NZ was great - but we have now left it. Our website should give you an update soon when we get a bit of free time from studying (see below). We are now safely installed in Ecuador (Quito). This really is becoming a bit WOW! now. Not felt this excited since I was a small boy!! Even though it is a large city (small by Capitals'standards) it feels like an adventure actually being here in Latin America. We spent the first two nights in a small hotel in the centre just getting by in our very basic Spanish. On day two we enrolled into a concentrated 9 day Spanish course at one of the city's language schools. We each have one-to-one tuition from local tutors which is extremely good. Languages has never been my forte so I entered the course with much trepidation but in actual fact, it is great fun. Michelle, being a linguistic genuis, has of course taken it in her stride!!! (needless to say is also muchos enjoying it too). To put the icing on the cake we have gone the whole hog and have found host families to put us up for our remaining 9 days in Quito while we attend full-time school. We have opted to stay with separate families so that we must each converse 100% in Spanish with our hosts with no English to distract us. This also means that we get to enjoy someone else's company after 4 months on the road together!!!!!!!! It is such fun (the Ecuadorian hosts that is, not the being apart in case you are wonmdering!) and as you would imagine the families are great. Mine is based in a 4 bedroom apartment on the west side of the centre, about 30 mins walk to school. Mum, dad and student daughter are lovely and are expert tutors (& v patient with me). My new 'Dad' is Dean of one of the city's universties (universidads we say here - no pun intended!!). 'Mum' works in the same street as the house and daughter is at international university in Quito. I can honestly say that after only a 12 hour basic course in London and 16 hours so far here in Quito, I can already converse simpy with my hosts (albeit at my own pace and with numerous errors). This has filled me with much optimism for the 30+ hours of lessons remaining next week. Michelle's family is also lovely but she is suffering a bit from the provision of more basic sustinence (read meals) in comparison to moi but she has hit it off v well with my family so she can come to 'my place' to visit!! M's family is on the other side of the Cuidad Centro (City Centre to you non-Spanish out there!) from me. Her folks own a block on a quiet street with apartments above their shop below. Her folks' Spansh dialect is harder to understand than my hosts so M has to concentrate hard! Her family cat has also taken a liking to her, following her round like a puppy. It does not stop whining and no matter how beastly she tries to behave, it comes back for more!! Strange that. So far in Quito, we have been for a number of walks to explore the ancient architecture etc. Most inspiring. We have also taken a cable-car to a mountain overlooking the city. What a view for a packed lunch! The mountain is at around 13,500 feet above sea level and the city itself is almost at 10,000 feet. We are still struggling with the altitude even after 4 days. When we make the mistake of bounding up a flight of stairs (as one does), you arrive at the top feeling as if you have run a marathon. Most strange. Hope we acclimatize soon........ For the next 5 days we concentrate on improving our language skills. Next weekend we will set off for trips to mountains, volcanoes, roof-top, train-rides, boat rides in the jungle, visit to Equator & maybe coast too. WHAT AN ADVENTURE!! So much more interesting now that we can converse semi-properly with the very friendly locals. Just under 4 months left to explore at least part of this wonderful continent. Hope it's enough! Will report in again soon and providfe NZ and Ecuador pics & more news. Jez (..........& M in her absence; she is doing her homework at home 5 km away with no internet access - boo-hoo!!!)