Hi guys...I'm still alive. Been let out of the boot after a long journey and am now in well named Windy Wellington. Last night in Napier, the art deco capital of the world, rebuilt in 1931 after destroyed by earthquake. Whole place seemed to shut down at 5 pm, except an Irish bar where we found some food. Wish I was back in the Amazon, which was my favorite place so far. People were brilliant and wildlife not as scary as I thought would be. The earth moved for me in Iquitos when a couple of small tremors triggered the seizmo alarms in the airport whilst waiting for flight back to Lima. Didn't like Lima as too chaotic. Least said the better..a 4 letter word I want to forget. New Zealand. Likes, landed safely.…Auckland OK...Bay of ... read more

The bubble has burst…..along with the big water main in the sky. Cape Reinga, at the northern tip of North Island, is a sacred Maori site where the spirits of the dead are meant to leave this world on their journey home to the spirit world..possibly Glenmorangie or Glencadam, who can be sure? Anyway we must have done something to upset them as it hasn't stopped raining since we returned from there 2 days ago & meant to continue for a few days yet! Like Scottish rain, it is persistant and nearly horizontal with the strong easterly winds, which is also unusual as normal is westerly here. On the bright side...the waterproofs work and vindicate the decision to pack them. We were beginning to think they were an unnecessary excess. The kiwis are well chuffed as ... read more

Just testing to see if I can load foties from my dig camera via my tablet. If no foties attached, ignore this blog !... read more

I started writing this in Cusco airport waiting for Lima flight and chose title purely for alliteration. However it has proved to be horribly prophetic. Who has ever heard of an entire city of 9 m people totally banning the sale or consumption of alcohol for 48 hrs before & on the day of a major civic election? Well....you guessed it...Lima does..& it just so happens that the election is on Sunday..so no wine till Monday here! Luckily we head to Amazon tomorrow, but meantime really are drinking lemonade...yeughh! I assume they don't trust people to tick the favored box after imbibing uno coppa or dos. who knows, but I bet Pachacuchec didn't inflict that on his people. Agua Calientes was a unique place with no road access and only buses up & down mountain to ... read more

3rd day in Peru and despite every precaution I've suffered some mild altitude sickness. Mainly headache and dizziness, but some loss of appetite which is very unusual for me! Mind you I did have an Alpaca steak with some nice Peruvian beer on arrival at Cusco which sits at 3500mtr despite advice to have light meal and no alcohol for first 2 days. Spent today at 4000mtr seeing lots of amazing Inca ruins in fierce heat, then further light lunch of fillet steak and spaghetti in raspberry sauce (amazing) and more beer for just £6! The people are very friendly but the street sellers in city center are a pain. Met Bruce Robertson's secret brother today...he was our guide..see pic! Tomorrow we head to Sacred valley then up Machu Picchu Tuesday. Wardrobe malfunction!! Someone stole Ross's ... read more