Geo: -44.85, 168.388Queenstown is known for its adrenaline-inducing adventures; one can find anything from skydiving to bungy jumping or parabungy to white-water rafting. Not being inclined towards this craziness at this stage of our lives, we drove through Queenstown, north for about an hour, through the sleepy town of Glenorchy and over to Kinloch Lodge. Although the weather was mostly cold and rainy during our 3-day stay, we managed to do a couple of nearby walks. We used the time and location to get laundry done, cook some warm comfort foods, watch movies in the cozy movie room, hang out with other travellers, read, and do other quiet activities. The hot tub was sweet! Sitting in an afternoon rain overlooking the lake with the surrounding mountains casting their shadows down upon us was epic. Not exactly ... read more

Geo: -45.8125, 170.604Dunedin is a curious city, described in our travel guide as 'exuding artsy, boozy ambiance' (i.e. our first sightings were numerous interestingly dressed college girls, carrying their own bottle of wine walking down the main street preparing for a Friday night on the town). We showed up at Hogwartz Hostel, high up on a hill with quite a climb up a staircase shrouded by bushes and vines, lugging all our groceries and bags into an old Bishop's home and up another majestic flight of stairs to our room. We had been 'offline' for most of our time in NZ so when we saw that the local library had Wifi we decided to make contact with the outside world and do some visa preparation for future travels. We dove into the library at about 10:00am ... read more

Geo: -17.8, 177.42We are working our adaptability muscles. Every time we drop into a new city or country with new surroundings, climate, currency, perhaps language and if not language an accent or habits that are unfamiliar it requires us to let go of what we are comfortable with and embrace the new. Each time I can feel my mind, body and soul aching for the more familiar then settling into the excitement and challenge of another place. It's all good. In fact I really dislike it when I am feeling stuck or too attached; it is a sign to change things up. After our first 10 hours of travel, we arrived in LA with the intention of rendezvousing with my brother. Without any cell phone or access to internet and having sent him only our itinerary ... read more

Geo: -12.0393, -77.0801Twenty-four hours in Lima was not a lot of time to see this Peruvian capital city. Arriving late in the evening, we took a long taxi drive to the Miraflores area of the city. The expressway runs along the waterfront of the city with an ominous 200 foot cliff edge lining most of one side of the road and a beach on the Pacific ocean on other. Even in the dark the sights were quite captivating.Miraflores is an upscale suburb in eastern Lima with a real multicultural feel. I was reminded of parts of Montreal here. We started our day by walking down to the water – at last…seaside! As we neared the waterfront, we passed a beautiful, erect glass building that turns out is the Mariott Hotel and is a signature modern building ... read more

Geo: -15.6452, -71.6055Altitude. For travellers, it is a big deal. Everyone talks about it, how high they have been, who is sick and who has no difficulties at all. We normally live at sea level. When I visit my sisters or parents who live between 700 & 1600 meters, I notice the dryness in the air and the shortness of my breath. I also have some difficulty sleeping for a few nights. Well, as my t-shirt from Boulder, CO says, 'sea level is for sissies'. We have been living at altitudes between 2500 and 4500 meters since we left the Amazon in early Sept. It's some dry up here! I always feel like I am trying to catch my breath and that is without exertion. What comes with altitude around here are lots of hills so ... read more