Overnight we travel for about 6 hours - the boat is quite noisy when we are under motor -and in the morning we are at Isla Espanola. We go ashore and discover this is where all the marine iguanas hang out. There are hundreds of them all sunning themselves on the rocks. And even more seals, a lot of cute baby ones too. Another highlight of the island are the waved albatross who are nesting. The chicks are huge and very fluffy. More lava lizards of all sorts of colours. Mockingbirds that wander between our feet. It really is astounding how little fear they have. Several times we have to stop and let the locals pass. Freightor birds spot some dead fish and a fight breaks out with all of them swooping down trying to get ... read more

Another early-ish start today, leaving the luxury of the hotel at 4:30 to fly to Isla Baltra, the first of our Galápagos Islands. We have a stop off in Quayaquil along the way and I discover the Young Sheldon tv series - the precursor to The Big Bang - so snort with laughter rather than snore on the 3 hour trip. Everyone is obviously very excited to arrive and after the friendly customs people relieve us of USD100 we head off on a bus, then a ferry then another bus ending up after about an hour at Porto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz. We transfer across to the Queen Beatrix, our home along with 14 others, for the next 5 days. The cabins are spacious and the meals are rather good. The crew are friendly. The ... read more

After a leisurely start, I felt like my body clock was at last synchronised with the local time zone. The headache -altitude? Jet lag? Pisco sours? - had gone too. Our adventure today was to the Mitad dal Mundo - the equator, only a 35min drive from our hotel. The drivers here are good, no dramas like you find in Asia or France! Our first stop was the Intinan Museum which was far more interactive than most museums. We saw a range of sun gods, including one who looks like Yoda and learnt about some of the local tribes and customs. Then we got to the equator and played games - walking a straight line (fail), arm wrestling the young female guide (fail), balancing an egg on a nail head - success and I have the ... read more

After a complimentary Pisco sour at the hotel restaurant we slept until about 9:30 - very unusual for me. So it was up and about in quick order, after breakfast of course. First stop was the fanicular - or cable car - 300m up to San Cristobal hill where there is a very large statue of the Virgin Mary. The view was good if a bit hazy and there were heaps of people especially cyclists exploring the park. We headed back down and explored the Bellavista area, famous for it’s street art. There are lots of restaurants in the main part but we soon got down some side streets. Needless to say I took tonnes of photos and could have stayed there for hours. However with only one day in town we had no time to ... read more

Well, my feet have got itchy again so where to now? Obviously South America, just because. Linda and I have decided to test the sisterly relationship and are sitting in the departure lounge at Auckland airport about to head to Santiago as step one of our four week northern South American adventure. No more clues just yet as to where we are going, but we have had to pack for hot, wet, cold, high, underwater and everything in between. I have bought a new camera with more zoom and a go-pro equivalent for underwater so I am hoping for lots of amazing photo opportunities to bore you with. Enough for now, more from Santiago tomorrow, where we arrive before we have left Auckland, have not got my head around that little fact yet. Hasta luego!... read more