The final day on the water I woke up to the sound of the waves something I was fast getting used to. I wasnrsquot really sea sick anymore which was a good thing as we were still in pretty choppy water. Soon before breakfast I heard the motors start up and I went and sat with the Skipper. He was an older man named Baz and he told me a few stories before breakfast. I guess he has sailed mos

Still living the high life in the Murder Capital of the World. Why even today I've probably done stuff that must seem impossibly exotic and alluring to everyone left behind in humdrum England. Let's see... I went to work and played Scrabble with a student heist was my lexical highlight... I gave my charge a sound thrashing by some 60 points I bought some eggs from the corner shop pissed abou

Last night was miserable. We tried to get to the reef but almost capsized in the process. We sailed half way there and the skipper had to turn the boat around and motor back or risk flipping the boat. I took some seasickness meds the night before so my sleep was really intermittent. However I did sleep through all of the things on the shelf emptying onto Anna and Susanne and a showerrsquo

After our wonderful trip to the Galapagos we landed in Guayaquil a huge metropolis with more stories of violence robbery and kidnapping than we were comfortable with. We immediately got on a bus and got out of town We had a long bus trip to Cuenca and were very tired of the road after that. We only spent one day exploring Cuenca mostly because itrsquos very compact lots of churches an

Sunday morning we were doing surprisingly well considering the night before. We did however take it very easy and get off to a slow and mellow start. At some point we decided to head to the old part of Panama City and check it out. Between the rental van and Miguelrsquos car we managed to get all of the family and the friends from Michigan to a museum. It then took us a ridiculous amount o

I moved into a tiny windowless room over a bar for 4 nights while the V8 Supercars Championship was on in Darwin as everywhere was packed. Not only were all the hotel rooms taken but you couldnrsquot get tables in restaurants or cafes. My room was over the Wisdom Bar claiming they provide enlightenment through beer where they sold over 50 types of beers had loud live music every night and

God I hate this stupid laptop. I hate Microsoft. I loathe and detest everything to do with wifi.I also hate Virgin Blue for losing my luggage. I abhor the World Cup this time a curse onto the rotten spoiled playboys of Brasil Portugal Spain Chile and England.Now you may be getting the impression that I'm a bit jazzed up at the moment and you wouldn't be wrong after all my thyroid meds

The girls and I woke up pretty early which is pretty good seeing that breakfast was served at 7. I found out I slept through the anchor being put in the water late at night which apparently was ridiculously loud. Yup lets add that to the list of just about everything I can sleep through. I went out onto the deck and saw a gorgeous sunrise and an even more beautiful beach behind me. There we

Today was the last day on the way for me in Airlie Beach. We got up around 5 and Daniele went to pick up the girls from their backpacker lodge. The weather was gorgeous but the waves were a bit choppy even early on in the morning. We headed north and after hitting Mantaray Bay we turned around. About a half hour from the marina we stopped for a lunch break. I had already eaten so I deci

I got my pictures from the dive trip back Katharina and I had purchased underwater cameras and used them while we were snorkeling. They came out much better than I expected and although the coral itself looks a bit grey you can really see how the color in the fish pop

and we finally made it to vietnam We left our guesthouse in laos at 6am and made it to one hanoi at half 9 2 days later The first leg of our journey was a ten hour bus ride from luang prabang back to vientienne during these 10 hours the bus door was open throughout and for the first 4 hours or so we were going through thick mist in the mountains jess was freezing hannah was feeling smug beca

Terrific family gettogether in St. John WA on June 19th...Mom's 82nd birthday. Dad's 89th birthday was the 18th and my nephew Marshall's 14th birthday was the 20th. A good time was had by all...check out the photos

I published my day 2 blog this morning or I thought i did and it's gone. I'll condense it here and repost the pics.What we did day 2Montreal bus and walking tourNotre Dame BasilicaArcheology MuseumChinatownIndigo cafebookstore stuck there because the underground city and most stores were closed because of the feast of St. JeanBaptiste a national holiday PLUS it was rainingWienstien and G

This morning we said goodbye to Montreal after visiting the science museum and the underground city. We travelled to beautiful Quebec City by bus to stay 3 nights at Hotel Sepia. We will get a tour of old Quebec tomorrow among other activities including a bonus a free performance by Cirque de Soleil tomorrow night. Should be fun We hung out in Old Quebec for a little while today before and a

I together with my family went to Camarines Sur last Holy week. It was my first time to go there and I was very excited because I heard so much about this beautiful province in the Bicol Region. If you are the type of person who loves sports and adventure this is the perfect place for you. We stayed at the Villas in Villa del Rey Resort .It is part of the CAMSUR WATERSPORTS COMPLEX owned by the

Our travels today were only 177 mi. We left at 6 am though because we had several stops to make. At 7 am we had already reached the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park because we went through a time change when we entered Arizona. The painted desert was amazing. The forest was a little disappointiing as they were all petrified fallen chunks of logs. I guess it's one of those thi

Sweet as brother and sisters from other mothersIt came to an end 2 years in Oz.What a time what a place what great people emotionally I didn't know where I was. I strolled along South bank on my own a lot in the last few weeks and took in the bright orange glow of the sun and though how much I would miss these blue skies and brilliant people. Yet I was excited for New Zealand excited I was that

Sunday June 6thWe drive to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge at Prairie City Iowa. The Learning Center at the refuge explains how the natural prairie is being restored through controlled fires the reintroduction of native species and the eradication of invasive plant species. We follow a selfguided driving tour which shows specific techniques being used to restore the prairie. A herd o

Bueno pues a ver como explico el Caribe con palabras se me hace sumamente difcil el que lo haya vivido me estar entendiendo. El primer contacto fue con las playas de Parismina donde pasamos 3 das sper relajados esperando cada da el anochecer para ir en busca de las tortugas s all mismito anidaban las Baula unas de las ms grandes del mundo. Cuestan de ver y como tozudos que somos no n

visited the underground salt cathedral...