Seven wonders of world now ticked off to-do list

Julie Woods and Ron Esplin, dressed in colourful local costumes, visit reed islands in Lake...
Julie Woods and Ron Esplin, dressed in colourful local costumes, visit reed islands in Lake Titicaca on the Peru-Bolivia border. Supplied photo.
lie Woods and Ron Esplin celebrate completing their goal of visiting all ''Seven Wonders of the...
lie Woods and Ron Esplin celebrate completing their goal of visiting all ''Seven Wonders of the World'' during a visit to Chichen Itza in Mexico. Supplied photo.

The taste of lime and tequila, the sensation of standing atop reed islands and the friendliness of South American people linger in the mind of Dunedin woman Julie Woods.

Travelling to South America in September was an exciting experience for Ms Woods and her husband Ron Esplin, as it meant they reached their goal of visiting all ''seven wonders of the world''.

Three of those wonders are in South America - the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janiero, Machu Picchu in Peru, and Chichen Itza in Mexico.

Their goal of visiting the seven wonders began in 2009, when Ms Woods and Mr Esplin visited Egypt and Jordan, and learnt the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan, was on the list of ''new seven wonders''.

Since then, the couple visited the Great Wall of China in 2011, the Colosseum in Italy in 2012, and the Taj Mahal in India in 2013.

Blind for the past 15 years, Ms Woods said she was often asked how she managed sightseeing without sight. She said she focused on her other senses - smell, hearing, taste and touch.

''Each day I am away, I write in my sensory diary one thing I am grateful for smelling, hearing, tasting and touching.''

During the couple's visit to the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico - Ms Woods' recorded the smell of tequila, lime and salt, the sound of a 5.45am wake-up call in Spanish, the taste of lime soup, and the feel of the ground in front of a Mayan temple.

''This is the way I interpret the world,'' she said.

Along with visiting the wonders, the month-long trip included visits to Copacabana Beach and a shanty town in Rio de Janeiro, landing at one of the highest airports in the world and visiting the reed islands of Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia.

''The reed islands were amazing - it was like stepping onto a water bed, you could really build a picture of them in your mind,'' Ms Woods said.

After that experience, she came up with her own list - of the ''seven blind wonders of the world''. This included the reed islands of Lake Titicaca, Iguazu Falls in Argentina, the Dead Sea in Jordan, an elephant ride in India, eating a margherita pizza in Italy, drinking a ''Singapore Sling'' cocktail at Raffles hotel in Singapore, and a sound and light show in China.

- by Brenda Harwood 

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