A morning spent in 40 degree heat, 100% humidity waiting for a boat that was meant to leave an hour and a half ago. An afternoon spent lazing on a beach (skin sneakily burning) watching the make shift cocktail bar wheelbarrows roll by. The evening caught in a torrential downpour with the roads turning to rivers and the sky putting on a ferocious light show. All followed by a taxi driver whose hand is seemingly attached to the horn and intent on running something down, whether it be a pedestrian, car or texting motorcycle policeman. All in a days work in South America, Cartagena Columbia to be exact.

So I'm a little behind on my blog. Turns out there's too much fun to be had in New York for any downtime. In Columbia there has been plenty of it on various overnight buses. However I like my stuff and intended on keeping it mine so flashing about a shiny iPad has not seemed like an awesome idea. This overnight bus seems void of any sinister/sneaky looking characters so let me get you up to date. Hopefully my iPad will still be here in the morning.....

New York, New York; just as fabulous as they all say! Vibrant, cosmopolitan, exciting, diverse, completely marvelous. I had been to NYC back in 2005 during a year long backpacking trip. Needless to say funds were tight back then. This trip was a little different with two of my favorite activities indulged in, shopping and eating. I didn't want to leave. Ever.

We started in style meeting some great friends from Adelaide at a limo (just, due to traffic issues!) which took us to Yankee stadium. Was similar to heading to Footy Park with beers $10 a pop, just much more atmosphere and we were watching baseball of course. Yankees had a win and we headed to the Aussie bar to watch Hawks vs Adelaide. Terrific except it started at 3am. Very long day which ended in the Crows being robbed.

We had 7 nights in NYC and every day was packed. We walked for miles, inducing blisters but also getting to take in all the different neighborhoods (Greenwich Village still being my favorite). Did the usual highlights; Central Park, Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Centre (top of the rock), Natural History Museum ( where my search for Pocahontas was fruitless - she isn't there!!), a cruise around Manhattan and Lady Liberty, Wall street, walked over Brooklyn Bridge and along Highline park (a park in the sky on old railway tracks). My favorite activity was free, aimlessly walking the streets at night. Beautiful time to see the city.

7 years ago I'd been to the massive hole in the ground which was the world trade centre. It's was a confronting sight, twisted metal and busted concrete with homemade memorials everywhere. I went back to see the relatively new memorial, beautiful water features in a peaceful garden. That said was still quite an upsetting experience when you consider you are basically walking on a graveyard. Still, all considered i think it is fairly well done; respectful and peaceful.

A trip to Harlem on a Sunday morning was a little more uplifting. Was great to actually explore the area and then we went to a church to get some Gospel. Was just like on the movies; singing, dancing and a whole lot of 'praise the lord!!'. Fantastic! Maybe I would have enjoyed school chapel more (or at all actually) if it had been so entertaining.

We had been trying to get tickets to Book of Mormon for months with no luck. The box office offered us tickets for $300 each. A bargain price but we decided to come back to New York when it wasn't so popular! Instead we took in Evita with Ricky Martin of 'she bangs, she bangs' fame. I really liked it, Emmett didn't as it 'wasn't funny'. Not sure what he was expecting as a story that ends in death often isn't hilarious.

I mentioned shopping and eating. We did a fair bit of both, I could of happily just done that for another week. Some food highlight for any of you heading over in the future; Keste pizza and Vino - amazing pizza in a laid back restaurant and Buddakan - fantastic Asian cuisine in the super cool restaurant. We had some great nights out at a fun piano bar, don't tell mama and on the other end of the scale, Hogs and Heifers where snarly bar wenches abuse clientele and dance on the bar. It was walking back from here I was offered 'party favorites'. Turns out not the party favorites I know and love; lolly bags.

I do love a bit of star spotting, unfortunately not being a meanderer I rarely spot anyone when I walk, even friends and family. However I couldn't miss the crowd at NBC watching Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin tape 30 Rock. Nor could we miss the paparazzi outside a club for the NBA game launch. All the NBA stars were there, Malcom in the Middles, jersey shore 'stars' (so we were told), other people in expensive cars and that loser that married the Kardashian for 10 minutes.

The time came way too quickly for our flight to Bogota. We had a transit in Orlando, I may or may not have made us almost miss the connection. I do love Disneyworld. To be honest I was pretty nervous about South America, not only due to the crime issues but it would mark the start of us actually backpacking. Up the this point we had been pretty much staying in decent hotels and hadn't cooked a single meal. Time to rough it. Can I still do it at 31?!?

Bogota was a bit of a shock, we definitely left the warm weather in the States. We spent 3 nights basically recovering and didn't get a lot out of it. The weather was dreary and I was paranoid about being robbed (like the guy from our hostel on our first night!). Definitely no night time wandering allowed. When we did try and make an effort we were thwarted by mystery elections. Our planned mad Saturday night at a famous bar/restaurant just out of town had to be canned as they were dry for the elections. A bar with no alcohol?! Instead we went to its less mad but luckily still very fun city bar which was nice enough to serve alcohol. Then we attempted the highly thought of Gold Museum on Sunday, closed for the actual elections. Don't get me started on Sunday nights dinner as pretty much every restaurant was closed. Let's just say lettuce was involved and leave it at that.

Time to try the local buses with a 8 hour trip to San Gill in the mountains. To my great delight the bus ride wasn't as scary as those I lived through in Central America. Don't get me wrong the driver was still nuts with a penchant for over taking on bends but I only feared for my life occasionally, not for the duration.

San Gill itself was a lovely little town centred around the town square as most of the towns are. Happily we stumbled across Gringo Mikes on our first night which led to 2 things, a delicious meal and signing ourselves up for a full days mountain bike riding the next day.

I blame Emmett for the biking. I knew he really wanted to do it so I took one for the team. When we got to the top of the mountain and looked down I was terrified, almost vertical (perhaps a slight exaggeration, but close too) rocky, potholed, single lane 'road' and they wanted me to ride down it. I happily strapped on leg guards, elbow pads, gloves and a helmet. If they had full body armour Available I would have donned that too.

The day started at 7:15am and the riding stopped (and beers began) at 7pm. It consisted of riding down the huge mountain into a valley, over the river then driving up the next mountain, biking down it across a valley and up a never ending hill. I shifted between exhilaration and fear. Turns out rocks are not my friend, especially when they cause me to fly over the handle bars on a steep track. No one even saw it, but the hole in my glove and swollen knee told the story.

The scenery was stunning, complete with the weathered, but extremely friendly Columbia farmers (tobacco, not the other stuff) who offered an exuberant Buenos (hello) at every turn. The kids throwing rocks at us from a mountain side possibly not as friendly. We rode through a couple of Pueblo's (old villages from the trade routes of bygone eras) which were beautiful with their whitewashed houses, bright flowers and green town squares. We even went past the Peublo where FARC originated (the area was a no go zone 10-15 years ago). Out of our fantastic group of 5 only 2 finished on the bikes, Emmett being one of them. Thanks to my fall my swollen knee allowed me to sit in the support truck, drinking beers and enjoying the scenery guilt free. A fall well worth it :)

The bike trip also added to our Columbia traveller friends from Bogota. We ended up spending the next day with them all at a river, floating on inner tubes and getting burnt (that was just me). We may have also stumbled across a couple of young lovers in a compromising position. Awkward. A night bus was to take us all to Santa Marta on the coast that night.

If you ever head to Columbia know one thing, the night buses with be air conditioned to refrigerator like temperatures. We had heard the rumors but perhaps didn't take them to heart enough. We froze all night and on arrival stepped out into 35 degree heat.

Santa Marta is a great little beachside town and a starting point for many other places. Close by is the once small, quaint fishing village of Taganga, now a haven for potheads. A few of us spent the day at a nearby beach, Playa Grande, bumping into a guy we'd met in Bogota. We had dinner on the beach of Taganga where an impromptu show began. Around 200 of Columbia's police in training turned up to do some star jumps, push ups and chants then promptly throw each other into the water. Excellent viewing.

We had heard the nearby national park of Tayrona was quite beautiful, but being short on time an overnight trip wasn't an option. Instead we headed in for the day with some friends. A 45 minute walk through thick jungle had us at the first beach soaked in sweat. The beach of Arrifices has claimed many lives so we enjoyed it's beauty from the safety of the beach. We just beat the darkness to make it out. We later heard from friends we left there that a torrential storm later hit, not ideal when your sleeping in a hammock under the stars.

A bus dropped us back in town in the middle of nowhere with a few shifty looking people about. Two others left on the bus (young Columbia's) jumped in a taxi with us and dropped us off at our hostel refusing any money. Emmett and I later went out for a quiet drink. Then by chance we saw the two Columbians. Of course we all ended up in a salsa club dancing the night away fueled by beer, tequila and moijiotos. The random nights are always the best!

A rather seedy bus ride had us in Cartagena and it was immediately obvious why it is Columbia's premier tourist destination. The old walled town by the sea is full of cobbled streets with stunning whitewashed colonial houses with flowers all the colors of the rainbow cascading down their balconies. The streets are buzzing with activity, especially at night when the temperature is more manageable. It's a mix of Columbia and the Caribbean and its vibrant and fabulous.

Emmett had heard of a mud volcano just out of town which you can bath in, random, so we checked it out. Random it was. Just in front of a lake is a mini volcano. Some rickety wooden steps take you to the top and inside is mud, lots of mud. As you climb into it its so thick you actually float, which I guess is lucky as there is no bottom too it. After smothering yourself in it (apparently very good for the skin) and a bit of a laze about, a man then wipes it all off you (whilst coping a free feel). Its a treacherous journey back down the slippery stairs and onto the lake where you attempt in vain to get it all off. Quite the experience!

Cartagena comes alive at night with plenty of great salsa bars to keep one entertained. We checked out a local bar full of Columbians dressed in the popular all white combo salsa'ing the night away. My God those people can move. Club Havana apparently had the best mojitos in Columbia, I felt it my duty to test this out. Sadly the mojitos were pretty crap but the live Cuban band and fabulous dancing more than made up for it. It Was in this bar we noticed a rather disturbing phenomena of gorgeous, young Columbia girls with MUCH older men. I don't think they were grandpa's taking their daughters out for a night on the town. Another super cool set up was at Cafe Del Mar built on top of the old city wall looking over the ocean. Something for everyone indeed.

And that brings me back to today, largely spent on a beautiful, but busy, island beach; playa blanca. The taxi driver with a death wish begrudgingly (due to the weather no one wanted to go there) bought us to the bus station. We're headed for Medellin and it would seem the bus driver is just as crazy. Thank God it's dark and the front window is shut behind a door as I'm not sure I want to see why he keeps hitting the breaks so often. It's already like a fridge in here but it's kind of nice as my skin is on fire due to the nasty sun. Hopefully we make it through the night ;)