familyfromozs Blog on RealTravel

Noosa journal: Happy to be home!

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:50:06 GMT

We arrived at Brisbane airport in the early hours of the morning but didn't emerge from customs until about 9.30 am after quarantine declarations for the various items bought on our travels. We are absolutely wiped after only getting about 3 hours sleep each and just hope that our car, parked in a long time car park nearby for 3 months, will start. Fortunately, they have been turning it on every week, so the main challenge is fitting all our bags and guitar etc in the car.

Brisbane has greeted us with a sparkling welcome and we race to our first pre booked appointment with a local ...

Santa Fe journal: A cosy casita in snowy Santa Fe.

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:35:12 GMT

Santa Fe reveals itself in a plain below snow covered mountains but hey where is all the colour? We had in mind a very colourful place with interesting adobe houses. The houses are certainly interesting but they are all the same colour, a taupe/muddy finish. Combined with the bare winter season trees this creates a feeling of monotony and "deadness"; lacking the excitement and interest we had been expecting.

The drive here from Telluride had been fantastic.. empty roads through dramatic and interesting snow covered landscapes. We found our Santa Fe casita easily and were very pleased ...

Soliman Bay journal: Paradise Found

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:13:15 GMT

After travelling to Tulum from Playa del Carmen by bus we grabbed a cab and made the 12 km journey back up the highway to Bahia Punto del Soliman. The entrance to this beautiful beach enclave is really well disguised and you need to find the Oscar y Lilo restaurant sign to access the bay. Soliman Bay is crescent shaped with its own coral reef and crystal clear, turquoise water. It is a postcard perfect sight!

Tropical Evergreens is located along the road in a line of exclusive and reclusive properties nestled against the coral sand beach. Our casita is located at the rear of the ...

Playa del Carmen journal: Hitting the beach in Playa del Carmen...but is this Mexico or USA???

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:04:17 GMT

Arriving in Playa del Carmen is an interesting experience. On the one hand we were delighted to arrive at the beach after 2 months away from the coast. On the other, it felt like we had left Mexico far behind as the hordes of mostly American tourists filled the streets and the sands.

Playa del Carmen is a beautiful Carribean coastal strip and it has the buzziest pedestrian thoroughfare one block back from the beach called Fifth Avenue. (5 Norte). If you walk past the hotels and the ferry pier to Cozumel, you can find a quiet stretch of white sand with glorious turquoise water and no ...

Merida journal: A mad chase to catch the bus!

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:00:17 GMT

You know how you have a time in your head and without checking are convinced that it is true. Then you realise later that that time was for another day and you have really stuffed up!

We had enjoyed our night at El Panchen and were just finishing packing up so we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast at Don Muchos restaurant, when Michael checked the bus tickets for our trip to Merida. Instead of the 9.40am we had counted on (which were for our next trip) the tickets said 8am, and it was now 7.454am. We were in the middle of the jungle and needed (as always) the wagonetta taxi that could ...

Oaxaca City journal: Too much time in Oaxaca

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:47:08 GMT

Arriving in Oaxaca we met the taxi driver from Siberia because he sure didn't know the main street in this (small) city.We spent ages trying to explain to him that number 306 is further down the road when you are outside number 900.

Our hotel was reasonably well located in the less pretty part of town and the room spacious, but it was like being in a cave. After looking forward to having our own kitchen again, it was disappointing to find it completely bereft of any cooking or drinking utensils. What.. you want a kitchen you can use? Fortunately we managed to rustle up 4 knives, spoons, ...

Taxco journal: Taxco - a shopping temptation too strong to resist!

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:28:30 GMT

We made our way to Taxco via bus from San Miguel and via Mexico city. It was a long day, and an early start.

Taxco is in a stunning mountainous location and is a little reminiscent of a larger, all white Positano, Italy (minus the sea!!).

Arriving at the bus terminal, we piled into one of an almost continuous stream of white Combi vans that do the circuitous route through town. For anyone who wants to try and set the world record for number of combi vans and beetles in one place, you would be mad to try it anywhere but Taxco. Our hotel was located fabulously on the very edge of the ...

Guanajuato journal: From luxury to lost .... but everything turned out fine !

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:23:43 GMT

If you want to really travel in luxury jump on an ETN bus ! Wow, these things are amazing.. only 24 passengers, more room than flying at the pointy end of the jumbo and movies, music and on time! All came crashing back to reality though when we arrived at the bus drop off station, which is outside the Guanajuato town. The problem was that we did not really know where our hotel was or how we should get there. First insight..Valenciana ( our hotel location ) is NOT in the town of Guanajuato, even though it is in Guanajuato, the State. Second insight.. dragging children and suitcases through the ...

Cusco journal: How could we forget to mention Cusco?

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:13:07 GMT

After the Sacred Valley we returned to Cusco for a few days. We stayed at Nino´s hotel which we thoroughly recommend. It is hidden behind an old green door and has a wonderful courtyard, great cafe and a fire! The rooms are simple but interesting and comfortable. Importantly, the hotel supports local children and their photos are a pleasure to see.

It was a real delight exploring Cusco´s historic centro, with its marvellous plazas, interesting shops and delicious restaurants.The old town has many remnants of the Inca culture and cobble stone streets. There are discoveries around every ...

Puno journal: On the shores of Lake Titikaka

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:00:42 GMT

We travelled by bus from Copacabana to Puno on Sandy's birthday, crossing from Bolivia to Peru on the way. Lots of Alpacas to see and of course, the beautiful views of Lake Titikaka on the way.

Puno was fairly ugly to be honest, but was located on the edge of the lake, sprawling down a hillside. Our hotel was outside the town center, but as it turned out this was a positive as it was a lovely quiet retreat. We had alpacas and guinea pig like creatures in the yard. Michael was able to communicate with the lead alpaca via a strange language. Unfortunately the alpaca became very friendly ...

Copacabana journal: Resting in Copacabana

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 02:56:33 GMT

Our bargain bus trip to Copa saw us rushing out of our hotel, hustled along by the operator (who later made us wait interminably breathing exhaust fumes at his leisure). The bus was a bit scary but took us up the hillside and across the interesting countryside on our 4 hour journey.

Along the way we passed very basic villages,farming on stoney, rocky ground. In the distance massive, snow covered mountains rose up into the clouds. The country people live in run down stone cottages, but outside some of the roadside stalls there are fooseball tables set up for the entertainment of the ...

La Paz journal: Altitude sickness in La Paz

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 02:54:08 GMT

As Australians accustomed to living at the sea, we were a little concerned about flying into La Paz. It is at 3460m approx above sea level...the highest city in the world.

We were OK for an hour or two and then our 10 year old nearly fainted and we all got awful headaches. Fortunately we had the appropriate medicines frrom the Travel Doctor in Brisbane, and her hugely informative book "Travelling Well" so following vomiting episodes that night after dinner we started him on the medicine, and the rest of us took paracetamol.

Unfortunately this sudden onset of altitude sickness ...

Telluride journal: Telluride is tops!

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:27:50 GMT

Telluride is picture postcard perfect in almost any weather. When we first arrived the last big dump of snow had been about 12 days ago and it was sunny and warm. There was plenty of snow on the mountains for skiing but not much in the town of Telluride, which is at the foot of the mountains. The streets of pretty painted weatherboard houses, shops and restaurants in Victorian style also set this town apart from other ski resorts.

Despite the lack of snow in town, the skiing was fantastic. Michael and Taylor, our two keenest skiers, were in their element and we all enjoyed the great long ...

Santa Fe journal: Very comfortable and spacious and well located just off Canyon Road

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:14:50 GMT

Telluride journal: Fantastic. Great 2 bed suite with kitchen and excellent hotel services and extra touches eg. cookies, PC with internet.

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:32:34 GMT

Cuba journal: Nice large family room, friendly reception

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:12:16 GMT

Cuba journal: Stopping over in Cuba, New Mexico

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:12:15 GMT

We left our overnight Cancun hotel at 4am (ugh!) to catch the 7am flight to the USA - Alberquerque via Dallas. By the time we get to Alberquerque and pick up and load our rental car, it is about 2.30pm and we are very tired. We drop by Grandmas Music at Alberquerque so Michael can pay the deposit and order his Gibson Songwriter guitar...a long held dream he has been seriously investigating for the past 2 months via the internet. Grandmas is a music institution...a huge barn like space with an amazing array of musical instruments and as luck would have it, the best prices in the US. Prying him ...

Merida journal: The coolest place ever, under new management. Loved the pool.

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:42:31 GMT

Palenque journal: Journeying from San Cristobal to Agua Azul, Misol-Ha and Palenque

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:17:32 GMT

After chatting with some fellow travellers on a day out to Chamula village near San Cristobal we cancelled our dreaded second overnight bus trip and our joined in with a day trip from San Cristobal to Palenque via Agua Azul and Misol-Ha. The mini bus picked us up at about 6.30am and with our packed breakfast in our backpacks and our large bags loaded on the roof of the bus (under tarps) we headed off. We have had so little rain on this trip, but on the day when we were to be swimming in the waterfalls, it started raining as soon as we reached the jungle heights.

The trip was long and ...

Palenque journal: Best Pizza of a certain 49 yr olds life! Great vibe, good music, loved it!

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:16:38 GMT

Palenque journal: Not the friendly greeting Lonely Planet talked about but clean, cheap and comfortable jungle rooms.

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:16:38 GMT

Soliman Bay journal: Brilliant location and facilities, cute casita for 4.

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 11:48:12 GMT

Playa del Carmen journal: Good value in an expensive town. Limited service...but only 3 blocks from beach.

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:27:28 GMT

San Cristobal de Las Casas journal: Beautiful San Cristobal de las Casas

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:19:56 GMT

Arriving at San Cristobal de las Casas at about 7am after the dreadful overnight bus trip from Oaxaca was like arriving into a fairyland. Our taxi took us the short distance from the bus station to Belas B&B, and Bela, despite being on crutches and with a full house of guests, arranged for us to sit in the dining room by the fire and enjoy a full breakfast.

San Cristobal is ringed by pine forest covered mountains and the town is really beautiful. It is a lot cooler here than in most parts of Mexico, but as soon as the morning mist clears the days are warm and sunny. There is a ...

San Cristobal de Las Casas journal: Gorgeous haven, lovely hosts, great breakfasts and location

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:46:20 GMT

Puebla journal: What are we doing here???

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:41:32 GMT

Arriving at a strange hotel, in a strange city, late at night is often not the best way to start in that place...and being tired and hungry after a long bus ride didn´t help either.

Because we are travelling with our 2 children, we have prebooked most of our accommodation on the internet,following extensive searches, and have had some fantastic results. Our hotel in Puebla turned out to be fine, but on Saturday night at 9pm the place was like ghost house and it was located a long way(7kms) from the centro historico...which was not what we expected. We wondered if our taxi driver had ...

Oaxaca City journal: Spacious 2 bedroom apartment, quiet but way too dark

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:37:29 GMT

Puebla journal: Nice 16th century mansion...but in the middle of nowhere and except for Sunday breakfast deserted.

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 13:23:52 GMT

Taxco journal: Best Mexican food so far !

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 09:06:02 GMT

Taxco journal: Great location right on the Plaza, lovely pool and terrace.

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 09:04:29 GMT

San Miguel de Allende journal: On Mexican Time in San Miguel

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 08:36:08 GMT

I first read about San Miguel de Allende about 10 years ago? when reading the popular book by Tony Cohen ...On Mexican Time. This book was the first to plant in me the desire to travel to Mexico...although I forgot the name of the town it was based in and only made the connection after spotting the book in our rented apartment.

San Miguel is an enchanting town. Beautiful cobble stoned streets with gorgeous shops, cafes, homes and plazas. Apparently it was voted one of the top 20 places in the world to retire to, so the town now has more than its share of well heeled American retirees. ...

San Miguel de Allende journal: Great, relaxing time. Spend at least 3 hours here...but bring cash..it costs more than you think.

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 08:35:55 GMT

San Miguel de Allende journal: Gorgeous apartment with great city viiews and walk to Centro

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 08:19:43 GMT

Guanajuato journal: After we looked for the positives.. we found quite a few!

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:22:03 GMT

Cusco journal: A wonderful hidden gem, with a big heart for kids

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:56:41 GMT

Cusco journal: Lots to see and do in a wonderful historic setting

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:56:41 GMT

Machu Picchu journal: Christmas Day at Machu Picchu...and the beautiful Sacred Valley

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:41:52 GMT

Before leaving Australia on this trip we knew we were going to be in Machu Picchu for Christmas Day and were worried that the crowds would be awful. But it is low season in Peru in December and we really didn't need to be concerned. If we were doing this again, we would have found somewhere in Aguas Caliente to stay (the closest town to MP) and could have gone up the mountain a couple of times. There are plenty of hostels there that we hadn't found on our internet searches.

Staying at the Sonesta hotel in Yucay though was really special. The setting is beautiful and we were able to visit ...

Mexico City journal: A Tale of Two Cities - Mexico City.

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 14:28:40 GMT

We thought that staying in Mexico City over NYE would be mad, bad and dangerous...but instead it was quiet, closed and empty. The main plaza was very beautiful with the lights on the buildings surrounding the Plaza, but where were the people? And more importantly, where were the open restaurants? Finding somewhere to eat became the bane of our public holiday nights and mornings...and we had to resort,with awful results to tourist style restuarants with photos of the food on laminated menus. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk! We also discovered on a several occassions the nice little trick...that the English menus ...

Mexico City journal: Very Good location. Below Average service.Tired rooms. Would kill for a bath!!!

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 14:12:57 GMT

Cusco journal: Amazing! Wish we had more time there before the rain set in.

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:12:23 GMT

Machu Picchu journal: Beautiful setting in very small town. Gorgeous gardens with mountains behind.

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:12:23 GMT

Puno journal: A great day, with the floating islands a real highlight

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:50:34 GMT

Puno journal: Good location on the lake and outside the main town, which is a good thing.

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:50:34 GMT

Copacabana journal: Fantastic place in a great location and with an excellent restaurant

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:38:06 GMT

Copacabana journal: Really good food at prices that are hard to believe !

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:38:06 GMT

La Paz journal: Fine, 3 star hotel. Pretty good location.

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:03:44 GMT

La Paz journal: Great pizza! Amazing array of sizes -pizzas to feed 2 to 18 people!

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:03:44 GMT

Santiago journal: The food was mostly good and the location was convenient but the blatant rip off of presenting a fraudulent bill was disgusting and very inconvenient to resolve.

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 13:16:17 GMT

Santiago journal: Total confusion on check in (and check out too) with a possible rip off by the internet travel agent too.

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 13:15:21 GMT

Santiago journal: Forget the Amazon, the Piranhas are in Santiago!

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 13:15:19 GMT

We had to overnight in Santiago because we could not fly directly to La Paz from B.A. Our impression on reflection is that Santiago is a pretty city under a cloud of smog at the foot of spectacular mountains. Unfortunately, the place seems to be geared around ripping off visitors from the get go. US$ 56 each to enter the country, huge customs queues, piranha taxi drivers and porters and an expensive cab fare to the city relative to other places. Total confusion at the hotel with our on line paid booking not being recognised and the free airport transfers not forthcoming. Only one room ...

Iguazu Falls journal: Sensational Iguazu. Absolutely Spectacular!!

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:54:08 GMT

We feel like we have spent way too much time on aeroplanes in the last week or so...but it was worth it to fly to Iguazu for a couple of days. The heat was stifling...and this is not as hot as it gets in real summer, but the falls are so powerful and dramatic. The whole National Park is set up brilliantly. Great infrastructure, walking paths and boardwalks and interesting activities.

We opted for the full day options which gave you a 12 minute speedboat ride under two falls. In the heat of the day that was so fantastic. You got completely and utterly drenched and it was great fun. ...

Iguazu Falls journal: Great huge day out!

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:52:53 GMT

Iguazu Falls journal: Very good...but a little mean on the buffet breakfast.

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:52:51 GMT

Buenos Aires journal: B.A is fantastic and thank goodness for that after travelling for 26 hours to get here!

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:06:27 GMT

The trip from LA to BA was 26 hours door to door , via Mexico City and Santiago Chile. We were VERY tired when we arrived but managed to arrange a cab and arrived at our apartment safely.

Behind a locked gate and up a narrow pathway we found a fantastic place to spend our time here and were greeted by warm hosts on arrival.

We are in Palermo Vieja, which is an up and coming suburb, full of renovation, cafes and restaurants, motor garages and footpaths with liberal sprinklings of dog pooh!

Our first day ended in jet lagged crisis as our apartment key finally died of old age ...

Buenos Aires journal: A great 2 bedroom apartment in a convenient and interesting suburb

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:06:05 GMT

Anaheim journal: Good location - avoid freeway side rooms if you can.

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:48:56 GMT

Anaheim journal: Welcome to Disneyland and Fat City USA!

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:48:52 GMT

Beautiful weather and great fun at Disney land with our two boys - 8 and 10 years. Best fun was the Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain and Astro Blasters.

Fireworks over the Fantasy land castle at night were a real highlight. It was also great to do the wondefully retro jungle cruise....we started and ended our days there.

As for the food though - atrocious mostly. Mimis restaurant was an exception. But most Americans are so fat - obesity has become the norm - and when you eat around Anaheim, it is easy to see why. The food is so processed, full of sugar and fat and served in ...

Noosa Heads journal: Very nice apartment

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:39:55 GMT

Noosa Heads journal: Weekend in Noosa before the real adventure begins

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:39:53 GMT

It was great to return to our favourite Aussie destination for a couple of days R&R before heading overseas. Noosa was sparkling and gorgeous as always and fish and chips by the river on Friday night with a bottle of cool wine helped us get over the mad packing up of the house and moving our gear into storage.

Our own holiday house - Halcyon (www.createx.com.au for more info) was booked out so we found a good value option at Hemingway Villas and the ground floor apartment had a lovely private courtyard. The pool was great too!

South America journal: Family from Oz travelling through South America, Mexico and the US.

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:32:18 GMT

We are a family of four travelling for 12 weeks to South America, Mexico and the USA.