The End of the World

Its not really, but it is the end of this blog. After another year of tapping away at various keyboards I have decided to put my blogging days behind me. Time to become an international man of mystery... an enigma if you will. So if you want to know whats going on un my little world youll have to email me, stalk me on facebook or look at my photos on flickr and take a guess at whats going on.

Currently Im in South America and loving it so I dont really have time for posting stuff. Especially because Im trying to see a lot of the continent in just a couple of months so my time is very precious and I should be spending it in other ways.

So there it is, the end of another era. Currently the plan is to return to Japan in December briefly before heading to Seoul for January to make some cash. Then hopefully get some work for a couple of months back in Tokyo so me and Eri have some time to get back to normal and possibly make preparations for her relocation to Australia. Its all in the air at the moment but I really hope it works out as planned. I look forward to returning to Aussie shores and settling down for a while to get myself sorted out then on to bigger and better things.

So thanks to everyone who left comments and for the support vaious people have given to continue doing this blog. Hopefully we can actually hang out in person and have actual human contact instead of digital. Now Ill leave it to others to carry the flag. Take care of yourselves... and each other. Respect.

All Me Baby

Anyone for Scuba?/Hasta Luego

For Bennos surfing pleasure we made a stop in El Salvador. Unfortunately Rich was ket out of the waves due to a rib injury. Due to the fact there was nothing else much to do there besides eat delicious seafood we kept it moving into Honduras to enter the world of scuba. Immediately before we even officially entered the border we were taken by the Honduran ladies beauty and friendliness. Our painfully long border crossing was made much less painful by the girls training and working there. For such a small country every day you see a large numbers of pretty girls. A good ratio indeed. Unfortunately there were not so many on the island of Roatan where we did our diving as it is the most touristy spot in Honduras. We had much difficulty deciding which of the two main islands to choose, the cheap and small one Utila which is known as more of a backpacker destination or Roatan the bigger and supposedly better island. In the end we went with Roatan because the diving is meant to be better. Utila would have had more backpackers to hang out with but which was the better choice? We will never know.

The island was pretty quiet due to the low season and recent hurricances. So we managed to score a sweet deal on a kick ass hotel room to relax in after diving. I was very pleased with our diving school and instructor. We had a funny German lady who knew her stuff but wasnt too serious. By the end of the first day we had done our first dive. Its a really weird sensation breathing under water, one that definately takes a bit of time to get used to. Once you become comfortable with it its good fun. Floating around underwater feels a bit like being in zero gravity on the moon. The coral landscapes on this reef were definately just as alien. By the fourth day we weer all pretty comfortable divers and we did a kick ass dive through a deep channel with lots of "swim throughs" and a huge reef swarming with big ass fish like groupers. Good stuff. The nightlife wasnt much to write home about but after a big day of diving in our awesome beds we slept like rocks.

After returning to land we backtracked to a small coastal town called Tela where we parted ways. Rich & Ben heading down further south to Nicaragua and I back north through Guatemala to Mexico city for my flight on October 5th. It was a great 3 weeks or so, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks to the boys for letting me tag along and for all the driving you did. Good luck with the rest of your trips and hopefully we can do it up again in South America somewhere. Respect.

El Salvador/Honduras

Doin it up in G-Mala!

Fate works itself in funny ways. The day Eri flew out of Cancun I replied to an email from Mr B. Walker who walked into my hostel room a few hours later. He had just returned from Cuba with rich and was staying just around the corner in the hotel I checked out of that morning. After realising we had more or less the same plan for the next few weeks and he & Rich had a spare seat in their car we took off the next morning for Central America. We drove south down the Carribean coast and after a night in Chetumal crossed the border into Guatemala.

Not knowing what to expect we were all pleasantly suprised by the awesomeness of the little country. First up we checked out the famuos Tikal ruins early in the morning when the loal wildlife was most active. The howler monkeys were very vocal and a little creepy. Then we made our way to the awesome colonial town of Antigua which has some of the best food Ive had all trip at dirt cheap prices. Needless to say we indulged and frequently used the phrase "do it up" when making decisions. The highlight of our time there was definately climbing the active volcanoe where you can walk to within metres of flowing lava. Naturally it was damn hot.

After a pit stop for one night in lake Atitlan which was a cool spot. We headed on to Xela which is known for its cheap and good Spanish courses. Me & Ben enrolled at a school for five hours a day tuition and homestay with a local family for five days. Unfortunately my teacher was pretty shitty, he was a young dude who had also lived in Japan and just wanted to talk about it, usually in Spanish till I became confused then he would revert to English. He way over estimated my Spanish level and didnt bother teaching me the basics. So I changed teachers for the last two days which was a million times better. Our host family was very nice and the meals were decent but a bit bland. Im not as big a fan of beans as the locals. In our five days we did loads of stuff like salsa, visited hot springs, went to the local fair and on the Friday night we joined in the Independence Day festivities and got pretty loose. All in all Xela was good to us but it was too cold due to its altitude, a far cry from the beaches in Mexico.

Next on the agenda is scuba diving in Honduras via a surfing pit stop in El Salvador.

Yucatan Peninsula/Guatemala

A Great Week

It was with much excitement that I entered Central America to begin the second half of my trip. Not only was I entering a new continent but I was meeting my girlfriend after a 4 month hiatus. After landing in Mexico city I beelined for Cancun following the direct path of Hurricane Dean more or less. To my relief the damage to the Yucatan was minimal, the only threat was of periodic clouds and rain. Needles to say it was great to see Eri again, just 4 months ago we were living together in Tokyo and I was an English teacher, it feels like a different lifetime now. After spending a night in Cancun we left as early as possible for a great week around the Yucatan peninsula. If I can be bothered later Ill write something but for now Ill let these pictures tell the story.

Day One - Playa Del Carmen















Day Two - Dos Ojos















Day Three - Cozumel















Day Four - Tulum















Day Five - Chichen Itza















Day Six - Isla Mujeres















Before arriving in Mexico I was tipping it to be the best week of our lives, I dont know if it lived up to that title but it sure was way up there. We have something special together and I hope that we can continue it in the future but its up to the gods now as my time in Japan is over. So thats it until December when I will briefly return to Tokyo before returning to Sydney for the long term. When I think about whether it is worthwhile having a long distance relationship I like to think of the quote: "life isnt measured by the number of breaths you take but the number of moments that take your breath away." I dont know if it is true but I like the sentiment.