My Bloggable Day

Spring in Central Park & the New York Athletic Club

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Bec

Full disclosure: I’m typing this from a Super8 motel next to a highway having just made packet noodles using a combination of a bathroom sink and the most disgusting communal microwave I’ve ever seen.

That might help put these photos in context! We don’t often stay in fancy places.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Andrew and I drove up to NYC to meet my father and stepmother for a week in the city followed by a short road trip to Boston. We met them at JFK airport, left our car in a super dodgy parking lot and got a taxi into Manhattan.

My dad booked the New York Athletic Club for four nights. The NYAC is a members only social and sports club founded in 1868. The club has two locations, one at Travers Island in Westchester County and the Manhattan City House right on Central Park. Dad is a member at a club in Australia that has reciprocal rights at the NYAC, which is how we were able to stay there.

The two things I loved most about the club were its location; if you were to spit out the window it would land right in Central Park (gross but true) and this view:

Looking towards the Upper West Side. I am in love.

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Central Park, Manhattan, New York, New York Athletics Club, New York City, Travel | 6 Comments

A beautiful Spring day in Washington DC

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Bec

Ok so it probably seems like I’m making a huge jump from my last post about Cuba to this one about Washington DC. But in reality there was probably only a week between these two destinations. We sure did cover some ground!

After Cuba we flew back to Cancun, Mexico, and then the next day we flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We spent the night there and the next morning collected our beloved Goldie (the borrowed 2001 Toyota Camry which we drove all over the USA and Canada with last year) and drove north to Jacksonville. There we stayed with our good friends Meagan and LA, whom we met whilst hiking in Washington State last year. Keeping up?!

After four glorious days of relaxing, eating, laughing, drinking wine, enjoying hot showers and being able to flush toilet paper, we left Jacksonville and began an epic drive all the way up the east coast to Washington DC.

Google maps just taunting me with that note saying how long it takes to fly!

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged America, Road Trip, Travel, Washington DC | 1 Comment

Cuba: Havana to Viñales and back again

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Bec

I apologise in advance for the glut of photos in this post. I couldn’t help it! Cuba is one of those outrageously photogenic places where you have to have your camera in your hand at all times. Around every corner is a postcard worthy vista.

I mean, have a look:

DSCN0166

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Caribbean, Cuba, Havana, Travel, Vinales | 7 Comments

10 things that surprised me about Cuba

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Bec

DSCN0281

I loved Cuba. It’s a fascinating place on the brink of change. The 1960 US imposed trade embargo looks to be on the way out and people will say “we have to get there before the embargo lifts and everything changes!”. But it’s already too late, the small Communist island south of Florida known as Cuba is changing. And for the better. Tourism is booming (with so many Canadian and German tourists!), greater numbers of Cubans are gaining access to the internet as well as other things previously quashed under the trade and travel limitations. But there is still a long way to go. Here’s some things that surprised me about this amazing country:

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Cuba, Havana, Lists, Travel | 14 Comments

Wow.

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Bec

I haven’t blogged for almost two weeks. Dos weeks. Two. That’s probably the longest I’ve gone since starting this trip! Apologies.

I have a lot to catch up on. First of all: Cuba. Amazing. Then we flew to Florida to stay with our friends and enjoy developed world plumbing again.

Then we drove up the east coast to Washington DC, met up with my Dad and step mum in NYC and started our New England road trip. We are currently on Martha’s Vineyard; an island off the coast of Massachusetts where the Kennedy’s used to holiday. It is so glorious. I am currently drinking wine and eating cheese.

Real time view

Promise to update this blog properly soon! Meanwhile, tell me about you. What’s been going on? Who are you? Where do you live? Do you have a blog? Do you like cheese? Links below please!

Posted in Misc, Travel | Tagged America, Martha's Vineyard | 15 Comments

The bluest water: kayaking in Caye Caulker

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Bec

Somehow this post got lost in the ether of my WordPress account and was never posted?! It details a glorious afternoon of kayaking around beautiful Caye Caulker in Belize.

SAMSUNG CSC

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Belize, Caye Caulker, Central America, Travel | 2 Comments

Swimming with sharks, stingrays and eels

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Bec

The title of this blog post could be a nightmare or a dream come true, depending on how you feel about ocean dwellers. While I don’t mind harmless sharks and stingrays, eels are nothing short of the devil’s work. As hideous as they are disgusting, eels can GTFO as far as I’m concerned. Thankfully we only saw one on our incredible day of snorkelling off Caye Caulker in Belize.

We took a full day tour with Caveman Snorkelling Tours and visited 5 separate locations including the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and a sunken barge. It was absolutely one of the best days on our trip to date. I had a constant grin plastered across my face all day (as pointed out by a German guy on our tour) and was always the last in the boat, not wanting to leave the water. Just call me the Little Mermaid… Actually she wanted to leave the water, scrap that.

DCIM101GOPROGOPR1149.

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Beach, Belize, Caribbean, Caye Caulker, Island, Snorkelling | 6 Comments

Caye Caulker, Belize

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Bec

Caye Caulker is dreamy. What’s not to love about a postage stamp sized Caribbean island, crammed with swaying palm trees, pastel weatherboard houses and surrounded by crystal clear turquoise water? Oh and the food? Delicious. The locals? Charming with amazing accents.

And we weren’t even going to go there.

But we did! We bus hopped down from Chetumal, Mexico, spent a night in Belize City and then got a ferry to the island.

We spent our first afternoon wandering around the island:

SAMSUNG CSC

Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Belize, Caribbean, Caye Caulker, Central America, Travel | 2 Comments

Laguna Bacalar, Mexico

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Bec

After the busyness of Tulum, a few slow days on the lagoon at Bacalar were nice and relaxing. Most of the tourists there are Mexican families, so there is a far more authentic vibe to the town than further up the coast.

We initially stayed in a tent in an awful hostel. The tent was actually too short for us which meant we couldn’t zip it up, which meant getting annihilated by mosquitos. It was hot and stuffy and there was only one shower for everyone. After one sleepless night we left and went to a private room at a small hostel that was more like a B&B. It was heaven.

The only redeeming features of the first hostel were the excellent book I picked up at the book exchange and finished in one day and lagoon front access. Check it out:

SAMSUNG CSC