We were up early to check out of the hotel for a travel day. Given our struggles navigating Sydney the previous night we wanted to leave plenty of time for the drive to the airport, but as it turned out everything went perfectly and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. The three-hour flight to Cairns was uneventful and we were pleased to be greeted by sunny skies and much warmer weather. We found the streets of Cairns to be eerily quiet as we stopped in search of lunch. After a brief search we settled on a Raman noodle place, ordering three different dishes that were all ultimately indistinguishable. We pushed on (only another block, as it turned out) to check into our hotel. Unlike our lovely two-bedroom suite in Sydney, here ... read more

Still not really on Sydney time, Sonia, John and Andrew were up early to take some photos of sunrise over the harbor on the viewing platform just upstairs from our room, and to check out the swimming pool. Although small, the indoor pool is very pretty, has a window so swimmers can enjoy the view, and has an aquarium-style window allowing observers to watch swimmers from below the water. Back in the apartment we collected Lauren and after a breakfast at Starbuck’s we headed out for our big adventure for the day. The Bridge Climb is an opportunity to climb along the arch of the Sydney Harbor Bridge to the peak (and back down). It took fully an hour to complete preparations, which consisted of donning jumpsuits, safety harnesses and attachments for all of our gear ... read more

On our last morning in Peru, we slept in and took our time repacking suitcases for the trip home. After breakfast and checkout, we stored our luggage with the hotel and headed out on foot to visit Sacsayhuaman (for pronunciation imagine a drunk slurring the words “sexy woman”). As we walked out of the hotel it was clear there was something going on. The streets, which had previously been full of speeding cars (pedestrian crossings have been a bit like a video game, but with only one life) and many police directing traffic, were completely filled with pedestrians. As the narrow street opened up to the Plaza de Armas (main square), there were people in costumes and uniforms, and all manner of outlandish brightly colored and shiny decorations, mostly with religious overtones. We had unwittingly arrived ... read more

Although it wasn’t the most restful sleep, we were all quite pleased with it’s duration of ~10 hours. Following a hotel buffet breakfast we checked out of the hotel, leaving most of our luggage with them, heading out with only backpacks and feeling slightly giddy at traveling into the Andes with only what we were carrying on our backs. Our taxi was right on time for our drive to Ollantaytambo. The drive started with a seemingly nonsensical back and forth through Cusco that gave us an opportunity to see more of the city as we gradually climbed even higher to the ridge where the highway is. As we reached more remote and less touristy parts of the city, we started to feel we were getting more of a sense of how people actually live. There were ... read more

With a tedious travel day ahead of us, we finished packing up our gear and headed down for our last breakfast on board. A final zodiac ride returned us to the pier where we first saw the ship and we were bid farewell by a sea lion lounging on a wooden bench. Several people (including Lauren and John) attempted to pose for photos on the bench, but it was made quite clear that he was not interested in sharing. We later learned that one of the children who disembarked after us, a boy a bit older than Andrew, had gotten too close and gotten a bite taken out of him! Fortunately they were able to patch him up sufficiently that he could catch his flight. A short bus ride took us back to the airport where ... read more