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Current trip GPS position :  40deg 45.576N

                                                                       73deg 57.187W

Location : New York City NY, USA

This is the final instalment documenting our adventure for now. The time has come to fly and that means that the trusty Land Rover is on a ship once more, sailing towards Europe. We have had a great journey since heading north from Connecticut all those weeks ago and I think the best part about this latest section of the trip has been seeing and meeting people. This is sometimes planned but very often not. It is amazing how many people in Canada especially have taken us in or taken us out.

Since the last update, we have been on the radio, filmed for television news and written up in multiple newspapers along our route. The results of some of these can be seen on the homepage if you have not seen them already. The television news certainly gave us an air of fame due to the number of people from all over eastern Canada who would ask if it was really us and were we really driving around the world? I am so pleased we have brought a smile to so many faces and the good old Land Rover has stood up to the task of mobile atlas so well. It's funny to see families explaining to children where the places represented by stickers are in the world. Very often the children initiated the contact with us whilst the parents look more sheepish. Once they realise that we really are 'not from around here' then everyone's friends.

Leaving Will and Tiff and their two young daughters in West Hartford, we headed back into New York State to visit Bob and Betsy. These two had been on our backs for months by now, making sure we were going to visit them at Lake George where they live year round in a particularly beautiful area. I think Betsy was worried that because we had taken so long to get over to the east coast of the US we would pass them by but no chance of this. This goes back a little to where we did promise to visit them whilst enjoying the view over Machu Picchu in Peru all those months ago. On our approach, we realised that this may be a little more than an overnighter and we were soon to find out how hard it is to leave Lake George when the sun is shining. Whilst there, we got to see fireworks by boat, some of the Adirondacks which are the mountain and wilderness areas of the north west of the state. We had a private boat tour of the narrows, where we sat and watched the sunset with crackers, cheese and of course a glass of white wine. Enjoyed swimming in the lake and despite my tendency to steer clear of cold water, I was in many times, walked in the hills and got to drive Bobs' boat at speed across this huge body of water which appears to be a state secret as no tourists frequent the area, only locals. The highlight was most certainly the movie experience. Bob has built himself a private cinema in the basement, complete with all the bells and whistles and, in this, we got to see a selection of movies which we had missed out on whilst being on the road. Sadly and despite staying considerably longer than planned, we had to say our goodbyes and head back towards Canada but not before we had another television interview and a newspaper article done.

One more stop before the border had us dropping in on Rovers North who are the main parts suppliers for Land Rover in North America. We got put on their website (http://www.roversnorth.com/news/index.php/2010/07/visitors-from-australia-heart-of-darkness-world-tour-adventure-travelers/) and stayed in their back field. In the morning I was able to do some checking over and an oil change in the workshop which was much needed. We then headed for a small Canadian crossing point and got through with minimal questioning. Montreal was our planned destination but we had nowhere organised to stay when we crossed the border so we 'phoned a friend' and Matthieu, who we met in Yukon Territory (who is also heading south - http://www.etreici.blog.com/ ), linked us up with his brother Etienne. We camped outside their place in a little garden for three nights whilst seeing some sights and also a few friends, another Mat and Jason who are both avid travellers. Mat actually took us to a very small brewery which served really great micro brewed beers. He and his girlfriend then proceeded to cook us a great BBQ on the balcony of their apartment which gave us a view of the city.

Montreal lasted too little time but we had places to go and people to see, so off we pootled, north to Quebec City where we were to Couchsurf again. I may have explained this before but we slept on couch, bed or floor of various random strangers (all now friends!) around Canada and got to see local things instead of all the touristy stuff. Pierre and Gen took us to another BBQ with friends who had driven all over Central and North America just recently. The historic part of Quebec City is quite beautiful and has been restored better than I could even imagine possible. We took a day to wander around and see the sights and then got to see a free performance of Cirque du Soleil under a freeway bridge! They were started in Quebec and perform every night during the summer for locals and a few tourists who know about it. What a spectacle to experience. Well worth the money.....oh, we didn't pay so even better!

We now moved south and east crossing into Maine where the US border guard seemed to have something between his ears (a very rare case and in need of more experiments). We stayed just one night in the US this time and got to eat lobster, despite the simple little restaurant where we ate which struggled to actually serve us their one and only speciality! We stood for almost half an hour waiting to try and order something but to no avail. They just kept walking past us and did not even react when I made some slightly sarcastic comments about the service. We did however get a lobster to eat before it got dark! Another random night began after this when we went to watch the sunset from a national park and met some semi locals. They were from further south but on holiday at their cabin by a lake and invited us to camp up for the night with campfire and beer included in the deal. No choice there then! A great bunch of people and a fantastic night but we had to off into Canada again so we ran for St John. Again the border into Canada was easy-peasy!

I am sure you will have seen the interview in St John, New Brunswick but it is on the homepage of the website if not. We had a great time in St John and surrounding area and this is where we met Bob McVicar, father of Rod who we met in Alberta. We were housed and fed and treated like royalty for several days, including once again a newspaper and a television interview. This CTV piece which I mentioned above went out to the whole of Canada and raised our profile considerably for the continuing journey through the Maritimes. We also got to meet more Land Rover people and Tony, Bill and Steve helped me with a few repairs, including a new headlight which replaced the one I smashed on the haul road in Alaska and had been siliconed together to prevent unwanted police action! After meeting Wander in a bar, we got invited out on a river kayaking expedition (www.gofundyevents.com) with a load of cruise ship tourists. This was great fun but the best thing about it was the lobster lunch which was fed to us on completion of exercise. Better still, it was free and so appreciated! It meant we could leave St John having felt like we had seen lots and done lots and eaten lots and talked lots and enjoyed everything. 

Our thoughts were to drive across to Prince Edward Island but when we got to the bridge and found it to be very expensive, we decided to continue through Nova Scotia along the coast to Antigonish. Another newspaper interview en-route and lunch with another local family, then a stay with John and Odile. These two have a fantastic spot by the coast and, having met John in Belize, they invited us to share their amazing vegetable garden and experience more local hospitality. John makes wine and beer while he is not travelling and Odile paints from her travelling experiences. We got to BBQ on the beach and feed the pig, whilst relaxing for a few days. The only hard work was another interview for the local paper! There was one night of partying to celebrate Johns birthday and this showed us that all the talk about the Nova Scotia party was not hype. Following tips from many locals, we now went onto Cape Breton island to drive the Cabot Trail which we did clockwise for want of another direction! Great views and who should we meet up with again but Malcolm on his trusty Honda. We slept very near Meat Cove which was cut off from the world only a few days later by floods taking out bridges and stranding all those there for an undisclosed period of time. We got lucky again!

A visit to Louisbourg gave an insight into some of the history of this area from the french perspective. The place has been rebuilt to an eighteenth century time and was fascinating to see, complete with period dressed staff who role play to explain life in the fortress town. Another Land Rover fan, Lauchie Armstrong took us to dinner afterwards and set us up in a caravan for the night in Port Hawksbury near the causeway back to the mainland. The run down to Halifax took us along dirt roads and through farmland before we stopped to visit Con and Rose Seitel who own most of the Land Rovers in Nova Scotia! A family affair with their sons driving old Series vehicles also.

The first night in Halifax we got to meet another McVicar, the third on the trip. Kirby and Kim. They cooked us another great BBQ and then showed us around some of the city including a local beer in a bar downtown. The citadel is part of the city and provides a view over the site of the largest manmade explosion in history (not including atomic weapons). In 1917, half of the city was decimated by two war vessels colliding in the harbour. The resultant devastation left thousands dead and many more injured along with a city of homeless people in the middle of winter. I had never heard of this before and was amazed to learn about it from local knowledge and then later the Maritime Museum in the city. The other visit which had an impact on us was the cemetery where those who died in the Titanic disaster are buried. Fairview is the final resting place for a large number of those who died, of which some are still yet to be identified and are therefore marked only by number. The number was the order in which they were pulled out of the ocean when recovery boats made it to the scene.

Before we got rid of the Land Rover, we made a quick run up to the north to experience something we can not anywhere else in the world. The Shubenacadie River experiences some of the largest tidal movement on the planet and, when the inflow begins, sets up a tidal bore. This we got to see at very close quarters and in fact got its washing machine effect by rafting it! A special tour begins with a sedate cruise down the low water river in an inflatable boat which carries eight. Enjoying the sun, this is a time to relax and watch bald headed eagles soar overhead whilst learning a little of the geology and history of the area. We then got a free mud musk whilst we slide down the slippery sides of the river. Wish I had a photo! At the river mouth however this all changes. It is out of relaxation mode and into adrenaline time. As the river reverses, the rapids appear and the fun starts. Hold on tight or you are in the river and being whisked along. The water is a brown muddy colour and steams upstream at about 14km/h. That said, the waves created are huge and that often left our small craft totally invisible under the water except for the head of the engine! We were often up to our waist in water which turned out to be exceptionally warm. We got bashed and pounded and all had a great time. There was even time for a swim midway. Exhaustion was setting in by the time we got back to the Land Rover to cook up some lunch.

Back down into Halifax and now we were Couchsurfing once again, this time with Teresa. She was most helpful, very friendly and opened her house to us whilst we saw a bit more of the city and prepared to overcome the shipping obstacle. I am yet to find anyone who works in shipping who a.) knows their job, b.) wants to do their job or c.) can do their job. It is infuriating and often I end up doing all the footwork and paying someone else to not do it at the same time. Finally the Land Rover was deposited at the port with the correct paperwork done for this end. Roll on Liverpool where it all starts again.

One more night in Halifax gave us a chance to go kayaking in a perfect spot to watch the sunset. We now flew to New York for ten days but once again had problems with the over zealous border officials who really believe that I am coming to live in the US. You can't tell them that I would never live in the US even if someone paid me to do so, as they see that as being a reason to not let you in! We missed our flight but managed to squeeze into the last one of the day and have now spent a week seeing the Big Apple as a tourist, staying with Karen and Peter (Karen is Kelly's cousin). With only one more night here, this will be the end of the Americas for us so for now.

Now we are flying, not literally but we certainly flew across many miles of Canada when it was dull and flat. The locals told us that you could watch your dog run off for five kilometres! The roads were flat and straight and meant that we had to keep ourselves amused by spotting things that weren't fields or fences. It also gave us a serious challenge for free camping which we are trying to do in order to pay less accommodation bills.

Once we left Winnipeg we wanted to get into Ontario as soon as we could as we knew what it had on offer. The start of the lakes is a serious draw to this part of the world. They are so huge that they have their own micro climates and the weather systems can be different in each one. Our first night camping in Ontario has to rate in our 'best of' list. We had a beautiful quiet and private spot by a small lake which we found by chance (and skill of course). The lake was warm enough to swim in so I was straight in for a dip and felt cooled downed and ready for a beer afterwards. We heard wolves calling to each other during the night and woke to another amazing day. The morning dip was even more refreshing and meant we started the day smelling slightly better than usual!

The drive across Ontario is huge. Roughly 2000km from the top to Toronto and seemed to last forever. We camped all along the way and met some really friendly people, including Karen and Bill who live by lake Superior all summer in their self built cabin. As we got  further down the country we took a shortcut to allow us to catch a ferry. This was a good move on our part as it saved about eight hours drive and meant we got to drop in on more friends. We were heading to visit Wendy and Jim whom we met in Bolivia but we got a little side tracked. We got to them a day late and ended up meeting and staying with a great couple of dentists who happen to own Land Rovers which we saw as we drove past their house in Owen Sound. Sean and Sharlene took us in and gave us an amazing meal before we swapped stories which only good Land Rover owners have!

When we got to Wendy's place, she also took us in like long lost friends and we had a poolside BBQ to attend with her friends. Unfortunately Jim was on a roadtrip of his own so we missed him. The next stop was Toronto and we had had an amazing offer of a bed in the city when we met Nick and his family in Costa Rica. We therefore took this up and had a great experience teaching the two young boys, Ben and Luke about the world and how we had done our trip. We had one more thing to do in the area before going back in the US.

I met Geoff on my trip to the Antarctic in 2008 and he had told me I was to appear in his new book. I had to collect a copy from him therefore and having done so, we ended up drinking lots of wine and being given another bed for the night. These Canadians are great. The following day we headed for the border via Niagara Falls. We took a quick look at the falls from the Canadian side and then got going as there were far too many tourists around for our liking. It was lucky also, because the border crossing ended up taking longer than we thought it would. The American border guards certainly do not try coming in the friendly category.

Once in the US we motored on again down through New York state and Pennsylvania, heading for Washington DC. We had a great experience on the way down when we met Sandy. She found us buying a drink in a fuel station en route and within minutes, we were heading to her place to stay and enjoy another BBQ and wine! This is becoming a regular occurrence and I blame the Land Rover! Sandy was so much fun and a real traveller. She had visited several of the countries which we have driven through recently. She sent us on our way having made us breakfast and of course we hope our paths cross again in the future. We also got to stop at Gettysburg where the USA history changed direction to become the country we now know.

Once through the evil traffic of DC, we greeted Ivan and Christy and spent a few great nights in their company. We got to see the sights and Ivan pulled some strings to get us a private tour of the Capitol Building which was well worth doing. We visited the Smithsonian museums and walked past the Washington and Lincoln memorials which are always in films. I wanted to do a Forest Gump running through the reflecting pool but decided it was better to leave the US without an arrest record!

We had got as far south as we wanted to go and so had to say goodbye to Ivan and Christy in order to make our way back northwards towards Canada. After a lot of slow roads and a night out in a regional park we arrived in West Hartford and are now staying with good friends Will and Tiff and their two little girls. They organised a radio interview for us yesterday and this can be heard at

This has been a while in coming and I apologise to those who live from update to update and have not had a fix for some months.We are still well and truly on the road and doing well.
I think I left you in Vancouver last time around and now I feel I have to pick up from there and accept that this may take a while. We tried to leave Vancouver after we had a television interview with CTV. This went out one evening all over Canada and many people saw it. We immediately got emails from people who had seen the piece and had an invite to stay with a Land Rover loving local. This we did and enjoyed the opportunity thoroughly. It also gave us the chance to do some maintenance at a Land Rover specialist workshop with Don the boss, who was most helpful. We did manage to make our way out of the city after some great experiences and it was time, although still a little cold, to go north. After all, the aim was to get to Alaska and that was still some 5000km off.
We trekked towards Prince George and then out towards the coast to Prince Rupert. This was a must visit of course and with some photos to mark my visit, we enjoyed the place. Tried the local beer as usual and met of all people, an Australian who loved the place so much that he stayed and now works there. We stayed in a very friendly little hostel but hostels are not really hostels in the north of America. They are cheap hotels and not really that cheap at that. Some dorm beds are charged at the same price as a cheap hotel room which includes private bathroom so we only use them occasionally which is a pity because they do tend to be a good source of local information. Our attempt at getting on the Inside Passage ferry was foiled on financial grounds. For us and the Land Rover to make our way almost to Alaska was going to cost close to $800 on the ferry or less than $300 on fuel and food. We therefore backtracked inland, saying goodbye to Prince Rupert and had the most beautiful drive along the fjords, back to Terrace. This is where we had stopped for our first Canadian hotspring experience. Just south of town, we had heard there was a hotspring which deserved a visit. The deserving bit was only really true as it was free! The place was run down and falling apart and most of the facitlity was off limits. We did
however get a long hot soak in the thermal waters bubbling up from deep beneath. We now headed north along a less travelled road and again, due to local knowledge, stopped at the peeing tree! Yes, the tree pees! Literally!!! A pipe gushes cold clear drinkable spring water from what appears to be inside the tree. As we were now in volcanic territory, the chance of finding more hotsprings was increasing so we followed some instructions which we attained from word of mouth and found another thermal river. This one we had to dam up with the aid of two yoghurt pots which blocked two pipes and allowed a previously constructed pool to fill. 40 minutes later and we had our own private hot bath in the middle of nowhere.
The road took us north again and now the chance to do a sidetrip came up. Alaska starts low in BC but does not connect to the main part further north so we headed out to Steward where we saw the Bear Glacier and at this point, you can cross to Hyder in the USA. This is the only way you can get into the US without a passport or visa so we trundled up towards the Salmon Glacier, only to find the road still blocked by deep snow. Such a pity as the glacier is apparently amazing to see. We camped in the US beside a huge glacial river with nothing but mountains in all directions. It was a magnificent spot to watch the sunset and enjoy the peace and quiet of the wilderness. Back at Hyder and we were requested for a passport by the Canadian authorities! They did let us back in although a life history was requested, mainly trip information as the border guard was fascinated with what we were doing.
As we headed up the Cassiar Highway, the scenery just got better and better. The free camping got easier and so we were often now camped up next to a river or in a clearing in the forest and cooking over campfires. The Cassiar eventually meets the famous Alaska Highway and for us, we were now travelling more west than north. The highway comprised long streches of road with amazing scenery, starting with Muskeg forests and flowing into some of the largest mountains on the continent. I can see why locals live up here and foreigners visit. It is quite stunning and makes a long hard road seem easy to drive. The time passed easily and Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory was a quaint little town (really a city!!) where we ended up meeting Justin and Jen by sheer chance. They kindly invited us to stay in their spare room for a couple of nights and we experienced the local area and hospitality as well as having a little more time off the road. The distances we have to cover up here are more attuned to Australia than anywhere else we have driven so far. After goodbyes, we headed off to see Kluane National Park before getting to the Alaska . This park is huge, extending into Alaska, and comprises some of the largest icefields on earth. Glaciers abound and can only be seen from the air which we did not do
but we enjoyed the sights and wildlife whilst driving and walking as we passed by this spectacular area.
The control point back into the US was remarkably easy compared to our last experience and we were soon back on the Alaska Highway in a different country. The highway links Canadas' Yukon Territory and British Columbia with Alaska and runs for almost 1400 miles. We were to drive almost all of it whilst in this area.
Our aim was to see as much of Alaska as possible in the time we had and so we engineered a route which gave us maximum coverage. The month or so we spent in the state was almost long enough and the early start in the spring we had made meant that the roads were empty, the mornings were still chilled and all the tourist attractions were either closed or empty and very very friendly. Nothing really wakes up in Alaska until mid June and we got in about mid May so enjoyed the space without the crowds.
Heading down to Homer was a must and it seemed sensible to only travel roads once if we could. This is our normal way to travel as it shows more of a country or area if there is more than one road which we can use. With this is mind, we made for Valdez which for those who have seen this town on a map will realise it is at the end of the road. For us, it was the beginning of our chance to see Prince William Sound and experience ferry travel in this part of the world, remembering we had foregone the previous chance to try it out. Valdez came to the attention of the world back in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez bulk oil carrier struck a reef and emptied thousands of barrels of crude oil into the sound, killing wildlife and considered at the time to be the worst oil spill in history. This unfortunately changed just recently but the cleanup operation in this area is not complete even now, 21 years on. We went out on a boat to see some wildlife and got the feeling things are trying to recover but are not back to where they should be yet. We saw the reef which played a role in the catastophe and luckily we also saw whales and porpoise, along with a number of bald headed eagles and sea otters which frollicked in the waves as we passed by. It was a magical place and to think how more amazing it would be without all the oil spill remnants is hard to imagine. The Alaska pipeline terminates in Valdez and this is where the tankers are filled to head south. We were to see a lot of the northern parts of this pipepline later to the north.
Our way out of Valdez was a very early morning load onto a ferry which turned out to be empty. We had 8 hours on this vessel with only four other people on board and got to see even more of the Sound before being deposited in Whittier. From here we had to drive through a railway tunnel which has only one track. The trains take priority but then cars have right of way the remainder of the time, first in one direction for half an hour and then it reverses. The total length is four kilimeters and I decided to film the journey. This went well until the tape ran out half way through and we pulled over in a layby to change the tape. Just as we were about to move on, an employee of the tunnel stopped us and started to give us trouble as we were only allowed to stop in emergencies. For me it was an emergency but he did not see it that way and wanted to report us. The manager at the end of the radio sounded very upset and wanted our details so we duly complied. The make of the vehicle however, was a problem for his small mind and when the number plate did not compute either, he asked which state we were from, assuming he was going to get an answer in the 'Lower 48' (US states). I replied Western Australia and having confirmed that it was actually Australia and not Arkansas, he got really annoyed and requested we leave the tunnel immediately which is what we had been trying to do for the last five minutes! A side trip to Seward and then on to Homer were some of the most different parts of the state. I am calling Alaska a state as officially it is part of the US but in reality, it is a country and has nothing in common with the US except the dollars which are spent. The people are different. They are friendly and easy going and quite often choose to be very anti US government. They also come across as free thinking and intelligent. Something we rarely experienced in the Lower 48 as they choose to call the other states.
Homer was the place which everyone told us not to miss as we discussed our planned expedition to Alaska prior to arriving. The place was well worth the long side route and the weather was altogether warmer when we arrived so things were looking up for the summer to come. We went out onto the Spit which juts out into Kachemak Bay and enjoyed the friendly approach people had to us. We stayed in a hostel on a farm and would have been there a lot longer if our end goal of the north was not close at hand. It was therefore off to Anchorage and a visit to Curtis, a pilot we had met at the border. He was very helpful and showed us around, including a quick tour of the lake airport. Anchorage has the busiest wet airport in the world and seaplanes were landing and taking off constantly near where we were standing. This occured a year ealier where we were - ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVwlodvWh7w ).
From Anchorage we made a dash to the National Park of Denali where we got to see grizzly bears for the first time. We had seen black bears all over the place and therefore a grizzly was something new and exciting. We stood and watched them for several hours. We later stayed in the most overpriced RV site of our trip and they attempted to charge us for showers on top. We went smelly!!
Into Fairbanks and our first job was the hand delivery of a postcard which we had picked up in the Galapagos Islands many months ago. The card promised a salmon dinner if we called in advance so good to their word, Luanne and Jack were perfect hosts and even invited us to stay in their spare room afterwards. Our final goal was now about to begin. 800km north along the Dalton Highway stands the Artic Ocean and that meant stocking up on food, fuel and water before going out into the tundra. It took us five days to cover the 1600km round trip and not only drive into the Arctic Circle but also to walk on the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay. It was all worth it and we cracked a bottle of champagne on the ice, despite it being totally against the rules! We had done it. We had completed our South to North drive and now felt a big change. What were we to do now? Canada was the best option as we could have organised to ship out from Alaska but we wanted to see more of the continent before finally calling it a day. It was therefore off back towards Canada again and using the Top of the World Highway, we crossed the border again. We thoroughly enjoyed a stop in Dawson City. Another tiny city in the Yukon and with a population of only about 2000 people, it was a very friendly place indeed. The history of river travel and gold mining in the area were fascinating and the ways that men thought up to become rich were out of this world. Gold panning is the simplest form of gold extraction and there are so many more methods, ranging in size up to huge rock and gravel dredgers which gouged their way through the valleys in the area sorting rock from the shiny stuff. I even got gold fever and wanted to stay to start mining but Kelly put her foot down and we were off and out of there quick smart!
The Dempster is the other road which can take you way up north and we thought about driving it but decided against doing the whole trip. We did go up to Tombstone park which had some beautiful mountain scenery and meant only about 120km along the gravel road before returning the way we had come. During this time we had been travelling with our friend Malcolm whom we met in Argentina at the bottom end of the world and now we ran into him again at the top. He has ridden his 250cc Honda cruiser all the way through in similar fashion to ourselves, but he is now 71 years old!!!
We were now heading mainly eastwards and dropped down through Whitehorse again where we picked up some more of their very good local beer from the Yukon Brewery. We camped overnight in a Walmart carpark which was different. In doing so we met an Argentinian couple who had driven up from their home in a 40 year old argentine built vehicle. We had to give them respect as they were roughing it considerably more than us.
Our next stop to mention was back in British Columbia where we stopped off for the night at Liard Hotsprings. On entering the site, we parked up next to another Land Rover. This one was from Switzerland and only just starting a trip in the opposite direction so they had lots of new and shiny equipment. We gave them as much info as we thought might be helpful and they went on their way. Before we got up the following morning, another Swiss Land Rover pulled in next to us and we then spent the day cooking in the hotsprings and discussing all the same information we had handed over to the previous lot. What a small world and so nice to see other overlanders out and about.
Alberta was the next province to visit and it was here that the friendliness factor increased. That is not to say the canadians were not friendly before this but the rate took a remarkable climb upwards. Our first experience of Couch Surfing was in Edmonton where we stayed with Alice who happened to be a local TV reporter. So whilst sleeping on the floor in her flat, she also interviewed us for CityTV which went out the following Friday, much to our amusement. This adds to the previous TV interview, the radio interview in Whitehorse and the local paper piece a week later! They love the vehicle! We then stayed with Marshal and Stephanie and little Aurora who took us into their home like long lost friends and gave us their basement for a couple of nights before also taking us out to Two Hills, a very small town further east and putting us up with the retired town Mayor. It was a great experience and we were also helped out in Edmonton by Ed, Kevin and Rod who organised for a workshop space to change the oil and took us for beer and pizza. Also whilst in town, we were accosted by a local called Brian who firstly tried to get us to move the Land Rover off private property but within two minutes was walking us down to a restaurant to buy us lunch! What a place! Our next act of kindness involved us being requested to pull over by the occupants of another pickup. We were then kindly requested to join their lakeside party the following night, not far from Two Hills. We complied and spent the evening drinking local beer and whiskey whilst talking the night away. At about 3am we got to see the Northern Lights for the first time. Hooray!
Saskatoon was our next Couch Surfing opportunity and we were taken in by Shannon and Eddie who looked after us well. We got to see the local jazz festival and I ate bison again which adds to the list of animals around the world which I have eaten! We even got breakfast cooked by Shannon which was as usual, more than appreciated. On recommendations from various people we drove down to Moose Jaw and visited the tunnels made famous in the prohibition era by Al Capone. The history was really interesting and well researched but the tunnels were fake and we have to wonder where the real ones are. The city had little more to offer so we headed for Manitoba.
A night of free camping near the border broke the long drive to Winnipeg and on arrival we had a good look around the Forks area of town. We are being hosted here by David and his family so Canada Day was spent in the geographical centre of Canada and now have only a few thousand kilometres to go.
This has been epic and I hope as usual that you got this far with the tea cup not running dry.
We go from here into Ontario before more US and then Canada to the east. This will be noted in a further installment for future issue so for the time being, I hope you stay well and enjoy.

We are back and now ready for more northwards travel. We have had a break and got to spend time with both our mothers who arrived for a side adventure in and around Vancouver but there is lots leading up to that so a bit of recap first.

The time spent in Colorado was extended due to unforeseen mechanical problems. On trying to leave Frisco in the mountains, we got a sudden and huge plume of white smoke emitted from the exhaust pipe. It meant the road behind us vanished and we could have been in a complete instant white out! We had no choice but to limp back to town and revisit a workshop who gave us a hand with cold weather oil changing previously. Luckily there were no police around, we would have had some explaining to do as no one else could see the road either! It turned out to be a blown turbo. Something which should not have happened with so little mileage on the engine. The only way to deal with it was to have a new unit flown in from the UK at huge cost and get back on the road. Luckily for us, our friends from Denver had a beautiful property in Frisco and it felt like home for a while longer than planned. We even got to see Witt and Jen again when they arrived for a weekend away so could not ask for a more perfect spot to have a breakdown. It only took 3 days for the turbo to arrive and we were heading for Utah and the national parks. Utah is an odd place. Not only geographically but also, you can't buy beer with 5% alcohol content as the Mormons run the state. The parks were really quite special and I think a six month trip to them, would just about allow you to say you had seen and done them. We visited Canyonlands and Arches before a blizzard stopped us in our tracks and we stayed in a very warm hotel. Once the snowploughs had been through, we were off again and this time into Arizona and Monument Valley. The sights of this well known park are seen by driving on desert tracks and were will worth braving the chilly morning for.

We are currently a little further north than we would have liked for this time of year but with our first real deadline approaching with the side trip planned in Canada, we have to keep moving. In a perfect world, we would be sitting on the beach somewhere in Mexico for another month so as not to meet quite so much snow. Oh well, that's life.

Everyones favourite place was next on the agenda. Las Vegas. Although I can see it being fun for a day or two, it does quickly become another big city and with the average bod leaving the city with $524 less in their pocket, I struggle to see why more than 24 million people visit every year. We saw a show and plenty of the hotels but had to make a break and get to a more sane area of the US. We did stop at the Grand Canyon and the Hoover dam on the way in and got subjected to a full vehicle search because our tent of course looks like a b*mb (can I say that word on the internet anymore??)

A new state and a bit more snow to deal with. The route through Lake Tahoe was the only one possible so having left Nevada, we then had to dip back in again briefly before going for San Francisco. We spent a great couple of days in the city staying with Mike and Jen. Mike I went to university with many years ago and it was great to catch up. We made a mad dash out to the countryside to visit Robert who is driving around the world also. I met him and his wife Martine in Australia and have watched their progress since (www.kookynet.net). Unfortunately their Land Rover was destroyed when the container it was being shipped in was dropped in Holland. The visit therefore allowed to meet their new truck Alistair and see what sort of shell he will be carrying all the way down to Tierra del Fuego in the coming months, once it is completed.

Oregon was a great state to visit and one in which I had hoped to be able to spend more time but due to the previous unforeseen problems we had had, it was a quick scoot up the coast and check out of the Giant Redwoods whilst enjoying the very scenic leg through ocean spray and mist. It is one very attractive part of the world and somewhere that could be revisited in the future if the US entry requirements ease up a bit. We missed seeing Andrew who is seen in photos from Africa on the site http://www.heartofdarkness.com.au/phbotswana4.jpg because of unexpected work commitments but hope to catch up with him on the other coast for an Eric and Andrew roof extravaganza. Washington state was another worth spending a little more time in but we were very pleased to have been able to see Seattle from a local perspective when we dropped in on Craig and Patty and made use of their spare room. That is not altogether true as Craig slept out in his VW camper in the garden for us! We got to go underground in Seattle to see the old city streets, now hidden by a feat of engineering and preserved for the adventurous amongst us to visit. The city has a very interesting history and needs some more reading up on.

Time in the US was running out. We had to get into Canada and this is something we were very unsure about. Were we going to have trouble at the border with vehicle, passports, questions etc etc etc? As it turned out, we did not even manage to leave the US in the normal way as they were not interested in us at this point in time. We actually got stamped into Canada without being able to return the US documentation and had to walk back through the crazy traffic to find someone to give our paperwork to. Without doing this, we may not be able to get into Alaska, although noone could tell us for sure!!!

New country and number 23 of this trip and all we had to do was get a stamp and answer a few basic questions. The answer to where is the vehicle registered got a very confused scratching of the head and some uncertainties but they let us go because I don't think they wanted to deal with us. We were therefore let free in Canada for 3 months and here we are currently. Our first night in the country had us in a hotel south of Vancouver. (A hotel was only a fraction more expensive than a cold camp site!) We turned on a television program on Antarctica and who should I see but two friends who I went to Antarctica with more than a year ago. We were to visit Danielle a week later and hope to see Geoff in coming months, further east. It was a pleasant omen and we have now been enjoying the country for almost a month. The side trip out of Vancouver was an adventure in itself. The RV we exchanged the Land Rover for was huge and drank fuel for 3000km but we did see Banff, the Icefield Parkway and Whistler where the Olympics had been gone for only a month. A ferry ride out to Vancouver Island was another highlight and we explored national parks and lakes, seeing a black bear just out of hibernation and feeding on the side of the road casually. Awesome. Victoria is a very sleepy city and we met up with Lisa who I met in Santiago for some local insight. The whale viewing trip we took was well worth writing home about. A 3x250hp Scarab power boat whisked us out into the channels around the island and gave us the chance to view a lone orca close up. There are not many places in the world that this is possible.

We have now had a week off in Vancouver to recover from all the hard work our mothers made us do! From here it is on to the north starting tomorrow and hoping that Alaska will be seeing the first glimpses of summer soon. We can dream!

Until the next commentary......

For those that were worried, we are still on the road and even managed to get ourselves and the Land Rover into the good ole United States of Yankee Land.

I left off in Mexico a few weeks ago and since then, we have crossed another border and have had some mechanical troubles but thanks to good luck once again, we are experiencing new adventures and can now navigate our way electronically to Canada and beyond.

From Oaxaca we headed to Puebla where we found a great place to leave the vehicle whilst we bused it into the biggest city in the world. It took two hours to get from the outskirts to the centre of Mexico City and when we arrived, we were picked up by a good friend Damon. He currently lives and works in the city and was the ideal host for a couple of days and, together with Yasmin, showed us some of what is on offer. It is an immense city but full of sights and history. We were lucky enough to see the pyramids of Teotihuacan which includes one of the largest pyramids in the world, second only to Cheops in Egypt. A night wandering around one of the oldest parts of the city showed us just how many people live in this city. More than 18 million are official inhabitants. Without locals to stay with and guide us, I think we would have bypassed it so a big thanks goes to Damon and Yasmin. Bus back to Puebla and finding not only a Land Rover but also two motorcycles ridden by Pat and Sheonagh meant a night out and more of the very fine mexican cuisine which we have thoroughly enjoyed throughout this country. The beer is good too and of course we had to try a different one whenever we moved to a different region. The favourite being Pacifico for me but many others got rated highly.

Our next move was to a colonial town perched on a hillside called Taxco. We actually got stuck on a cobbled street in the town whilst trying to find a hotel with parking. We could not go up as the street was too slippery with rain, we could also not get around a tight corner as we were too big for the tiny streets but no signs stopped us getting into this position and the local taxi drivers actually pointed the direction for us. Reversing down meant all the other taxis had to reverse first and then turning around was a nightmare which we only just managed. One bitten, twice shy, we settled for a hotel on the main road and went for a local meal. Unfortunately it continued to rain the next day so we planned to move on. A knock on the door brought a short term change of plans, as Pat and Sheonagh had tracked us down and we decided to have breakfast together in the square. What a good idea that was. Bacon.....Mmmmmm. You can't beat it. More walking around in the rain and checking out some local silver, of which there was a lot, left us only just enough time to drive on to our chosen destination for the day so we scarpered, leaving the girls to have an extended adventure in the town without us. Zitacuaro was nothing to write home about but we had to drive a flooded causeway to reach it. This then lead to a road covered in fallen trees which had to be cleared before continuing. We did not realise at the time but this weather had caused widespread devastation and the town we planned to stay in, but did not reach due to the fallen trees, got partially destroyed by a mudslide. We got lucky. Twenty four people in the town did not and so we moved on swiftly. The famous Monarch butterflies can usually be seen in this area but due to the situation, we missed them and left the emergency teams to do what they could.

We headed into San Miguel de Allende which is a tourist town but turned out to be very attractive place. I got a bearing in the engine changed quickly in a friendly workshop before we stayed in a beautiful room which blew the budget a little. The US border was now calling and we chose to make a stop in Zacatecas and then run north. The pair of us however forgot to collect a travel wallet we stashed in the nice room and we found ourself about 350km north without credit cards or local cash. Whoooops! Villa Colonial hostels' owner helped us out and I spent a whole day on buses retrieving the necessary funds which were held by the other hotel owner. Now back together with Kelly, we enjoyed the city of Zacatecas including an awesome silver mine tour called El Eden. Now we ran for it but again, plans went badly wrong when the Land Rover transfer box failed. This was pretty serious as there was no mechanic in the area who had any idea about a manual gearbox so I made a call to get towed to the border. This meant a highly amusing border crossing into the US. Our tow driver could not cross the border so we had one choice. Push! We pushed the poorly Land Rover across the border into the US of A and began the entry process.

The US entry procedure was the most inefficient crossing so far on this trip and that covers 22 countries! It took 5 hours and was not too fun. We made it and then had to worry about the Land Rover. A friendly local pulled us to a motel where we got some sleep before getting a piggy back tow to San Antonio. No planning could have got us back on the road quicker. Marcus, who I met in Santiago, Chile had a contact and set things in motion which had us fully repaired in two days. All we had to do was enjoy his hospitality in his city. We ate and drank and ate some more. It was a fantastic start to a new country and allowed us to forget about the border hassle. Before we left Marcus, he took us out to his ranch for a couple of days and we got to experience Texas living, including a local BBQ. We will have to go back sometime and teach him Australian style!

The Texas roads led us to Big Bend National Park and we were into the cold weather now. From there we stopped to experience the Marfa lights which we saw out in the desert. They are a mysterious occurrence and not visible every night so we got lucky and saw these very strange moving red and white lights dancing around in the desert. Weird but worth getting freezing cold for. Our time frame is a little more rushed than we would like but with a set time to be in Vancouver, we ploughed through New Mexico and into Colorado where we saw lots of snow. The one thing in New Mexico worth mentioning was the Carlsbad Caverns which are an amazing cave system. Visiting this underground labyrinth was fascinating and we were lucky enough to walk through one of the largest underground chambers on earth or under it!

We have just spent the weekend with Witt and Jen who I met in Mozambique (they drove a Land Rover all through Africa back in 2003). They live in Denver which turned out to be a great city to be shown around by locals. It felt like a big town and they took us out to dinner, and breakfast, and of course lunch. We also caught up with Steve and Steve who have just finished their round the world drive (www.theworldbyroad.com) so it was a great social gathering. We are now in Witt and Jen's mountain house and so we cannot thank them enough for looking after us and showing us their home territory.   

From here on out it is towards the west coast with stops for National Parks and other sights before we head north again so until the next extensively long and dull update, enjoy.

We are in Mexico and have done some serious mileage to get here. I left off last time, enjoying Christmas in El Salvador and what a Christmas it was. We had a combined local and traveller group and we all ate until we rolled away from the table. Later there was the customary fireworks fight in the garden (only requirement was everyone wore sun glasses for eye safety!) and we attacked a snowman shaped piñata before trying to beat the little kids to the booty held within. I might add that there were rum bottle tokens in amongst the raining sweets so we had good reason to beat up little children! We all collapsed late that night and slept long and well. The country of El Salvador was such a hidden beauty. The overall thoughts of this once war torn part of Central America are of danger and gangs but using only usual precautions, I loved the place and felt safer here than many other so called safe areas. The locals could not be more friendly and the price of things reflects the lack of American tourists going there so hope it stays this way for a while to come. With a stop in the mountains on our way to Guatemala, the picture for us was complete. A hidden gem.

We have been assessing what we are trying to achieve and have come to the conclusion that with Alaska only being visitable in summer months, we have to get our asses in gear. We spent too long enjoying the sights of South America and now have to do a little foot down. We are still trying to see as much as possible as we go but there is no resting on our laurels for us now. It is Alaska or bust and we are on our way.

For this reason, Guatemala was considered in detail and we chose a few top spots to visit and stay before hotfooting it into Belize. That said, we had an amazing time and squeezed a lot into the little time there. The first highlight was visiting the colonial town of Antiqua. A little touristy for some but we needed an exciting place to see in the new year. We camped for free in the Tourist Police compound which is a stones throw from the centre of the town. Who could ask for more. Cold showers were an option but only used in desperation. The town gives access to the Pacaya volcano where we got to cook marshmallows over the flowing molten lava spewing out the side of the volcano. We stood on rocks hot enough to melt cheap shoes and had a health and safety mans experience of hell!! It was great. The taste of lava cooked marshmallows beats any open fire or BBQ pit. I don't think I will be able to eat the inferior version ever again. Cooking time was about two and a half seconds whilst rotating otherwise the mallow and stick would burst into flames!!! Photos can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=photos&ref=nf&id=630137050 for those that have Facebook access. Others will be on the site when the laptop behaves.

New Year was a great success in the town. We stood shoulder to shoulder with locals waiting for a wild fireworks display to erupt over an arch and clock tower in the centre. From time to time, a crazy man would light a huge pack of fireworks set up on a frame on his head and run around a small space which had opened in the crowd, dancing and spraying the onlookers with flares and sparks. We made our way northwards on the good road and made excellent time towards the ruins of Tikal. We spent the night in a treehouse en route and then headed on with plans to spend my birthday at the ancient Mayan site. For some reason, I got up at 4am and walked into the jungle to see the dawn appear over Tikal. What an experience. The jungle chorus starts as an array of animals wake and start to call. Birds and howler monkeys trying their best to be the solo. As the light spreads across the canopy, manmade feature become visible poking through the foliage. The remainder of the long day was spent exploring these incredible ruins which are in a range of conditions. Some have been restored whilst others remain partly or fully buried by rainforest. Climbing to the top of the higher ones gives a view over the forest canopy that people pay handsomely for and, using ladders and platforms, we were standing on carved stone from thousands of years ago.

Belize and the reefs were our next stop. A trip to Central America would be incomplete without it. First stop was Tobacco Caye which is a tiny island south of Belize City. The island can be crossed in a little over 20 seconds and traversed in under a minute. There are two bars so a pub crawl involves going backwards and forwards between them whilst taking advantage of happy hour and other enticements. Dare I say, the weather was very poor whilst there and so we spent quite a lot of time making sure the local rum distillery was making quality product. We did get to go out for a dive on the nearby reef which was so much better than even I imagined it could be. The coral and fish life was everywhere. The weather prevented any further outings so we made our way back to the mainland where I undertook a few days of essential maintenance at Adventure Trex Land Rover workshop. I got a lot done and can only say thank you to Graham again. Kelly got a workshop haircut from Joyce, Grahams' wife, and we got to stay out the back of the workshop for free which is always a pleasant bonus.

We moved ever more north and now wanted to try for some more diving on the immaculate reefs which entice divers from all over the globe. We made our way out to Caye Caulker where we found a great little place to stay and in between eating fresh BBQ'd lobster and meeting new friends, we managed another awesome diving experience. A whole day out on a boat got us to more amazing reefs. Rays and sharks had no issues with our brief visit to their world. The boat trip was fast and furious. The dive boats run twin 200HP engines and only carry 12 divers so long distances can be cover quickly and easily. We tried for another day but the weather again was against us so a day or two chilling out on the island was an excellent fall back option. It was time we headed for Mexico and officially out of Central America so we jumped on the Northern Highway for the border. Looking for a camping spot part way there, we met a local resort owner and got taken an hour down a rough mud track complete with a hand winched pontoon crossing of a river, to find a very quiet and idyllic spot where we got a half price room. It would have been perfect but for the numerous mosquitoes who must have put out an ad on the airwaves...... Free Australian blood. Get it while it's hot!

The Mexican border formalities were very simple indeed and we are now in this huge country which really needs a complete six month trip on its own. The Yucutan peninsular was the first area to experience. A visit to Tulum ruins and several cenotes were interspersed with camping on the sandy beaches. We did another day of diving but this time not in the Caribbean. Instead we did two cenote dives. A cenote is the entrance to the underground river systems and is usually a collapsed hole through which one can swim, snorkel or dive into a cavern environment and if trained, also a cave system. We did a 38m dive into one of these and passed through a tannin line which turned pure crystal clear water into a brownish murk with hints of rotten egg to go with it. Coming back through the line felt like crawling out of your own grave and walking around the graveyard complete with mist and ghostly trees sticking through. The walls of the cenote allowed us to penetrate into some small caves where we squeezed our cylinder through before emerging back in the main route. When surfacing, a crocodile was relaxing on a float and slid into the water when we disturbed it! The second dive was a real cavern dive. We needed torches all through the 18m experience and went deep into some tunnels which were verging on a cave dive.

After the dives, we met Ryan, a crazy American in a bar. He decided it would be fun to join us for our crossing of the peninsula so jumped on the roof! He ended up being there for 1000km and only jumped off when his plan took him south when we went north. With him around, we visited Merida and bought new tyres for the Land Rover. This was a much needed exercise due to the bald nature of the old tyres. They have taken us through 20 countries and seen some dreadful roads so they did well. The new boots are shiny Pirelli Scorpion Mud tyres and took a whole afternoon to buy and fit due to the price negotiation and then the failure of the credit card system. This was then followed by the rate negotiation for US dollars. Back on the road, we visited another cenote but this was a swimming hole only, inside a small cave. You couldn't build a more enticing grotto and the luxuriously warm water was easy to lose an hour or two in. We got to freecamp for the first time in Mexico and built a campfire to sit around whilst making use of our rum supply from Belize. Another visit to some ruins let us see the ancient city of Palenque which was worth the time and effort. Apparently only ten percent of the entire site has been excavated and is therefore now visible. The remainder is still held within the jungle and may never be revealed again.

We had a tough couple of days drive to Oaxaca where we currently sit and will be visiting Mexico City to meet up with friends over the weekend. The long road to the US and Canada is ahead of us and despite only having two countries remaining on the trip, we still have huge distances to cover so watch this space.   

Wow, it seems like so long since the last epic newsletter to keep you up to date of where we are. I suppose the first thing to say is a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a relaxing break from all those things like work. I am not sure how you do that anymore as the word work seems to have mysteriously been evolved out of my current use of the english language. The idea that Christmas will be anymore relaxing than our current situation next to a beautiful beach in the sun, or even the last place we camped which guess what...... happened to be next to another amazing beach is hard to imagine. Life is tough at the moment!

I have to pick up where I left off which involved us putting the Land Rover in a container in Cartagena, Colombia. The whole process was incredibly painful and considerably more time consuming than most would think possible. The two day process culminated in the container being ready to close only to be told that the Narcotics Police decided they wanted to do another inspection of the vehicle despite having done a thorough inspection earlier. This meant getting the vehicle back out of the container to which I put my foot down and made it very clear that the only place the Land Rover was coming out of the container was on Panama soil. They were not happy and after a good few heated words between about 17 officials who were all very official and good at stamping paperwork, they backed down and we were allowed to seal the box. The stupid thing was the paperwork was not done by the Narco cops because they will not do paperwork to say there are no drugs found in their inspection, in case someone finds drugs in the future and they could be seen as incompetent. I did not find a single competent person who actually knew what their job was, let alone how to do it, at the port complex. Lucky for us, our secret weapon was Manfred. A local German who knows how to grease the wheels and despite the fact he was being challenged at times, we completed everything in time to get home and have a beer.

With the Land Rover now safe and sound, we headed for the airport as they would not let us on the ship due to some silly local rule. (They used to do it until quite recently) The flight up to Panama via Baranquilla was uneventful and we made our way in to find a very chilled out hostel near the centre of Panama City. We now had a few days wait as the ship was delayed (probably due to rain! The port in Colon does not work when it rains. This it does on and off for about 6 months of the year!!!)

The paperwork now needed to be done and interestingly enough, nobody including the helper knew where what needed to be done when, so I think George W B**h could have done a better job. We were told 2-3hours and we would be on the road. 9 hours later and we were off and driving in a new country. Number 14 for this leg. We got to see the city and off course the mighty Panama Canal. What an amazing and interesting history, and very short sighted in the design phases. Only the biggest military vessels of the 1914 era were catered for. Nothing bigger. The vessels which need to do the route are currently about three times the size of a Panamax vessel as they are called. The new locks being constructed at present will allow these to pass but not until 2014. The average cost of a Panamax container vessel going through the canal is US$500,000 which is a good little earner for the country and the reason it is fast becoming a developed city. We were however keen to get out and see some islands to the north so off we trotted and stopped in at an Eco-Hostel in the cloud forest. Walking access only so we had to park up and hike. The time spent in the jungle was slow and left us time to think about what time it was, come to think about it, we didn't even know what day of the week it was! The islands were still calling and so with the Land Rover securely locked, we took a fast boat out to Bocas del Toro where we enjoyed a few days of island lifestyle which turned out to be even more relaxed than the norm for us. Kelly completed another dive course and we both did a night dive together which was awesome. I did a trip out to some of the deserted islands and went dolphin watching. I snorkelled and visited a beach with a fun english and dutch couple and we had a great Indian meal in town before being dragged away to the mainland by the need to press northwards for Christmas. The border into Costa Rica was an old single track railway bridge and with vehicle on it, all the pedestrians clung to the sides so as not to fall into the river below. The country turned out to be really really expensive and so it was decided to go through swiftly as, while the average tourist is willing to spend $25 to have a dip in a thermal pool, we are not! We did try and see the most active volcano on these continents but the mist prevented a view which was a pity as the lava is usually visible running down the side of the cone at night.

We headed on into Nicaragua which for us was a beautiful country full of friendly locals and the chance to sit on a beach for a few days. Here we met George and Connie in their nicely setup Land Rover and talked for long periods of time over beer whilst learning about things we will encounter further north. (www.snailtrails.lu) We exchanged information with Africa knowledge as they are heading along a similar route to my previous efforts. We got to see some more of the northern areas and had a 'Tree Light Turning On' ceremony in a tiny town before working our way to our next border. The night before however, we parked up in the grounds of a museum and with the heavy rain overnight, ended up in a mud bath which we had to try and drive out of. We got really dirty and made a serious mess of the garden we had parked in to camp. Now all we had to do was find a road which turned out to be impossible to locate so we settled for the main border crossing which turned out to be lucky. We met Chris and Elaine who are driving a self built buggy around the world from Australia originally. (www.myspace.com/adventurebug) We talked for a few hours and exchanged details before getting documentation completed and getting into Honduras. It turned out to be easy but in hindsight, has caused a problem. The paperwork which was returned to me did not include the ownership document for the vehicle and with a big pile of papers, I did not check each document. We therefore lost the ownership paper which we discovered on entering El Salvador. The border officials were very friendly and let us in with copies but now we have to try and sort out the problem before we move on to Guatemala. Fingers crossed we can get something in place with minimal fuss.

We are currently shacked up at Hostel El Roble on Playa San Diego to the south of San Salvador. The sun is shining and the ocean is ideal for surfing for those that way inclined. We now have a place to stay for Christmas so hoping you made it this far through, I am wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. You will hear from me again, I can assure you, as we will be heading towards Mexico via Belize as we approach the new year.

Until then, enjoy and think of the hard life we are having over here in Central America!