So we took a quick side-trip to Guatemala to visit Tikal, the Maya ruins in the jungle. After handing over our (ripoff) US$18 just to leave the lovely country of Belize, and avoiding the hassles of the locals trying to charge us US$50 for a bus journey, we got on the local Collectivo bus for $4 and bumped our way to Flores. After being so long in Australia and NZ, I had forgotten the trials and tribulations of a bargaining culture (for bargaining read: ripping off the tourists) and at this stage of the trip, I was just too jaded to deal with it when we arrived in Guatemala, difficult enough as it was dealing in Spanish, after having English for so long to lean on! Tikal itself was.....good. It is supposedly one of the best ... read more

A short flight from Dallas and we arrived in Belize City. American Airlines not quite as comfortable, nor as generous with food as Qantas, but it did provide us with entertainment in the form of an inflight shopping magazine where you could purchase, and no joke, a 2-story home for your cat, including an upstairs patio to enjoy the view, or a slide for your dog, so that he can slide into your backyard swimming pool with fun....brilliant stuff! Staying long enough in the city just to get our anti-malaria pills (at 20% of the price at home), we hit Caye Caulker, an island off the east coast. Go Slow was the order of the trip, with no traffic on the island - golf buggies being the only form of transportation - and nothing much to ... read more

Before leaving Rotorua, we decided to stop at one of the many natural geothermal parks that give Rotorua it's distinctive aroma. Wai-O-Tapu thermal area is covered with collapsed craters, boiling pools of mud and springs, which makes the whole surrounds look more like a film set for a moon landing than someplace on Earth. One of the highlights was watching the eruption of the Lady Knox geyser...which is encouraged by the manual insertion of soap-flakes into the mouth of the geyser! A little farcical,but fun all the same. After Rotorua, we hit for Waitomo on the west coast of NZ, where there is an abundance of glowworms inhabiting the limestone caves in the area. We joined a Rap, Raft 'n' Rock tour, which involved rappelling 30m into a cave, blackwater rafting (floating along the cavern rivers ... read more

Everyone had warned us that the North Island would never live up to the South Island, and certainly, scenery-wise it's more like driving through Longford and Roscommon than the Alps, but they didn't factor in all the activities that are available, and at much cheaper prices than the South Island. After wet and windy weather-struck Wellington, we had another washout at Tongariro where we (well, I) was hoping to do the 1-day Tongariro Crossing, a walk in the national park with 3 active volcanoes, lava flows, volcanic lakes... and more importantly, the setting for Mordor and Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, high winds and heavy snowfalls meant that for the 2 days we were there, there was nobody allowed onto the track. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel...we arrived ... read more

Driving in NZ is such a pleasure - gently rolling hills dotted with lego-style trees, snow-capped mountains and ice-blue rivers enhance the whole experience....however the only catch is that you have to have a clear day to enjoy it, and when you are driving in a country where the cars only have two speeds on the wipers - fast, and very fast - you know those days are going to be few and far between! And what is the fascination that Kiwis have with the song "Forever Young" by Alphaville Lyrics? If you don't hear the song at least 3 times a day, on different radio stations, you're sure to hear it playing in the supermarkets or hostel receptions... I'm mystefied. And so our journey continued along the southern coast of NZ from Milford Sound, through ... read more