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On our final morning in Panama our guide Rafael picked us up and mentioned that I reminded him of someone. He was racking his brain until he said "Oh, I remember, it's the guy off Saved By The Bell." I thought he was going to say that I looked like that creepy guy Screech, but fortunately he meant Zack. Although this made Nicola crack up laughing so I take it she meant I am way better looking than him. Our flight to Lima was with Copa airlines, I can't remember it being bad, so that's a positive. I do remember being on the toilet when it got bumpy and the seat belts sign went on. I remember my mate saying it would be pretty funny if a mask fell from the ceiling whilst on the toilet, ... read more

From Los Angeles we ventured south, taking Copa Airlines down to Panama. Unfortunately I was sat next to a fat bloke who dominated the arm rest early, snored and smelt like rotting cheese so it was a long flight. The flight attendants spoke mainly Spanish with a little English, we realised quickly that for the next few months there'd be a lot of pointing and charades in order to communicate. Thankfully I knew "Uno Cerveza Por favor." At the airport, we were picked up by a local Panamanian named Rafael who spoke perfect English. Fortunately for us, he had attended a local school where almost all of the attendees were Americans. He reckons the principal must have really liked his Mum to let him in there. Rafael was a brilliant guide, who shuttled people to and ... read more

The Grand Canyon is a fair old distance from Vegas so we had to get up at the disgusting time of 5:30am so we could catch our tour bus. Now I'm a pretty level-headed, unprejudiced person that sees the good in most people but our tour guide was the biggest dipsh*t idiot ever. He absolutely loved himself and told us far too much about his personal life and how awesome he thought he was rather than about the Grand Canyon itself. His name is Mark Antony and he should be avoided like the plague. On the plus side we got a good breakfast and packed lunch. I think it may have been down to the fact that it was in a brown paper bag. I think it just tastes better out of one. Same goes for ... read more

Our Canadian visas were about to run out, and instead of being hunted down by Tommy Lee Jones like fugitives we left Calgary, our destination NZ. But first we had a few stopovers on the way, namely: Las Vegas, LA, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, London, Ibiza, Aberdeen, Cumbria, Frankfurt and Thailand. So we said our goodbyes to Scott and Tina who incidentally went to New York on the day we left for Las Vegas. In New York, Scott proposed to Tina who said yes and they have since had their wedding in Antigua. Man my blog is way behind! A huge thanks to you both for putting us up in Canada, we had a blast and look forward to returning the favour when you come to NZ. It was difficult to decide on what we ... read more

With our time winding down in Canada we made sure to fit in some of our favourite things before leaving. The first of which was a return to Drumheller. Rick made the trip to Calgary from Banff and before we left for Drumheller he did something completely retarded. Whilst playing darts he decided to throw one from about a metre away, it clanked into the board side on, bounced back and flew right into Rick's thumb. As he stood there bleeding, I wondered if I should help or just laugh. I really think they should give the guy a TV show. That night we called NZ to talk to some of our mates, a few of our other mates were in Japan for my friend Kenji's wedding. Check out the video I made for him here: ... read more