Aotearoa

Another car another country! Spent a day in Dunedin kitting ourselves out for the long road ahead: esky, op shop pots, utensils and a tour of the Cadbury's factory for the Ladies! Off to the Otago Peninsula to see the Royal Albatross in flight. Up to Moeraki to see the boulders, perfectly rounded shapes visible only at low tide. Back down via Dunedin to head for the south coast and the Catlins. Curio Bay was a particular highlight, with Emilia catching her first wave, Fran surfing with dolphins, and Suzanne having a surfing lesson, which although leaving her black and blue seems to have given her a taste for it.

Putting a fair few miles behind us we passed through Invercargill and made our way north towards Milford Sound.

On the road again.

Procured our latest chariot and, bidding farewell to our newly found family, set out on the road again. Lake Jindabyne first and then onto the Blue Mountains, en route adding emus to our ever expanding list of Australian fauna. General consensus was that the Blue Mountains did not appear to be all that blue. However, we did visit one look-out area called Sublime Point, which went a long way towards justifying the interest in the area and summing up the view from any angle. Rounded the day off with a sunset picnic on a clifftop overlooking the mountain range.....even more sublime than earlier - and bluer!

From there on to Sydney, stopping en route for some boomerang throwing, and the biggest surprise of the trip thus far: Raph and Janette were rolling down the Hume Freeway to meet us for Raph's first camping experience. And had we ever chosen a prime spot for them to join us: old men cooking in their undies, and later wearing their birthday suits; accompanied by some large, friendly and tent-loving cockroaches! Twenty minutes by train into the centre of town, a harbour cruise, and a wander followed by a great meal and a circuit on the mono-rail brought us almost to the end of our stay.

Despite a very early start, a flat tire, and some lengthy farewells we made it to the airport and our flight to our next port o' call.

Happy New Year!

In the run up to the New Year, we visited the zoo, adding to our tally of Australian animals, visited a Little Blue penguin colony, took a ride on a steam train and wandered round the city, including a visit to AC/DC Lane......Hell's Bells! The New Year was ushered in with a magnificent view of Melbourne's firework displays.

Christmas Day

Say no more......

Holiday Season

Back in Melbourne, we found ourselves in the midst of a scorching festive season - most surreal to be wandering through the city hearing "Dreaming of a White Christmas" surrounded by people in shorts and flip-flops. Feeling somewhat bereft without our winter garb, we took part in a series of family parties, each of which managed to outdo the previous in culinary terms! Faces were painted, whistle orchestras performed and Emilia appeared as a Christmas Fairy on more than one occasion.

Great Ocean Road

After enjoying the first of many 'award-winning' aussie meat pies, we boarded the ferry for Queenscliff and our rendez-vous with Adrian, Amanda and Zoe, our ready-for-anything Aussie camping guides. As we drove west along Australia's south coast, on a little stretch of ashphalt called the 'Great Ocean Road', we were fortunate to come across: two scenic lighthouses, countless koalas, an echidna, a kookaburra, many sulphur-crested cockatoos, some golf-loving roos, a voracious family of king parrots (who ate right out of our hands), and a plethora of gorgeous limestone formations, each more impressive than the one before, until we turned back east at Port Campbell.

Down Under

Follwing a better than expected 24 hours of travel, we stumbled bleary-eyed into a wonderful welcome and weather to justify our sandaled feet. Spent a few days settling, meeting cousins and exploring Melbourne and its environs; before heading south to the Mornington Peninsula and a beach house in Rosebud with our hosts Raph and Janette.

The inclement weather of at the start of our stay in Rosebud gave us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the local fauna, namely the deadly squiggle-back spider, as well as affording us the opportunity for a crash course in Australian cinema, music, beer and wine.

As soon as the sun came out we headed for Koonya back beach, and a day of monumental sand-castles, kite-flying, rock pool explorations and baking! Our day was rounded off in a truly comedic fashion when, while inconspicuously attempting to enjoy that most Australian of delicacies the "Sauce Sandwich" washed down by a cold Carlton Draught, we witnessed two of Sorrento's finest boys in blue taking it in turns to pose for photos on the bonnet of their patrol car. First day on the job.....or just a bit twisted?

Ottawa

Brief sojourn back at the ranch paying bills, swapping wardrobes, procuring leak-proof tents, and celebrating Christmas early. Emilia returned to school, albeit briefly, and took part in a wonderful Carol Concert with all of her friends. She was also lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Father Christmas at the Streetsville Christmas Parade, during an early Christmas visit to Nanna and Nannu's. Following the parade, Santa managed to swing by the house on his way to his next commitment and we were able to enjoy an early Christmas.

After a final frenzy of packing we departed into the snow, much to the amusement of the taxi driver, in sandals and sans coats, bound for the Southern Hemisphere.

Malta

Spent two weeks enjoying the fruits of Nanna Salvina's renowned hospitality. Emilia in particular revelled in the boundless energy of her newly refound 83 year old playmate. The days were filled catching up with the many Aunties, Uncles and Cousins - as well as the odd flood and scuba dive!

Viva Italia!

Cinque Terre was stunning although Mother Nature did her best to wash us off the cliffsides with a full day of torrential rain. The rain and wind continued and the structural integrity of our tent was put to the test with gale-force winds throughout the night. We did manage a brief sojourn in the sand on the beach at Levanto.

On the way to Florence we stopped off in Lucca where we got mixed up with an enormous comics convention. Very surreal to wander the streets of a beautiful Tuscan town surrounded by Italian teenagers (as well as a worrying number of seemingly normal adults) dressed as their favourite characters - predominantly ninjas!

Spent two nights in Florence. One of our main reasons to visit was to show Emilia Botticelli's Primavera in the Uffizzi Gallery. She was suitably impressed, and somewhat embarrassed when Daddy was told off for taking pictures. We had a close shave with the Criminal underworld when a statue attempted to make off with Emilia's nose. We thought that he intended to hold it for ransom in order to extract another Euro from us; but Emilia kept her wits about her and darted before the nose was snatched.

We hit San Gimignano and Siena on our way through Southern Tuscany. In Siena we hung out in the Piazza del Campo where the Ladies enjoyed yet another gelato while being entertained by a group of grapa fuelled men reenacting the il Palio horserace.

Beautiful drive through Umbria stopping off in Assisi, another wonderful town, before arriving in Rome. Had an action packed day taking in as many sights as possible, including the Vatican and the awe-inspiring Sistine Chapel, as well as the awe-inspiring crowds just to get in to see the Chapel! We did have the added bonus of sharing our visit to see Michelangelo's work with Stephen Hawking who was getting a not-so private viewing with one of the museum curators, and a dozen or so of Benedict's finest Swiss guards. And Daddy got told off for taking pictures again, along with just about everyone in the Chapel!

Pompeii beckoned for some more Roman ruins. Emilia was particularly fascinated by the casts and was full of questions. It is astounding how much she is taking in, and wonderful to think that she will have her own memories of this trip. Abigail will just have to rely on the pictures and believe us that she really went to all these places.

Although the rain continued to follow us and looked to completely eradicate our views of the Amalfi Coast, it cleared just as we began our descent onto the coast road and we were treated to some spectacular scenery. It was on this drive that we also realised that our time in Italy was rapidly dwindling. On discovering that there was a ferry from Salerno to Sicily, we decided to make a break for the islands and leave the south of Italy for another visit.

Very easy crossing, shared with one other car and some of the best-dressed truck drivers we've ever seen, before being unleashed into the insanity that is Sicilian driving. Spent a night in Taormina, followed by a day on the beach, before driving through the barren, almost lunar in places, interior of the island to hit the south coast. We spent a delightful day lounging on the beach at Siculiana Marina, and visiting some very impressive Greek ruins at Agrigento. Abigail has added sand to the ever growing list of solids to which she is being introduced.

On our final morning we decided, on a whim, to see if our previous day's sand castle was still standing. This resulted in the front end of our Punto becoming firmly embedded in the sand. After several attempts at digging it out by hand, resulting in further embedding, a delightful old Sicilian couple appeared in a battered old Land Rover. Alfredo, without a word, dug around in the back, pulled out a cable, and while Maria entertained the Ladies, proceeded to extract us from our dilemna. Random Act of Kindness Number One. After a long drive, and a somewhat frenzied car drop-off/transfer to Sicilian public transport in Ragusa, we were unceremoniously deposited in Pozallo's main square, several miles from the port. Within minutes of asking a local for directions, and/or a taxi rank, we found ourselves in a convoy of Audis driven by a band of stylish Sicilian youth, us in one and our bags in another, being whisked to the ferry terminal. Random Act of Kindness Number Two. Not bad for one day.

And so it was with heavy hearts and an extra couple of pounds around the waist that we left Italy. This was of course tempered by the fact that we would soon be back in Malta.