Entry 1 – Feb 2008 – The Perils of Penning Postcards

Location – New Zealand and Hawaii

Well, we’re a few weeks in and having a fantastic time…

The only exception being a minor bought of food poisoning and Marce throwing her neck out while writing a Postcard… Yes, in New Zealand, the place where they will happily throw you out of plane, push you off a bridge or send you down a raging river on a boggie-board, poor Marce found that sitting down to describe the adventure was by far the most dangerous activity so far.

Despite the “pain in the neck” (Hahah) we still managed to experience Jet-Boating down the skippers Canyon in Queenstown and had fun watching a few people bungy-jumping… That’s right Watching! We also rented a car one day and drove to Milford Sound in the pouring rain surrounded by massive mountains and huge waterfalls… The drive in fact was the highlight as when we arrived it was raining too hard and we decided not to go on the boat cruise.

All in all NZ was great and definitely a mecca for adrenalin sports, although quite pricey considering… As our Canadian friend described one day “I’m sick of paying people to hurt me!”

After NZ, we headed to Hawaii and as you can expect had an awesome and relaxing time sunbaking, swimming and eating… I must say though… American food is crap… Anyone who knows me understands how much I enjoy a good cheeseburger… Well on the second day in Hawaii we found a place called “The Cheeseburger”… It was my idea of heaven until later that night when I found myself on the bathroom floor praying to the porcelain gods… Thanks to the special American style sauce, I don’t think I will ever eat a cheeseburger again!!! Anyways… The best experience we had so far was the North shore of Hawaii where we stayed in a rental for 4 nights right on the beach… We enjoyed some snorkelling and watched some massive surf (Which the locals complained was too small!!) and also spent time with my sister and her family before they headed back to Oz…

That’s about it for now… We’re in LA right now heading to Vegas tomorrow for about a week… Will write again soon.

Entry 2 – March 2008 – Beaches, Blizzards, Deserts, Jungles and a jar of Vegemite

Location – USA / Mexico

Hola Amigo’s!

It feels like ages since our last update… Both Marce and I are really settling into the journey and relaxing as we head deeper into Central America.

At the end of my last Email we had just arrived in the USA… The best country in the world (According to the Americans)… Starting our adventure in Los Angeles we travelled by bus to Vegas where we had fun gambling through many of the Casino’s and enjoying one or two free drinks (or three or four). After playing the pokies, Roulette and Blackjack we ended up walking out huge winners and almost ready for the high rollers room… Well actually it was a measly profit of $4 we worked out in the end… Enough to tip our Porter on the last day! Walking down the Vegas strip one day we were pulled aside by a promotions person offering us gifts if we attended a sales presentation for time-sharing in a new resort out of town… Having plenty of time to kill we agreed and went the next day where after several hours of saying no thanks we walked out of there with a free buffet dinner, 2 free Vegas shows, $200 in free slot play… Oh yeah, & a 3 night Caribbean cruise!!.. Not bad for 5 hours work!!

From Vegas we hired a car and travelled to the Grand Canyon, spending one night in a small town called Williams along the way… It was absolutely spectacular seeing the Canyon with snow all around the rim and one of our highlights so far was watching the sunset while sitting on the edge in the freezing cold… We also saw many deer and a coyote while driving around the area… After the canyon we drove down to Sedona where massive red rock mountains create an awesome view from every angle and then we headed back to Vegas through a snow-storm. (Yes Reena… It was more than a few flakes!!!)

After spending one more night in Vegas we headed back to LA for a few days and checked out Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Venice, Santa Monica beaches… From my visit 10 years ago not much has changed and LA is still the rundown, dirty place I remember filled with very strange people and so many homeless… What is one of our most dangerous experiences so far??… No, it’s not Mexico City… Or any part of Mexico in fact… The most dangerous moment for us so far was getting off the train half way back to our hotel to get Macca’s in the middle of LA!!.. It was only metres from the sanctuary of the train station however I had flashes of “Boys in the Hood” playing in my mind as we walked through the dark car-park towards the golden arches… The things I will do for a Big-Mac!!

A couple of days later we boarded a flight to San Antonio Texas where we stayed in a motel just outside the city and close to the home-court for the San Antonio Spurs… Yes, after finding a ticket outlet I scored tickets for 2 games while we were there… Our seats ended up being the very last row (Thank god we had a pair of binoculars!) & they won both games… GO SPURS!!!.. It was from San Antonio where we left America and headed for Mexico…

Now, before I go onto Mexico… There are a few things Marce and I have noted about the “Best Country in the World”

1)      When hiring a car in America… The car insurance per day will cost you more than the actual rental!!!… With a few calculations I
worked out that if the car we hired was rented every day for one year the insurance company would in fact have collected enough money to cover the cost of the entire car…. So that must mean that every single rental car is stolen or written off within the first year… Hmmmm, I think I am going to buy some shares in these insurance companies…
2)      In America it is fine for companies to blatantly advertise prostitutes on massive billboards driving down the Las Vegas Strip…
But they take extreme measures to bleep the word “God” out on television!!… Yeah, that might offend someone!!… The funniest thing I heard was when someone on TV said “God-Damn”… They bleeped “God” but allowed “Damn”!!
3)      It is a place where you can buy a gun or really menacing knife across the counter in a variety store but if you film yourself throwing a Frisbee outside a sports stadium you nearly instigate a full blown terrorist alert… Yes, this happened to Marce and I outside the Spurs stadium where a security guard was quickly on the scene
4)      When watching TV commercials for pharmaceuticals you are never quite sure whether they want you to buy the drug or whether they are warning you never to take it…. (May include side effects such as death….. DEATH!!!)
5)      Tipping… Even the American’s are confused by tipping… Some restaurants even put the tip on the bill!!… Ummm, What exactly is a tip??

Ah, yes… America… Land of the free (*)
(*) Does not include 20% entry tax (Higher for California… Any discount voucher must be valid and purchased from a guy named Jose providing it is a Monday or Wednesday when you arrive)… Voucher’s cannot be used with any other offer … Oh look, just leave your Credit Card with a border official for any incidentals… Warning: Entering America may cause side effects such as headache, stomach ache or even death in some cases… Make sure you consult your doctor if you experience increased sexual or gambling desires after entering America… Happy to have you here… & no we’re not gay just because we are happy… For any issues while in America please call customer service on 1-800-we-care and we will be sure to make you wait for an hour then hang up!

Mexico
This place is amazing and so much fun!
After leaving the states we spent a night in Monterrey before travelling down to Mexico City in a bus… Let me tell you, the bus system here is awesome… While in Mexico City, Marce and I decided to throw caution to the wind and make our own way to the Sun & Moon temple just outside the city… To do this we had to find the closest Subway station and catch a train, make two train changes before arriving at the main bus terminal… Then we had to find the local bus which stops at the site… We left early and to our surprise had no trouble getting there in a couple of hours… After feeling proud of this accomplishment all day Marce decided to make things harder for us by losing our map on the way back to the bus station and forcing us to find our way based on memory… Anyway the trip was well worth it… This was our first look at an ancient Mayan temple and at this location you are allowed to climb to the top of the Sun temple which is the third largest Pyramid on Earth… With our superior fitness Marce and I powered up the 200 or so steps like a cheater in Africa chasing down its prey… Why are you shaking your head??… OK… Thankfully the Mayan’s in their wisdom decided to build several levels for this particular pyramid allowing us to stop and gasp for air for several minutes after reaching each level… Finally we reached the top and plonked ourselves down on the edge looking over the entire area including the Moon temple just across from our position… Gazing at the top of the Moon temple we looked at each other and simultaneously agreed “Nah… Let’s not climb that one!”

From here we headed through Cactus filled landscapes to a town called Puebla and then onto Oaxaca… Both are amazing places, filled with Mexican culture and really friendly, helpful people… After these towns we made our way to Palanque and stayed in a hostel built in the middle of a jungle… One of our highlights in Mexico… In this place you would go to sleep with the sounds of crickets, howler monkeys and the nearby stream washing past your window… It is here where another impressive Mayan temple exists surrounded by dense Jungle… There are also several amazing waterfalls and we spent an afternoon swimming right near one of them on our last day.

Right now we are in Tulum which is on the Caribbean coast just down the road from Cancun (We had planned to be in Mexico for 8 days and it is now nearing a month!)… We spent Marce’s birthday wandering around Mayan ruins on the coast, lying on the beach and splashing around in the lukewarm sea… Although Marce did have a problem with a few clouds in the afternoon… How dare they show up on her birthday!

OK.. I’ve probably taken up too much time on this update… Like I said it feels like ages since the last Email… Oh, one last thing… The
Vegemite!!… My sister being a very organised person sent a jar of Vegemite to Hawaii knowing they would be there… My nephew also tried to take some in his hand-carry from Sydney but it was confiscated by a wary American border official along the way (Not surprising as Vegemite does smell like an explosive liquid!)… Anyways, after hanging out with my sister and her family in Hawaii they decided to hand the Vegemite onto us considering we were going to be away from Australia for a while… It was like some sort of religious event as she slowly passed the jar across to my hands while angelic music sounded in the background… Ever since then we have been carrying this jar around and walking into Mexican restaurants asking for “slices of toast with a little butter por favor!!!”.. It’s amazing how good this stuff tastes after a thousand Tacos and endless refried beans!

Until we meet again in Cyberspace.

Entry 3 – April 2008 – Windshield Surfing in Central America

Location – Central America

Settle in and let us take you on a journey through Central America from one Caribbean coast to another.

Last time we left off we had just arrived in Tulum, Mexico for Marce’s birthday… It ended up being an amazing place so we extended our time there (Much like the rest of Mexico). Our last day there was spent travelling between our beach towels resting on the soft, white sand to the crystal clear Caribbean waters to cool off after having enough of the blistering heat. Reluctantly we said goodbye to Mexico the next day and headed towards our next destination, Belize.

Crossing the border we met a local Belizean. His name was Calvin and he was a true Rastafarian with long black dreg-locks and a typical laid-back, mellow tone (Yeah Mon). To our surprise we soon found out that Calvin was actually a civil engineer who amongst other things had worked on the water desalinisation plant for San Pedro. That was his day job but we also found out he sang in a reggae band as well. On his advice we headed for San Pedro the next day where we were pleasantly surprised to find him waiting for us after we got off the boat. We ended up having dinner with him and found out quite a lot about the Rastafarian culture. Later that night we went to a place called the Tackle-Box where a live Reggae band was playing. Calvin knew the band and was asked to join them in a set, so we got to watch our new friend rap to a fast reggae beat called Punta while local women shook their booty’s wildly on the dance floor. For a moment there I felt like I was in the latest Red-Hot-Chilli-Peppers video clip.

San Pedro itself was such an awesome, chilled out place and after the first day we wanted to extend our time there (I’m not sure if we are ever going to get to South America at this rate). Unfortunately it was the start of Easter weekend and we couldn’t find a single room on the entire island. Reluctantly (again) we said goodbye to this paradise and headed for Guatemala the next day.

This time on the border crossing we met Penny, a 63 yr old from Melbourne who had always wanted to see the Mayan temples and Mexico. On a whim she also decided to check out Guatemala. She didn’t speak a word of Spanish, didn’t have a guidebook and due to a terrible car accident many years ago, Penny only had one arm! This woman quickly became our inspiration for life-long, fearless travelling. From that moment on I vowed never again to complain about my ass during a 10 hour bumpy bus ride. (This promise of course lasted only until the next nightmare bus ride in Costa Rica. More on that later)

Now, the best place to visit in Guatemala is a place called Tikal where a huge Mayan civilisation once lived. We stayed in a small town called Flores about one hour away and again extended our stay because the place was just so damn amazing. One of the days we spent at Tikal wandering through this incredible area dotted with huge pyramids, surrounded by dense jungle where spider monkeys swung from branches and colourful birds wisped between trees. For you Star Wars fans, Tikal is the place they filmed one of the last scenes in the original 1977 movie. Picture the planet the Rebels started from on their assault of the Death Star. That’s Tikal!!

After Guatemala, Marce and I headed straight for Honduras in a futile attempt to catch up on the itinerary we had originally planned. We paid $20 USD at a travel agent in Flores for what we thought was a fast, tourist bus to a town near the border. What we ended up on was the slow, old, local bus with cracked windows, uncomfortable seats and no air-con. We ended up being the only foreigners on this bus and it was the first time we felt a little uneasy about travelling in one of the most dangerous areas of the world. To illustrate this point, about half way to the border a local guy boarded the bus. He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Sticking out of his jeans were two pistols and about four cartridges of bullets!! I couldn’t help but imagine what his thought process must have been that morning as he got ready. It probably went something like this.
“Okay, jeans, white collar shirt. My trusty nine millimetre for the bus trip in case anyone gives me lip. Oh yeah and I have that Cocaine pickup in the afternoon so I’d better also bring the automatic. Now let’s see. How many bullets should I bring? If the bus is full I don’t want any witnesses so I’ll need about a hundred. Then if Escoba brings his cronies I might need another fifty for the pickup. I’ll bring four cartridges just in case. Ah yes and my cowboy hat & some tic-tacs in case I meet a nice girl along the way”

Upon arriving in Honduras unscathed after one long bus trip and three mini-van rides we made it to Copan where more Mayan ruins greeted us. I must say though at this point after climbing the Sun temple in Mexico City and seeing numerous temples in Palenque, Tulum and Tikal, Marce and I were a little templed out and simply shrugged at the magnificent structures with a casual “Humph!” I could almost picture the Mayan’s turning in their graves and screaming at us “Oh come on! Let’s see you drag one of those blocks a hundred metres!!” It was here that we agreed to make this the last temples until we reach Machu Pichu…

After Honduras we headed for Nicaragua not really expecting too much from this country. How wrong we were. So far it has been one of the highlights of our trip. Staying in the capital only one night we moved to a place called Granada which is a small town not too far away. There we had one of our best days so far which began with a trip to an active volcano where we could drive up to the crater rim. After hearing stories of ten hour treks at other volcano’s, Marce and I agreed that driving was the best and only way to reach a crater’s rim. It was incredible to stand on top of this thing as smoke bellowed from far below although we were a little disappointed we didn’t get to see any lava. After this we headed to another crater nearby. This one was completely dormant and filled by a huge lake. We got to spend the afternoon there sipping on beers and paddling around this magnificent lake with our new friends from Canada, Chris & Christy who are the only people we’ve met on this trip who know less Spanish than we do. We were quite comforted when having dinner with them one night as Christy excused herself to go to the bathroom, returning seconds later asking “Am I a Damas or a Callebero?”

Next, we travelled to a coastal town called San Juan del Sur. There we met an English girl, Cae, who was just finishing five months of travel through the area. While having dinner we also met a couple of Nicaraguans who now lived in the USA. The older man, Bernando, had fled the country in 1985 during the war and his nephew, Jose, worked with him in an IT company in California. They were on holidays back in their homeland and before we knew it we found ourselves sitting around a bonfire on the beach drinking beers and listening to a rather inebriated Bernando telling us the story of how he conceived his first child in this very town! He was beginning to slur his words as he finished off the story describing how “Special” this place was because of this accidental pregnancy. It was about this time when Jose wanted to move on to a nightclub just down the beach. In an attempt to persuade us to join him, he threw on a pair of sunglasses, held his hands in the air and went into a very animated rendition of “Sandstorm”. Unfortunately due to a rather long day travelling we had to decline the offer and bid farewell to our new Nicaraguan friends… The next day we heard that Jose and Bernando stayed out until 1am at the Iguana club dancing up a storm. How old & boring are we??

Okay, the next adventure for us was heading across to Costa Rica. Leaving early we got the border at 8am and crossed without too much fuss. On the Costa Rican side we found a ticket window selling seats for a bus trip to the capital and lined up. Scoring seats on the 10:30am bus we celebrated our achievement and had some brekkie in the café awaiting our departure. At 10:05 we proceeded outside and found a queue forming which we assumed was for our bus. At 10:29 we suddenly realised that we were in the wrong line and had to make a dash for our bus which was getting ready to leave. Getting on board we discovered that our seats near the back of the bus were taken and all that were left was the seats for elderly/disabled people right at the front. We took these seats as they opened the door allowing those people who didn’t buy an actual seat onto the bus. Within seconds the bus was jammed packed with the driver pushing more and more people on until he reached maximum capacity. Well, of course there had to be an old lady standing right next to me so feeling guilty I gave up my seat and was quickly swept up into the rabble of standing passengers. Being close to the front I pushed my way to where the driver sat and asked him how long this bus ride was going to be. “Six hours”, he cheerfully replied and then offered me a spot on the windshield (Must have felt sorry for me) There I experienced an entirely new way of bus travel as we hurtled down the highway at 100 Km/h. Let me tell you, I will forever flinch anytime a bug splats against the windscreen on any journey from now on!

Well, that’s about it for now. Marce and I are currently still in Costa Rica on the Caribbean coast in a small town called Cahuita, near the Panama border. You never know. We might actually make it to South America one day soon.