We left with plenty of time to get to the airport with the Cancun shuttle people picking us up at 9am for the flight at 12:10pm.

The queue on arrival at Cancun airport to get your boarding pass was literally most of the way down the airport. It took us ages to get through and then the security queue was just as bad. But we got onto the flight.

Arriving in Houston the situation was just as bad (flight delayed leaving Cancun and we only has about 75 minutes to go through Immigration, Customs and then back through security for the LAX flight)

Quite stressful and only just made our flight to LA.

Now 13 hours to Auckland – plane should depart in about an hour.

We are ending our trip soon – last breakfast and then departing at 9am for the Cancun airport. We have 4 flights to get home all back to back.

Cancun – Houston – (2 hours and 20 minutes - 1280 km)

Houston – Los Angeles (3 hours and 43 minutes - 2205 km)

Los Angeles – Auckland (13 hours – 10,490 km)

Auckland – Christchurch (1 hour and 20 minutes – 763 km)

Should be home in a day + a few hours.

And yes that is a brandy balloon – heaps of Cognac!

Pam’s cocktail is todays special “Excellence Amanecer” – comprising Curazao Liqueur (blue stuff), white rum, vodka, strawberry syrup, orange juice, pineapple juice and coconut cream.

I decided to go Parasailing today as it is our last day before the 4 flights to get home.

The cost was $66 for about 15 minutes in the air. You got taken out in a small boat to the main boat to go on the chair.

Pam was a definite no to this one – so I had to go alone.

From the small boat being taken to the larger boat.

No safety ropes to hold me in and basically not much to hold on to.

I managed to do a couple of self snaps while up in the air.

A nice panoramic shot from up in the chair of the hotels along the beach line  (click for a larger version of the image)

Just a pipe to put your feet on

A great view from above

Notice that rope is not very large!

The reset from the air and one of the people who took photos and wanted me to buy them!

A few cocktails in the bar and then dinner in the French Restaurant Chez Isabelle.

Cocktail of the day -  Caribe Esmeralda – Curazao Liqueur, White Rum, Gin, Peach Liqueur, Banana Liqueur and coconut cream.

And a Margareta Up – Tequila, Triple sec, Orange Liqueur and Lime Juice.

A Pina Coloda and a simple Bloody Mary

An amuse bouche of Escargot (Snail) – very tender and lovely. I think first or second time I have tried snails.

A starter of Seared Tune and Steak Tar Tar and a duck pate.

Pam had and Duck – the duck had a chinese flavour which I think did not suit a French restaurant.

Seared Mahi Mahi with Rice and Prawns – and Pam finished with a Crème brûlée.

Have I mentioned that I love this all inclusive deal – amazing.

Cost of tonight $0.00

I had seen on some brochures and the hotel TV that they do cooking lessons and tours of the hotel kitchens. I looked around and ended up calling the concierge and he said there was one today but i could not find any details about it so I went to the hotel reception and spoke to the concierge there (different person) who looked up and said there was nothing until Friday/Saturday and we check out on Friday.

He said he would see if he could arrange the chef to do a special tour in the time before we leave.

Later in the afternoon the concierge rang to say that the chef was able to do the tour tonight at 5:30pm for Pam & I.

Wow – we were to meet in the Martini Bar at 5:30 so we arrived early and had a few Margaritas while we waited.

Chef Ernisto who said the tour will take 15-20 minutes

In order for us to do the tour we needed to dress up in Chefs Whites as it is a real kitchen. Pam had to have a hair net as well as the hat.

As part of the tour we venture into a lot of the kitchens that the restaurant has and seen the prep areas and people setting up for tonight's service.

There was someone dealing with Avocados who had hundreds to scoop out the flesh to make guacamole.

As part of our tour we got to cook our own dish in the real kitchen while the staff had to do the real cooking for customers.

Pam did Prawns with a Mango Sauce and I did a fillet steak.

Pam plating her disk

The chef and us with our dishes.

The finished masterpiece's – and they were lovely to eat.

The tour that was supposed to take 15-20 minutes ended up being 1.5 hours. We had a great time and appreciated the executive chef spending 1.5 hours of his day with us - amazing

These were non alcoholic drinks – about 10am.

Mine was called a Relax – a combination of Orange, Carrot, Peach and Banana.

Pams was a Energizer -  a combination of Papaya, Yogurt, Ganola and Honey.