The many layers of Malta
When my father’s family migrated to Australia from Scotland in 1927, their ship stopped in Malta. He kept a couple of old photos in his photo tin that always fascinated me. It looked so beautiful […]
adventure
First steps on the old silk road
It was an adventurer called Zhang Qian, between 100-200 BC, who is said to have started off the old silk road trade route, from China to the west. He keeps appearing in lots of different […]
From culture shock to panda bears
Arriving in China felt like we’d landed on an entirely different planet. One where we didn’t know the customs, how things worked or how to behave, where we couldn’t even communicate or manage the basics […]
Into the wilds of Nam Ha
Even though we paid more than double the going price for tickets on the one-whole-seat-per-person fancy van, somehow we still ended up sitting in the aisle on the public bus to Oudomxay in northern Laos. […]
Last Stop, Quito
Quito is the turn-around point for us, in this particular South American adventure. From here it’s back to Santiago (Chile), then back to Easter Island, then Tahiti and then home (via Auckland) to Australia. Quito, […]
Galapagos – The Enchanted Isles
The Galápagos Islands are most famous for the role they played in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. I was quite surprised to learn that he was only ashore here for less than a month. He […]
In Search of Sarayaku
We decided to have just one more jungle adventure before leaving the Amazon. JH had his heart set on finding Sarayaku (Sarayacu), an indigenous community somewhere in the Amazon in Ecuador. We were inspired by […]
Adventures in the Amazon
We flew into Iquitos because it’s the only way to get there. Flying over the Andes was pretty awesome. Iquitos is the entry to the Peruvian Amazon, a city not connected by road to the […]
Lake Titicaca and the Sacred Inca Valley
Lake Titicaca is as magical as it sounds, perched up high in the Andes like a beautiful calm freshwater inland sea. It was sacred to the Incas as the birthplace of the world. It’s pretty […]
Coroico in the Clouds
The old road from La Paz to Coroico used to be THE actual worst road in the world, also known as the ‘death road’. It’s still used for cycling thrill seekers, although a number of […]
