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When we first planned the trip Japan was always a perhaps or maybe, never a definite, but being just a short flight away from Taiwan it made sense. Not a country that we had researched at length, but I did happen to know that the biggest and best Disney park of all resided in Tokyo. (hum te tum fancy that...) Not only could we visit Japan, we could visit in Cherry Blossom season (more about that later) and make a short but wonderfully sweet stop at both Disneyland and DisneySea. Win Win Win. I was somewhat reluctant to stay in Tokyo city, with 38 million people and the biggest populated city in the world, it felt a little overwhelming. The Disney parks themselves are found on an island all on their own away far from the bright lights and big city, and it made sense to me to plonk our selves down within the inner boundaries of the Disney bubble, and start our Japan adventure from there. Mrs Bunnies choice of hotel was quite superb, and we all knew that we were sacrificing ourselves to the much cheaper end of Japanese bunny hutches to compensate for this lavish 3 night blow out. (worth it? with bells on!!) Tokyo Bay Sheraton Hotel, Tokyo. With a flight landing at silly o`clock, we knew seeing Tokyo itself prior to our 2 days in Disney would be a stretch. Ideally we wanted to check in, dump the bags, get the metro to the city until 7pm, metro back, sleep the sleep of the walking dead, then awaken in time to join the hoards of Disney Sea queuing people at 6am. .A plan well and truly scuppered when the hotel refused point blank to let us check in before 1pm, (we had thought that a hotel of that stature would make some compensation for early arrivals, alas not). Then it started to snow! Say what? I kid you not it was absolutely utterly freezing, and of course having sent all our winter clothing and coats back home from New Zealand we were more than a little unprepared for this cold wet weather. We cut our losses, slept in reception until 10am, and generally passed time until 12pm when the staff, clearly fed up with us keeping politely asking if a room was available, agreed to let us check into our room just a little early. With Mr B feeling quite dreadful with a very bad dose of flu, that he "ahem" bluffed away as a dust allergy hence the sneezing, (this is Japan, the land of permanent facemasks) he retired to sleep until 3pm. Mrs Bunny whiled the time away perusing the entry requirements for DisneySea, and noted that we could get same day entry tickets and that the park closed at 9pm. Mr Bunny had quite the shock when he woke to find two female bunnies dressed in our very best Disney gear, and every other item of clothing we could find, raring to hop along to Disney Sea. With Sea being the busiest Disney park of all, with some fairly complicated ride entries, we thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of our half day to recce the park. Disney Sea Tokyo Disney Sea part one. We walked from our hotel to the Mickey Monorail just a 3 minute walk away, and boarded the Mickey train to Sea. Oh my goodness, after seeing all the pictures of this monorail, to see it for ourselves was just wonderful. The seats were Mickey Mouse colours of black, white and red. The windows were Mickey heads, the ceiling hand holders, were Mickey heads. The closing of the door was a Disney Jingle. The station master waved us off with a dance and a smile. We could not keep the grins off our faces. Naturally the entry queues were long gone, and the park entry area was almost deserted, maybe the cold morning had kept the crowds away (oh how we came to giggle about that little thought later) We entered Disney Sea and were instantly blown away with the sheer size and theming of this awesome park. This is not just Disney, this is Disney on steroids! Did we find the people? oh boy did we ! We knew from endless previous research that we would not be able to ride anything, but to see the actual wait times was quite mind boggling. 3-4 hours was not uncommon. Less popular rides had wait times of around 1.5 to 2 hours. Little bunny very much came into her own here. We had all downloaded the Disney app, and little B had trained us well on how to navigate it. To get on any ride, you either wait in a very long line, paid fast pass, or a free 40th anniversary fast pass. Quite complicated, but little B had it all worked out. This particular afternoon however we devoted to trying to figure out the layout of the park so that we didn`t get lost the following day when it all mattered. Very difficult. The park is simply massive. It is also quite brilliant at hiding all its rides. The exterior theming is such that you cannot see anything that gives the ride away. The only exception was a short bit of rollercoaster track in a couple of places. This particular afternoon we managed the Sinbad ride (all in Japanese) and a last minute free 8.50pm fast pass got us a ride on the Tower of Terror. We didn`t mind, nor did we feel like we missed out. The place is out of this world. In the evening there were two different light and firework shows, but unfortunately with our lack of extra warm layers we had to miss these and bolt for our bunny hutch of warmth. From this initial recce we deduced that the only way we could successfully navigate the park, ride the best rides with the least amount of wasted time, was to pay. Mr Bunny said Kerching and Game On! Disney Sea part 2. One full on magical day. We left our hotel at 5.45am, got on the metro at 6, arrived at Sea by 6.10am, and in no way whatsoever were we even close to the front of the queue. The local people have waiting in line for Disney off to a fine art. If you are thinking hot drinks and breakfast rolls? Oh no! Not at all. Try make up bags, hair straighteners, hair products, nail varnish, nail kits and accessories. All around us girls were quite nonchalantly touching up their make up, adding nail art to artificial nails, using portable hair straighteners, and generally preening. The ones not preening were taking selfies. We go to Disney and try our best to go as hands free as possible, the Japanese girls, and boys alike, think nothing of carrying huge handbags, styled bags, shoulder bags, smart rucksacks or crossbody bags all liberally adorned with copious amounts of cute everythings. Including the boys. Keyrings, stuffies, accessories are carried everywhere, and the rumours are true, taking your favourite large Disney soft toy is very much the done thing. Our next observation is the dress code. The Japanese dress with style. Not a single Disney t shirt or jumper did we see. My bright pink Marie (Aristocats) t-shirt, widely accepted as the norm in Orlando, was garishly out of place,. Yet, the young Japanese girls would happily wear cute cat ears, carry Marie bags, key rings, and other accessories but not give my cute Marie T shirt even a cursory glance. One Asian girl pointed to my T shirt and said That`s Cool! but her voice was pure American. Many girls would twin with their friend, wearing identical outfits, or complimenting dress, if one carried Mickey mouse, the other would carry Minnie. And a huge amount of them would be wearing school uniform. Was quite odd. Short pleated tartan skirts, white ankle socks, blouses with a large knotted bow tie, a blazer and brogues. At a Disney Theme park? Google informed us that wearing a school uniform of which they are inordinately proud indicated Youth. They crave to look as young as possible, for as long as possible. Such a refreshing change to the youth of the UK who try their utmost to look as old as possible as soon as possible. With flawless complexions it is quite difficult if not impossible to differentiate between a 14 year old girl and a 28 year old woman. When the doors to Disney finally opened, and security cleared, they literally ran to the first ride of the day, we saw very few younger Japanese or local people in the premier pass line. With little Bunny`s help, we three bunnies did the fastest finger first and booked, paid and planned our day with precision. We knew that paying for the fast pass was the only way we would survive the day, so Mr Bunny gave little B the green light to nab as many rides as possible, free or paid, giving us one heck of an awesome day. The newest part of the park was Fantasy Springs. 2 Billion pounds worth of awesomeness! The rides here are just unbelievable, 5 rides, with the most extravagant theming you could possibly imagine. We were happy to miss Tinkerbell, but with exquisite organizational skills, little B got us on all the remaining rides in Fantasy Springs, and all the rides and shows we wanted to see in Disney Sea. I could tell you all about every ride, but I`m sure by now you are getting bored. In brief, we Journeyed to the Centre of the Earth, dived 20,000 leagues under the sea, boarded a hang glider on Soarin, took the lift in the Tower of Terror and so so so much more. On far too many occasions we did the walk of shame, walking past hundreds of people with our fast pass that queue jumped us to within 10 feet of the ride start. To say that we were grateful not to understand the language was an understatement. These people had been queuing for up to 3 hours when we breezed past them. We will probably never get the chance to visit Disney Tokyo Sea again, but I am proud to say that on our one full day we did it well. Disneyland. Our magical day 2. With the phenomenal crowds at Disney Sea, we totally expected Disneyland to be so much quieter, and a breeze. We planned to get up at 7.30, join the line at 8, meander the park at leisure... lucky for us a chance conversation at the bar (Mr B of course) suggested that we needed to go such much earlier. Phew! good job we took the advice. Disneyland was every bit as busy as Sea. Once again Little B did the fastest finger first and again we queued, paid, and fast passed our way through another action packed day. Every ride is superb, but one was just unforgettable. Beauty and the Beast. How can I possibly describe this jaw dropping ride? From walking through a castle, listening to the story, boarding a t cup on a trackless ballroom, dancing with the plates, watching a lifelike yet totally animated Cogsworth and Lumiere to finally witnessing the Beast rise and turn into a man before your eyes was pure ride magic on a scale we have never seen before. We started the day with the most unbelievable ride, and ended at the most entertaining Disney theatre show. Not just one or two characters in the same costume. All of them, in all their costumes. Disney Sea and Disneyland Tokyo. You made all our bunny dreams come true. Leaving the Disney Bubble for reality is always a shock to the system. Just as we previously toured Disneyland Hong Kong, then ventured into the chaos of Hong Kong Island, this was to be the same sort of bubble pricking moment, this time it was Tokyo. Tokyo. We really wanted to say that we had at least seen something of this incredible city, but with just a few hours we could only touch on a little bit of something. We chose the Shibuya Scramble Crossing and learned the hard way just how difficult it is to do anything in a short period of time. especially in the most populated city in the world. With all our bags we headed into Tokyo with a plan to leave them at `one of the many lockers at the station`, we headed for Shibuya. Fail number One. No lockers. With a bit of thought and hindsight, we would have realised how daft we were for thinking we could find an empty locker at the busiest station in the biggest city in the world just because we wanted one. Fail number 2. Trying to find Cat billboard. In the time we had to spare we couldn`t even find our way out of the station, never mind find a certain street corner with a very special cat animation. Last chance to achieve a Tokyo dream., with all our bags we boarded yet another train for a further 15 stops (and still didn`t even remotely come near to touching the edge of Tokyo) we made it to Shibuya Scramble. Fail number 3. We needed tickets. We did not have tickets. (the tickets are for the elevator that specifically takes you to a certain viewpoint) We did however have access to a very large shopping mall with windows that looked across and down onto the crossing. Whilst it would have been awesome to have experienced the crossing at ground level, with all our bags it just wasn`t an option. We gazed our fill then boarded our first Shinkansen train to the west coast of Japan and to our next destination, the town of Kanazawa. I gave little B a free reign to choose whatever route she wanted through Japan. I asked for off beaten track places, less popular, certain attractions. We knew we couldn`t come to Japan without seeing a few iconic places, but we did try for a few of the quieter ones. Little Bunny does the most fantastic research, learning not only where to go, but she finds us the best places, local facts, must eat foods, and titbits of local knowledge. For example the manhole covers. Each city has their own design, here in Himeji where I am at the moment, the covers are all of the castle. Kanazawa, also known as little Kyoto. This wonderful city of many faces was one of the few places in Japan not to be affected by the war, leaving a very unique and special old town. Our first stop was the castle and the gardens. For just green trees and Bonsai, it was a very special garden. The trees are all tied from top to trunk with ropes. It makes for a very pretty and eye catching silhouette, these ropes act as snow landing deterrents for the delicate bonsai trees. We visited a tea house and watched a tea ceremony of sorts. Bit of a nightmare for 2 bunnies of limited mobility as everyone was invited into the room and asked to kneel. Kneel? One bunny has two knees with limited movement, and banana back bunny cannot sit on the ground in a kneeling fashion for all the tea in Japan. With a pointed look at two very able bodied young people just about to sit down on them, we acquired the two chairs that had been placed in one corner of the room. Little B with her own wonky hip sat in a partial kneeling position and we three bunnies tried hard to not giggle our way through this very formal ceremony at our lack of bodily functionality. Leaving the castle grounds, the castle btw was superb, but a reconstruction, and though beautiful was quite bland and wooden. If you are an architect and love wooden structures, this would be right up your street. For us mere mortal bunnies, it was just another pretty wooden structure, they called it a castle, we called it a large expanse of room. Leaving the `castle` behind, we headed next for the old town of Kanazawa. Old traditional wooden houses untouched by war or fire. Whilst busy in the town, we were as yet not confronted by the hoards and hoards of rude tourists that would plague us later in the trip. Kanazawa is the home of gold leaf paper. They even put gold leaf on ice cream. We ate gold ice cream. What does it taste like? The ice cream was incredible, the gold merely a tasteless but pretty addition. We had to eat in the shop as you are not allowed to eat on the go anywhere in Japan, least of all in Kanazawa and especially not ice cream. Mr Bunny sat all snuffly with his cold outside, but we sneaked him some ice cream to ease his throat and sooth his cough, Mr B, stuffed the lot into his mouth in one go and feigned his best chubby bunny innocence of not eating where not allowed. Our last visit in Kanazawa was to the home of an original Samurai warrior. His armour and sword preserved in a glass cabinet. Part of the house was a museum, and we found one artifact most amusing. In a glass case was a scroll of Japanese writing, and its translation, which read, ` We appreciate that you worked so hard to kill one high ranked officer on the fourth of last month at Yokokitaguchi Battle in Kaganokuni Enuamagun. We are very happy that you brought us his head` October 9th 1566 (Eiroku Ninth) From Kanazawa we had yet another glitch in our list of planned events. It was on the agenda to visit Shirakawa a small village in the mountains, but alas all bus tickets were sold out `due to the festival`. Again I will refer to this later. Instead we spent one last day in the old town of Kanazawa, then left our first, and very cosy capsule hotel, for our next destination, Takayama. Once more we caught a train. Catching a train in Japan is quite the art form. They have an app called Navi time and it is superb. Leaving the app to little B she has patiently and diligently navigated us around all our destinations of Japan using this app. There are around 7 types of train here in Japan, and a train is not just a train. ( Quick bit of info here...at our first hotel they asked us how we got there...I said `train`, they didn`t understand, I mimed choo choo and made train sounds, they still didn`t understand. I know now that most, if not all Japanese trains are not only silent, they are also very futuristic and silent, oops) There are 3 types of Limited Express trains, a rapid express, express, sub express, semi express and local. Then there is the Shinkansen aka the Bullet Train. These trains can only be described as `sexy` Japan train travel is quite the experience, and as for the stations? Kyoto alone has 15 floors/levels. At Takayama we stayed in a little house with the most giggly funny helpful Japanese hosts. They were so nice. They also thought we had come from Ecuador ( booking.com having a glitch) and had written us a lovely welcome message in Spanish. They were quite thrown when we said we were from England and couldn`t understand a word they had written. As we had arrived early, and the day so pleasant, we walked to the nearby Hida Folk Village which was (if you are from the UK) a Japanese version of Beamish. A whole forest area with original houses brought there from all over Japan. There were very many house and all original. Very interesting. As we travelled to Takayama that morning we had gone through many snow filled valleys, and snow still remained around the town and at this village giving it a very pretty almost Christmas village like appearance. On our walk back into town we came across one of the many hundred drink vending machines that you see absolutely everywhere. One can said Hot Cocoa, a hot drink in a vending machine? We thought it might have been one of those clever chemical reaction cans, shake to create heat etc, but nope, the can that came out of the machine was hot. Unbelievable. But this is also the country that puts strawberries and fresh cream in sandwiches so we really shouldn`t be fazed by a hot can from a vending machine. Our next visit in Takayama was to the original samurai homes. In particular the government house. It was huge. And all original. The Samurai history is quite fascinating. I keep wondering why it died out...but then again, what call is there now for warriors with huge swords, topknots and scary battle armour? Onwards and upwards by train this time to Kyoto, and the town of Takatsuki. Staying this time in a private Japanese house with more rules than an airport check in counter! At first we didn`t quite know how to take the old guy. He was quite fierce and precise. Leading us into his living room he first gave us his laptop and instructed us to Read! (Yes Sir ! ) So many rules! He then invited us into the kitchen and demonstrated the kettle, the oven and the glassware. He then proceeded to give us a washing up demonstration with a glass clearly prepared earlier. Wash the glass thoroughly with this sponge, like this. Now use this sponge and wash again to clean away the residual soap. Now fill this bowl to the brim with clean water and place washed crockery in this bowl for 6 hours to disinfect, before placing it here in the dishwasher. You couldn`t make it up. Shower instructions next. Like this, not that. Toilet, look, oh heck, did I dare step into the toilet area in the wrong slippers?? He barked at me Out!! swap!! We had to use the toilet, clean our hands, 2 squirts of soap only mind, then clean the toilet with a disinfectant sheet. Change out of shoes (which is customary in Japan) at the front door. Only indoor slippers to be worn, but must be left at the bedroom door. Wear bedroom slippers the 4 paces to the toilet, remove slippers, place feet in toilet slippers. Don`t slide the doors like that, don`t open that window. don`t eat food in room , we did, but only cold food. We also used our own cups to avoid making any kitchen mistakes. With respect to Ken, he also did run us to the station each morning, and collect us promptly to the second each evening. Such was his character we didn`t dare even be a minute late. We slept on Futons. We also slept rather well. On our last day with Ken he told used, via google translate/audio, that he also thought we were from Ecuador, and that he had researched Ecuador and learned that there were 50% more murders in Ecuador than Japan. Poor guy must have thought us bandits or something. Was quite funny when he told us he was nervously anticipating our arrival. He was a genuinely lovely man. Kyoto like most of Japan is exceptionally expensive, especially as our trip has coincided not only with Cherry Blossom season, The Festival as it sometimes referred to, but also a half term school holiday. Hence the reason we are staying out of the city. Going to Japan to see the Cherry Blossom is on every bucket list you ever read. Did we plan to be here in Cherry Blossom season? No. It just worked out that way. Would I come again in Cherry blossom Season? Not a chance. At this point in my writing I will talk about the cherry blossom. Its a tree. It blooms. It is pretty, but nothing at all like the pictures portray. The majority of all the trees in bloom are very pale pink or even white. In all truthfulness, the May blossom at home is far prettier than any Cherry Blossom we have seen here. Cherry Blossom season in Japan, HUGE. They celebrate the Cherry Blossom by decorating the shops, they dress up in pretty Kimonos and stand under the trees taking so many photos. They even dress their dogs. Tourists come from all over the world to witness this spectacle. Have we been wowed by it yet? No. Have we seen much of Japan? 3 weeks of travelling and moving through vast parts of the country by train I would say so. Are the trees everywhere? Yes, and no. Like everyone else I have seen all the pretty pictures of the vivid pink trees, but those bright trees are not found everywhere. We have seen a lot of the pale pink blossoms, but the vivid pinks are very few and far between, needing specific journeys to specific places to see them. I had images in my head of seeing many deep pink tree lined avenues, but alas I have been disappointed. The cherry blossom as I alluded to earlier also coincides with heavy touristic traffic. Never before have we witnessed such blatant disrespect for a country. No wonder my MSN homepage is full of albeit over exaggerated `places where tourists are not welcome`, but when Kyoto is mentioned, I can see why. On a visit to the Bamboo forest, there were big clearly marked areas with signs saying `Do not stand here` Do not take photographs, with one after another after another tourist just blatantly ignoring these polite signs just to take a photo, because they want to. At another point in the forest we witnessed a despicable act of vandalism by a loud brash American woman who egged her son to pick up a rock and carve his name into the bamboo. How very dare you. We were shaking with anger, and no amount of vocal `how dare you` would make her change her mind. Her brat was having his name on that bamboo no matter what. What a disgrace you are. Watch You Tube you ignorant witch, watch as we show the world your blatant disrespect for Japanese property. Kimono. another Japanese tradition that for me is being disrespected by the number of westerners hiring them to parade up and down in. It feels so wrong. I suspect they see the `hire your Kimono here` signs, and take it as a green light to play dress up. Would I not be correct in thinking these shops are designed for the Japanese tourist market, to wear a kimono, to feel a pull with tradition, and quite probably left their own at home? Yet there goes Mary, David and Sarah parading up and down looking, in my opinion, quite ridiculous. Even more infuriating when ` Western David` chooses to wear a female kimono, rather than the gentleman`s traditional Montsuki. Each to their own I agree with, but don`t flaunt it with another countries traditional attire. Rant over. Kyoto. A huge city, but an old city, everything that Tokyo is not. We first went to the temple and traditional gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Such a fabulous sight, but drowning in a sea of tourists. We left the train station and quite simply followed the 1000s of people to the Shrines and Temples. Signs everywhere beg you to show respect, but with everyone wanting `that photo` to prove to anyone who cares, not, respect seems to take a poor back seat. There are 1000s of these bright red traditional gates all adorned with Japanese writing, which looks very romantic to the non Japanese reader, but which, if you pause to take a second and translate, merely tells the reader who donated or sponsored that particular gate. The gates wend their ways up the paths of the hillside and do look very pretty. Just not with wall to wall people. On the rare occasion when we had no one around us, it was a lovely place to just stand and look around. From the gates we had planned to cross a certain bridge to see the old Edo period houses, but given the sheer numbers of tourists, we decided to give this area a miss and headed out of town instead. We chose to have ourselves a little pit stop of tea and cakes, and found the cutest little olde world cafe. No body there but us, and the Beatles. The soundtrack was back to back beatles music, there were so many photos, and cute little old ornaments it felt quite homely and a world away from the rabble of tourists. We had tea and cakes, cakes so light they felt like air. From the cafe we made our way to the oldest streets of Kyoto, Gion, where the Geisha ladies can be found. These dignified ladies are not to be seen just wandering the streets, and indeed we only saw one lady as she moved quickly from car to building. We did try, and failed, to find the Hokan Ji Temple, a 5 story dark wood building built on a hill. Such is the complexity of Kyoto old town, we had to give up and search another day. We booked ourselves a trip on the Hozugawa River. We got up super early took 3 local trains to our destination, and fell at the final hurdle. A large sign at the final station informed us the river boat was cancelled. How annoying. Long story short, it wasn`t but we only found that out when we applied for a trip refund. Anyway, as the boat was cancelled we took ourselves off to a local bamboo walk, and onwards to a pretty little garden. It was in this garden surrounded by numerous people taking photos, that we saw a guy with a little robot. He was carrying it in a pouch round his neck that rested on his chest. We saw him raise his camera and this little robot moved! We swear we also heard it talk. We begged him to show us the little guy and he was most willing to do so. Removing the doll like robot from his pouch he set it down on a bench and said watch, he can sing and dance, would you like to see? Yes!!! of course we would. He bent down and spoke to the little guy, can you dance and sing? Can you sing Ave Maria? Oh my goodness our jaws hit the floor, as this little man started to sway and sing so beautifully. He gave us the full rendition singing and swaying his little heart out. Of everything we saw in Kyoto, that little robot will always take first place. With time marching on, our last call of the day was the Samurai Museum. Quite Brilliant. A precise, non convoluting very informative talk about the Samurai their rise, and their demise. Turns out Tom Cruise in the film The Last Samurai did an excellent job of portraying the story. They even acknowledge its remarkable accuracy, with just one movie inaccuracy exception, in the museum. Mr Bunny along with Little B both took the chance to play dress up in the Samurai replica armour, complete with headwear and plastic life like swords. Mr B took several attempts to pose like a Samurai, with his first two poses being more reminiscent of Harry Potter. Poses 3 and 4 taking the persona of a Jedi. Finally with a little direction, we achieved scary Samurai. Little B tried and failed miserably to wipe the silly grin off her face as she wielded her sword. Our last day in Kyoto and we tried once more to find the Hokan-Ji Temple. Pleased to say that we, and 5000 other tourists, managed to find it, however only 200 tourists, perhaps even a few less, found our cutest little temple, am I allowed to use the words cute and temple in the same sentence?. A bunny temple. We liked it for the bunny statues, but I think it was family and pregnancy related as there were a lot of young couples praying there, buying the cute bunny that you place on the shrine, and generally praying quite fervently. We maintained a polite distance, having no further desire to encourage the arrival of any small bunnies in our hutch, thank you very much. Osaka. Another train, another destination. This time Osaka, and what a contrast this city is to Kyoto, quite the chalk and cheese. Osaka is loud! Bright lights and big city. We spent a lot of time in the area of Dotonbori, walking up and down the river just gazing at the many bright lights and endless food stalls. We were quite a long way out of the city, yet in a strange way also very close. We were staying within walking distance of 3 metro stations and truth be known, I actually got quite confused as to which direction we needed to be in at any given time. I resigned myself to playing follow the leader, relying solely on Mr B and little B to return me to our tiniest hutch to date. 2 small beds and a futon on the floor that didn`t quite fit. Our `kitchen` was a pan and two bowls, but we did have a private bathroom and loo. Always a bonus. In the area of Dotonburi was the biggest and strangest ferris wheel you have ever seen. Not round, sort of straight up, and over, then back down. Of course 2 bunnies thought this looked like a real bit of fun. Not wanting to be left behind, Mrs B, against her better judgement, also partook a ride on this crazy wheel. To say there were tears is an understatement. I truly hate heights, and this was just plain stupid. I managed a couple of glances, but I swear all I wanted to do was curl and hide. Never again will I subject myself to something so idiotic. We finished our short hop in Osaka at the tower near were we were residing. Lit up in all its glory displaying the countdown to Osaka Expo 2025, that starts in just 10 days time, 5 days after we leave Good timing or bad, I cannot decide. One final day trip from Osaka took us to the area of Nara. Famed for it tame, bowing, free roaming deer. From the moment we arrived we saw the deer. Casually roaming the streets. We watched them for a long time as they interacted with people, and we also saw how very pushy the deer were. So so many signs everywhere telling you how to behave around the deer, do not pet them if you do not intend to feed them. Of course, vastly ignored. People mean food. That is all that goes through their little minds. For a long time we chose to leave the deer well alone, but the pull to feed them the specially designed deer crackers was too much. The deer feed was not to be found everywhere. Naturally the deers gather where the food is found. Little B took her food, and such is her nature, was immediately surrounded by the smallest cutest deer, all clamouring to be fed, but all patiently waiting. Mr Bunnies deer had a hunch he carried food in his pockets and he was hassled by pocket munching deer. He had to feed them quickly before they raided his pockets for items that most definitely were not edible. Then Mrs Bunny. True to my nature, I was followed by the deer that wanted to know everything, Now! Where is my food, when, how, is it today, where do we get it...pushing me for food my group of deer were actually quite aggressive. With go pro in one hand and food in the other, I am certain it is going to reveal a kerfuffle of squeaks as I am bitten both on my breast and with more venom, on my backside. Damn deer took a real chomp at my rear end. Very painful, but what if I was a child? A lesson learned. Deer are wild by nature. Leave well alone. Leave feeding to the keepers. Nodding Deer of Nara Himeji. Our time in Japan is brief so we are continually moving forward. By train again we travel to the town of Himeji. We are here for one thing only, its fabulously huge Japanese Castle. Standing with in the grounds and surrounded by large moats, some with water, some now without, this beautiful structure dominates the landscape. From almost everywhere in Himeji you can see this stunning white wooden castle. About as different in construction to any other castle that we have in the UK, this is built purely of wood. Construction was started in around 1333, and continued expanding until around 1618. Considered the finest surviving example of Japanese architecture, its not difficult to appreciate why. Buying an entrance ticket we joined once again the many many hoards of tourists and I think locals alike, to wander, in a strict one way passage, to the Keep of the castle, the very top. Again I was forced to question the 'why'? people want to pay to enter such a stunning place, to merely trudge through, following the feet of the person in front, and blindly ignoring the actual physical structure of the building around us. We three bunnies, hopped out of the mass queue, and allowed ourselves the time to just gaze with wonder at this awesome piece of architecture. No screws, no brackets, no stone walls, just an internal structure of precision woodwork. Like a huge jigsaw this castle slots together. And the tourists just trudged past it all. We bunnies stood for ages on each floor just looking at the aged beams, you could see everything was hand carved, and the sheer size of these wooden beams? How on earth did they get them there? The inside of the castle was quite dark, with only narrow slits of light from the windows, but spotting dark holes, I shone my phone torch into one of them and noted they were iron hinged flaps, none were open, but very much pointed to archery deployment. The sheer number of people in the castle was a little alarming, surely even a structure of this complexity was never designed to house this amount of moving people? We never did make it to the very top. The stationary queue was quite ridiculous. We chose instead to appreciate the inner beauty of its construction. The rooms of the castle were not rooms, imagine a square outer edge, with an inner `room?` in the centre, then a staircase to another square, a little smaller, and so on. Each level getting smaller. No furniture, no dividing walls along any of the passage ways, no content. Long gone, or simple Japanese living? I will mention our odd hotel at Himeji. Always driven by budget, this 7.5 rating hotel seemed satisfactory, however I failed to read all the reviews of our latest stay. 2 rooms for a starter, (that ticked a box), but rooms that contained accessories of condoms, sachets of lubrication, a dvd/video player, `room service` a double bath with tv, a TV with adult channels? Beds (shudder) with rubber backed sheets, (banished to the floor)! I cannot deny the room had a decent amount of space and was perfectly adequate, but it felt just a little `icky` Turns out this was once a 'lurve' hotel, but is trying (according to their most recent responses on booking.com ) to reinvent itself as a tourist hotel. 5/10 for effort. Never mind, we have had more fabulous and acceptable places, than odd ones. This one was however, a little Unique. Hiroshima. I don`t profess to know everything about the war, the who fought who and why and when, but know a man that does. I do know about the Atom Bomb of Hiroshima. Wanting to see the city for myself, and attempt to share this cities history with him, we chose Hiroshima as our next destination. As soon as we arrived we noted this was a city with a very different vibe. It was a very quiet city, vast, spread out, and exceptionally pretty. The river banks were wide and green, the cherry blossom trees lining their paths. Buildings were spaced, not cramped. Leaving our bags at the hostel, we left straight away and headed to the Peace Memorial Park and Bomb Dome. I was already clenching my fists and preparing to bite my tongue should I dare witness anyone playing the fool or taking inappropriate selfies, (witnessed first hand at other poignant sights around the world) but you know what? I could totally relax. 99.9% of everyone standing in front of that eerie building was respectful. You could sense the feeling of, did this really happen? Here? yet standing before the only remaining building, was living proof of what one nation could do to another. This building was not the only building to survive, there were a few others, but for some reason this one held the most importance for the city. The plaques declare that for a long time the city managers wanted to destroy and remove all reminders of the war, but the residents insisted that it should be preserved as a memorial to all those who died, and how they should never be forgotten. Endlessly protected and with sympathetic preservation, this building stands, along with its fallen masonry ,exactly as is it was the morning of August 6th 1945 at 8.15am. We went to the museum. It was a very large museum, one half dedicated to the immediate after effects, the survivors, the artifacts, the human stories, and one half to the realities and prevention of Atom and Nuclear bombs. (Far too much reading) With a thousand other silent people, we read the stories and saw the realities of war, but chose not to read the vast expanses of `Why`. Prior to reaching Hiroshima, little B had done her usual endless research. What else was there, what to do, where to go. Personally I only wanted to see the Memorial Park and leave it at that, but I had this continuous little voice telling me that we could go to Miyajima. Only a train ride away, won`t take long, should we go, Miyajima, Miyajima, Mirayima, Miyajima.... I know when to take notice, and this is clearly a place we should be going. From experience, I know little B is seldom wrong. Of course she was right again. We caught a fast train to the coast, and a ferry to this Island, and Wow!! there they were, the Torii Gates of Mirajima, protecting the island since 1167 . They stand in the water and at certain tides appear to be floating. Quite the spectacle. Standing in the water and held up purely to their great size. We had planned to visit the beautiful Orange/Red temple of Itsukushima but alas, once again thwarted. Our second attempt to visit a 5 tier pagoda, our second time of seeing a pagoda completely shrouded in scaffolding being renovated. I could mention the deer of the island, but to be honest, once bitten, twice shy... Mirajima 1167 Our time in Japan has come to a close. It has been quite the journey and a fabulous trip. I would like to think that it gave us all food for thought. We arrived in time for the Cherry Blossom, but would I come to see it again, definitely not. The excessive hoards of tourists all heading for the same few spots make for a very crowded and unpleasant experience. The Cherry Blossom itself is pretty, but my most favourite picture of tree blossom was sent to me by my dad taken in our local park. The swathes of deep pink blossom are found in very few and far between places, not in every park as online photographs would suggest. The train system is also an eye opener. Not quite the easy to navigate stations of Taiwan. Don`t even consider trying to make eye contact with anyone except those with whom you are directly in contact with. Smiles are few and far between. Yet oddly in the poorest area of Osaka where we were staying, the people there was so much friendlier. Cash is the preferred method of payment, and slot machines of every description are everywhere. Gachapon machines, (think plastic balls containing absolutely anything and everything you can think of, in the small toy variety) are to be found everywhere. Claw grab machines are equally popular. Gaming is huge, as is `cute` Even the Shinkansen has a pink Hello Kitty version. Shoes on/off/on/off is a regular occurrence. Skechers slip ons would make a killing here! Bathrooms everywhere are mostly immaculate, with toilets having built in bidets and heated seats. Yet the bathrooms seldom have hand dryers. Women whip small towels out of their bags. There are no public bins anywhere. Food must not be eaten whilst moving. You must give and receive anything with both hands. Cleavage is not a thing in Japan. All clothing is exceptionally modest. The women strive to look as youthful as possible, younger girls wear school uniform, even when not in school. I found Japan quite wonderful, but also stifling. We tried our best to be as respectful to their customs as possible, but now and again it felt restrictive. If I chose to return to Japan my choices of both time of year and destinations would be quite different. A very special country. Japan, we thank you for your hospitality. Ps. I if can share one last silly lasting memory of Japan, it would be this little guy. (play with sound)

Taiwan hadn`t even been considered when we first set off on our adventure. It came about when we met a young newly wed couple whilst still in Chile. He was from Taiwan, she came from Scotland. We got talking and she mentioned visiting Taiwan and what a beautiful country it was . This took us by surprise as non of us had given Taiwan a second thought, after all we all know that everything is `Made in Taiwan`. So why would she call it beautiful? Willing to take a chance, and wanting to see as much of the world as possible, we decided why not, and booked a bunny hop flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. As soon as the plane started to descend into Taiwan my confusion about this country started. Surely this is a country of high rise, bright lights, factories and industry? Yet our very nearly landed plane was still flying over green fields and residential cul de sacs? Is this really Taipei, the capital of the country? From the moment we arrived into the airport we knew we had landed somewhere special. Smart, pristine, calm and immaculate are to be words I will be using often. Leaving the airport we had to take an Uber ride to our hotel around 65km away. It was evening when we arrived but our journey was still on a road of low buildings and wide open spaces. Our first hotel was so cosy. A little dated and tired, but still pleasant. At this point I would like to rave about our loo. I kid you not, I used to go and sit on the loo in preference to sitting on my bed! My bed was a brick, no other word will suffice, but the loo had a slightly squishy heated seat. Bliss. A heated loo seat, you have no idea how good that feels. Mr and Mrs Bunny expressed our grrrs frequently about our brick bed, yet little bunny remained suspiciously quiet. Turns out she had the bounciest squishiest bed ever and was loving it. Smug little bunny. Taipei. Deciding that a hoho bus was a good place to start to get orientated, we booked ourselves 3 tickets that covered two different routes, and had the most bonkers tour. The bus audio most definitely did not take notice of traffic lights or zebra crossings and therefore the audio commentary of a temple on your right hand side, was just as likely to be a shopping mall or the river. The last tour on the second route took us the National Palace Museum. It mentioned 1000s of unique artifacts. We took a chance and went, but got bored fairly quickly. There are only so many Chinese scrolls you can look at. We also had a giggle when we read them, or rather looked at them, as we would in the UK from L to R, then wondered if we should have seen them R to L, or even up and down. Early days in Taiwan, and far too soon to have learned any useful words. We can just about manage Neehow (forgive the literal spelling) and we will very soon practice shay shay, again very literal spelling, but means thank you. We made use of the cafe, had a very soggy risotto, quite peculiar, of anything I could have eaten I was at least confident the rice would come out sticky not soggy. The following day we headed to the metro of Taipei. Wow, easy or what? absolutely superb transit system. Buy a tap on tap off card, load it up at the super easy to use machines follow the coloured lines on the floor that indicates the various different routes, and walk calmly with every other calm person to the immaculately clean platform, and wait for mere minutes for the metro. There are queuing lines on the floor, and everyone abides by them. No pushing, rushing, barging past, just a peaceful queue of happy bunnies, all letting the bunnies disembark the tram before hopping on board themselves. So dignified. Don`t even think about eating or drinking on the tram, in fact don`t even sniff at your water bottle unless you are prepared to endure the wrath of a local resident. We didn`t but we were told of someone who did. The trams are pristine. When you get off the tram, everyone politely forms a queue to transit the station via the escalator. Stand on the right only, and you may encounter a slightly hurried bunny hopping past you on the left, but generally the exit is peaceful, calm and unhurried. We travelled to the area of Chiang Kai Shek memorial. A huge open space dedicated to their once great leader. In front of the memorial we watched the changing of the guard, hmm, good but not in the class of the Kings Guard at home. Perhaps we do, do something well in the UK. From Chiang Kai Shek we moved onto the Ximen Ding shopping area. A bustling little shopping area, full of cute shops and street vendors. Here we shared our first hot Boba Tea and dumplings. Boba tea is a strange but very pleasant hot (or cold) milk drink, served with sugary balls of goo, that melt in the milk and when sucked up your straw give you a moment of chewy somethingness. One of the more peculiar sights we saw, and not just once either, but cats or dogs in prams. Cats wear clothes, or even glasses, whilst dogs wear nappies. I kid you not. Needless to say, there is no smelly dog pee pillars here. Cats also have their own vending machine devoted to hats for cats.... Lukang. We didn`t want to stay in just one area of Taiwan, so we headed south west to the small town of Lukang. The nicer parts of Taiwan are actually on the east of the Island, but a huge earthquake last year has left the area in a state of managed disrepair. We felt it prudent to stay to the west of the Island. Lukang has one of the oldest areas in Taiwan, and it felt nice to be away from the city. Most definitely a local non tourist area, we were for the most part very much the only western faces. We got to Lukang using the HSR, or High Speed Rail. Awesome. Not the bullet train, but not far off. Mrs Bunny excelled herself with the choice of hotel. I knew it was a spa hotel with a bath, I just wasn`t quite prepared for the huge room, huge. We could play darts at the correct distance and still have room to spare for the audience. We didn`t, but for scale darts was the best example I could think of. As for the bath! Wow, a proper jacuzzi spa bath big enough for two, and still have room to move. Needless to say, three bunnies had our own little bathing session each night. (boo hoo, we miss that bath) We wont miss the breakfast though. Hot food served cold, and peanuts for breakfast? salad? cold rice, cold fried eggs? Thank goodness we spotted a toaster and bread. We spent several days in Lukang. Exploring the old town, the markets, the wonderful street food, and the not so wonderful items that we chose to leave well alone. We very nearly got ourselves some deep fried chicken, the stall smelt awesome, had a huge queue, and we were just about to commit when the owner tipped a whole bowl full of pre battered chicken into the bowl at the side of us. Heads. Wings. Legs, Feet. Breast. We scarpered pdq to the safety of our favourite sausage stall, scrambled egg on a stick, sweet potato chips, honey fried parsnips (we think) and quite possibly the fluffiest lightest cakes we have ever tasted. There were many other food options on the street to be had, but with all the best will in the world, no amount of googling would tell us what these strange offerings were. An older lady with a fine command of English, did try to tell is that the strange reddish flat solid jelly looking tongue thing, was pre cooked fish egg. From a very big fish. We did not try it. Nor did we try squid on a stick. Or caramelised duck tongue, or caramel dipped chicken heart. We did play it safe with Oreo filled waffles, or waffles filled with most delicious chocolate pudding. Taichung. This was a city around 2 hours from Lukang, and to where we went via bus, lift, taxi, train, and shanks pony. We set off confidently from the hotel, to the bus stop. Stood for half an hour before a friendly local managed to tell us that Taichung was in the opposite direction. We changed sides of the street. Then another local pointed to a pink sheet of paper on the bus stop sign, and gestured no buses today. She then proceeded to phone a friend, who picked her up, and took us all to the bus station and plonked us at the correct bus stop. Not. Once again the bus we knew needed came in on the other side of the street. One we got, and proceeded to drive to the stop where we had originally started over an hour earlier!! Bus to chengua, then train to Taichung. For 3 non mandarin speaking bunnies, I think we did pretty well. Little bunny had her eyes on 3 or 4 very specific areas of Taichung which actually is a highly annoying but utterly appreciated (and needed) bunny trait of hers. Our main must see sights were a very nice, but crazy expensive chocolate shop with Hogwarts Castle Vibes, think multiple wooden staircases. Then along the riverbank to the artists street where a small number of back alleys were painted in all manner of anime, disney marvel and other characters. To see an area so pristine and painted, with no graffiti was nice, but once again made you realise that this was something that at home would likely be vandalised and spoilt. There is so much nice in the world where we have been to make us appreciate how dirty, rude and ignorant certain members of British society are. So many times we have encountered nice things just sat in gardens, on the street, paintings, live fish, outdoor public paddling pools (referring here to further afield) but how much of what we have seen would we be allowed to have in the UK without some ***** spoiling it just because. Our last stop in Taichung was the Rainbow Village. Just a tiny little cluster of old houses that an old gentleman decided to paint in order to protect his little community from being knocked down. Was so so pretty. Sun Moon Lake. Another must see destination is the Sun Moon Lake, situated inland this is a lakeside destination much the same as visiting the Lake District in the UK. With the most favourable weather following us, we arrived for 2 and half days of perfect relaxation. Our room was out of town and situated in the woods. A small group of a cross between Anderson shelters/caravans/oversized glamping pods all immaculate, and so so cosy were to be found among the cement base clearing in the woods. The hospitality from the moment we landed was so lovely. They were so upset we had walked from the station, "why didnt you message and ask us?" The room was perfect, and even had the Disney Channel woo hoo. We walked into the small town of Ita Thao, and wow, we found people, lots and lots of people! We also found one very large and very beautiful blue lake, and a whole host of street foods. There were many different options and ways to ride on the lake, small ferry, larger ferry, taxi boat, tourist boat, stand up paddle board, or electric pedaloes or manual push pedal ones. Naturally Mr Bunny chose the electric pedalo, not.....and so he and little miss bunny had the pleasure of `rowing` me around the Lake. Was so relaxing, lol. I did try, but wonky knees here has great difficulty with anything bike related. Happy to say a work out was had by two out of three bunnies. Street food had to be tried as we had worked up quite the appetite. Potato with spices on sticks, vegetable pancake like rolls, sausages, and so much more. The following day, Mr Bunny and I made it quite clear to little b, that we had no desire to go riding bikes round the lake to see yet another temple, nor were we overly keen to ride the waves on any kind of boat. Little Bunny took herself off on her own adventure, see miss.tiff.travel s whilst Mr B and I hired ourselves an electric tandem bike. Oh the fun we had scooting the round the lake edge on an electric powered bike. The following day, with little b having zero inclination to hire yet another push bike, Mr B on our second hired electric bike, ferried little B to the 9 frogs viewpoint, then came back for me. At the lake edge is a frog statue of 9 frogs one on top of the other, they are a very cute depth marker for the lake. This second day was a Monday and all the crowds had vanished. Very much a weekend destination it would seem. Once again we troughed our way around the street food stalls. Very much some of the best food we had in Taiwan. Taipei part 2. We ended our Taiwan trip back in Taipei with plans to see all the parts of the city that we didn`t manage to see the first time. Kid bunny fancied the cable car and the tea tasting, whilst animal loving Mr and Mrs B took ourselves off to the Zoo. Gosh it was so expensive, a whole £4.75 each. We saw the panda (sleeping) the red panda (sleeping) the koala (sleeping) the rhino (sleeping) the puma not sleeping, in fact making so much noise with his cat calls I rather hoped he would succeed in waking the snoring animals. Such a lovely zoo. The next day we wandered an area called Ximending, a touristic yet also cutesy local shopping area. The home I must confess of TGI Fridays, sometimes the call of Western Food shouts too loud. It was in the area of Ximending that we found, but didn`t visit, the retriever cafe. 2 Golden Retrievers who wandered the cafe shaking paws with guests. We didn`t go as we we didn`t think we would ever leave. Our only organised tour was a day trip to Shifen and Jiufen. The trip took in a couple of other places, one was a sea side rock formation called the Queens Head, 2 bunnies had a very distinct meh moment, seriously how many tour buses? little B had a quick shufty but even she was less than impressed. We then followed the tourist buses to Taiwan`s answer to Niagara Falls, more meh....then lastly to the utterly beautiful villages of Shifen and Juifen. Well I presume they would have been beautiful if you could have seen them under the humungous influx of tourists! tiny little meandering cobbled streets strung with red lanterns. If I said the car park had 100 buses at least, you get the idea of how many people were trying to walk the streets. bit of a shame really, but just too crowded for us. Instead we found a tiny artists coffee shop and had the best Hot Chocolate in a long time. I could tell you about the red lanterns, that we bought, wrote our wishes on and lit to rise into the skies, but it felt so impersonal with so many people crowding around. I will hope however that my wishes come true. For all of us. Not just the bunnies abroad. With our time in Taiwan coming to a close, there was just one thing left to do. Taiwan 101. The biggest building in Taiwan and 11th tallest in the world. For a short time it was the tallest. We bought our tickets to the top and boarded the lift to the 89th floor. the fastest passenger lift in the world it took a mere 40 seconds. (ish) I cannot remember if it was 37 or 47, but it was def the fastest ear popping lift we have ever been in. For a few seconds you actually feel a little light headed. The view of course is second to non. At the start of my blog I described Taiwan as pristine, smart and clean. Yes, it is. It is also old and weather beaten. The further out of town we got, the more weathered and blackened the buildings got. Did we find the litter, the discarded bags of rubbish, graffiti ? No, we did not. Everywhere we travelled, no matter how, bus, or taxi or train, and the island was pristine. Everywhere is going to have the accidental windblown bits of rubbish, but Taiwan must have very little wind, such was its cleanliness. Calm, passive, peaceful, tidy organised and respectful. Taiwan, you are quite special. Good Bye Taiwan, a sleeping giant of calm.

When I first mentioned to a friend that we had added Hong Kong to our list, she was so excited, telling me how wonderful the skyline was, the river, the iconic buildings, the coffin houses....my reply? It is the home of Disneyland !! I got the facepalm icon text by means of a reply. So funny. Hong Kong was never meant to be on our list, nor for that matter are several other places that as yet shall remain nameless. but when you perused a map at length looking for cheap destinations (ha!) and the word Disney jumps out at you en route, it just had to be. These three bunnies are huge Disney fans and the chance to go was just overwhelming. So so excited. I have to admit that my research of Hong Kong was somewhat limited, knowing only that Disney was set on an island that appeared to be a long way from the main area. Do we book a cheap hotel and commute or do I twist Mr Bunnies arm and beg him to let me book the very wonderful Disney Hollywood Hotel, (the Mickey Mouse room of course) I gazed into his eyes, held his little bunny paw and without even needing to bend a little furry finger, one glance at my computer screen and his reply was, I hope you have booked it ! Mr Bunny was every bit as excited as I was, and so to Disney we went. Hong Kong Disneyland is same same but different to both Orlando and Paris. It has a castle, but strangely I didn`t find it as attractive as the others, and a railway that runs around the park, but one that didn`t appear to take passengers? The huge flower display outside the entry at Orlando is a big Mickey Mouse face, in Hong Kong it is Duffy Bear. Mickey does not appear to be a favourite figure in Hong Kong, two girls made this very plain to me when in front of the statue of Mickey and Walt, she asked me to take their photo whilst totally obscuring the Mickey. They were happy to have Walt and the Castle in their photo, but Mickey was artfully ignored. The rides at HK are similar, they have a Toy Story land with RC Racer, the Parachute Drop ride and Slinky Dog, all of which are at either Paris or Orlando. Haunted Mansion is very different, and has a mansion feel with a Runaway Railway experience. Space Mountain is called Hyperspace Mountain and was actually awesome, we loved it. The best ride of all was Grizzly Gulch, a mine train ride of epic proportions and brilliant cross between Everest and Big Thunder Mountain. We rode this several times and once in the dark. This was their biggest and fastest ride but had a queue time of just 20 mins, however the longest wait time in the entire park was a photo opportunity with LenaBelle, some sort of furry bear like cat figure and friend of Duffy. 2 hours they waited for this, all day long the queue time never changed. Unbelievable. There were many other rides that we loved, and we admit to having tried to ride all of them. Dumbo was the exception. As per both Paris and Orlando, Dumbo is very popular. Jungle Cruise....hmmm... lets just say `no no no` very apparent that their sense of humour and ours differs wildly. How else would I describe Hong Kong Disney? Cute. We probably used the word Cute several hundred times during our 2 days at the park. Everything is Cute. Everything. The Chinese dress attire at the park was everything that Florida isn`t. Dressing for a theme park is an art form, and these guys are Picasso. Anything and everything goes, but everything is styled and accessorised to the very last item. Tutu, with tights, leggings, `cute` cardi, furry character handbag (cute, not a disney character, just something `cute`) and a disneyesque cute again, headband, matching shoes not trainers, full make up and styled hair. Or how about a full furry gilet with tail? Even the guys were ultra smart and carried practical bags with furry or cute or anime accessories and many many of them wore their disneyesque cute headbands without an ounce of self consciousness, even groups of young guys without a girl in sight wore their cute headbands with pride. We bunnies wore our best newly acquired Disney Mickey Mouse t shirts, or in Mrs Bunny`s case an Aristocats Marie T shirt, two bunnies had mickey ears and where in Florida we would have blended nicely, here we stuck out like 3 of Snow Whites Dwarves. Casual is not the done thing. Our hotel was fabulous, with a gift shop of course, but no food? They had a full on bar service or an al a carte restaurant that required a booking reservation. We couldn`t even find a bar of chocolate, never mind a coke to drink. Sorry, slight lie here, they did have chocolate, but the brand was Godiva. IYKYK. Hong Kong part two After two wonderful days at Lantau Island and saying goodbye (for now) to Mickey, we headed for our next hotel on Hong Kong Island. We truly went from sublime to the ridiculous. Oh my goodness have you ever seen as many skyscrapers in one place before? I had no idea where to stay in HK but every review said Central on HK Island was the middle of everything. Yes it was, but it was so loud. Loud, chaotic, bustly, busy, rushed, were all words I could use to describe where we stayed. Leaving the hotel the first day and heading off in a direction with no great plan, my first thoughts were I`m a celebrity bunny, get me outa here! I have never been so overwhelmed by so much chaos. Every traffic junction had a sound indicator, a constant beep beep beep as you waited to cross each busy road. Tall buildings surrounded us on all sides, cafes, shops, were never ending and so close to each other. Whilst we had eaten reasonably well in Disney, we were nervous about immediately diving into any old cafe and had to think about what ingredients may or may not be used. Please don`t laugh when I say we had our first meal in McDonalds, but a chicken nugget is a chicken nugget, and fries look like fries. HK is an absolute maze of walkways and passageways. You can move through multiple buildings and never step foot outside. Having flown from the high humidity of Kuala Lumpur we found HK to be a little chilly. Knowing we were going to travel even further north, we chose to buy some warmer clothes. With very little walking we found ourselves in the most beautiful shopping mall. Brand new stands right next to very old. Like a crazy jigsaw. Not quite the right mall for us as once more we found yet another Gucci and LV. Uniqlo is the nearest shop to a Primark and sufficed our needs. Bakers are a plenty in HK and we bought a selection of bread items like pizza buns for our evening snack. I found a cake that I couldn`t resist. Who doesn`t love a panda? Day 2 and little bunny had us walking our little bunny paws all over the city. We walked through the park, a sea of green oasis within a myriad of buildings. Across the river to Kowloon island, using the green ferry. A huge eye watering 41pence to cross the river, on a boat that criss crosses this waterway constantly, back and forth, back and forth. We walked the Avenue of Stars until we reached the statue of Bruce Lee. There were many other named actors and actresses but non that we recognised, Asian stars we assumed. I had expected the Bruce Lee statue to have been the busiest place, but surprisingly not. Maybe the fact that is is a scary 51years since his death? We tried to adopt his famous pose, but two bunnies failed miserably. On Kowloon island is a very popular bakehouse, they sell egg custard tarts and amazing cookies. We bought a selection and ate them whilst sitting on the dockside off Kowloon island. The same evening we had tickets for the Aqualuna boat. We sailed at 6.30pm on the most beautiful little red `junk` boat up and around the bay. We watched the sunset and the saw the city light up. Hong Kong from the water is truly magical. It took me a while to `get` it, but slowly I began to feel the draw of this enormously varied city. From our hotel window, we could see the lights of the harbour. two streets away, two streets were all we had to traverse to return home. What a walk we had. Through buildings, across walkways, down escalators, upstairs, past Sothebys as they were stage setting a complete dinosaur skull, and skirting busy restaurants that were entertaining some rather smart gentlemen in suits. Have you ever tried using google maps amongst high rise? We walked over 30,000 steps that day. On our last day we headed for the Peak Tram. Little bunny ahead of the game as always, had prebooked our seats, and set us the route. Through yet another small park, we climbed to the entrance of Peak Tram, walked smugly past the rather large queue of people clamouring for a ticket, and boarded our tram to the summit. The track is so steep the tram could easily pass for a funicular railway. The journey was short but fantastic. The view from the carriage was amazing. We climbed so quickly that we towered above the high rises of HK, giving you the most wonderful panoramic view of the island. We could have gone to the very top of the Peak building, but better views always cost money. Why could they not just have a free timed entry, why does everything have to be pay pay pay? Why is a view point a paid experience? Instead we had drinks in the cafe with quite possibly one of the most scenic vistas to date. With time running out on us, we just had time for one last tour. The botanical gardens and the monkey house. The monkey houses were set in the most wonderful clean, tidy and well kept gardens. All the animals were active and climbing around which was nice to see. What we didn`t expect to see were the Orangutans. Not just one either, a least 5 or 6. A much more laid back animal, these lovely gentle creatures were mostly asleep, leaving just one keeping an eye out for a means of escape in the back quarter. A lovely end to our short bunny hop in Hong Kong. Crazy, noisy, chaotic and clean. Hong Kong you were quite special.

Another destination that didn`t start life on our original plan, but when it is only a 50min flight and you get to spend a day at, in my opinion, the best airport ever, it was a must a do. After all the wonderful Patronus Towers are here and the Batu Caves... We landed at our latest bunny hutch after a 45 minute drive from the airport, and when we could see the Patronus Towers, or admittedly the very tips of them from our wonderful little flats bedroom window, we knew we had landed in the very heart of the city. Our location was just perfect and the flat had everything we needed. With our next flights such much cheaper at the end of the month, we opted for a much longer stay than we had originally planned in order to recoup some of the bunny budget that we managed to blow in style whilst in Singapore. At £35 per night for a city centre location, it was self contained so Mr Bunny could cook to his hearts content, aided by the fact that the best supermarket to date was situated just the shortest of walks away. Kuala Lumpur with the exception of being the home of the Patronus Towers, was somewhere that we had little knowledge of. Little B did our to do list, and apart from the first day, we opted to spread our wings just a little each day, rather than doing our usual 10k step marathon days. Very much a chilled out layover, we spent a number of days just watching the views from our 13th floor flat and not doing much at all. In fact, on the 14th when everybody was spending a silly amount of money on overpriced flowers and chocolates, we decided to go to the cinema. We had tried several times in other countries to see Paddington in Peru, but finally our chance came. The cutest little cinema ever with bear shaped seats, and family settees, it cost us a whole £8 for 3 bunnies to watch the film. Talking of films, we caught the lift downstairs one morning like we always did and emerged into a scene of cameras, directors, actors, clipboards and microphones! No one spoke any English so unfortunately we couldn`t get any answers as to what the programme was, although it would appear it was a regular occurrence as the security guard with a little broken English shrugged his shoulders and said `filming again, as always`. We took a tour on the hoho bus, (Hop On Hop Off) to try and get a feel for the city. Not the best tour I must admit. We spent almost 5 hours on the bus, doing both available city circuits back to back. With each route taking nearly 2 hours to complete, with added time due to the many traffic holdups, it made for a very bunny bum numbing few hours. Whilst it did yield places of interest I never felt the wows of Singapore. There are definitely some impressive buildings in the city, but nothing comes close to the magnificence of the Patronus Towers. We wandered around the area of the KL Tower, but it was very expensive to go to the top. With the Patronus on our to do list, we didn`t feel the need to spend time and money on what was essentially just another viewpoint. Another point of interest was the Thean Hou Temple, this was worth the journey. A very beautiful temple high above the city, lots of coloured lanterns and celebratory Chinese New Year decor made for a very pretty place to visit. Inside the Temple, the architecture was quite special, naturally it was of little interest to us in a spiritual way, but we could appreciate its ambience and beauty. The Patronus Towers. We managed to choose the nicest possible day to visit the twin towers. We were most excited. Tickets sell out quickly for the observation deck, and we managed 3 tickets for 10.30am. Just a twenty minute walk away from our flat, we arrived in plenty of time, to be frisked, x rayed, bag checked and corralled into our small group for the 10.30 lift. Their timings and efficiency were superb. Nobody was allowed more than their fair share of time anywhere. We were whizzed up to the 42nd floor first to walk the sky bridge, whoa, my little bunny legs had a minor wobble, that is quite some height, but after a brief pause there for photos, we were gathered together again for the final flight up to the 86th floor. Now that, my bunny friends, is high! The views are just stunning, but so is the chance to admire the second tower in all its glory. As far as buildings go, the Patronus are beautiful inside and out. Whilst standing looking across with legs of slightly off firm jelly, I was gobsmacked to watch two workman hanging on ropes and pullies cleaning the paintwork just below me. Who am I to be nervous inside, whilst he dangles on a rope outside? With Kuala Lumpur being the home of shopping due to its very low import taxes, little bunny and I decided to have a day wandering the shopping malls whilst Mr Bunny had a peaceful afternoon watching a green screen somewhere. Lets just say our afternoon was not a success. Without the budget for Gucci, Prada, Tiffany or Louis Vuitton, we tried, and failed to find more western and cheaper shops elsewhere. K.L is not the place for western clothing, everything is very much Asian and tiny. Really, really tiny. Like, do the women actually have bums and boobs here tiny! Never seen so much clothing in very petite, sizes 4 or less. Neither was I particularly amused when in the market I eyed a pair of trousers, tiny of course, to have to woman shout to me, its ok much stretch, very stretchy...sure, stretch to a whole size 10 with a good pull grrrr. Two bunnies went home feeling quite miffed and empty handed. There was one shop in which I really had a fun time, I like cute and fluffy, I admit it, I am a sucker for a teddy bear of any design. One particular shop was aimed at me through and through. We did buy our new Disney (watch this space) t shirts here. Not even a t shirt did we find. Mr Bunny arrived sometime later seemingly having had a much more successful afternoon! Batu Caves. We had been looking forward to this trip almost as much as we had been looking forward to the Patronus Tour. A short taxi ride and we landed into absolute chaos. So many people, taxis everywhere, buses, stalls, rubbish bags everywhere, litter, food waste, pigeons, monkeys, good grief what on earth had we come to? The Batu Caves are Instagram (curse you Instagram and your stupid filtered artificial photos) worthy, painted steps, a beautiful courtyard, the tall golden Buddha (?) statue. But our reality was hell on earth. Before I mention the Caves, I should admit that we had managed to time our visit just 2 or 3 days after a HUGE religious festival had just finished, to which approx 2 million people had attended. Our timing sucked. Was a shame really, as our taxi driver told us that under normal circumstances the area was normally clean, the food stalls didn`t usually exist with the exception of maybe one or two, and the steps were normally a pleasant experience. With nothing to compare it with, we climbed the mountain of coloured stairs, trying to avoid looking at the abysmal amount of plastic bottles and discarded rubbish, dodging scavenging monkeys and arrived at the biggest cave I have seen in a long time. I could understand why this cave and the shrine within could be deemed special, but an area still cleaning up after an onslaught of a million plus people, all I could feel was the ickiness of dirty monkeys and discarded rubbish. And the smell. Oh dear, the smell. In a nutshell we went, we saw, we left. Such a shame. Little bunny was so disappointed that she even went back a few days later in the hope that normality had been restored. It had not. Instagram really does have a lot to answer for. I personally refuse to look at anything of Insta, but when the younger generation appears to live on it, these disappointments are going to be frequent. Whilst we very much enjoyed our time in Kuala Lumpur, I cannot say that it would be a destination that I would choose to return to anytime soon. A one off for me I think. Perhaps if the people had made up for our lack of enthusiasm for the city with lots of welcoming smiles, it may have been different. They did not smile. Ever. Is it our western faces or their daily busy lives into which we are intruding that fails to raise a smile, we do not know. But it has struck us how naturally friendly and approachable we are as Brits and how very odd it is to smile naturally at people who all but blank you and offer nothing in the way of a facial gesture in return. Thank you for your hospitality Malaysia, we bid you farewell.

After leaving Australia we always knew that our trip would be more flexible. We had a pretty good idea where we wanted to go, but it was always going to be dependent on the cost of flights and the weather. I have no intentions of flying our bunny butts to a country if its the middle of their monsoon season. Next time however, I am also going to take notice of other public holidays such as Chinese New Year. (Ho hum). I study the map at length, aided by the wonderful Skyscanner app, and see what route looks the best. From Bali, we had intended going to the Philippines, but on closer inspection they are an incredibly difficult destination to pursue on a budget, with `must do` islands lying a flight distance away. Then I remembered a conversation with my Aussie friend David, who said that Singapore was well worth a visit. With flights very affordable, that is how we ended up visiting one of our most favourite countries/city/state to date. Singapore. Why have I only every thought of Singapore as an airport. A city in which to land en route to somewhere else? Never in my wildest dreams have I ever considered Singapore as must see tourist destination. I knew it was a bright lights, big city kind of place, but truth be known I had never looked at it with any degree of interest. That, my bunny friends was big mistake number one. Big mistake number two, was coinciding our visit with C.N.Y. I just thought Singapore was a phenomenally expensive city judging by Booking.com , but what I think happened was an ill timed visit. (a bit like Liverpool on Grand National weekend) As soon as we landed and caught our taxi to the hotel, I knew I had goofed. This was a city like no other. Stunning, beautiful, green and clean. Very very very clean. We immediately extended our stay by one more night and hit the ground running. Little miss `what` bunny gave us a list of must see places, and putting our best foot forward, our adventure in Singapore began. `what` bunny? Just in case I haven`t mentioned or you have forgotten our nicknames, Mrs Bunny is `where`....Little bunny is `what` and Mr Bunny is `kerching`. I decide where we are going, little bunny is in charge of deciding what to do when get there, and Mr Bunny pays /kerching for it lol. Kampong Glam. I could expand at length about this area, but in a nutshell it is an area where you will find shops and restaurants that sprung up from the time of the pilgrimages. A beautiful mosque stands at one end, and the lovely streets set out in a grid pattern are decorated with some of the best street art I have seen. Non of your so called graffiti art, these are superb wall sized art works of every day life. Place yourself in the picture by washing up, stroking the cat, or taking a seat at the table. From Kampong Glam we headed next to the HoHo bus. We purchased the 5 event Singapore pass allowing each of us to participate in 5 different experiences. The Hoho bus mis read our pass, and as they scanned just one pass, not three, we decided not to tempt fate and instead only did one of the two routes. We toured one part of Singapore, studied and listened to the hoho recommendations, then on the second loop around we jumped off at our next port of call. the Raffles Hotel. Im sure all you clever bunnies know the story of Raffles, but I did not. It was at the Long Bar of the Raffles hotel that the Singapore Sling was invented. Ladies once upon a time were not supposed to drink alcohol, the Sling was invented to create an alcoholic beverage with the looks of a fruit cocktail. When in Rome etc...We duly queued and entered the Famous Long Bar. With eye watering prices for a mere drink, we did exactly what good backpacking bunnies should do, we opted for the Singapore zero alcohol sling, 16 dollars instead of 27, whilst Mr Bunny who hates Gin anyway, had a beer. The proverbial bag of monkey nuts was placed on our table, and like a good bunnies, we ate the nuts and ceremoniously threw the shells on the floor. The Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel is the only place where you will find purposely discarded rubbish of any description. From the Raffles hotel we walked a few blocks back to a good looking bronze coloured hotel and entered just for a nosy. Oh my goodness what a stunning ground floor port of entry. You just stand and gaze to the high ceilings, a mass of beauty and architecture, that is the Atlas Hotel. Chinatown. Yet another wonderful part of the city, smart, tidy and Chinese culture. With a heavy emphasis on the CNY there were a lot of decorations devoted to such. Red lanterns line the streets, banners everywhere wishing you Happy C N Y, and so many restaurants it was hard to keep a smile on my face. I shall elaborate. in Chinese cuisine they eat everything. I seriously mean everything and the photographic food posters, whilst they may look appetizing to many, just churned my stomach. Whilst only a silly person would assume I mean cat or more appallingly a woofer, the food to which I refer is boiled chicken feet, duck head soup, fish of every description, boiled chicken soup (with the skin still on) every manner of crustacean with heads, legs and eyes, as a complete non foodie and a passionate hater of all things fish related, food wise I struggled in Singapore. Two other slightly less fussy bunnies did not. Sentosa Island. Whilst you can go by taxi over the bridge, little `what` bunny informed us we were travelling there by cable car. Omitting the fact until we got there, that said cable car started halfway up the biggest hill in Singapore. I was actually quite looking forward to this. I have to confess at times I wish I could, what`s the phrase?, have a stiff drink to calm the nerves. It was high. very very high. I am relieved to say that we travelled in the cabin alone, just the 3 bunnies, and thankfully there was no wind. Little bunny nearly got skinned when she insisted on swapping seats to take video making the cabin sway by 2 degrees, but other than that it was an exhilarating, albeit slightly scary ride. All I knew about Sentosa is the fact that Universal Studios is based there. With added cost to an already expensive Singapore pass, we looked, but didn`t enter. (next time...next time...) what we did do though, was the super awesome interactive Harry Potter Experience. Each given a wand we started our `tour` on the night bus, watching the streets of London and the countryside of Scotland whirl past us as we sat on the Knight bus beds. Getting off at the M.O.M (if you know, you know) we had to use the Red Phone Box, to dial our way in. Cue the look of disbelief when a certain little bunny when faced with a dial phone, asked `what do I do?` From the MOM to the Department of Mysteries, to Diagon Alley, even to Newt Scamanders zoo type lair, 10 zones in total, each time you saw a hint of magic, portrayed by a visual circle of light, you pointed your wand and watched the magic happen. lights would come on and off, words would appear, animals would move, hidden objects would be seen. Almost every person in the group of 30 seemed to enjoy the whole experience. At the very end Mr bunny had a lot of fun setting off the fireworks magic in the Battle of Hogwarts room, prior that is until the only brat in the group got there, and whirled dervishly from one side of the room to the other. The kids frustration was palpable, but that only made us grin more. Even I nabbed a few timely fireworks as said brat approached. From Harry Potter we walked across the very beautiful, and fairly tourist free, island of Sentosa. The signage is appalling, we got lost so often, but getting lost in such a lovely place is no hardship. We came across the fort and its reproduction army `sets` reproducing how the fort may have looked in its most active form. We walked along jungle paths and beach paths, through the very beautiful resorts part of the island, and could still have spent more time there. Everything on Sentosa is a paid entry. If we had chosen the all inclusive pass, which was a little too expensive for our budget, we could have done so much more. What we did was free, but also very enjoyable. Marina Bay Sand hotel was next on our list. That 3 part hotel with the ship on top. This was to be a highlight, but our reality was a slightly frustrating fully booked observation deck. We tried every which way to get to the top, but the only way to achieve that was to pay $35 dollars each in exchange for food/drink vouchers redeemable at the bar. Even then there was no promise or certainty that we would get a table, and not just have to hover at the bar. Whilst it would have been wonderful to get that awesome view of the city, no view is worth that cost. Instead, we sent little bunny up armed with the go pro and she used one of the passes that didn`t get scanned when we went on the hoho. From the Marina Bay hotel which is quite stunning btw, we went to the Gardens By the Bay, through the garden of the Super Trees, a spectacular garden area of tree like structures and gardens. Mr Bunny and I went to the top of the tallest tree via the nicest lift ride ever. If the outside of the tree represents nature of sorts, the lift roof was a visual view of rising into a forest of flowers and trees. Little bunny walked the tree walk. From the top of the tree we got a birds eye view of the Marina Bay hotel and had a lot of fun taking forced perspective photos. From the outdoor trees we walked to the two separate domes of the Cloud forest and the Flower Dome. There is no denying both places are just fabulous, but while I suspect a person with a greater interest in all things plant would be able to spend a couple of hours in the flower dome, we bunnies of the preferred artificial plastic pot plants were able to scoot around in around 30 mins. There was a huge Monet type live ish exhibition, but yawn, boooring...(sorry) The cloud forest housing the worlds largest indoor waterfall was so much more interesting, and personally more fascinating. You climb to the very top of the dome via lift, but return to ground level via a series of aerial bridges and walkways. A tad scary if heights are not your thing, but quite wonderful. Another favourite tour in Singapore was the night safari. This is part of the zoo, but instead of walking around by day, this particular part of the Zoo houses all the animals that prefer to be active by night. You board an open sided bus anytime from 7.30pm when the park opens until 11pm, and are taken on a scenic tour around the park viewing animals in the dark. Not pitch black, the pens are lit by an artificial night light so that you can easily see the animals as they wander about and eat. You lose the animals true colours, but any fool knows an elephant is usually pink. The track that the bus takes is quite narrow, and very very green, your are driving amongst bushes and along side the pens. It feels quite special. Once you complete the bus section of the park, you return to the start and can follow on foot one of 4 very different walking trails to see numerous other nocturnal animals. Hearing and seeing a Lion roar at 10pm is quite intense. The animal pens are superb, wide ditches that are so cleverly disguised you almost feel like the animals could run down and back up your side for a closer view of the human pond. We were to return to the zoo the following day, this time to do the River Wonders Boat tour. A boat ride through the Zoo this time. Followed by a walking tour that took in Pandas and a Red panda amongst other animals. A truly remarkable Zoo that still had 2 other sections of the Zoo that could, if you had time, have been explored. I could write so much more about this fabulous City/Country State, but I wont. Singapore should be on everyone`s bucket list. The greenest, cleanest City you can imagine. In four days I may have been able to fill a small carrier bag with the discarded rubbish that I spotted. Their commitment to a cleaner greener environment is just enviable. Everywhere you turn there is a wow factor. We didn`t see a single ugly building. No scruffy corners. No overflowing bins. We did see 5 giant river Otters swimming in the pristine river. No plastic bottles, no floating rubbish, just pristine green lands and clean water. The water here is filtered. You can drink from the taps. Singapore you are quite special. Just teach your population how to smile and you have cracked the mystery of enviable city living. Prior to leaving we realised we still had tickets left on our pass, so we got back on the hoho bus and this time chose route number two. Both a pity and a relief that we didn`t do this route sooner as we found the shops. ALL the shops. Split into many different areas, Singapore is very clever in design, China town, CBD, India, Shopping, and Entertainment. (that`s just for starters) A smile. allow the edges of your mouth to raise slightly, a slight parting of the lips, and et voila! The lack of emotion was our only dislike of Singapore. Absolutely no one smiles! In the most stunning architectural and visually stunning city that we have visited so far, it was by far inhabited by the most sour faced people. Changi airport. This really is a beautiful airport like no other. We had spent hours pricing flights to Kuala Lumpur so that we could spend time at this airport. It wasn`t to be. We could get a bus for a minimal amount. That is, right until the day before we planned to leave. I found affordable flights and booked us on a late evening flight so that we could spend the time enjoying Changi and the Jewel. What an amazing experience. This airport and its 4 terminals is a wow factor and an experience all on its own. I once saw a Facebook reel about 2 boys saying that they were going to try and spend 3 days at the airport without flying out. Totally believable. Cinema, shopping mall, swimming pool, hotel, spa, nails. luxury shopping, flight simulator, flower garden, butterfly garden are just the tip of the iceberg. Waterfall? aerial walkway? gourmet restaurant? It has it all. The airport is a destination all of its own. Singapore. You are quite special. And quite categorically not just a stop over airport.

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

Everyone has told us, watch the West Coast, it gets very wet, a lot of rain, flooded roads and closed roads. Despite being billed as being the most beautiful coastline, we are happy to chase the sun and follow our own paths. In this case, Arrowtown, followed by Wanaka. New Zealand Arrowtown, a cute little place dating back to the Gold rush era. Leaving out the gold part, and the lake this town is Ambleside or Bowness all over (sorry for any confused non Brits who read my blog). Pretty little overpriced tourist shops albeit made of wood not slate or stone, small artisan shops, a few boutique shops, an excellent bakery and an even better sweetie shop. We paused there for a while, spent a whole 5 minutes in the Chinese Village. It would appear that the local New Zealanders were non too keen on said race, (fancy that...) but anxious to reflect on all aspects of local culture, good and bad, the Chinese village remains as a tourist interest. Onto Wanaka. Wanaka, the town with `That` tree !! Every sign, everywhere, refers to the tree as `That Wanaka tree`. It was here that we decided to take some down time, we booked an electric pitch site so that we could quite literally recharge our batteries, both human and electronic. Showers !! Yeah !! Whilst we had a shower available to us in the bunny bus, we had neither the inclination to wait a full 30 mins to heat the water, nor the energy to shower in such a petite and bijou space. This site had real showers. Oh the luxury. Day one was a little damp, but with energy levels running on empty, it was nice just doing nothing. well apart from rescuing a baby bird that had fallen from its nest, and was replaced into said nest by Mr B with the aid of the motorhome bed ladder. Little birdie we hope you survived. By late afternoon the damp morning turned into a glorious evening, so we decided to wander into town, see `That Wanaka Tree` and visit the best cinema ever for a night of much overdue entertainment. That Wanaka Tree. In a nutshell, Lake Wanaka is stunning, like every other lake, but on the edge of Wanaka town, a small tree is making its mark by growing out of the lake itself around 8-10` from the lake shore. Like the gloriously situated Church at Lake Tekapo, this tree hogs the limelight. When in Wanaka you take a picture of said tree. Mission accomplished. Paradiso Cinema. What a wonderful little cinema. From the entrance with its little cafe of food to order, for now or the interval, to the posters that adorn every wall of popular modern films, the bathrooms that are akin to your cute wooden cabin bathroom at home, wood log burning fire (not heated now, as its summer) and the cinema itself with 2 or 3 seater settees, single arm chairs, a couple of rows of regular cinema seating, love bug cars at the back, home from home cinema at its very best. A cinema manager who commanded respect by his most cheering and hearty `are we all ready for the film guys?`.. and absolute silence followed. Gladiators Ready!! (number2) Queenstown. Oh my golly gosh, just when you think there is absolutely no way South Island could get any better, you reach Queenstown. How and why this town is so much nicer than anywhere else is hard to say, but within 5 mins of arriving any of us could quite easily of scoured an estate agent to price up a house. We have a friend from years ago, an old band friend, who came to New Zealand for a short working holiday, fell in love, and stayed. We had plans to meet up with Emma after sampling the towns very famous Fergburgers. A burger place that is so easy to find, simply look for the shop with a queue half way round the building. Worth it?? Absolutely !!! We had a short walk around the town, to the harbour area, but with Emma promising us a tourist tour, we kept our wanderings short. At the end of the beach/lake side was a children`s playground, with a very adult sized slide. Yes, Yes I did. Several times. In fact all 3 bunnies had a turn. We started a trend, as by the time we left, at least another 5 adults had a quick whizz down this slide. We met Emma at the large Supermarket, and it was lovely to meet up again with a woman who was always a pleasure to be around. Emma took us around the town, pointing out all the little quirky places, especially the towns silly monument, which some clown decided that a boat was a good idea. True to form, as Emma pointed out, there were several traffic cones in said boat. One nice touch for the day, we met a bagpiper, who on request played Highland Cathedral. Happy memories. Queenstown jet boat. Mrs Bunny is a slight coward, and despite making promises to do anything and say no to nothing, boats are just not my thing, they have a jet boat ride called Shotover, it is the most famous trip offered in Queenstown, however ridiculously expensive, 150 dollars plus expensive, but on Lake Wakatipu a similar jet boat ride was so much more affordable, just as fast and not quite as scary. all the bunnies went on the jet boat, and it was crazy fun. We loved Queenstown so much. I could add that it is the home of bungee jumping from the nearby gorge bridge, and it was a place that we freedom camped for one night. Did we watch the bungee jumpers?? Yep, did we.....what do you think lol psst maybe the 300 dollar pp is the clue. Blue Penguins!! Who knew that penguins came in blue as well as the Lakes? Not quite the same shade of blue, but blue non the less. These little guys inhabit the town of Oamaru, which was to be the next town we hit. Unfortunately, literally. At the time we were not aware that the penguins from the reserve were out at sea all day, returning home to nest in the early evening. We got offered entry to see the newly hatched chicks, but when the receptionist showed us the chicks on the penguin cam, it seemed a little odd to pay another 60 dollars to visit them in person. that and the fact the penguins were under a red light? We cut our losses, accepted that penguins were not on todays agenda, and continued our journey north in our search for bigger fishy things, the Sperm Whale. With the bunnybus running low on oil???, a quick stop was in order, and here we bumped into a something, not a someone. A brief lapse of concentration, the need to get the bunny bus butt off the busy road, Mr B ducked left down the wrong side of the petrol pumps, and crash bang wallop we were stuck. Wedged firmly at the edge of the petrol station building. Obviously it was necessary for the petrol station worker to point out that we should have driven down the middle aisle ( no sh.t sherlock!) and so stuck are we. Naturally Mr B has the all events covered insurance, and a quick call to the hirers meant that the tow truck arrived within an hour to drag us free. With the bunny bus free, and sporting only a few minor war wounds, we drove along the coast road until the sun was nearly set, then freedom camped to lick our wounds for the evening. Kaikora, Whale Watching. Watching the Whales has always been on Mr Bunnys bucket list, not so much Mrs B, as those silly whales tend to prefer open water, which invariably means a boaty mcboatface thing. I did try ! I promise. We booked three tickets to see the wet whales in the water, but on booking in it was advisory that passengers took sea sickness tablets, as the waters were forecast choppy. Mrs B, already green and wobbly from walking along the solid and exceptionally stationary sea shore, grabbed the option for a refund with both bunny mitts, and charged her bunny butt back to the bunny bus for a brew and biscuits. The relief was palpable I assure you. The two whale watching bunnies returned around 4 hours later happily excited to have seen a whole tail come out of the water. Pardon the lack of enthusiasm, but you wanted me to spend 4 hours on a boaty thing to see a bloody tail?? Ive seen Jaws you know, If I was doing a wet boaty thing to see fishy stuff, I want the whole darn shebang, teeth, fins, the lot not just its sodding tail!!! Pretty confident I got the better deal that day, with my tea, chocolate and mountain view, all from the comfort of the bunny bus. Abel Tasman. the Jewel of the South Island. An area of South Island that we had been looking forward to the most. Prior to driving everywhere else, and realising that just about everywhere is glorious. Abel Tasman is a national park with reported exceptional beauty, and guess what,? mostly accessed by sea taxi! We booked yet another electric pitch, showers, showers, showers, the wet soapy variety, yeah baby. We were almost at the start of the Abel Tasman hiking trails, (two days, three days even 5 days) but lucky for us, there was a lovely coastal walk to the next sandy bay. This short (an hour) walk, was deliciously easy, and landed us at a picture perfect paradise beach. Palm trees, white sand, driftwood logs, blue seas, it had the lot. We stayed there for a couple of hours, on a beach, in November ! it was heavenly. Little bunny really fancied the water taxi ride to a further point, (arranged for the next day) and it was agreed that we would meet up for lunch at the beach we were on. The next day, bright and early, little bunny set off on her water taxi, and rang us an hour later shouting and screaming, I could hear water, and muffled words like xxx in the water. I kid you not, my heart ran cold. It was Mr B, hearing the conversation from further away who explained to me that she was screaming that she had seen an orca pod. Orca! off the coast of New Zealand. Little B was still grinning 4 hours later when we met up.*( This evening I rang my mum and dad, it was late in the evening and for peace and quiet we chatted from the camp laundry. Little bunny came to join me and told them all about seeing the Orca that morning. We giggled that night as recalled the usual good natured banter between my parents as neither could decide which way up to hold the phone. ) This conversation would later haunt my soul. Hokitika. A long drive from Abel Tasman, we planned to do this journey over two days. We originally planned to stay at Greymouth on the coast, but a slight misheard directional call sent us inland, not coastal, causing us to pause overnight in a tree forest, not a sea view. Nothing matters, and it all adds to the adventure. To be fair going the wrong way, put us closer to our end destination. Once at Hokitika we had two real things planned. First, send home our winter and surplus clothes. Two, walk the gorge, and the third unplanned activity, get eaten alive by evil little black sand flies. Box filled, sealed, labelled and ready for collection, we went to walk the Hokitika gorge. It was 38km inland from Hokitika but so worth the visit. Its a good job we gave little bunny the title of `what` as otherwise it would be yet another amazing little gem that we wouldn`t have chosen to go and see. Sand flies aside, (evil little barstools) it was a journey well worth taking. Arthurs Pass. This long road connects Hokitika on the West coast, to Christchurch on the East. For a long stretch of road, this is a road that you drive along saying, `that`s nice` and that`s pretty, right up to Arthurs Village where you pause and say Wow !! and for a further 30km or so, its just wow after wow after wow. At Arthurs Pass there was a big waterfall, a short 30 minute walk from the car park. 30 minutes my bunnybutt.!!!!! It took us at least 45 minutes and every second of it was up hill and up flight after flight after flight of stairs. We did it, but my poor bunny knees had quite the tantrum for many days afterwards. Whilst at Arthurs Pass village we saw many signs saying don`t feed the Kea. Kea? Beautiful chunky parrot type birds, and quite rare. We spotted two outside the cafe and went Kea stalking, with success, cute. International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch. For the last 50 or so years, Christchurch has the served as the main hub for transporting scientists to Antarctica. The excellent Antarctic Centre was a wonderful museum of education for all things snowy and cold. A 4D cinema gave you a tour around the ice caps, the Ice room provided us with a snow storm simulation, brrrrrrr, thankfully they provide you with coats, but I did wish for several minutes that I hadn`t chosen to wear cropped leggings, my ankles were freezing. There was a snow mobile on which to sit and take authentic pictures. From snow room to snow dogs. Huskies, the softest, calmest, most peaceful dogs I have ever had the pleasure of being allowed to cuddle and stroke. Their handler was a Maori guy (Joe) with his beautiful Maori story tattooed on his face. Knowing that Maori tattoos tell a story, he explained his story to us. Quite moving. A man to whom we could have listened to all day. Snow dogs to snow birds, Penguins! and not just any penguins, blue ones, yay. The penguins in the Centre are all rescued birds with extensive problems. One leg, no tongue, broken shoulders or wings. Each bird is hand fed, with an excellent handler talk. Did you know that penguins have hooked bills, get grumpy, and frequently bite. Even the cute blue ones. Outside we rode in Hagglund vehicles, (little 10 men transport machines once used to transport people across the ice), to a nearby track they were put through their paces, up hills, down steep inclines, across bridges, it was the bumpiest ride ever, but a lot of fun, an idea of the sort of terrain and how it feels when you cross the Ice Fields. Our time in the fabulously awesome country that is New Zealand has come to an end. Just time for one last quick meal, and shortbread biscuit at the Riverside, and its off to the airport. Goodbye New Zealand, you are without question, the most beautiful country so far. We will return.

Galapagos. A bucket list experience, and one that we were the most excited about. I have watched Master and Commander, I had that same feeling of excitement that the doctor did. Big bunny is an animal lover, and little bunny was about to land in Instagram heaven, follow her @ miss.tiff.travel s. We flew from Quito to San Cristobal Island, via Guayaquil, and landed in paradise, granted my wild imagination far exceeded the reality, I really had expected scrupulously clean buildings, and streets, zero litter and picture perfect town, but the reality is a living town, with everyday people going about their every day business. It is so clear that once upon time the local population wasn`t expecting the deluge of tourists that it is encountering today. Was I disappointed? Not in the slightest. San Cristobal is just raw and beautiful. Yes, you are going to encounter building works and litter, and why? Tourism. It comes at a price. Take the photos and leave only footprints, everything about that statement applies here. From the moment we landed all we saw was the raw beauty, spoilt only in places by the every expanding need to accommodate tourism The road was less than perfect, we loved it. There was building taking place, we accepted it. We saw the wild animals, we respected them, their privacy, their space. they were here first. Who didn`t? Tourists, not all I assure you, but we saw more than one silly bint with a camera and a ` I`m going kiss a seal because you can`t and shouldn`t but I`m going to anyway because it looks good on my insta` attitude * disclaimer I am not and I emphatically repeat NOT referring to my little highly respected miss.tiff. If you cant be bothered to respect the delicate balance that is the Galapagos, stay away. Rant over. San Cristobal. Yes, you can fly direct. The cutest little airport ever. You can see the entrance, exit, both sides and the baggage claim without moving your feet. Our room was less than 5 mins away from the airport, we could have walked but the taxi driver was just so obliging. Yes, I know about the carbon footprint etc, but our bags are heavy, it has been a very long day and the taxi drivers need to earn/eat as much as we do. We dropped the bags at our room, locked up and left again. We only have 4 days on this amazing Island and we were not for wasting any time. Are we here on a budget or are we planning to splurge? Budget. I assure you. First place, walk and explore the town of San Cristobal. Nothing prepares for you more for this beautiful island than this pretty little town. And seals. Everywhere. When the huge signs at the airport warn you to keep more than 2 metres away from any animal, I wish they had mentioned "watch your feet" the seals/sealions literally lie anywhere they chose. In the road, the gutters, park benches, on the beaches, on boats, in the middle of the narrow path you are walking down  cue seal stand off.  they are everywhere, how many photos did I take? 100s of course! We walked slightly out of town to the Interpretation centre, it was free to enter and was the start of many different walking trails. We aimed for the one that ended at a beach. Beach, Pelicans, Seals (seals or sealions or both, we never could quite figure out which was which) delicately scented Paradise is the best way I can describe it. To sit on a beach, with beautiful clear blue water, surrounded by these amazing and charismatic animals was a dream come true. You chose your spot, keeping to the two metre distance rule, and there you have your own little spot in paradise, fabulous right up to the part when Stuart the Seal decides your patch of sand is way better than his. You move. Not him, Shift. Now. Its his sand, his beach, and he knows it, you common little human, shift your little bunny butt right now. Do the seals smell? yes. yes they do. very much so. My little .1 bunny said I shouldn`t mention this, but I cant help it. My poor little bunny nose was assaulted all afternoon, little bunny and big bunny have no sense of smell, so they were in blissful ignorance of my poor traumatized nose. Would I sit all day on that beach again? Of course I would, id just bring a small scent bottle and apply it frequently. Our day ended at a beach bar with hanging seat hammocks, before making our way to the town beach with the best sunset. The sunset was 6.15pm according to Google, so at 5.45 we plonked ourselves on said beach and waited. and waited. Everyone else seemed to think the sun set at 7.15, which it did, but we didn`t question it. The reason why will come later. Day 2. El Junco/Tortoise Sanctuary/Beach. We took a taxi, (we were initially quoted $80 but we agreed on 60 as all research online had suggested that $60 was the accepted fare for this trip. El Junco, first stop. the largest freshwater lake in the Galapagos, with a great view. Unless of course it is completely shrouded in mist and you cant actually see anything. What does it look like? I don`t know, because... Next stop, the Tortoise Centre. We arrived to an empty car park and a desk with one man and a piece of paper. Had we pre booked? No, we hadn`t as we couldn`t find any relative information online. Never mind the guide said, pay your taxi driver 10$ each (?) and I`ll take you on a personal tour now. That suits. San Cristobal Tortoise Sanctuary. Absolute joy of a place. The guide spoke beautiful accented English, was funny, droll, informative and clearly loved his job. We learned so much about tortoises that trip, and they were everywhere. They were in a free, but protected environment, they could wander as far as they liked, but given their food was growing all around them, they stayed close by. From the Tortoise Centre, we then went to Punta Chino, or Puerto Chino beach for 2 hours of paradise. Day 3 found us back at the Interpretation Centre, this time heading for the snorkelling cove of Muelle Tijeretas. A small but slightly crowded decking area served as the jumping in point for swimming. Calm clear waters and more seals! You can try as hard as you like to avoid them and to stay the required 2 metres away, but if they want to come and say hello to you in the water, they will. Santa Cruz Island. We had ferry tickets booked for the 7am crossing with instructions to be at the dock at 6.15am. We were there. Nobody else was. Silent. Dark. Still. How odd. Eventually the harbour master came to us and asked our business, we pointed to our watch and said 6.15 for 7 am Ferry?, to which he laughed and pointed to his watch. 5.15. Yep, we just spent 4 days on San Cristobal, having not adjusted our watches to Galapagos time. Hence the sitting on a beach waiting for a sunset that was an hour later than we thought. Well at least we got to see the Sun rise! The ferryboat, more a large speedboat with seating for 30 ish people than an actual ferry was exceptionally comfortable if you`re into boats and water. This bunny is not, so the 2 hour crossing was a miserable affair. Bunnies and boats just don`t mix. Puerto Ayora. The largest town on Santa Cruz, actually the only town, unless you count the tiny 2 or 3 house villages scattered along the road from town to airport, and a compete contrast to Puerto Moreno on San Cristobal. A much bigger town, and quite the maze. Definitely not as pretty as Puerto Moreno, and with a lot less seals. Our first stop was the Darwin Centre, rated as the finest tourist attraction/conservation centre on Santa Cruz. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. We had most definitely been spoilt by the Tortoise centre on San Cristobal, the Darwin centre, with its insistence that everybody has a guide (to stop tourists picking up/stealing tortoises...What!!!!) whilst excellent, was a poor comparison. Our group was large, the guide spoke very limited English and was very difficult to understand, and the whole experience was an unenthusiastic tour of a tortoise conservation centre delivered in a of matter of fact mumbling monologue. What they are doing there is exceptionally brilliant. The Giant tortoise, or Tortuga Grande has had a traumatic history, and the Galapagos sanctuaries are doing an amazing job restoring their rightful place on the islands. Don`t miss the Darwin centre, our experience was probably the exception rather than the norm. Day 2 Tortuga Beach. Without doubt a long long walk, but not difficult. A well paved path meanders from town to beach. You cannot get lost. Go prepared with water and food if required, as there is nothing at the beach but sand, sea, seals, sharks and Darwin finches. Delighted to say no cafes, no beach huts, no silly banana boats, just pure white unspoilt beaches and beautiful waters. Tortuga beach is just so picture perfect, apart from the fact that you cannot and should not swim there due to the exceptionally dangerous currents. Never fear, just a short walk up the beach and take a right and behind, I cannot describe it any other way, but behind the wild sea shore of Tortuga Beach, is Tortuga Bay. A perfect little millpond bay of crystal clear waters, small hammerhead sharks, and an infinite number of Darwin finches. the cutest, and nosiest little birds you will ever come across. If you do not fancy the long walk back, there is a water taxi that calls by for any wanting passengers.  Day 3. little bunny fancied a boat trip, whereas us two older bunnies did not. For $35 little bunny did the Bay Islands trip, a 4 hour trip taking in lava tunnels, shark snorkelling, blue footed boobies and Iguanas. follow the trip @ miss.tiff.travel s . Whilst waiting for the boat to appear we watched a huddle of Pelicans quivering at the dockside, on closer inspection, the Pelicans were watching a fisherman carve up a freshly caught yellowfin tuna, and their excitement was palpable. With little bunny on her way to the Lava tunnels etc, Mr and Mrs Bunny took the opportunity to take the challenge of walking through town, with a mission to find coffee, cake, beer, and no TV. This was the day England were playing Holland, and 2 footy mad people wanted to watch it on catch up. Day 4. Not the driest start to a day, so instead a very leisurely breakfast, a walk into town for some window shopping, then as the day got brighter, we caught a taxi to Playa El Garrapatero. In our short but perfect time in the Galapagos we had only spotted one blue footed booby, and El Garrapatero was our last chance to see this elusive bird. A perfect beach, yes, a blue footed doofer with a beak? nope, we lucked out on that. There was a chance we could have spotted one from the kayaks that were available from the beach, but 2 chubby bunnies and a little bunny with a very expensive camera didn`t think it was worth all the effort. Leaving day . With a plane to catch in the afternoon, we got a taxi to the airport, via El Chato, about $10 each, more Tortoise! you simply cannot have enough Giant Tortoise photos. The Tortuga here are amongst the biggest on the Islands. And they are allowed to `run` using the term loosely, wild. No boundaries, no fences, these fabulous reptiles, can be seen in the fields as you drive to El Chato, on the roads, near the trees. For a bunny more used to seeing sheep and cows in fields, spotting giant tortoises in the wild made me proper giggle. What an amazing end to a bucket list dream destination. But Wait !!! What`s that? After arriving at the airport, taxi, boat, bus.. we spotted our last elusive animal, another reptile, the land Iguana. $300 unaffordable trip to see them, or free at the airport. Galapagos, you are beyond amazing. A dream come true, and one we shall all treasure for a lifetime. May your shores remain ever pristine, and let not tourism spoil your magic.

As I start this very long and much overdue blog/diary, I must apologise and explain why. Leaving England I knew my mum was struggling with her mental health, Alzheimers is a slow cruel illness. Little was I to know that the call I made to her from that laundry in New Zealand would be the last time I would hear her voice. My lovely mum was to pass whilst I was in Australia, and my heart lost the will to write this blog. However, I shall continue now (however late) in her memory, with her and my dads great love of travel forever in our minds. To Travel is to Live. My Mum 3/6/43 -3/12/24 Uluru Our journey through Australia would start in the Red Centre. Uluru, how I have longed to stand before that Red Rock and gaze upon its wonder with my own eyes. I hadn`t quite realised that I would get to see it the moment we landed, and I assure you I was one exceptionally speechless and utterly confused Bunny. We were supposed to land, drive for 3 hours, then drive a further 3 hours to see the great rock, but there it was, right there!! Next to the airport, who moved it ??!!! My mind was working overtime. Long story short, Uluru really does have an airport of its own, whereas I had assumed Alice springs some 5 hours away was the Airport for Uluru, hence big red rock being exactly in the right place. This also placed our hotel several hours drive away, with a very bewildered car hire lady telling us, you can`t drive there at night, (told her where it was and our plans to return to both sunrise and sunset) it would take hours. You have to drive very very slowly to avoid the kangaroos, emus and camels (?) say what..... We had one full day to see Uluru and our plans were scuppered at the first hurdle...until she suggested we stay at the Outback lodge. A very kind booking.com transferred our accommodation to the Outback, and suddenly there we were in the heart of the red centre, with the rock actually visible to us from outside our little cabin. For a flying visit, we saw one distant sunset, one up close sunrise, one up close sunset, and a further close sunrise. The photos speak a thousand words. Staying near Uluru is easy for somewhere so remote. Airport, car hire, short drive to the resorts, with its varying accommodation options, tours, well signposted directions, walking paths, walking platforms, cute places to eat, drink or shop, it really is all there on hand with little effort. You cannot wander freely around the rock, and you certainly cannot climb upon it, but you can get up close and personal when you purchase the compulsory park ticket. Melbourne. With one previous memory of a whirlwind tour of Melbourne some 21 years ago, my list of places to visit were very much guided by my wish to recreate old memories with Mr Bunny, visiting the places I had previously, and to create new memories for me and brand new ones for him. I did have a whole list of places to see, and we did our best to see them all. We went to the Melbourne Gaol , a fascinating jail with such history, to see the death mask of Ned Kelly, Australia`s most infamous bandit. Aged only 27 when he was hung at the jail, his weird homemade armour was also on view nearby at the local library. A sad tale, and maybe he wasn`t quite the bad guy that he was made out to be. Certainly seems to have been made to go rogue by the appalling treatment of his family. From Gaol to Yarra River. We walked to wonderful riverside with its many Christmas decoration (yeah, we have found Christmas at last) and sat and watched the new evening Christmas lights show, passable but personally worthy of 4/10. The Gas Brigades outside the Crown Plaza were our main reaon for being on the waterside, and I was happy to see that their shooting flames were every bit as good as I recalled. Sovereign Hill was next on the list. A place like Beamish (for all you brits) an old recreated gold mining town with shops and character actors and actresses. I had such fun memories here, listening to two shop women discussing my mums frightful (yes, the were quite bad, but made by a friend, she was determined to wear them, kangaroo patterned cullottes...) the in character actors all had something to say, and it truly made for an authentic experience. Now?? it would appear that the `characters` are no longer allowed to interact in such manner such is the modern wussy attitude to political correctness and appalling soppy over protected children whom cry at any person daring to say anything even remotely firm to them. Sovereign Hill was still a wonderful place to be, and panning for gold is definitely a highlight, but such a shame to be blighted by present day stupidity. Ballarat Wildlife Park . Kangaroos and Koalas. This fabulous little wildlife park has so many Koalas, at close quarters, and free roaming Kangaroos that you could feed. As with everything nowadays, we would have had to pay quite a decent amount of dollars to hold or even stroke the Koalas, whereas my visit all those years ago, the keepers were happy to let us hold the Koalas with supervision. Even Mr Bunny, enchanted by most animals, fell under the cuteness spell of these adorable little `drop bears`. Werribee Mansion . A stately home just outside of Hoppers Crossing. In terms of age this house is actually modern by UK standards, built 1877, but for a house built 150 ish years ago, it has required a lot of renovation. I remembered head phones and holographs, now it was just a voice recording as you enter each room. Vic Market an excellent busy market with everything to please a foodie from fruit, fish. meat, cakes to the vast arrays of nicer end TS. (thats tourist sh.t to you) Paddys Market this was where we found the mass produced ts, but also a lot of closed stalls? I have memories of a never ending market. I guess time changes everything. A change of accommodation to Geelong gave us chance to drive The Great Ocean Road to see the 12 apostles. This was another destination that has changed massively since I was last there. From a little patch of gravel to park up, take a few pics and move on, this whole area is now a vast purpose built car park, toilet blocks, information centre, and vast walkways. Everything changes over time, and I`m not convinced for the better. For better or worse, the explosion of massive tourism is definitely having an impact on our most special places. As is the dislike of possums. We tried to feed the cute possums, as we had done all those years previously at Fitzroy park, after the constant unsettling sights of the numerous flat ones in New Zealand " damn pests, we don`t try to avoid them on the roads " we failed miserably as they are now considered city pests, and feeding is an absolute no no. We also visited Warnambool and Flagstaff, but I shall breeze over these places. Our last place to visit was Straws Lane and Hanging Rock. At Straws Lane you experience the very bizarre optical illusion that despite parking your car on a downhill, it rolls backwards, uphill. We managed a very credible 15km per hour rolling uphill. It was at Hanging Rock, where fictitiously 3 school girls and their teacher disappeared, that I learned that my mum had also vanished, from my life. 3rd December 2024. sleep peacefully mum x Our last visit in Melbourne was to visit our oldest friends. This was such a lovely day. We first met in 1977, and my mum remained firm friends with Gay until her passing in 2007. From then on, we have kept in touch with her family, and to see them again was wonderful. The children have grown up, and the next generation were a delight. To be able to talk about my mum was brilliant (apologies for the out of order blog, this day was obviously just prior to learning about my mums passing) Philip Island Penguin Parade One of our favourite and much enjoyed evening past time. At last, after being thwarted at so many previous places, both in South America and New Zealand, we were finally going to see Penguins. Little Fairy Penguins. Every single evening, 365 days per year, these beautiful little penguins make their nightly appearance. Emerging from the sea to run to their burrows is one of the funniest sights we have seen. We arrived at the Penguin Sanctuary, a huge brand new purpose built building, not quite the little box hut that I last remember, and waited for the moment we would be allowed to take our seats for the Penguin Parade. Wandering about the auditorium I was to learn that not only are these the smallest penguins in the world, they are also not called Fairy Penguins anymore, they are now known as Little Penguins, or to give them another name Blue Penguins !!!! Hurrah !!! I did not know prior to arriving that the cute blue penguins that I so desperately wanted to see in New Zealand, were these little guys. More excited now. There are around 5 sets of bench seating on the beach, separated by strips of sand, which face the sea. And then you wait. Once the sun sets and all cameras are put away, NO filming or photos please (unless of course you are that instagram twit who cares not for penguin safety and films anyway) Losing that battle, as every person alive seems to carry a phone, you are offered the chance to download professional photos, taken without flash...foc. I would truly say 95% of all people present, took photos. I did not. Personally I think they just need to emphasise that its the flash element which upsets the birds, and let people film away, as they clearly already do that anyway..Back to the penguin cuties. As the sun sets and darkness sets in, you start to see little black dots on the waves. The penguins have arrived. They arrived in little groups called rafts, and huddle to gather at the waters edge. FOREVER. I could hear the voice of Marlin from Finding Nemo so clearly as we watched these adorable little birds decide who would be the brave one to be the first up the beach. ......First we go out, then we go back, the we go out....then we go back....and just to be certain we go out again.. They stood and dithered, walked forward, ran back, four run forward two follow, and 6 run back to the sea. You sit there willing them on, to be brave and waddle their little butts up the beach. Up and down the beach you can see the little huddles of penguins at the waters edge, all vying with each other as to who would be the brave little penguin to start the beach dash. Once the beach dash starts, the soft hurrahs from the audience seems to give them encouragement to keep going until they reach the safety of the sand dunes and their burrows. Once the main bulk of the penguins have waddled up the beach you are allowed to leave your seats and watch these little dark blue cuties as they wend their way amongst the dunes. You also see a vast amount of possums, but all of a sudden, possum or penguin? Penguin usually wins. We visited Philip Island from the home of my mums friends. I had never met these people before, but trusting my mum and dads excellent judge of character we knew that they would be lovely people, and boy were we right. These two amazing people opened up their home to us, and we spent a wonderful 3 days with them, learning about what they did when my mum visited them on a Cruise a few years back, and other things that I didn`t know. New friends were made by all. After a farewell meal and a last sunset, we packed our bags to continue our journey. Sydney (and that damn bridge) These 3 crazy bunnies landed in Sydney with one day spare to prepare for the biggest adventure of at least two of our lives. Little bunny has climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge before, on her 13th Birthday, and this time all 3 daft bunnies would be doing the same thing. We had a walk out to see the bridge but I think nerves and a sense of dread and fear were a little at the forefront of our minds as it was clear that each of the older bunnies were wondering what the heck they had signed up for, and tempers, also induced by heat and being tired were a little frayed. Looking back I can quite clearly tell you which bridge photos were taken before the climb, and which ones after.! A little back story. Little bunny and her grandpa did this climb together whilst my mum and I climbed the stairs of the Pylon tower to watch. We saw them climb the bridge. We could see the steps. We could see what they wore and how they were strapped to the bridge. What we couldn`t see was the amount of pre climbing they had done to get to said point where they were visible. I was told about the practise steps. That the bit (read that again bit ) above the road was the worst. You could see the road below you through the mesh. Armed with that knowledge, Mr Bunny and Mrs Bunny have been walking Blackpool pier for around a year prior to the trip in order to try and desensitise their fear of heights . Oh how we laugh about that one now! Friday 13th. Yes. I chose that date. Bridge Climb day. Quite probably for the first time ever Mr B was not allowed to calm his nerves with a drink. First thing they do when you get there is a breathalyser test. Zero alcohol tolerance. A pre climb questionnaire filled in had alerted them to my wonky knees, but they assured me that there would be a chance to test my physical climbing ability prior to the ascent. A superbly organised climbing structure and climbing apparatus/body rigs meant we felt safe enough. We each tested the clip on rigs and reassured ourselves we couldn`t fall. All was good. We tested the ladders, not too high, good, tested the mesh walkways, yep, that was doable. And then it was our turn. Everyone wears headphones to hear the guide, and only she can hear you, and trust me, that was. awesome news. We clipped on, Mrs B at the front behind the guide, oh bother, now I had no choice but to move fast and to not hold up the group. Not for anything was I going to be the reason the group moved slowly. And we were off. Through the door, into a room, and once clipped and no going back, the enormity of that sodding bridge, and what it entailed, slapped you firmly across the face. If I used the F word once, i used it several times. Frogs were everywhere. There was a frog on the bridge, the handrail, the ground below us, on the cars, the low sided handrails, even the wind was froggy !! ` The first bit is the worst `my bunny butt !!! From the offset, the path is narrow, mostly open sided, mesh floor, hand rail on the left side only with your right hand guiding your life line alongst the narrow metal wire. Its also breezy. And did I mention that it is a long long long way!!? All my walking practise over Blackpool Pier ? absolute zero use. I have never been as utterly terrified in my entire life!! Its froggy high, froggy narrow, got frog all to hang on to and did i mention that it is froggy high!! That blissful bit of torture lasted around two weeks. Once my hand had secured itself into the grip of a thousand nations never to uncoil, the delightful guide yelled, that`s the easy bit over !! sorry, but wtf? easy bit ? Stairs next. Three flights worth. The sort of stairs that go in side tall hollow structures, that you look at and think nope, not for me! Nope, Up we go. Bunny balls and buttocks joined the party of frogs as once more I climbed. We reached the top and I breathed once more...until the guide says, we call this next bit the squeeze... I do hope you are kidding me? Nope, she wasn`t, between the rails, under the girders and along the frog laden path that joyously spanned more road. And just to add insult to injury, she then ever so kindly added " we are nearly at the ladders"... Well just look at those cute little ladders, exactly the same as the ones we practised on in the practise room, just 3 times higher, and 3 times as many, and over fresh air so that you can take in the lovely views. Chimps, chocolate, bananas and a whole other host of random objects now invade my thoughts and my mouth as I endeavour to give the frogs a rest. I solemnly declare that If I ever mention doing something so utterly stupid again, you may section me!! Finally, and not a moment too soon we stepped out onto the bridge itself. and this my bunny friends was the easy part. The steps are very wide, you cannot see over the edge, you cannot see the road below your feet. You can however see the whole of Sydney and the Opera House. The view is worth a million frogs. Cue music and fireworks, we`ve done it and I have the photo to prove it. I could tell you all about the numerous steps, ladders and other challenges that we met on the way down, but my favourite bit of the whole climb was the amazing ladder to nowhere, this gorgeous cute little ladder, connecting the lower path to the upper path. It really was the most beautiful steel mesh rung ladder you have ever seen and as the leader of the group, I, Mrs bunny, had the delight of standing at the bottom of this ladder for around 15 mins waiting for the rest of the group to slowly descend the ladders from hell behind me. The view below me through the wide mesh rungs was incredible. Absolutely nothing whatsoever obscured my view to the ground, and to my left I could see forever, such a shame my right hand view into infinity was partially obscured by train tracks. I forgot, must tell you, that ladder had special effects as well, every time the train and the numerous carriages went over, it shook like a jelly. It was a great feeling trying to hang on. 3 hours of hell later, and I am at last back on terrified firma. Having shared with both Mr B and little B the most incredible views of Sydney, I am delighted to announce that I will never do anything that daft for as long as I live ! Our time is Sydney was brief, but once the fear of that bridge climb abated, and the celebrations of survival set in, we could at last appreciate the beauty of said bridge with the back drop of the Opera House. We wandered the parks, to the Anzac memorial, The Rocks, we found the Christmas market, not great but the pancakes were pretty decent. The Christmas tree was quite special, as are most Aussie decorations. We love seeing the decorated Koalas, red nosed Kangaroos pulling the sleigh, Santa in board shorts, we have seen them all. We ate at the Wahlburger restaurant, an excellent burger place partially owned by Mark wahlburg and his famous chef brother. The East Coast beckons. We enjoyed our time in the bunny bus so much around New Zealand, and hated the buses with equal passion in South America, Mr B arranged to hire another big bunny bus to take us up the east coast. Envisaging a road trip of endless beaches, easy camping stops, and parking with the ease of New Zealand, our hopes were quickly dashed at our very first port of call. We had a 15 day plan of short drives and long stops at a multitude of different destinations. Leave early. Park, See, Camp. that was the plan. Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Noosa Head ,Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Airlie Beach, Townsville, Cairns. All the places we hoped to see, along a road that skirted the coast. whales here, railway there, caves anyone? On paper the suggestions look fine, but our reality was so so different. First and foremost we needed a powered site every night. Without Air Con we wouldn`t have survived. The heat has been incredible, and its only going to get hotter the further north we go. No free camping for us. The main road, is not a multi lane highway. neither does it touch the coast except in the rarest of places. How rare? Twice. that`s your lot. Parking. Complete nightmare. There is zero allowance for a motorhome with almost every parking space saying 6 or 7 feet or under. The most popular places are chocka by the time we arrive at lunchtime, so even if we can park its quite busy. Took us 3 days of travelling to know that if we had had hindsight, the east coast requires either a huge 4x4 and caravan, or a really decent car and cheap hotel stays. Not that any hotel is a cheap stay. We could have driven a little off the beaten track, but if we thought the main roads were dodgy, bouncy and hard to drive, goodness knows what off road would be like in a big bunny bus. The answer to most of our problems would have been to arrive at each camp site, then Uber to town, but after a while this just gets expensive. First stop Port Macquarie and the op shops. The op shops are the same as our charity shops but a million times better. These shops, our favourite, run by the Salvation Army and called Salvo, contains just about everything and anything you could possibly need, second hand, very cheap, and no tat. We had designs on everything Christmas. Bunny hopping from one salvo shop to another we Christmassed the bunny bus within an inch of its life. Lights and all. And 2 trees. Everything was stuck in place with either sellotape or blue tac, so we could drive at will knowing Santa was safe. With places difficult to access or park, we actually did very little sightseeing up the east coast. We did visit the Koala hospital and rehabilitation centre, a sad, but also inspiring place where they care for hurt or sick Koalas, placing the cured ones back into the wild, and loving and caring for the ones that can no longer care for themselves. Main cause of injuries? Humans. Loss of habitat, chopping down trees forcing the Koala to wander nearer and nearer to roads, we are their biggest cause for injury. The next injuries are by natural causes, mostly fire. One little koala, with the prettiest little face you have ever seen, was in the hospital for her own safety. She preferred one particular tree near a town, but would frequent the local court house on her way to said tree. After being rescued from `prison` several times, they decided the local hospital was the safest home for her. Byron Bay next Quite possibly one of the nicest beaches we visited, but in the most Aussie stereo typical vein you have ever seen. All three bunnies felt old, over dressed and out of place here. Young male surfer dudes in their board shorts, bare feet, shaggy blonde hair, bare feet and surf boards are followed everywhere by dizzy blondes in their 3 pieces of string bikinis, flip flops and endlessly sucking, but not depleting on the ubiquitous straws of iced latte drinks. With an average apparent age range of 21, we were clearly of the `mom and pop` generation. We loved Byron Bay, but wouldn`t chose to stay there. We would however love to have stayed longer at Brisbane. That is one lovely city. So chilled, easy going, and very pretty. We all felt very comfortable here. They have a lovely city beach called Streets Beach. My boss of 42 years, chose to to send me a photo of himself whilst on that beach last year. I felt it appropriate to send him the same picture back with me in said photo. Adding the caption, yep, Its great here. I felt it was a fair trade for his total lack of correspondence and interest in our trip. His sister, from the same company emigrated to said place many years ago, but I felt it more appropriate to enjoy a leisurely breakfast with an ex work colleague. We all met up at the best Cafe E V E R, in the town of Redcliffe, and fell in love with both cafe and town. (Cafe 63) Redcliffe was around 80 mins outside of Brisbane and is without any shadow of doubt the nicest town we have ever visited. Easily comparable to many of the towns of New Zealand, even Queenstown which I didn`t think could ever be bettered. Cafe 63, if you get a moment, just google their menu for a laugh. You will clock what I mean about best cafe ever. Australia Zoo. When little bunny added zoo to our to our What list, I had thought it was to pamper to Mr bunny's love of animals. What I hadn`t realised is that Australia Zoo is, or sadly, was, the home of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. This is not just a zoo, This is THE zoo. The most spectacularly beautiful and well kept zoo we have ever had the pleasure of exploring. This is the type of Zoo that every animal structure in the world should aspire to copy. Think endless acres of natural forest and open spaces, change nothing, just add a few strategic walkways, fences, and view points, and et Voila! The family still live and work at the zoo, and their legacy to animal conservation is second to none. Noosa Head, Rainbow Beach, both beautiful and spectacular. Rainbow is the jumping on point for tours to Fraser Island, the biggest Sandbar Island in the world. You can drive there when the tide is low and your vehicle is a huge big tyred 4 x 4 , but for mere mortals in a bunny bus, the only option was a ridiculously expensive boat trip. We would have made the trip with bells on, but how do you justify £200 each to visit another beach? Another fun fact, no matter how utterly beautiful the beaches are, they are also deadly. This is Australia, land of salt water crocodiles, stingers and jellyfish. Beautiful beaches are to be laid on or admired from a distance. Swim if you like, stinger suits are available to hire. Sorry, but sandy beaches have never been a favourite of mine, and now you want to add crocodiles and stuff that`s likely to sting me?? No thanks. Rockhampton. Christmas shopping time!! This was our only shopping town. We kept Christmas presents to a minimum spending very little. We kept to four categories , eat, drink, wear, read, with gifts to be practical, needed, liked and light. Who knew T bags would suddenly become a much appreciated Christmas present? We had intended purchasing food for a Christmas BBQ, free gas BBQs are to be found along most coastal towns. However, we chose to spend Christmas at Airlie Beach (awesome) at a gorgeous camp site, with a cute little swimming pool situated right behind our bunny bus. The pull of eating in an air conditioned bus, with a pool for dessert, was far greater than our desire for a hot BBQ. We have been to many English camp sites, and compared to the Aussie sites , we suck at it!. Never once have we encountered spoilt whinging brats, no crying babies, no barking dogs, no foul mouthed idiots or fish wives screeching. Every site has been so quiet, well behaved considerate people, superb cleanliness in the wash rooms and kitchens. Australia, you take camping to the next level. We stayed at Airlie Beach for 5 peaceful nights. We did go on a day trip to Hamilton Island, one of the many Whit Sundays, it was lovely, but to truly experience the magnificence of the Whit Sundays, you need to have cash to burn. Once again the trips are just so expensive. My mantra of ` a little bit of everything, but not a lot of something` is helping us find the places we would love to spend more time ( and money) at, whilst ticking off places that maybe we wouldn`t choose to go again. With 7 months of travel still ahead of us, and many many magnificent places, we have to be cautious and picky. Cairns. This is our last destination in Australia. After a journey of almost 2,400km, our time in Australia is coming to a close. In 2018, whilst on a trip to China, we met the most wonderful older solo (solo, not solo) traveller, and with whom I have kept in touch. She lives here in Cairns, and I always promised myself, that if I made it to Australia we would visit. On the best night of the year, and incidentally the last night of the year, we spent a glorious 5 hours with Margaret and her lovely husband Peter, on their balcony overlooking the Esplanade watching the fireworks with a birds eye view. It was an absolute joy to stand on that balcony and see for ourselves, the wonderful views that Margaret regularly posts on her Facebook page. The Bunny bus has gone to bed, and we are spending our last few nights in the best hostel (as voted by Hostel world several years running) in Cairns. A proper home from home little palace, the Travellers Oasis, is just that. an Oasis. One last trip in Australia and we saved the best until last. The Great Barrier Reef. Alas I have no photos, waterproof or not I wasn`t taking my phone into the sea. Or my go pro. A superb half day snorkelling trip, we, just the two older bunnies on this occasion, set off on a fast boat to the reef, with a lovely staff of 4. Everyone was given a floatation belt (or not if a competent swimmer) mask, snorkel, and fins. Being unable to wear and flap fins in the water, mrs b was given the opportunity to hang on to a life belt and be towed around the reef. We arrived at the reef after an hour of boating, we were prepped, the back of the deck was lowered, and we were off. We are also all wearing stinger suits, still in Australian waters after all. The water was the pleasant temperature of a warm bath, not a single cold shudder as you entered the water. My `tow lady` said to me after a brief swim, look down, we are over the reef. A little nervously at first and not using my snorkel, I stuck my head under the water and the beauty and size of the reef was incredible. Grabbing my snorkel knowing I was never going to take my eyes off the reef, I put my head down and watched the best underwater television. I have never been a big lover of open water, or snorkelling, but the reef and its huge variety of fish were just insane. I had such a mixed feeling about visiting the reef, we have heard about the bleaching, the sad state of parts of the reef, the ethics, but though we could see some effects of the bleaching, we could also see vast fields of very healthy coral, and a huge abundance of brightly coloured fish of all sizes. We also saw a clam shell. A living breathing clam shell, larger than any human! I missed half the commentary given by my `tow` guide, such was my desire to not miss anything below the water, but I did hear her say that this clam was very very old, probably over a hundred years, that he would have landed there as a small clam, dug in, and ate his way to this incredible size. Don`t misunderstand, the reef is far from the abundant day glo colours as perceived from fish tanks, but it definitely does have many different colours, shades of blues, greens and purples. The reef is incalculably huge. We were in the heart of the reef at the Whit Sundays, a 3 day drive away, and still that wasn`t the start of the reef. As a world, we need to learn to protect the reef. It is suffering. The fish are stressed. I was deeply saddened when my tow guide told me about the rainbow fish I was seeing below me, saying that they come in all sorts of bright colours, but when stressed they tend to be blue. My fish were blue. They get stressed by the presence of divers and snorkellers. I was one of those people causing my fish to become blue. Seeing the reef is one thing, but knowing your presence is causing the fish to visibly change colours in fear, is not right. There are 100s of tours available to the reef. At what point do we cross the line? Saving the reef v stressing the reef... To clarify, little bunny went to the reef the following day. She had a similar sort of day, but had the added pleasure of seeing a turtle up close. Our time in Australia has come to an end. For a country that Mr Bunny had thought that he wasn`t entirely sure he wanted to visit, I think it is fair to say we all enjoyed our time here so very very much, with frequent mutterings of `when we come back` not If. Good Bye Australia, you are truly awesome.

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.