Marco-YOLO

While Sydney and Melbourne were great cities, the highlights of the trip for me were all experienced in Cairns and Port Douglas, namely:

- Eating kangaroo, crocodile and barramundi
- Diving and doing underwater photography on the Great Barrier Reef

- Catching a magnificent 92cm long Barramundi

- Driving the twisty road between Cairns and Port Douglas and back. Our Vauxhall hatchback may have not had much horsepower but it was lightweight, the wheels were close to the corners and it had a stick-shift, all of which added up to a ton of fun barreling into corners along this beautiful coastal road. To top it all, any time we turned off the road towards the ocean, we had a beautiful stretch of beach all to ourselves! Only problem being you couldn’t go into the water because saltwater crocs were supposedly everywhere.

Mexico is at war with its drug cartels which are outfitted like modern armies and are ruthless to Tarantino movie levels.

However, of all the places in the world I’ve visited, just about the only one I’m willing to go back to at the drop of a hat is Cancun, not because I don’t like any other place, but because I don’t like going back to something I’ve already seen when there is so much out there I’ve yet to see and experience.

Cancun gets to be the exception because it combines exceptional service, I mean the hotel staff will bend over backwards for you with a smile, and a smorgasbord of activites on-site or very close. Things to see/do:

- Deep sea fishing - I’ve caught amberjack, barracuda, African pompano and sailfish here.
- Mayan ruins – Tulum is closest and its coastal setting is magnificent, but the big dog without a question is Chichen Itza, a new wonder of the modern world, first settled in 800AD. While not as exciting as Tikal in Guatemala, it’s still very cool.
- Scuba diving and snorkeling – I’ve done some great drift dives here and seen great sealife up close.
- Sailing and kite surfing – Good winds = fun times. Our hotel allowed us to take their sailboats out free of charge whenever we wanted, so Colleen and I got to try our hands sailing Sunfish and Hobie Cats.
-  Supercars – There’s a track in Cancun where I drove a Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Murcielago, Mercedes SLS and Lotus Elise. Shockingly the Elise was my favorite – no electronic meddling!
- Beautiful beaches, great food, great weather, and it’s very easy to check out the resorts towns of Playa del Carmen and Cozumel as they are both nearby.