enjoythegoodtimes

Yep that’s right, I’m back on a boat. This time headed from Washington to Hawaii. Before everyone freaks (and rightly so after my previous gig), let me say that its been the POLAR OPPOSITE of my last experience. Exhausted from the whole Captain Dave debacle, I had pretty much shelved the sailing idea for now. Instead I thought I’d stay on Quadra Island and maybe travel overland to Alaska and the Yukon for the summer before returning home. However, each time I would recall my story to the Quadra locals about how I came to be there, the response was almost always the same: “Oh, you just missed Alice. She’s awesome but she just left to sail to Hawaii”. Turns out she only got as far as Port Townsend before running into a delay which meant ... read more

June 1- Day 1 (Tacoma to Port Townsend) We wake just before 4am. Captain Dave passive-aggressively says “No, don‘t you guys worry, I’ll do this part. You guys just sleep in“. A little stung, we all got up anyway as this was our last chance for a shower. Confused, I wondered how in our sleep we had somehow pissed him off. For six months I had been mentally preparing for this moment, and physically for last three weeks, so I have to admit there was some disappointed. But I was also amenable, trying to put myself in his shoes- a captain heading off on a trip for five months wanting to double check everything was set up and working correctly. We stood by idiotically while he ran around the boat in the dark like a mad-man ... read more

And the adventure begins again. This time on the sea. For those I haven’t already told, I’ve signed on to crew a 42ft/13m sailboat from Seattle to Alaska… and possibly beyond. The general plan is to meander up the coast of British Columbia shooting a documentary, sailing and diving the rugged coastline. But its been a little while between blogs so let me back up a minute. The last two and a half years in a nut shell: I finished my travels winding through Central America, with side trips to Cuba and the US (I can‘t remember why it is the blogging stopped upon reaching Central America). Ryan went back to Canberra lured by the promise of hops, hens and home renovations (Thewsy- cheers for letting enjoythegoodtimes continue). I move to the US to spend time ... read more

7 months in, like most travellers, Colombia is turning out to be the favourite country in South America. Beautiful scenery and exquisite colonial towns, a fascinating history with an enormously improved security situation (arguably safer than Ecuador and Peru) and seriously THE most welcoming people. IE... Tell all and sundry to get here.... and for the Australian Government to change the status of its travel warnings :) From Ecuador we entered Colombia´s rolling hills and spent some time in the coffee region of the south where much of nothing was heartily undertaken. There were some walks through the hills, hummingbird watching, orange and blackberry picking, slacklining and of course coffee touring. Hostels here have free coffee 24/7 so Ryan now has a habit of 5 cups a day. After Bogota the next major stop was the ... read more

Kate and I will be unable to respond to any correspondence posted on this blog or sent to ryanthew@hotmail.com or kate_cecys@yahoo.com.au for the next 2 weeks. Unfortunately we have prior commitments to dive with seals/turtles/sharks, watch iguanas, tortoises and a plethora of birds in the Galapagos Islands. I also have permission from Kate to look at as many boobies as possible, in fact our guide will hopefully be pointing them out for me. If not occupying our time with the above we will most likely be on the sun deck of our yacht reading books and drinking cold beers or Cuba Libres. Please don´t think ill of us. Regards Ryan and Kate... read more