Best of Oz and En-Zed

It's raining and windy for our last road trip day in southwest Australia, which means we're sampling the local brews and reminiscing on the past four months of travel. Below are a few of our highlights from Aussie and Kiwi country.

Best campsite (backcountry): Walls of Jeruselum, with it's view over an alpine meadow full of wallabies.

Best car camping: Camping at Peter's farm along the Murray River in South Australia, even with the "Danger: Snakes" sign.

Best multi-day hike: Tongariro Northern Circuit, with bluebird days, views of Mordor and Mt. Doom, and an excuse to use crampons, how could it not be? Runner up: Kepler Track in Milford Sound, which got us above the trees and the clouds.

Best day hike: Erin's pick is Gertrude's Saddle in Milford Sound - awe inspiring is the only way I can describe it. Brook's pick is Cradle Mountain, a little bit of Patagonia stuck on Tasmania.

Best swim: apart from the whale sharks (which basically trumps all else) plunging into the Antactcic Ocean in Frecynet N.P., Tasmania.

Best beer: Emperically, Sprig and Fern scotch ale and bitter in Nelson, NZ. Most memorable: a cold pint of Steinlager after compling the Milford track.

Best wine: Soul Growers Shiraz in the Barossa valley.

Best spirits: Brook: Spingbank 7-year scotch after climbing Gertrude's Saddle. Erin: dark and stormys with Barbados rum and Bundabergs Ginger Beer at Bullara station.

Best wildlife encounter: Swimming with a 40 foot whale shark.

Best people encounter: Stephan and Michael, two german dudes we hiked the Milford with then ran into (accidentally) about five times in random places across NZ.

Favorite Road: Indian Ocean Highway, Western Australia.

Worst road: the 23 km approach to Walls

of Jeruselem. Imagine off-road rally driving on sharp, basket-ball-sized rocks in a VW Jetta. We rescued an Ozzie couple who's rental car fared worse than ours.

Best moment: Brook: Dive #10 on the GBR. Erin: cycling to wineries in the Barossa valley.

Worst moment: Second day of a 2-day, 35-mile mud slog of a hike on the Queen Charlotte track, underfed and in a hurry.

Best food: Venison stew in Nelson, compliments of Yvonne (the cook) and Julian (the hunter).

Worst food: sausage, anywhere the Brits have been. Seriously - what's with the filler and complete lack of taste?

What we'll miss the most: the independence and pure freedom of a road trip. Runner up: g'day, mate... too easy!

Place we would move to: Erin: Tasmania. Brook: Nelson, NZ. Luckily, they're only a 5-6 hour flight apart...