The first thing that hits you when you get off the plane and walk into the steamy entrance hall in Rarotonga is the rich heady fragrance of frangipani and tiare flowers. After you have made your way through immigration and customs, where there is a local singer with his ukelele to welcome every flight, you are presented with floral leis. The heat, the fragrance and the friendliness set the scene for the rest of our stay in the friendly Cooks. I was very lucky to be in Rarotonga - my friend Lucy won a trip and invited me along too. The [View Full Entry]

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The Easter Holiday road trip along the Great Ocean Road began with us starting to drive in the opposite direction. It was, I hasten to add, all part of the plan. We drove down the Mornington Peninsula, popping and out of the little seaside towns until we got to Sorrento. We stopped for lunch, and I bought a slice of the "famous vanilla slice" which was kind of like a giant custard slice. Large enough to feed Cam, me and a fair size helping left over for Ralph. From Sorrento we took the ferry to Queenscliff - and then we began [View Full Entry]

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Well this is a bit of a cheat because sad to say but we've already left and this comes from the Holiday Inn in LA.......I reluctantly made it to the plane. So here's how it all ended up in Belize. The last couple of days were our best yet, and that's saying something. After another fun night out, again at the Barefoot Bar, followed by pool at the Tipsy Tuna, on our final day Lucy and I were really keen to go snorkelling again, so off we went to see our friend Diana at Nite Wind. This time it was just [View Full Entry]

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Well we are still in Placencia paradise and still loving it. I'm not sure how Lucy is going to drag me onto the plane in a couple of days' time. She'll just have to wave a credit card bill in front of me I suppose, because if I didn't have to, I wouldn't be leaving here! We've had an idyllic couple of days since I last updated you. Two days ago we booked another snorkelling trip, this time to Laughing Bird Caye, which is set in a Marine Reserve about 12 miles from Paradise (as I've renamed Placencia). We went with [View Full Entry]

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As always, we've had a great day. This will be a short entry, given I've given you a fuller update this morning. The day was action packed! Breakfast for a couple of hours in the Secret Garden, followed by a facial. Wonderful! I couldn't get a massage as I have gotten a bit sunburnt. But even this has its uses - we went snorkelling the other day with a couple from the States, at Laughing Bird Caye. I was wearing a yellow bikini, and was keeping close to our guide Gerald (part man part fish as you may recall). They thought [View Full Entry]

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I thought it was hell that was supposed to be hot, but I'm truly in heaven and it's damn hot. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, but it's very hot indeed. I spent most of the morning in the water, and anyone who knows me will tell you how unusual that is. Hot and gorgeous here - here being Placencia, in the south of Belize. Yesterday morning Lucy and I flew from Caye Caulker to Belize. For people who are interested in such things, we flew in a 208B Grand Caravan, which seats 12 passengers. Lucy and I shamelessly threw [View Full Entry]

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While terribly sad to leave Guatemala, being bathed in sunshine on a gorgeous Caribbean island has helped to ease the pain somewhat. Yesterday was a busy day, starting with probably the best massage I've ever had from Eva, at "Healing Hands". Lucy and I booked flights to Placencia, then we went snorkelling for the afternoon. The snorkelling was stunning. It was only about 5/10 minutes in a small boat out to the reef with Mario as our guide. He was quite a character - a little man about my height, but about three times my girth. No need for a flotation [View Full Entry]

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Our last night in Guatemala was lovely, as we started with drinks at a bar by the lake, and then had a lovely dinner in a gorgeous restaurant. Sadly our time in Guatemala had come to an end though as we then had another early start, this time to head to Belize. While Belize is by no means a rich country, there is a stark contrast between Belize and Guatemala, as illustrated by the border crossing. The last hour or so of the road in Guatemala is a dirt/mud road and incredibly bumpy and uncomfortable. At the border you get out [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday afternoon we took a truly luxurious coach to Flores, which took about 4 hours. Luxury by local standards I should say. We could tell immediately that this was first class travel as there was only one person per seat and we had tinted windows and air con. The driver also drove mostly on the right side of the road (being on the right). The driving thing is quite confusing for us, as although they usually drive on the right-hand side, unless there is a blind corner when they tend to drive on the left. Best not to look really. Anyhow [View Full Entry]

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This comes from the Rio Dulce (the sweet river) but right now I am not smelling quite so sweet! On Friday morning all three of us had a 3.30am wake up call, Jack headed to Honduras to visit the ruins at Copan while Lucy and I headed up here for our sailing trip. We got a shuttle to Guat. City and then changed buses to a Pullman, which is first class local travel. It was another 5 hours to get to Rio Dulce, with plenty of stops, but we had good seats near the front (which reclined!!) and we left and [View Full Entry]

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