Kia Ora from the other side of the world

Almost a week after we left Scotland and we've arrived in Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island. Torrential rain delayed our landing- according to the pilot the runway was too wet, so we had to circle for a while! However we woke up this morning to blue skies and warm sunshine, which is a rare treat.
This is the (self proclaimed) adrenalin capital of the world and if you are in to extreme sports, there's no limit.  Andrew passed a place offering a three bungy jump experience, as if one wasn't enough..... The town itself is jam packed with outdoor shops and cafes. It's still the school holidays and there are lots of young people about.
We are staying in a lovely modern studio apartment a short walk from the town centre. The architecture here is modern with lots of glass and balconies to make the most of the spectacular views.  Queenstown sits on the shores of a large lake - Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by some huge mountains. They filmed much of Lord of the Rings in this area.
We had tea this morning in a lovely little cafe/gallery near the lakeside and I took some photos which I'll post below.  They had a gorgeous garden and I'll make everyone home jealous with pictures of summer plants and flowers.
Tomorrow we pick up our hire car and plan to venture off into the mountains and visit a little ex-gold mining town called Arrowtown that's nearby.  The days are long right now, sunset is after 9 pm so we have lots of time each day for exploring.

Singapore

After a very long flight, we arrived safe and well in Singapore late Friday evening local time. We are staying with our friends Carolyn and Huw and their little boy Lawrence. They live on the top floor of a large apartment building quite close to the down town area. First impressions of Singapore are that it is surprisingly green and lush. And for a city of 5 million people with high density living, it it doesn't feel too overcrowded.
We have had a bit of an "eco tour" so far thanks to our hosts and visited a nature reserve and the Botanic gardens. We also went up Mount Faber which is where you catch a scary looking cable car. We walked down the hill instead, going over a beautiful bridge known as the Wave bridge with spectacular views of the city.
Celebrations are under way here for Chinese New Year and I'll end this short entry with a couple of photos marking the occasion. Lauren and Sam will be pleased to know it's the\year of the\rabbit-so Humphrey will need to celebrate in style!

Sending the word out

Thanks to everyone who has sent an e-mail or been blog savvy and put a message on the site itself! The pressure's on now to actually do something........( if I convert to twitter in the near term please don't be disappointed.)
First stop is Singapore and I aim to start to the travelogue there- sometime over the coming weekend.

Up and Running

This is my first blog entry and it is quite exciting. After hours of foutering about on google and reading other people's blogs- I have managed to cobble together my own page.
We are about to set out on a 6 week adventure around the globe, spending most of the time away in New Zealand. The idea is to use this page as a way of recording our travels in words and pictures and share it with people back home.
Three days to go and the countdown and packing begins in earnest......