Day 79. Port Barton, Philippines. Happy New Year.

New Year's eve, and knowing we'd be necking a few thousand liquid calories later, we decided to try and burn a few by taking a 3 hour hike to the nearest big waterfall.

We soon discovered 2 things:

i) Not taking a map, or having the sense to ask a local where the sodding waterfall is will quickly add an hour or two to any walk.

ii) Walking in 100% humidity is a bit tougher than the hiker-friendly temperate New Zealand climate. Roughly 27 times tougher.

We made it though, and the swim in the plunge pool put a ridiculous smile on all our faces.

In the afternoon we took a couple of small boats out the nearby mangroves to see if we could see some of the highly venomous snakes we'd been hearing about.

Spotted 3 of them lying coiled (and thankfully torpid) in the hot sunshine. Our guide told us "they kill very quick", so we refrained from throwing stones to get a reaction. Took some good photographs but unfortunately the camera gave up the ghost in quite spectacular fashion self-destructing and deleting every picture we've taken since landing in the Philippines.

Very, very bloody annoying.

We've been staying at a lush place called El Dorado while in Port Barton. Only 6 quid a room and right on the best bit of beach in town. Lucy, the lovely lady who runs the joint had promised a big new year's feast, and boy did she deliver. A whole pig was spit-roasted for her dozen guests (slaughtered on the premises at lunchtime much to Wend's distress) and 2 trestle tables were loaded with every kind of Philippino scoff imaginable.

It was great.

There's a small but lively crowd staying at the hotel, and we had a right giggle with the assorted Canadians, Swiss, Japanese and Aussies. Dancing badly to what passes for disco music out here, drinking tankards of cocktails and setting off rockets on the beach at midnight - no firework code here by the way, the closer one's head can get to the exploding gunpowder, the better.

As is normally the case on such occasions it was only the real desperados left at the end proceedings: John and Sean, a couple of Rig workers based off Thailand, Akimoto, a jovial son of Tokyo, who didn't say a word all night, but laughed continually. And of course, us lot.

A memorable way to see in the new year. Here's to 2007.