I have just uploaded another handful of collections to the online gallery, taking us from Hanmer Springs to Queenstown in New Zealand.

More coming soon!

Also, check down the right hand side of this page for a rough itinerary of where I’ve been and where I’m going (and approximately when). I’ll be concreting plans over the next 2 weeks or so once I have my cashcard back and know I can move on.

Don’t forget to visit the 1000 Mile European Walk Site – it’s all for a good cause!

 This is something Lou had been putting off until I got to New Zealand. And then we promptly forgot about it until we realised I was leaving again in a few days. To cover some ground I’m sure I’ve gone over before:

The Sky Tower is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere and (I think) the 10th tallest man-made structure worldwide. It opened at the tail end of 1997 and took around half a million meat pies to build (I’m not making that up – it’s on a plaque in the main observation level). As well as go up it in a lift (or by stairs during special events – the record being 5 mins 7 secs in a 2002 challenge), visitors can pay a bit extra to clamber outside to a 1000-foot high crow’s nest, or choose to jump off the side in a controlled base jump.

At it’s peak, the structure is 328m tall. The aforementioned Vertigo Climb takes you to 270m, the Sky Deck viewing platform is 220m, Observatory restaurant at 194m and Skyjump platform the mad people at an insane 192m – the highest organised jump in New Zealand.

Courtesy of my YHA card, we got backpacker rates which were a fair bit cheaper than even the best “money off” voucher we could find in any of the tourist bumph. $18 each got us tickets including the extra little bit to the Sky Deck for a slightly better view.

 Stepping into the lift, we wooshed upwards at 18km/h watching the floor of the lift shaft dwindle all too rapidly into the distance through the glass floor. The day couldn’t have been better weatherwise. Visibility is reckoned at around 51 miles (82km) on a clear day and I don’t think we were far off that.

The sun shone down over the Auckland Bridge and the harbour, glistening off the water. Every building beneath us – which was every damn one in Auckland, obviously, as the Tower’s twice the height of the next tallest – was visible clearly. In the distance were volcanos (50 are apparently visible) and almost every landmark in Auckland. Loonies in blue and yellow jumpsuits were suspended for our viewing pleasure just outside the window as they threw away $150 on a 16-second controlled base jump. I’d hate to do their laundry.

Absolutely astounding.

 In various places around the deck, the floor has been replaced by 38mm thick glass. This is advertised as being as strong as the concrete that surrounds it. This makes it no less unnerving when you stand on it and look down to see absolutely nothing between your trembling feet and a building roof or swimming pool some 800-or-so feet below.

As well as taking a huge number of photos or the surrounds, and spotting Lou’s new flat, we had a quick snack in the lounge. There are three “eateries” in the tower, all varying in price and exclusivity. We went for the cheap one, obviously. Cup of tea, ham & cheese toastie and an almond Snickers bar I’d forgotten about and left in my trouser pocket when I fell asleep the previous night. Mmm.. squishy.

Time flew. Kids ran around utterly oblivious to the fact they were higher than Jimi Hendrix at a “bring your own” party. Pirates with awful accents wandered around telling stories (a promo for the upcoming Disney film). The sun started to dip slowly. I really don’t know how long we spent up there – easily 2 hours.

 Afterwards, we enjoyed the feel of proper more-than-38mm-thick concrete beneath our feet as we did a little shopping for Lou’s new flat and headed back to the hostel for dinner. There’s a great Chinese a couple of doors along and I reheated what I had left of the previous night’s chicken fried rice. Still 8 hours plus to the England kickoff, so we decided to do the sensible thing. Go to a club and get wasted.

This task duly accomplished, we staggered (very literally in Lou’s case) back to the hostel at around 2:30 to get changed then ran/limped to a nearby bar we’d spotted showing the match. Only it was full.

By the time we made it to the next nearest place, we’d missed 10 minutes but fortunately not too much action.

We all know what happened next. I’ll save my ranting for elsewhere.

Bed at 6am, asleep sometime after 6:30. I was too wound up to just drift off and sat reading for ages! We have some plans for the rest of the week, the highlight probably being a trip to the zoo on Wednesday or Thursday before I jet off back to Hanoi.

 When did the first Superman film come out? 1979 or thereabouts? I seem to recall being 6 or 7, running round the playground with my jacket buttoned round the neck like a cape, arm in front of me. Those days flooded back this afternoon when we saw Superman Returns on the IMAX screen in AUckland.

Yup. Superman. On IMAX. In 3D (partially). With crappy sound, but hey – you can’t have everything.

The tickets were $20, around £6.50. This is how much a cinema ticket goes for in the UK anyway, and only a two quid more than the price of a regular matinée ticket here. Worth every penny.

Things have been great recently for superhero films. Three superb X-Men outings, Batman Begins getting us back on track after Joel Schumaker’s utter abortions, Spiderman throwing away all memories of Mark Hammond’s straight-to-TV nonsense of the 70’s, and now this. Absolutely superb.

The WB logo fades out with a little twiddle at the end that tweaks the memory. Then the music starts up. Short bursts like the opening chords of the Jaws theme. Then the full flury of that wonderful theme music, the overture that anyone aged 30 or over should be hugely familiar with. The hairs literally stood up on the back of my neck.

The director is Bryan Singer who did the first two recent X-Men films (coincidentally, the guy who was originally listed to do Supes ended up doing X:3) and it shows in the scripting and vision. The effects are utterly wonderful, but what shines through is the story. Anyone who is familiar with the original trilogy (let’s ignore Quest For Peace and pretend it never happened) will feel right at home with the little references. Kevin Spacey steps perfectly into Gene Hackman’s shoes as Lex Luthor – manic, scary, sneaky. The play between him and his henchwoman perfectly mimics that of the original The Movie. The other henchmen hardly say a word and wear black. More reminiscent of The Penguin’s hoods from the old Batman TV series, but they just work.

As for the new Superman… spot on. He really looks like a young Christopher Reeves. The little smiles, the raised eyebrows, the way he stutters around Lois when posing as Clark. Brilliant. No, I can’t remember his name as I type this up but then, nobody had heard of CR when he took the role all those years ago. As another bonus, the makers have seen fit to update the costume only slightly – it’s more of a Spiderman-like update than a Batman one.

Louise & Clark and Smallville along with the comics themselves have had a big hand in turning Superman into a soap opera over the last 20 or so years. There’s enough backstory and twists in Returns to let them do the same on the cinema screen. I for one and waiting for the next one. There’s no doubting it’s in the pipeline already and I only hope it’s as good as this.

Oh, if any of you out there have children who haven’t yet seen the original films then for crying out loud, get them sat in front of the DVDs immediately. Then take them to see this. It’s the best excuse you’ll have. I don’t need such an excuse. I’m a big kid and everyone knows it!