Just Us 2

Having not been out of my normal routine for some time I was more than excited to be striking out on a 2 week adventure to Peru. Equipped with my very basic high school Spanish (rubbish really!), a few tour books, an adventuresome travel companion and a return ticket from Cusco-we flew to Lima. Peru is a country I knew shockingly little about so off we went to educate ourselves. Upon arriving to Lima we promptly locked all of our worldly belongings into the trunk of a cab and ventured into the city. Passing arid landscape, the beach (which was more like a pile of sandy dirt) we wound our way into Miraflores, the tourist district. Having managed to book a hostel not on the strip we spent our evening walking blocks and blocks to the ... read more

After a year of world travel we have been coping with rejoining normal life, seeing the same scenery day after day and despairing the fact that in America 2 weeks holiday is a priviledge and not a right. But finally after 3 long months of working without a day off we at last are experiencing our first American paid holiday, Labor Day. Borrowed from our neighbors to the North, Labor Day is a celebration of the worker. So revelling in the fact that we now qualify to celebrate this special day we packed our bags and travelled a few hours south to America's capitol, Washington DC. Hopping on the Metro we made our way into the city past the untouristed bits that seem the exact opposite of the white stone of the Roman-esqe Mall. We disembarked ... read more

When telling people we were next headed to the Cook Islands we were met with comments like "it must be paradise" or "sounds amazing". Little did they know we were headed for a typhoon. We arrived at midnight the day before we left Auckland and were shuttled to our less than lovely hostel for our first weeks' stay on Rarotonga. Needless to say we spent our first week bonding with the other travellers in the hostel (which became a bit like a Big Brother house in short order) due to the torrential rain. We passed each day with a walk to the local shop to see what we could afford (which wasn't much) and spent our evenings preparing culinary creations based on the many ways one can prepare super noodles, schooling each other on the numerous ... read more

When we first arrived in Auckland back in December we caught a glimpse of an advertisement for a Maori festival. So here we are. The Kapa Haka is a celebration of the Maori language, music and dance. It is also a big competition! The 4 day festival was absolutely amazing. The photos and videos can not capture the atmosphere we felt in that stadium. The teams were all dresses in different traditional costumes as they sung choral pieces that ranged from traditional to modern. Each team performed 5 or 6 pieces over 30 minutes. The crowd returned performances by honoring their teams with the Haka before or after each performance. Truly an amazing 4 days. From the festival and a chance meeting with the Prime Minister of NZ we explored Motueka and Kiwi Country. Met up ... read more

After crossing the Cook Strait, in our very own cabin, we hit the road bound for Taupo. We drove and drove as the sun sunk below the hills covered in energy making windmills and eventually ended up on the banks of Lake Taupo. Our car camp for the evening although in an idyllic spot left us sleeping in a car filled with tiny midgies, mozzies and sandflies (oh joy!). So we proceeded to drive around at speed to rid our car of these horrible house guests. In the end we gave up and I'm sure inhaled a few bugs as we slept. The next day we pressed on to Taupo itself and settled into DeBretts, home of Taupo hot springs. We spent the day lavishing in the hot waters. From Taupo we headed North to Rotorua ... read more