a pleasant stopover with long stretches of sandy beach front and relaxed night life. As an alternative to the beach, we headed inland to the seven wells waterfall where the moss-covered stones provide a fantastic natural slide. We slid from pool to pool over the smooth rocks, we collected a few cuts and bruises from our less than graceful landings in the plunge pools but had heaps of fun.

One of the things Langkawi is known for is its rich history of legends and ghost stories. Most of the legends are related to animist beliefs i.e. that there are 'nature' spirits living anywhere from in a tree to under a rock. These beliefs are still strong today as we discovered! One night we checked into a hotel then went out for dinner; two people we met that night told us the land the hotel was built on was inhabited by unhappy spirits and that this is why the hotel had changed hands three times in the last year - no-one could make a profitable business out of the cursed hotel. We laughed it off and thought 'what could possibly go wrong?' - the hotel seemed fine. After dinner we went back to our room... to find a plague of cockroaches! Not one, not a few, but dozens of them everywhere. They just kept coming and coming. We checked out that night - a little spooked!

The Thailand chapter is over. After almost two months in Thailand we were sad to leave but travelling is all about new experiences so here we are in Malaysia... (not sure if we like it yet-still reserving judgement!)

The Cameron Highlands are something completely different - for a start it's cold... and damp... and it rains all the time. I guess that at this stage in the trip after weeks of slathering on suncream and melting in the heat we maybe found it a nice change? Maybe for five minutes. After a few days I swear we were beginning to develop seasonal affective disorder.

The Cameron Highlands may be cold and damp but they are also beautiful and unique - the Highlands don't just share England's climate, they also share its architecture. The green hills are dotted with white and black tudor houses, with red roofs and little brick chimneys. The cafes serve cream teas with locally grown strawberries and the other local speciality, tea. There are several large tea plantations up in the Highlands and they are visually stunning, rolling hills covered with lush velvety fields of tea. In amongst the rows of plants, tea pickers shear off the young top leaves and drop them into huge wicker baskets on their backs. Misty white clouds roll down from the peaks of the hills and hang in the valleys. We had plenty of opportunity to sample the local brew as a mug of steaming hot tea is just what we needed after a few hours wandering around in the rain.

After feasting on the cultural delights of Angkor Wat and surviving our road trip across Cambodia, some R&R was much deserved. We worked our way South from Bangkok, taking in Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan, Krabi and Koh Phi Phi. Beach life is a good life, lazy days and languid evenings... it's been like a little holiday for us - some time off from the serious business of travelling!

Koh Phi Phi was the real gem, from the moment the ferry turns in towards the island you know you are somewhere very special. Dramatic limestone cliffs covered in dense green vegetation soar out of the aquamarine water. The sea is so clear you can see right down to the white sand on the sea bed and can make out silvery shadows of fish darting between the rocks.

We stayed on Long Beach, a quiet beach which is a short boat ride from the main drag. Our huts were on a hill at one end of the beach with fantastic views across the sea to Phi Phi Lay, the smaller uninhabited island. We spent our days snorkelling, kayaking and visiting surrounding islands.

At sunset, the view from our balcony of silhouted palm trees against the glowing orange sky was the perfect end to the day. For more action at night we headed into 'town' (the next beach along, which had dozens of bars and restaurants). We'd walk down onto the beach, find the boat man with his shouts of 'boat, boat' and paddle out to his longtail boat for the five minute ride through the dark water - now that is the way to travel- beats a minicab hands down!