http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kate and Steve/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Kate and Steve en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:09:18 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:09:18 BST Kate Home Sweet Home Well kind of... We made it and to be honest it still hasn't really all sunk in that we are in Auckland and this is it for the next 2 years Yikes. It is so great here though and both Steve and i are already feeling pretty settled in our new flat now all we need is some friends I was so shocked how quickly and easily we managed to find our flt. We were so lucky that w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Newton/blog-294189.html Steve Fiji A perfect place to finish our trip before NZ and a return to work and relatively normal live. We arrived at 5.15am from LA pretty tired after the long flight and having lost 2 days to the international date line. We were able to check in really early to our hostel at Smugglers Cove in Nadi which was great and sit on our balcony and see the sun come up. The hostel was really n http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/Nanuya-Island/blog-293803.html Steve Before heading to Fiji we had to head back up to LA for a couple of nights before getting our connecting flight on. This meant a really long day of travel and we did not get into LA until late. We had decided to stay in Santa Monica as it was one place we hadn't really seen well the first time around and we also figured it would be nice to stay by the beach. We had booked a cheap motel http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Santa-Monica/blog-288977.html Steve Our next stop was Arequipa the second largest city in Peru. It is also next near to Colca Canyon which is apparently the deepest canyon in the world and also the home of the Andean Condor. Arequipa is a really nice city and more similar to Cuzco than Lima with a really nice Centre and plenty of nice bars and restaurants. We splashed out on the hotel as it is our last stop which we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-286220.html Kate We did another overnight journey to get to our next destination Puno where the famous Lake Titicaca lies. The journey was probably our worst yet I think we knew it was going to be a killer when we were the only gringos on the bus and every Peruvian that got on the bus was carrying at least 23 blankets with them and we we didnt even have our jackets on. Needless to say the 7 hour jour http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Puno/blog-284763.html Steve So the time had come the Inca Trail I know Kate had been worrying about this for about 6 months and now the talking was over I knew very little about it before hand prefering to ignore everything written about it so that it would all be a surprise. All i knew was that it was 45km walk through the mountains ending at Machu Picchu the lost city of the Incas and one of the 7 wonders http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-283803.html Kate Our next stop was Cuzco a city in southeastern Peru near the Urubamba valley of the Andes mountain range. It is a gorgeous city surrounded by beautiful mountains and picturesque architecture. The journey from Ica was a long 16 hours but was actually not too bad. We did the over night journey and by the time we had watched a couple of rubbish films on the bus and slept for about 8 hours we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-281860.html Steve Our next short stop was Ica this was just for the day as we had a night bus booked for the evening to take us up to Cuzco. We booked an afternoon of dune bugeying and sandboarding which i think Kate was secretly dreading. We got there early and we were able to spend the day at a local hostel which had a pool so we got a bit of tanning inEarly afternoon we got picked up by out driver an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Ica/blog-281859.html Kate After such a wonderful time in Lima with Treeve and his family we decided to head down the coast to Pisco. When we arrived it was quite sad to see how much damage the recent earthquake had caused with so many building falling down and big gaps in the street where building once existed i didnt even know there was an earthquakedoh. We stayed in another really nice hostel and booked up http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Pisco/blog-281237.html Steve The flight to Lima was pretty short which was nice and we got there early afternoon. It was a short ride to Miraflores our base in Lima in a taxi but pretty mental. The roads are crazy There are no rules and the air is filled constantly with the sound of horns. They dont seem to know how to use their mirrors so they constantly beep so people know they are there. Taxis beep you to se http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-280874.html Steve We saved the best until last. This for both of us was definately the highlight of Costa Rica. We had found Cabinos Pacific Edge on the internet and thought it would be nice to book in somewhere nice for the last few days even though it was slightly over budget. Although it looked nice on the website we had no idea quite how nice. The views were stunning and despite seeing them everyd http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Dominical/Playa-Dominicalito/blog-278783.html Kate Our next stop Uvita which really is tiny. It consists of 2 supermarkets a restaurant a shop selling fish tanks a Pharmacy and that is about it Close by though there is Ballena another National Park mainly dedicated to to the more marine side of things. We stayed in another really nice backpackers and when we arrived is was absolutely bucking it down with rain we felt so at ho http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Uvita/blog-278778.html Kate Our journey to Quepos was....hurray... not too long and only took around 2 hours. When we arrived however it was absolutely tipping it down with rain which we later learnt it did everyday in the afternoon in Quepos. It is actually quite refreshing since the mornings are so hot and also you dont feel bad about lazing around the hostel playing cards reading our books in the afternoon. Qu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-276321.html Steve Talking to various people it seems that Playa Hermosa is the place to head form surf. All the locals keep telling us how big the waves are there. Accommodation is expensive there so we decided to head for Jaco which is about 2 miles from Hermosa and apparently their version of Newquay. The bus took about 6 hours from La Fortuna and when we got there around 9.30pm it was raining and our firs http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Jaco/blog-274601.html Kate After such a wonderful time in Montverde but feeling a little tour guided and wildlife watching out we decided to head for La Fortuna which is home to one of Costa Rica's active volcanos' Volcano Arenal. Steve had never seen a volcano so we were pretty excited. The journey was slightly shorter this time thank god and we took the busboatbus option to break up the journey a little. As f http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/Arenal/blog-274594.html Steve The last night in Tamerindo was quite eventful. We went out for a few drinks when halfway through the night a Boa Constrictor was founf in one of the toilets There was a bit of commotion from the staff before one of the chefs went in and got him. He was about 5 feet long and the chef posed for photos with him before letting other people in the bar pose for photos with him. They then ra http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-274304.html Kate So we had a bit of an akward flight to Costa Rica from L.A not because anything went wrong but just because it was at 2 am and we had to stop over in Guatemala for about and hour before getting to San Jose so all in all is was around a 7 hour journey. By the time we got our luggage and hailed a taxi to take us to our hotel it was around 10am. We got to our hotel a typical Best Western tha http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Guanacaste/Tamarindo/blog-270969.html SteveWe decided to do the Grand Canyon as a day trip from Vegas this meant that the only bit we could reach in a day was Grand Canyon West which is not part of the National Park but owned by the local Indian tribe. It is however the home of the Skywalk Its a bit of a strange up though as they are just in it for the money. You have to pay 20 for parking 30 for a hop on hop off bus pass eve http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-268757.html SteveThe drive to Yosemite from San Fran was pretty easy but took a little longer than expected due to the mountain roads on the approach to Yosemite. Its a great drive though and the scenery constantly changes which eases the boredom of a long drive. I am loving driving the new car too much much quicker than the old one shame about the strict speed limitsWe have been staying at a resort ca http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/Yosemite-Valley/blog-268730.html Kate So again the drive from Yosemite to Vegas was long surprise surprise so we decided to stop off after around 6 hours on the road and then complete the journey the next day. We stopped in a random little town called Barstow and found this really cool motel for the night. You really feel like your in America when you stay in a motel car outside the front door little bit seedy i loved it http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-268680.html