Top 10 activities on our trip

We've been asked about what the best activities on our trip were. There are so many memorable things that we've done together in our year away, its difficult to distil this to just ten, especially with a 'late contender' from our recent time in Borneo.

As we talked about this as a family and also started trying to rank them, we found it very hard to compare, say, the thrill of swimming with a sea-lion with the wonder of staring in awe at one of the highest mountains in the world.

So we decided to just put a list together of the things we enjoyed the most, not to worry too much about the order of them and not to feel guilty about many other things we enjoyed doing that aren't on this list too.

Skydive Taupo, New Zealand

Ready to jump.....(as if you have much choice at this stage!)

No doubt about the biggest adrenalin rush of all - Skydiving.

Whooooo-hoooo!

Snorkelling with sealions at La Loberia, Galapagos, Ecuador

Sunset at La Loberia

Amazingly, this is something you can do quite easily in the Galapagos - and it's free.  La Loberia is a deserted beach on the small island of San Cristobal, with sealions everywhere - you are very much on their beach. The younger ones in particular are very playful, they swim right up to you at high speed, inches from your face, and then arch away, or they'll swim rapidly around you in circles. There is always a large bull sealion patrolling to remind you not to get too close!

Observing amazing wildlife by boat and on horseback in the Pantanal, Brazil

Horse ride at sunset along the river bank on obedient horses!

We spent a few days in the Pantanal, and were amazed by the abundance and richness of wildlife there.  It was a fantastic experience for the boys, already fascinated by animals thanks to Steve Backshall's Deadly 60, to have so many up-close wildlife encounters. The caiman, jabiru, great black hawk (especially the one with the water cobra in its talons!) giant otter, hyacinth macaw, piranha and of course toucan are just a few we remember seeing there. 

The caimen are so still, sometimes you don't
see them even if you are really close!

Sandboarding and surfing in Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

Fabry, the boys and Louis' new birthday gift!

We're sure Louis won't forget his 9th birthday.  

Staying at the tiny, remote and querky coastal village of Cabo Polonio, Louis had a sandboarding lesson in the morning and a surfing lesson in the afternoon. 

Fabry, the sandboarding teacher even gave Louis the sandboard they were practicing on as a gift, afterwards!

Frankie had a go too!

Louis getting the hang of the waves

Dolphin and whale watching at Puerto Pyramides, Valdes Peninsula, Argentina

One of the whales duly obliged with this classic pose

The Valdes peninsula is famous for the orcas that beach themselves in February to catch and feed on unsuspecting young seals.  

We were there in December so missed this (perhaps just as well...the boys might have been a little upset!) but did get to see the orcas from a distance, as well as marvelling at the majestic southern right whales passing directly under the boat.

We were leaning out over the front and this 15 metre
beauty passed by directly underneath

Buller Gorge Jetboat, South Island, New Zealand
The Shotover ride in Queenstown normally gets all the attention but this trip on Buller Gorge, also on the South Island, is longer, less busy, cheaper, just as fast and definitely very exhilarating!

High-speed thrills

Did I mention you get a bit wet?

Trekking to Poon Hill, Nepal
We did a five-day trek in the Annapurna region of the Himalayas. It was a real challenge (especially the going up part!) and gave the boys a strong sense of achievement, especially when we reached 10,000 feet and were rewarded with memorable views of some of the Top 10 highest mountains in the world.

Annapurna South, at 8,091m, 10th highest mountain in the world

With our guide, Ratna and Dhaulagiri, 8167m, in the background

Machupachare, the famous, sacred, 'Fishtail', just before sunrise

White water rafting and "cool river running" in San Rafael, Argentina
We rafted a few times on the Atuel river, and Louis and I also went down in a kind of converted inner tube, which they call "Cool River".  It kept you very close to the action! My father came over from England and celebrated his 80th by white-water rafting with us too!

Rafting on 31st December - great way to see out the old year!

Louis and Frankie loved getting wet!

Louis getting face to face with a rapid while "Cool river" running

Tropical island hopping on Ovalau, Fiji
We spent three weeks in Fiji, mainly at Bobo's Farm.  As well as introducing us to the wonderfully hospitable villagers of Rukuruku and guiding us on hikes into the jungle, Bobo took us to the the most beautiful local islands enjoying excellent snorkelling, drinking and eating fresh coconuts, and sampling the fish he'd just caught with his spear!

Approaching Mystery Island

Just moored on our very own Moloi Island, only surfaces at low tide!

Going home to Rukuruku

Amazing wildlife in the tropical rainforests of Borneo

Frankie with a crested lizard

In our month in Borneo, we stayed in jungle camps and wooden shacks to experience wildlife encounters we'll never forget.  We saw orangutans, proboscis monkeys, silver-leaf monkeys, huntsman spiders, snakes, frogs, lizards, bats (over 2 million of them) and more - it's a very long list!

Proboscis monkey having a bad day

The youth of today are so uninhibited.....

2 million bats head out of their cave each night here in Mulu, Borneo

Icebergs and glaciers in Patagonia, Argentina
We spent three weeks in Patagonia and got up close to the amazing - and advancing - Perito Moreno glacier. We saw an enormous shard the size of a house slide into the water - and our treks took us to the windiest and coldest parts of our entire trip.

Ice crashing into the water at the giant arch that heads the glacier

Real icebergs!

Not surprisingly, the ice is very cold

Travelling around Western Australia in an RV

Breakfast on the beach at Cape Range

We spent a month - and 5,000 kilometres - working our way up the west coast and returned on an inland route back to Perth. The spectacular Cape Range National Park, the beautiful, rugged gorges of the Karijini, and the endless salt flats of Lake Ballard were three of the many highlights.

The unusual statues dotted around the vast salt flats of Lake Ballard

Paragliding over Lima, Peru

A great introduction to alternative air travel, over the beaches, parks and traffic of Lima.

All good up here....

I'm loving this!

Yes I know.  There are more than 10. Sorry.

Gorge-walking - and swimming - in Western Australia's Karijini

ready to go a-gorging

The Karijini National Park is on most people’s route if you are heading inland from the Ningaloo Reef. In Australian terms, its just a short jaunt a little way across the map heading east from Exmouth (about 7 hours!) just past a place (not a person) called Tom Price.  It promises some spectacular views and fascinating natural gorge walking amongst some of the oldest rocks in the world.  And by not going overboard with signs when you are on it, with small discreet coloured disks on the rocks, it occasionally keeps you thinking about where to go next.

We got to Karijini towards the end of the afternoon, so only had time for a short descent to Fortescue Falls - the idea of coming back up a steep crumbly slope in the dark didn’t appeal so we left the extension trip up to Fern Lake for another day. The water was cool and refreshing and clear enough that you could see the rocks below to navigate your way in. The strata of the rocks were almost like steps as you descended down to the water. 

The following day we took a longer walk along the Class 4 route to Circular Pool, a couple of kilometres up the gorge, which presented us with the opportunity for plenty of rock-hopping and jumping along the way, that the boys loved. Every now and then as you are brushing aside hanging fronds or bushy long grass to find your way, you have to remind yourself that there could be some unwelcome visitors hanging about.  Fortunately we only came across interesting and friendly ones - a Golden Orb Spider, and a Giant Centipede and plenty of lizards, including a legless lizard. (It’s a specific variety, honest).

Golden Orb Spider

Giant Centipede

Lizard (with legs)

Frankie in the pool, Jules and Louis under the waterfall

You passed some amazing views of the impressive gorges, banded with different hues of orange and red, creating mirror-like reflections in the crystal green water below. It was a very hot morning, with no wind, and as we reached the welcome sight of Circular Pool, we were very much ready for a swim in the lake.  If you swam to the far side, after adjusting to the unexpectedly cold water, there was a warm waterfall, made so by the fact that it flows across the sun-roasted rock above the hole. We paddled there for an hour or so before coming back up a different route, and giving the boys a chance to scramble up an even steeper, crumblier route than the previous day.  We had to rein them back in frequently as they were keen to leave us behind and get to the top!

Rock-hopping

getting back to the top

A German girl from a nearby RV came to us for help and showed us some mysterious bite marks on her ankle; possible a spider.  We weren’t really able to help her very much, other than an ice-pack which didn’t seem that effective - although I think the glass of wine was welcome. She was fine in the morning so it probably wasn’t anything (immediately) fatal......

It was very pleasant to eat outside in the evening, the flies for the most part disappeared when the air cooled. Unfortunately our RV wasn’t a great off-roader so we were only able to spend a couple of days at Karijini, more’s the pity.  There remain numerous other gorges that will have to wait for our next visit!