Wednesday March 7 - Sitting on the decking in glorious sunshine sorting out this little laptop after a morning of shopping, has been so relaxing. Eastlands has certainly grown since I was kid. Had a trip down memory lane to Blackburn Sth and realised that while growing up, Mal and I had been living two streets away from each other! 6 Degrees of separation indeed! Off to the Bruno Mars concert tomorrow night, then a few more days in Melbourne with my little Melbourne Family, before heading to ‘the land of the rising sun’. Still need to pack and unpack my bag a couple of times before I’m totally convinced I have everything. Thursday March 8 - Bruno Mars concert was amazing! Fireworks, light show, explosions of gold paper, sets that went up and down and ... read more

.....there was this lady who thought it might be a good idea to go to South America and work with some kids. Along the way she met lovely families, made lots of new friends, saw fantastic animals/mountains/ancient sites, had some scary moments, got lost a lot, spent heaps of money, walked, walked, walked, fell over a couple of times, dropped things, laughed till she cried, felt sick, felt strong, and was amazed but grateful for all of the opportunities that came her way. She missed her children and her friends back home very much, but never enough to make her want to end the journey before its time. On the very long flight back home, images of the hugs and kisses she would receive (especially from her little grandson), filled her with anticipation. How could 3 ... read more

So my darling daughter should know better than to bait her poor old mum, especially when it comes to writing blog stuff. Apparently the assumption being that because it took 9 days for my last blog to hit the airwaves, and I only have 9 days left of my big adventure once I hit Cancun, you guys would be lucky to get another blog out of me. Hahahahahahaha! I have at least 2 good ones left in me yet! Let me tell you about the last 4 days……. School finished…..but the school edition is coming out next. I then wandered back to my home for lunch and then made my way to Playa Mann to work on my ‘tan’. The weather wasn’t too bad and I always had fun people and sea lion watching. Did my ... read more

So yeah....apparently sharks in the Galapagos are vegetarians, or so I have been told by Miguel who owns the house where I am staying. He, his wife Marisol and 11 year old son Areal told me this with straight faces and expected me to believe them. Problem being that I may have been misunderstanding their English (or their Spanish) as is often the case when things are lost in translation. Either way I didn't believe them! But I am getting ahead of myself, as usual. Here I am! in the most famous archipelago in the world!!! I can't even believe it myself. I have been here now for 10 days and still find that I am pinching myself nearly every day. The flight from Quito started off a little stressful with the traffic absolutely chockers. Let ... read more

What can I say? I am currently sitting in my homestay bedroom in Quito, Ecuador and can't believe that I have already been 5 weeks away from home. This blog is going to be a reflection on the work I was doing in Cusco, so for those of you who only want the touristy stuff you can stop reading now but, have a look at some of the pictures that I have posted as 'moments in time' in Peru. The 2 projects I was privileged to work on lay in the outer region of Cusco city - farming area I guess. The people need help in the school and day care in order for the mothers(most often single) to be able to work and provide for their families. There is not much money to provide resources ... read more