http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Joff/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Joff en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:08:57 +0000 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:08:57 +0000 Hi folks I promised a part 2 to my blog about Tonga and finally here it is. Let me give you a couple of Tonga facts. Tonga is an absolute monarchy and the royal family rules all out here as well as owning all the country's power and telecoms companies. The country is the only one in this part of the world that was never colonised. The kingdom of Tonga is actually made up of several islands sp http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/blog-199016.html Hello bloggos. Sorry I havenrsquot posted for a while but I am a very busy man these days. I have no idea how I am going to manage to hold down a job when the trip is over although I am gaining good experience in my new role as a Kiwi ldquohouse husbandrdquo as appointed by my brotherrsquos housemates. It looks from the news reports as though I am missing a ripper of a summer over in Engl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Tonga/blog-185236.html Hi there bloggosIf you read my most recent blog you'll know that I left the story in a true cliffhanger situation. I was in a raft with my English pal Nick and a bunch of Danes about to drop down a 20 foot waterfall. There was no guarantee that the raft wouldn't flip over when we got to the bottom. Further up the river we had practised the drill. When the guide shouted we had to leap into our http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Hawkes-Bay/Napier/blog-161575.html Hiya folks. 1 June today and I can't quite believe how quickly the year is going. The travel funds are rapidly decreasing but I reckon I can still squeeze out a few more weeks of travel before I return to the old country and prepare for my eventual release back into the community. Anyway on with the story.We informed the man behind the desk at our Napier hotel of our desire to take the bus to Pal http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-164458.html Good afternoon all. So Tony Blair is on his way after ten years in charge there's a new President of France Man United have won the Premiership and Yorkshire are top of the county championship. But more importantly than all that what have I been up to recently on my travels around New Zealand Let's find out.Firstly a little more about Nick my old drinking and rugby watching pal from Englan http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-159241.html Hello to all blog readers. It's been a while. I hope you've all missed my deranged ramblings. I've certainly missed you guys.Last time I wrote I was sitting in a steaming hot internet cafe in the heart of Santiago. Shortly after that message I made the brief 12 hour hop across to New Zealand or Aotearoa to use the proper Maori name. It means Land of the Long White Cloud. Thankfully for me tha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-152315.html Howdy all. I've been getting reports that youre enjoying fine sunny days back home in England. Perhaps this is the point in the trip where my good weather ends and you all head off into the summer. Boo hoo for me. I packed Phil off onto a plane last night so no deputies today just me. Deputy blogger Phil did a thoroughly comprehensive job in telling you about our time in Patagonia so there's no http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-138263.html Hi all. Happy Friday or if youre reading this another day Happy whatever day it is.Back when I was planning this trip a few people expressed an interest in joining me for various parts of the trip. As several of these conversations took place late at night in pubs after adult beverages had been consumed I disregarded most of them. One or two people however have followed up their interest an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-136472.html Hiya bloggos as Ive decided to call you blog reader folk. Sorry its been a while since the last blog but I am a very busy man these days as Im sure you can imagine. After the Galapagos trip I had another day in Quito Ecuador before a crazily scheduled overnight 3plane trip to Buenos Aires via Lima and Santiago. Dont asky why. My carbon footprint will be bigger than a yetis by the time I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-135375.html Hi everyone at home or wherever you may be reading. A special hello to anyone reading this who was on board the Aneglique last week. Dont forget to leave a message to say hi.My original plan for this part of the trip had been to turn up in Ecuador and see if I could get a last minute deal to travel around the Galapagos Islands. Then I started reading Charles Darwins account of the voyage of the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos/blog-131436.html Hello everyoneOnce again thanks for keeping the messages coming. Its been a few days since the last blog entry so Id better crack on. I set a new trip record with my final central American bus trip from Costa Rica to Panama. A meaty 18 hours. Not all of those hours were spent moving though. For some unknown reason the bus arrived at the border at 3am in the morning. All fine and dandy for the http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-City/blog-128808.html Hiya folksThe dog days of January are over. Im sure you are all pleased to get that out of the way and move towards the lighter nights and the warmer weather. Regarding news from home I felt a great disturbance in the Force last Saturday. A few days later I discovered what it was. The last ever episode of Grandstand has aired. I probably missed a great last edition with loads of clips and all t http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/La-Fortuna/blog-125029.html Hi everyoneLast week the UK was gripped by storm and this week it's snow in London Things are certainly interesting back home.Before I finish on Honduras I must tell you about a couple of people I met on my last night there. I thought my journey was kinda adventurous until I met these people. First there was a Danish copper and his missus who were travelling around central America in a similar http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Granada/Lago-Cocibolca/blog-122795.html Hi allI have just been reading about the bad storms in the UK. Hope you're all wrapped up with a mug of cocoa. I'll try not to mention the weather here in this blog. As you know if you've read the last blog it was time for me to get moving through central America towards Panama. I opted to catch the Friday boat from Placencia to Puerto Cortes in Honduras. Around 25 passengers nestled into the sma http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Tegucigalpa/blog-120451.html Hi allIve had a load of messages since last time. Thanks for all the good wishes its great to hear from you all.I left the jaguar sanctuary and headed for my final destination in Belize. It was a short bus ride to the small town of Independence. From there I boarded the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi real name for the 15 minute hop to Placencia. The village of Placencia is on a peninsula try sayin http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Stann-Creek-District/Placencia-Village/blog-119787.html Good afternoon allAfter a restful time on the island of Caye Caulker it was time to see some locations in the rest of Belize. My next stop was Belmopan the country's capital. Belmopan owes its existence to a hurricane. One feature of this coastline is that it has been constantly ravaged over the years by hurricanes with seemingly harmless names like Wilma Iris Stan Mitch and my favourite Hat http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Stann-Creek-District/Dangriga/blog-117923.html Hello there everyoneWith Christmas over it was time for me to move on with my travels. The sea off the coast of Belize is dotted with dozens of small islands known as cayes. I decided to head for Caye Caulker a well known backpacker destination. A short journey of 45 minutes in a water taxi and I was there.Back in Mexico an American called Chuck gave me a recommendation on a place to stay on C http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-Barrier-Reef/Caye-Caulker/blog-117456.html Happy New Year everyone. Can't believe it's 2007 already. I'll be honest with you I didn't know an awful lot about Belize before I started planning this trip. I vaguely knew it was somewhere in the Caribbean I've learnt how to spell that now but I had visions of it being some kind of island. So I was pleased to see that it actually forms part of central America bordering Mexico and Guatemala. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-District/Belize-City/blog-115598.html Hi blog readers I was trying to think of a better name for you all than that but I haven039t thought of one yet suggestions on a postcardAfter a week on Isla Mujeres it was time to move on southwards down the rest of the Yucatan peninsula. My next stop was Playa del Carmen known to the locals as simply Playa. The history of Cancun and Playa is interesting. In the 1970s Cancun was simply http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Quintana-Roo/Chetumal/blog-113177.html Previously on the blog after being a professional tourist for a week and a half I decide its time for a good sit. How do from Quintana Roo. After deciding I needed a bit of r n r I consulted the trusty guide book for a location. I wanted open the door BEACH open the window BEACH open the wardrobe BEACH c Lenny Henry mid80s. Well maybe not beach in the wardrobe. A little place c http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Quintana-Roo/Cancun/blog-112212.html