A fortnight of Spanish lessons

After what seemed like forever, what with long flights and long stopovers I arrived in Panama City feeling extremely jetlagged and very tired.  However, I was delighted to see my friend Amy once I got to the hostel and she kept me awake with chatting and planning out trip until 10pm that first night!  I was stil wide awake at 4.30am the next morning as my poor body had no idea what time it should be on!!

We headed straight to Boquete which is heading towards the Costa Rican border and in the mountains of western Panama.  Much cooler than Panama City and surrounded by cloud forest, Boquete proved an idyllic location to spends two weeks.

Views across the mountains above 
Boquete town.

A view of the town from the bridge.

We stayed with a friendly Panamanian family in the small suburb of Los Naranjos, about a 30 minute walk outside of the town. We were extremely well fed by the grandmother and enjoyed chatting and laughing with the daughter and grandson as well.

The family we stayed with in Boquete.

We attended school in the town 5 afternoons each week and were very studious, studying in the cafes in the morning as well as doing more homework at night.  I was lucky enough to end up with private lessons on the first week.  This really helped me to progress and learn a lot.  I can now read and write quite confidently the basic things, but speaking is proving infinitely more difficult.  It takes me a long time to translate what I want to say in my head and then even more time to speak it in Spanish. My aim now is to get more confident at speaking the things that I have learnt over the last two weeks.

Spending the morning studying in one 
of the many cafes.

We made use of the weekend that we had between our two weeks of study with an exhilarating trip along 12 zip lines through the tree canopy of the cloud forest.  I was initially rather terrified, but after the first one, was whizzing along at speed and addingg sound effects as I flew along!  We strolled through country lanes, alongside coffee farms and took in pretty views of the surrounding areas.  The Pipeline trail was a pretty walk and gave us the chance to see the beautiful, brightly coloured Quetzale bird.  Having a guide on the walk proved essential as otherwise we never would have spotted the birds hiding among the high branches in the thick forest.

Getting ready to whizz along the line!

Up close with a coffee bean fruit!

The beautiful Quetzal bird.

Learning some salsa moves at the school 
on Saturday morning.

It has been a really good two weeks in Boquete learning Spanish, experiencing the Panamanian hospitality and exploring the local area.  I'm now back in Panama City and our other friend Jo has just arrived so now the real travel can begin!!  We are heading out to the Caribbean Sea tomorrow to the archipelago called San Blas.

The last parts of New Zealand

This was my third visit to New Zealand and I cannot explain or describe how much I love it there.  It is such a beautiful, diverse country with an amazing amount of things to do.  Needless to say with the planning mentality that I have, I already have the next two visits here in my mind!

Christmas in New Zealand is always odd for me.  When the sun is shining, the sky is a brilliant blue and the temperature is about 28 degrees, it is simply not Christmas!  I had time off from work so I went back to Queenstown and decided to do another 6 day walk.  I enjoyed the others that I had done so much and this particular one had been highly recommended for its diverse scenery and amazing views.  I was not in the slightest disappointed as the walk know as the ‘Grand Traverse’ was by far the most spectacular out of all the walks that I did.  It is a combination of 2 trails – The Greenstone Track and the Routeburn Track.  We were blessed with 6 days of glorious sunshine so the strenuous climbs were rewarded with stunning views across the valleys and out to the Tasman Sea.  The sense of achievement was extremely high, especially the scramble to the top of Conical Hill.

Views down to Lake Howden.

The beautiful Mount Cook Lily.

Views from the top of Conical Hill.

On my return to Queenstown, feeling elated after such an amazing 6 days, I went in search of more adrenaline pumping action in the form of white water rafting and river boarding.  I’m a bit of a white water rafting addict and take every opportunity that arises to do it.  However, I was rather disappointed with the whole thing because the rapids were small and there weren’t actually that many in total. 

Luckily, my spirits were quickly lifted with my first escapade at ‘River Boarding’.  A basic definition of this is that you travel down the river for 7 kms on a boogie board, through rapids classed as grade 2 and 3 (which is the middle as the most you can raft when white water rafting is 5).  It was absolutely fabulous fun and I smiled the whole way down the river, even when I was submerged by a rapid!!  At the end of the 5km of rapids, the guides got the jet ski and whizzed us down the flat 2km of the river to the company ‘shack’.  Before we finished, we took turns on the super fun water slide and equally enjoyable swing.  After initial nerves, I was flying down the slide on my board and skidding into the middle of the river.  The swing proved to be rather more scary and I never quite mastered letting go of the rope and landing properly in the water because I was scared of the freefall.  My landings frequently consisted of a body flop, splat or head plant on the water!!  Certainly nothing graceful!

Rapids approaching, hang on!!

Skidding of the slide into the river!

I enjoyed a lovely few days with my parents and I tagged along as they travelled south down the coast from the top of the South Island. We spent a lovely two days in Wanaka, walking, jet boating and enjoying lovely food. However, the highlight for me was speeding down the luge, racing my mother!!

Going over the hill and mother 
is in the lead!!

Enjoying the views over Queenstown 
from the Skyline Gondola.

After finishing work, I headed up to Bay of Islands for my last few days in this spectacular country.  An area that I had not previously visited, it is at the very top of the north island and renowned for stunning beaches and beautiful bays. 

A day trip to the very tip of the island, Cape Reinga was well worth it to learn a little about the Maori legends and to see the meeting of the Tasman and Pacific oceans.  The tough climb up the pristine sand dunes gave good 360 degree views and was worth all the panting and sore calf muscles!  The pacific ocean lapped along the shores of the extremely long ’90 mile beach’ and delicate cloud formations allowed for some seriously fantastic photos.

Having fun on 90 mile beach.

It was then farewell to one of my favourite places in the world and time to head off to pastures new, meet with friends and carry on this rollercoaster adventure in the previously unexplored area of Central America.

Exciting times lay ahead!!

Walking in New Zealand

As a child we holidayed all over England, Wales and a bit in Scotland.  I vividly remember protesting and refusing to walk whenever my parents suggested it.  It's amazing how life changes and your adult outlook is so different to your child outlook.  I suppose not that amazing really, but it does amaze me!! 


I now LOVE to walk, trek, hike, tramp, whatever you want to call it, I really enjoy it.  There is a real sense of achievement when you have walked a certain number of miles, climbed a mountain or stumbled across something unexpected in a wild and remote place of the world.


Walking in New Zealand is like that.  I picked 3 walks that I wanted to do this time and the first was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on the North Island.  It's famous for being the location for a lot of the Lord of the Rings filming and my last attempt to do the track was scuppered by bad weather.  This time I was blessed with a gloriously clear day.  It's a 19.3km tramp across active volcanic crates.  The landscape is rugged, baron and extremely harsh.  Although the sky was free of rain clouds, the wind was relentless in it's attack on us as we climbed the side of the volcanoes.  At one point my bag nearly took a dive over the edge of the cliff.  Don't worry, I wasn't planning on following it!  Being the adventurous kind of girl that I am I decided to do an extra 3km return walk to the summit of Mount Tongariro.  It was a bit hazardous through snow and remnants of volcanic ash which slipped everytime you took a step but the rewards at the top were worth it.  After an initial cloudy summit, the clouds parted and we were treated to unsurpassed views across all the three volcanoes in the park, the blue lake, the emerald pools and down to the plains below - pretty special it has to be said.  10 minutes was all that could be spent at the top without your fingers turning blue.  I had 5 layers of clothing on as well as a hat, ear covers and gloves!  The wind was worth bearing though and I was elated when we reached the end of the trail 7 hours after we started.

At the start of the walk.

Views from the summit of Mount Tongariro.

The emerald pools - Tongariro Crossing

Second on the walking agenda was the Queen Charlotte Track.  This is a multi day walk on the north of the South Island in the area known as Marlborough.  Again the weather was good to us generally and we only had one afternoon of whipping wind and sideways rain.  This was on day 2 when we happened to walk past a part of the track that was a sheer drop off the cliff.  Needless to say that we all stayed extremely close to the opposite side of the track at that moment!  The walk followed the Queen Charlotte Sound from Ship Cove on the outer sounds to Anakiwa right on the inner sounds.  It was a breathtakingly beautiful walk of about 75km with stunning views of sweeping bays with turquoise water lapping the shore.  The dappled sunlight peeped through the majestic beech forests and made the rain drops glisten on the end of the leaves.  It was light walking through and enchanted forest.  I had decided to splash out and do the walk guided and what a good decision that turned out to be!!  We stayed in 5 star lodges along the way and dined on fresh seafood, heavenly deserts and really scrummy lunches everyday.  It was not a walk to loose weight on!!  I was brave enough to take a dip at the end of the second day and I would describe the water as bracingly refreshing!  Luckily, a hot tub was waiting for us to jump in and warm up.  The whole track proved to be a joy to walk, not too taxing but a bit of up and down to keep the heart going.

Views across Kenepuru Sound - 
Queen Charlotte Track

Queen Charlotte Sound

Views out to one of the bays.

Ready to take a dip in the chilly water.

The final walk was The Milford Track in Fiordland National Park at the bottom left of the South Island.  This is world famous as one of the best multi day walks anywhere in the world so I really felt that it was a must.  once again I went for the luxury option of a guided walk and thoroughly enjoyed the pamering!  Unlike the Queen Charlotte where the majority of our luggage was transported via water taxi everyday and we only needed to carry our day packs, here we had to carry all of our own stuff for the 5 days.  The words 'pack light' had never been more significant!  The actual walk is only really 3 days, covering 33.5 miles from Glade Wharf to Sandfly Point.  The track meanders through forest, along the Clinton River and through the floor of various valleys shadowed by towering mountains.  Once again the lodges were of a good standard and we didn't go hungry!  There were 50 people in our group, but it never felt like that and the majority of the time I walked along on my own with only the sound of birds and waterfalls as company.  It was a magical experience that I shall treasure and never forget.  Day 3 was my favourite day with a decent ascent to the top of McKinnon Pass scattered with wild mountain lilies and then the dramatic waterfalls and moss covered trees of the downward track of the pass.  It felt like I had been transported to a place where fairies and red and white dotted toadstools are found.  (You are all probably thinking that I am mad, but believe me, this place was something else!).

The extremely foggy McKinnon pass.

Strolling along the trail.

The magical fairy forest! - The Milford Track

Sutherland Falls

At Sandfly Point -
33.5 miles completed!

One our arrival at the end of the track at Sandfly Point (a very appropriate name due to the amount of horrible sandflies waiting to bite you) our wonderful guides had a hot drink and biscuit ready to celebrate out achievement.  We then took a ferry to Milford and stayed at Mitre Peak Lodge, looking out to spectacular views of Mitre Peak and the end of Milford Sound.  The rain really came thundering down once we had got to the lodge and water cascaded down the sides of the mountains highlighting fiordland in all it's glory.  Luckily for us, we woke up to clear skies for the boat ride the next day and luck must have been thrown our way as we saw fur seals, fiordland crested penguins and bottle nosed dolphins.  The playful dolphins decided that frolicking in the waves off the bow of the boat was great fun and treated us to a thrilling show.

Mitre Peak - Milford Sound

Taking in the views from the boat.

Dolphins following the bow waves.

Having now done three of the main walks in New Zealand, I have the next two that I want to do lined up already and am just planning ahead (I may well be imagining a chuckle from some people, yes I'm as organised as ever!) as to when I can come back and do them.


I've just returned today from an overnight boat cruise to Doubtful Sound and actually still have this feeling that I am out at sea.  I keep swaying, well, I think I'm swaying anyway!!  The trip was brilliant though and well worth the trauma of staying on a boat overnight.  Actually, I'm exagerating, the only trauma was when the skipper decided to head out into the Tasman Sea (not my favourite place as you will recall from my escapades in Tasmania) and I once again found myself horizontal, admiring the lovely white clouds floating in the clear blue sky!  Doubtful Sound is much larger than Milford, but they have equal beauty.  We had the chance to kayak and swim so I did both.  I was thrilled to spot some more crested penguins which are now my favourite type of penguin as they have the coolest eyebrows!  Gently sailing along the fiord, with mighty grantie cliffs and mountains all around, listening to the bird song and flowing water was another experience that will be stored in my memory of travels forever.  It was nothing less than exceptional.

Kayaking on Doubtful Sound

Sunset over Doubtful Sound

Fjordland Crested Penguins

I'm off tomorrow to begin a job looking after one little 11 month old girl for 12 weeks.  It will be a bit of pocket money for the last part of this amazing adventure that I'm having.  However, this means no more posts for a little while as I'll be stationary and will have nothing exciting to write about!

Beautiful Tasmania

Tasmania had always been on my list to visit but I'd never made it down there in my previous visits to Australia. This time round my reason for going was not only tourism but catching up with a friend as well.

The little island proved to be packed with heaps of things to see, amazingly diverse landscapes and cute wildlife. I spent the first week in and around Hobart. I climbed the 1972m to the top of Mount Wellington which was a lovely walk and the climb rewarded me with spectacular views over the city and surrounding areas. A rather choppy boat ride allowed the exploration of Bruny Island where fur seals hang out on the rocks and dramatic cliffs tower over the mighty seas. The journey proved a little too rough for me and even after 8 travel pills and sea bands in position on my wrists I still felt sick and had to spend the majority of the journey horizontal on the chairs at the back of the boat! A lesson learned that day...avoid boat trips that venture into the sea.

Exploring the Sunday markets.

Enjoying a delicious pie for lunch!

Enjoying the views at the top of 
Mount Wellington, Hobart

Bev took a day off work and we went exploring the historical sight of Port Arthur where the English sent all the convicts to in the 1800's. It was a beautiful place set on the water with old buildings steeped in history. You could have spent hours loosing yourself in the stories of the people who had spent time there and imagining what life would have been like for them. I also determioned to see a Tasmanian Devil while I was in Tassie so we did a quick stop at a wildlife park. I got to feed the greedy kangaroos and see some cute baby devils. The older devils are not as cute but there is still something rather nice about them. We camped overnight at the beach at Fortescue Bay, kept warm with a roaring campfire and slept soundly in the back of the camper van. It was lots of fun!

Bev and I at Port Arthur

Feeding the kangaroos at the wildlife park.

'All that running around has worn us out!" 
- Tasmanian Devils

The second week was filled with a 5 day tour of the island with a company called Jump Tours. Andrew was a local Tasmanian who led our small group of 4 on a fantastic tour of the island from west to east. Travelling round the place you realise just how diverse it is. In 5 days I saw the most pristine and beautiful beaches I've ever seen, walked in dense rain forests, jumped on 40 metre high sand dunes, imagined viewing the stunning Cradle Mountain (it was so misty and foggy the day we were there you could hardly see 5 metres ahead of you!) and travelled through farmland, vineyards, bush and along wild and rugged coastlines. Tasmania really has it all and with a population of only 510,000 nowhere feels crowded.

Jumping on Henty dunes.

Picnicing by the beautiful beach.

The spectacular Wine Glass Bay.

The jump team and our transport!

Venturing into the chilly sea at Bay of Fires

I'm so glad that I got to see Tasmania (in pretty good weather!) and catch up with a friend at the same time. I'm now in New Zealand and enjoying remembering things from my previous visits. It's nice when somewhere is a little familiar and you recognise things.

Animal Encounters

Turtle Island proved to be an idyllic paradise with white sandy beaches, waves gently lapping the shore and palm trees majestically hanging over the beach to provid some much needed shade.  A one hour speed boat ride brought us to the island and as soon as we got off, Joanna (the group leader) made the delightful observation that my legs were the same colour as the sand!  I really appreciated her pointing that out!!

Turtle Island.

The island is one of a group of three that is protected and managed by the Sabah Parks organisation.  It's really well set up with beautiful accommodation and an excellent program of viewing the turtles.  Only a certain number of people are allowed on the island each day so it's not over crowded.  The day we were there, there was only 50, so a good number.

After we arrived was had a wander around the island, I read my book on the beach and some people opted for a swim.  I ventured into the water in the afternoon, although had decided against snorkelling as they would only allow you to swim in a ropped off section of the bay and it was quite shallow.  The water was really warm and you could spot some little fish swimming around. 

The nursery where they bury all the eggs
that are collected in the night.

On the beach at Turtle Island

The main highlight of the visit happened after dinner.  We had viewed the extremely interesting video and wandered around the exhibition and were playing cards when we heard a very urgent call from the park ranger........'turtle time, turtle time!'.  Everyone quickly put their shoes on and followed along, quietly and quickly, with only torch light leading the way.

When we got to the beach there was a mother turtle sitting in a hole that she had dug laying her eggs.  We were allowed to take photos, without using the flash and managed to see everything.  She layed 88 eggs all in one go!!  They look like smooth golf balls and the shell is different to a chicken egg in that it is softer and plyable.  The eggs were collected by a ranger ready for transporting to the hatchery.  We went there next.  They have a huge amount of turtle nests in the hatchery and protect them with green mesh cylinders so that preditors don't eat the eggs.  They put all 88 eggs in one hole, covered it up and labelled it with the date and number of eggs.

The mother turtle who had just laid her eggs.

The eggs that were collected.

The final part of the experience was to witness the release of the baby turtles into the sea.  Earlier in the day in one of the mesh cylinders, turtles had appeared from the sand and tried their best to clamber out.  They had all of them in a red shopping basket and tipped it over.  It was like a frenzy of flapping flippers and a race to see who could get to the sea the quickest.  When they reached the edge, they got sent back on the waves, but manage to continue their quest and all but one of the turtles were victorious in their journey to the ocean.  One went completely the wrong way and ended up by the steps up to the dining hall!!  He was rescued by a ranger and put back by the waves to scramble in.

The babies ready to be released.

The mad dash to the sea.

I think that is was truly a privilege to witness such a special event in nature.  The turtles eggs that we saw being laid won't hatch for about 60 days.  On the night that I was there, they released over 1000 baby turtles.  Sadly only a handful will survive which is why they have the program to try and increase the numbers.

After that amazing animal encounter, more was one the cards!!  We headed back to the main land and went straight to the Sepilok orang-utan centre to see the 'man of the forest' as they are known in Sabah.  I'd been keen to see them and wasn't disappointed.  They have feeding platforms in the forest and put out fruit and milk in the morning and afternoon.  They orang-utans came, in a very leisurely fashion, swinging through the trees and along the wires to reach the platfrom.  We were treated to a mother and he baby, as well as a juvenile and older male.  The most entertaining bit was watching them on the wires.  They have amazing flexibility in their joints and pose in the most beculiar positions! 

A cheeky orang-utan hanging out on the wire.

Mum and baby on the
feeding platform.

Once feeding time was over, we jumped in our taxi and headed to the proboscis monkey sanctuary, about 30 minutes away.  These are very odd looking monkeys with very long, flappy noses.  Joanna said that they were her favourite and she called them the 'sexy fat bellied monkeys with the spicy red chilly'!!  In some ways, they were more entertaining than the orang-utans as there were so many of them, not only on the ground at the feeding platforms, but in the trees surrounding them as well.  We watched for a while, seeing the young monkeys frolic about and the dominant males looking serious, surveying their group.

At the Proboscis Monkey sanctuary

The proboscis monkeys at the feeding platform.

We returned to the orang-utan centre for afternoon feeding, but only 2 came along.  They were extremely cute though as it was a young male and an old male together.  They looked like they were silently discussing the ways of the world!


I have to just share with you that it is really funny the things that you get excited about when you travel.  After everything that I have seen, all the mountains, people, places and animals, this week I got excited by my shower in the final hotel in Borneo!!  Yes, I hear you thinking I'm crazy, but I was excited by the shower.  Showers in Asia are usually all open and get everything in the bathroom wet, or are alternatively a bucket full of water that you use a plastic type sauce pan to pour the water over you.  There is no cubicle, curtain or anything to stop the water going everywhere.  However, in the B and B in Sepilok, the shower had a CUBICLE!!  I was so happy to have a dry toilet!

I have absolutely LOVED Borneo and cannot recommend enough that if you have the chance to visit GO!!  There is so much to see, the people are so lovely and friendly (I know that I have said that a lot, but it's true!) and the food is good.  Visit, visit, visit!! 

I'm now is Tasmania and catching up with a wonderful friend who I haven't seen for 4 years.  I'm staying with her this week, before heading off on a little tour of the island for 5 days next week.  It's lovely to be in one place for a while, have my own room to unpack a little and not have to worry about packing up every few days.  Bliss really, well for a while anyway!