It has been a hectic journey from Bangkok to Sydney and then onwards to Christchurch, NZ. My question was "if you had one day in Sydney what would you do?" the advice of an Aussie fellow traveller was to take a ferry round the harbour and see the city from the water, so for the princely sum of 10 dollars I did. The city panorama was brilliant and after an hour or so visited the opera house where I could have bought a ticket for Die Fledermaus for 250 dollars.....
Arriving in Christchurch the airport shuttle dropped me outside the YHA where I stayed for 6 nights and met some interesting people including fellow trekkers who advised me were to obtain the best deals, mainly through the Department of Conservation website. Was able to ring the bells for evensong at Christchurch Cathedral, bells that were very similar in many ways to Lincoln Cathedral and most were either Taylors or some older Warnes(?) bells. Christchurch is a very attractive garden city with a large botanic garden where I was able to carry on with my walking training every morning. The museum had a comprehensive Antarctic Expeditions display from the time of Scott until the present day, some interesting geological exhibits and a clear history of the Maori people. I spent many hours at the museum and also discovered the local swimming pool with senior citizen rates(!) and included jacuzzi and steam rooms in the price. Everything is very well cared for in NZ and therefore everywhere is clean and litter free, quite a contrast after 5 months in countries where those issues had if anything only just begun to be addressed. I spent a day in Akorua, about a 3 hour coach drive from Christchurch, where I had booked a "swim" with Hector dolphins (the smallest dolphin in the world and also an endangered species. A bumpy ride on a speedboat took 8 of us out into the mouth of the river, to the Pacific Ocean where we were able to get into the water (with wetsuits, as pretty chilly) and watch the dolphins swim around us. Had a great time and just avoided being sea sick by climbing into the water first and it went away!
A 6 hour bus journey took me to Queenstown where I again stayed at a YHA (decided to join the organisation as the accommodation in NZ and Australia is of a high standard - and inexpensive). My first trek in NZ, the Routeburn, one of the NZ 'Great Walks'starting point was from Queenstown and I decided to trek as an independant rather than guided as it was 6 times less expensive and the routes are clearly signed. The weather was poor, raining but with a temperature of about 18C and as all the accommodation huts had been booked for the 4 days I went anyway. The trek was 32 km long through fjiord forests and up to sub-alpine altitudes, about 1250m and all in one of the many NZ national parks. Conservation of the environment is very high on the agenda here to the point were trekkers (aka trampers in NZ) are issued with waste bags and expected to bring all their rubbish out. The trek was, for me, the wettest I've ever been on, my boots were soaked through but we were able to dry our socks etc on drying racks over the coal stoves in the huts. As in the Nepalese treks most evenings were spent playing cards,usually a variant of 'shithead' as played in Nepal, all highly entertaining particularly when played in a large group. Most huts were full to capacity despite the weather so there were no shortages of players. Cooking was on gas stoves, usually dried food (all carried in our backpacks, no porters - heaven forbid) and accommodation on bunks in unisex bunk rooms, and washing in cold water but flushing loos, thank goodness. Sadly saw only a little of the scenery but enjoyed the experience nevertheless and finished by being collected by coach and cruising on Milford Sound. The coach was full of tourists from Queenstown and on boarding I noticed a lack of enthusiasm in giving me a place to sit, I had been warned however that I would be one of the great unwashed after trekking and there may be a reaction to this!
The next day I caught the local bus to Te Anau where after a 2 days rest I would attempt the Kepler Trek. A shorter journey of 3 hours meant there was time to explore Te Anau and stock up on food for the YHA and the trek. This small lakeside town (on Lake Te Anau)must be one of the prettiest towns around and even the air smelled perfumed). The YHA is also one of the best I've stayed in and again full of a mixture of backpackers, families, both young and old.
Photo 1. Christchurch Cathedral
Photo 2. View of Akorua Sound on Banks Peninsula (70km from Christchurch)
Photo 3. First views of Murchison Mountains on Routeburn Trail
Photo 4. Routeburn Falls hut, first nights' stay on trail
Photo 5. Routeburn Falls in full speight after heavy rain.
Photo 6. Lake MacKenzie close by is the MacKenzie Hut where I spent the last night. The hut warden, Clive,entertained us all greatly with his rich store of anecdotes of his 15 years as a warden.
Photo 7. The first view of Milford Sound from the cruise boat. Waterfalls, waterfalls and lots more!
Photo 8. View of Lake Te Anau and part of the rainforest of Kepler Mountains
Photo 9. This requires no introductions! Though it should have been number one!

Finally managed to take a minibus day trip to the Golden Triangle, stopping at all points on the way. Met 2 more Aussie girls on this trip and am hoping to meet them in Australia. We stopped at the hot springs (not nearly as extensive as the Tatopani springs in Nepal) and were able to soak our feet in a footbath of springwater. We spent time at the White Temple, a very beautiful new temple designed and largely built by one man, and still being extended. The trip included a buffet lunch, very much enjoyed by all of us, 90% went back for seconds and even thirds!
The Golden Triangle, (from the viewpoint you can see 3 countries, Laos, Burma and of course Thailand) was worth seeing. Other sights seen included the ruins of the ancient city of Chang Saen. We would not have stopped there had I not insisted, having read about it in the guidebook! The final visit was to an Akha hill tribal village, (the same tribe I'd visited and stayed overnight with on my Chang Rai based trek) fortunately we only stayed for half an hour but were thoroughly harassed by villagers selling bric a brac, most of which was the same as at the various night markets, very little made by the villagers themselves, and mostly imported from Burma. This day trip of 600 km was good value for money and finished by delivering each of us to our respective doors by about 21.30.
Other than this day away am spending time preparing for New Zealand and swimming most mornings as well as making farewells to various people I have met in Chang Mai.
The night sleeper train is booked to Bangkok for Tuesday 17th March and fly to Sydney and then on to Christchurch, NZ arriving there on 19th.

Photo 1. Vendors cooking eggs in the hot springs
Photo 2. The White Temple
Photo 3. Closer details of some of the stone craft at the White Temple.
Photo 4. The Aussie and English contingent at the Golden Triangle.
Photo 5. The Golden Triangle, 3 countries visible in the background.
Photo 6. The Ancient Stupa (? 12th century) at Chang Saen
Photo 7. The famously welcoming Gekko Bar in Chang Mai

Sue, Liam and I chose to fly into Cambodia as we had been warned that walking across the border could be problemmatic. Flying from Ventiane to Siem Reap brought us within tuk-tuk (taxi) distance of Angkhor Wat and we wasted no time in buying our 3 day pass giving us access to the whole site, Angkor Wat being only a small part of it. The ruins include Angkor Tom, the ruins of cities, including libraries and temples. It was also possible to explore some of the more peripheral sites, such as, Ta Prom, and Ta Kao. One evening was spent seeing Angkor Wat from a hilltop temple nearby, where most views of this Wat are taken. Again the whole experience was awe inspiring, especially as you were able to inspect the ruins quite freely, unlike in England where health and safety is paramount and the result is a more anodyne experience. The only sadness was in the damage done to the sites during the Khmer Rouge era and their deliberate destruction of many of the temples (they tried to eradicate religious sites, be they Hindu or Buddhist), and also after this era, much looting happened in the early 1990's.
I was able to see most of the significant ruins in 3 days, and evenings were spent visiting the night market and dining at a variety of restaurants in the centre of Siem Reap. It was also possible to buy some more secondhand books in the town centre and as in most other places visited you were able to part exchange books.
Travelling to Phnom Penh by bus was a 6 hour journey, in the relative comfort of airconditioning and with the bonus of adequate leg room! My original plan was to only visit Laos this time, and Cambodia (and Vietnam, discounted in the end as outside my budget) later, so booked only 2 nights in a reasonably priced hotel with the intention of visiting the Killing Field site (15 km outside Phnom Penh) and S21(the Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh itself) in one day. Found a tuk-tuk driver who agreed a good price, and steeled myself to visit these sites, and pay my respects to the memory of the 2 million (the figures quoted are different, depending on their source)Cambodians and some foreigners killed by the Khmer Rouge. An estimated 1/4 of the population was wiped out in their ethnic cleansing genocide. Coincidentally the trial of some of the perpetrators had started the week I was visiting Cambodia. The experience was a harrowing one, but worthwhile and I flew back to Chang Mai with only brief 2 hour stopover at Bangkok.
It was good to be back in Chang Mai (also much cooler than Cambodia) after 18 days of travelling which had started out as a visit to Laos of only 10 days. I now have the opportunity to regroup, a daily swim, and time to plan accommodation in New Zealand around the 2 treks already booked. Unfortunately the extra days away from Chang Mai meant that my camera batteries ran out and I was unable to take photo's of other parts of Angkhor (though had not planned on taking photo's of the Genocide sites, out of respect for the dead). However Sue and Liam are sending a disk of their photo's to England at a later date.

Photo 1. Finally reached Ankhor Wat.
Photo 2. Ankhor Wat.
Photo 3. One of the galleries encircling the temple of Angkor Wat.
Photo 4. The scale of this world heritage site is beyond belief and this is one very small part of it..
Photo 5. This frieze encompasses the whole of the actual temple of Angkor Wat

Chang Khong, on the Mekong River and the border between Thailand and Laos, is a 6 hour bus ride from Chang Mai. A journey which was fairly comfortable and included the always essential, air conditioning. Quickly found a cheap and clean hotel for the night, and booked a 'slow boat' journey from Hui Xiang, on the opposite bank of the Mekong, in Laos. This was a 2 day journey on the Mekong river to Luang Prabang with a one night stopover at Pak Beng, both days involved 7 to 8 hours on the boat. I joined forces with a young Australian couple, and we subsequently travelled together through Laos and Cambodia, it was fun being with younger people again and I took part in some activities I might not otherwise have attempted, for example, swinging over a river on a rope swing and jumping 10 metres into the river, very exhilerating! (See photo, later).The boat journey took us through some unspoilt sub tropical forest, lightly populated, and also with many steep sided rocky hills and small attractive sandy beaches, some of which were used to grow crops of mainly vegetables. The main activity by local people on this stretch of the river was fishing, usually in the early evening, from small hand made boats powered by small engines.
Despite the rather cramped conditions on the boat I met many fellow travellers and gained a lot of information re some of the places I am travelling to over the next year or so. We stayed in Luang Prabang for 3 days, and enjoyed the local sights, including the very fine Wat (which had 'Buddha's 7 ft footprint') set on the hill overlooking the town. Luang is one of the cleanest and prettiest towns I've visited so far and I'd recommend it as being well worth a visit, the people are also friendly and helpful. The Night Market was the best yet and there were many restaurants serving food from many countries and of course Lao food which has strong French influence with a good culinary reputation, particularly in Luang Prabang. We visited the 7 tier waterfall 15 km outside the town, by tuk-tuk, and swam at 2 of the levels and swung from ropes into the second pool (see photo's).
The next town of Vang Vieng was again by a 7 hour minibus journey, a very uncomfortable experience with frequent stops as the driver stopped to buy his groceries at local markets much to mine and many of my fellow passengers irritation. Vang Vieng was a small unattractive town, though surrounded by spectacular limestone cliffs with many accessible caves. The most popular activity there is 'tubing' ie travelling 4km or so back down river to the town in a tractor inner tube and stopping off at bars on the riverbanks (they pull you in by rope) where you can also jump from a 15 or so metre high platform by swing and fall into the river..... great fun if so inclined, I managed 2 jumps in 2 days, Sue and Liam jumped from every swing at every bar on the way down, a not inconsiderable feat. Vang Vieng is also the most hedonistic place I've yet visited, it is full of young people from all over the world, and sports more bars in the high street than anywhere else of its size (population of 30,000), so if you like peace and quiet, avoid it. We also spent a day visiting caves were you could swim in underground lagoons (we did) and climb over rocks and through narrow spaces to see stalactites and stalactmites in cavernous caves that could only be viewed by torchlight, absolutely spectacular, and my photos do not do them justice! We finished this day kayaking 8 km downriver back to Vang Vieng, passing people tubing on the way. Despite an energetic 2 days we hired bikes on the 3rd day and cycled 3km out of town to explore more caves, that were equally spectacular.
After 4 days in Vang Vieng, I then travelled (again by bus, but not minibus) to Ventiane, the capital of Laos, and spent one day sightseeing local Wats and the Laos equivalent of the Arch de Triomph (see photos and ?correct spelling). The hotel was a bit more expensive than elsewhere in Laos, but comfortable and peaceful after Vang Vieng. The food in Ventiane was international and we finished our stay in Lao with Italian food and some decent wine.
I decided to fly to Cambodia, as it was, apparently, easier to go through immigration and sort out a visa at an airport as some people had reported problems at the border crossings undertaken on foot.
List of Photos (unfortunately in reverse order to events!):
Photo 1 One of the many impressive fountains in Ventiane
Photo 2 The only floodlit caves near Vang Vieng
Photo 3 The swing over the river, I had only just swung and jumped.
Photo 4Trekking through jungle to the limestone caves near Vang Vieng
Photo 5 Last dinner in Luang Prabang, with Sue and Liam - the food was very good!.
Photo 6 Part of the 7 tier wwaterfall near Luang Prabang
Photo 7 The Reclining Buddha at the Wat on the hill overlooking Luang Prabang
Photo 8 Breakfast in a cafe overlooking the Mekong at Luang Prabang
Photo 9 A small village on the Mekong
Photo 10 My first view of the Mekong River, taken from Chang Khong, the opposite bank is Laos