Family from Oz

We are sitting in an airport hotel room in Salt Lake City, Utah, waiting for a pizza delivery. (Sigh!) We should still be in our lovely log cabin on Powder Mountain but we fly home tomorrow and it is blizzarding in the mountains. We, and the neighbours who were responsible for getting us and our belongings on and off the mountain by snowmobile got a bit nervous about our planned 7.45am shuttle pick up, in a snow storm. So today we had to bid an early adieu to our home of a week on Powder Mountain. When we arrived in Utah 8 days ago, everyone was complaining about the lousy winter and lack of snow. They aren't complaining anymore. Powder Mountain has had several feet of fresh powder snow fall over the last few days and ... read more

New York is such an imposing, intense, pulsing city, it was no surprise that arrving there on the back of two weeks of beachside relaxation and snorkeling in Roatan, the contrast would seem even more dramatic. New York very soon overwrote everything in our memories as we roamed the city and took in the sights that have been made famous in so many TV shows, movies and stories. Our first day was New Years Eve and we overdid it by walking through the East Village, then around the edge of the river past Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and up through Wall Street and Battery Park, before we finally limped wearily to the subway for the F train ride back to our cool, renovated synagogue duplex in the East Village. Our landlord Haim had wisely suggested ... read more

Arriving in the dark after a much longer than expected drive from Cusuco National Park back to San Pedro Sula and then on to Tela, we have no sense of what the place will look like in daylight. But we are getting a little feel of the Caribbean flavour. There are elaborate Christmas lights near what seems to be the beachfront and we pass an enormous fenced compound which we learn is the Telamar resort - a massive all inclusive resort where the planeloads from North America, Canada and beyond descend upon. Any locals we spot are distinctly darker than their city cousins, being descendents of the Caribes, who escaped the slave ships in the late 1700's. Juan Carlos is a little unsure of where our hotel, the Maya Vista is located, so after a couple ... read more

We expected to be picked up for the 45 minute drive from Copan Ruinas to Finca El Cisne, the coffee plantation we would be staying on for the next 2 days, in a pick up truck, which was a little concerning considering the light rain that was falling. So when a mini van arrived, we thought this is good, at least we will stay dry. That thought dissipated very quickly when we were sliding precariously along extremely muddy, steep roads not far from town. Alex was a very skilled driver but when your van with no seatbelts, full of 4 Australians, 3 Americans, 2 French Canadians and 2 Hondurans is sliding sideways, just inches from the edge of a very steep embankment, you start to get very nervous. There were several times where we called out ... read more

Yesterday we spent most of the day sitting and waiting as we travelled to Copan Ruinas from Antigua. And again it reminded me of how the worst part of travelling is the travel. Why does even a straightforward trip of a few hours end up taking all day? And why is the travel component so unpleasant? Maybe it is just me? I tend to feel just a little bit queasy travelling by bus - just on the edge of motion sickness - and even luxury recliner seats do not seem to dissipate that completely. I also have a pathological hatred of being cooped up in any vehicle for too long - planes, trains, ships or automobiles. What is the psychological thing about not being able to get off -that really makes you want to get off? ... read more