Books

These ones are roughly in order, most of the series would've been broken up by the adjacent books:

Return of the Crimson Guard - Ian C. Esslemont
Stonewielder - Ian C. Esslemont
Orb, Sceptre, Throne - Ian C. Esslemont
Blood and Bone - Ian C. Esslemont
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Minority Report - Philip K. Dick
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin
A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin
A Feast for Crows - George R.R. Martin
A Dance with Dragons - George R.R. Martin
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig
Fever Crumb - Philip Reeve
A Web of Air - Philip Reeve
Scrivener's Moon - Philip Reeve
Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve
Predator's Gold - Philip Reeve
Infernal Devices - Philip Reeve
A Darkling Plain - Philip Reeve
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
What is the What - Dave Eggers
Dune - Frank Herbert
Imajica - Clive Barker
Bauchelain and Kerbal Broach - Steven Erikson
Forge of Darkness - Steven Erikson
The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
The Prestige - Christopher Priest
The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal - J.K. Rowling
Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Empire - Isaac Asimov
Second Foundation - Isaac Asimov

Now they're actually in order:

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb
Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
Foundation's Edge - Isaac Asimov
Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb
The Willful Child - Steven Erikson
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick
Assail - Ian C. Esslemont
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Foundation and Earth - Isaac Asimov
Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence
King of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

Emperor of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett

The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett

Black Swan Green - David Mitchell

Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett

Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior - Dan Millman
Sailing to Sarantium - Guy Gavriel Kay
Lord of Emperors - Guy Gavriel Kay
Prelude to Foundation - Isaac Asimov

The Last Light of the Sun - Guy Gavriel Kay

Forward the Foundation - Isaac Asimov

Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay

River of Stars - Guy Gavriel Kay

Elantris - Brandon Sanderson

Sourcery - Terry Pratchett

Latin America -> Europe

The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan

The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan

The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan

The Fires of Heaven - Robert Jordan

Lord of Chaos - Robert Jordan

A Crown of Swords - Robert Jordan

The Path of Daggers - Robert Jordan

Winter's Heart - Robert Jordan

Crossroads of Twilight - Robert Jordan

Knife of Dreams - Robert Jordan

A Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan

Towers of Midnight - Robert Jordan

A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan

Blindsight - Peter Watts

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson

The Martian - Andy Weir

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick

The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter

The Long War - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter

Hell's Angel - Hunter S. Thompson

NZ

The Summer Tree - Guy Gavriel Kay

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

The Wandering Fire - Guy Gavriel Kay
Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Darkest Road - Guy Gavriel Kay
Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
The Long Mars - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
Ship of Magic - Robin Hobb
Pyramids - Terry Pratchett
Mad Ship - Robin Hobb
Ship of Destiny - Robin Hobb

Dancer's Lament - Ian C. Esslemont
Shadows of Self - Brandon Sanderson

Blindsight - Peter Watts

The Bands of Mourning - Brandon Sanderson

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Echopraxia - Peter Watts
The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
Fall of Light - Steven Erikson
Fool's Errand - Robin Hobb

Once Upon A Time In The North - Philip Pullman

The Golden Fool - Robin Hobb

Fool's Fate - Robin Hobb

The Stranger - Albert Camus

Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb 

Dragon Haven - Robin Hobb

City of Dragons - Robin Hobb

Blood of Dragons - Robin Hobb

A Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson

Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone - GS Denning

The Reptile Room - Lemony Snicket

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay

Warlock Holmes: The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles - GS Denning

A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

The Sign of Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

No Country or Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

Sailing to Sarantium - Guy Gavriel Kay

Lord of Emperors - Guy Gavriel Kay

The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

Eric - Terry Pratchett

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay

Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett

Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay

River of Stars - Guy Gavriel Kay

Willful Child - Steven Erikson

Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

Fool's Assassin - Robin Hobb

Fool's Quest - Robin Hobb

Assassin's Fate - Robin Hobb

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson

Goodbye, Caribbean!

The day after we arrived in Cartagena we went to explore the old town, the city's main attraction. It's a really nice, well-preserved Colonial town, surrounded by a wall you can walk around on. We walked around the walls a bit, got icecreams and visited a couple of bookshops, but most things were quite expensive so nothing more.

Statue of a vulture?

There was a whole bunch of these guys round doing a whole bunch of different things.

These tags are from Getsemanì, the cheaper neighbourhood near the walled-off centre.

We then spent a couple of days sitting around in the hostel being generally hot and not doing much. Halloween happened around then, so we went to the market to buy a variety of delicious tropical fruits (who knew how many kinds of tasty-as-fuck passionfruit-like fruits there are?) which we juiced and mixed with rum.

After Callum and Ariel went to Medellìn, I went to this place:

How to take photo of thing with weird shadow :/

This was, for a few years, the centre of the Inquisition in Latin America. However I think it was mostly an administrative centre, because now, while it's a museum full of torture devices, most of them say on their sign that they weren't actually used in the building. But fuck it, it was interesting, so here's some creative ways to hurt people:

Scale to find out if you're a witch.

I probably should've taken photos of what these things are actually for...

Table of witchcraft

I'm pretty sure this thing was for crushing chins.

This one was for crushing fingernails.

Person-stretcher.

A nice necklace.

 

This guy had problems with drawing eyes I think...

The next day I visited the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas. This was built by the Spanish to fight pirates, and was never taken.

Wish I'd known about this. I'd never consider trying to see the Royal Family in NZ, but would've been all over it here!

One of the more interesting things about the castle is the whole thing is full of tunnels. Unfortunately, there isn't much in said tunnels.

Old-school hospital

The day after the Castle, I left Cartagena for Santa Marta, which doesn't have much going for it except as a stopping point for the rest of the Caribbean Coast. I stayed a night there then started the 4-5 day trek to the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City).

The trek started in a small town called El Mamey (themselves.   Pelea: machete fight). The first day was about 4 hours up a hill then down the other side.

Top of the hill.

A lot of the path was like this. Luckily we got basically no rain, but it'd be hellish if it was wet.

Our stop for the first night. There was a cool little waterfall we could jump off, and much delicious food to be had.

The 2nd day was about 7 rarely-flat hours to reach the camping place before the ruins themselves.

Traditional village, currently empty. They only really use their villages when they have meetings and celebrations and so on, and spend the rest of the time on their fields munching on coca leaf. 

Who needs a tripod? 

The 3rd day started off pretty easy, until we came to the entrance of the ruins, which is 1200 steps. Even without rain they were slippery, and I can't even imagine making the things 400 years ago...

Near the entrance to the ruins. The majority of the ruins are circles like this, which were the bases for houses or whatever was needed. The ones near the entrance were the market area I believe.

Much of the site had to be reconstructed. Some archaeologist said there should be a wall at the top of the photo and it was built before they realised it was a staircase. Silly archaeologists. 

More fucking stairs.

This is what life's about. The location was truly breathtaking. Anyone got some spare hair though? :( 

Due to recent (though I'm not sure how recent) guerrilla activity, there's about 60 soldiers permanently posted at the ruins. 

If I remember correctly the guide said these were the punishment unit for the locals. If they broke rules they'd have to live in these houses away from their families, and were assigned hard physical work. The men are also deprived of their coca leaves. 

This guy didn't think he could make it all the way back so he hired a mule for the last 2 days. 

The chef saw this guy and excitedly took photos with all our cameras. 

Our last swim, of which we had many. 

After the trek, I stayed a couple of days in Santa Marta, not realising that my next destination was so close. The bus to Taganga from Santa Marta is about 15 minutes over a hill, so I had most of a day free. I'd read about the dive safaris offered by one dive shop in town, Calipso Divers, so I signed up for one with the intention of staying a few more days in Taganga then heading up the coast further. Because I arrived a day later than the safari left, the next day I got driven in to the park on an old road that's been torn up by years of abusive bus drivers. Then the boat took me to where I was staying, the then-deserted Playa del Amor (beach of love). I did 2 dives during the day that day, and 1 at night, and completely fell in love with diving again. Being able to chill on the empty beach and read and chat was the icing on the cake.

Epic hammock from La Guajira, a really remote desert peninsula near the border with Venezuela. Apparently they cost about NZ$400, but this one cost 2 dive courses. 

The second night, after more dives, I chatted with the owner of Calipso, Roberto, who told me about the logistics of operating so deep in the national park, and the politics of being able to do so. Essentially they're the only dive shop that's allowed to due to some combination of tradition and the fact that they ran a coral restoration program, where they grew broken fragments of coral into pieces that could be transplanted back into nature. However, sometime in the last few years the national park management decided they didn't want to continue investing and cut off the project. Naturally Roberto was pissed off coz he just wants to carry on, and now that it's all established doesn't even need their money, but despite that they aren't keen to let him continue.

After a couple of days in Taganga, hanging out with all the cool cats there I went back and signed up for a 2-day coral specialisation program they have at Calipso, and during that trip, Roberto proposed that I stay on to do a dive master course and then work for him through the high season (which runs late December-late January). I thought about it a bit and signed up.

So I dove every day for a while, and had a blast hanging out with the folks in the hostel in Taganga (including a baller as fuck Thanksgiving Dinner) and drinking too much maracuyà juice.

A couple of weeks later a bit of shit happened, including me getting chikungunya (look it up, it fucking sucks) and being barely able to walk for a few days at a time, with fever and fatigue and so on. Supposedly the symptoms can come back every week or 2 for a few months, and I wasn't enjoying the diving so much, so I sadly left Taganga to travel to Medellìn with 2 good friends. This was an ordeal in itself, having to carry my pack and everything around when every step was agony, but here I am.