Greek Island hoping - sun, stones, smiles

Ahoy my potentially pasty readers, this is your tanned captain writing. After a wet (rain) departure from Split, we were glad to hit the heat of Greece. Our first stop was Greece's turbulent capital Athens. We managed to time our stay well with taxis and other transport options striking. Luckily we were only in town for a short while and managed to check out the Acropolis, city centre and a few other random ancient monuments (as you do). From here we jumped a ferry and began our island hopping with a stay in pumpin' Mykonos.

We based ourselves right in the middle of the craziness of the nightclubs at Paradise Beach. Every night there was a top-notch DJ spinning the decks. Unfortunately our Greek dealer was also on strike with his taxi buddies, so we didn't party TOO hard while we were there.

All jokes aside, we did spend most of our time hitting the beach and enjoying the sunshine. We also hired the World's weakest quad bike and explored Mykonos town and a few more secluded and quieter beaches. Island highlights included my four gyros in a day gorge and feeling the wind on my scalp as we prayed our 50CC quad would make it up the hill.

Our next hop was over to the amazing Santorini and another week of relaxation, sun and smiles. We stayed out near Parissa Beach and its scorching hot black sand. During a day trip we got to explore a few of the surrounding small islands, semi active volcano, before watching the breathtaking sunset from Oia (northern tip of Santorini).

Highlight of the day, besides the beautiful sunset, was the interesting donkey ride up the steep cliffs surrounding the island. Edwina enjoyed it so much she had two!

After picking up some fellow Aussie travellers we quickly formed a bad arse quad bike gang to terrorise locals and tourists alike. We had learnt from our first attempt and upgraded to the 220CC bike and tore the island apart! During the day our crew of Brad, Tara, Mel, Edwina and I beach jumped along the island checking out the Red beach and Kamari before cruising into Fira town for dinner.

The next day Brad and I hit up a scuba dive in a near by reef before spending the afternoon napping under umbrellas at the beach. We so bad arse.

It was sad to say goodbye to Santorini and our new pals, but there was no time to wait before we next hopped on over to our final island Rhodes. We were only staying for a short time so we quickly explored the old town, with traditional castle walls, and walked along the waterfront. The island definitely had a very different feel than both Mykonos and Santorini but made for an enjoyable stay.

From here we jumped a short ferry to our next country the delicious, well based and stuffed Turkey!

Ahoy - Sailing Croatia

Ahoy merry readers and welcome to the first of our nautical themed updates. After wrapping up in beautiful Budapest, it was time to once again work on our "brown bear tan" and hit the sand (or pebbles in the case of Europe).

Traveling on what can only be described as a relic from communist eras past, we arrived in Croatia's capital Zagreb. Often missed by travellers making a bee-line to the coast, we decided to spend a few nights to explore the city. Overall a pretty nice city with a lovely main square but nothing to really get the travellers pulse pumping. 

From here we boarded a more comfortable train and headed for the coastal city of Split. With pirate hat packed the next day we took off on the adventure that would be forever known as, Pogled: the little boat that could - The Sail Croatia story.

After eventually finding our little boat Pogled we set sail for our first port, Hvar. A few of us took a little while to find our sea legs, but did arrive safe the first night without any men (or women) over board. In Hvar we had a quick swim before hitting up some dinner and drinks before bar hopping the night away. It was with heavy hearts later that night when we had to board our little dingy instead of the multi-million dollar super yachts parked beside us. Cruel. 

The days were spent lounging on deck chatting with the crew and catching the rays. At night we would stop at different ports and have some time to check out the different islands.

We took off in the morning for our next stop Trstenik…. but we ended up spending most of the day at the petrol station! Woo petrol party! Our little boat was having a tough day so we got to take in the beautiful sites surrounding the petrol pump, stock up on snack food and practice our boat diving. Eventually we did get back under way and make it to port. 

The following day was definitely a highlight as we sailed into Dubrovnik and had the afternoon free to explore. After checking out the amazing old town, we sweated up a storm and walked the few kilometres of city walls which surround the entire old town. The views were unbelievable!! We finished off with a quick dip in the ocean as we watched the crazies cliff dive. 

After a quick spruce up back at the boat, the whole boat crew got together and hit the old town and tore it apart. Many buckets of booze and late night hot chips were consumed. There was also matching t-shirts and a sneaky floor/vomit straw sipping. My rock paper scissor skills came in handy to avoiding losing that bet and drinking!

The next day we travelled to the smaller island of Mljet for some more relaxing. We decided on a slightly "quiet one" and enjoyed Chefs amazing cooking skills for dinner. Still amazing how that man managed to cook anything in a kitchen the size of a cupboard. He also managed to be a deck hand, DJ, bar tender and first aid medic. What can't he do?!

Anywho's, the next day our crazy captain avoided all sensible advice and pushed our little boat through some crazy arse waves while the bigger better boats stayed in port. Poor Edwina spent more than a few hours hugging the toilet bowl and praying for calm waters. I believe at one stage she may of been hit on the head by the toilet seat… poor thing. I fared better but did remain stuck up on top deck of the boat by myself, chilling out and rolling around on the floor to avoid flying overboard. BUT WE MADE IT!!! There were high fives… tears… champaign. Well okay not really, but we were all very much glad to get there in one piece.  

After arriving at the birthplace of Marco Polo (Yep… as in the awesome pool game and some explorer dude), we swam and explored their old town (Everywhere in Europe seems to have an "old town").  We had another lovely family dinner before we went back to the boat for a few sneaky pre drinks. This ended up in an epic few games of Kings with people drinking out of shoes on top of a garbage bin and drinking jager shots filtered through used underwear. Keeping it classy! 

I then got dragged into a quick 5 minute game of "7,11, doubles", the most potent drinking game ever, before we all hit the town. Somehow we all made it  to the local pubs and the night disintegrated into a one litre cocktail blur. At one stage I convinced the bar tender that we had an arrangement if I returned my giant cup, I'd get a shot. He agreed. It was a bad decision on my behalf. Fail. Good times were had though! Unfortunately a few of the crew suffered some party injuries, but thankfully we all managed to be on board to leave the next morning. What troopers!

The final and one of the most beautiful islands we "hopped" to was Makarska. Highlight of this place was definitely the footpath drinking games (once again keeping it classy) and the Deep nightclub, which is INSIDE A CAVE!! Right on the waterfront, it offers beautiful views and other cave-like scenery. Was definitely something different and a lot of fun. 

We then finally returned to Split where we had to say goodbye to our new friends. Super sad face. We managed to squeeze in one final family dinner before we all had to go our separate ways. Lots of good eggs on that boat, which really made all the difference. 

We may not of had the best looking boat, but the people on board definitely made the difference… and by that I mean we were all ridiculously good looking. It didn't hurt that we had the 1st runner up of Ms Croatia 2011 on board. Unfortunately for the single fellas she was the captains girlfriend!

Anywho's Edwina and I had a few more days in Split to explore before we flew out to our next nautical adventure, the Greek Islands! I'll get working on the next blog, and my tan, right away. 

The wild East - Czech Republic and Budapest

Howdy partners and welcome to the first update from our wild Eastern Euro adventures. Due to some shortfalls in internet supply, this update is a little late but nevertheless awesome. We left you last time with us departing from the mind blowing Amsterdam heading to one of Europe's gems, Prague.

Although Edwina had previously been, Prague remained a trip must-do. The gothic architecture and pumping nightlife makes for huge draw cards. We had a few days to enjoy the city and based ourselves near the Old Town. We ended up taking a few local tours and this gave us great in sight into the amazing history of the city. I was particularly interested in the recent communist regime and how this shaped the not so friendly demeanour of the locals that has made them the long-standing uncontested winner of the World Worst Customer Service Award. To summarise how many changes the city has gone through, our guide told us a story about her grandmother. She was over 80 years old and has lived in eight different countries. Ironically, she still lives in the same house she was born in, the country has just changed that many times and been under both Nazi and Communist rule. Very interesting stuff.

From here we followed a friends hot tip and travelled south to the small town of Chesky Krumlov. This cute town is something out of a fairy tail with a Castle surrounded by a beautiful winding river. This river would be the setting for one of our coolest activities in the Czech Republic - rafting pub crawl!

Our hostel hooked us up with three rafts full of like-minded young people, drove us out of town and wished us luck. What followed was about 7 hours of relaxing, fun-filled, riverside bar-hoping adventures. We finished up sailing into the centre of town, taking on the last of a few man made "shoot rapids", and disembarked. Awesome time complete.

From Chesky we had to double back up to Prague to make our way to our next destination, Budapest. Again this former communist city proves to be amazingly intriguing, fascinating, shocking and amazing. The city which is split into both the Buda and the Pest sides, turned out to be a Euro-trip favourite! (so far way too many favourites)  We spent our days busily checked out the historical Buda, complete with amazing views over the rest of the city, and the pumping Pest. Highlights included the Terror Museum, housed in the infamous torture headquarters of both the Nazi and Communist parties, the beautiful turkish style baths and the pumping nighlife. Again the shocking recent history of the city made for a fascinating visit. The city is still very much recovering from the strangle hold of the former Iron Curtain. After World War Two, many Hungarians went on to be further punished by the new Communist leaders. The wounds are still fresh with the last Hungarian person transferred to the Russian Gulags (forced labour camps) returning in 2000. This mix of beauty and tragedy gives the city an amazing feel.

To balance all this serious thought provoking business, we also partied hard with our hostel buddies and even managed to bust out a little karaoke! Before you even ask... of course I did my famous song, "I don't wanna miss a thing" - Aerosmith. Lets just say... it is now a truly international hit!

We departed Budapest with a heavy heart after declining countless requests to take my karaoke act on a national tour. It was time to get our "brown bear" on (our tan) and sail the seven seas in Croatia. No fear, our next QDU update is just around the corner.

Euro trip stage one - Tour de France and Amsterdam

As the saying goes, time really does fly when you are having fun. Our arrival in Nice signalled the beginning of our final stage of our World concurring exploration, and possibly our biggest adventure to-date, Euro trip 2011!

I left you last time with the sweet image of me living it up on the French Rivera, cruel I know. We spent our first few days in sunny Nice where we also celebrated my 24th Birthday. We spent my birthday eve hitting the town which resulted in us spending a very relaxing birthday in bed, followed by a lovely French dinner. We tried to catch some rays, but unfortunately pebble beaches are as comfortable as they sound.

From Nice we headed north to one of France's biggest cities, Lyon. It was in Lyon that we tried our hand at Couch Surfing for the first time on the trip. Edwina had previously "surfed" last time she was in Europe, so we thought we would give it a shot. We stayed with a lovely young French couple with a super awesome cat who kept us company. Lyon was a lovely city with the highlight being the awesome park complete with free zoo! (including a bear - just for you Scrim)

From Lyon we continued our Tour de France and travelled to Bourne the capital of wine country! Those that know me realise my experience with wine is limited to a bladder and a clothes line. However, Edwina and I definitely got into the spirit and did a few tasting in and around the town. On our second day we hired bikes and rode out of town and visited a few surrounding villages and local wine makers. The scenery was amazing and the tastings made the ride home easier.

We continued our French culinary crusade from wine country to mustard country - Dijon. We again chose to couch surf and stayed with another lovely couple Toni and Lea, who was a chef! Toni was on holidays so he played the perfect tour guide. We even got to attend a wine/ food appreciation event at Lea's restaurant - oh so French.  We hung out with their friends and were able to experience a local's view of the city. I know it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but our experiences with couch surfing so far have definitely inspired me to do more!

After farewelling our new friends it was time to hit up the big smoke, the city of love and lights - Paris! This was my first time visiting (Edwina's second), but unfortunately we got off to a bit of a rough start. On arriving at the accommodation we'd booked, and confirmed, we were told there wasn't any beds left! Gah! Of course finding alternative accommodation in Paris at 9pm on a Saturday night is very easy...  not. We did manage to strike it lucky and Edwina convinced a hotel to give us their "Penthouse suite" for less than half price. Score!

After the rough start, Paris really had to earn our love back. The following days we got our super tourist on and smashed through all the sites including the Eiffel Tower, Louve, Notre Dame, Catecombes, Pompidou Centre, Champs Elysees (it is a busy street - thank you Art Vs Science) and Galleries Lafayette. With the long summer days we also had plenty of time to just wonder the streets and enjoy the Parisian way of life. Many of the nicest moments were spent enjoying a drink or French meal and watching the people walk by. These moments were definitely more enjoyable than the hours spent lining up for almost all the attractions, the price we pay for a European summer holiday.

Our next destination was Amsterdam and a rendezvous with some friends from home Sammy "Messy Vessy" and Rachel "Little G".  It was really good to have some familiar faces around and to swap travel tales. Amsterdam is definitely all that you've imagined and probably a little bit more. My poor innocent eyes were constantly set to "WOW". Good times were had - AmsterDamage. Enough said. PG highlights included the Heineken brewery tour, Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank house.

So unfortunately that brings to end the first stage of our EuroTrip adventure. Before you ask about the name, we have not been able to catch any of the Tour de France live. I can't express the hurt this causes me but you simply can't do it all! At least this way it gives us another good reason to come back one day. Stay tuned for our next adventure in the wild East of Europe!

USA - The Final Way.

After hitting the road again, we high-tailed it back to Seattle to jet on over to the windy city - Chicago. I think we both had high expectations as Chicago is world renown for its architecture, which i guess is Edwina's thing... and also pizza, which happens to be one of my things!

Chicago really didn't disappoint as we had more than enough time to settle in and explore the city as we were staying right in the middle in an area known as "the loop" (train line style). One of the highlights, not just in Chicago... or on the trip... BUT IN MY LIFE, had to be the architectural Segway tour. Yes people... a segway! Do yourself a favour and go out.. find one, hire one, steal one, I don't care how you get it just ride it! It was super fun and an amazing way to check out a city without using your legs like a weak human. I have no idea how these things aren't everywhere (although I have seen many police forces in the states and even Europe using them...)

Anyways, we also managed to squeeze in some famous Chicago deep dish style pizza at Uno Pizza (thanks for the hot tip Claire!) which is apparently where the style began. These things are huge and delicious. We also spent some time check out Millenium park which contains heaps of amazing art and sculptures, including the famous "bean" and "faces of chicago" (two huge walls in a water park that project faces of over 150 people of Chicago. Random but awesome). We also checked out the view from the top of the Sears tower and the John Hancock building, and spent some time on the pier.

From Chicago we made the cross country leap all the way to the nation's capital, Washington DC. We only had two full days to explore so iwe pounded the pavement. The town is jam packed with museums so it was hard to pick our battles. For once, I won and we got to go to the Spy Museum and live out my dreams of being Agent Spence... James Spence. Next stop after a friend's recommendation was the Newseum. Hands down - Best museum ever! The little journalist inside of me went wild with all the amazing exhibitions including; National Geo's Photo's of the Year, 9/11, Katerina, Media around the world, Sports and countless others. This place was so big and amazing we had to come back the next day to see more! Once all the museums shut-up-shop, we hit the "Mall" and checked out all the monuments, Capital, Library of Congress and White House. Those American's sure know how to build a grand structure.

At night we got to squeeze in some live music and check out one of Edwina's faves - Friendly Fires. Flashbacks to Splendour 09 in-sued, the weekend we met. sigh.  *cue corny music*. Luck would have it Edwina's friend Jolly was also in DC at the time so we got to catch up for an old fashioned Ethiopian dinner and drinks. As always, lovely to catch up with a friendly face in a foreign land.

Our next destination was one I had been dreaming about since I was old enough to stay up and watch Carrie and the Girls... NEW YORK CITY. Okay... maybe that wasn't the reason, but I was tots defs pumped for the NYC. We started our trip in the much underrated, although now super hip, Brooklyn. We were very lucky to meet an awesome couple from Brooklyn on our Inca Trail trip who were silly enough to offer us a place to stay if we were ever in town. Unlucky for them, I have an amazing memory and little shame, so pounced on that offer like a spider monkey. Vanessa and Johnny were AMAZING hosts and managed to squeeze so much into our short stay with them. After our time in Vancouver, it was lovely again to have a nice home to relax in. We checked out the super hip Williamsburg (where we couldn't move without knocking over a dozen hipsters on fixie bikes),  corny Coney Island, beautiful Prospect Park and amazing Brownstone buildings. Hands down there were two highlights. #1 our first celeb spotting - Anne Hathaway and more importantly #2 Johnny and I finishing our first eating challenge! It was suprisingly easy, well for Johnny at least, and we both earned our photo on the wall of fame (check out Facebook for photo montage of events.. its awesome). It was sad to leave the lovely "Remington nest" and I hope our paths cross again soon.

It was time to plunge deep into the heart of NYC, Manhattan. We set up shop if the fabulously hip and combustibly gay hub of the Meatpacking district. Named after all the former abattoirs, not the current residents. Our hotel was appropriately "nautical themed" which was code for tiny but nice. Anywho's, it was a fantastic location for us to start exploring the most famous city in the world. We started local and checked out the Meatpacking and surrounding areas. Whilst wondering around a night we had our celeb spot #2.... non other than ANNE HATHAWAY. Yes... again. By this stage I'm pretty sure she's taken a liking to me and has begun stalking me. Can't blame her really.

The next day we got up early and made the trek over to New Jersey to avoid the lines and hit up the big lady herself, the Statue of Liberty. The ferry ride over stopped at Ellis Island, the famous immigration centre, where we stopped and checked out the museum. Jumping back on board the ferry we landed on Liberty island and got our tourist on. Luckily we had planned ahead and pre-booked tickets to the viewing platform so we got amazing views over the Hudson river to Manhattan. We then high-tailed it away from the swarming crowds and ferried back to Battery Park. Lucky again for us, Edwina had another friend (wow she is popular!), Sian, who was now living in Manhattan near Tribeca. We crashed that couch like nobodies business! That night Sian took us to famous Shake Shack - her pick for the best burgers in town. True to form, they were delicious. The next day we explored Sian's local area including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Financial District where we eventually found the famous Bull.  Edwina managed to grab him by the horns and we both gave his balls a good polish. From here we also checked out Ground Zero, which is still undergoing construction for the 9/11 memorial. We also discovered the shopping mecca that is Century 21. Discounts galore on all your favourite brands... or so they tell me.

The next day we set off early again and explored only part of the huge Central Park, the Guggenheim, the United Nations and the shopping on Fifth Avenue. Hello Tiffiany's ladies! By night we took in the Broadway show experience and saw The Lion King, which was pretty cool. We then hit the bright lights of Times Square and climbed on over to the Empire State Building at midnight. Yes, there was still a half hour line at this time, crazy.

After an amazing and hectic week in the Big Apple we bused ourselves north to Boston. After the hustle and bustle of NYC, it was nice to slow the pace down and explore a little slower. On our first night we joined the old hostel pub crawl and of course managed to make friends with the Aussies and adopted the lovely Sarah into our posse. It is always nice to meet new people to party with and luckily she was a big sports fan as it was finals in the NBA and NHL - Go Mavs! To top off a sports filled weekend, we FINALLY managed to attend a baseball game, and watched the Boston Redsoxs. Fenway Park (their home field) is one of the most famous in all of baseball and the city of Boston is completely obsessed with the team. It was an amazing atmosphere as we both donned our team hats and downed hotdogs and popcorn. Our final day in Boston we spent exploring Harvard and finished with dinner with Sarah and a hockey match (on Tv sadly).

From Boston we again crossed the great white boarder and entered Montreal where we tested our French (or lack there of), checked out the street parties in town for the Formula One, explored the old town and saw another of Edwina's fave bands live - Yeasayer.

We then headed west to Toronto for a super quick stop before returning to NYC for our flight to Europe. So it is that I write this blog as I stare out the window to the beautiful French Riveria. But those stories dearest reader will have to wait until next time. Au Revoir!

Bright Lights, High Rollin', Fancy Free, Coffee lovin' and the Great White North

Please place your hand on the scanner... now your other hand... now look into the camera. Flash. Welcome to America, land of the free and home of the friendly welcome! I guess it was a blessing we had such a long delay in Mexico so we arrived at LAX late at night and had a relatively quick journey through the infamous US customers.

For those who haven't felt the buzz of LA and Hollywood, it quickly wares off. Don't let the crack addicts and wannabe celebs fool you, from day one the city was pretty busy promoting itself as "the place to be". Even though this turned out to be a bit of old Hollywood smoke and mirrors, we did check out some cool things (hello Playboy mansion... gate). The city is one giant highway/ parking lot, so us poor vehicle-less bums had to rough it on the bad public transport. Well enough of my whinging... there were highlights including; the people/freak watching at Venice and Santa Monica beaches, the Getty Centre and of course DISNEYLAND!! We lived every child (and a lot of adults) dreams and had a fun filled day visiting Mini and Mickey, riding Space Mountain and going wild on Dumbo and in the Tea Cups. Fun fun fun!!

After about five days in LA we jumped the first bus full of crazies and headed into the desert to a little place known as LAS VEGAS!! In summary, Vegas is the adults equivalent of Disneyland with gambling, booze and entertainment on every seedy corner. We took this rare opportunity to live like rock stars and stayed in a nice hotel, had an amazing limo ride and then helicopter trip out to the grand canyon and front row seats to Cirque du Soleil (no magic mushrooms unfortunately) Edwina ensured we squeezed in some outlet shopping and I ensured we squeezed in some rockin' out with a giant guitar-shaped cups filled with frozen cocktails. (Thank you Boca you dirty Brazilian for the heads up!) Both of us being very amateur gamblers kept it really low key but managed to come up a little on top. After our time in vegas I think we both started planning our own separate return visits. Start saving boys!!

Riding high on the fun of Vegas we jumped on board a plane and hit the free lovin' San Fransico. Everyone who has been to San Fran are mostly in agreement that it is one hell of a town! It has turned out to be a highlight of our USA trip. We were blessed with amazing fog free weather so hit the great outdoors and rode across the golden gate and strolled the parks, explored Chinatown and downtown and did a night time tour of Alcatraz. Our hostel was perfectly located so we could walk from the piers to Chinatown to downtown without much fuss. The city radiates a welcoming, very liberal and liveable vibe. A+

Next stop would be the very sunny (not) capital of coffee (Starbucks at least) Seattle. We had mostly okay weather though and checked out the pike place markets (fish throwing included) and the amazing interactive music museum which had a fascinating Nirvana and punk exhibition. I managed to bribe Edwina into also visiting the Boeing factory just outside of town which has the largest (in volume) building in the WOLRD!! Yep... it was pretty big. Super interesting tour if you are into anything mechanical/ aviation related. Even if that isn't your thing, we found just watching how this amazing massive building worked was pretty damn cool. Seattle proved to be a hub of awesome tours which included the "underground tour" which meant we ventured under the streets of Seattle and could see the remains of the "old town" from before the city was raised to address massive flooding issues. Pretty odd concept but cool.

It was time to chalk up another country on the scoreboard as we crossed over from Seattle to Vancouver and the Great White North that is Canada. Often voted one of the most liveable cities in the world, it was hard to argue during our stay. We were lucky enough to spend the time with Edwina's friend from college Sarah "Fitz" and her boyfriend John "John". (sorry no nickname for you yet!) It was soooo amazing to be staying in a proper house with proper people we (well Edwina) knew. They were the definitive hostesses with the most-ess-es and showed us the best bits of Vancouver life. I think Fitz may secretly work for the Vancouver Tourism as she did not lead us a stray the whole time. We ate and drank ourselves silly, strolled the city and local parks/ nature areas and even managed to watch the Cunnucks win a ice hockey game. (from the pub - tickets way too expensive!) They were kind enough to even include us in their weekly pub trivia team and I tried hard to live up to the massive hype Fitz had given me. Sadly we didn't go that well... no thanks to Edwina... but it capped off an amazing visit.

It was sad to leave the comfort of a good air mattress and even better company, but "thems the breaks" of the globe trotting superstars.

Mexican Madness

After our fast paced adventures in South America, Edwina and I were both looking forward to setting a slower pace to regain our energies. 

We arrived in Mexico city and soon settled into our hostel in the historical district. Mexico city is freakishly large so we barely scratched the surface in our few days there. We did manage to sneak in some awesome Mexican wrestling (yes i did buy a mask and it will stay with me for the trip! ( and possibly even forever)), a visit to the mayan pyramids and a look around downtown. 

I even managed to find some time for some much needed male grooming and received my first old school barber style shave and haircut. After working on my beard for almost 7 weeks, the transformation was pretty scary. Post shave I think Edwina felt like she was borderline pedophile as I haven't been that smooth since I was 10!! 

We soon got itchy and packed up shop and jetted off to the beautiful Caribbean coast. Our first stop was the beautiful and quiet Tulum where we spent four nights relaxing in our beach shack and working on my brown bear'ness (tan). It was amazing to chill out right on the water and recharge the batteries. Of course no beach retreat would be complete without numerous 2 for 1 cocktails… and yes… we both like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain (well sun really). Our little bargain accommodation even had a bar complete with wooden swings. I'm sure Australian workplace health and safety would have a field day with drunks and swings... fools.

From Tulum we headed north to the holiday mecca Playa del Carmen. Originally only expecting to stay four nights, we had such a good time we ended up staying twice that. The main street is located parallel to the beach and we spent our days lazing on lounges slamming buckets of beer (6 for $9!!). Well okay I stuck to the beer while Edwina worked on her love of cocktails. I'd say the love for them has far surpassed her love for me now. Sad face.

It was in Playa I received Edwina's awesome Christmas present and went scuba diving. I enjoyed the first day so much I signed on and two days later received my open water certification. It was an amazing few days and I loved every minute of the dives. I now have my heart set on getting my advanced certificate so I can go even deeper and see even more!

It was with sad hearts we eventually left Playa for the big smoke of Cancun. We had heard very mixed reports on the place so we were slightly dubious. By a stroke of good fortune we had booked ourselves into the best hostel in Mexico! The place was amazing with breakfast and dinner included, cooked for us daily (all for the low price of $20 a night), coming with an amazing crew of people and staff. I rarely share hostel stories, but this place was very special. 

Our first night in town the hostel crew got together and hit the famous Coco Bongos.This mega club/ show was complete with open bar and packed with thousands of party goers. It was a wild night as we were treated to circus performances, movie, musical and dance acts and a lot of dance floor domination. Of course I was the first to show the hot ladies dancing on the bar what-is-what and busted out some of the old favourites. No night at Coco's would be complete without a midget in a The Mask outfit free pouring tequila from the bar. Only in Cancun baby!!!!

During our days we visited the famous ruins Chicken-pizza (sic), went swimming in a beautiful fresh water cenote and hit up the beach club.

I enjoyed my first boys night out in over 9 weeks and for our last night we both celebrated at a killer pool party. Very loose with the hostel crew getting wet 'n' wild. The mexicans really know how to do an open bar with bottles of every spirit placed on your own tables and a 'mix your own' rule applying. Lucky party James likes how bartender James mixes his drinks. No party would be complete without a drunken injury (hope you are healing up Sweden #2 - Matilda!). Even though we didn't get to live it up in the expensive resorts, the great hostel and awesome crew (Yes… even dirty Brazil) really turned Cancun into a surprising highlight. Check our Edwina's Facebook for even more awesome Mexican photos!

It was with very sore heads that these two brown bears farewelled their new chicos and migrated north to the bright lights and bimbos of Los Angeles and the US of A. Until next time readers, stay sexy.