dennis and the volcano

the coolest thing i have seen on this trip so far... or one of them at least. was climbing up to and seeing Pacaya volcano erupting. you can't describe seeing it. pictures look cool but being there was 1000000000 (give or take a few) times even more impressive.
another cool thing which i appreciate is everytime i walk out of my place here in Antigua all i have to do is look south down the street and looming over the town is a volcano, Agua it's called, and it's extinct so no worries. off to other side can also see two other volcanoes. Fuego still smokes and glows.

Captain Lignoid leads the crew up the volcano.

that be cooled down lava from the volcano as seen from top of a cliff. as the mist came in

see it's mist right behing me coming over a massive section of cooled lava

and this is the view off to other volcanoes. farking awesome hey?

on top of said lava. it has a solid crust but underneath you can still feel the heat from...

... the hot lava just below the surface. we cooked marshmallows on this lava. i also singed some leg hair while we were sitting waiting for the sun to set so we could see this...

and Pacaya goes off.

it was... wow!

reilly's christmas party

the Reilly's christmas party came about on the 2nd of January. even though i was yet to have my first shift there (at Reillys Irish Tavern) i was invited along. great fun day

w/ some backyard cricket during the day. that's Kenef bowlin, Jezza fielding and me batting. Kenny got the stumps and bat made at the local market for a few quetzales.

... and i'm out. notice the great pose by Jereme for this one. brilliant ¿howzat? call

and the night progressed and here is clockwise from me: Lan (also from Sydney), Kenny, Jereme, Carias (El Salvador), Oriane (France) and Tim.

in the tent out the back. there was dancing, jumping, drinking, hugging, commando rolls, and all sorts

the boys again

the fountain in the central park here in Antigua. see it's not just partying

watering holes...

... or also known as bars, pubs, taverns, hostels or other places where i have drank since arriving in Mexico

1. hostel amigo, mexico city, mexico
2. patio de mi casa, mexico city, mexico
3. palacio de deportes, mexico city, mexico
4. la condessa, mexico city, mexico
5.holiday inn terraza, mexico city, mexico
6.hotel moneda, mexico city, mexico
7. pueblo g, mexico city, mexico
8. wipeout, puerto escondido, mexico
9. barfly, puerto escondido, mexico
10.blue station, puerto escondido, mexico
11.puesta, zipolite, mexico
12. (?), zipolite, mexico
13. toscada pelicano, zipolite, mexico
14. silvia, maguey, mexico
15. restaurante arrecife, la entrega, mexico
16. emiliano's moustache, san cristobal de las casas, mexico
17. revolucion, san cristobal de las casas, mexico
18. tierra de (?), san cristobal de las casas, mexico
19. cantina y comedor lucy, huehuetenango, guatemala
20. johnny's, monterrico, guatemala
21. parque hawaii, hawaii, guatemala
22. tienda fabiola, hawaii, guatemala
23. tienda (?), hawaii, guatemala
24. el paso, antigua, guatemala
25. reilly's, antigua, guatemala
26. riki's, antigua, guatemala
27. cafe 2000, antigua, guatemala
28. reds, antigua, guatemala
29. tienda (?), el gariton, guatemala
30. tienda (?), el gariton, guatemala
31. el animal desconecido, monterrico, guatemala
32. dulce y salado, monterrico, guatemala
33. don carlos, monterrico, guatemala
34. tekuani kal, playa el tunco, el salvador
35. erika's, playa el tunco, el salvador
36. roca sunzal, playa el tunco, el salvador
37. papaya's place, playa el tunco, el salvador
38. taberna los pelicanos, monterrico, guatemala
39. eco beach, monterrico, guatemala
40. jungle party, antigua, guatemala
41. las palmas, antigua, guatemala
42. monoloco, antigua, guatemala
43. buddha bar, san pedro, guatemala
44. freedom bar, san pedro, guatemala
45. maritza's hostel, san pedro, guatemala
46. the alegre pub, san pedro, guatemala
47. el club, antigua, guatemala
48. cafe no se, antigua, guatemala
49. cafe sky, antigua, guatemala
50. faya wata, san ignacio, belize
51. (?), dangriga, belize
52. pickled parrot, placencia, belize
53. sugar reef, placencia, belize
54. tipsy tuna, placencia, belize
55. purple parrot, san pedro (ambergris caye), belize
56. holiday hotel, san pedro (ambergris caye), belize
57. canibal's, san pedro (ambergris caye), belize
58. b.c.'s, san pedro (ambergris caye), belize
59. captain morgan's, north ambergris, belize
60. el patio, san pedro (ambergris caye), belize
61. coral beach, san pedro (ambergris caye), belize
62. barrier reef sports bar, caye caulker, belize
63. rasta pasta, caye caulker, belize
64. (?), caye caulker, belize
65. restaurante jennifer, flores, guatemala
66. earth lodge, el hato, guatemala
67. diligencia, antigua, guatemala
68. el muro, antigua, guatemala
69. luna de miel, antigua, guatemala

and w/ plenty more to come i can guarantee you.

salud/cheers

new years and so on and so forth

back in La Antigua... life goes on

Calle means street in spanish. Pilitas... ask someone that speaks Portuguese

at a little bar by the markets in Antigua w/ the boys

where i bought this tshirt for 5 quetzales. we have funny tshirt nights often around here. this one rocks

and at dinner w/ Darren, Seka (El Salvador), Lan, Cassie (both from Sydney, we even used to go to the same bars although never met there), Bree me and Kenny

let's have a parade
it's been so long since we had a parade, so let's have a parade!
let's invite all our friends
and all our friends' friends!
let's promenade down the boulevards with terrific pride and light in our eyes
twelve feet tall and staggering
sick with joy with the angels there and light in our eyes

Jezza and Timoteo hard at work at Reilly's... one of the stupid t-shirt nights. more since. as well as only talking in the 3rd person nights (sundays). nametag nights. we do our best to have fun

spent new years at an avocado farm on a mountainside overlooking five towns w/ Julia. that be our cabin.

view from the Earth Lodge. stunning

me swinging on a rope swing over the edge

there is the swing and the view. you could see fireworks from all five towns in the valley at night. incredible!

you better belize it

visited Belize for two weeks or so during the christmas period. (had to leave Guatemala as my 90 day visa was up)

first town we stayed in was San Ignacio close to the border. an adventure getting there as it had rained for the last week or so so all the roads leading to the border were just full of mud and no bus could go through. ended up having to get on the back of a pickup which came close to tipping over at one stage. met a local in San Ignacio who told us of this little known waterhole in a close by village called Cristo Rey so we got a taxi there. after asking a few people we finally found the spot. really cool chilled swimming hole.

eventually left it for Dangriga. needed some beach time.

not quite as good as we expected the actual beach (not enough sand and a bit dirty) so we went further south to ...

Placencia. now this place was pretty cool. it also has the worlds narrowest main street. which is a metre wide walkway that winds parallel to the beach. relaxed town

...

had a dream i was skating. woke up very happy

while in Placencia we went swimming one night and there was phosphorescence in the water. it looked amazing as you moved and swam around

in Ambergris Caye. one arvo Khris and I (Khris and Steph came down from the US for xmas) sat at a bar w/ some of the worst music (some redneck country music, no seriously one of chorus lines was "I'm just a redneck in a rock'n'roll bar") and there were a few kids out playing in the water for ages. looked so much fun

nice poses hej? me, Khris, Steph, Anna and Chad

beautiful synchronised diving

our christmas dinner (christmas eve)

in Caye Caulker w/ Anna. loved this island.

little girl who was singing along to the music she was listening to. another day we were lounging on a dock and we could hear a fewgirls singing out by beach. just for the fun of it. it was so cool

watched lemony snickets or whatever that film was called. really good costume design and general cinematography

Central Farm. didn't get enough time to stop here, which i wanted to do as i was going to try and get a photo of a house where Charles (who i worked w/ in Sydney) used to live in about 40 years ago. would have been cool... maybe next time. who knows

tikal

most of drawings lately are still in black and white stages but will update colour versions soon... but for now here it goes.

drawn at 5am or so. there is some writing next to this by a friend

Jereme, a mate from Sydney, who i met in Guate, many a funny night w/ him and rest of Antigua crew. we are 'get a dog up ya!'. wait until you see the Australia day tee's we are designing

tikal had a load of animals, can't remember what these are called but there were also toucans, other birds and monkeys (one tried to shit on us from up the tree as we were looking up at them).

climbing up one of the temples. the view from these over the surrounding area was amazing. am getting a series of photos photostitched and will update it here when i get it back

another area of temples. a few of these

climbed a temple opposite this one about as high

temple V. on first day we only saw temple VI as we got there at 16:30 or so and the curfew is 18:00 and pretty much as soon as we walked in it started raining. so we took shelter and waited for rain to stop... it didn't so we started walking back out close to 18:00. it was dark and we had no torch so could barely see in front of us... then there were all the water pools on the path. just had to venture forth as there was no way any of us was stepping into the jungle to go around water. impressive jungle all around, so easy to get lost there i imagine.

till next time