Las Vegas to London via the Great Wall of China

Ok, we didn’t do it literally, we flew to Miami, drove the Florida Keys, hopped over to St.Lucia before taking our Virgin flight back to London, (the Great Wall of China bit comes later.) It’s been another hectic few weeks on the road but so so worth it, especially for Tom & Reilly. Whilst they must think living out of suitcases is pretty normal, seeing Dad on the computer working (in some strange places I admit) whilst on ‘holiday’, must appear odd to say the least. But then thinking about it, children that travel from an early age learn to live from the present. Life for the boys has been all about enjoying the various experiences and accumulating memories— it’s what shapes who they are I guess.

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As well as tweeting and writing travel articles this month for South Australia Tourism, the ADGE apartments in Sydney and the Ultimate Winery Experiences of Australia, I did manage to finish reading a book. For an epic travel account of walking the Great Wall of China and for an inspiring read, try and get hold of Nathan Hoturua Gray’s ‘First Pass Under Heaven.’ It would appear I’d walked it with him judging by the state of my copy by the time I’d finished it… (sorry Nathan!)

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The big news though whilst I’ve been travelling is our new website has finally gone ‘live’. It looks great by the way (of course I’m going to say that) but if you have a little bit more time please take a look through the rest of the site, there is sure to be something of interest for you.

My first visit to the ‘Florida Keys’ was in 1988 with my dear friend Chris Reeves – we were two lads on the road then, on our way back from walking the Inca Trail, having been given two free first class Pan Am tickets to that amazing continent, but that’s another story for another time I’m afraid… Re-visiting this unique part of the States some 25 years later was a nostalgic experience for me. The Keys are a 100 mile stretch of small islands connected by bridges. A fantastic drive that could be slowed down to a week, stopping on the larger Key’s sampling awesome seafood, sport fishing and just relaxing in the warm tropical sun.

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Ever tried para-sailing? It’s so much fun, even with a three year old hanging on for dear life…what brave lads Reilly & Tom are.

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As the flight across to St. Lucia from Miami is only a couple of hours, we felt, as I’m sure you would, we had to go there. I mean, how often are you that close to the Caribbean when you live in New Zealand? What a colourful and vibrant island with stunning views of those amazing ‘Pitons.’ Sure, I’ve been a few times to this beautiful Island but still it never ceases to excite and delight me.

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We stayed at Windjammer-Landings – the perfect place for children and nicely positioned for visits to the restaurants & night life of Rodney Bay. We were able to leave the boys at the kids club one morning to go ‘zip-wiring’ – what a great experience, deep in the heart of the rain forest – definitely worth a go even if you have to wear helmets and ridiculous ear protectors.

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…and then suddenly there we were in London enjoying the perfect ‘Indian Summer’. We were lucky, September’s temperatures reached 25/26 degrees on some days. Catching up with family and friends in East Sussex was the perfect start to our two weeks in the UK and in particular to Queens Park (thanks to ‘airbnb’).

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On the work front, I had some really positive pre-arranged meetings with Bridge & Wickers, The Ultimate Travel Company, Australia’s Northern Territory, Qantas Airways and a couple of other travel operators. To be honest, it’s tough averaging three hours a day ‘working’ but somehow, with Katie’s help looking after the boys, it’s been possible.

Talking about the boys – here’s Chis & I on that Peruvian trail I was telling you about… Adios Amigos…

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