brodie.mcculloch
adventures of a rogue thinker.
I live and work in the most isolated city in the world. I am passionate about social innovation, entrepreneurship, marketing, travel, technology, government 2.0, sustainability, design, photography and have been known to have entrepreneurial tendencies.
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getting scuba qualified in Cozumel, Mexico
I finally organized to get open water scuba qualified in Cozumel, tomorrow I have my second lesson which I am excited about. On the first lesson we got straight into it and were underwater in about 10 minuets after some brief instructions…….I love mexico.
There is a group of us doing it from the ship, 2 youth councilors, one shop guy and one other shore ex staff. Everyone really enjoyed the first dive, it was off the beach but I got to see a eel which made mel (one of the YC’s) freak out. Gold.
It Is working out to be really cheap but is going to take 4 Cozumel’s to get qualified because we are only there every second week. At least I will have done something really good this contract (and saved money and learnt Spanish and got fit…..oh-o).
So I should be fully qualified in about 1 more month, it will be worth it though.
Xcarat eco-park in Playa Del Carmen
It was the second time I have been over the the main land from Cozumel, last time I went to see the Myan ruins at Tulum which was great (that was at the start of the year). This time I went to see the Xcarat eco-park which is sort of like a theme park with lots of animals and stuff everywhere.
life is hard on a private yacht in Cozumel
We have started offering a private yacht tour and lobster lunch this season, it looked good but was $2500 for 12 people which I thought could make it hard to sell. After going on it tour I am sure that it would be well worth the money.
relaxing on the yacht
it had a bed on the front
look over there some dingos
me and the yacht
The yacht is a $600,000 luxury vessel that has a bar, bed, living area and bathroom, it also has a couch on the front which was nice to lay on for the whole trip.
Even though it was a evaluation trip we took Patrick and Brittany along with the rest of the shore ex team (besides matt who was on the mainland).
We were picked up from the ship at about 12 noon and then headed for the other side of the island. They took us to a private beach where we were able to swim right off the boat, I am glad my camera is waterproof because the water was so clear I had to go swimming with it.
After a swim we had lunch and headed back to the ship (there was work to do). But this week there was a hurricane in the Caribbean so the water was rough, it took about twice the amount of time to get back (it was fun though).
BTW I love Mexican police, they are getting around on segways -
I love mexican police
I got some nice photos of everyone and the boat, you can see them here or all my photos on flickr.
Acapulco cliff divers
This time I actually managed to get to see the cliff divers, and they are some crazy crazy people. Some of the hights they jumped off were amazing.
the view from the hotel we walked into (and ate free salsa, well it was someones salsa)
its a long way up ( or down)
ouch, and we watched them do this stuff 5 times
I walked there and then went into a hotel to watch, it is cool how you can go just about anywhere in mexico as long as you buy a beer. After watching the cliff divers it was time to go out in mexico, the normal cruise ship crew places were hit. I opted not to go bungi jumping this time as I checked that off the list last time.
an island of acapulco
Anyway it was a good night followed by a day of sleep the next day.
rocking it in Puerto Vallarta
In Puerto Vallarta we dispatched the tours and then one of the operators from the pirate cruise ship people showed us around the city and then we went to one of the hotels that the company he works for owns. It was a nice resort and was our first chance to go for a swim and all that jaz.
party city Vallarta
finally a swim
We also had lunch at the hotel which was nice, I thought all the lunches would stop after Alaska but what can you do.beach horse back riding in Cabo San Lucas
It is so good to be back in hot weather. I forgot how good it is but now i remember and it is great. Today we stopped at our first port on the 14 day panama canal relocation cruise. We stopped in Cabo on the way through on the first time but I was confined to the med center.....and didn't get to see much.
i like cabo
We had to dispatch tours for the first few hours (i do work on the ship and all) but then we went ashore and had lunch with on of the mexican tour operators which was nice. The water is really blue in Cabo but i didn't get a chance to go swimming which is a bit of a pain, I did go swimming twice in Alaska but the water was a bit cold.
our horses
After lunch I decided that going Horse back riding on the beach was the go, it turned out to be allot better than I had expected. I didn't get along with my horse though, it had a bit of a attitude and I sensed it really didn't like me.
lili and my horses head
At least I was light enough to ride a horse (hmm.....geordie).
horse prints in the sand
hawk in the sky and the mexican landscape
The ride went for allot longer than I thought it would which was nice. It was funny though, some people on the tour from Texas commented that they can go horse back riding in the same sort of country at home.......I asked them why they did the tour......I dont think they liked that to much, oh well.
I like this photo, thats all.
Oh-o my tummy feels bad in Cabo San Lucas
When I woke up I new that this was going to be a bad day. I got dressed and went to work knowing what needed to be done. We dispatched all the tours before 10 then I went and told my boss that I needed to go to the doctor, he said “stay away from me you dirty bastard and stop licking door knobs†then he gave me a note and I went to the doctor. He said “howzit†(he is South African, they all say howzit for some reason) and told him I had GI …..again, he laughed and said “sorry my man, but you shall have to be isolated for 3 daysâ€
I have become quite good friends with the medical staff because I frequent their facilities often. First with GI, then with a cut up hand, then with a severed toe, and now with GI again (all in 2 months).
I did get some photos of “ lovers beach†from the ship which is the high light of Cabo San Lucas, however I was then taken to isolation so I cant tell you much about it.
lover beach
 Now I am in isolation I have a chance to catch up on emails and fill everyone in with what’s been happening, I will get a chance to upload more photos in san fran when I get out of isolation. Yay.Off road adventure in Porto Vallarta
When you think bungie jumping, think Mexico.
When a Mexican offers you 30 % off to go bungie jumping and says it is the safest in the world you should believe him….. well that’s what I thought after a few tequilas anyway.
So I went bungie jumping in Mexico, it is 160 ft up and I have the dvd to prove it. It was good fun and I am glad I did it, although I had no choice because our assistant manager did it and as I got there some of the spa girls were jumping, so I didn’t have a choice.
taxis in acupulco
This all happened at a bar / club called paradise in Acapulco. There is a bungie tower next door and I felt special at the start of the night, but towards the end it turns out half the ship did it.After bungie jumping I went to a club up on the hill side called palladium, it looked over the whole of Acapulco which looked really amazing at night, also we could see the ship all lit up. It was 40$ US to get in but it was a open bar, had I gone there before 2:00 am this would have been a good deal but I was a bit late. The next morning I was advised that I was the last person back on the ship at 6:30 this was all ok but I had boat drill in a few hours and my head hurt. Oh well I was only going to be there once, also it was the only overnight stay of my contract.
boat drill....ouch
As for the rest of Acapulco it looked good but I didn’t get to see much as I was working during the day and then partying at night. No one got caught in any “drug wars†though so that was good.
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