Bits and bobs.

At nearly 65 he's still an amazing showman. The Rocket Man launched into three solid hours of extraordinary music and I've not enjoyed a concert so much in years.

Elton John played two nights on Maui and I was instantly transported me back to my youth as he walked on to "Funeral for a friend". His voice is still very powerful and he has a cheeky charisma that made it impossible not hard to have a great time.

And now back to my regular life, pretty huh?

Drunk again.

Inspired by his blow torch, the new Julia Child of Kuau (Ulli) whipped up some creme brulees with a acetylene finish. They were bloody delicious.

Those tiny black things near the horizon are actually whales. Their hulking graceful bodies came to within 15 feet of us and it's really a wonderful experience to be in their presence.

Michelle and Ulli scored an incredible close encounter a few weeks ago, take a look. Thank goodness they're here a little while longer as I've not yet got my fill.

A couple of local inhabitants.

Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can, spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies, Look Out! Here comes the Spiderman.

Every so often the crab spiders go nuts and think they own the place by webbing everything in sight. They defiantly succeed in annoying me, as I can't make it from my house to the laundry room (via the back deck) without wildly flailing my arms about to clear the way. Yet as I waited for the kettle to boil for my morning brew, the sun hit a web just right.

Picking sticky thread off my arms, I investigated. Is he strong? Listen bud, he's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead hey, there there goes the Spiderman.

Bloody impressive.

I feel like he dropped a stitch in the upper right quadrant.

And don't get me started on the snails........

Dude, how rude!

Making a sharp left outa here.

Zihuatanejo, the final chapter.

I suspect no Mexican family going on holiday would even want to stay here, it's not their style, too flash, too small, but it's perfect for the visiting gringo.

Talking of which, let me introduce Jen, Ju, Moll and yours truly behind the lens, Team Zihua.

I can see the attraction for those people have packed it all in and headed south. The Mexican's are sweet and friendly, their food is simple and tasty, there are beaches, coastline and wildlife that just don't stop and the climate gently lulls you into a slow and relaxed pace. You can spot the ex-pats a mile off and they too are friendly, even if they do have a slight air of being ever so pleased with themselves-and why not?!

I don't have kids, but am of the opinion that they grow up way too quickly in the US. I'm always thrilled when I travel to a culture that does not have an accelerated youth to adulthood paradigm. We stumbled upon a Sunday night gathering at the local outdoor basketball court and as the older kids danced for a large crowd of all ages, the younger ones painted at public easels. Youth is youthful in Mexico.

Just in case you forgot your bikini.

Boldly going nowhere.

Dear reader, do you see the cardboard box behind Jules? We were having a good gorp at the two giant snappers that lay there, all forlorn and undignified in their cardboard coffin when, bold as brass Jules asks the fisherman " 'Scuse me, can I lift up that fish"?

As I awaited my ride to the airport, I desperately snapped away, taking more pictures of a view I had already over shot.

Goodbye Casa Espiritu......

As I flew back over Maui, thanks to the recent rain it's emerald peaks were lush and inviting. It was good to be home and as I blog, I'm enjoying my trip all over again and highly suspect my screen saver won't change until my next jaunt off island.

Hasta luego.

Be the king of your world.

Author (minus ship) practicing Titanic's 'I'm the king of the world' pose.

Author finds titchy boat and Mexican Leonardo DiCaprio to (sort of) reenact the scene.

Even the local turkey vultures are getting in on the act.

Not to be out done, supreme poser Lou (the traveling wine stopper) uses the pool filter as his vessel of choice

The people we encountered were generous of spirit, kind and seemingly genuinely happy. Of course they're all hustling for your business, but you quickly forget that because they have a playful way of helping you spend your pesos. Every where we went we felt genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for simply being customers. In my everyday experiences, those subtle yet potent ingredients have (for the most part) been wrung out of many employees by corporate rules and regulations, so it was a welcome and refreshing change.

In Zihua however, spontaneity at any moment is possible, a case in point was Lucas, the Leonardo stand-in four pictures above. Not only did he efficiently wait on us all day, but when we decided to move on, when asked he grabbed us a water taxi and we walked all of 50 feet from our beach chairs to the boat and instead of waving us goodbye - he jumped in! Why?... because he could and let's face it we're fun and him jumping in was fun and what can I say, I think the world needs more fun.

Nothing says 'relax' more than some random bricks and a wooden slatted cage covered in chicken wire. Welcome to the Massage Jail, though let's be honest, nothing about this looks fun.

Talking of jail, here's another example of how religion is taken verrrrrry seriously.

Even though Zihua is not known as a surf spot, there was a little left I could see from the house that kept calling my name. The problem was equipment, as the only 'surf shops' I found only sold naff clothing with not a board in sight. So I rented one of the only two boards I could find from a local beach front restaurant. It was a 7ft sponge affair with no leash plug-so of course no leash. The line up consisted of just me, along with the birds, fish and unnervingly close coral, but put the whole thing together & it was bloody fantastic. Even though I caught just one wave on my sponge bob square pants board, I didn't care because I had such a blast communing with nature.

It's 5:00pm somewhere and talk about product placement......as you leave the Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo airport this is what you see, cheers!