13th July 2025 at 08:10 - Damian

The Metro [1] system which opened in 1995 in the midst of the cartel troubles is the pride of Medellín. Not a single bit of graffiti or litter.

There are two lines and they're well used with 210 million rides per year. We purchased casual travel cards and a trip anywhere on the metro costs NZ$1.10 regardless of where you get off. It's cheaper if you have a personal card. Really easy to use.

You can also use your card to pay for bike hire and at supermarkets, etc.

The metro connects with busses as well as a series of cable cars and gondolas (these were critical to inclusion for the poorer neighbourhoods on the hills). We're going to use these tomorrow when we visit Parque Arví.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medell%C3%ADn_Metro

13th July 2025 at 07:55 - Damian

A note about Pablo Escobar. It's not easy to discuss the topic in Medellín as there are too many strong feelings about him. It's still too raw.

It seems anyone who lived through the time absolutely hates him and everything he stood for. They hate the destruction he brought and many people were personally affected by the huge number of murders and collateral damage.

There is a younger generation that have only been exposed to the 'history' of it through Netflix and see him as a bit of a cool renegade. This isn't helped by the fact that it's a bit of a taboo topic so they only get the Holywood version.

13th July 2025 at 07:46 - Damian

This morning we went on a walking tour of the centre of Medellín [1]. Really excellent information on the history (generally negative) and future (generally positive) of the city and region.

Some interesting lessons on the unintended consequences of prohibition and economic protectionism and the dangers of both the extreme left (FARC) and extreme right (paramilitary).

Also super interesting how good transport infrastructure can make a city more inclusive to the poorer communities on the outskirts and how a focus on education and civic spaces for everyone has a massive effect on reducing crime.

1. https://realcitytours.com/free-walking-tour/

13th July 2025 at 00:53 - Damian

13th July 2025 at 00:49 - Damian

After the wedding up in Guatapé we relocated to a hotel/apartment in Medellín in the Laureles district.

Very impressed with Medellín so far. It's got a real up-and-coming vibe to it and feels safer than many US cities we visited last year.

Yesterday we did a 4-hour guided e-bike tour along with Richard and Krista and two others. We got to learn a lot about the history of the place and ate fresh fruits as well as a bunch of different styles of fried foods and breads.

12th July 2025 at 01:54 - Damian

Colombian coffee plus empanada for NZD$3.10 (7500 COP)

11th July 2025 at 09:16 - Damian

On Tuesday (the day before the wedding) we took a taxi into Guatapé where we poked around and had lunch with a few of our fellow guests.

From there we hired a couple of tuktuks to visit La Piedra/El Peñol[1] which is a giant rock with stairs. 700ish steps made slightly harder by the thinner air at 2000m.

Richard and Krista had brought their own climbing gear from NZ and climbed the other side of the rock earlier that morning. It took them about two hours. They thought it was all ok to climb but found fresh razor wire at the top and were detained by police after being ushered back down the steps. No charges laid. They're nuts.

I managed to catch a cold at some point during our flights and it had kicked in on this day with lots of sneezing and insta-drip nose.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Pe%C3%B1%C3%B3n_de_Guatap%C3%A9

10th July 2025 at 02:08 - Damian

The trip from Auckland to Medellín via Houston and Fort Lauderdale was arduous but reasonably uneventful. It took over two hours to clear immigration in Medellín.

From Medellín airport to our accommodation for the wedding near Guatapé we took a 1.5hr taxi ride. Remind me to never complain about NZ driving again.

The wedding venue is incredible with views over a lake and it was great to catch up with Yif and Millie as well as a few other familiar faces when we arrived.

6th July 2025 at 08:14 - Damian

Today we fly to Central and South America for a few weeks.

We're heading first to Yif and Millie's wedding in Guatapé [1] in Colombia via Houston and Fort Lauderdale. After the wedding we spend a few days in nearby Medellín [2]. We travel to Quito [3] in Ecuador for another few days before heading to Galapagos [4] for a 9-day tour with Intrepid. A few days back in Cartagena [5] in Colombia before heading to Costa Rica [6] for two-week tour once again with Intrepid. After that I return home via Houston and Sally detours to NYC for a fortnight with Adrienne.

We've never used organised tour companies before so will be interesting to see how it goes. There's no other option for Galapagos. It certainly saves a lot of planning!

1st July 2025 at 06:30 - Damian

12 months ago we decided to attempt to walk 1200km over the period of a year. I'm pleased to say we've managed to exceed that with 1373km 🎉

We only counted walks over 30 minutes and we included kayaking kms.

We found it easy while on the road but once home we tended to flatline. I managed to find a routine with regular hour-long walks locally while listening to audiobooks.

4th June 2025 at 13:16 - Damian

A big shout out to Grant's Auto Upholstery in Wairau, Auckland for his outstanding job of restoring the flaking faux leather in the van's seats.

He's looking to retire so we might have to get a bunch more stuff done before that happens!

5th May 2025 at 12:43 - Damian

It's a nice, clear, calm day today so we've paddled on the incoming tide from Birkenhead wharf to Little Creatures in Hobsonville Point. 8.3km and 1.25hr each way.

11th April 2025 at 08:54 - Damian

Not totally travel-related.

Our 30A DC-DC converter that charges the LiFePO4 battery from the alternator was getting too hot. Fortunately we didn't need it with the solar over the last summer.

I've mounted a computer fan behind the heat sink along with a 50°C thermal switch and it works perfectly!

It took 20 mins of charging to get from 20°C to 50°C, the fan came on and cooled it back to 35°C in 90 seconds. It takes around 10 mins to climb back again. Rinse, repeat.

🤓

31st March 2025 at 10:14 - Damian

The numbers for our 51-day South Island kayaking trip trip for posterity:

3670km total averaging 9.4L diesel / 100km = $837 = $16/day (incl RUCs).

Accommodation = $546 = $11/day.
LPG = 137g/day = $0.55/day.
Food = $2600 = $51/day.
Other = $515 = $11/day.

Total = $89/day.

This time we cooked a lot more of our own meals which saved us around $50 a day compared to the last trip (https://mastodon.nz/@peterson/113773221693171619). And was probably healthier.

https://travel.peterson.nz/nz.html

28th March 2025 at 13:13 - Damian

Homemade bread cheese toasties!

27th March 2025 at 13:36 - Damian

This morning on the way through Taupo we paddled from Acacia Bay to the maori rock carvings. A nice 10km paddle with perfect weather.

Now for an ice cream!

26th March 2025 at 18:04 - Damian

Today we fed some Little Penguins at the National Aquarium in Napier. They're so cute and each has a distinct personality.

25th March 2025 at 17:59 - Damian

Our Bluebridge crossing was cancelled (reason given was "engineering issues lol") so we crossed 12 hours later and arrived in Wellington late. We ended up parking on the road near Evans Bay to sleep.

This morning we drove to Mākara for a 7.5km walk along the cliffs to the gun emplacements and one of the wind turbines, Ōpau Bay and back along the shoreline.

After that, drove to Tawa for an excellent pie from Nada Bakery and on to Palmy where we visited Wildbase (https://wildbaserecovery.co.nz/).

23rd March 2025 at 17:34 - Damian

We're finishing up our two-month top of the South kayaking trip. It's a great time of the year to explore the area being outside of the school holidays and the weather has been brilliant.

All up we kayaked 235km over 16 trips. No aches or injuries. If the weather is right it's a lot faster than tramping and we can carry more gear. We found that we averaged around 6km/h paddling and we weren't in a hurry.

Sally's favourite was Queen Charlotte Sound and mine was Able Tasman.

22nd March 2025 at 13:57 - Damian

For our last two nights in the top of the South we're back at Momorangi DOC campground. It's our second-favourite DOC campground in the South Island.

On Monday we cross back to the North Island and meander home with a stop at Lake Karapiro to watch the finals of the Maadi Cup (go Charlotte and Andy!).