Mexico!

¡Hola amigos! We're enjoying reading peoples comments on the photos and/or blog posts, so even if we don't reply, keep it up!

We're currently in Miami (more of that later), after spending last week (Sunday to Sunday) in Pueto Vallarta, Mexico. We were in the suburb of Nuevo Vallarta, which is in about the middle of the Bay of Banderas on Mexico's West coast. Our time there was about the most relaxing our trip will get, as we lived it up for a week and didn't exert too much energy :-) No internet at our accommodation last week, so we're only just catching up on the blogging.

The resort was "all inclusive" so we had our pick of 3 restaurants and a "snack bar", as well as the bar (yes, we could even pull our own coronas). I think we ate enough to make sure that we don't have to eat again for the next 9 months :-P The staff were really friendly and helpful, which seemed to be true of all the Mexicans we met. We weren't surprised, but the resort was full of Americans (from all over), and a fair share of Canadians. No other Aussie's as far as we heard!

I was surprised by the landscape of Mexico. Maybe I was expecting more flat desert, but as we flew across it, it really is most impressive. Lots of mountains (the same range that runs all the way down from Canada to Chile) and lakes, and lots of green. We didn't get to explore Mexico City (population 29 million, it was amazing from the air!) but there are snow capped mountains surrounding the big bowl that the city sits in. When we flew from NY to Mexico City, the cities really didn't seem to stop all the way across the American continent. It's just a huge web of lights (there's a photo below).

We spent our days relaxing by the pool/beach/bar reading our books. This was interrupted by having to eat, and occasionally doing something like playing volleyball or beach soccer. We also veged out and watched plenty of Scrubs and West Wing. The weather was mild-to-warm (about 26 degrees) most days, with lots of sun and a light breeze. Pretty much perfect :-)

On Wednesday & Thursday we were a little more adventurous and booked a couple of tours. On Wednesday a speedboat took us to Pueto Vallarta and then down the bay about 30 minutes South to a little village set on a creek flowing out of the mountains. From there we caught a 4WD truck up through the winding mountains for about another 30 minutes to a base camp. 30 minute mule ride up to the top of the crest, then about 8 long (200m+) "zip lines". We were basically harnessed up to a couple of pulleys on a big long rope that sailed off above or through the forest treeline to the next ridge top. Very fun! Then a couple of rappelling (abseiling down waterfalls) lines, some rope bridges and a bit of a hike back to base camp. The 4WD trucks took us back to Nuevo Vallarta by road, which was about a 2 hour trip bumping around in the back. It did give us an opportunity to see a bit more countryside though, and it was well worth it. Lots of amazing houses perched up on the mountainside overlooking the ocean, as well as plenty of dumpy-looking villages too.

Thursday we went on a bigger boat out to the Marietas islands, about 30km from Pueto Vallarta. We were going scuba diving, but the tour was doubling as a whale watching, kayaking, snorkeling adventure. The boat trip probably took about 2 hours each way. Nik & I did two dives, both for about 45 minutes at 18 metres (yes, that means we came out as a below Z pressure group all you divers). We saw eels, lobster, a sea horse (they're so small!), a couple of different types of rays, lots of fish, and just to prove that it really is everywhere, a corona bottle cap sitting on the bottom of the ocean :-) Lunch and open bar on the boat on the way back, so we relaxed and accidentally were sunburnt. Whole trip was US$71 each, which is crazy compared to Aussie. We met a nice couple from Minnesota, the reason I note it is because he was originally from Tennessee and his name was Randy :-) My USA experience is now complete!

Because we weren't doing a whole lot of stuff every day I didn't take so many photos, so there aren't 3 per day, but here are a selection. There are more on Danika's Facebook.



Our "all inclusive" resort




Our tour truck. Yes, it does look like it's about to top over :-)




An amazing "Italiano style" coffee they made at the restaurants. Admittedly it was a lot cooler to watch that it was to drink :-)




Our dive boat




Dive site #2 at Marietas Islands




Mrs Whale




Nik & I being more relaxed than the week before :-)




A typical afternoon on the beach :-)




The neverending lights of the North American continent