The first few months of 2016 consisted of numerous sporting events such as gaelic, volleyball and my first ever touch rugby games..
Days on the Rock..
Category: Travel
New Year’s = new country.!
It was New Year’s eve and I was driving home with an off feeling – I really wanted to get off island. Next thing I know, my mate from Bahamas messaged and told me to get over ASAP.. Next thing I know I was racing home, threw some clothes into a bag and raced to the airport. At the counter I had three minutes to book before the counter closed. I booked.
My first Caribbean Silly Season..
November meant the start of conching season!! This was so much fun.. We took a few kayaks and swum around out the front of my mates parents place where we went freediving down to pick up the conch we spotted.
An extended stopover to explore Dubai…
I had an overnight flight from Adelaide directly to Dubai which meant I arrived in the very early hours of the morning. A full day ahead of checking out this new city..
A quick trip home..
I had only been away for just over a year but I was lucky enough to fit in a trip home to visit the family.
Continuing on with my Island Days..
Back on the island it was the cruisy lifestyle once again with an afternoon on Sandy Cay, a little island where my friends had built a shelter, making the most of the little surf there was.
Prancing around in Panama..
Boom – myself, my housemate, Lou, and another friend of ours, Dave, managed to land ourselves seats on the last direct flight to and from Panama City with Cayman Airways for the July long weekend.
It was a late afternoon flight on the Thursday to Panama City where we were to spend the first night. Out for some food and then a chilled night ready for a super early start to catch a short one-hour internal flight to Bocas del Toro (translates to “Mouths of the Bull”).
Getting Jammy in Jamaica..
The month of June also included my Dad’s first visit to the Cayman Islands. The day after getting back from New York actually.
Within the first few days he completed his open-water dive certification and then we were off to Kingston in Jamaica for the weekend for the Australia cricket test series. Little did I know that a massive group of Aussie boys from Cayman were also there in a big group and being the island that Cayman is, I knew quite a few of them..
Exploring the Concrete Jungle..
My first trip to New York was with my housemate to go to Governor’s Ball Music Festival – what better reason to make a trip to New York than for a three-day music festival?!
As soon as we landed it was straight for a massive slice of pizza – yum! With our bellies full, we crashed out at our hostel in Brooklyn ready for our big day the next day full of exploring.
Island days..
My island days were spent diving the hundreds of incredible dive locations and numerous boat parties to Stingray City and Starfish Point. There were certainly no complaints from me.
A Cuban celebration..
We accidently had a rather large night out the night before our flight to Havana so were feeling pretty rough by the time we arrived. Dropped our bags at our Casa Particular (Casa Marta y Ramon) and went to the meeting place for our guided tour of the city in a red 1955 Cadillac Eldorado. Our tour guide was great and explained everything as we drove and pointed out the highlights of the old school city.
The Caribbean island I now get to call home..
My first day was spent driving around pretty much the whole island – I drove all the way to Rum Point stopping occasionally along the way and then back through the island to West Bay before meeting my mate and heading out for a few drinks at Rackams.
First impressions of the island were allgood so far – well what could be so bad about living on an island in the Caribbean?! Tropical heat and sunshine all year round?! Yes please!
Continue reading “The Caribbean island I now get to call home..”
Third time lucky in Guatemala..
My third time in Guatemala to finish off the sights I had yet to explore..
My first day in Antigua, Guatemala, I went on an organised tour which visited various places such as where the chicken busses get done up, coffin maker and a school which was run by a NGO. Afterwards I explored the streets of Antigua and came across the impressive Santa Dominica and walked through the massive markets.. Antigua was cold.
Road tripping through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador..
Our first stop was Haultco and eventually we found a place to stay that could fit all six of us in the same room – now this was definitely different to what we had just spent the last couple of weeks in. There were two double beds and they bought in another mattress, which pretty much took up the entire floor space. We also had to lug all our belongings into the room as there was no way we were leaving anything in the car, especially with easy access through the back window (and half the doors not locking)..
Continue reading “Road tripping through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador..”
The Mexican adventures continue…
Our adventures started off heading to a place roughly an hour (on public busses) North of Puerto Escondido to the beachside village of Roca Blanca.
Exploring the Pacific Coast of Mexico..
We were finally in some warm weather!! We spent the next couple of days wandering along the beach and exploring the town. We went on a horse ride to the Atononitco Hot Springs which was incredible. We rode for about 1.5 hours, crossing the river numerous times and eventually hopping off the horses and relaxing in the hot springs. It was another 1.5 hour ride back to where we started and this time we had full control of the pace and off we went! Such a great morning.
That time my plans changed and I went to Guatemala and Mexico..
After three, sun-filled, days of sailing from Utila (Honduras) to Rio Dulce (Guatemala) on the catamaran, we spent a day at the hot springs of Finca Pariso. Now this was a cool place for a day trip. Captain Guy, from our sailing adventure, took us there and we explored the falls, covering ourselves with mud and swimming through the caves under the waterfalls. Bliss.
Continue reading “That time my plans changed and I went to Guatemala and Mexico..”
The island paradise of Utila in Honduras..
After a bus trip from San Pedro Sula airport and an overnight stop off in La Ceiba, I was on the ferry to the island of Utila off the east coast of Honduras.
A friend of mine, Aaron, met me at the ferry and, as he had already done the task of sussing out all the dive shops for the best deals, took me to Utila Dive Center to sign up for an open water course starting later that afternoon!
I completed my open water, meeting some great people, and moved into an apartment just off the main road which meant cheap rent and homemade meals. I was settling in.
Continue reading “The island paradise of Utila in Honduras..”
Aloha Hawaii for an extended stopover..
Wow was I disoriented once I arrived in Honolulu! It confused me (and still does) that I left at 1800 on Wednesday eve in Australia and arrived in Hawaii at 0745 Wednesday morning.. A massive 20 hours time difference.!
Now I have to admit (and yes I know this sounds dumb as) but it didn’t click that Hawaii was actually part of the States until I got there and was surrounded by the thick American accent.!
I spent that first day strolling up and down the foreshore and laying down in the shade for a little nap – I got burnt. Waikiki Beach was stunning but full of tourists as you could imagine.
Hoo roo Australia..
For my last week in Australia I flew up to the Gold Coast to catch up with a good friend of mine, Sam, who I have grown up with over the years.
Of course, while I was on the Gold Coast it was some of the worst weather they have had with huge downpours of rain and winds to go with.
This didn’t stop Sam and I going to a football match at Metricon Stadium between the Gold Coast Suns and Port Adelaide. It was such a close game which Port ended up winning. Cool way to spend an afternoon though.
