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A whole new country, and one that we have wanted to visit for a long time. With a week to fill and no idea which destination to choose, we finally opted for a weeks break in Marrakesh. It is January, so whilst the weather is lovely, we prefer to be coastal in the summer months, a city break was perfect. We flew into the most beautiful airport building at Marrakech, and unfortunately as we tried to get cash out at the airport, this is a closed currency, we then discovered that Mr B`s wallet was empty. Gone were our credit cards and other essential cards. We presume pickpocket, as we had them on the plane, but gone by the time we reached a cash machine. Secret pocket or not, the cards had vanished. A short taxi ride to our hotel, passing lots of football related flags. The country is hosting the Africa Cup, and the atmosphere is great. Morocco have made it to the semi finals, and spirits seem high. A very clean looking place on first inspection, not modern, but we are heading for Marrakech, not Casablanca. The taxi pulled up near the city wall, and asked us to wait. A few moments later a breathless young guy came running towards us from a tiny side street. Our riad, another name for small family home, is in the old city with its it myriad of tiny winding streets. The walk proved us to one thing, we would never have found our residence without guidance! Left here, right there, down this alley, walls and doors and not a lot else. where on earth were we staying? Stopping at the oldest looking door, our host handed us the keys, asked us to unlock the door to prove we could wiggle the lock, and we entered the most amazing building. For a small building it was very beautiful. Pure traditional Moroccan architecture, rooms around a central courtyard. For the first time in a long time, we got the room that drew us to the riad in the first place. Incredibly cosy looking with orange painted walls, lamps, wall lights, marble floors and a fully tiled mosaic bathroom. ( and air con with heat, its January, its needed) Google Maps, downloaded offline, would prove to be a godsend. The Medina in which we are staying, Medina meaning old city, is just a maze. A maze of souks, streets, alleys and passageways. No cars allowed in the centre but instead a whole host of motor cycles, scooters, donkeys with carts bombard you from every angle. But it works. Donkeys, quick reference to. I always hated the thought of Morocco due to its use of the beast of Burden, but for the most part, the animals I saw were reasonably well kept, no evidence of being mis treated. A few foot issues could have been sorted, but generally the animals we saw looked as well as they could given their role. Unlike the appalling harassment you get in another country, Christmas meat, if you get me drift, it was surprisingly easy to wander the souks and even look at the goods for sale without the hard sell a constant presence, in fact in the tiny shop where I chose to buy a tiny hint of a souvenir, we had to hunt for the seller. There are thousands of shops. and they all sell more or less the same things. How anyone ever makes a living baffles me. I could confidently say, that if you pass say 20 shops, you have seen everything that is available. Every other stall is just rinse and repeat, over and over and over. With six full days in Marrakech, we chose to spend each day at a different place of interest. Short days, rather than endless wanderings. Little B had given us a list of must see places, and we endeavoured to see each one in turn. Starting with the Secret Garden. Not secret, as just about every tourist and group ends up there at some point. Yes it is a garden...hmm...what else can I say? Go to say you have been, might mean a bit more to you if you are a gardening guru, but other than that, its just a nice pleasant space in which to be. Next days little adventure took us to the Ben Youssef Madrasa. Once a school for religious purposes, it is now a beautiful, slightly repetitive building in which to wander around. You need to look for yourself, but you could just trust me when I say that see one room, and you have seen them all. Day three was the square. This large open space came to be known by us by a couple of names. Stamp Your Feet Square, or more frequently, Snake Square. Why stamp your feet square? Because I did. How was I to know that the overly familiar rooftop cafe was the same one we had visited two days previously, when day one had market stalls on semi rough road surfaces, yet two days later was on a marble tiled floor! Convinced it wasn`t, I ` stamped my feet`... how was I know they had paved the whole darn area almost overnight! After that incident, we would refer to the square as Snake Square. This was where you found all the snake charmers. You know why they play those weird flute things? To stop you standing on the damn snakes!!! Hear the flutes? look down for the snakes. We would watch the every day goings on in the square from a high rooftop. No alcohol is supplied in Morocco unless you go to certain licensed places. Suits me, I don`t drink or feel the need to. Coffee or Tea suits me just fine. Watching the square, and on a clear day you can also see the snow clad mountains of the Atlas, was just mesmerising. Snake charmers, guy with monkeys dressed in tutus, (so sad) fruit sellers, henna tattoos, psst wanna buy a watch guys, genuine rolex of course , acrobats, con artists with the `where`s the money` switcheroo coconut shells, magnet for pickpockets, it all takes place in that square. Quite fascinating. By the way, the actual name of the square is Jemaa el-Fna. Another day we went to the `Bahia Palace- Stunning 19th Century Palace with ornate rooms courtyards and gardens` Well that was the description on the guide anyway. Not entirely certain who wrote the guide, but in our opinion, scruffy old building, not a lot of interest, once upon a time in the past this may have been a garden, average looking courtyard, and a lot of lovely scaffolding , would pretty much sum up this place. A whole raft of carefully taken photographs just outside the palace suggests that inside is quite beautiful, meh. no its not. Other places we could or should have visited were the El Badi Palace (closed for lunch so we gave it a swerve) But if you want to see Storks a plenty, then this is the place. Every rampart had a storks nest, with many birds in residence. Saadian Tombs. sorry, life is for living, we felt no desire to go tomb hunting. The Yves Saint Laurent Museum had a lot of interest, leaflets etc, but for us to go it would have been a very long walk out of town, and with the average time spent there (according to google) being 40 mins, we decided not to bother. Food in Marrakech, not entirely certain I should comment, granted this bunny doesn`t eat much in the way of local food anywhere, any country. The crepe stall was very good, with the French influence quite obvious. The Lamb Tagine eaten by Mr B was `nice`, I think it very British fish and chips. You get the chippies with people queuing up outside forever, and then you get the back street chippy, good for the odd occasion. I think Mr B and his lamb was the cheap back street version, bit of a shame really. The evening was late, the shops that you give you a hint of where you are were rapidly closing for the night, they close quite early, so we ate at the nearest place to the Riad. Not researched or Tripadvisor, we just went. Tough chewy chicken kebabs for Mrs B, and the meh, Lamb tagine for Mr B. On other evenings, let me quickly add, the breakfast at the hotel was incredibly filling, the need for more food at any time of day not actually needed, Mr B frequented a nearby stable door cafe that sold the most awesome hot sandwiches for 80p. One evening both bunnies ate at the Riad hoping for some good home cooked food. As per usual Mrs B swayed towards a chicken dish, Mr B the meat. Both Tagine. Not entirely certain what part of the chicken I was given, but it wouldn`t have been on any plate of mine in the UK. Bones a plenty, what looked like a rib cage, brr go figure. Then there was the little accompaniment of onion, a least 4 of them, and a pound of sultanas. Now this bunny loves sultanas, but a whole bag full? cooked? in oil and onions? Two spoonful were more than sufficient. Marrakech is wonderful. In Summer it may be worth filling out a week with trips to the desert, camels rides, or quads, but for a winter city break, personally I would say 4 days is quite sufficient. Will we go back, probably not to Marrakech, but we will certainly go back to Morocco. Thank you for your hospitality.

After a brief layover in Fiji, (watching a monsoon rage from the airport window) We continued our journey to Australia, starting with Cairns. Quick bit of time info here, we planned to spend 4 days here, but an oversight regarding not only time differences but crossing the international date line, meant that 4 days turned into 3. We flew at midnight Saturday for 6 hours. We landed at 4am. We flew again at 9am and landed into Cairns at lunchtime on Monday.... What the heck happened to Sunday?? Cairns This short stay had purely one reason in mind, to visit our friend Margaret and her husband Peter. We became friends with Margaret in 2018 during our trip to China and have remained distant friends ever since. It was with Margaret and Peter that we spent New Year 2024 on their balcony. This year Margaret insisted we cancel our booking at a local hostel insisting we stay, at her expense, at a hotel of her choosing. Anyone who knows Margaret knows there is little point in arguing! We duly cancelled our booking, and with Margaret picking us up from the airport, the secrecy of our hotel was still held a mystery. All was revealed when she dropped us off at not just any nice hotel, but the Hilton, next door to her own `unit`. Unit being a very Australian word for Apartment or Flat. After an incredibly long journey, all we could muster the first evening was crash and sleep. The following three days had bonkers weather. Day one we relaxed in the pool, and got incredibly sunburnt due to our inattentiveness towards the sun, and the fact that we were engaging in a great conversation with two other couples about world travel, and cricket. Cricket being the main reason not only these two couples were in Oz, but us as well. The Ashes in fact. but that`s for later. Days two and three were spent in identical fashion. Leisurely time in the hotel watching the endless rain from the balcony by day, and two wonderful evenings with M & P with amazing takeaway food from the RSL just below us. We spent both evenings watching the sun go down, endless conversations and happy memories made. Melbourne It is getting close to Christmas now, but not wishing to impose on our friends there for too long, we chose to stay in Melbourne City for the first 4 days. Having spent time in Melbourne last year, we had no desire to retrace our steps again this trip. With Christmas so close, and Mrs B being a huge lover of all things Christmas, we hit the shopping malls in the hope of finding ourselves anything Christmassy, tree/lights decor to make our room sparkle. Oh my goodness Melbourne was just so incredibly busy, but not busy in the way we seem to be Christmas busy in the UK. For a starter, its hot! Granted nowhere near as hot as it was last year, but still very warm, and secondly the shops are full of summer clothes! bright colours, whites, cream, yellows. Anyone from the UK knows perfectly well that you are not going to find yourself a summer coloured t shirt in December at home. Our shops are consistently Black, Red, or Sparkly. We did not feel the love for Christmas in the malls, we ate at the Pancake Parlour, but even that felt a little flat and less than Christmassy. The shops were devoid of all things Christmas decoration wise, and not knowing which shops to aim for, for cheap cheesy sparkly things, we left the mall empty handed. Mrs Bunny was more than just a little sad. Mr B googled the heck out of Melbourne that evening, and day two started with a Plan. Out of Melbourne he found us a dedicated year round Christmas shop!. Perfect. We drove there the morning of day two, and found ourselves driving through the scruffiest areas that we could not believe were so close to the City. It was so run down, covered in graffiti everywhere, and shops that looked barely open. Such a contrast to the many other towns around Oz that we have passed through. We finally arrived at the Christmas shop and hit the jackpot. We went just a little bit daft, buying not one, but two trees, multiple sets of lights, a couple of little elves and a whole bunch of tinsel. (if space and weight wasn`t an issue, we would also have purchased several of the most gorgeous Disney ornaments that we have ever seen, the likes of which we have never seen in any of our 7 Disney Parks around the world, come to Australia and wow, so many!) From that Christmas shop we headed next to a nearby mall. Both bunnies thought this mall was very nice. In fact we had a little too much fun there buying ourselves (and each other) new clothes and simple gifts for Christmas. It was only at the end of a long day there, that over coffee and a chat with a friendly local lady, that she informed us that this particular Mall had a very bad name, and only two weeks prior a gang of youths with machetes had run through injuring several people. With the appalling news of the attack in Bondi still fresh in the news, it was a little disconcerting. Shortly before leaving the mall for the day we heard the sound of a brass group playing carols. As brass players ourselves we were drawn to the sound. It was the local Salvation Army band, just 5 of them, but also giving out a leaflet for their Christmas Carol concert the following night. With a great desire to find the spirit of Christmas that we were so desperately missing, we decided a carol concert was just the thing. The day of the concert was spent the best way possible. A room full of Christmas lights, two trees, lots of tinsel, Christmas movies in bed, and Uber eats! This would be my most favourite day of the trip so far. Even the Christmas concert that evening with the Salvation Army band's (not quite Black Dyke...) painful renditions of Christmas songs by an over enthusiastic singer who couldn`t quite sing in the same key as the band, or the same speed for that matter. Nor did a group of random children shaking as many noisy bells to the once enjoyable Jingle Bells carol dampen our enjoyment of that day. With Christmas in my heart I went hunting next for more Christmas joy, and found a stage play of A Christmas Carol playing the next evening in the city. We got tickets and had the best evening ever watching this version of an old story. No props, just sound effects, yet it worked beautifully. the encore of Silent Night played with the sweetest sounding little bells ended the night wonderfully. Today was also little Bunnies birthday, and though I felt so sad not spending at least part of the day with her, I did know that she was having an adventure of her own in Manchester, and that made it feel so much better. Turns out she had also watched a version of Christmas Carol some nights previous. Great Minds! Christmas with Friends Frankston, it was here last year that we met my mums best friend and her hubby for the first time. Just as my mum predicted prior to passing, we loved them. Mrs Koala and her hubby were just two lovely people, with Mr Bunny getting on so well with Mr Koala they could have been best school mates meeting up once more. Mrs Bunny knew in a heartbeat why exactly Mrs Koala was her mums best friend. It hadn`t taken too much thought into wanting to return to stay with these guys, Christmas would not have been my first choice of dates, but when Mr Bunnies heart is set on fulfilling a bucket list dream, then Christmas it would have to be.... We arrived to stay with the Koalas just prior to Christmas, with the intention of spending 6 days with them to enjoy their wonderful company and to fulfil the bucket list dream of Mr Bunny, then, it would be onto another destination to celebrate Christmas Two in our own silly way. Christmas Day. It did not start well. I am the most intense Christmas present shopper, always seeking the most perfect presents for everyone. This Christmas I was challenged by limited space, weight and knowledge. In a nutshell I chose poorly, and it upset me. I hate buying gifts that are silly, pointless, tacky, and with my heart not really wanting to be in Oz at Christmas at all, because I wanted to be at home (different story) my head failed to let me find presents that I truly wanted to give. Receiving the most beautiful bracelet, earrings and a crazy pink Christmas hat that I loved, made me feel sad that I failed so badly in my task to find the perfect present for my new friend. Mr Bunny received the most amazing gifts also, an Ozzy rugby shirt, a special cap, and socks. Socks? Yes, yellow `beer` socks with white furry tops and handles!! Probably bought as a joke, but I do hope Mr Koala knows just how often those crazy socks are worn!!!! Mr B loves them. Mrs Koala excelled herself on Christmas Day, you have never seen a fridge so full. We truly hoped this was not all done with us in mind, but felt better when told there would be 10 for the lunch. Lunchtime came, and everything was perfect. Poor Mrs Koala had a fit when she found out I do not eat anything seafood, stood there as she was surrounded by every kind of shell fish monstrosity. In the end it was decided that I could eat the same as the children, melon and sausage much to everyone`s amusement. Did you know you can cook Christmas Dinner on a BBQ? Oh how very Aussie!, The oven indoors held the roast spuds, but everything else was cooked on the `barbie`. My first Christmas away from my own little family was pleasant but a challenge. I am not a social butterfly, and faced with an extended guest list of people I didn`t know, was a little overwhelming. Lovely as the entire family was, I breathed the biggest sigh of relief when they all departed that evening, and once more the house reigned in silence, the occasional chink of glasses raised, a most pleasant sound. The Bucket List. The Ashes. The Melbourne Boxing Day Test This my friends was the sole reason for our epic trip. Mr Bunny has always wanted to watch a major live sporting event, and with the Ashes, in particular the Boxing Day test held at the iconic MCG each year, that was a bucket list item just waiting to be ticked off. No matter how much I hated the idea of being away from home at Christmas, this was one dream that I was not going shatter. Sulk, yes, whinge, most probably, but decline? No chance. It was supposed to be Mr B and his very best mate, along with new bestie Mr Koala, but when Daddy B decided it was too much, it was up to opposing sides to settle their differences and head to the cricket together. Boxing Day, with the boys setting off early to get to the stadium, Mrs Koala and I started our day with a very leisurely breakfast, a dash of chocolate, Netflix and a Christmas Movie, we agreed to start with Love Actually, and we had a very nice day. We did end up watching the end of the cricket much to my chagrin, I would have so much preferred to have watched more movies, but its not my house and I was not for arguing. We picked up two frozen guys at the end of the day, who told us that although the day was bright, they were sat in the shade in a veritable wind tunnel. They were both freezing, but exceedingly happy. Ashes Day Two. Once again the boys set off early, this time armed with puffy jackets and jumpers, but instead of a Christmas film, Mrs Koala and I watched the match. To be fair, whilst I was a bit miffed at not watching films, the cricket was quite exciting, I did try to read my book, but the pull of the match was too great. I am so happy to say that Mr Bunny not only got the chance to fulfil his bucket list dream of going to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, but that he also witnessed England at its best as they beat the Aussies hands down in a rather exciting second day. The Surfcoast Much as I adored staying with Mr and Mrs Koala, I was very excited and so looking forward to our stay at this little caravan park again. I had visions of how I was going to make the caravan all nice and Christmassy, I was going to tinsel and light it up with everything we had. There were so many unwatched Christmas movies to look forward to, on Disney and Netflix, a second Christmas Dinner to be bought, a second boxing day with turkey butties for lunch, all the usual stuff, just a few days late. I should have known better. Nothing is ever the same second time around, non more so than our `caravan`. The only room they had for us was a small motel type room, the type with the kitchen, table and bed all in the same room. The tv was one of those placed in a ridiculous position high up in one corner. We were so disappointed that we just had to beg for anything else. There was just one other cabin left. It was a dog friendly cabin so we knew it would be scruffier than before, but surely it had to better? Well.....the layout was certainly better, but oh dear heavens the Smell!! Mr B with his naff sense of smell had no clue just how bad it was. Fish! Seafood! wet dogs, whores boudoir (my imagination running wild) would just about sum it up. I was in total despair. I said we would stay but only if we begged borrowed and bought every kind of air freshener right now ! Half a mini bottle of cheap perfume, one can of anti bac spray, vanilla air freshener, two bottles of scented sticks and an airwick candle later, not to mention every open window and door, and eventually the smell started to dissipate. We decked out the caravan as best we could given the limited space, placed our two Christmas Trees in strategic places, added as many lights as we could, then shopped for our `Christmas Eve 2` goodies, and` Christmas Day 2` lunch. A plan was coming together. We settled down with goodies and drinks in hand, switched on the TV and.....no Netflix.......okkkkkk......we have managed before, we can manage again, Laptop! and that`s when we found out we had absolutely bugger all internet. Nada, Zip, SFA. Right there and then my Christmas ended. We did try the op shops the following day, in the hope of finding Christmas DVDs, but we came up wanting. My love for all things Christmas fizzled from there onward. As far as I was concerned, it was over. I knew full well that we would have decent internet, albeit no Disney, at our next destination, but that wasn`t until the New Year. Pah. I have zero desire to watch anything Christmas after December has ended. I hereby admit that I was well and truly fed up! The following days passed slowly. As per Melbourne City we had more or less been to all the places of interest nearby , and travelling for hours on end to visit more out of the way places just wasn`t high on my to do list. This trip was all about ticking the bucket list and not a lot else. We did take a drive along the Great Ocean Road, and it struck us just how many kilometres we did last year visiting places of interest. Arriving at the Koala Kafe, we would still have needed to drive at least another 100 km to reach the Apostles, and several more kms more to arrive at Warnambool. We did spend a day at Werribbee Open Range Zoo and that was good. The `safari` trail by truck was excellent, with the sheer amount of space available to the Zoo, they really made the most of it? A few more animals would have been nice, but never the less we had a great day. Our time in Australia has come to a close. I have to say I was a little sad leaving this time, but I know that we will be back, not at Christmas, but at some point in the future. Until next time Australia..

As per the journey to Australia via certain points of interest, it was always my intention to break up the journey home as well. K.L seemed the obvious place. We stayed once again at the very conveniently located Soho Suites, and with a top end view of the Petronus Towers the location is perfect. This was to be a break of relaxation, home cooking and not a lot else. Truth be known we are also here to get away from the expense of Australia whilst passing time before heading off to Spain to meet Daddy Bunny. DB is going to Benidorm on the 10th, (or so he said) so we planned our entire trip to end in Spain, starting the 10th. Actually, lets recap this whole trip. Starting at the beginning when our very first flights to Gatwick were cancelled, supposedly not leaving until Tuesday, instead of Monday. ( rapidly rearranged, and all was well again) Daddy B booked his trip to Spain leaving on the 10th. We planned accordingly. Booking flights to Stansted on the 10th with the intention of flying straight back out to Spain. He later told us after flights were booked that he didn`t go until the 15th, Lets fly to Cairns to see Margaret. We booked the flights, she told us they would be in Brisbane!. ( this would later change when Peter was unable to fly) Booked for 4 days, lost one when we crossed the date line. No Internet. No Christmas films. Huge sore point. Hire car got bumped in an Aussie Car Park, first time in forever the insurance policy was poorly worded, and maybe just maybe (time will still tell) we have a sh.t tonne of excess to pay. Credit cards and Driving licence, lost (stolen?) in transit to Morocco. Lastly. Our 11.50 daytime flight home from Spain, was accidently booked as the 6.00am flight instead. Rookie flyer error. Packed all our oversize toiletries, cooking oil, milk into our big bags, not an issue as we have hold luggage. We totally forgot about the bit about sending stuff home in two large boxes because we wanted to fly cabin bag only to our next destinations. So whose bags got pulled due to excess liquids?.....doh!!!! Boxes to send home, again! type of trip, or poor choices? either way, once again we had to send boxes home. We could do it from home. Evri. So much cheaper. Nearest drop off, 1.4 miles from the airport. Perfect. Except that it cost us £18 for that short taxi ride. We failed to consider the £7.50 drop off fee that every taxi is charged as they enter the airport. We got the bus back. Back to Kuala Lumpur. My first observation, and a point that I forgot, KL is a very smart city. Whilst there are a lot of tourists, in usual tourist garb, the majority of people are very smartly dressed. Reminded me a bit of Christchurch New Zealand, another smart city, and another city in which I only had my casual backpacking mildly creased day wear with me. It is hot and humid, and shorts whilst acceptable, should be dressed up, not down. With the city hot, and the mall air conditioned, it was there we spent the most time. The Mall closest to Soho is very nice, and huge. Every shop from the Gucci to Uniqlo and every price range in between. Wonderful if you have an unlimited baggage allowance, and not just packed all your surplus gear into two boxes to send back home. Still, I really don`t mind window shopping, but that`s a past time way down on Mr B`s love list. We did not go to the Mall often, in fact Mr B spent two days watching the cricket at a nearby bar, whilst Mrs B took the opportunity to catch up with some films. (non Christmas variety) I cannot believe, that Christmas 25 came and went without Home Alone ! We had just one evening out in KL, and that was to the cinema. We both really wanted to watch the new Zootopia 2. It was an evening to be well and truly spoilt by the most ignorant, loud, self important, little madam, that we have ever encountered. Nutshell. Family of 4. Two kids sat and watched the film, 2 ran riot to the point that we had to bed the parents to keep their children close by, and quiet. How very dare we ask them to control their children....lets just say the atmosphere and the film was well and truly spoilt. Don`t tar everyone with the same brush they say, but it did remind us of just how self important some people think they are, particularly in certain parts of the world. With our time coming to a close in KL, on the 10th in fact, and our plans to meet up with Daddy B not coming into fruition until the 15th, we had roughly a week to fill. We could go anywhere, so where should we chose, where did we choose ? Until next time K.L. or will next time be Singapore we wonder..

From California we flew to Hawaii with the intention of having a pleasant weeks break in a nice hotel with a pool to recover from our hectic four days in Disney. Not a full weeks break of nothingness, as we planned to include a day at Mrs Bunnies bucket list destination of Pearl Harbour, but definitely a few days of relaxation. From the outset Hawaii was, well, weird. We had no preconceived ideas of what to expect, we had chosen not to watch any You Tube videos, in the hope that we could have a surprise. In our heads we were expecting scenic views, palm trees, pretty villages, and maybe the odd grass skirt, or flower garland. What we did not expect, was to be greeted at the airport by a young guy wearing lipstick and matching nail varnish... Neither did we expect to pay $37 dollars for a 7km taxi ride. Hawaii was going to prove to be a very very expensive and slightly weird destination, not just in terms of transport, but also trips, food, the people, and the crazy idiots on the roads. We arrived at the hotel, with its overly doctored photos of the pool area. `Large pleasant pool` was in fact very small very cold, and less than inviting. Trips? starting around £150 each, nope, no thank you. Our room came to grow on us despite its very noisy air conditioning unit. We did have breakfast in the Hotel, which itself was a little odd for a number of reasons. Given $5 tickets as we checked in, each ticket gave the two bunnies a heavily supplemented breakfast for $5 dollars each, but for context, the same breakfast purchased without a pink ticket was $18. Coffee came with unlimited refills, but an extra tea bag came at a cost. So petty. The hotel restaurant was indoors, but with a large door leading outside meant that a large number of small birds were flying around the room. I don`t mind birds when eating outdoors, but I don`t really want them in a hotel dining room. After a few days we hired a microwave, and seeing as Walmart was directly opposite our hotel, our food options improved when we could buy microwave meals. Local restaurants were all of an Asian theme, we are not fans. We did run to a Subway once, but two small subs and around £15 later we decided that would be a one off. Hawaii would not be a place that we came to enjoy. I admit that we were a little far from the busy tourist area of Waikiki, just a bit too far to walk and no intention of spending extra money on taxis, so it would be fair to say that we did not see as much of Hawaii as we would have liked. The traffic whilst not busy was loud and chaotic. Far too many ambulance sirens could be heard every day, and signs on every road advising people to be safe and careful. So many noisy people on motorbikes, revved up to the hilt and screaming away down the roads, it happened quite often, then there were the guys in pimped up trucks blaring their load music, not just loud music, but deafening music almost in a belligerent fashion, just daring someone to question them or show objection. As for the people? Who exactly are the true Hawaiian race? Are they Japanese? Chinese? Malaysian? White American? Black American? who knows. Perhaps a mixture of all. We could not define the true native person. What we could define was the number of weird people. I know its each to their own, but guys in dresses and high heels walking around the supermarket? Joe average wearing false eyelashes? lipstick on men seemed the norm, ditto nail varnish. Sorry, call me old fashioned but that`s just odd. We sat by the pool one day playing cards and in walked a mother with seven children. Zero consideration for anyone sat near the pool, or even in the pool itself, as these children proceeded to splash, scream and dive bomb each other. We did not stay there much longer. Kids will be kids, but surely a little consideration for other guests would be the norm? We walked a couple of times to the nearby shopping mall for something to do, but even that was not your average shopping centre. At least 85% of the mall was devoted to to High end shops. Tiffany`s, Chanel, Rolex, Louis Vuitton to name but a few. We are budget conscious travellers, not fashion geeks. The sea front was nice, but the false harbour and artificial sand banks were private property of the luxury hotels. The grass banks were open to the public, and it was there that we saw some impressive barbeque and picnic set ups. Pearl Harbour As it happened we went to Pearl Harbour just a few days after the anniversary of the bombing. Not sure why I was expecting a ceremony, or even any kind of memorial, but there was nothing over and above the normal, a modern day working naval port, to see. Pearl Harbour has always held a fascination for me. I do love a good shipwreck story, and coupled with the historical events of 1941 and the totally unexpected bombing by the Japanese, I was keen to see where it all took place. It would be totally remiss of me to say that I was disappointed, I wasn`t, but I do admit to thinking there would have been more to see. The day didn`t exactly start the best with a very early 7.25am pickup, that then proceeded to tour the town picking up more and more Pearl Harbour passengers. The tour I picked was expensive, and gave the impression of being limited to a small group, I do not call a bus load of passengers, `a small group`. Pearl is located a way out of town, and we arrived around 9am. Strict zero bags on site protocol, misunderstood by us as we had brought our smallest bags thinking they came under the size of the allowed `clutch` bag. Nope. Zero bags unless plastic and transparent. First port of call, bag drop. We were then advised to watch the unique to Pearl Harbour film show, then visit the small museum before our Arizona Memorial visit time of 10.15am. The Film show was good and explained a lot, but truthfully anyone knowing the events of 7 December 1941 would probably have known just about everything the film showed. The museum afterwards was ok, but so much writing! Not the first museum where I have thought, `someone really needs to condense all this info into to more manageable bite size pieces` From the museum it was time for our allotted boat ride across to the Arizona Memorial. It was a short boat ride, during which time we passed several concrete markers denoting the final resting places or where several other ships had met their demise that fateful night. We walked into the Memorial and instantly appreciated how poignant the site was. A section of the walkway lies directly over Arizona and to this day you can still see `tears` of oil leaking from the ship below you. Not a lot to see to be truthful, just a large mass of rusty metal, but its the story that grabs you. At the end of the walkway is the plaque engraved with all the names of the dead. So many names the same, as brothers joined with brothers, fathers and sons. To the left, at floor level is another smaller plaque dedicated to the men who served, but did not perish the night of the bombing. Many of these men have been interred following their subsequent deaths, back to the Arizona, as a final wish to join their fallen comrades. Approximately 20? (am guessing) have been laid to rest at Arizona over the years. There will be no more, as the final hero died just a few years ago. There is nothing more to see or read at the actual memorial site. In fact, you disembark your boat, walk the length of the memorial, and by the time you have listened to the short speech given by a representative of the site it is time for you to get back on the boat back to shore. With time moving on, our last visit was to the battleship Missouri, the ship on which the surrender was signed. Got to say it was very impressive, even a highlight of the day. We joined the guided tour hoping to get some extra information rather than doing the self guided tour, but quickly got so so bored with the endless fact, figures, numbers, dates.....blah blah blah... We quickly toured the ship, but heat, too much standing around, and with lots of difficult stairs, we walked back to the entrance with little time left before our bus departed. Pearl Harbour. Worth a visit, but very clinical and `efficient`. It is what it is, a sad reminder of war and the ignorance that goes with complacency. It is also a site that whilst poignant, charges you a lot of money to visit.... Hawaii, quite probably a beautiful island, but one that requires transport, time, money and lot more research. Would we return? With careful planning, quite probably.

Our bucket list started with a dream to complete visiting every Disney park in one year. If flying to Australia, why not fly the other way round the world and tick the box of visiting Disney park number seven, the last one, on the way. We found out, albeit a little too late into our epic trip last year, that booking multi flights, not direct flights, was the way to go. Without disclosing actual costs, after all what was valid this year will not be valid next, we booked 9 flights (each) in total, taking us round the world and back, for less than a single return direct flight to Australia. With time on our hands, we have the luxury of taking in several stops, not just one, before ending up at our Christmas destination, Melbourne. The actual trip itself started with a hiccup. Just 12 hours prior to leaving for the airport for a flight at midday, Mr B got a text saying that the flights had been cancelled, and that we would now be leaving on Tuesday, ( not Monday as planned) flying to Lax (via Heathrow), on separate planes to Heathrow, and separate planes again to Lax! This impacted our prebooked Disney plans on a grand scale not to mention the added stress of being on two different planes. Mr B immediately started the task of contacting the carrier to improve on this offer of a Tuesday flight. He spent so long on the phone, we actually left for the airport to catch a promised flight to Heathrow without actual confirmation that we had been issued tickets for said plane. Turns out we had not. This was 6am and we are sat at Manchester Airport. By now we had been up for 22 hours. Mr B, still on the phone to the flight agents but getting nowhere fast. Finally success came when we spotted the British Airways desk, our original plane carrier, and implored them to find us a solution. Excellent news! they could get us both on the same plane to Lax via Heathrow mid morning with an LAX flight leaving London at around 10.30am. Sounded perfect, and would have been if the blasted flight out of Manchester hadn`t been delayed for over an hour! We missed the connection, (along with a huge amount of other people), and were promptly directed to a help desk where alternative flights for everyone were already being dished out. Our new flight? yep, the one that we got the initial text for informing us that it was cancelled!, but clearly wasn`t. A stressful start to the journey, but finally we landed into California at 11pm Monday night, Tired was an understatement. Disneyland California Like Disney in Paris, California is split into two parks. To your right past the security gate is traditional Disneyland, the park started by Walt Disney himself, and to the left Disneyland California Adventure. Naturally, we had to start our days in Disneyland. Right from the offset, the very position of the parks is just a little odd, especially for us more used to the huge secluded complex of Walt Disney World in Florida. As you drive down the main highway, you can spot various bits of Disney rides and scenery. Seeing Space Mountain from the taxi window was a little surreal. Right from the offset Disneyland was just lovely. So quaint and traditional. With Main Street looking much the same as any other Disney Park, we decided to board the little double decker bus and take the short drive to the end of Main Street and the castle. As we boarded the bus, we hadn`t yet spotted the castle, but were excited to do so. I have to confess, our initial surprise of seeing Sleeping Beauty`s Castle for the first time was one of disappointment. What a dinky, cute little Castle it is. We were quite surprised, because although we knew it was smaller than the others, we didn`t quite appreciate how small. It is also very narrow in depth, just a few strides takes you from front entrance to the back entrance. Disneyland as a whole proved to be very challenging. It is exceedingly compact, made more so by the fact that most, if not all queueing systems are outside, not indoors, like Florida making walkways feel extra busy. It did help us though when we realised that the huge line outside ended at the ride, and did not progress indoors for more waiting. With most queue lines outdoors, it made for a park that appeared very very busy. If this was `quiet` week, I would not like to be there when it is busy. It is also very mono level. Somehow it was hard to spot any ride until you were almost on top of it, and trying to get your bearings using the Castle was a non starter due to its very petite size. Even the Matterhorn ride could hide behind a tree. Matterhorn, grrrr a bob sled type ride that although started well, though a bit rough and jerky, did not end well when we got well and truly soaked after going through the water splash at the end. We read the ride details again, and with no mention of water we asked a cast member what was going on. In a rather bored voice she told us, `you must have gone on the Blue track`, blue it would seem goes through water, whereas Red does not. Disney, you may want to point this fact out to your guests! It was our only grr of the day, just a shame it had to occur at the end of the day when we were starting to get a little chilly. Every other ride in the park is just as you would expect, there were a few deviations here and there, but generally very similar. We did enjoy a few unique rides, simple ones I confess, like Chip `n` Dales little rollercoaster, super quick, super short. Mr Toads Wild Ride, think I really needed to read the book to understand the scenes of this ride. Alice in Wonderland, we liked that. Teapots, Its a Small World, with the most stunning Christmas overlay, and outside lights that were a sight to behold. Haunted Mansion was excellent, and in a previous blog I said that I felt Haunted Mansion in Florida needed some improvement, well in California their Christmas theming overlay of Jack Skellington was just brilliant. Big Thunder Mountain was every bit as good as it should be, but the soaking we got on the new Tiana`s Bayou ride was just a little uncomfortable. We made that a once only ride. The weather was excellent but changed rapidly, cold, warming, very warm, cooling, cold. Almost hourly the temperatures were noticeably different. The jumpers we set off wearing were quickly relegated to the lockers, and retrieved again as the sun went down. Those lockers, very affordable, made for a great perk of the day. A quick google search tells me that there are also lockers at the Magic Kingdom at Florida, but I will say that the small park of Disneyland made the lockers feel more accessible and closer at hand. The Christmas decorations of Disneyland were so pretty. It was so nice for once not to see an endless festoon of Orange and Black. I truly am fed up with the Halloween colours. Christmas just came alive at Disneyland, and the guests made it all the more special. I would say the ratio of people wearing Christmas Themed Disney clothing was at least 90/10. It made me feel so happy. We both had our Disney round the World t shirts, but opted not to purchase Disneyland Christmas t shirts, as we both felt that it more likely we would be in Florida next time it was Christmas. Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, another ride that was closed in Orlando, but not so here, was brilliant, Mrs B managed to hit a secret target and whooped Mr Bunny`s butt in the first 5 mins. We gave Space Mountain a very wide berth after the close to life changing events of our Paris visit, and also missed Peter Pan due to the very long wait times, but we did, once again, ride the 8th Wonder of the World, Dumbo, or in this instance, the worlds fastest flying Elephant! Good grief, we have never seen Dumbo fly quite so fast before. Always a lot of fun. We also rode on the Jungle Cruise, the same appalling jokes, but still just as funny. We were fortunate to have an extra chatty driver who had a repertoire of extra jokes on hand for times when/if the boat was delayed. We were, and we listened and groaned to these terrible but funny one liners. Perhaps the only ride we may have liked to have done, but didn`t due to being `down` was the Indiana Jones ride. Described as a jeep ride, not a rollercoaster, sounded fun, but there for next time.... Disneyland, you are quite magical. I have not mentioned the food options, there were plenty, but somehow we were not hungry so chose not to make a big deal of anything there. California Adventure. This turned out to be our favourite park of the two. It was a little quieter when we first arrived (to change rapidly with each passing minute) and knowing that a certain Cars ride was a big draw, we headed there first. This is a whole area, not just a ride. If you can picture the film Cars, then this was the whole high street for real. Ramones House, Luigi`s Tyres, Flo`s Cafe, the Cozy Cone Motel, with each `cone` being a different little food outlet, it was just brilliant. Then the actual Cars ride itself, oh my goodness, what an entrance, the queueing line wended along between a `mountain `pathway, until you came to the Cars themselves. Absolute perfect imitations of the film. As soon as you set off on your ride, you were in the film itself. We have been on some superb rides around the world at Disney, but this Cars ride has to be hairs breadth second only to the Pirates Ride in Shanghai, absolutely utterly superb. I want to tell you all about it, but no, that would spoil it. You just have to go and experience for yourself. Expect some crazy wait times, or do as we did, and go at park opening. We did all the rides in Cars land, from Maters Tractor ride, with its overlay of Christmas Mater songs, then the dancing trackless cars of Luigi`s so funny, simple, but a real joy. When at California adventure, we also went on Soarin, the wait times were a little extreme, and unfortunately it was the exact same film as per Florida, I had hoped that it might be a different movie. We gave the water rapids a swerve as it was just a little too chilly to risk getting a soaking. We also bypassed the Incredicoaster, purely because of its single one loop of which I had no intention of letting Mr B experience anything that would pressure on his slowly mending back issue. We did take a turn on Toy Story which as usual I was firmly beaten by Mr B. The huge ferris wheel was also bypassed, as neither of us fancied the height aspect of this ride. We did have a little goof with one ride, I thought the Little Mermaid was a show, but was actually a clam shell slow ride, whilst very colourful I think we waited just a little too long. All in all we really enjoyed both Disney parks at California, possibly more than Paris truth be known, and admit it would definitely be two parks that we would choose to return to sometime in the future.

Where else? With 5/7 Disney parks under our belts this year, what better place to visit for three older Bunnies looking for some fun? It had always been Mrs Bunnies intention to visit Disneyland Paris making 6/7 Disney Parks before the year was out, so why not now, before the dust of travel settles. Daddy Bunny didn`t require too much persuading, not that I actually gave him choice, and together the three of us set off in mid September, hoping that all the schools had gone back (grr, they hadn`t) for a little bit of Disney magic. I chose the Explorers Hotel as a base as from a previous visit I remembered it had a very good and reliable bus to park service. What I wouldn`t know from our previous visit back in 2019, was just how much building work had been undertaken in our absence. wow. Sorry, not referring to the parks just at this moment, I`m referring to the hotels! So many more places to stay, quite incredible really. More hotels mean more people. A fact that was going to be plainly obvious. Lets talk Breakfast first, and breakfast fashion. For the majority of families, breakfast was a time of eating the first meal of the day together, wearing some great appropriate clothing choices that varied from full on Disney outfits, to cute little t shirts depicting favourite characters, and then there were the Pyjama Families. These were the trashy women who clearly thought Bedroom attire was perfectly acceptable in a public hotel restaurant. Parading around in slippers, satin pjs, hair in rollers, and full make up...(really did not get the pjs and make up bit) Their children tended to be in fluffy onesies, unkempt bed hair, and clearly at ease with their mums walking around in public in pjs. I make no apologies for my opinion of these kind of people. Tramps and Trollops. If its not bad enough I spot this type of trashy behaviour at school time, even walking round supermarkets, but in a hotel??? Disneyland Paris has two parks, Disneyland, and Disney Studios. We chose to visit Disneyland first. Disneyland . Daddy Bunny understanding the importance of early breakfast and rope drop, was happy to leave the tramps (sorry but they were quite repulsive) of the breakfast hall behind, and head with us to the bus for the short ride to Park number one Disneyland. Despite the large crowds, we quickly entered the park and soaked in the wonderful scents of Disney. No matter how many Disney parks I visit, I never fail to grin like the Cheshire Cat when we first enter the parks. I think Daddy Bunny was happy as well, as he too enjoyed this wonderful atmosphere. We walked up Main Street and decided to head left towards Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain. We love both these rides, but DB had a bit of a hairy moment when his slightly too large glasses very nearly became part of the ride on Big Thunder, he would learn to ride glasses less on the other faster rides. Indiana was just this kind of ride. A super quick, backwards, forwards upside down nifty little rollercoaster that is just so much fun. Once again we bypassed the silly parrots, and headed on towards the area of Fantasyland. So many small rides here, all aimed for the smaller kidlets, but who says big kidlets cant have some fun? Snow White, Its a Small World, Pinocchio, Mad Hatters Tea Cups, Peter Pan and our all time favourite Mickeys Philharmagic. Dumbo had to be ridden, you simply cannot visit Disney and not fly with the worlds 8th wonder of the world, Dumbo! We took a drive around the Autopia, but to be truthful, for a slow ride, this was quite painfully slow. Other Disney Autopia rides are equally of the slower end of rides, but Paris? just a tad too slow. We were also lucky to grab a ride on Casey Le Petite train, as it broke down just as our train arrived back into the station. It was a real pity that Buzz Lightyear was having a refurb, as I would love to have seen my two favourite male bunnies having one of their super competitive shootouts. We had lunch from one of the small stalls that were set up around the area of Its a Small World. The food looked good from afar, but alas was a little too pricy and not the quality you would hope to expect at Disney. We each had a chicken gyros, and all thought that the meat was definitely from parts of the chicken that shouldn`t really be included as a food option. Our evening meal at the La Bella Noche Italian was quite excellent and more than made up for the not so great lunch. We saw lots of Characters wandering around which was fun. I am also happy to report that the appalling crowding of the characters that I experienced and witnessed many years ago whilst here in Paris, has been replaced with a carefully controlled and managed queuing system. Big Bunny and Mrs Bunny still had plenty of Disney left in us and stayed to watch the parade, whereas Daddy B faded fast after his evening meal and headed back to the bunny burrow for a much needed rest and a lot of sleep. Disneyland is deceptive, you look at a map and think, there isn`t much here, but yet somehow the hours fly by and you find yourself wondering where the heck did time go? Disney Studios Day 2 This park has changed so much since our visit that right from the offset I felt lost. The initial walkthrough area with its numerous eateries has become so much smarter and would be our choice of eatery later on in the day. We planned to make the Hollywood Tower our first ride, but a less than helpful cast member pointed us very much in the wrong direction. We found the ride exit, and we found the bathrooms, but not the ride entrance. There is a lot of building work going on at the moment, so a lot of pathways are blocked or re routed. Eventually we found the entrance, and sailed through the first ride of the day albeit with a longer wait time than we should have had, had we not been sent on a wild goose chase first. The park was to fill up quickly and ride times were a little long in places. Whilst we like the Toy Story area of the park, a couple of the rides are just a little too scary for us. RC Racer goes backwards, a non starter for Mrs B, especially first thing in a morning. The Parachute drop looks so easy, but as discovered at another Disney Park, those heights can be quite deceptive. With a degree of vertigo, this ride just lends itself for someone to feel like they can lean forward and fall out. You can`t, but it feels like it. We did ride SlinkyDog, but it really is very tame ride, most suited for toddlers. Further around the park we found Crush`s Coaster, but as a spinning coaster with very very long wait times, it would be a ride that we chose to miss. We did however have great fun riding the little cars. A whole new part of the park that was new since 2019 was the Ratatouille ride. Daddy B and Mr B looked so cute as they partook in this little VR ride as a pair of rats running around the kitchen of a Parisian restaurant. Mrs Bunny was happy to miss this ride, as is the case in Florida as well. VR and Mrs Bunny do not see eye to eye. Somehow we managed to miss a whole area of the park dedicated to Avengers, there was a rollercoaster which I suspect was akin to Rock N Rollercoaster, and probably the same ride reimagined. The huge amount of building work that was ongoing, we later found out was the addition of the new Frozen Land. Opening later this year, I bet this will be a really `cool` area to visit, hum te tum. Daddy B wasn`t quite as enamoured by the Studios Park, and we all agreed that the other park, was much more colourful and fun. We did spend our third day at the main Disney Park, and spent a lot of the time enjoying the shops and revisiting some of the rides that we had done before. For a short visit, we did have a magical time. We purchased two Chipmunk shoulder riders, Chip n Dale both wearing Christmas hats, and reminded ourselves that next time we see something we like, buy it there and then!! I`d seen these in a shop on day one, but could I find that shop again? It took patience and a lot of legwork to eventually track them down, finding them in the huge Disney Store in the Village area. Disney Village. Another large part of the park, not actually in the park itself. Lots of shops and eateries are found here, many more than the two we found back in 2019. A huge improvement, and a nod to just how busy and popular these parks are. With the Train Station right next door to the park entrance, and a bus route available into the City, Disneyland Paris is a super easy destination for any Disney Fan. Would we go again? Of course !!! A serious note. Whilst our trip to Disneyland was amazing, it was there where both Daddy Bunny and Mr Bunny had a serious wake up call to the forces at work on one particular ride. Space Mountain. It just so happened this was our very last day, and last ride before leaving for home. As per every ride, from Dumbo upwards, warnings are in place about the nature of each ride. Motion sickness, Spinning, Not suitable for Pregnant women, Back Problems, Surgery. Every Base is covered, and it is up to your own judgement whether you choose to ride or not. More often than not, most rides are fine for the majority of people. Daddy B is usually very good on fast rides, with little or no adverse effects, but he turned more than just a little nauseous on this wild ride, however it was the warning for `Not suitable for people with Back problems` that could/should have been taken more seriously. Oh for hindsight. With a ride that jolts violently, whizzes around and even has an inversion all of which in total darkness, Mr Bunny suffered immeasurable trauma in his spine, leaving him in visible pain, the results of which, as I write this a few weeks after our return, are still an ongoing problem with vast amounts of money being spent on Chiropractors, Physiotherapy and a multitude of pain relief tablets. Mr Bunny does have a known spinal problem, but no other ride across the world has caused any problems, until now. A painful end to a perfect trip (to clarify. Own decision to ride . No, we are not seeking compensation)

After a 15 month journey around the world, it was time to pack our bags for the last time and head for home. Whilst we wish we could have carried on travelling forever, the pull of home is great and I for one was looking forward to seeing my Dad again. Not my birth Dad, (that title belongs to a self centred moron) but if anyone deserves the title of Dad, L.T ( you know who you are) does. Married to my wonderful mum for 40 years, losing her at Christmas had left him alone and lonely for far too long. I could not wait to talk to him again, but the reality of seeing him alone was painful. It didn`t take me long to do some thinking and replanning and book the three of us a trip to...well...where else? With little Bunny returning to work, it was time for Daddy Bunny to enjoy some company and a little bit of fun, if only for a short while. With our bags still mostly packed, it took just a few tweaks, a quick repacking of a few items into a smaller under seat bag, and to Disneyland Paris we go.

We said goodbye to Australia and headed north. This time with Bali and Indonesia in our sights. Not too sure what to expect in Bali given all its negative press about over tourism and crowded beaches. Turns out that is not a worry I need have for the moment, given that my first accommodation is actually on the Island of Nusa Penida (where? Never heard of it...) I hadn`t actually realised that I had been staring at the island every single time I switched on my laptop, with that screensaver staring me in the face! Well, well.. 3 Slightly more excited bunnies now. Nusa Penida Bali airport, I`m sure you have all seen the film Ticket to Paradise, Julia Roberts/George Clooney, landing at Bali etc etc....Ha !!! Couldn`t be further from reality if it tried. Trust me when I say Bali airport is more akin to Manchester, Heathrow or Berlin than the tiny little paradise one room airport of the film. Putting that aside and leaving the airport, where is the greenery, the pretty sights of a beautiful island? Well it is certainly not present as you leave the airport, nor was it apparent on our 30 min cross city drive to the harbour where we were to catch our boat to the Island. Instead we encountered a scruffy drive through a scruffy town, we saw pockets of fabulous architecture and temples, but generally nothing to write home about. Our first impressions of Bali were not good. With mutterings of Bali being not great anymore we actually wondered if we should skip coming back here, and instead lean more towards the smaller quieter islands. Watch this space. From the tiny harbour at Sanur we boarded a small boat for the first of many little boats we would take over the next few days visiting the island destinations. First, to Nusa Penida. The journey took around one hour ish and was actually quite pleasant. We landed at Banjar Nyub and thankfully we had a taxi prebooked so no running the gauntlet of hassling taxi drivers. They are all so lovely, but it is quite intense. Our home on Nusa Penida was our first experience of a bungalow with their huge high arched thatched or in the present case, tiled, roofs. Such a lovely place to stay, with fab views towards the sea. This was to be our first mini holiday within a holiday. A pool, a sea view, a nice restaurant two mins walk away, we felt like we were in heaven. A couple of days doing nothing before these bunny feet twitched, and we booked ourselves a private taxi with driver. Sounds privileged? well we quickly got our dreams dashed there, when leaving the comfort of our bungalow paradise we hit the roads, along with every other tourist on the island, in their identical taxis going to the exact same places, along the craziest winding, pot-holed, roads ever. Yes, the roads are tarmac, but to clarify, imagine rolling out a piece of pastry, the neatest part goes on the widest busiest road, but the left overs, the edges, the bits you cut off when you fill your baking tray, that`s what is laid out on the rest of the roads. Bumpy winding narrow roads with more mud patches than a hippos bum. We had left our room at 9am, thinking this was nice and early and maybe the roads would be quite, after all we hadn`t really seen many other tourists. Ha! No wonder! as pulling up at Diamond Beach we probably found every other tourist on the entire island. Yes, it is beautiful, the colour of the sea is the most beautiful shade of turquoise, green, emerald, topaz blue imaginable, with around 1000 tourists and every car and driver hovering about trying to take the best photos in the best spots. Once again I curse Instagram. Personally this bunny spies the photo, stands, snaps, goes...but the Instagram brigade??? Yawn, pose like this, like that, from this angle, from behind, pouting down the sunnies, point the toes, kiss the lips, not to mention `does my dress look ok`... ITS A BLOODY PHOTOGRAPH, JUST TAKE THE SODDING PHOTO!! I will tell you for nothing that western girls manage the grab a pose, pout, photo quite quickly, but if your from Asia...its time to crack open the picnic basket Boo Boo...cos you are in for a long wait! and neither do they care either. Leaving Diamond behind we went to another point on the island called Teletubbies hills, no need to elaborate here, buts lets say calling it tourist worthy is a bit meh. It is a selection of green hills, woo hoo. We did have plans to visit the iconic view point of Kelingking Beach the following day, but with a monsoon start to the day, this was postponed. Do we feel sad, or unlucky, or frustrated when it rains? Nope, not at all. One little bunny is less than happy, but the older bunnies take it in our stride. We enjoy the rain, as long as we are not getting wet. Rain means cards, or writing, or Words with Friends, Netflix if the wifi stays or even just catching up on sleep. Sometimes doing nothing is doing something. With the weather behaving we grabbed an early morning taxi the following day, and headed directly to that view point. We drove straight there, bypassing other `must see` places. Getting there with only 3 other cars on the car park was excellent news. We were warned by the driver to avoid the aggressive monkeys, (those cute little things were aggressive?) we kept our distance, but found it difficult to accept they were aggressive when we watched one little guy plait a woman`s hair as she stood with her back to him. She was unaware at the time what he was doing, as clearly scrolling through your phone is far more interesting than monkeys and fabulous views. It was quite special looking down at the view which has greeted me for months, every time I pull out my laptop. We took all our photos, and left. We left just as a monumentally huge group of asian tourists arrived. We knew we were lucky to have got our photos as waves of bimbos and himbos in long floaty instagram stereo type dresses and cool shirts, swanned down the stairs towards the view point. If we had arrived only 15 mins later, we would have been in an Everest like queue. The view point was worth seeing, but at what cost are we getting to see these places? The next place of interest summed it all up for me. Hoards and hoards of people all aiming for the same place. These two bunnies took one look and decided we didn`t need to see anything that badly. We plonked ourselves down on a couple of stools and had a drink watching the hoards go by. It was called Angels Billabong, but to be honest, had we caught it on a bad day, or is it really that spit of flat land with a natural cove? Sorry but I didn`t feel the need to hike my bunny butt down to see that any closer. Our brief time on Nusa Penida has come to an end, and our journey now takes us to Lombok. This is the next island on from Bali. Many people commented that its so much quieter than Bali, but just as beautiful. This has to be worth a visit. Lombok. Our boat was due to leave at 9.30. or when its full. We arrived at the boat ticket office, purchased our tickets, watched the boats arrive, then we were collected by staff and hustled onto a open sided mini bus type vehicle and driven to the next dock down. More waiting. Finally the boat arrived, loaded first the luggage then the passengers, and we were off. The journey to Lombok was 2 hours and 20 mins and went via the 3 Gili Islands of Trawangan, Meno and Air. Then the fun started. As soon as you land you are bombarded with taxi, taxi taxi. We know from experience that these taxis, however nice, would be the most expensive. Green and cabbage looking tourist, what do you know about prices?. We got hounded all the way down the street until we took refuge in a supermarket that also offered hot dogs. There we sat eating, all the time being hassled by overly friendly taxi drivers, all of whom assumed we would just pay their silly prices, and instead I contacted our host and asked what a reasonable price should be. Naturally it was half what we had been quoted. A brief negotiation by our host to a willing driver and we were off. We saved a whole £5, but that`s not the point. We don`t like people trying to take advantage of us. Turns out our next accommodation was almost one hour and 35 mins away over the big hill. We felt a little bad about not paying the excessive £5 overcharge. Lombok proved to be quite an expensive island in which to find a place to stay. I can find any number of places, but boxes need to be ticked. Price, rooms, seating, kitchen etc and this one particular house in a place called Mataram ticked all our boxes. From the photos and even the outside of the building I was expecting a little more, but cute and practical were more realistic words. We had a detached house in large gardens, two bedrooms, a living area, bathroom and cooking space. Comparing it to the many properties we had passed on the way, it would be considered luxurious, and we treated it as such. We knew that the hosts had once lived in the house, with one child, but now lived elsewhere. Little bunny summoned up her pre school years experience and embraced the cuteness of her room with its child sized bed, furniture and pooh bear clock. Mr and Mrs bunny felt closer than ever in our room that contained a bed and a table, and a single sized duvet. We had some fun those 5 nights as we each wrestled for our corner. We didn`t dare turn the air con off as we would have quickly melted, but leaving it on and the room was fresh, too fresh to play single duvet wars. life is fun. Our biggest hmmm in the flat was the absence of a sink in the bathroom. Handwashing under the shower tap was fine, but teeth cleaning? As with everywhere we stay, we made it ours, moving furniture around, putting items away that we had no use for, and generally making the place ours for a short stay. We do this everywhere, if its necessary, but hasten to add that we always leave the places exactly as we find them. Call me a dummy, but in years gone by it never occurred to me that I should feel free to move the furniture around to make a room my own. I`ve always been very careful to not touch anything. ( Thank you @Rick Steves/You Tube). The hosts at this property were exceptionally lovely. They really couldn`t do enough for us. The door lock jammed on the first evening, so we spent the whole of the following day waiting for a repair. This caused us no problems at all as we had no plans to leave our place and used our time to make plans for the next leg of the journey. They came, tried to repair the door, failed, swapped door locks around, and promised us that they would take us to the local market and shopping mall when they realised we had no food and no transport. At this point I need to mention the fact that this house, booked by booking.com came with free breakfast. How does a self contained flat/house come with free breakfast? We found out the first morning, when the hosts turned up with eggs, bread, jam, fruit, tea, coffee, and fruit juice and proceeded to take over the kitchen to make our breakfast. We have never felt so uncomfortable. This couple live in the next town, have 3 small children, and they are here making us our breakfast?. We quietly ate everything they made, and swiftly washed and cleaned as they sat out side waiting for us to eat. Never again are we prepared to let anyone cater for us in this manner. The experience was quite humbling. We politely told them that we would not be wanting them to cook for us again. They actually looked relieved. We got the feeling that they were the property managers, but the actual owner was a bit of a donkeys rear end. George and Irma kept their promise to take us shopping, and the following morning, (after we made our own breakfast) they each came on their own scooter, along with a grab scooter rider, and the 3 of us took our very first scooter ride to the nearby town. A little scary but so much fun. We only chose to do one tour on Lombok and it took us to the tourist destination of Kuta, not the one on Bali, Kuta Lombok at the south of the island. Compared to the local vibe of Mataram Kuta is exactly what you expect from a tourist town. All the usual TS shops all selling the same products, numerous cafes catering for everyone from American to Chinese and everything in between. And rubbish. Don`t misunderstand, there is rubbish everywhere, but when its IMBY, its tidy rubbish, but get closer to a tourist resort and the refuse cannot be cleared quickly enough. Dumping on the roadside, down pretty valleys is rife. We spent an hour in Kuta, but these three bunnies were so much happier when we headed back home, back to where local children found us fascinating and yelled lots of Hello`s at us. We know that there is such more to Lombok, but without transport it is just too difficult to get around. We could get taxis, but its getting to be expensive due only to the frequency of need. One way or another we are either going to have to bite the bullet and hire scooters, or accept that big beautiful islands will remain out of reach. We will be coming back to Lombok as we wanted to see another coastline. With our short first stay on Lombok over, we headed back to the port, (an hour and a half) and caught a boat to the Gili Islands. There are many Gilis, meaning small island, but the three that are most prominent with tourists are Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. Gili Trawangan, locally known as Gili T, is known as the party island and our first stop. With this in mind, it was decided that two bunnies would spend just 3 nights here, the little bunny spending four. Cheap and cheerful is the only way to describe our room, but when you spend a whole £9 per night including unlimited tea/coffee and breakfast and a pool, who are we to complain? Gili T like both other nearby Gilis are very small walkable islands. No cars are allowed on the islands, with the only transport being horse and trap, electric mini scooters, or bicycles. Knowing that our first accommodation was an easy walk from the harbour, we spared the horse, and used shanks pony instead. With the weather here in Indonesia very unpredictable, it is after all the wet season, we have to plan our days around the weather. Eg, Day one, we decided to wander around the island and get a feel for the place. Tiny narrow streets, not overly busy, not `real` shops, but tiny little local buildings selling simple handmade tourist souvenirs lined the alleys. Children wander about barefoot and cats are everywhere. Very well fed and happy looking cats I like to add. The horse and carts can be seen around each corner. Along the sea front are the bigger shops and the more touristic cafes and restaurants. Gone are the simple eateries, and here you find the more expensive places. It was whilst walking this street, we decided to see if we could hire and ride a mini scooter as a precursor to hiring a proper one elsewhere. Mr Bunny sampled the scooter first. With a very hesitant local guy showing him the basic controls, of which Mr B took very little notice, the next thing we witnessed was a big bunny on a very small electric scooter whizzy wobbling his bunny butt down the street sending walkers diving for cover as he careered towards them. The scooters barely touch more than 15km tops, so there was no danger, but watching that bunny butt wobbling so much on a scooter than 10year kids can drive was nothing short of hilarious. His return run was a little more dignified, after he realised that he had set off the first time with the throttle on full and his hand clutching the brake hence the flying speedy wobble, the return was a slightly more sedate bunny driving a little more slowly and confidently. The flying bunny had somewhat unnerved little bunny, whose nerves overtook her and was the reason why her bunny butt remained stationary, her little scooter not moving an inch. As the turn of Mrs B came closer, the heavens started to open and the moment came and went. Sensing this was more than just a shower, that this could be a proper tropical monsoon downpour, we ran as quickly as fast as two cronky bunnies could possibly run to the nearest restaurant, and dived in there just as the heavens fully opened. Luckily for us the nearest place was also the biggest hotel and restaurant on the island. The Pearl. Oh wow, what luck, it was just awesome. With a huge upstairs covered terrace overlooking the sea, we watched as the street turned from sandy to soggy from trickle to river. Under our beautiful bambooed roof restaurant, we sat and listened to the rain. With the downpour never ending, we decided instead to treat ourselves to lunch instead of a dodgy scooter. Best meal ever. And not expensive either. A double winner. As we chose to not venture far in an evening we cannot say as to whether or not Gili T lives up to its party island image, what can be said, is how dismissive the foreign tourist can be of local customs. Everywhere you walked had signs begging people to refrain from wearing bikinis around the village, to be dress modestly. Who ignored this? Constantly? Tourists. It really is shameful how much we, and I`m not aiming my observations just at the western cultures either, are happy to visit such beautiful places, but take its traditions so lightly. These bikini bimbos are not here to see, they are here to be seen, and its annoying, rude, distasteful and disrespectful. We bunnies are doing all we can to avoid upsetting any locals. Gili Meno. Our original plan was to stay on all three Gili Islands, but given that Meno is quite exclusive, and so much quieter and thereby more expensive than Gili T, we chose instead to go as a day trip. The island is close enough to almost think you could swim there. You can`t, the currents are treacherous, but it really is only a 10 min boat ride away. Gili Meno is also the island on which the Race Across the World ended 2024, and having already visited one finish hotel at Ushuai, it was exciting being able to say that we had visited another. Meno is tiny. We virtually walked its entire perimeter before finding the hotel. We had lunch there, but unlike the enthusiastic manager of the hotel at Ushuai, none of the staff here appeared to be able to recall the TV programme. Leaving little bunny on Gili T to enjoy an evening of films and unsuccessful bike rides (see miss.tiff.travel s on You tube, and all with become apparent) The two bigger bunnies boated our butts across to Gili Air, to the very appropriately named Follow the Rabbit bungalows. Seeing this place on Google maps, I didn`t even look at anywhere else to stay on the island. What could be wrong with a place that had bunnies on balconies? We were not disappointed. I am a little cross with myself that we agreed to take a horse taxi to get to the rooms, I would normally avoid animal transport at all cost. The carriage was tiny, the harness was loose, and the horse looked fit and well with nice feet. I bit my tongue and hopped on. Good job really as our room was the furthest point from the harbour. True to the description we had a white bunny waiting for us on our balcony. This place was lovely, and somewhere that we really enjoyed. During yet another downpour, and the observation that we hadn`t left our room for food, the staff brought us some supper on a plate. Gratefully received. Another quiet island, and somewhere to which we would return, we spent our brief time there walking the island, dodging 3ft monitor lizards (just the one, thankfully ) and sitting on beach beds with cold drinks and blue sea views. Gili Islands, long may you remain unspoilt. Lombok again. Whilst we did return to Lombok, our hotel was situated quite a way out of the main town, and though we had planned to venture further afield across the Island, the furthest we managed was 2 consecutive nights at 2 different restaurants across the road. What we know of Lombok is that it is a very nice much quieter island to its boisterous neighbour Bali. What we also witnessed, which is so sad, is the lack of pride in itself. There was a local 3 day holiday and this beach area was the biggest focal point. The locals came in their hundreds, with picnics, food, and just sat on the beach throwing whatever rubbish they had around them. Even a local peddler of bracelets, who had a good command of English, told us how much he despairs at the lack of care. Why can they not use the bin, he said to us, look at them, the bin is so close. We blame tourism for the additional refuse, but when locals ignore the islands beauty, what hope is there? Bali. The island we have been most looking forward to whilst in the UK, yet since arriving into Australia, became the Island we came to have the most reservations about. We landed back at the port and had a pre booked taxi to our accommodation. We had watched one of our favourite You Tubers about his trip to Bali and decided to follow his suggestions for places to visit. So, to Canggu we went. Over 2 hours of driving to cover just 40 ish km, such is the busy nature of the roads. Did we pass fabulous and beautiful places? No, not in the slightest. Just your average bustle of local towns and villages. As we got closer to Canguu we noted the quickening array of tourist shops and knew we were getting close. Now, it must be remembered that we are budget travellers, not holiday makers in search of a luxury hotel or spa resort. The rooms we chose were excellent, basic, but excellent. With 2 single beds on an upper floor, and 2 on the lower floor, they were comfortable and clean. The bathroom was practical. The promised kitchen turned out to be shared, clean and tidy, but still shared. Venturing into the town of Canggu was interesting. I had thought it was just the one long street with a couple of off shoots, but realised only when leaving that it actually covers quite a large area. The street was quite busy, the restaurants appeared to be exceptionally good, the one where we chose to eat had fabulous food. The glorious beaches of Bali.....I shall rephrase that, the black sand beach of Canggu was a mecca for the surfing brigade. The sunset there was quite good, but all in all, just a beach town and certainly not a place I would gush over. Day two we ventured along another road and came across a luxury hotel with the Host inviting us in to take a look. No doubt about it, this hotel was stunning, even though the hotels prize `for guests only` pool was central and completely empty, whilst the pool for all was an infinity pool overlooking the sea with comfy beach beds and a bar. Odd. With a blue sky day we sat there for a while enjoying the beach view. Is this Bali? perhaps, but stay at the resort and you really could be anywhere. We took a private taxi tour around the island, with a view to seeing parts of the island ending at our next town stay, the popular Ubud. Leaving the town all we saw was more and more and more building works. We passed a large rice field and passed comment that we thought we would see more of those, to which our young 24yr old taxi driver said, I remember when Canguu was mostly rice fields. 15 years to go from peaceful rice terraces to tourist central. So sad. Our first stop, on a rainy blustery day was Tanah Lot. For anyone who is a fan of the George Clooney film Ticket to Paradise (supposedly set in Bali) this was featured. Atop a grassy palm tree hill they stood and viewed the paradise temple of Tanah Lot.....bloody tosh! Artistic license with a whole lot of rabbit poo! Tanah Lot is accessed by a very large car park, several hundred t.s. shops, countless bars and eateries, and is generally my idea of Tourist Hell. Granted the weather didn`t help, but I would truly hate to be there in the height of tourist season and on a blue sky day. I imagine once upon a time this stunning peaceful temple on its tiny island would have been something special, but now? just another overcrowded money grabbing attraction. Bali, you are just not floating my boat. To the rice terraces next. Now this was special, and being a UNESCO site protected and peaceful this was more the Bali I was hoping for. We had breakfast there, but considering the wait time in a cafe that only had 3 customers, us, we waited an hour! We didn`t mind too much as the view was something special. From the rice terraces we continued further north to the temple area of Ulun Danu Beratan. Online it looked beautiful, and it was, a huge open pristine grass area with temples, play areas, flowers, fish ponds, but it was created for tourism. It felt so false. Get dressed up in traditional costume and take your photo here. No thanks. Still got the bunny blues in beautiful Bali. Last stop Ubud. Oh my goodness, we have never encountered as much traffic in all our travels. Busy Bali lives up to its name. Ubud may have pockets of beauty, but the sheer number of scooters and tourists is quite unbelievable. The streets were gridlocked, and our driver told us this was quiet compared to Christmas!!! Where is the Bali of my dreams? Still on a budget, we encountered our worst room ever. With no Air con and a humidity of almost 90% the room felt damp, clammy and just dismal. Ubud? not for me thanks. 2 nights we stayed before getting our sad bunny butts out of there. Our dislike of the place additionally hampered by the room being situated at the back of the tourist market, the likes of which we had to run the gauntlet of each time we left. We would support the little guy, but we are just not in the market for the weight of extra T.S. Little bunny ventured to the twice weekly local show which she found `ok`..we older bunnies just couldn`t be bothered. The monkey forest was a nice break from the noise and chaos of Ubud but other than that, not for me thanks. Even the nicest walk in Bali, was challenged by the ever present building works on pristine land. The spa resort was undeniably stunning, but if they hadn`t built it, I am quite certain that the green landscape would have been just as special. Our last stop in Bali was Nusa Dua. Or as close as I could possibly get us to it. Nusa Dua is a gated area in the southern tip of Bali. Full of beautiful expensive hotels, with manicured lawns, sea views, private bars on white man made beaches, this is possibly the Bali to which every one comes to see. However yet again, you could be anywhere. Maybe we didn`t venture far enough, stayed in the wrong places, or just got unlucky I am not sure. What I do know is that Bali is too busy for these bunnies. Our little bungalow a few kms from the overly pampered and spoilt brats of Nusa Dua was the closest we came to the touch of Bali paradise that we had hoped for. One of just 3 bungalows that had guests, we had a pool to ourselves, the most stunning bedroom to date, not biggest, just visually stunning (4 poster bed anyone? ) and the loveliest chatty host an ex cruise ship server, who made us a beautiful breakfast each morning serving it to us on our huge patio. Whilst Bali didn`t float our boats as budget travellers, with a lot more research I suspect we could have found the real beauty of Bali somewhere. Indonesia you have been interesting and varied. With more time I think we would have stayed longer and travelled further, probably to the more outlying islands. Until next time, Terima Kasih xx

If you like the North Island, you will like the South Island even more. Every one told us such, saying that the South Island is so much more beautiful. How? How can anything get better than what we were seeing? Well, Yes it can. By the bucketload. If North Island is the Prince, then South Island is surely the King. The beauty of this wonderful place is just jaw dropping. From the moment we landed at the airport it wasn`t hard to see what people meant. Goodness me it is so so beautiful. Our driver was the loveliest most chatty Kiwi we had met so far, asking us our plans, giving us pointers where to go, where to add, what to miss (nothing...) as he drove us to our first 2 night break in the city of Christchurch. Whoops, guess Mrs B didn`t quite get the scale of Christchurch. We were in the suburbs, and though the map said opposite the beach with just a golf course between us and the sea, this wasn`t strictly true. A bit more of a walk than we had thought we headed for the beach and the pier regardless as directed by the property owner, but we were not particularly smitten by the sea front, so decided that as we were so very tired anyway, we would do a `bit of food shopping` then take a taxi back to our loft apartment, and hit the main city of Christchurch the following day. Let me explain the `bit of shopping`....after the very poor choice of food options in South America, New Zealand is quite the opposite, and we simply cannot help ourselves. The food is like the scenery. Awesome, tasty, fresh, and varied. To say we eat well is quite the understatement, especially now that Bunny the Cook has so many more ingredients to play with. Christchurch. A much smaller city than we expected, but like every other town here, ridiculously pretty, cute, tidy and friendly. Not knowing where to go, we followed the scenic tram tracks, we could have gone on the tram, but we do prefer shanks pony, and let the tracks determine our path. First stop the Cathedral. If you recall Christchurch was hit by a short but massive earthquake that destroyed a good portion of the city, and in particular its very iconic and old Cathedral. To date it is still in a state of renovation such was the desire to repair, not knock down and rebuild this old church. We saw many of the newly rebuilt buildings, other buildings with massive reinforcements to keep them standing, others with half tin half tile roofs, and some, like a very large derelict looking building, once a hotel we were told, still awaiting its turn to be refurbished. At the garden of remembrance we walked amongst the many white crosses, each of which was adorned with its own red poppy ( we are very close to the 11th November, but although it is a date of remembrance, the New Zealanders and Australians I believe, prefer to commemorate Anzac Day which falls in April) we tried to assist an elderly gentleman find his uncle, but alas the name was not to be found. He was a lovely guy, who proceeded to guide us to the more central part of Christchurch and its Town Hall, which was next to the most amazing concert hall. We had hoped to take a peep at the hall, but it was closed....or at least it was closed to everyone else bar us, when Mrs Bunny begged a town hall employee to let us take a look. The big act tonight? Jason Mamoa of all people, who knew he played in a rock band, cos I sure as heck didn`t! Obviously we didn`t get to meet him, but the hall in which he was due to play was empty, but pretty special. The next big act to play there will be Sir Cliff Richard. From the concert hall to dining hall, as once more our bellies rumbled and food beckoned. We had been given strict instructions that we could not leave Christchurch without visiting the Riverside Marketplace. A multi venue eating place with just about every genre of food you can hope for. Naturally Mr B swayed towards the liquid venues, whilst bunnies 2 and 3 hit the food stalls. We chose Spring Rolls, and Nepalese dumplings, and the best mango lassi drink. Of course we had to sample the cake stall as well, sharing the best Millionaire shortbread imaginable. He told us his wife, who came from Liverpool (we can forgive her that oversight) made them. Like everything else here, they were pretty darn tasty. Van time. Can I just say, that Mr Bunny absolutely went straight to the top of the class, 3 gold stars and an Oscar, after deciding that the campervan we had prebooked whilst in the UK was going to be far far far too small for us. By now, we know each others quirks, sleeping preferences, and privacy needs, so he spent many an hour negotiating with the company to secure us not only a bigger campervan, but a 6 person motorhome for exactly the same hire fee!! We barely slept that night with giddy excitement to see this new and bigger bunnybus. Collected from the airport from a rental company that was super busy, they gave us the briefest set of instructions and sent us on our way. This briefest of briefings would haunt us later. First stop, Lake Tekapo, whilst back in the UK little bunny asked if we would be in New Zealand in November. With yes being the correct answer the excitement was palpable when she said Oh goody, we will get to see the Lupins. Lake Tekapo, after passing every scenic eyes on stalks vistas, we made it to the lake. I admit, I cried. I cannot describe to you just how blue, scenic, picturesque and utterly beautiful this Lake is. It is the colour of a perfect summer sky, on a blissfully sunny day. Bedecked by the gorgeous lupins that adorn the lake side, and backed by snow capped mountains it truly is a sight to behold. Very sad to know that the locals hate the lupins as they are an invasive species of plant, their colours of pinks and purples complement the lake so charmingly. The utterly charming little Church of The Good Shepherd stands on the bank of the lake, and I swear if that little church charged a dollar for every photo its been in, it would be the richest little church building in the world. We spent a long time just gazing at the beauty of this lake, before we headed off to a yet `more beautiful` lake, Lake Pukaki. Yes, the lake itself was equally blue and beautiful, but the lupins there had quite clearly been doused with a plant killer leaving sad dark stalks. Lack of lupins aside, we set up to spend our first night freedom camping on the Lake side. Table and chairs set up. cold drinks poured, now for some food.......ever tried lighting a gas hob with no spark and no matches? Mrs B had to don the best smile as she wandered from van to van begging matches. After a long day driving, and a great meal, bedtime beckoned . Problem number 2. How the heck does the swinging, height adjustable table disassemble??? This nightly occurrence was to incur our wrath of 'urine extraction' for a further 10 or so nights until we gave up and left the darn bed made up. Learning that weather was closing in on the west side of the South Island, we decided to head straight for Milford Sound rather than visiting other towns on the way, and made the best decision in doing so. We spent the whole day driving but given the beauty of the South Island, this was no hardship. The whole of the road leading to Milford is geared up for camping, motorhomes and caravans on every level. There are at least 7 freedom sights, some paid sites, fully fledged holiday parks and lots of others. NZ is geared up for Motorhomes, and it is no more difficult finding space for a motorhome than it is a car. Anywhere. We camped in a large semi shale, hard decked field, and we call it the place where Mr B swore he saw a Kiwi but didn`t. To clarify, this bird had wings and a long beak. It was bold and brash stealing from peoples picnics, and it was 6pm. A true Kiwi is flightless, long pointed beak, is super timid, lives in deep dense quiet forest areas, and only comes out at night time. Long story short, the only true Kiwi we saw was the one Kiwis backside in the North Island bird sanctuary. Milford Sound. There are many `Sounds` similar to fjords, or the same? I truly do not know the difference. We chose the popular Milford Sound for its ease of accessibility, rather than Doubtful Sound with its reputation of being slightly more spectacular. There are many boats, and many boat operators, I chose the biggest looking boat Milford Haven. The trips are not cheap, but whichever boat you chose, the views are the same. Amazing, spectacular, and just wow on every level. The boats drive along the cliff edges, passing by the magnificent cliffs and massive waterfalls. Our weather was picture perfect, and made for a superb 2 hour boat trip. At the end of the Sound as we approached the sea, a pod of local dolphins appeared. Some bright spark on the boat kept spotting the odd penguin, but given that he was glued to his size 36 magnifying telescope, most other people on the boat deigned to give his sightings no more than a cursory glance in the approximate direction. Doubtful Sound, you may(?) be more beautiful but you really don't need to be, happiness fulfilled in the most perfect tranquillity of Milford Sound, Heading Northwards again, our journey continues...

A dream come true. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get to visit this beautiful country. A 14 hour flight from Santiago to Sydney, followed by what should have been an easy 2.5hours bunny hop to Auckland. All I can say is that its a good job I was so tired that I actually couldn`t care, as that flight took on the persona of a wild cat rollercoaster. We ducked and dived and rolled around so much that my tired brain wondered if we had got on a boat instead. I asked the air steward as we disembarked if that was a normal flight, to which he laughed and said, `no way, that was quite challenging and most unusual` I feel quite proud of myself as this flight hating bunny didn`t utter even the smallest of squeaks. From moment one, the beauty of New Zealand hits you full in the face. It is everything you wanted it to be, and so much more. Clean, fresh, vivid, tidy, are all words that I will no doubt be using often. We started our trip with a short stay in Auckland. Day one saw us visiting the All Blacks Experience near City Tower. For a short tour it was exceptionally brilliant. Even the two less than avid rugby loving bunnies enjoyed every second of the tour, whilst Mr I love Rugby Bunny was quite in his element. The tour was a superb presentation of the development of the All Blacks rugby team from early days to present day kick ass team. We wandered from room to room learning as we walked, nothing was boring, no endless waffle of dates and ex players, blah blah blah, just a quick fire positive, informative, knowledgeable talk about all things All Black, both the male and female teams. The talk progressed from early days to sitting in the changing rooms, to lining up to enter the stadium, (so well presented, I actually felt nervous myself!) to then standing facing the All Black team as they performed the Haka. After the tour was over, we spent time in their simulated sports room where you could kick the rugby balls, make throws at targets, or dodge the opposition as you eliminated lights on the ground simulating fancy foot work. Mr Bunny blaming his dodgy back and wonky hip for his lousy scores, did manage a satisfactory 3/5 on target hits. Mr B did fancy himself an All Blacks rugby shirt in the shop afterwards, but at a paltry $250 (ouch) opted instead for a photo wearing said shirt. Little Bunny set her sights quite high, literally, for our next visit, of which us two terra firma loving bunnies opted against. Little B went up the Sky Tower for a bunnies eye view of Auckland. We had a drink at the bottom and waved up at the distant glass windows of the tower in the vague hope she may see the two tiny specks of bunny fluff far below her. Day two, and a little more rested, we set off walking across Auckland. First stop, the very interesting War Museum. From Maori culture, insects, dinosaurs, birds, art, strange creatures, and a` real` volcano experience, we finally came to the War museum itself. The museum was excellent, but a single line of text was all it took to bring a lump to my throat. On both sides of the wall were marble tablets filled with names of lost NZ soldiers from the various wars, with one plain white Marble Plaque having just one inscription. `May this blank space remain forever so`. Quite poignant . From the museum we walked along the Whitehaven Marina. The day was exceptionally windy and with clouds fast approaching we cut this long (and on a nice day) very picturesque walk short, and headed instead to Ponsonby Road. Here we walked a cafe lined road, until we found ourselves at the food market. So many choices of food, there doesn`t seem to be a food or meal unique to New Zealand, with the food culture most definitely influenced by the huge influx of South East Asian residents. We could chose to eat any amount of noodle or rice dishes, but with a view to visiting Asia in the near future we preferred to wait and eat that genre of food there. Mr Bunny having been on his paws all day took a shine to the nearest pub, whilst the sweet toothed bunnies fancied a cake. Or at least we did until we saw the prices! I kid you not, $17 each ( £8.50) was the average, so instead we headed for the aptly named `Grownup Donuts` and had the yummiest donuts. Meringue and passion fruit for one, and orange custard for the other. Yum Yum, and at $8 dollars (£4) still expensive granted, but not by NZ standards. After a long long day and many steps, we caught an uber home, and Mr B amused the Kiwi driver by uttering his thanks in Spanish, with many Si Si ! and Gracias, Some habits fade slowly. (ditto put loo paper in the loo not the bin, just saying) Day 3, we picked up yet another car. There is not a hope in heck of moving around North (or South) Island without a vehicle. It was always the plan. What I hadn`t planned for was the huge driving distances. We spent hours on the roads in South America, very very long, straights roads, and pot holes excepted, very easy roads. New Zealand is so beautiful, but the roads? Yes, they are tarmac, with no potholes, but they are so so bouncy and the roads wind like a twisted ball of yarn. Every journey is quite the challenge. The scenery is spectacular, that you cannot complain about, but endless beautiful green meadows, and tree covered hillsides, can be difficult to admire when your butt is bouncing around like a bunny on heat. We have even taken to regularly switching seats between back and front to give the other some respite. First stop, Coopers Beach. Chosen for its beachside location and cute accommodation. It did not disappoint. The blue water of the Tasman Sea was a stones throw from our front door. A long sandy bay, palm trees and blue sea, what more could you ask for? Meant to be a relaxing 3 day stay prior to the non stop wanderings of South Island, we managed a whole day of nothing, before our bunny butts twitched and we longed to see more. Cape Reinga beckoned, and on the most gorgeous blue sky day, we drove the 2 hours to the lighthouse, and the most sacred of Maori sights. 'A place to find yourself' is how it is portrayed, and they were not wrong. We took so many photos, the seas, the rocks, the lighthouse, the skies, the landscape was just awesome. Once again, just us, and a couple of other tourists, in this normally packed to the gills tourist destination. How we manage to get places to ourselves is amazing. The only other visitor, just happened to be a lass from Yorkshire, as they say, small world. From Cape Reinga, we drove back to visit the 90 mile Beach. A long stretch of beach that cars are allowed to drive on, with the same driving rules and etiquette as a normal road. Alas for us, it does specify 4x4 cars only, or others at very low tide. We ticked neither box, so satisfied ourselves by opting for a few photos instead. Our last day at Coopers Beach, found us at the very odd Gumdiggers Forest. It sounded too interesting to miss, and with a comparatively low entrance fee, a must see for us. Gum diggers, dug holes in the wetlands, to find the gum, or amber secreted by a certain tree. They wore rubber boots, which in turn became the Gum boots we know today. It is ancient amber, but not prehistoric. We thought we were going to be seeing old ancient trees of fantastical sizes, but clearly we had our wires crossed, as these trees were long gone, with just their roots and traces left behind in the big holes mined by the gumdiggers. A nice walk in essentially a wood full of holes. From Coopers Beach we came south to Whangarei . One of the biggest towns on the Peninsula and the home of a family friend from years ago. All I can say is, when I finally decided to retire...oh, yes...I am retired...hmmm....well I think what I am alluding to, is when I am retired and ready to live in a gated paradise of people of a similar age, then this is where I want to be. Very very beautiful. Of course we very nearly knocked on the wrong door, when Mr B failed to correctly read the address, whoops, but a brief turn around and we found the gorgeous little bungalow of a lady so lovely, we could have spent all day with her. Such a chatty chatty lady, she was so easy to listen to. With Mrs Bunny fading rapidly due to an ill timed bout of flu/cold symptoms, we bade Carol farewell, and left for our room in the nearby town. Mrs B lay down in the bunny hutch and slept, caring little about exploring the town. Mr Bunny played chauffeur and took little B on a drive around the neighbourhood to get a feel of the area. Whangarei to the Coromandel. Every Aussie or Kiwi we had met prior to our trip, said the Coromandel was an absolute must see. So must see we did. With accommodation so expensive in all of the most touristic towns, we found a nice little caravan/cabin on a holiday park in the town of Te Puru and opted to drive to the various points of interest. I do wish I had researched distances in advance, every drive was super beautiful, but ohhhhh those bumpy roads....First stop, Driving Creek Railway. A little scenic railway built by Barry Brickell. A man who started as a potter and combining his love of pottery with a passion for engineering and conservation, he single handed built this incredible little narrow gauge railway with its multiple bridges and little tunnels, that wends its way up through the forest to the most incredible viewpoint, the `Eyefull Tower` A super fun couple of hours. From there we headed to my much longed for view of the very famous Cathedral Cove. You will have seen this cave picture so many times in films or as a screen saver, and it features in one of my favourite films, Narnia. A huge high cave that leads onto a beach. The beach itself was amazing, such soft sand, and the bluest blue sea. ***** At this point I must add, that I have known for quite some time that Cathedral Cove itself had suffered quite a bad rockfall and landslide, and that the path was closed to the public. Remember Yorkshire lass at Cape Reinga? We mentioned to her we had wanted to visit the cove, and it was shut, but she said `go anyway, the paths are closed but walk round the barriers, just do it, cos everyone does it, the path is clearly well worn`. With this in mind, and ignoring just about every single signpost in the town saying `The only way to visit the cove is by water taxi` we forged ahead regardless. We found the path to the cove, we came across the steel barriers, and yes, there was a very well worn and well defined path showing where people had walked around the barrier, so we too walked around, not once, but twice. At this point sense prevailed. The barriers are there for a reason. The kiwis would not willingly block off their most famous tourist spot if it was in any way safe. We knew full well that the only people ignoring those barriers would be tourists, and we made the conscious decision to not be `one of those people`. Who are we to deem what is safe and what is not? If something is not meant to be, its not meant to be for a reason. We will be visiting many more iconic sights, without putting ourselves, or any one else for that matter, in danger. We sighed and with disappointed hearts, we turned back. Perhaps you will forgive us for tempting fate, when I tell you that the water taxi was a hefty $80 dollars pp. For a short boat ride, to take some nice pictures? We are not that desperate or reckless. We tried to appease our failure to visit one iconic sight, by visiting another. Hot Water Beach. Now this beach wasn`t a patch on the previous one, and insult to injury we had to pay a car parking fee!! (New Zealand has a refreshing mostly free parking rule) We knew the best hot water is found at low tide, but with tours offering twilight visits, we figured there must be hot water to be found at the end of day as well. Around the rocks on the beach are geothermic patches of hot water, you find your spot, dig a big hole, and wait for the hot water to fill your little pool. Did we find Hot Water? yes, and no....we found warm sand, sand that got warmer not colder the more you dug, but the water stayed stubbornly out of reach. Our disappointments are short lived. The beauty and sheer joy of just being here, in New Zealand far outweighs any fickle beach trick or costly boat ride. Our next stop was supposed to be the town on Whakatane but a last minute message from the booked property saying they had a water leak forced a rapid change of direction. Lake Taupo was ultimately our next must see place, but then I found the Nutshed. Oh joys of joy, I couldn`t believe my luck. For the same price as the little caravan cabin we found ourselves in the middle of an orchard in a newly converted milking barn. We only got as far as opening the door when Mr B announced that I needed to contact the owners Right Now! and see if it was available for 4 nights. (it was). In our little house of paradise we had 3 bedrooms which together yielded beds to sleep 10. 3 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, a laundry section, a huge kitchen, dining area and living area. Not to mention endless amounts of outdoor space and an orchard to which we had free rein. If the season had been favourable we could have feasted on oranges, lemons, macadamia nuts, walnuts and home grown asparagus. We did nab a couple of lemons and the asparagus, but alas the oranges and nuts were not suitable for eating. A quick change of heart in the places we chose to visit, we managed two very busy days, and one whole day of nothingness in our `little shack`. Ah the bliss of relaxation. Taupo. First stop, Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. I never knew that New Zealand was such a minefield of natures wildest events. I knew about the terrible Earthquake in Christchurch 2011, but hadn`t appreciated just how many volcanoes or thermal springs the land sits on. Even from our bedroom window in the NutShed we could see a volcano. The Thermal wonderland was a geothermal park of bubbling springs, to steaming ponds of mud, and an active landscape. Wild and raw it was quite fascinating, but nothing could have made me believe that water could be bright luminous green, if I had not seen it for myself. From green ponds to green trees, big trees, in fact huge trees! We headed next for the forest of the Redwoods. We walked amongst natures giants, and enjoyed the peace of the forest. We had our picnic sat under the trees. There was a tree walk that we had hoped to do, but again at $40 each, we decided that why pay to walk in the middle of the trees, when it was far more satisfying admiring the sheer size of the trees from ground level. Our last visit of the day was to the Living Maori Village. Have to say this was one of the stranger tours we did. From start to finish we were a little bemused. A one hour guided tour plus up to 2 hours free time to wander the village, was the websites description. What it didn`t say was the village closed at 4 prompt, we had the 3pm tour. ( your extra two hours could be taken the following day between 8 and 10am (almost as the village only opened at 9?)....That the guide would be a child intolerant feisty bitch who had zero tolerance for stupid questions, and that we would be shepherded around the village at a rather quick pace. did we enjoy it? Yes !! of course we did. It was actually refreshing to have a guide telling parents of a squawking annoying child to actually remove said child or move to the back of the group, wow, thank you lady! The guide, a Maori who lived in the village took great pains in telling us all about the cooking of food in the steam ovens, how they bathe in the free open air concrete pools of geothermally heated bath water, the teaching of Maori language and customs in the school. How they bury their dead above ground (no digging of holes in the unsafe active fields) Her patience ran to zero, when a guest asked her what food they cooked. ( We knew they were asking special food, eg Turkey at Christmas) but the poor guy was subjected to class dunce status when feisty guide asked the rest of the group to tell him what foods she had just mentioned! Day two, and our favourite day of all. First stop, Huka Falls, the most popular destination in North Island, and not hard to see why. Not quite a waterfall, but more your water rapids ride minus the rings, in the brightest turquoise blue water. So very beautiful. We walked the banks of the river following the path of these majestic fast moving swirling blue waters, before we left, heading to blue waters of our very own. The Wairakei Thermal Spas. What a gorgeous place, like a mini paradise with blue pools, all geothermally heated, palm trees, and white rocks, it was gloriously peaceful and relaxing. With pool temperatures ranging from 34 degrees to 40 degrees there was a pool to suit each of us. Like 3 bears, or bunnies we tested them all, too hot, too cool, ahhhhh just perfect. And with hardly any other guests we could relax and swim in the pools to our hearts content. (and adult only as well, so no annoying squawkers to spoil the ambience) There we spent the most blissful two hours before our bunny bellies beckoned to be fed. Feeling so hungry we headed to Taupos most famous and iconic restaurant, steak? lamb? BBQ? gourmet burgers? not quite. Mcdonalds of all places. But not just any McDonalds, this one has its tables in an airplane. For every reason going, we just had to take a nosy at this unique fast food takeaway. Our first fast food of the trip we chose not to sit amongst the group of foul mouthed teenagers in the plane itself (quite the first for us in New Zealand, and in fact anywhere on our trip) but instead we sat under the wing of the plane and troughed our big macs with gusto. After we had sated our appetites, we meandered along the banks of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in the North Island, until we came to a Golf Challenge. An artificial island sat just off shore (120yds) with 3 flags and a big sign offering 10,000$ for a hole in one. With a penchant for golf and a pretty good swing, this had Mr bunnies name written all over it. To cut a long story short, we still had noodles for tea. But, to give him massive credit, Mr B did hit that island a creditable 4 times in conditions that were anything but easy. Hobbiton Saving the very best of all North Islands visits to the very end of our trip, we went to the magnificent Hobbiton Movies Farm Studios Tour. I will quite truthfully say, that I have never read the books nor seen any of the movies, but Hobbiton was the place I wanted to visit more than anywhere else, and for which I actually had to proper stamp my little bunny feet to get Mr B to agree to go, and this was back whilst still in the UK. He absolutely did not want to go, too expensive, better things to see, never seen the films, were all the reasons he gave for not wanting to go. Mrs B knew better. If the films were as good as the Harry Potter movies, and lets face it, the following is just as huge, then the film set would be something special. You arrive at a car park and immediately see many of the mini buses lined up and ready. The set itself is only accessed by bus and a guide. And the system works beautifully. The tours leave every 10 mins prompt, and from the moment you arrive at the Shire with your guide, and go through that first pathway, we, and everybody else, were just smitten. The landscape is undeniably beautiful, and so incredibly pretty. The attention to detail beyond compare. Every house, every garden, stand, tree, pole and accessories are immaculate and perfect. The original hobbit houses were demolished, but on making the second film they made the wise decision to build them as permanent structures. Every single little house is perfect and cute. From the curtains, to the door knobs, flowers and washing on the washing lines, the only things missing were the hobbit inhabitants. The tour runs so well that as you approach each house and get a brief description of the part it played in the film, everyone has sufficient time to take all the photos you could possible desire before moving on allowing the next group to quietly and efficiently slide into your spot. Every Hobbit house got better and better and better, leaving the most perfect hobbit house to the end. Two simple unassuming doors, one half of the group went through one door, the other half through the other door. and what did we find? Heaven. so much heaven I cannot even begin to start to describe. In a nutshell, the most perfect hobbit house you could ever wish for, with not just a few bits of details, but thousands. My jaw hit the floor and I never retrieved it. I think I just found my own special place. Would I go back and do it again? yes, and again and again. The tour ends at the Green Dragon pub where we were each given a free drink, either alcoholic or ginger beer, you can guess which bunnies had which. And we also bought a pie each. Oh my goodness, the Kiwis sure know how to make a good pie. Leaving Hobbiton, and the highlight of our North Island tour, we packed our bags, said goodbye to our car, and headed once more for the airport and to our next destination, South Island.

From El Calafate we flew north to Santiago, once more we hired a car and drove to the coastal town of Valparaiso. We could quite easily have got one of the the very many and frequent Flix Buses, but time was short, and we admit we had grown tired of lugging our bags about. From plane to bus station, from bus station to bus station, from station to accommodation , and the same in reverse. Mr Bunny took matters into his own paws, and decided for all the hassle, the extra cost of a car would be worth it. We had a very fussy apartment booked, with a super strict and unmovable check in time of by 9.30pm or else. A rather bolshy text to the property owner, suggesting that I could always ask the pilot to fly a little quicker failed to move the apartment owner into agreeing a later check in so time was precious. It should be noted that we were flying via Buenos Aires with a 4 hour layover. Thankfully the superb organisation of Rental Cars at Santiago airport, meant we were collected, driven to the car hire office, the car was ready and waiting, and we left their office with sufficient time for a leisurely drive to Valparaiso. Ha !!! Lets just say we spent around 40 mins of our precious time just trying to leave the damned airport. How many blocked entrances? Road Blocks, One ways...we encountered them all. The road to Valparaiso was luckily blissfully traffic free, landing us at the apartment at 9.15pm. Good job we had a person waiting for us, we were on the 13th floor...the car park was on 9th floor, but was in the basement...reception on 11, via 2 lifts...what a crazy block of apartments. Valparaiso More than once we were told, `that`s not a safe place these days` Not helped by the fact that for the first time I had chosen an apartment for its views and not for its location in the safest district as per every other stay I had booked. We admit to being a little nervous there. Day one we just sat on the balcony in the hot sun and chilled. Watching the seals on the pier down below provided adequate entertainment. Day two however we decided we couldn`t stay in `the former jewel of South America` without seeing it for ourselves. We followed guidance to the letter, we dressed discreetly, kept phones and cameras packed away, and kept constant vigilance to our surroundings. I had read that the street vibes changed street by street, and that was quickly apparent. We only ever walk by day, we never wander far from busy streets, and are always careful. Valparaiso used to be the hub of the South America sea trade, and its not hard to see why. It really is, or rather was once, very beautiful. Old colonial buildings with stylish decor, shutters and graceful beauty stand looking forlorn shabby and unloved. Many of them empty. a sad reminder of better times. We spent the day walking the sea front, along which are far too many reminders of the sad situation of the homeless migrants mostly from Venezuela. As we headed for the `safe` area of Valparaiso, the Cerro Alegre we really did feel the ever changing ambience of the streets, bright and cheerful, turned into dour and cold, happy go lucky teenagers milled around the colleges/universities, whilst beady eyed teenagers eyed us moodily around the less savoury streets. At Cerro Alegre there is a multitude of colourful street art, and felt like a safe touristic place to spend some time. We had a coffee and cake break at a cafe high above the town, with a wooden barrier so rotten it would have crumbled at the slightest touch. No health and safety here, so use common sense and lean lightly. The cafe of choice was clearly an original from the hey day of the town. The wooden interior, the uneven floors, very old black and white pictures, and gorgeous old wooden furniture. One piece I thought was a strange box cupboard turned out to be an original fridge! Santiago Once again we return to Santiago, to Maktub hostel, with its wonderful beds and squeaky floors. Again we chose to spend our day at the rather wonderful Costenera shopping mall, rather than wander yet another city. Mr Bunny had left over Chile doofers which he divvied up between us in the hope we could each buy a last South American treat. Have you any idea how difficult it is to buy anything, when you have zero baggage space and a super strict baggage allowance? Little bunny opted to buy a better daybag, as hers was a little on the small side, and didn`t have dedicated laptop space, where as Mrs Bunny purchased yet another white t shirt, of the vest variety in the hope of visiting warmer climates. Mr Bunny treated himself to a rather nice steak dinner. And that, my bunny friends concluded our stay. We have loved our time in South America, but we are ready for a change. New Zealand awaits. We shall pick up the story in Auckland. Bunnies One, Two and Three are hopping to see you there.

Leaving behind all things hotel and comfortable, we headed for the Airport at Calama, returned our hire car, and boarded a plane to El Calafate in the heart of Argentina`s Patagonia. A rather expensive bunny hop into town on arrival, not that we had a lot of choice given that the airport manager informed us that the airport was about to close. We had neither local money nor internet. Informed that all taxis have a means of taking card payment, we were directed to the last taxi available. A £20 taxi ride and 20 mins later we arrived at our little home in El Calafate. We were due to spend one night here, but a series of events and a high jacked day led us to stay put for 2 nights. Such a beautiful place, so no hardship. We did not get the chance to see the town up close this time around but hope to return here for a couple more nights when we return the car. All I can say about our accommodation is that it was warm, really really, really warm. To be surrounded by snow capped mountains but needing to have the front door open to lessen the heat in our `sauna` is proof enough as to the warmth. Granted it was lovely to be so toasty, but not so much in the early hours when you cant exactly fling the door open to cool down. We bought food in the town supermarket, and it was as we expected a little expensive. Mr Bunny and his cooking skills as always prevailed. He really does feed us well on very few ingredients. Day 2. Our journey today takes us to El Chalten , via the awesome Perito Merino Glacier. Quick note here, there are two places called Perito Merino, which caused said Mr bunny to have a minor meltdown when I showed him the route (whilst still in the UK) , stamping his overly large bunny feet insisting we go to the Glacier. It was on the route, just not where he expected it to be. There are two my bunny friends, a place name, and a glacier of same name, in two very different places. Perito Merino Glacier. Nothing short of spectacular. I admit to feeling a little meh about seeing a glacier, a big wall of ice, where is the fun in that? Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before my eyes. The road we travelled on through the National Park Los Glaciares to the glacier took us along the lake edge. It was there we saw our first iceberg. I felt daft at first pointing out that iceberg, but then it occurred to me, when had I/we ever seen a real one before? We have been to Norway and Sweden but that was Summer, we didn`t see icebergs there, in a land where you would expect to see them, yet here in Patagonia, sat the cutest little iceberg you ever did see, right there in front of our very eyes. An iceberg of the palest blue. If the giddiness of seeing that chunky lump of ice made me smile, it was nothing to witnessing the sheer size and scale of the Perito Merino Glacier. It really is quite breath taking, and far more impressive than I was expecting. Once the shock and awe of the phenomenon you are witnessing passes, you then start to take in the colours. Blues of every colour, the whole blue spectrum from the palest baby blue, to more vivid striking cobalt, deepest turquoise and neon blue. How can white ice be so blue? The Glacier is a visually striking wall of cracked ice, with every crack harnessing its own blue colours. There are so many well constructed paths that lead to and around the glacier in every direction. We chose the easiest path, and meandered down toward the river and the glaciers edge. Every set of stairs that descended increased the grandeur and majesty of this spectacular glacier. At home I thought meh its only ice...in reality, I couldn`t have be less meh if I tried. This ticked one of Mr Bunny`s bucket list items, and it added to mine. We would have liked to have lingered longer, but the need to push on to our next destination dragged us away. We did have a rather annoying kit kat moment, after we had turned our backs on the glacier for just a few moments, it chose that very time to crack and cascade into the lake with the most deafening rumble. We heard the roar and the resounding splashes, but alas a wall of trees spoilt our view for those crucial seconds. We heard a glacier crack.... but accept some things are not ours to witness first hand. El Chalten. After 5 hours of the most breath taking scenery, and a whole lot of nothing else, we arrived at the town of El Chalten. When I say a whole lot of nothing, that is quite literal. No people, no house, no towns, no shops, not even a stray dog. Plenty of trees and Guanacos (snooty faced llama type animals), and views beyond compare, but other than that, a whole lotta nothing. Just straight roads of nothingness. The northern parts of Patagonia offers little conversation other than `wow` `wow` and yet more `wow` Sheer raw beauty of nature at its best. We are coming out of winter and heading to spring. Lambs are being born, trees are bare, the land is barren, but it is beyond compare. As the mountain ranges close in and the snow peaks grow ever larger, the peak of the distinctive Fitz Roy mountain comes into view, and the tiny town of El Chalten. This is quite clearly a town that is developing quickly, and I suspect the land is valuable. The hiking around this area would be enough to keep any seasoned and hardy hiker busy for months, and I would guess that every spare bit of land is being purchased and utilised for the purpose of hiking accommodations. The trails here are many and varied. The houses of the town differ wildly, from wooden lodges, small hotels, converted caravans, large well cladded garden sheds, small concrete housing units, to the one I liked the most, a small rowing boat, upwardly extended in a manner Mr and Mrs Weasley would be quite proud of. The cost of staying in El Chalten is quite steep comparatively, and even at the outer edges of the town we paid just short of double our usual budget. Our little apartment was tiny and cute. Tiny enough to serve a purpose, big enough not to feel crowded. On our first full day, the sun shone brightly, we first drove, then hiked up the easiest hiking trails to be rewarded with yet more awesome views. Patagonia does not disappoint. Our trail was called the Condor Trail and we were rewarded with said birds. There were many condors, soaring and gliding the wind currents high above us. The next trail was the Eagle trail, not convinced we saw the eagles, but then again they are much smaller and harder to spot. The trail ended with yet more views to behold. Back at our `ranch` we enjoyed our home cooked bunny food, before settling in for an evening of Netflix. It snowed this evening, all night long. We knew snow was forecast, but it only mentioned a flurry. Ha!! It snowed big time, and we woke to a blanket of white. This was not a problem for Mrs Bunny who has no hiking desires, but caused quite a stir in the world of two other bunnies who had planned...and still planned, to hike the longest most challenging hike in Patagonia. Today. In the snow. Fully kitted out I hear you say? Nope. Walking trainers, no crampons, no walking poles, no waterproof trousers or gaitors, nothing, nada, zip. So, at 8am, two foolhardy and determined bunnies, dressed to kill in everything warm they could muster, set off to hike Fitz Roy, all 14 miles of it. In the snow. Mrs Bunny settled down with a good cup of tea, a book, warm slippers, and a cat for company. The cat had sat on the windowsill for many minutes staring in at me meowing until I let him/her in. Stalked in like it owned the place, demanded water from the bathroom tap, then casually draped itself on the bed and promptly went to sleep. For 4 hours! It was actually nice having a furry body in the room for company whilst the 2 daft bunnies hiked up a steep and snowy mountain. 11 hours later, my two crazy bunnies arrived home. I had given them the ultimatum of home by 7pm or I send out a search party. They pushed their luck timing their return 6.56 ! The floor definitely had pace marks. Having decided that Laguna 69 (Huaraz) was the most challenging of hikes, they both scoffed and declared that Laguna 69 was actually a mere walk in the park compared to Fitz Roy. Ushuaia From the first day we watched the Race Across the World, ending in a place called Ushuaia, ( how do you pronounce it and where the heck is it..) the thought of visiting the city at the end of the world was totally on our radar. From El Chalten to Ushuaia is around 18 hours by car, the distances here are quite eye watering. We opted to break up the journey by pausing for a night at Rio Gallegos. I don`t intend to dwell on the past, but this was the port that served the Argentine Naval force during times of conflict in the mid 80s. Not knowing quite how we would be greeted or welcomed in Argentina so close to the islands we chose to avoid the museums and the monuments. Let me add, every sign post and reference points to the Malvinas, the English version is never ever referred to. A muted sore point in the history of Argentina? Our apartment wasn`t quite ready on arrival, so we took a drive to the sea front. It looked like the sea but it is just an inlet. Every part of this ride was Lytham to St Annes. (English seaside towns) Sea wall on your left, beautiful house of every size and shape on your right. One night in the bunny hutch at Rio Gallegos and back in the car. pssst do you want to know how to get from El Chalten to Rio Gallegos? simples, Leave El Chalten on the main road, turn right at the t junction. Turn Left at the next junction, straight on forever and Rio Gallegos will be in front of you. Two turnings we made, in 8 hours!! The next part of the journey would be long, varied, challenging, boring, wow, two border crossings, Argentina/Chile/Argentina (they nicked our eggs!.....and on the return journey we got in trouble for an onion, so be warned!) and lastly a ferry crossing. Around 8 hours in total. All I can refer to along this early stretch of the journey was the fate of the daft Guanacos. I saw their furry butts so often that I renamed them either Guanacant`s or Guanacans There are many many herds of these beautiful snooty faced animals all along both sides of the fence line that stretches the length of Patagonia. The guanacos/cans/cants graze peacefully on both sides of the fence, the guanacants were the ones who failed to clear the fence and hung pitifully either draped like a furry rug, their sad little fluffy butt tails waving in the wind, or hung by the one trailing leg that didn`t quite clear the 4ft obstacle. Pretty sure these departed animals make for a proper feast for the elusive Pumas and Cougars, not to mention the condors as the number of furry butt tails and dangling bods was numerous. Guanacans troughed the grass on both sides of the fence. Departed guanacos aside, we have seen a number of the other animals/birds that fly/roam the Patagonian plains. Grey Foxes, Eagles and Hawks, a Skunk (alas flattened, but still spotted) wild Horses, Rhea and even a flamboyance (isn`t that a nice word?) of Flamingos. I thought I was seeing things when I saw what I thought were herds of ostrich in the field, but a google search revealed they were wild Rhea. The last leg of our journey took us across the fantastic plains of Tierro del fuego. The original indigenous people used fire to keep warm (what else....?) and passing sailors saw the flames, called it the land of fire, Tierro del Fuego yadda yadda yadda. The wind across the never ending flat plains was quite scary at times, the car shook like the bunny in Fatal Attraction, and Mr bunny`s knuckles were quite white at times from gripping the steering wheel. It is hard to recall at what point the scenery changed, but the change was rapid. From a blank canvas of sandy plains, trees started to appear, first one, then another and suddenly huge forests loomed out of nowhere. Then hills, which grew into mountains, that developed into snow topped mountain ranges. The change in scenery was nothing short of sudden and dramatic. Did I mention the absence of cars? Pretty sure during the entire 8 hour plus journey the number of cars in either direction wouldn`t top 50, if that. If there is only one road to The end of the World, and the number of cars we saw barely made it past 50, just how tiny a town is Ushuaia? Huge, really really huge! We were so surprised to find a town this large. Not London or La Paz huge, but pretty close to Harrogate or Halifax (uk) It would seem that living here is so good, why leave? Ushuaia . The City at the End of the World. And it is spectacular. I am so so happy to be here, it was worth the very long journey. The town itself is pretty enough, but backed by snow capped mountains, and facing the Beagle channel, the scenery surrounds you on all sides. This is a city in which you can live and breathe. Hiking, fishing, boating, skiing, mountains, nature and wildlife are just some of its many attractions. Tourism is definitely developing quickly here, and the number of cruises to Antarctica doubles year on year. Still this city remains unique. We drove around the streets away from the touristic centre today, and just marvelled and laughed at the huge array of housing. Of course there are a few blocks of same same buildings, but mostly every other single building, be it house or shop is unique. Bungalows, houses, sheds, caravans, wooden lodges, wooden houses, concrete houses, isthatreallya house type houses, ultra modern stands next to original wooden multi storey constructions. Made from chipboard, metal panels, wood or even glass. Single glazed windows, or high tech shutters. Square concrete boxes reside next to triangular oddities. British Building regulations go eat your heart out, take a look at how amazing and functional these houses/homes/one mans castles, are, and get off your silly high horses about 3.5" cladding and 2.3 ft deep drains...boo sucks to you. This is how people should be allowed to live. Practical, functional and personal. Self made and proud to call them home. Tours. Seriously expensive. This is not a place to come thinking you can do all sorts, at least not on a budget. £50 pp to ride the train, one and half hours, but you must, not optional also purchase the national park ticket @£20pp. Beagle Channel cruise? £135, pp. Some eye watering costs. I am both glad and a little sad about not riding the train, but was it a must or a touristy `you must do this when here` ? I feel the latter. The train whilst cute, is not the original. The journey is painfully slow, the scenery may well be nice, but isn`t the whole of Patagonia pretty awesome without paying to sit on a very slow train that travels just 18km? the station is quite lovely, but it is still a facade for a journey of limited options. Instead we purchased the compulsory park tickets, took a picnic, and hiked our bunny butts around a few of the many walks around this beautiful, peaceful and scenic national park. Bit miffed that we were charged full price when many hikes were still closed, but it is what it is. Our last visit of the day, and something we had each promised ourselves. A visit to the Post Office at the end of the world. Stamp our passports and send a postcard home. Nope. Apparently the Post Office is no longer there, due to some issues about its legalities. Damn you Google, telling us it was open until 4pm daily, grrrrrr. Penguins? closed for refurbishment (the King Penguin sanctuary) Boats rides, expensive and with the channel windy, choppy with white horse tipped waves, probably not running. Patagonia was becoming a challenge. We did have a very nice meal with quite probably one of the best views to date at the Tolkeyen hotel, not overly expensive at all. And coffee and cake the following day at Tanta Sara in the centre of town was just sublime. Leaving Ushuaia, we just had to pay a visit to the Hotel that ended the Race Across the World. Not exactly certain how the challengers got there, this hotel sits high up above the town, not the gorgeous looking hotel building we could see from our room, the sat nav took us to what we thought was a plain old green factory warehouse perched high on another mountain side. Oh My Goodness, how looks can deceive. The Arakur hotel. Just google it, is all I can say, as words alone cannot do it justice. We were greeted by `the man` the same guy on reception who greeted those tired racers. He welcomed us in and told us to wander freely and admire. And wander we did. Numerous seating areas, all heated, bar, restaurants, private restaurants for intimate dining, and the spa. With an outdoor infinity, heated pool. If anyone fancies getting married, this hotel ticks so many boxes. From Ushuai we made the long trek northwards again, this time to Punta Arenas . We were supposed to going via Porvenir where the Penguin refuge was , but given that the refuge was closed for a refurb, we opted for the shorter car ferry crossing near Puerto Progreso, the same way that we crossed earlier and ultimately the alternative road to Punta Arenas. Must say I was expecting a lot more from this town. Quite disappointing to be honest. We visited the few must see places, but given that these included the Plaza de Armas which was closed for maintenance, an old rusting ship that floundered here in 1909, a boat yard of `life size replicas`, not convinced by the life size, they looked rather small to me, and with an entry fee of $7 each, we were not convinced we needed to see them further up close. If you want to see real ships, you are hard pressed to beat Portsmouth (UK)! (been there, done that) The Cemetery ranked by CNN as the most beautiful in the world, (decide for yourself, I have no intentions of defining beauty when it comes to a place of rest) and lastly parts of the town which were decidedly meh. What is good about this place, is our accommodation. A 3 bedroomed log cabin above the town with views over the harbour. We were supposed to be staying in a 2 bedroom log cabin, but some silly female bunny booked 2025 dates instead of 24, so the kind owner sensing the goof gave us the last available 3 bedroom cabin. And it is Warm!! phew, we were told by some guy back at Huachachina that gas is either free or very cheap in Patagonia, and I swear it must be true, as heaters are large and restrictions on usage not applicable. The cabin is very small but very very comfortable. To prove it was a cabin made for us, we have a bunny, a real little bunny living under our cabin. I think he must be a home bunny as we have spotted him 3 times now. From Punta Arenas to Puerto Natalas, another 3 and half hour drive and another Border crossing in the middle of nowhere. Note to other bunny travellers, for heavens sake if you overstay your welcome either by design or accident, just pay the darn fine and quit bleating about how you have just spent a lot of money as a tourist in their country. We couldn`t believe our bunny ears, as these two loud mouthed foreigners ponced about telling the authorities it was their (the border control) mistake, and why should they pay the $20 fine !! Seriously, $20 for a 4 day illegal stay, and your complaining ?? Note to the more advanced bunny traveller, be careful when or if you hire a car, there is an endless amount of car paperwork that they scrutinise with an 50 x magnification spyglass! Be confident that you have all the correct paperwork before you try to cross the border and don`t even think about smuggling an onion! Puerto Natalas. Quite the contrast to Punta Arenas. This is a very pretty little town, no high rises, just a small town quite spread out, with a lovely sea front. We didn`t quite find the time to walk the sea front, but did managed to take `that` photo, of the old pier at sunset . An Instagram hotspot. Not my favourite past time, recreating the same photo as 1000s of others, but it is a nice place at sundown. We drove to Puerto Natalas via the Cueva del Milodon Cave National Monument. (Mylodon) This is must see tourist attraction that caught my eye as a must see. The remains of a prehistoric sloth bear were found here, with remains of prehistoric man. I personally hope bear ate man for a change. No bones to see, or even a skeleton, but a life size replica sloth bear does greet you at the cave entrance to give you an appreciation of size. Located around 15km out of P.N. we called here on our way to our room. From the road you can see the cave, but just not how big it is. To do that, you must pay (of course) There are many walks around this area, but all we wanted to see was the Milodon replica, and the cave in which it was found. I cannot begin to describe the size of this cave. Huge is an underwhelming word, Think Ginormous, humungous, cathedral sized and you are getting close. I chose to stay near the cave entrance to take photos of my bunny to give an idea of scale. spot him if you can . Accommodation here is again expensive, and with a needs must budget we nabbed a little wooden cabin, or as little bunny called it, the hutch at the bottom of the garden. I shall breeze over this place. It was clean with comfy beds, but challenging. Bit too small. It served a purpose. Puerto Natalas This is the town that sits closest to the Torres del Paine National Park. You only need to look at a map to see how special a place this is. If the bunny budget was a whole lot bigger, we would have chosen to stay within the park boundaries, but as I decline to camp in the cooler months, and 5* hotels not on the radar, Puerto Natalas works just fine. It is however a good 95-105 km/1 and half hours away. First stop in the park took us to two different view points. Well researched hiking trails we quickly learned that `easy hike ` is in comparative to the Mirador Torres del Paine Base definition of `challenging hike` 3 of us made almost to the top of the `easy` hiking trail however we 2 older bunnies, after watching a much younger bunny with hiking poles and crampons sit and shuffle her way down the last part of the walk, decided that this was the perfect place to break out the flasks of coffee, and instead we sent our own little bunny to scout the highest part of the walk. Watching her return like bambi on ice, we knew we made the right choice to stay were we were. The second 6km easy hike proved to be just that, we first walked to the waterfall, then continued onwards to the Mirador Cuernos. A very pleasant walk indeed, and an awe inspiring view at the end as a worthy reward. Day 2. And the day of the biggie. The hugely demanding and very challenging Torres del Paine Base hike. Luckily there was no snow today, we had checked the walking conditions and all was good, the lake was melted at the view point, and crampons were an optional rather than a necessity, (not that we had any). Flasks were made, rucksacks filled, and clothing donned. Woolly socks, hats, gloves, thermal base layers comfortable slippers, favourite t shirt....hmmm, you didn`t actually think Mrs Bunny was quite that daft to even consider this particular hike? Another day off for me, no cat this time, but I am still happy on my own. The two crazy knackered bunnies returned a mere 14 hours later, and once again declared they had upped their hiking game. Mrs Bunny was allowed in mr bunny`s kitchen today to make tea. Mr Bunny did not complain. One of the many challenges of the national park, are the unmade roads. I had found us a gorgeous route back to El Calafate that traversed the many winding roads of the National Park. However the reality would have been 8 plus hours on a mostly unmade, or if it was made, a deeply rutted potholed road. Now iykyk, but lets just say that my bra wouldn`t quite cut it..... We took the fast route. Leaving the utterly beautiful and stunning Torres del Paine national park it was with a heavy heart we waved goodbye, and continued once more back to the town of El Calafate and the end of our car hire rental. Dropping the car off, it served us well managing a little over 3000km during our 19 day rental period. Could you see Patagonia by bus or public transport? Yes, you could, but it would be very very challenging. The distances, the speed of the bus, the frequency. Unmade roads, and the off the beaten track destinations that would require taxis or tours. We did see one or two crazy people on bicycles, but when we knew we had a 4 hour journey of nothingness in front of us in a car, what must it look like from a bike perspective? Without personal transport I suggest a very big budget and a whole lot of time and patience. Even with a car we only managed to cover a small area of the incomparable land that is Patagonia. A destination beyond compare. Our journey through South America is coming to a close. With just one destination left prior to getting on our longest flight to date, this bunny has only one thing to say. South America. We love you.