This is the last blog entry of our trip. The emotions are mixed. Sadness that this incredible life experience has come to a close and excitement to see our friends and family again. I always say about traveling that you don't know how amazing it was, how much you have learned or the effect it has had on you until months after it has ended. The reality of what you did, experienced, lived, comes through in waves of smiles weeks and months down the line.

We have learnt so much. Learning by visiting, learning by exploring, learning by talking to people. Understanding how each country deals with political, social, cultural and environmental challenges. We learnt about the melting Bolivian glaciers from climatic changes and the massive impact that is is having on South America's poorest country. We got to see first hand the massive water shortages in Australia, which is fast becoming the biggest problem that country will face in future years. We got a greater understanding conflicts and regimes. The disappearings of thousands of people in Argentina during the notorious years of military rule in the late 70s, early 80s. The sadness upon learning much more deeply what the people of Laos and Vietnam have been through during the war with the US, and the genocide of millions of Cambodians during the Khymer Rouge years.

We have seen an unbelievable amount of wonderful places walking through the worlds own movie set. The power of Iguassu Falls, the grace of Angel Falls. The fairytale beauty of evenings in Cartagena, the tango shows of colorful Buenos Aires, the sheer craziness of Bangkok nights. Watching sunrises at spectacular Machu Pichu and serene Angwar Wat, watching the sunset over the Bohemia that is Valparaiso, in the wildness of Australia's outback and the idyllic seas of the Gulf of Thailand. Swimming with wild dolphins, whale sharks and giant sea lions. Tasting a whole manner of food fusions, trying anything and everything - how we managed to get food poisoning only once is a miracle.

We had some crazy moments. Flying around on motorbikes in Vietnam, standing in shorts in a Brazilian river fishing for piranha, jumping off a cliff in Lima to go paragliding, having a pilot fly us to the Canaima National Park while reading his newspaper over the controls. Whizzing down the death road in Bolivia on mountain bikes and watching people fight snakes in Thailand and Laos.

Our greatest memories though are the friendliness of the people we met in every country. From the family that saved us in Maracaibo in Venezuela when the bus dropped us in the middle of nowhere in a dangerous spot, to the warmth of the Peruvian family we stayed with on Lake Titicaca, to the generosity of our friends in Australia who provided us with some much needed home comforts whilst we were there. 

We called this blog "In Search Of Adventure", it was certainly that and a whole lot more. Providing we look after this world, respect each others cultures and religions, ensure the cruelness of regimes and wars are learnt from then this really can be a beautiful world. Julie and I march on into the next chapter of our lives with a wiser and more open mind, we can't wait.