After our time exploring Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, we were off to the Amazon. We had pre-booked a three day/two night package at Sandoval Lake Lodge, as well as an extra night's stay in the jungle village of Puerto Maldonado. The lodge was run by InkaNatura, which is owned by a non-profit conservation group, so even though the tour was expensive by backpacking standards, we were happy to have our money go towards conservation of the beautiful places we were visiting. Just getting to the lodge was an adventure in itself! It took almost the whole day, and included flying from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, then travelling down the Rio Madre de Dios by a motorized longboat, before hiking through the Tambopata Reserve, and finally taking a canoe across Sandoval Lake to our Lodge. ... read more

Our flight from Rarotonga to LA was delayed five and a half hours, so we spent the night lying on the tiled floor of the smallest airport we've seen on our travels. When dawn finally arrived, we were grateful to climb into the comfort of the plane. Flying east, it was difficult to believe we would soon be on North American soil, and even more so because my sister and her boyfriend would be waiting for us at the airport. Jess and Tyler had flown down the previous day and we had planned to spend the last part of our trip together, travelling through LA and Las Vegas. It really felt like we were going home. We had stopped in LA on our way to Australia a year ago, but as we flew over the city ... read more

After testing gravity in Wanaka, we made the short drive south to Queenstown, a small town overlooked by the Remarkable Mountain Range. We took a gondola ride up the side of one of the mountains which provided a fantastic panoramic lookout over the town below. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand, and from the mountain we watched people bungy jumping and paragliding. After enjoying the scenery, we took a chairlift further up and then raced back down on the luge track. We spent several days in Queenstown walking along the lakefront, browsing the shops, and enjoying some of the activities the town has to offer. Maike went bungy jumping on the Kawarau Bridge, the world's first commercial bungy jump, while Andrew and I opted for some adventurous water sports. The Shotover Jet ... read more

Kia Ora! What a beautiful country this is! Our first week in New Zealand was spent exploring the North Island. When we arrived in Auckland we were very excited to meet up with Hui, our friend from home who is currently studying in NZ. Hui was the first person we've seen from home since we started our journey and it was great to catch up with an old friend! We wandered around the city together and spent the rest of the evening at the pub... Kiwi beer is much better than Aussie beer! In the morning we picked up our rental car and headed up to Northland. Despite the rainy weather, the scenery was beautiful! It was wonderful to see all the green grass and proper cows after all our time in Australia! We drove to ... read more

We have just returned from a two day dive cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. Neither words nor pictures can do it justice - amazing wouldn't even begin to describe it. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living organism, is visible from space, and is one of the Natural Wonders of the World. We were able to do six dives while on our cruise and we also enrolled in an Adventure Diver specialty program, where we took courses in deep diving, night diving, and navigation. The day after we arrived in Queensland, we took a two and a half hour journey to the Outer Reef. The water was beautiful and calm, and we spotted a manta flapping it's wings on the surface along the way. We arrived at the Kangaroo Explorer and checked into ... read more