Hi everyone I arrived home safely on Friday 13th which was a feat in itself! My very special friend Leanne picked me up at the airport. It was great to see her and her little boy Riley and I was not feeling too jetlagged after upgrading to business class from Auckland to Melbourne so I could get a little sleep! I found before me a house full of balloons and a big surprise with my beautiful sister Nikki, mum and my two gorgeous nieces Stephanie and Ellie jumping out from behind the door as I opened it. It was so great [View Full Entry]

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After trapsing the streets of Mexico city for 2 hours I finally found a place to download my photos one block from my hotel! It has taken me 4 hours to put them all up. I wish I could have done them with my stories however hopefully you will be able to follow them. They are in the following order Havana (at the start and end of my trip), Santiago de Cuba, Trindad, Santa Clara, Veradero (just a couple of the beach here) and Vinales and Pina de Rio. I really hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone, My last day in Havana today. I will be sad to say goodbye to Cuba as I have lots of fond memories now etched into the eclectic landscape of my mind. I caught up with Laura my friend from the UK again here and we have been hanging out and having lots of fun. We have been having dinner at the Hotel Sevilla which has the most amazing view of the city from its resturant on the 9th Floor. You can really imagine Frank Sinatra singing a few songs around the grand piano here. It is beautiful inside and [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone, I spent yesterday in Santa Clara visited the Che memorial which is actually where he is buried and also visited the site of a train derailment which he instigiated during the revolution to capture ammunition and a few hundred of the enemy. Its funny you know everywhere you go there are so many photos of the various aspects of the revolution. There were before and after shots of the train wreck. They used a bulldozer to move the tracks and had photos of this they were very clever in the way they captured history and I am sure this [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone, Still no ability to load photos here I am afraid hopefully when I get to veradero in a couple of days. I have a fantastic collection however until then you will just have to take my word for it. I am currently in Trinidad. I was supposed to leave yesterday however met a couple of great people and decided to stay a little longer. Laura is from Manchester in UK and Mary is from South Korea. We went to Casa de la Musica the night before last and had a great night. More Cuban music and salsa. There is [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone, Well it has been tough trying to find an internet that works in this beautiful part of the world and as for loading photos onto CDs I am not sure that I will get to do that till I get to Mexico City in just over a week. I can´t use my hotmail at the moment as it keeps crashing the system so if you need to contact me please use my bigpond address simone.guild@bigpond.com My first day I spent wandering around Havana and felt a little like a fish out of water because of my under developed spanish [View Full Entry]

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Hi a little snapshot of what I did yesterday. I spent the day at Xcaret which is another eco water park. Started off by snorkelling an underground river about 2k long which was pretty groovy, swam with the dolphins and was kissed on the cheek by a dolphin. I have a pic of this but not digital so will have to wait to show you when I get home. They are so smooth and very cheeky. Then I ventured off on the sea trek which is where you put a big bubble on your head and walk on the bottom of [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone I have been in Mexico now for almost a week in Playa del Carmen. I spent my first 4 days relaxing on the beach and was starting to get bored so thought I better do some day trips to keep things interesting. The weather has been brilliant every day and of course I got burned to a crisp on day one and only now does it not hurt to sit down. The fake tan from NYC has certainly washed off so I am working on my own now. Slow process. Yesterday I went to see Chichen Itza which are [View Full Entry]

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I have just loved my two weeks here and really don't want to leave. I have met heaps of wonderful people some of who I am sure I will stay connected with in some way in the future. Here are some of the pics of my stay here...hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Mailed two boxes of clothes and shoes home today and 3 other packages. It will be like my birthday all over again when I get home and get my mail!!! I love that. Off to Mexico in the morning however I will be back to [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone I arrived safely in Lima about midnight on 16th August. No driver there to pick me up at the airport unfortunately I have since found out he was sick or something. So there I was like a prized thoroughbred at a yearling sale parading around the ring of faces with my bags when I was befriended by a taxi driver named Jesus pronounced heyzuss he tried to help me find the tour operator however after about 15 mins I decided to jump in his cab and he took me to my hotel. With a name like Jesus I knew [View Full Entry]

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