Flee on Tour!

Celebrity Status!

2007-01-25T01:58:00.000Z

'Enjoy the Celeb Status young lady!!!!!!!!!!' was how Luke signed off his email to me on November 16th 2006; the last day of my travels.... and that was one piece of advice I intended to take....... he did however, also send a slightly less heartfelt and slightly more cheeky, message a few days prior to that which went, well... exactly like this....

I wrote you a song, it's called HA HA, YOU'RE Going home!

******************************************************************
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home, Ha ha ha, Flee's going home
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home,

Home, Home, Home,
It's where the heart is,
Home, Home, Home,
It's where you'll be soon - ex-traveller!!! MWAH HA HA!
******************************************************************
So you must be looking forward to it then eh!?

All I have to say about that is.... Your time will come Fonfarta, cheeky sod.. oh and don't forget... if it weren't for me.....(oh ok, and Andy... he'll only cry if I don't give him some credit for ALF!!!!!!!! ;0) and just to get you back for your cheekiness.... I came across the above photo of you yesterday.. lounging in our little bungalow in Koh Phan-gan... decided the world needed some amusing today and this was the ideal way to provide it!!

But anyway, back to me being a celeb for the day (or as long as I could stretch it out for!)..... I did finally manage those last few steps though and walk through those doors to find two beaming smiles, lots of hugs and the inevitable tears from Mum (oh, ok and from me and Lot too!) It was like something out of 'Hello, Goodbye!' (which, for those of you that don't know, is a comedy Aussie real life show of hello's and goodbye's at Sydney Airport - had Mitz in tears every week, without fail, bless her!!), It was an awesome moment, the only thing missing - apart from Dad obviously - was my baby brother; thanks to the last minute faffing with my flight, he'd not been able to get the time off work, given he didn't know which day I'd be home until about 2 days before I decided I'd let him off!
After we'd settled down a little and got a random to take the above picture (to which Lottie's response when I asked said random was 'trust you to pick the only cute guy around' - what can I say... where's the sense in asking someone not cute?! ;0) anyway, back to my point, once we'd calmed down a little, done the photo sesh, we decided rather than get straight on with the journey home we'd go for a cheeky coffee and a proper chat. Given I'd had ridiculously little sleep over the last few days I was feeling surprisingly with it. Whilst supping on my hot milk (yes, I'm still a child and love the stuff!), my first purchase in sterling for a year, and catching up with the family, we decided we'd take a little detour on the way home and surprise the grandparents!

Nanny had called while we were having our drinks and the signal was bad so we thought it'd be nice to pop in on them. In truth I have to admit, despite finding that the tiredness was creeping up on me a little, I was quite liking extending the journey a bit.. I guess when I walked through the doors of Mum's, I really would have come full circle so prolonging it a bit was just more procrastinating from me in vain attempts to prolong the trip any which way i could!! ;0) It was fab to surprise them though, I do love surprises - whether giving or receiving them, they're always ace! Greeted with hugs, kisses and a variation of Grandad's classic saying 'don't play with the pixie's!!' - the variation implying, I may have played with my fair share of Pixie's over the past year, I believe!! Cheeky Grandad!! ;0) we sat down for more tea - I was definitely back in England!!
After relaxing on the familiar sofa's in my grandparents front room, sleepiness was getting to me a little and Lot and Mum both had to get to work for the afternoon so we headed for home. The excitment of seeing my baby brother over-ruling the scariness of finally completing that circle from door to door. While Mum and Lot had to get back to work, Map had the afternoon off so they were swopping shifts on Welcome Home Flee Watch!

The pic above was obviously taken after Map's arrival home.. following more emotional reunions.. in the end I was only on my own for an hour or so before he arrived home, and even then I had Lolli, Mum's new kitten to play with (the cutie in the pic here - and no I'm not talking about you Map!!) It was fab to see him and for the rest of the afternoon we vegged out on Mum's funky corner sofa - a new addition since my departure - eating rubbish, catching up, watching TV and making Lolli go a little bit loopy with the aid of the laser pointer ebay had given me as part of a leaving gift.... all in all it was lovely to just chill out at home.. and also a little surreal to be sat there as if the last year hadn't happened!

Except it had (I'm pleased to say) and a few relaxed hours later, the others arrived home from work, Map went back to work, and it was time for the next - and this time unexpected - reunion.... unbeknown to me my sister, cousin and Sian were coming round for cake and champers! It really hadn't actually occured to me that I'd be up to anything that evening so it was a fab surprise when they turned up and popped the cork on the bubbly... settling down with me for tales, gossip and lots of laughs! In truth, the evening didn't last too long - my eyelids had a life of their own and so, fairly early, at least compared to my recent Buenos Aires fuelled sleep pattern, I headed off to sleep in my own bed for the first time in a little over a year! Despite the jetlag, it had been a wicked day and a fab homecoming! I should go away more often!!!

It was however, just for one night that I slept in my own bed... I'd managed to choose a busy weekend to come home on... November's a hectic month for birthdays and the day after arriving home was party time in London.. a joint one for my lovely friends Nicki and Zoe - where Katy, my partner in mischief for the first part of South America and my fab friend Kate - would also be.... I did however manage to make the most of my bed and slept away the following morning most contentedly.My brother, having worked late, was also still in bed when I woke up, and found himself the unwitting recipient of his big sister's comfort seeking... yep, on waking up in a room on my own, a tad disorientated to say the least, I found myself a little unsure of what to do.. so, naturally, I skipped into my brother's room, got in his bed and started chattering away! This caused some amusement amoung Ma and Map... what do you mean it's unusual?! I'm not used to waking up in a room on my own... I needed a dorm buddy.. who better than my little brother?! All we needed now were bunkbeds and 4-6 other people!! ;0)

Anyway... much as I don't think Ma was too impressed with my arrival home being so brief, I couldn't miss the girl's birthday and was so excited to be seeing everyone.. this was what coming home was all about... seeing my family and friends that I'd missed whislt away! So off I headed to London, I was staying at Kate's that night and again it felt somewhat surreal to be in places that I hadn't been for so long but that hadn't changed a bit! Kinda scary in a way too.

So... after glamming ourselves up a little (i have to say, I was loving the novelty of having a choice of what to wear.. that hadn't happened for a while!!) we headed into town to join the party... that was when I really felt like a celeb... greeted with actual full on screams by the girls, an audience of all the other guests and several million 'ah, so you're the guest of honour' responses to meeting me throughout the evening. I don't mind admitting I was kinda liking this Celebrity Status!! ;0) It was definetely spurring me on through the jetlag anyway which in truth, was actually proving pretty easy - I was still feeling surprisingly spritely.. maybe it was the adrenalin from getting home.. or maybe it was the G&T's!! Either way, I was quite liking this homecoming/reunion lark... let's see how long I can milk it for eh!! (anyone spot a girl still in denial that she's back in the real world??! ;0)

It didn't end there though... oh no... there were more reunions to be had, one in particular that I was ridiculously excited about... for those die hard few of you (or 'crazy people' as I affectionately like to call you!) that actually read my ramblings on here and have done since my departure, you'll know that back in May-ish I got the very happy news that my lovely best mate Jules was set to become Mummy Jules.... well, part of my decision to come home now instead of extend my trip any longer, was that I was dangerously close to missing the entire pregnancy not to mention the birth and thus my debut as 'Fun Auntie Floozie' (as dubbed by Jules and Ol - and yes, I know not technically an Auntie, or a Floozie for that matter.. just for the record!!) and so it was that, slightly hungover after the birthday festivities, I hopped on another train to St Albans to see the parents-to-be... luckily my vibes for her not to drop before I made it there had got through somehow and it was with huge excitment that I greeted my lovely friend (and a half!) and not forgetting her lovely hubby too... both of which will no doubt kill me for putting the below pic on here but it had to be done I'm afraid Ma and Pa Clement!!!

The next 2 days were spent leisurely catching up on the past year with the troublesome twosome (soon to be trio), chilling out, lunching, gossiping etc etc... and generally enjoying being with Jules again, I'd missed her lots and lots - as reflected in the several lengthy phonecalls from various places around the world, not to mention all the emails!!

So, there you have it, my first few days back in the real world.. and I still hadn't stayed in one place for long enough to unpack my bags.. in fact, my backpack was still packed, sitting on my bedroom floor awaiting my arrival home, teasing me with the temptation of just picking it up and doing it all over again... and trust me, that temptation's not an easy one to ignore... but for now i was still basking in the celeb status, the unpacking could wait... anyone spot yet another 'it's not quite over' procrastination tactic??! ;0) xxx

Deep Breaths!!

2006-12-23T14:35:00.000Z

And so it begins... the journey home... my flight was leaving at 1315 so I was up and ready for the off by 10am. And just to really carry on the mixed up hours my body clock was now getting used to, it wasn't after a night of unbroken rest either... at around half 6 that morning I'd been woken by the reception staff at the Millhouse (this time a personal visit rather than a muffled tanoy message that would wake the whole hostel) to tell me I had a visitor!!

I was slightly alarmed at who would be visiting me at all, let alone this early.. most of the people I knew in Buenos Aires were either at the same hostel or would be fast asleep at this hour (or on their way to their beds anyway!) Turned out there was nothing to be alarmed about.. it was Marco, come to say goodbye. Thanks to our several million failed attempts at catching up since Creamfields, this was the last chance so he'd come to find me bless him! I have to apologise to him here too.. given that I'd only had a few hours sleep and had been woken suddenly I don't think he really got much sense out of me that morning... curled up on the sofa's in Millhouse it was hard not to just fall back to sleep again.. but it was nice to see him before I left and a welcome end to my trip. It was good to know I'd made friends that would make that effort for me which only served to make me even more emotional about it all coming to an end! Marco... I hope you had fun for the rest of your time in that fantastic city and be sure to look me up should you make it to my side of the planet.

With time running out I sent Marco on his way so i could finish my packing, then all that was left was to wait apprehensively for my taxi to the airport.. with only Kate, Maya and Emily left to say goodbye to. I have to say it all felt very unreal.. I was leaving somewhere but it wasn't like I hadn't moved on from a million places in the past year, so that part was pretty normal to me by now... it was the unfamiliar feeling that I wasn't leaving to get on a bus/plane/train/tuk tuk and find myself at the end of another journey checking into another dorm and making new friends once more... this time there would be no finding a hostel, sitting around on my backpack waiting for a bus to said hostel, hoping it would be decent and wondering what was in store this time around... no, this time there would be someone to greet me at the other end, a car waiting to take me home and no lengthy walks with 21kgs on my back.. it scared me stupid!!

Anyway... my taxi arrived and I said my goodbyes... it wasn't too bad as I knew Kate would be back in the UK the following day too and we had plans to meet up in the next few weeks so that made it easier to say goodbye to my partner in crime from my last few weeks as a backpacker! I will however take the opportunity to say here though.. Kate, you were a fab partner in crime to share my last few weeks with and I'm glad we came across each other in that oasis that is Iguazu, keeping those cheeky boys in line and winding 'Sargeant' Garv up with all our gossiping!! I hope all is well back in Oz and you'll be close enough again soon to meet up and cause some more mischief with!

There was one goodbye that was harder though.. Emily... firstly.. apologies for waking you up chica but I couldn't leave without saying bye! and secondly - you're a little gem Em, I've had a ball with you - from the random encounter on a balcony in Isla del Sol to all those comedy nights in La Paz, you kept me sane, listened to me rant, made me laugh, kept me out til all hours (when I had flights to catch.. I blame you entirely for Halloween.. haha!) and were generally a fab girl to travel with. Thank you for being such a star, I'm so coming to Sheffield for a night out on this side of the world and you're so coming to London for another one lady!!

Anyway... I'm already well into this entry and I've not even boarded the plane!!! Oh well, why break a habit of a lifetime, waffling is clearly my forte!!

Goodbyes said and hostel left, I watched the streets of Buenos Aires whizz by me through the cab window.. I wasn't ready to leave this place and my resolve to return got stronger with every passing mile.. It wasn't that I wasn't excited about going home, a part of me couldn't wait to see my family and friends, flick my brother to annoy him, hug my mum, meet Lolli; mum's new kitten, starting nicking my sister's clothes again.. it's just the other part of me didn't want to leave all this behind. I was just beginning to feel at home in South America and have a little confidence in my limited Spanish, not to mention not wanting to stop being carefree and able to wander wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

But enough of that.. the time had come and so be it.. my flight was transitting through Sao Paulo so the first part of it was only a few hours duration, we only touched down to re-fuel and pick up more passengers so I didn't get to venture onto Brazilian soil again but I did find myself with a spare seat in the middle of my row... and somehow, with very little communication the guy on the aisle seat and I came to an arrangement whereby I had the spare seat and he got the spare floor space.. suited me fine, legs curled up on the seat, blanket over me, in-flight entertainment.. Go! I'd even remembered to request a vegetarian meal, possibly the only time throughout my entire trip.. and yep, stil veggie.. I know there was some speculation as to whether I'd last as one throughout SA, Argentina specifically! My only disappointment flight wise was that my row companion was not in the least bit interested in being friendly/chatty... I was feeling somewhat choked up about going home and also perhaps a little proud that I'd managed to survive a year around the world on my own.. I think I just wanted to share that with someone.. or at least just have a chat.. instead I contented myself with movies, books and my 'Must Do' list for the future.. I was determined not to let go of all those 'post-holiday' resolutions you have when you return from a trip. I get them after a 2 week holiday in the sun, you can imagine the length of it after a year away!! (btw.. the pic on the right above is taking off from Sao Paulo and on the left here.. somewhere above the clouds during sunset between SP and London!)

Anyway.. after all of the above and a vague (and unsuccessful) attempt at sleeping some of the journey away.. all of a sudden the lights of London lit up the ground beneath me.. the London Eye, Parliment, London Bridge.. all those sights I'd seen a million times, familiar yet so surreal.. I was actually here (as you can see in the somewhat blurred photo here) The pic below was taken in flight somewhere en route.. the last pic of me before returning to English ground once more! There was no escaping the fact that I'd be touching down on home soil in a few short moments. I really was coming home! Oh my God! I didn't want to get off the plane!

In truth, I was very slow in doing so.. stupid as it may sound, the minute I walked off that plane and out through departures it really was over.. my dream since the day my cousin came home from her trip, me aged 14, listening in awe to tales of the Taj Mahal, the golden beaches of Australia's east coast, Thailand and it's colourful vibrance... each story making me want to explore more of the world. I'd actually done it. Ok, a few years later than it perhaps should've been, but better late than never!

So.. here it was.. the moment I'd been dreading and dying for all at the same time... even writing this now gives me goosebumps thinking about it and I'll admit now to what I did before walking through the arrivals door; I just stood there, for a good few minutes, not quite able to bring myself to put one foot in front of the other.. knowing my Mum and Lottie were on the other side looking to see if it was me walking through every time the automatic doors opened in front of them. This entry isn't titled 'Deep Breaths' for nothing - I actually did have to take a few before I could actually complete the last few steps of my trip...

All that said, as sad as I was for this to all be ending, if you really think about it... I don't think it'll ever quite be over... as the Thai's say... Same Same but Different! In so many ways I'm the same girl that left Heathrow scared out of her mind a year and a day ago while in so many other ways i'll never be quite the same again... which, I for one, am more than happy about.. bring on the adventures... xxx

Last Day in a Dorm!

2006-11-17T17:34:00.000Z

I couldn't quite believe it was actually here... my last day! Tomorrow I'd be on my way home! An exciting, yet daunting, thought and even though I've known that it would come, it never really seemed real! It's a year ago today that I left home. Waved goodbye to a tearful mum, sister and brother (the latter not so much on the tearful side.. he is a boy after all!) and got on that plane to Bangkok.. had a random toothless man befriend me before I'd even touched down and went on to have one hell of a year.. but we'll come to all that later... I have a last day to make the most of and milk for all I possibly can... bring it on...

... The plan for the day... visit La Boca... see where the afternoon took us... and take in a Tango Show!! So, bright and early... well, ok, at a reasonable hour that was still in the AM, Kate and I, along with Emily and a friend of hers, headed to La Boca to soak up the sun and vibrant colours and atmosphere the area is famous for... as you can see from the pics.. i think the colours speak for themselves! We spent a lovely few hours wandering around the streets, taking in the artwork lining the avenues, indulging in souvenir buying (we'll gloss over the cheeky purchase of a lush leather bag for myself!), taking piccie's and bumping into, Kate's friend Clint and the American lads we'd bumped into at Recoleta Cemetery... small world eh! Once we'd exhausted the vibrancy of La Boca we all hopped back on the bus towards the hostel... Em and her friend went back to Millhouse while Kate and I decided to stop half way back and make our way to the hostel via the shops.. now there's a surprise eh!?! Although.. our shopping trip was slightly different to our last outings... in that we only made it into one shop... now it might sound a bit half arsed to some of you dedicated shoppers out there but rest assured we made the most of that one shop.... we were in there for 2 hours! Ridiculous given it was actually just a small independent shop, not much bigger than your average living room but packed full of lush things we easily whiled away the time without realising quite how much had passed.... emerging 2 hours later to find our wallets not all that much lighter considering the amount of stuff we'd managed to convince ourselves it would be rude not to buy!!

We did however emerge to find that Buenos Aires was in the grip of a big fat thunder storm though.. not what I requested for my final day... what's that all about!! It was raining beyond belief and so we decided we'd do a mad dash back to the hostel... given our summer attire was soaked through already there seemed little point in getting a taxi or bus or anything! We did end up doing a little detour on the way home though.... half way down Avenida Florida we came across a beauty salon... we'd had a bit of a mission in mind for later but given we'd come across this one now we decided to bring it forward... now, squeamish boys.... avert you're eyes... we were off for a bit of bikini wax action!! Ouch!

Kate has possibly the lowest pain threshold I have ever come across, bless her... even worse than all those men that claim they can handle anything! But she had promised her man that she'd have a little surprise for him on her return home and as this was her last day too it was now or never! I agreed to accompany her knowing how scared she was about it but before the main event she needed a little Dutch courage.... in the form of a good old glass of wine.. or 2!! Well, who was I to complain! We found a little pizza place that served wine too so headed on it and gorged on yum pizza and a couple of cheeky glasses.. then, with the edges blurred, Kate was ready for action...

We headed into the beauty salon and for me what followed rivaled my waxing experience in Cusco.. I mean 2 women 'beavering' away at my bikini line was disturbing enough but at least they spoke a little English... this time, there may only have been one woman but trying to explain what you want in Spanish when all you can really say is 'Un cervesa por favor' is an interesting task.... somehow we managed to fudge our way through it though, with hand signals and broken Spanish, and i survived the ordeal.... I came out to find Kate waiting for me... assuming she'd got through it quicker given she speaks Spanish, it didn't occur to me anything was awry.... until she sheepishly confessed that she hadn't gone through with it..... oh she'd gone in and attempted it but after a lot of palava and some serious, and I mean serious, screaming the house down.. the beauty therapist decided it was time to call it quits... she said she'd never come across anyone that was in that much pain from waxing and she was too worried to carry on! I mean, I knew she had a low pain threshold but for the therapist to refuse to carry on..., man, Kate... fair play for trying.. Dan should be proud!

After the waxing hurdle we headed back to the hostel to get changed in preparation for the tango show... there was lots of us booked to go but by the time we got back to the hostel most of them had gone on ahead already. Unfortunately Kate's pain threshold isn't the only thing that's low... her alcohol tolerance is too... and thanks to the few cheeky glasses of wine for dutch courage earlier... she was now ready for bed... we (Clint and I) did our best to persuade her otherwise, it was her last night too after all, but she was having none of it and by the time we gave up we had missed the start of the show and couldn't get in. I'll be honest, I wasn't overjoyed, I'd wanted to see the show and I'd wanted to spend my last night with Kate out too but fair play if that's what she wanted. In the end, as we'd missed everyone else, Clint and I just headed out for some food to a pub nearby and set the world to rights over a few cheeky drinks. Later on I was feeling guilty for not having managed to catch up with Marco since Creamfields, despite several million attempts of doing so, I didn't want to leave without saying bye at least so Clint and I decided to head to San Telmo in the hope that we'd be able to track him down at his hostel on the way.... once again it didn't quite go as planned, Marco had been expecting to find me at the Tango show but obviously we weren't there so I was hoping to find him back at his hostel but he'd not made it back yet.. but thankfully, Clint being a star, helped me out by using his Spanish to leave a message for him to come find me before I left the next day.
With as much effort made as possible, Clint and I headed to another bar for a nightcap, by this time it was already pretty late and with half a mind to having to get up for my flight the next morning I called it quits after that one and headed back to the hostel. Despite it not being quite the evening I had imagined, it was fun and Clint did a damn good job at entertaining me on my last night! I still couldn't believe that that was it.... trip over... it was only a matter of making it home safely now... and with hugely mixed emotions... I lay my head on my dorm bed pillow for the last time... as top bunks go, it wasn't a bad one to end my dorm days on... and in an en-suite dorm too... which reminds me.. have I told you about the Porn showers??!

Tango Time... The Dead.. and more Shopping!!

2006-11-16T15:18:00.000Z

Given that I'd actually slept at night for once, I was able to get up and enjoy the day... Kate and I had decided to head to Recoleta.. to visit one of Buenos Aires' main tourist attractions... the cemetery.... It was a beautiful day and we'd decided to walk.. inevitably this meant a leisurely stroll to Recoleta.. via, guess what?, a few more shops!!! Oops! Well, it would've been rude not to really!! Once again though I seemed to find all sorts of great things for other people and not buy anything for myself... my family are getting far too lucky on the present front!! The pic above is me by one of the lovely fountains that are dotted up and down Avenida 9 de Julio - the main road through the city, this was just at the beginning of our 'shopping walk' to Recoleta, you can see from the pic what a gorgeous day it was... i can still feel the warmth when i look at it!

By the time we reached Recoleta it was lunchtime so we decided to stop and sit in the sun over lunch before heading into the cemetery. We picked a pub with a nice outside area - the cheapest we could find. Given this area is such a tourist trap, all the businesses outside cash in on it, naturally, by charging ridiculous prices (for Argentina anyway!) As i sat there, soaking up the sun in my skirt and flips, it didn't seem at all possible that in a mere few days I'd be home and wearing such attire as this would be relegated to wishful thinking!! But I'm here still so enough of that... let's enjoy it!

After lunch we headed into La Recoleta Cemetery for a wander... and it's not just your average cemetery either... It's easy to see why so many people visit this place, for startes it's the final resting place for an array of Argentina's most influential and important people including presidents, scientists, writers, politicians and heavyweight boxers not to mention our own Duchess of York's mother and most famously.... Eva Peron; Argentina's First Lady!

Secondly, as you can see from the pic's, it's certainly a little more 'grand' than you're usual CofE graveyard... the cemetery is laid out in sections, just like city blocks with tree-lined avenues branching off into sidewalks filled with opulent marble mausoleums decorated with statues. There are actual names for some of the 'streets' and even little guided buggies roaming round for those tourists that need assistance getting around (we didn't think our shopping bags counted as qualifying us for 'needing assistance' so had to use our little legs instead!) Some of the mausoleums are well kept while others have sadly fallen into disrepair. In some you can see the family coffin's inside and in others they are encased or down stairwells out of view. Each mausoleum bears the family name engraved on the facade with plaques for each family member entombed there added to the front.. the pic below is no doubt the most photographed mausoleum in the place. Interestingly I learnt, thanks to some friendly American lads, one of which has been living in Buenos Aires for a while, that Eva Peron is in fact not buried with her husband. Apparently it is normal practice to be buried with your birth family regardless of whether you are married (with or without children) your husband is then buried with his birth family also! I find this a tad strange and have never heard of it before but fair play, if that's the Argentine way!

We spent a while leisurely wandering around, checking the place out, soaking up the sun - seemed slightly strange to be having a nice afternoon mooching around looking at people's graves but it is a pretty impressive sight and I'm definetly glad I went. Especially with my fascination with Evita - and the realisation that I no longer had time to get to the Evita Museum in Palermo... that's now on the list for my next visit! After whiling away the time at the cemetery we made our way back to the hostel in the same fashion we'd arrived there in.. via the shops!! Well, we're female.. what can I say!!

It had been a lovely day and was to be topped off with something i'd been wanting to do since I arrived in Argentina...... Dance!!!! Yay.. the time had final come to sample a bit of the classic local culture and learn to Tango! The hostel were hosting Tango lessons.. having only just got back in time I headed straight in to the bar to find it had just started; Sarah - a lovely Kiwi girl that we'd met a few times was doing it too and I took the plunge and joined in.

At first I was the odd one out but initially that was ok - we were learning the steps on our own before 'coupling up' - by the time it came to partnering up with someone, some poor guy (who you see in the pic's with me) had been roped in to dance with me! Unfortunately, as sweet as he was.. he wasn't the smoothest of movers shall we say, and didn't really envoke the 'on-screen chemistry' we were told to display when 'freestyling' as the girl traditionally does when tango-ing... it's a very passionate, sexy dance apparently and one is supposed to reflect that in the passion shown between you and your partner!! Not sure I quite managed to act my little heart out on that front (and in fairness, he didn't appear that impassioned by me either) but I think it's safe to say that in my haste to get there on time, not changing my skirt proved enough of a distraction to cover up for me feeling slightly less than natural running my leg seductively up and down his!! You'll notice that everyone else in the picture had been sensible enough to wear trousers or shorts (or at least a long skirt) for the occasion.. not me... no, stupid head here decided she didn't have time to change out of her short denim skirt... D'uh!! ;0) I believe it was quite entertaining for Em, who had the pleasure of being my photographer for the occasion! trust me, there are other pics no-one should ever see!! and btw.. Paul, you realise had you still been there I'd have roped you into partnering me.. lucky escape boy!! haha!

Anyway, after we were all tango-ed out, a few of us decided to head into Palermo for dinner. Kate had decided not to join us which was a shame but there was still a few wanting too so after freshening up and yet again, trying to get in touch with Marco but constantly missing him (I was now becoming quite well known with the hostel staff thanks to the amount of notes left for me on the board and phone calls I kept missing.. despite numerous notes and missed phonecalls since Creamfields we still hadn't quite managed to meet again yet!) we headed to the subway but somehow ended up being 'flashpackers' and hopping in a cab!

The guys that we were out with were meeting some friends in Palermo, hence that being the destination of choice, so we started the night and a 'not-so-classy' pool hall where quite entertainingly Sarah and I played doubles with Craig and Matt (and Alan.. alternating partners obviously!) although Craig and I were a duo throughout and much to my amusement, although i was clearly rubbish, I insisted it was me carrying us through and he was to address me only as 'Chica Bonita' all night - that's Beautiful Girl in English btw - (and for all those laughing right now, it's ok.. i was laughing too!) Marco had taught me the expression that day so it amused me to use my new words (and yes, you would be right in assuming a few alcoholic beverages might have been involved by now!) Craig very good naturedly entered into the spirit of things though, inbetween him repeatedly saying the only other spanish word he knew; Si!!! Anyway, after we'd had our fill of beating the others at pool, we headed out for food... the boys were insistent on the closest place possible but Sarah and I had other ideas, after our evening of Tango we wanted to carry on the theme and decided San Telmo was the place to pursue this.. where Tango shows on the street are a regular occurence. It took us a while but eventually our feminine charms (or annoying whinging, whatever!) took their toll on the boys and we bundled them in another cab and headed over to San Telmo. I did have a slight ulterior motive for wanting to head over there too... i was feeling terrible that I'd not caught up with Marco yet and that's where his hostel was so thought i'd go calling too. It unfortunately didn't quite work out like that - I couldn't rouse anyone at his hostel so had no way of contacting him! boo! - and as we were so late getting there all the tango shows had finished.. oops! The boys weren't massively impressed! But we found somewhere to eat and settled down with pasta and several bottles of wine!!

Unsurprisingly, despite my best intentions of an early night I didn't make it to bed until 4am - which actually, thinking about it, is quite early for Buenos Aires! - it had been a fab day and a fun evening. I still find it mad that you can feel so comfortable being around people you've only just met. Everyone was great fun that evening and I do love the way travelling just opens you up to meeting so many different people and seeing so many different cultures! Unfortunately I never managed to get Sarah's email address before leaving so haven't been able to keep in touch but she was a fab chick and Sarah, should you ever come across this blog, please do drop me a comment! Whatever you got up to after I left, I hope you had fun Chica Bonita! That goes for the lad's too! xx

The Final Fling: Dancing the night away!

2006-11-16T15:17:00.001Z

So, I managed to make it up at a reasonable hour thanks to actually getting some sleep while it was still night time and headed to San Telmo.. an area of the city only about 5 blocks from the hostel.. it is one of the places that you should go see if you're ever in Buenos Aires, with a lovely little square where you'll find tango shows put on continually that you can watch from the cute restaurants lining the square.

Today though.. I wasn't there to sightsee... my friend Marco (the Peruvian guy I met in Rurrenbarque in Bolivia) was staying in a hostel there and had very sweetly bought me a ticket for Creamfields...Argentina's version of the classic UK dance festival... for those of you that don't know what I'm on about! With a line up including the likes of Underworld, Sasha, Hernan Cattaneo, Layo and Bushwacka, Tiga, Erick Morillo and many more taking to the stage to entertain us for the day (and until the early ours of the following day... this is Buenos Aires after all!) it was set to be a pretty impressive event. Now.... am sure most of you are thinking.. why on earth would Flee want to go to such a festival..? Eelectronic dance isn't exactly her thing.. and you'd be right... but i figured... when in Rome!! Why not.... it's Latin America's biggest electronic dance music festival and I knew lots of people that were going... it would be fun... and a cool thing to go to in my last week as a footloose and fancy free backpacker!

So... I wandered the streets of San Telmo a while, looking for Marco's hostel.. then when found, had an interesting time trying to get into the place and find him... given he's Peruvian he doesn't need to worry about being in a place with English speaking staff so my limited Spanish meant it was quite an achievment to actually make it up to the hostel and be shown to the right room! I even resorted to showing them a picture of Marco that i thankfully still had on my camera! Anyway.... Marco found (I woke the poor boy up too) we sat and chatted for a while.. it was lovely to see him again and catch up. He'd had a nightmare time getting to Buenos Aires from Bolivia involving all sorts of 'entry fee's' at the border and being mugged outside his hostel... he'd been due to arrive a few days earlier but only managed to get there Saturday morning.. the morning of the festival... and being a DJ himself.. this was what he'd been living for for the past few months.. so when I heard him say, i'm not sure I'm going to go... I knew he'd had a nightmare few days and was feeling low! I did my best to cheer him up and convinced him that there was no way in the world he should miss Creamfields... luckily it didn't take much for him to come round.. i know he'd have been disappointed had he not gone!

Anyway... once he was awake we headed of to Palermo.. another area of the city... the plush area.. where Ed and some other friends of Marco's were living at the time. They were the one's that had bought our tickets so we were off to pick them up... which at the same time gave me a chance to see another part of Buenos Aires.. Palermo's really pretty, you can instantly tell it's one of the more sought after areas to live in and the guy's flat was lovely... they were only there a few weeks but had decided to rent a flat between them rather than stay in a hostel.. can't say i blame them! Turned out as well that Ed and the other guys in the flat were also friends of Emily's.... small world!!

With tickets safely in hand and arrangments in place for meeting up at the festival later on, Marco and I headed back into town... I had to go back to the hostel to meet Paul and his mates and hopefully catch Emily before she left for Creamfields too. Marco went back to his to catch up on some sleep in preparation for the next 24 hours. I'd arranged to meet Marco later on at the festival as he was planning on going with the others earlier than I was. Unfortunately all didn't go quite according to plan... unsurprising when you're in a place along with 60,000 other people.. but I still feel bad about it! I missed Em, she'd already left when I made it back to Millhouse but I waited for the boys as they were wanting to come with... in the end it was only Paul that decided to come... so, before we went up there we headed for a quick meal and drinks.. to line our stomachs... turned out not to be quite as quick as planned. We only went to this italian place around the corner from the hostel and ordered a pizza deal that came with a drink each... Paul's was a beer.. mine a Vodka tonic... pretty simple you would think right? But our waiter decided to basically fill an entire glass (and not a small one!) with vodka for me and then quite literally just added the briefest of splashes of tonic to it.... now, I know I've had a bit of practice at this whole drinking lark lately but..... i do need a bit of dilution at least!!!

So, the quick meal turned into a rather lengthy one.... well, there was no point wasting good vodka, I just got another glass and some more tonic.... not just a hat-stand me!! ;0) and Paul kept me company with a few extra beers... so, by the time we made it to Creamfields we were a tad later than planned and I'd missed the allocated meeting time with Marco... I did go to where we were meant to meet him in case he was still there but no, he'd gone. I didn't worry too much as he was with lots of others and i figured he'd be so into the festival that he'd prob forgotten all about it...it wasn't until a few days later that I found out he'd lost everyone when he came to find me and hadn't managed to find them again until he was off to the after party the next morning... Marco.. I'm sorry... I didn't mean that to happen and I hope you've forgiven me now! The festival is set in a huge open field in Puerto Madero... down by the river... not somewhere I'd previously seen, except a glimpse of in my hasty dash to Qantas a few days earlier, the area was massive and with all the people in it there was no way I'd have been able to spot him, although i did try!

Paul and I had managed to find some of his friends though.... then lost them again almost immediately.... we told them to stay put while we hit the bar and that was the last we saw of them... and of anyone else we knew... with the exception of a brief encounter with a very drunken, amusing Al (one of the irish boys) and some disturbingly young Argentinian girls who took a little shine to our Paul... which i obviously found highly amusing!!

Anyway... with the assistance of beer (Paul) and Vodka Speed (me) - I mean Speed the drink (random version of redbull) not the substance btw - Paul and I continued on to have a very entertaining night... in truth... I don't remember an awful lot of the festival itself.... I remember thinking it was wicked, I remember Underworld and I remember one other set that was particularly good but in keeping with my appalling musical knowledge I couldn't tell you who it was (Paul... shed any light on this one??) Sorry to those out there that would be interested in knowing more about the actual fesitval... all that vodka took its toll I'm afraid! but all in all, the night was great fun... Paul and I had our usual banter going on, several o'clocks to adhere to (beer o'clock being just one of them), got chatting to all sorts of random people.. Paul was even drunk enough not to object (too much) at getting me food from one of the tents we'd found ourselves perched in with a couple of random's at about 5am... and in our defence... i think we did pretty damn well to last til pretty much the end when we were possibly the only 2 people there not off our heads on pills!

We finally left about 6am I think and decided to walk home along the river front.... the pic below, of said riverfront, is the only pic that is actually mine... I didn't take my camera with me cos I was worried about losing/breaking it (not that i needed to which i'm kicking myself for now) so i took a disposable.. and a rubbish one at that but the only one i could find... unfortunatley it really was rubbish and none of the others came out... boo! So.. the one of Paul and I taken just before we left and the one here of the river are mine but i have to admit that all the others i pinched off some random's blog... just to show you all what it was like... how good am I to you!! ;0)Anyway... the walk home was actually really nice... it took a while but it also took in a lot of the city, along the river, past churches and the Presidential Palace and it was a lovely way to wind down from the festival. We made it back to the hostel about 7am and parked ourselves in the courtyard for a bit.. soon being joined by several others that had also been to Creamfields.. Al had somehow found his way back to Millhouse.. despite it not being where he was staying.. Em surfaced from her room, having given up and gone to bed a few hours previously and Paul and I were just laughing... we felt surprisingly normal next to so many people not making any sense at all (although maybe they were laughing just as much as us!)

Anyway... i think we eventually made it to our beds around 9am after whiling away a few hours in the courtyard with toilet humour and daft antics.... sleep was a welcome thought but it had been an awesome night, despite not really being into dance music, and I'm really glad I went. Unbeknown to me at the time, it was to be my final fling... my last full on, all-night out in Buenos Aires and of my trip.... not a bad way to end all the night's out I've had this year! Once again Buenos Aires was living up to it's reputation! xx

Football Fun and Shopping Madness!

2006-11-16T15:17:00.000Z

So, most of Sunday was slept away.. given I didn't start sleeping til the morning had come anyway this won't be a surprise to any of you!! I did have to get up early afternoon though... we had a date.. with a football match! The La Boca Juniors were taking on Quilmes in a big local derby at the home of La Boca Juniors; La Bombonera... The Chocolate Box! Despite my body clock being totally out of whack and everything in me wanting to carry on sleeping, I was ridiculously excited about going to the match. I've always been told it's a 'must do' when in Buenos Aires and was so pleased that my timing was right being there when they were playing at home...I was also looking forward to watching my first football match where I wouldn't be wrapped in several million layers in futile attempts to keep warm... oh no, it was denim skirt, flips and a breezy summer top for me!! woohoo! In fact, if anything, I was a little too hot... sunscreen was slapped on and we did fear we'd burn... a welcome difference from all those cold English matches I've found myself at over the years!

Anyway... thanks to a La Boca match being such a Lonely Planet/Backpacker 'must do', as well as the fact they're a top of the league team that is, tickets sell out sharpish.. especially when it's a massive local derby such as this. Our ideal was to get tickets from the ground, cheaper and much more fun than going in an organised group but alas, it wasn't to be... other than a few they'd release early on match day, they were all sold out when Paul, Tim and Jamie went down to get some for us all. So we had to resort to buying them from the hostel... costing us stupid amounts more than it would've but at least we'd get to go.

We set off about 2pm ish despite the match not kicking off until 6pm! The main match that is, there was another match before it.. i'm assuming it was the seconds team although can't really remember. Either way we were quite happy to sit in the sun and soak up the atmosphere! Prior to making our way into the stadium however, once off the bus along with the 20 or so other people, we whiled away a bit of spare time at a roadside hot dog/burger stand.. me feeling a tad hungover, Kate feeling far too spritely for my state.. and were instructed by our guide on where to meet for the bus back to the hostel after the match, if we got lost. After sitting in the sun trying to conquer the hangover with a good old bottle ofr Sprite, I needed a quick trip to the ladies at the service station opposite before heading into the stadium.. unfortunately there was a queue and unbeknown to me, whilst queueing - and peeing - the guide decided it was time to head into the stadium and refused to wait... when I came out, everyone but Kate and a couple of others who'd had to answer the call of nature then as well were the only one's left! Oops!

Anyway, the 5 of us; myself, Kate, Sarah (a lovely Kiwi girl from the hostel), Lorraine (another lovely girl, english - who i recognised from somewhere, and vice versa, but neither of us could figure out where!) and a guy who's name i can't remember (sorry dude!), headed into the Chocolate Box figuring we'd find everyone else once in there! That wasn't quite what happened.. although we didn't realise the reason for it until after the match... we'd managed to wander into the wrong stand... the one for all the locals and the one with the Away fans on the top tier - above us!! Everyone else from our group was on the top tier of the opposite stand! During the first match (not the main event) all was well, there were a few other gringo's in the stand around us and all the locals were pretty friendly. In truth we were actually quite pleased at that point, we kind of wanted to be with the local fans rather than surrounded by 10 million other backpackers - thought it would be a better experience! What we didn't consider at that point, was the wrath of the Away fans during the main match.. when the Boca Juniors were 1-0 up!!

Seriously, I've no idea what possessed the 'powers that be' to place opposing supporters on tiers under/above each other.. it's a reciepe for disaster.. obviously! The first sign of trouble was about half way through the first half.... in the form of some 'classy' away fan deciding it was appropriate to pee over the side onto the home fans.... thankfully this was far enough to our right not to hit us! After that it all got a bit mental, people started chucking drinks on us, throwing things (and not small, harmless things either..things you wouldn't want to have hit you!) and gobbing on us... I, unfortunately, wasn't as lucky as the other 4 in our group, and found myself with some Quilmes fan's spit dripping down my right arm.. not a pleasant experience I can assure you.. but at least it wasn't one of the numerous heavy objects being hurled over the edge that i was hit with!

The match itself was wicked though, and to be fair, all the supporters of Boca Juniors couldn't have been friendlier.. the little boy in the pic above was there with his father and they were so cute together.. the atmosphere was totally alive and it was a great experience regardless of the stupid behaviour of the Quilmes fans! A few minutes before the final whistle, Kate and I decided we'd watch the end from the side, close to the exit (yes, I'll admit we were getting a little concerned about what would happen when everyone came out and both teams fans came face to face) we needed have worried though, in fairness to the Argentine authorities, we were greeted with a wall of policemen (not a bad thing to find yourself faced with I can assure you girlies!! ;0) alot of others had had the same idea, however, no one was allowed out until the match was over and then it was fiercely regulated in order to avoid any trouble occuring! Although i could have done without some skanky person spitting on me, taking in a Boca Juniors match definetly is a 'must do' if you make it to Buenos Aires and while I know I'll get told off for not remembering the score, Boca Juniors won so it was all good in the end!!

We had an interesting time finding our bus back to the hostel but eventually we were all safely on board and got back to Millhouse about 10pm.. just in time for dinner... Kate, Sarah, Lorraine and I went for food at a lovely little place called Harmony just around the corner and had a good girlie chat... if i remember correctly, the main topic of coversation that evening was the lovely subject of bowel movements... oh, to be a backpacker!!!! We were all pretty shattered as the weekend drew to a close and headed back to the hostel where our beds were tempting us with thoughts of cosiness and sleep... I think all the other 3 managed to fulfill that temptation pretty sharpish.. me on the other hand... I'm far too easily led!!!! Which is actually far more innocent than it sounds.. honest!!) When on my way to bed, having left a note saying 'goodnight and see ya' to Paul, Tim and Jamie, on the notice board as they were off to Uruguay early the next morning.. I had the misfortune of bumping into Paul which, unbeknown to me at that point, was the kiss of death for any thoughts i might have had about sleeping that night.... somehow we ended up sat in the bar, chatting the night away... literally... I managed to make it to bed at 6am... which for me at least meant I got to sleep for a few hours... Paul on the other hand had to get up at 7am to catch the boat to Uruguay!! Unlucky dude.. but if you will keep me talking!! I'm going to be nice to you now Paul... careful... don't want that ego of yours getting any bigger than it already is (is that possible anyway??!) I was actually sad to see the boys go, it'd been fun hanging out with Paul and it would've been good to have them around for the last few days of my trip but ah well.. there was sleep to be had... that was all i cared about a second after saying bye to my young friend and besides, now you're back in London to Paul, I'll probably never be able to get rid of you.. god help me!! ;0)

Anyway.... with the incessant talking in my ear ceased... i managed a few hours sleep then forced myself up..... Kate and I had important plans for the day.... Shopping!!!! What else?! We headed down to Avenida Cordoba - one of Buneos Aires main shopping streets, full of plush leather stores and fancy shopping malls.. and set about our business... although not before we'd grabbed ourselves some lunch at a lovely roadside restaurant in the sun (as you can see in the pic here) along with a cheeky Triple Oreo biscuit... for those of you that haven't sampled the delights of those - well, you can't get them over here - but if ever you come across one, trust me... try one! After that we got the serious business of shopping underway, there were presents to buy - after my big Bolivian shopping spree I only had a few more Christmas pressies to buy and then there was things for me... well, if you can't treat yourself??! Besides, I figured that as soon as I got home I'd have to watch the pennies so I may as well shop while i still could!!

All didn't go quite according to plan though.. half way through said shopping trip, Kate discovered her wallet was no longer in her bag! Yes, that's right, the poor chica had been pickpocketed... boo! We spent the next hour or so sorting things out, cancelling cards and retracing steps just in case but it was gone and then we opted for more retail therapy.. I helped Kate out so she didn't need to worry about not having money for the rest of her trip and soon we'd calmed down and the retail therapy had worked it's magic! It was a shame it had happened but I guess these things can happen anyway... why people do it I'll never understand but at least we were ok - there are worse things that could happen and hey, we were in Buenos Aires. Man, I love it here!

The pics here btw are of an outdoor exhibition around the city. Each heart was designed by different local artists with various theme's running throughout... all set our in the sunshine, they looked fab and really do just enhance the vibrance and colourful vibe this city gives off!

After an exhausting but fab day shopping, that night we went for an 'all-you'can-eat' buffet with Kate's friend Clint and Emily... which was lovely and about all I had the energy for that night..... it was with utter exhaustion but total contentment that I fell into bed as soon as we got back to the hostel.... to sleep.... actually at night for once... a novel, and very welcome, experience!! xx

The Party Capital lives up to its name!!

2006-11-10T21:51:00.000Z

We actually spent Thursday morning in Rosario, buses are pretty frequent, it's only a 4 hour journey from there to Buenos Aires, so we hadn't booked and decided that we'd take it easy, as long as we were in Buenos Aires by later afternoon/early evening... we'd booked into Millhouse... a hostel recommended to me by several people and where my friend Emily (of Isla del Sol, Cusco and La Paz appearance) would also be staying. Millhouse is well known in the backpacker world as the party hostel (with Lime House apparently being where you go to recover... i however found Millhouse far calmer than Lime House and much nicer in terms of the actual accommodation.. not that Lime House wasn't decent mind!) The pic below is the courtyard at Millhouse, many a morning was spent here at the end of a whole night out...

We arrived as planned about 6pm after a very comfy, dry and warm bus journey having lucked out with the front seats.... i actually really enjoyed that bus journey, just watching the world go by, taking in the Argentine scenery and having a bit of quality 'bus-thinking' time (Bec and Aideen I'm sure you'll appreciate that thought!! ;0) You know that feeling you get when you have the day off work, the sun's shining and warm on your skin, you're relaxing with your mates or doing something fun and mischieveous and you realise you're just plain happy... and you can't help just quietly smiling to yourself? Well, sorry to sound cheesy but that was me... I just found myself smiling... thinking about all of the things i've done, friends i've made, people back home that I'd be seeing again soon, how far I'd come in just one year... and i don't just mean geographically... and how lucky I've been to be able to do everything I've done. Basically... Life was Sweet... I was having a Ball.... and i had nothing but the fact that it was nearly over to complain about (and that's just me being greedy!!) Sorry for going off on one but it's a great feeling and I didn't want to forget it..... I hope I always remember that feeling, it's a shame you can't bottle it for those times when things are tough and you lose sight that life is there to be enjoyed.... anyway.... i had one week left, i fully intended to make the most of it!!

Thanks to our leisurely morning and comfy bus ride, we were well rested when we arrived and decided a night out was in order... I was still feeling a little delicate from the day before but hey, sometimes you have to just power through right and Buenos Aires is well known as being the party capital of South America so it seemed only right! After checking in and sprucing ourselves up a little, we found Emily and the 3 of us headed out for a lush Thai meal at a restaurant the staff at the hostel had recommended. It was a bit pricier than was really allowed on our budgets but well worth it.... and as you can see from the pic above we even splashed out on a cheeky strawberry daquari each!!! Ummm... and Yummm!! ;0) (that's Em in the middle and Kate on the left btw).

After the meal we headed back to the hostel as they were having a bit of a party there before everyone headed off to a club.... on the way back to the hostel, as it was quite late and we'd realised we'd be playing catch up, we decided to act like 15 yr olds again and buy some wine to crack open and swig from the bottle (classy!) while we walked then sneak it into the hostel and finish it off in our room (oops.... just realised, only joking mum.. I never did any such thing when I was 15, honest!! ;0) Once in the bar and safely on to the G&T's (while Kate was downing some dodgy looking liquer... and enjoying it too judging by the grin on her face in the pic here!!) we met up with the Irsih lads from Rosario along with a few new peeps too... namely Paul, Jamie and Tim.. 3 english lads travelling together.. one of which was to become a good friend... Paul (shown with me in the pic below).... who I bonded with over our love of photography and his rather awesome Canon A1 and 3 different lenses... having constantly missed my SLR throughout my trip I was very jealous of Paul's camera and with the promise of letting me 'touch it' (the camera people, the camera.. get your minds out of the gutter!!) how could I not be his friend!! (see... told you it was just your camera I liked you for Paul... heehee.. ;0)

Anyway... nightlife in Buenos Aires doesn't really get going til midnight so it wasn't til around then that we headed out to a club called Lost... it ended up just being about 10 of us... a lot of the others went to another club... the one we went to was ok.... ridiculously packed and hot mind but the evening was fun although did become somewhat random from there on in.. Paul and I headed off to check out the VIP area (which our tickets allowed us into... we weren't trying to sneak our way in!!) and in the interim we lost Kate who I later found out had left cos she couldn't find us and had a dubious experience with a taxi driver... luckily all was ok but I wasn't best pleased that I'd not been there with her and she'd gone home on her own! Anyway... a bit later... Emily... who is usually my partner in drinking and the one influencing me to stay out til dawn (ok, ok... we might be as bad as each other.. maybe!) flaked out and went home too... it wasn't til the next day that she told me she'd felt really odd and thought her drink had been spiked.. Em can usually handle her alcohol so I don't doubt this was true!! Thankfully she was ok too. I, on the other hand, did what Buenos Aires expects of you nocturnally and stayed out all night with Paul, Jamie and Tim all making grand efforts to keep up with me.. wasn't the other way round honest!!

Anyway... to give you an idea of how late we really did stay up... Paul and I managed to have not made it to our respective beds when they started serving breakfast at the hostel.... oops... there goes a whole nights sleep and most of a day's sightseeing!! Was a fun night for me though and I'd made a new friend... with a great camera... brilliant... I did have a nasty hangover though!! and will probably get a nasty abusive email when Paul see's that I've put this comical drunken picture of him on here... I have another one too Paul... and I'm not afraid to use it.. you might want to remember that...!! ;0) I'm also pretty sure you don't have any daft drunk ones of me so i think i'm safe!!! haha! Anyway, I'd been there less than 24 hours and South America had already lived up to its Party Capital reputation.... I knew I loved this place!! (Pic on the right above is Em and Jamie btw and below.. me and Em)

The following day.. Friday Nov 10th had been earmarked first and foremost to sort out my flight home.... at the moment I was still booked on to a flight out of Rio 5 days later.... i had no intention of losing 2 days of the so few i had left in order to hot foot it to Rio in time for my flight home..... so my plan was to change my flight to a Buenos Aires - Heathrow in 6 days time. Don't get me wrong... i wanted nothing more than to have time to complete my planned route of heading up through Uruguay along Brazil's Southern coast to Rio but i didn't have that time unfortunately so rather than rush through Uruguay and Brazil and not see any of it properly, let alone also not seeing Buenos Aires properly, I decided the best thing to do was sack off Brazil and Uruguay and visit them with enough time to enjoy them properly another time. It was a shame but at least this way i got to apprecaite Buenos Aires and Argentina more.

Now, I can say this now, cos it's done and dusted and I'm safely home but the idea regarding my flight change was a little bit risky on my part...my ticket expired on Thursday November 16th... which was the day I wanted to depart from Buenos Aires on... that all may sound fine but in reality.. while my ticket expired on that date it also meant that i had to be in transit by or before midnight on the 15th November and arrive into London no later than midnight on the 16th November... problem was none of the airlines included in my one world ticket flew on the 15th from Buenos Aires to London and I didn't want to leave any earlier... so, i'd decided to take my chances and give changing it to the 16th a shot.. just keeping my fingers crossed that it would work and they wouldn't check the technicalites of my ticket! The outcome of that little plan didn't materialise until a few days later... instead Friday shaped up to be a bit of a nightmare....

Having not made it to my bed until about 9am that morning, I slept til 3pm then got straight on the phone to the Qantas office where I spoke to the guy who'd been dealing with me for the last week or so..... I'd been having troubles getting them to confirm anything as they were waiting for the go ahead from London... i was obviously concerned that London would check more closely the expiry of my ticket and just wanted to get it all confirmed... that and the fact that if I didn't get it sorted today I'd have to wait til Monday.. which was potentially, if I didn't pull this off, only one day before I'd have to find myself a flight to Rio in order to make it there in time to catch my flight home!!

Eventually, with a bit of cheekiness and flirting... (sometimes its great being female!) i managed to get him to agree to issue my tickets if I came down to the office straight away and paid the amendment fee.. realising that the time was now just gone 4pm and I had less than an hour before they closed I was about to hotfoot it out on to the street and hail a cab when I bumped into a couple I'd met in La Paz randomly and despite my claims that I really had to get going, they kept me talking for a valuable 10-15 minutes... lovely as they were it just wasn't the right time... once I'd escaped the events that followed were comical......

I hailed a cab and gave the driver the address, half way there though I realised that in my haste.. i didn't have my original ticket with me... without which they wouldn't be able to re-issue my revised one..... pants! Unfortunately my limited spanish didn't stretch to 'I've forgotten something, can you take me back to my hostel and wait for me while I get it!' Although i did make several attempts at saying this, much I am sure to the taxi driver's amusement!!! In the end I had to just stop him, get out and run back to the hostel then flag another cab as quickly as i could...

Running in flip flops is not the easiest but I eventually managed to get to the hostel and was back in another cab as quickly as i could... by this time it was about 4.40pm... I had 20 minutes... what I hadn't banked on was the huge volume of traffic in the CBD of Buenos Aires.... we crawled along and I got more and more agitated in the back on the cab.... at the time I definetely wasn't laughing but in hindsight it's all quite comical really... the driver soon clocked on to the fact that i was getting a bit impatient and in my broken Spanish (along with his limited English) I miraculously managed to explain to him what the deal was... at every traffic light we got caught at I'd tap my feet and drum my fingers on the seat anxciously, while constantly repeating 'Vamos, Vamos' to the poor guy the minute the lights changed..... to his credit, he did his best for me... all the while laughing at my little outbursts.. which I found quite comical myself.. i think he just about kept me sane... and at 5 to 5pm he dropped me off on the street parallel to where i wanted to be... he said it would be quicker for me to run through than him drive around cos of the traffic... thanks to me being in such a hurry the man got a nice hefty tip too... there was no time to wait for my change!! Unfortunately for me..... the numbers of the buildings on the street i was looking for, weren't massively visible.. and we're talking high rise office buildings, not the obvious Qantas shop front that you'd hope for.... so, after running up and down the street (and it was a long street) I finally found where i wanted to be - not far from where the taxi man had dropped this crazy lady off - but I was 10 minutes too late... they were closed and I had no ticket!!! Hungover and feeling very dejected I started my wander back to the hostel..... I decided that I wasn't going to waste the entire day, I may as well take in some of the city, at least it wouldn't have been a total washout then! It was a gorgeous day, really warm and sunny so after grabbing myself an 'I feel hungover and sorry for myself' treat; a big Oreo 3x biscuit.... (a very tasty chocolate covered massive Oreo stacked up 3 times over that we'd discovered on our walk back to the hostel from the Thai restaurant the other night)... I leisurely wandered up Avenida Cordoba.. one of the city's main shopping streets with some very plush shops showcasing some of the leather goods that Argentina is famous for (Mum you'd have loved it!) and enjoyed window shopping and taking in all the amazing arcitechure that is all around you in Buenos Aires... by the time I reached the hostel I had calmed down a little and figured there was now nothing i could do until Monday so I may as well enjoy the weekend and worry about it all when Monday came... besides, it was nearly evening again.. there was fun to be had!

I ended up having 2 dinners that night... an early dinner that night with Kate... well, when i say early... that's normal time for the rest of us but early for Argentina.... just at a restaurant around the corner from the hostel. Then Kate went off to meet her friend Clint that she'd met in Bolivia I believe, who was now living in Buenos Aires for a bit, and I chilled out at the hostel for a while with Paul, Tim and Jamie... they were headed off for some dinner at the usual Buenos Aires time.. .about 10/11pm and asked me along with them... thanks to my body clock now being firmly on Buenos Aires time (it didn't take that long to settle in eh.. but then I have always been a bit of a noctural creature!) I wasn't in the least bit tired so I agreed to go with them... we ended up walking for miles and eating at a somewhat nicer establishment than the slightly dubious one Kate and I had stumbled into earlier. I had no intention of actually eating, I'd just gone along to be sociable and have a drink with them... but my body was crying out for some healthy food..... Argentina is no doubt the country I've found it hardest to be vegetarian in.. everywhere else has been pretty easy but with Argentina being famous for its steak it's hardly surprising that I was struggling a little... so I'd been living on pasta and pizza alot, not to mention all the alcohol I'd abused my body with the night before.... so when I came across Salmon with an array of vegetables and a shed load of steamed broccoli i couldn't resist... I have just read that back and realised how ridiculous it sounds to tell everyone that i simply couldn't resist broccoli.... Mum's probably fainted in shock as she read that bit!!

Anyway... the salmon and broccoli was very tasty.. as was the red wine we indulged in too (well.... it would be rude not to.. we are in Argentina after all!) After the meal the boys were off to meet a friend of theirs and I decided to leave them to it and head home to bed for an early night...... 2am....!!!! That is early in Argentina... I had sights to be seen the next day.. and a little festival some of you may have heard of .... Creamfields... to attend.. so sleep seemed like a good option. Although it felt pretty safe to me, the boys insisted I got a cab back as they didn't want me walking home alone that late so I did as i was told like a good girl and hopped in a cab... I have to say a little Thank you at this point... to Paul.... I had left the hostel without any money on me so bless him, he'd paid for everything for me... meal, wine and cab.... I was very grateful to him and if I'm honest... can't actually remember if I ever paid him back... so Paul... thank you and apologies if i never gave you the money back... I'm sure you'll take great delight on telling me so in your own 'special' way when you stop gallivanting around Brazil and make it back home!

The day had been a strange and stressful one but the evening was fun and by the time I finally and very gratefully rested my head on my pillow that night, everything was calm again and I was looking forward to the weekend! So far.. I'd been here just a day and a bit... and the party capital of South America had already proved itself worthy... not just of it's reputation.. but also of my initial impression of it... this place is great... my love at first sight just gets more justified with every extra hour I spend here! Sometimes things just feel right! xx

oh yeah.... btw.... obviously I don't have pics to go along with my ridiculous antics of trying to get to Qantas on time so the pics shown in this post (that aren't obviously me with whoever) are just random shots of Buenos Aires that I've taken.. they show you a little of what the city and arcitechure are like... it doesn't convey the real beauty or vibe of it all but it gives you a little idea i hope. x

The Calm before the Storm - Chilling out in Rosario!!

2006-11-07T00:50:00.000Z

Our journey from Iguazu to Rosario was set to be a bit of a mammouth one but hey... we've been there before eh! We left Puerto Iguazu late morning, Brook and Hayden weren't leaving til that evening so they came to see us off at the bus station (aka: scabbing a lift to the laudarette in our taxi!! ;0) we had a full day on the bus to Posada where we were changing late afternoon for our overnight bus to Rosario so we got ourselves comfy on the nice spacious Argentine bus only to discover seconds later that our seats were the proud owners of leaking air con ducts... and not just a few drips, so we did a bit of musical chairs until we finally found some dry ones and settled down for the journey... most of it for me was spent sleeping.. now there's a surprise!!

All went fine with the transfer to the other bus and luckily our seats for the overnight stretch were dry.. although not warm.. Kate had forgotten to pack trousers in her day pack so ended up wrapping herself in the plastic waterproof thing she'd used at the Falls the other day... it looked like she'd wrapped herself in Clingfilm... good look Lady! ;0) We reached Rosario about 8ish on Monday morning (6th November) and headed to our chosen hostel; La Casona de Don Jamie... they had rooms but we weren't allowed to check in til Midday... not what we wanted to hear having barely slept throughout the night!! They did however let us take over the little upstairs section in their restaurant and create beds with all their cushions where we managed to grab a few hours sleep... or Kate did anyway... eventually I gave up, jumped online for a bit (handily the computer was up their too) and indulged in some breakfast and hot, frothy milk..... yum!

It wasn't until we were checked into our dorm and were getting our PJ's out for a few cheeky hours of proper sleep that we discovered our bags had been tampered with..... the minute i opened mine i realised... thanks to my inability to travel light, there's a certain way my bag has to be packed to fit everything in, and after nearly a year of doing it, I've got it down to a fine art... so as nothing was as I'd packed it, I immediately knew someone had been in it.... the lock wasn't broken though which seemed a bit strange and nothing had been taken either. I always have all my valuable stuff in my day pack anyway but usually I pack my jewellery in my backpack... luckily for some reason this particular time, I hadn't, otherwise I doubt I'd still have it. Kate later discovered her backpack had also been 'toyed' with.... not because of the way it was packed - she's better at travelling light than me - but because she was missing her Lonely Planet and her Hairbrush!!! Random items to take but there you go!! Anyway... to be fair... if this was the worst that was going to happen to me in South America then I was counting myself pretty damn lucky!!

Anyway... back to Rosario... for those wondering, Rosario is the 3rd largest city in Argentina after Buenos Aires and Corboda and most renowned for being the birthplace of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara; 'star' - for want of a better word - of the well known Motorcycle Diaries, leader of the Cuban and Internationalist Guerrillas and a Marxist Revolutionary political figure. Following his death he became an icon for socialist revolutionary movements worldwide. Having read the Motorcycle Diaries I will admit that the main reason I'd been keen to go to Rosario was because of Che Guevara, although in reality there's no major celebration of him here and Argentine's don't seem as enamoured with him as the rest of the world does. While Rosario was his birthplace, it wasn't where he was raised and other than a statue in one of the squares and his, very understated house , with just a small simple sign outside that differentiates it from any other in that city centre street, there is nothing to commemorate or act as an attraction for tourists. That said, I'm glad i went. Quite aside from any connection to Che Guevara, Rosario is a lovely city... it's big enough to have all you need but not too big to feel lost in, it's pretty, with a lovley river setting and nice beaches (one of which is shown in the pic at the beginning of this post, with the pic above here being a view of the city from our little boat), good shopping, good restuarant and nightlife (on the weekends) and everyone is really friendly. I had originally intended only to spend a night there but thanks to now travelling with Kate we'd altered our seperate plans a little and decided to spend a few days there instead.

We slept away most of out first day mind.... then spent the rest of it eating and drinking. The hostel was really friendly and aside from the included breakfast which could've been improved upon its safe to say, i would recommend it to anyone... good location, friendly staff and a good relaxed atmosphere. We were sharing a room with a few other girls, 2 in particular we got to know.. Maya and Josie, 2 American girls... they were very very sweet and the four of us hit it off instantly with lots of silliness and giggling. There was also a group of Irish lads and a few others of various nationalities to add to the eclectic mix staying in the hostel and we all ended up joining forces that evening and going in search of some nightlife... as it was a Monday, this was no easy task!! Rosario is not known for it's week day nightlife!! It was a fun, if random, night though... it started off with a good 10 or so of us and as we walked, and walked, and walked in search of a bar that was open, the numbers dwindled somewhat and eventually there was 5 of us (me, Kate, Kev, Mick -Hammie!- and Josie) in a random shop that appeared to sell beer and had a few tables set up in the corner for you to enjoy it at.... choices were low so we made ourselves comfy and cracked open the beer! They shop closed pretty early so we decided to head back to the hostel and drink in the bar there (btw.. when i say early i don't think we actually left the hostel until near enough 11pm so really I mean early for Argentina!) we found a fair few of the others already settled at the hostel bar so joined them for some more drinks and banter...... the banter was hilarious that night, not least thanks to Mick... one of the funniest men I have ever met.... there were wedding plans, name changing allsorts..... all I'm going to say is 'Dirty Gertie & Hammie 4EVA'... now I know that'll make no sense to anyone but Mick but I like to remember these things so had to include it I'm afraid!! The pic here is a classic of Al, one of the Irish boys, not long before he decided it was time he took himself off to bed... for some reason i wasn't very snap happy that night so this is actually the only pic i have of the evening!

On another note, it turned out that most of the lads staying there had all been staying at Loki in Cusco recently and knew my friend Emily (who's featured in several previous posts). It also turned out that Kev (and one of the others but I can't remember which of you.. sorry guys) was a guy I'd heard about through Emily... scarily the 2 of them had been set up and attacked in a taxi in La Paz on their way home from a club one night, they'd had something sprayed in their faces, were stripped of all their belongings and left on the street somewhere in the city. Apparently it took them hours to find anyone that didn't refuse to help them and they ended up in hospital for 3 days. A scary story and one that made me realise again how lucky I had been so far. They're not stupid boys and there was nothing they could've done so it's scary that all you can really do is try to be sensible and not put yourself in a dodgy position and even then these things can happen... but they happen everywhere in the world so you can't stop living your life just in case. I'm just glad to say that both boys were fine, if a little tentative of taxi's after that but it could've been worse... it has been worse according to other stories I've heard so thankfully they were ok. On a brighter note... the boys were also en route to Buenos Aires so despite them leaving the following day, it wasn't too sad a farewell as we knew we'd find them again in Buenos Aires a few days later!

Thanks to the lateness of the night before we didn't surface until the morning had almost disappeared so really only saw the afternoon of our second day there... but it was an afternoon well spent. Josie and Maya persuaded us to go sailing with them (it didn't take much persuasion though to be fair!) We made our way to the marina about 2pm and met our Skipper, a lovely Aregntine guy and were introduced to our boat for the afternoon... it really was sailing too... we were hoisting the sail, learning about the boat and all sorts... we did naturally manage to fit some lounging on deck time in too though... and getting in the spirit of things with some Mate (which Kate and I agreed was actually pretty grim... i like bitter things but this was too bitter even for me). Unfortunately, although still nice and warm on shore, out on the river with the clouds covering the sun it was pretty chilly so there was no cheeky 'catching a few rays' going on but even so it was great to be out in the fresh air, sailing up the river, checking out the beaches and generally having fun, chatting away and eating biscuits! Once we'd made it safely back and docked at the marina, our Skipper took us all for a drink at the clubhouse before we headed back to the hostel. As there wasn't masses happening of an evennig in Rosario we decided we get ourselves some food and just chill out that night and that's exactly what we did... although we still managed to be late to bed thanks to too much 'Hablah' ... oops! All in all it'd been a fun day though.

Wednesday didn't prove to be quite so fun unfortunately... our plan had been to hire bikes and cycle round the city in the sunshine (and the sun was shining too) but I had one of those 'I hate being Female' days and woke up with the stomach ache from hell.. there was no way I'd handle being on a bike all day... it was all I could do to stand up so reluctantly I left Kate to go off and explore on her bike and took myself back to bed, having drunk a shedload of peppermint tea and popped a few pills. I was hoping it would be gone by the afternoon as I was yet to make it to Che Guevara's house and we were due to leave the following day! After a few hours attempted kip I thought i'd get up and go for a wander see if that helped, it seemed to a bit so after lunch when Kate returned, we decided to wander into town and check out Che's house... Kate hadn't gone there yet either. As mentioned earlier and as you can see from the pic here, it was somewhat understated but I'm glad i saw it.. my day hadn't been totally wasted after all!! I have however since been informed that I managed to miss a bit fat statue or tower or something in the city centre..... not entirely sure how i managed that but hey ho!

After our sightseeing we decided to have a little wander and see a bit more of the city.... we resisted the shops... with a huge amount of difficulty and ended up sitting in the sun for a coffee and cake.... with my stomach feeling a little more settled I braved a Dulce de Leche Mousse.. with biscuit crumbled into it (that was my own personal touch) and I think it may have been the closest thing to heaven i have ever tasted!!!! Anyone getting the impression I liked it a little??!

Thanks to my tummy I unfortunately had to give the proposed Salsa dancing a miss that night and didn't last long til I was back in bed... i was gutted about not being able to Salsa but consoled myself that I would be learning to Tango in Buenos Aires soon.... tough life eh!! ;0) I had loved my time in Rosario, it was chilled out and relaxing and perfect for reviving ourselves before we hit Buenos Aires...as the title here says.... 'the calm before the storm' and as much as I would've happily stayed longer there, now that it was so close I was very excited about getting back to my beloved Buenos Aires.. bring on that storm!! Now some may say I'd been a bit hasty in my instant love for that city but I stand by it... sometimes you just have to trust your gut right?! xx

Big Fat Waterfalls and Fab new Friends!

2006-11-07T00:49:00.000Z

THE ARGENTINIAN FALLS

So, after possibly the worst nights sleep in the noisiest hostel in the world (nice as it was, it was like having a stereo at full blast right next to my ear) I got up earlier than i needed to thanks to being told the domestic airport took longer to get to than it actually does but hey, its ok, I was off to Iguazu and it meant I had time to finally get my memory card put on CD!

At 11ish I headed off to the airport.... where I encountered a few problems with my flight ticket... or rather my lack of one. It seems I had a reservation but no actual ticket and that's what I needed in order to check in!! Luckily it got sorted and a ticket issued without too much hassle and in I checked... that wasn't the end of it though... a delay was on the way! Boo! About 3 hours later than scheduled we managed to take off and a few short hours and some delicious in flight biscuits later I was landing at Puerto Iguazu, very excited!!! The pic above is taken from the plane window en-route from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu... even just from the fields you see above you can tell how lush and gorgeous Argentina is!

I'd booked my hostel already so hopped in a cab to the Hostel Inn Iguazu Falls and was loving the place already. The hostel turned out to be a bit like a Center Parks type thing, in a good way.... there was a lush pool out front and all sorts going on with a really friendly lively vibe about the place. It was great. I checked in and found that I had the dorm to myself... bliss! Just what I needed after the last few days!!! After I'd settled in i headed upstairs to sort out the activities for the next couple of days... while at the tour desk I met Garv, a cheeky Aussie who was to become one of the 4 other people I spent the next few days with. We ended up harrassing the poor girl on the tour desk for far too long and eventually left her in peace and headed into town to check out bus times for when we left and have some dinner.

It seemed like forever before we finally sat down to eat but eventually we did only to be told that most of the stuff we wanted to order, they didn't have!!! We did manage a nice enough meal in the end though and our little look round town confirmed that we quite liked Iguazu. As I was tired from the flight and the last few days, we headed back to the hostel after dinner and it wasn't long before I was happily in my bed!

The next day was when we'd opted to go to the Argentinian side of the falls and the transfer left from the hostel at 0830. When I came up for brekkie, Garv had got chatting to an Aussie girl, Kate...(the 3 of us are pictured here on the left, infront of the Falls) and an hour later when we hadn't taken a breath for talking too much, we think he was regretting introducing us!! Kate was coming to the Falls aswell so we all piled into the transfer bus and off we went..... I was really excited to be seeing the Falls finally so couldn't wait to get there. I'd opted for a tour called the Grand Adventure which included a jeep ride through the rainforest and a boat trip down the river and into the Falls. Kate and Garv were just doing the boat ride so I left them to wander off to the meeting point and waited for my jeep to turn up.

The Jeep ride was quite short and probably not worth the extra money that I paid but it wasn't much and it was cool to see. Then the boat ride, it was wicked.... also quite short but through the rapids and literally into the Falls..... I got utterly soaked, it was like the ultimate Power Shower... thankfully I'd been prepared and put my bathers on.. which I stayed in for the rest of the day as thanks to the humidity we never completely dried out! On the subject of outfits, Kate and I ended up looking like between us we might actually have a complete one... me with my bathers and shorts on and her with her bathers and hoodie on.... we did get some comical looks that day!! The pic on the right here is my first glimpse of the Falls in the distance from the boat ride! Even from there it was pretty breathtaking!

I was also somewhat amused by all the people on my Grand Adventure... they all seemed to look at me with sympathy.. as if it was really sad that i was on my own... it entertained me I have to say... I felt like reassuring them that it was ok, I didn't mind being on my own and besides... I did actually have friends. Struck me as quite ironic too.. if you think about how scared i was at the thought of travelling on my own 11 months ago... and now it's completely natural to be on random boat trips on my own!!! This is obviously me on said boat trip, infront of the Falls, just before we headed straight into them!! Soooo much fun!!

Anyway, I waited for Garv and Kate to finish their boat ride into the falls, then we all hopped on a boat over to the little island where you can do a little walk to lookout points that give some great views of the Falls. We had lunch on the beach first then set off on the walk... with Garv, the almost military like task master leading the way... Kate and I were constantly ripping it out of him with his 'Come on Girls, less 'Hubblah', we're behind schedule' type comments... bless him! ;0) Once we'd 'oohed and aahed' over the falls, spotted a few vulchers, lizards and all sorts we headed back to the mainland and carried on walking... checking out the fall's from the land this time... It has to be said too... this is apparently the time of year when the levels of water on the Falls are at their lowest but they were still utterly breathtaking... really, they are so stunning! I rememer being unbelieveably impressed by Niagra Falls when i went there many years ago now and this is on the same level as that.. if not better. Niagra has the wow factor in terms of the sheer size of the waterfall as you initially come across it but the one thing that lets it down in my opinion is you only have to turn around to see the neon lights and activity of the town... at Iguazu you don't have any of that... the fall's are so much bigger and more spread out and it's all set in really well preserved National Park.. aside from all the people, it's just peaceful and full of nature... it's awesome!
Anyway, back to the day... after we'd exhausted ourselves (that's me and Kate) following Captain Garv around with his precision timing (heehee.. we're only messing Garv.. it was very endearing really) we had just enough time to hop on the little train that runs through the park and see the Devils Mouth - probably the most famous part of Iguazu... the mouth of the Falls where Argentina meets Brazil.. unfortunately just as we stepped off the train and were about to start our walk, the heavens decided to open... and I don't just mean a little bit... this is a tropical rainforest after all.... nope... this was hardcore rain (with a little thunder thrown in for good measure!!!) I was determined not to miss out on seeing it though and as it was my only chance I decided to opt for the 'ah, it's only a bit of water' attitude, donned my trusty waterproof (which was pointless even before i stepped out from under the shelter!) and took a deep breath. Garv had decided to come with me so we left our bags with Kate, who'd decided we were crazy and was staying put, and off we went... within seconds we were drenched and it was a shame because we it didn't really allow us to take in some of the amazing scenery that we were rushing through... still, it was that or catch our death!

We made it to the Devils Mouth and although the rain still hadn't let up.. it was most definetly worth the soaking... it really is stunning... i can't even begin to describe how it makes you catch your breath (and think... 'nope, wouldn't like to jump over into that!) the spray is so great that you can't even remotely see to the bottom and on the day we were there you could barely see across the way to Brazil!! Needless to say we didn't hang about there too long... not only was the rain coming down so hard that even my eyelashes were hurting.. but we had to get the train back sharpish if we had any hope of catching the transfer back to the hostel... plus we were about ready for a hot shower!! It had been a wicked day though, the Falls were totally amazing and we even came across some cool wildlife (a few examples of which are shown here)....all in all, a great day.... and this wasn't even the best time of year to go at!!

We got back to the hostel late afternoon and all jumped straight into the shower (not together!!) then a few of us headed into town to pick up some supplies for dinner ... plus some lush sparkling wine for Kate and I, even though we were technically allowed to bring our own alcohol into the hostel! Uumm!! Being pretty exhausted from the day we, along with Brook and Hayden; another couple of guys we'd kept bumping into at the Falls throughout the day who were like a married couple, it was ever so sweet.. bless you boys!! ;-), spent the evening at the hostel, eating, drinking and playing ping pong and pool on the world's oldest and most absurd, wonky pool table... but as Kate pointed out, its a bit like you're doddery old relatives, crazy but you can't help but love 'em!!! And so much for being tired.... we didn't make it to bed til 3am... and the next day we had to be up and lively for the Brazilian side of things! Was a fun night though!

THE BRAZILIAN FALLS

So.... As it turned out, this was likely to be my only jaunt into Brazil (on this trip anyway) despite my intentions of travelling up the coast from Buenos Aires, through Uruguay, to Rio.... time was not my friend anymore and it was looking less and less likely that that would be happening... so i was hoping the officials on the boarder would err on the side of caution and stamp all our passports despite us only being on a day trip (apparently sometimes they will and sometimes they don't bother if you're only going to be in the country for a matter of hours!) There was a fair few of us on the trip... and having been at the hostel for a couple of nights now, most of us had got to know each other so it was a good fun atmosphere... there was a few of us that stuck together for the day though; Kate, Garv, me, Hayden and Brook (as shown in that order from L-R in the pic above, looking good in our waterproofs!!) It was only about an hours drive across the border to the Brazilian Falls and apart from a little trouble with Brook's passport/entry and departure stamps everything went smoothly - thankfully, as Kate speaks good spanish, our driver was very helpful and Brook has dual British/Aussie nationality all was fairly easily rectified... and you'll all be pleased to know I was now the proud owner of a Brazilian passport stamp.... woohoo!! Small things eh!! ;0)

Now, most people say that the Argentine side of the Falls are the most impressive and I have to say i agree but there is a simple reason for this...... In Argentina you get 'up close and personal' with the Falls, can see the amazing force of them and it really stuns you... while in Brazil, it's more of an overall picture... you can't get as close to the Falls as you can on the Argentine side so it's more of a stand back and admire type of experience.... that's not to say they're not impressive... they totally are, its just in a different way. You can see (I hope) from the pics here that they are still amazing. There were also all these amazing butterflies around with such vivid, vibrant colours.. this pic was taken on the Aregntine side but they were everywhere, it was wicked!

Our few hours there consisted of first getting the bus from the main entrance of the park to where you start the walk towards the Falls (where Kate's bag got attacked by this cheeky little critter in the pic... sure she was please i was taking a photo rather than helping her... heehee.. sorry Kate!!) ... along the way you can see the Falls from various different view points and it's great as you get closer and closer. You can fly over the Falls in a helicopter from the Brazilian side but this, i'm told, disturbs all the wildlife in the park and isn't good for them or the vegetation... as much as a chopper ride would be wicked, apart from it being quite pricey, i would rather not harm the environment there so gladly didn't go for it. It seems that the Argentine's are a fair bit more mindful of the value and well being of the environment and wildlife of the park than the Brazilians... hence why it is only on the Brazilian side that these chopper rides are available. All in all the park is well looked after but you can see to an extent the difference between each side... commercialism seems to be far more apparent on the Brazilian side, hopefully they won't take too long to realise that if they don't protect their side of things properly, there won't be a tourist attraction left! Anyway... enough of me getting on my high horse... it's not like i'm doing anything to help so I'll shut up!

Back to the day.... we wandered along leisurely and took our time soaking up the atmosphere (and the rain that was on and off most of the time but we'll gloss over that eh! ;0) and scenery... it really is beautiful, when we got to the main point of the Brazilian side, with elevated view points and the point closest to the Devil's mouth (while in Argentina you can see it from above, right next to it... in Brazil, you look straight into at just above the level of the river it falls into so it's an entirely different view, its great) we meandered around, got incredibly snap happy with the old camera (well i did anyway.. nothing new there though!) then Hayden and I got a bit 'spend happy' in the gift shop... now i know normally you wouldn't buy souvenirs from such places.... you'd be daft to with the inflated tourist prices but as this was potentially my only stop in Brazil and I was a little keen (to say the least) on bagging myself a pair of Haviana's, i couldn't help myself.. besides I was going home soon.. i wouldn't be able to afford to shop there so i may as well enjoy myself while i could - that's what credit cards are for right??!! ;0) Besides, i bought presents for my big sis and baby brother so it's allowed really!

After we'd exhausted ourselves in the gift shop we wandered down to the walkway out to view the Devils mouth from over the river, buying ourselves a cheeky ice-lolly on the way! The pic here was taken from the end of this walkway (post ice-lollies!!) I know i keep saying it but it really was stunning! After that it was pretty much time to head back to get the bus back to the main entrance for our pick up back to Argentina.... we'd only been in Brazil a few hours, and I kept forgetting to say 'Obrigado' rather than 'Gracias', but it had been fun... it's a shame I wasn't going to see more of the country this time around but it's not a bad start i guess and I'll be back!!! There was a little doubt as to whether Brook would get back into Argentina without any trouble (just for the record, he's not as dodgy as I've made him sound... he just didn't have an entry thing for when he arrived in Argentina and it was causing some confusion!) but luckily all was well and we all arrived back to the hostel mid-afternoon with time to spare for enjoying the hostels facilities... a little dip, some pool volleyball, catching up on email but unfortunately not sunning ourselves as the sun was firmly hidden behind several thick clouds.. ah well!

That evening the hostel was hosting a BBQ along with a Tango show so we all opted to spend the evening there having a few drinks... we were all heading off to various different places the next day so it was nice to all spend the evening together (even though we'd all been together 24/7 for the last few days) along with a few others, a crazy American dude and a couple girls from my dorm (very sweet german girls, i forget their names but they were lovely).

I do have a story to tell from that evening so apologies for boring anyone but I'm going to tell it.... that evening I discovered first hand that there are some people still left in this world that are still kind and considerate just because.... and I was very touched to be the recipient of such kindness... it may sound like a small thing but it's the little things that count I always say.. I'll explain... it's actually quite a funny story but as I wasn't there to witness it I probably won't convey it properly.... Kate tells it better than me as she was there!

Anyway... the BBQ didn't have anything even remotely veggie so for me it was salad all the way. I was down in my room getting my bag packed ready for the next day and generally faffing in my own special way (that's right people, i still faff.. that will never change!!) and hadn't realised how long I'd been so by the time i came up for dinner everyone was already busy tucking into it and food was going fast.. Hayden, in the meantime, had noticed that alot of the salad was disappearing and remembered I was vegetarian so was worried that i would end up having nothing to eat. His conclusion was that he would make me a salad... I'm told that he spent several minutes deliberating what to get me, annoyed with himself that he'd not thought of it sooner as the rice had run out and he'd not been able to get me any, worrying that i might not like some of the things he'd put on there and asking staff if there'd be any more potatoes coming. Then once he'd sat it at my place on the table, in preparation for when I finally emerged, he continued worrying cos he thought it was a boring salad so decided to chop up his own beetroot and garnish my dinner with that! Bless his Heart! When I came up to find it waiting for me he kept apologising that it was a dull salad and when he found out i didn't like tomato he apologised and said I even nearly didn't put them on cos I don't like them either, i knew that! All i could do was grin at the sheer sweetness of the gesture (everyone else was pissing themselves though and found it all highly amusing!) When i went down to my room to get my camera a bit later, i mentioned it to one of the girls in there, who said 'oh, it was you that was for.. i was behind the guy in the queue for the salad and he was so funny, kept apologising for keeping me waiting but his friend was a vegetarian and he wasn't sure what to get her!' Now I know it probably sounds like nothing to you lot but I was very touched by his consideration.. it was my own fault for being late and by no means did he have any reason to worry about whether or not i got any dinner.... so it just goes to show, there are still people in this world that are unconditionally kind.... Thanks Hayden... you're a total gem! (this is the man in question pictured here with me at the Falls that day incase you hadn't already figured that out people!)

Anyway.. touching stories over.. the evening turned into another 3am finish and was great fun, with lots of Capriahna's (South American version of a Mojito) a fair bit of red wine and various other beverages, some tango (spectating not joining in on this occasion) and daft drinking games...'I Have Never.... ' being the fave that evening... highly entertaining!!! Given I'd been a little scared of properly being on my own in South America, it had taken me less than 2 days to find a great group of people and I was actually sad to be leaving them despite only having known them for a couple of days. I wasn't however, leaving all of them... Kate and I had decided that we couldn't bear to be parted and as we were both planning on heading back to London on the same day decided it seemed only sensible to spend our last few weeks travelling together... the perfect way to end my trip I thought... Kate was great fun and we got on brilliantly so it was good to have a fun travel buddy for the last stretch! (that's the crazy lady with the boys in the pic above!)

I was sad to say goodbye to the others but was excited about getting to the next place... although in a way I just wanted to pause the trip... every step I took now, every time I moved on to the next place, i was a step closer to the next step being the one that took me home.. and as much as I was looking forward to seeing everyone... I didn't want it to end yet! Time kept rolling on though so the only thing you can do is make the most of it... that's what i intended to do with my last few weeks.... I had a fab time in Iguazu and am so glad that I forced myself to leave Buenos Aires in order to go there... it's a definete must do for anyone that gets the chance... simply breathtaking! xx

Falling in Love again..!!

2006-11-01T23:48:00.000Z

This time with a city... I arrived in Buenos Aires today, I've only been here a mere few hours, I'm tired beyond belief from my sleepless night, I literally only really walked around the block from my hostel and I adore it here already. This city is fantstic, it's so vibrant and beautiful... so I've decided to leave!!!!! What are you on about you may well ask??

Well, after realising that booking my flight down here was just daft...Never book a flight on a hangover that's the moral of the story!! So, while making my tired little way here from La Paz today I made a decision.. Arriving here now I'm in danger of spending my entire last 2 weeks here... not that that would be a bad thing but it would mean i didn't do some of the other things i also really want to do... top of that list being Iguazu Falls... so, instead of letting this place get it's claws too far into me I've been implusive and booked a flight to Puerto Iguazu tomorrow.... random i know and clearly not good for the bank balance but it's beyond help at the moment anyway so ah well!
Anyway, I couldn't let my love at first sight of this city go untold so I just thought I'd mention it... even though my day has been a difficult one to survive thanks to another daft decision of not gonig to bed at all last night, the journey was hell, had to change in Santa Cruz and there was a couple on my flight that we'd met in Rurre, the ones that moaned about the flight and safety or it and quite honestly i was so tired I couldn't be doing with being sociable but I survived the flight and shared a cab into town with them so I can't really complain!! but as I was saying, even though it's been a long tough day, as soon as I stepped foot in Buenos Aires I knew I was going to adore it.... not only is the place amazing but I've already been spoiled by kindness... I left my Lonely Planet at the airport taxi desk and they radioed us to tell us another car was on its way to get it back to me, the hostel staff, despite me having the noisiest nights sleep of my life (and i can usually sleep through anything) were unbelievably friendly and helpful (that's at the Lime House btw) and the waitor in the restaurant I took myself off to for dinner was also so friendly, although he might just have felt sorry for me dining alone!!

Anyway.. I'm sure i'll love Iguazu too but I am already itching to get back here and be able to explore properly... if only I had more time!! boo!! xx

Hungover Antics and foolish mistakes.....!!!

2006-10-30T22:55:00.001Z

So, i finally made it back to La Paz (the top of which is shown in the pic here, the view of La Paz as you come down into the valley is wicked.. although this was taken from a moving car so not the best depiction of it!!!)... time is running out for me fast and so having spent a lot of time in La Paz already I didn't want to waste too much more time there.... it was too late to do anything about that by the time I got back that Saturday night so instead i found Emily who was still at El Solario... (once again I'd scored my own room as they had no dorms available and I have to say i was loving.. i think I might be a little over the dorm thing.. for a while at least!!) Anyway... i found Emily and her friend from home, Dan, along with an Aussie girl; Bec who I met in the hostel just after i arrived back and we headed to Olivers (obviously) for some food. I was shattered from the long day so have to admit it wasn' the usual Saturday night La Paz has to offer and my bed won over socialising pretty easily!!

The next day, being Sunday... and me having not got up all that early, it's fair to say, was also a bit of a wash out in terms of organising my escape route from one of Bolivia's capitals and so it was spent wandering round the witches market.. attempting to meet a hungover Chris (the aussie) for lunch but being met with a note rescheduling... written at 8am that morning, whilst still in the pub... knowing he was about to go home to bed and not by any stretch of the imagination make it back out of bed in time to meet me for lunch... hey, at least this Chris left a note eh!! ;0) Anyway... we met for dinner instead although I actually read his note wrong and it was really only by chance that he bumped into me... oops!! The night did what La Paz does best and sucks you in, not letting you leave until the morning... along with Bec, the Aussie girl from the hostel, we stayed at Olivers til late then moved onto to La Luna for some more drinks then back to Oli's house (owner of Olivers Travels) for a few more.. before we knew it, it was 0730 in the morning and we were only just getting home...just as Em was getting up to go do Death Road!! When will I learn.. and how many times have i said that since I've been in South America.. oops! Pic here is me and Em at the Halloween party.... don't ask re the Christmas hat... random I know!!

This was where i should've known just to stay in bed and not attempt to do anything sensible... but oh no... here I was hangover from hell, and hell bent on booking my flight out of here asap!!! As if i was going to make a practical, sane decision having had about 2 hours sleep!! I had a couple of thoughts up my sleeve as to my route from here on... they involved Argentina mostly. And my 2 decided options were fly to either Iguazu or Buenos Aires with the intention of going to Iguazu from there. Now, normally speaking the obvious thing to do would be to fly to Iguazu then go to Buenos Aires from there.

For the record I didn't really want to fly anywhere but thanks to my ticket home being about to expire and STA/Qantas/BA not being at all flexible and allowing me to extend it I had no choice... honestly, anyone would think I'd been away for a year and was just getting greedy!! ;0)

Anyway... long story short, the agent I was speaking to could get me a ticket to Iguazu for $400 or a ticket to Buenos Aires for $338... she kept going on about how pricey it was to Iguazu, which prob jst meant she earnt more commision from the BA flight but hungover Flooze here didn't quite have the brain power to compute that so just went ahead and agreed with her and booked the Buenos Aires flight!!! Dumbass!!!!

Anyway.... we'll come back to that later when I explain how I rectified that once i took the flight... for now... La Paz.... the rest of the day was pretty much a write off. I managed a small amount of shopping and internet time and 2 meals at the same place... Luna Coffee.... when the guy in there said it was nice to see me again I realised maybe I'd been dining alone in the same place a little too much!! ;0) but bless him... he was very friendly! I actually ended up having 2 dinners that night as when I got back to the hostel Em had just got back from surviving Death Road (although she did take a little tumble poor thing!) and enticed me into going for Tapas with them. It was a yum meal but I have to say I was rubbish company and didn't last long before the thought of my bed won and I headed home to sleep.... it was bliss!!!

The next day was Halloween.... although I had wanted to be getting on my way it was quite a good day to be in La Paz... there was a fancy dress party being held at Olivers that night. After lunch (at Coffee Luna... again!!) the afternoon was spent at the Witches market with Em, shopping to our hearts content, bartering with all the ladies on the stalls and getting that Christmas shopping done.... it's not like I'm going to be able to afford to buy anyone anything when I get home so Bolivian prices are your only hope of pressies from me people!! ;0) (Pic on the left here is Chris (aussie) and I at the Halloween party! He clearly had done the dressing up thing.. at least I hope that's why he had eyeliner on!!! Below from left to right is Dan, me, Em, Andrea and her boyf... they were a lovely couple we met both living in La Paz).
Once I'd exhausted the shopping options and relieved the market of pretty much half their stock I headed back to pack before hitting Oliver's with the others.... I didn't dress up as had to leave for my flight at 4am. I had fully intended to go home at 11ish and get some sleep but that young Emily is a bad influence ... heehee... and somehow 11ish became 3ish and i never made it to bed...!!! oops! The day that followed was hell thanks to that but the party was fun and it was a good send off from my time in La Paz!! It had been fun and La Paz and Bolivia as a whole are wicked... I still hadn't managed to do all the things I wanted to do there, I didn't get to Sucre or Potosi or the Jungle which is a shame but hey, it's on the list of places to come back to so one day.... xx

The 'Cool' White Shirt Gang and Evil Mozzies!!

2006-10-30T22:55:00.000Z

Our flight to Rurrenbarque wasn't til 4pm so a leisurely morning was on the agenda...... until I got a call at half 9am from America Tours who we'd booked the flights through to tell us our flight time had been changed and we were now leaving at 1330... so had to be at the airport by 12... and i was yet to pack and had to get hold of Dawn and Johnny at their friends house to let them know... eventually I managed to get in touch with them and they came to pick me up from the hostel at half 11... just packed and ready in time! Phew!! Despite the unexpected rush we were all happy to actually be on our way. Flights from La Paz to Rurrenbarque are notoriously unreliable.. in fact the hostel wouldn't let me book a room for my return purely cos that's where i was flying in from!!

We got to the airport within plenty of time but check in took longer than actually getting there... thanks to Amazonas wanting to leave someones luggage behind until the next day... not really ideal when everyone's booked on some kind of tour for the day after they get there! Anyway, eventually it got resolved and the luggage in question got put on the plane. The aircraft was small and the ride was shaping up to be bumpy... all fine for me, given I'm not a nervous flyer it doesn't really bother me... the English girl sat behind me however, not quite sharing my views! Her first (of many) announcements to the entire passenger body was 'My dad's a pilot and he's never get on a plane like this. It's a death wish.. we're all going to die!'.... or words to that effect anyway... All i could say was 'hmm.. loving the positivity there Girlie!!' I don't think her or her boyf were overly amused when I calmly managed to sleep through the entire flight!! oops!

Anyway, safely back on the ground we arrived in the intensely hot and humid Rurrenbarque.. I'd managed to forget that as we'd be descending from altitude it wouldn't be quite as dry, crisp and cool as La Paz and packed accordingly... oops!!! Clearly my 3 jumpers and the tracky bottoms I'd bought for those chilly nights were not going to be needed for the next few days!

Once in town we confirmed our tour for the following day... I only had time to do either the Jungle or the Pampas, not both unfortunately and had opted for the Pampas, a decision made purely on the wildlife you'd see there... I so wanted to get to the Jungle too but it wasn't to be, this time anyway! Then we found ourselves a hostel, the hostel Asis where we were hoping for a cool shower but as someone was doing their washing that wasn't to be.. apparently you can't do both at once in these parts!! So, we settled for a wander down to the river and around town and then a cool drink at the Moskkito Bar... seemingly the meeting place for all backpackers in this town! It was a nice atmosphere in there though, with some decent pool tables and a good DJ.. Marco, who became our friend very quickly, not least cos Johnny's a DJ too and they got stuck into the music talk (yes yes Panda and Pucas.. which I obvioulsly knew nothing about!!!!!!)

After a few drinks we headed back for a shower (finally) and to cover ourselves in deet before heading back to Moskkito for dinner and a few cheeky happy hour ######### and a few games of pool (I have clearly forgotten all the lads taught me in Thailand and am utter rubbish once again... although did manage not to pot the black this time you'll be impressed to know Lotty, Graham and Adam.. after my performance with you guys in Queenstown!! As we were to be up early for our tour the next day we were sensible and didn't stay out too late!

We squeezed in a lush breakfast of Banana bread before our tour the next morning... something i'd been missing since becoming a tad addicted to it in Sydney... then off we set to conquer the Pampas. First up for our 3 day tour was a bumpy 3 hour jeep ride to the banks of the Beni River with a little flat tyre incident along the way, a shed load of dust, a few sightings of crocs and a lot of heat... not that we were complaining you understand!!! Once we reached the river we had a short ride in a dug out canoe up to the lodge that we'd be staying in for the next few days.. and there we met our fellow Pampas bods.... an Irish girl, a German girl and an American Mother and Daughter... once again Johnny being a male was in the minority on a tour, just as was so on the Inca trek.. with Chris as his saving grace!! Luckily Johnny handles this kind of situation well..... training from his time with Dawn and her friends.. and so became an honourary member of the Girl Gang for the duration... heehee... sorry Johnny... couldn't resist describing it as so!!! ;0)

Talking of Gangs though... we think everyone was jealous of us really, even though they didn't show it.... Dawn, Johnny and I, having no light weight long sleeved clothes to fend off the mozzies has purchased a fetching white school/work style shirt each in Rurre the previous day, for all of a pound each.... and my.... did we look gorgeous in them!! After lunch and a siesta at the lodge we donned them with price, buttoned up to the very top might I add and made our way to the canoe ready for our 3 hour wildlife spotting boat trip down the Beni. As you can see from the pic above, I wasn't joking about how attractive we all looked in them!!!! I'm ever so sorry too, I know it was a bargain but I may have 'accidentally' left my special shirt in Rurre when I left!! oops!! Oh yeah, and given the honorary girl thing... just so you know... Johnny's the one on the left in the pic of the 3 of us!! heehee!!

Anyway... the afternoon boat ride was cool... well actually no, it was ridiculously hot and the mozzie's were out feeling vicious and ready for the kill..... it seems they like my blood and went to work on my legs, through my trousers, with no shame at all!! Sorry Mum but I have to say it.... Little Bastards! (actually what am I saying, you'd probably call them worse yourself Ma!!) However, the boat ride and all te wildlife we spotted was pretty damn awesome.. .there was all sorts, Caimans, Alligators, Herons etc etc... these little fellas on the left here are pretty cool too, I can't remember the name of them but they're really tame and just stand stock still like you see in the picture here no matter how close you get to them. Now, on another note, I know I should say the wildlife was the best bit of it but check out this sunset below..... it really was stunning!! After dinner that night we went on a nocturnal boat ride too...... I was sat at the front on my own... and the guide kept nudging the boat up front first right close to the shore where several Caimans had just been woken by us and I'm guessing weren't feeling too enamoured by us!!!!! Not my least scared moment of all time.. good fun though!!

It was straight to bed after the night boat ride.. we were all exhausted from the heat and long day and happy to have a shower and tuck ourselves tightly in under our mozzie nets for the night. I still seemed to have more bites the next morning and they were driving me mad but hey... I'm tough me... i can handle it... now where are those damn antihistamines!!!!!

We had a 4 hour boat ride the next morning, taking us the other way round the river, with the option of swimming with the Pink Dolphins found in these waters. I was considering this and did have my bathers on just in case but after spotting several million Caiman lining the banks, as much as I dream of swimming with Dolphins and was gutted i didn't get to fulfil that dream in NZ.. swimming with them in murky Caiman infested waters wasn't quite what I had in mind and quite honestly, i think the 2 peeps that did give it a try (they wren't playful at all btw so pretty pointless anyway) were utterly insane.. but they were American so understandable I guess!! Heehee!! ;0) Just kidding Girls!! Anyway... the boat ride this morning was more impressive in the animal spotting stakes than the day before... the things we saw were wicked, lots of monkeys, herons, eagles, caimans, alligators, dolphins, turtles and other things I can't remember... a few pics here show you some of the things we got to see.

We headed back to the lodge for lunch... a welcome break from the sun and mozzie's by this point I can tell you. After lunch we just chilled out at the lodge for a while... my body was taking a while to adjust to the heat, which I know is unusual for me... so all I was really capable of was lying on my bed reading, trying to keep as cool as possible! The afternoon's activities were to be Pirahna fishing.... I was tempted to opt out.... but Johnny played it perfectly and said... Just think in a few weeks time you'll be back in the cold English Winter wondering why you didn't take the opportuntity when you had it... he clearly knows how to convince me to do something.... damn it.. so off I went, deet and white shirt in place, back to the canoe..... funnily enough.. all but Johnny managed to catch something... although I have to say once I'd hooked one through the eye I felt incredibly guilty and didn't catch any more!!! I know Im a wus but it looked painful for the poor thing!! It was a fun afternoon though and I'm glad I opted to do it!! There are no pics as I forgot to take my camera but I believe Dawn and Johnny have one of me with my catch so maybe it'll make it on to here at some stage!!! but for now... here's another Caiman!!

That evening after dinner, at which the company gave us some red wine... yum... there was a little drama before bed... in the guise of an apparently extremely venemous snake... not so far away from our bedrooms, which weren't exactly snake proof shall we say! I think we were all a little on edge in our beds that night... although Jennifer had kindly given me an antihistamine for my bites so it didn't take me long to drift off (does it ever mind you!?!)

Our final day dawned and we were up early again to head off for a walk in search of an Anaconda... as you do! We said goodbye to Jennifer and Julie (the Americans) as they had to hotfoot it back to Rurre for thier flight but the rest of us ventured off into the Pampas beyond the river.. it's unexpectedly very flat and floods an awful lot apparently. Our guide knew where an Anaconda had been living for a while so it didn't take us long to find the not-so-little thing... as you can see from the pic.. not sure you'd really want to get too close or on the wrong side of this dude!!!!!!!!!

After the walk it was back to the lodge for an early lunch before waving goodbye to the Pampas and heading back on the 3 hour return jeep journey... luckily this time with no flat tyre incident. I have to admit I wasn't sorry to be leaving the Pampas... not because i hadn't enjoyed my time there, I definetly did, it's an awesome place but really just because of the Mozzies, they were feasting on me and doing my head in! It was definetely worth it though... an amazing experience!

We were staying in Rurre again that night... or rather I was only staying one night, Dawn and Johnny were staying longer to do a Jungle tour so this was my last night with them. We had a bit of a mission finding a hostel (the hostel Asis, the owner turned into a bit of a nutcase so we opted not to stay there this time) and ended up athe Hostel Beni... a nice place in town with a decen shower.... bliss!! Although once we'd checked in we were told there'd be no hot water for at least another hour as they were cleaning the tank!! Oh joy... just what we wanted to hear!!! So, we sat and continued to be smelly and horrible for another hour chatting and eating chocolate (the banana bread missionary man had run out... how rude!!) Eventually we got a shower, cleaned ourselves up and headed out for dinner and a few drinks in honour of our last evening travelling together! Dinner was ok... excpet for Dawn who's veggie lasagne was possibly the worst ever made but we shared ours with her and all was well. Then it was to Moskkitos for a few drinks, some pool and for Johnny to spin some tunes with Marco the DJ (pictured here on the left.. Johnny DJing in the pic on the right) for the rest of the evening.

It was a fun evening and ended up being a fairly late one... I had to be up early for my flight so managed not to drink too much somehow and we headed back to the hostel in a fairly decent state. Dawn and Johnny made me promise to wake them in the morning so the goodbyes were saved til then.. which came all too soon for my liking and I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower.. expecting to be back in La Paz by Midday... oh how wrong I was!! I went and said bye to Dawn and Johnny though.. i was sad to be leaving them, it had been fun travelling with them, they're a great couple. Guys, I hope you're having fun on your travels since I left you.... keep in touch and have a fab fab wedding back in Auckland... I'll be over to see you DJ for real at some point Johnny and you guys are always welcome at mine if you're ever back in England!! Thanks for being fab travelling buddies (obviously that's them shown in the pic below for those that hadn't twigged)... I've had a ball, You Rock!!! ;0)

Back to the day though..... it didn't turn out quite as planned... I thought I'd be back in La Paz by lunch time and book my flight out of there for the next day or Monday at the latest... oh no.... there was a delay... apparently cos of the clouds (!?!) Luckily I was saved from a few hours of boredom sat at the Amazonas office in town as Marco turned up and kept me company at breakfast and while I waited for the bus to the airport. Once we were taken to the airport we thought all would be ok but nope... there was no plane awaiting us and we sat for the rest of the day in the very small, hut like airport waiting for our flight... technically i guess we should count ourselves lucky.. we left at about half 3 that afternoon, instead of the 0955 departure we were meant to have... but ours was the only flight that didn't get cancelled that day so we couldn't really complain!! It had been fun in Rurre and I'm so glad I went even if I didn't get to do it properly.. It was nice to be down from altitude for a bit too.. I was apprehensive about whether my nose bleeds would return when I got back to La Paz but i was quite glad to be going back to the cooler climate there... never thought I'd hear myself say that!!! xx

La Paz... Take 2!

2006-10-30T22:54:00.000Z

After having a much appreciated lie in and leisurely mooch round town the next morning, taking in the Car Blessing ceremony... where the priest's bless the car's by decorating them as you see in the pic here, saying some kind of prayer and toasting with what appeared to just be Cervesa (that's Beer to you and me!) .. and accidentally gatecrashing a wedding...we caught our bus to La Paz early afternoon... after a particularly quiet bus ride with the exception of having to disembark to let the bus be put on a makeshift 'ferry' to cross the lake while all the passengers got on a boat to the other shore...there was skeptism about whether we or the bus would make it to the other side.. but we did and arrived in La Paz around 5ish... Dawn and Johnny were staying at a friends place in La Paz and Chris was being Chris and had decided to venture off to 'heavily chill' on his own so I headed back to El Solario where Katy and I had stayed when we got to La Paz the last time. I will admit I was a little daunted to finally be on my own in South America... my spanish skills having not improved massive amounts. I did find they'd improved enough for me to sort myself out a room and get my laundry put in... and the alone thing didn't last too long either.... I hopped on the internet not long after arriving to find Luke online.... I was feeling a tad subdued after recent events.. details not relevant but suffice to say, I needed to hear some friendly banter..... I miss Luke lots obviously and so it was fab to catch up with him... he was just about to leave home again and make his way back to Sydney.... he told me some stories from home that made me laugh.. a lot.. and I was smiling again!! See, even on the other side of the world, he manages to still be there for me... not bad for a guy who by his own admission had no idea how to deal with a neurotic/distraught woman before he met me!! That's meant to paint you in a good light btw Pukas!! haha!! I have to mention also that Nick, my friend from bouncing, was also online that day and did a good job of cheering me up too!! Thanks matey!

Anyway, half way through said conversation with Luke... who do I turn round to see grinning at me but Chris and Emily of Isla del Sol appearance. They were staying at El Solario too so after signing off from Luke we all headed to Olivers (an English pub) for dinner and drinks.... as is unsuprising where these 2 are concerned.... the evening didn't end there.. infact, it didn't end at all, not until 6am anyway... oops!! A friend of theirs, Finbar, a cheeky Irish lad who'd also worked at Loki while I was there, was also out with us and the 4 of us ended up checking out the delights of La Paz's nightlife.... there were a couple of bars, Sol Y Luna, Mungo's and some other place... when will I learn I'm too old for All Nighters??!! It was fun though... the hangover the next day, not so much fun but we were all highly amused that Fin managed to miss his bus to Cusco thanks to the later night/early morning... given he didn't make it to bed until 2 hours before the bus was leaving, can't say we were exactly suprised!!!

Although Sunday morning had already dawned by the time I made it to bed that night, I had to force myself up again far too soon as I'd arranged to met Dawn and Johnny for lunch and some sightseeing... I managed the lunch and a visit to a couple of travel agents to check out Pampas and Jungle tours but after that it was all I could do to get myself back to the hostel and into my bed. I'd lucked out with my own double room at the hostel as they had no dorms available when I checked in and had given me my own room discounted ... never had I been more grateful for that than today.... the room was noisy and I've slept in nicer beds but it was the most inviting thing in the world to be right then!! See... told you I was too old for this out all night malarky!! ;0)
After chilling out for a few hours though, i found myself enticed back to Olivers by Fin, Em and Chris... as well as another girl, Sarah who'd arrived from Cucso that day too... funnily enough it turned into another late night... although not quite so bad, just 2am this time... something tells me this lot are a bad influence on me. It turned into a pretty comical night.... although started with good intentions and me just drinking tea and vanilla milkshakes.. that didn't last too long and by the end of the evening there was dancing on tables by among others, the barmaid who we'd got to know given that we seemed to spend far too much of our time in there, and lots of other amusing antics while chilling out on the comfy leather sofa's in there.

Thankfully I was feeling slightly more human the next morning when I met Dawn and Johnny to sort out our activities for the next few days. We'd decided to head to Rurrenebarque the next day and do Pampas/Jungle tours so were booking it that morning. Chris (Aussie) came too although then decided it was too pricey for him... and after getting all the info on the trips bumped into Chris (American) who'd done Death Road the previous day and was aching a little... but was still in one piece we were relieved to see! We all went for some brekkie so we could decide which trips we wanted to do then headed back to book... with a cheeky stop at Burger King afterwards. Now, I'm not a big fan of fast food and have tried to avoid it as much as I can on this trip.. and I've done pretty well I think but i decided to treat myself today... only they don't believe in veggie options here so chips it was!! The pic here is a demonstration of some kind that we got caught up in on our way to meet Dawn and Johnny!

Anyway... I'm talking rubbish... once we'd booked our flights and tours we decided to head to the infamous San Pedro prison.... Bolivia's notorious prison where the conditions are entirely dependant on how much money you have, if you're wealthy it's like living in a hotel I'm told and where families live in there with you... kids growing up inside a prison!!! We wanted to go in but to do so you have to visit the embassy and find out the name of an inmate you want to visit from your country... or I'm assuming you could probably bribe the guards but we were a little scared of doing that so opted to just have a look from the outside. It's a pretty unopposing building and intrigues me a lot.. I've not read Marching Powder yet, written by an inmate there, but i'm told it's a good read so I'll put that on the list. This is the only picture i was able to get of the prison.. it's ths entrance, you can see the inmates all crowding round by the door.. as we were ushered away and told not to take pics, Johnny even had to delete his (luckily he'd managed to get 2).

Anyway, it was our last day in La Paz, if all went according to plan so after the prison we headed to the Coca museum... La Paz's museum all about Cocaine and it's history and uses through the years... there were some amazing facts in there and it's a pretty cool museum... did you know, a percentage of Cocaine was still used to makde Coca-cola up until 1985!!!!! After we'd filled our minds with Cocaine facts we did a little shopping and headed for a quick drink... i was sadly quite excited to find somewhere that would do hot milk for me.... child that I am!! ;0)

I'd arranged to meet Chris (American) for dinner early evening as he was leaving at 8ish for Uyuni so it'd be the last time we could catch up... luckily I'd arranged to meet him in Olivers, where by now i was recognised and quite happy to sit at the bar chatting to Bonnie (the barmaid) .... which given that Chris didn't show turned out to be a good thing!! Yes, that's right the young man stood me up...... it's ok though... some apologetic emails and a decent explanation was received so I think I'll let you off my moody, irate young american dude.... you've been bloody hard work Mr, you're worse than a girl sometimes but its been 'interesting' and even fun at times!! Enjoy the rest of your travels and keep in touch.

The evening wasn't over there though, I bumped into a Canadian guy that had been on the boat over to Isla del Sol with us and he had a few drinks with us (Chris, Em and Sarah had joined me) before we headed to Sol Y Luna for dinner. We were all a bit shattered and I had a flight to catch the next day so the evening was an early one for a change... just what my body was crying out for though so definetly a good thing!! La Paz the second time around had been fun but I was ready for another adventure... Bring on Rurrenbarque.... plus I'd be back in La Paz briefly afterwards so it was exciting to be going off on another tour.... xx

Lake Titicaca... the Bolivian side.. and Dead Ants!!

2006-10-30T22:53:00.001Z

Our bus to Copacabana wasn't until 1430 so we had a lie in, although I found myself awake at 8am and watching the last ever episode of Dawson's Creek... there's a blast from the past! Yep, I cried again!! Chris returned (he's a ridiculously early riser and had been up and off somewhere for ages already) to find me a tad bleary eyed.. he laughed alot!!

Anyway, we spent the morning catching up on the internet and Chris finally bought some new pants ... that's trousers to you and I... after only having one pair which he'd worn since the Inca trek and not washed.... boys are sooooo minging!!! After a not so quick lunch that nearly resulted in us missing the bus, we were on our way.... again, a pretty uneventful bus ride... I tried to badger Chris into testing me on my Spanish but being male and irate, he didn't really excel himself as a teacher... Dawn however came to the rescue and I did manage to take in a few more things. I also made them all promise to force me to ask things and try speaking Spanish sometimes instead of relying on Dawn and Chris, as I'll never improve if I hide behind them.

We got to Copacabana just in time for sunset and watched it at our gorgeous hostel... La Cupula... (our room is the one with the light on in the pic here... the sunset shown above is the view from our room) it was prob a little pricey for a backpacker but it was only $10 each for a twin room with our own bathroom so we decided to treat ourselves... or rather, that was everyone else's norm.. i was just treating myself!!! We had a little wander round town, decided we all really liked it there, although weren't too impressed with the no ATM machine's thing, esp as Chris and I had both been unprepared for that. oops! Then headed back to the hostel restuarant... well reviewed in the Lonely Liar.. for dinner. We were up early for the boat over to Isla del Sol the next morning so it was early nights for the 4 of us again... we had trekking ahead! and this time we'd chosen to do it independently!!! hmm... interesting!!!

So, brekkie eaten, packed lunch packed off we set for Isla del Sol.... and what followed was a horrendous few hours on board the most uncomfortable boat in the world where i wasn't allowed to sit outside incase the weight at the back was too much for the boat to handle and so I spent the entire time lying uncomfortably on the hard seats trying to pretend I didn't feel like I was about to throw up everywhere!! I somehow managed to survive the ordeal and we arrived into the North of the island 2 and a half hours later!! We'd decided our route would be to start in the North of the island in Cha'llapampa (shown above) and walk from there to the Chincana Inca ruins right at the northern point of the island, back to Cha'llapampa for a rest stop before trekking south to Challa, where we'd spend the night then continue on the next day to Yumani, in the South of the island, spend the night there then get a boat to the mainland from there and trek back to Copacabana from there on day 3!! All sounded like hard work to me but I'm used to that now and actually quite like the challenge... the feeling when you've done it is great! But right now, we were at the beginning... and it was hot!!

The trek to the Chincana ruins took an hour or so each way and it was beautiful scenery... the Lake is certainly more picturesque on the Bolivian side, although the Peruvian side does seem to offer more tradition and culture. The sun was beating down on us the entire way and foolishly, forgetting the altitude I ended up with rosy coloured shoulders... but the walk was gorgeous and brought us beautiful views, random donkeys and some pretty damn cool ruins at the end of it... Isla del Sol is where the Inca's believe the birth of the Sun was, hence the name and there's apparently God's footsteps there too, although Dawn and i are skeptical that what we found were meant to be them... not to mention the sacrifice table you see below.... there are pics of me on the table but this one of Johnny amuses me more.... not least for one reason and there's a certain group of people that will know exactly what I'm on about... Nat, Jen and all of Nat's girlie's... I've 2 words for you; DEAD ANTS!!! Ring any Bells girls???!!!! oh the memories.. one of our finer moments I do believe!!
Anyway, back to the island of the sun... Once back at Cha'llapampa we were all ready for a little refreshment stop before hopping back onto our trekking feet so stopped for a little not so cold Sprite and then set off again, this time heading south... we were a little unclear of our route but managed to find our way to Challa... a tiny settlement described by the Lonely Liar as reminiscent of the Greek Islands..... hmm.... not so much!!! It turned out to be a tiny settlement on the shores of the lake, with very very little there, although it is home to the islands only Secondary school, infact i think it might be the only school at all.. so not really sure what the kids do for Primary school. It was very pretty though and although we were surprised by the lack of anything at all there as what we'd read had not given us that impression at all but we pressed on to the Posada del Inca Hostel.... it was deserted. But hanging around long enough meant the owner found her way to us.. word must get round quickly in this village... there were Newbies in town!!
We ended up checking in for 10bs each for the night (plus 15bs for dinner.. it still amazes me how you pay more for a meal here than you do for your accommodation)... our rooms were boxes with mattresses on the floor, no locks on the door, no running water and a toilet block with just the mountain face as pretty ineffective 'doors'.. but the views of the lake from our rooms were fantastic and we were paying less than a pound each for it!!! Can't really complain eh!!!

Once we'd checked in we did however venture a little further down the beach to find a brand new hostel perched on the hill that looked like it had a lot more creature comforts... oops! But in the end, we were actually quite glad to be staying where we were... we figured the family running our place were far more in need of our 100bs than the other people and the had the cutest little boy, who was soo grateful and excited when Johnny and I gave him soem colouring pencils as a present when we left.. he's the kid in the pic above btw). As the nightlife wasn't up to much we decided some cards (no boys, I didn't cheat, it's not my fault a girl can beat you both so easily!! ;0) dinner and bed where the order for the evening!! I do have to admit though, Dawn and I were both a little scared given we had no locks on our doors, all the locals knew exactly where we were and the owner of the hostel had gone off up the mountain to her ouwn house for the night leaving us all alone.... there was only one thing for it.... I don't know about Johnny but Chris had to push his mattress up by the door and sleep against it, astanley knife at the ready... just in case!!! Have to admit, I was pretty damn glad to be sharing with a guy that night!! Thanks matey!!

Obviously our fears were obsolete and we awoke the next morning safe and sound in our beds, with the sun streaming in and the lake outside, it wasn't a bad place to find yourself of a morning. The owners cooked us breakfast before we set off on that days trek... destination Yumani.. the islands major town in the south which is where most visitors come for the day. It was a 2 hour hike from Challa to Yumani, most of it was fairly flat but there was a little uphill and the whole altitude thing stil makes me utterly breathless going uphill.. I had also awoken to find my shoulders sore and red thanks to my stupidity the day before and also without a decent t-shirt to cover them up... so I had to borrow one of Dawn's to save my poor skin.. thanks hun!

We reached Yumani by about midday and once again the island had come up trumps with its impressive scenery... once there we managed to find a lovely little hostel; Las Islas. There were 3 rooms on the top floor of the hostel with a massive balcony that overlooked the lake and Isla Luna, the small Island of the Moon, just off shore of Isla del Sol (this is the view from our balcony in the pic here). Unfortunately the sun sets on the opposite side of the island but it was still beautiful. we headed off in search of food... we searched everywhere but for some reason all the restaurants were closed... there wasn't that many people around either and so it seems the restuarants close until the boat from the mainland arrives with more tourists.. so we headed back to our hostel and ordered from the restuarant there, sitting in the sun overlooking the lake... it was gorgeous... certainly nothing to grumble about. Once again.. it made me think how lucky i was to be on this trip, doing and seeing all these things!!

After lunch we all adjourned up to our balcony, my idea being to sit and chill with my book taking in the view... a bit later when we'd all napped, read, showered etc... we were joined by 2 peeps who were taking the 3rd room up there. Turned out they were people we knew from Cusco.... Emily (an English girl) and Chris (and Aussie lad) .. Emily had been working at Loki while I was there, although I hadn't really known her that well and both Chris' had met on a night out in Cusco too. We all ended up sitting on the balcony for hours chatting, drinking beer, mate de coca and eating biscuits then ventured down to the church, where both Chris' ended up playing football with the locals (not an easy task at altitude!) Dawn and Johnny had gone for a wander and Em and I found ourselves back on the balcony doing what we do best.. chatting..before heading off for dinner.... this time to a proper restaurant. The food was pretty good although mostly what I remember is the delicious chocolate coverd banana and Bolivian red wine.. which despite being told it's disappointing I was actually pleasantly surprised by.

and a little aside... yep, it seems, that regardless of my life long dislike of red wine, South America has in 2 short months managed to pretty much convert me... I am now addicted to the stuff!! Mat.. you can stop despairing of me not liking it!!!

but... back to the island... the rest of the evening was spent in Chris and Emily's room playing cards and oops, drinking more wine.... that 4 hour trek tomorrow was going to hurt!!

We'd decided an early start was in order as walking in the midday sun wouldn't be ideal and didn't want to make it back to Copacabana too late so were up and about at 0830... Chris and Em impressively dragged themselves out of bed and joined us for brekkie.. although the lucky sods got to go straight back to bed afterwards unlike us!! But we had a plan to complete so off we went, packs on our backs... we'd arranged for a boat to pick us up from the other ruins on the island... it was only a short walk to them so we allowed an hour and a half to get there and check them out before hopping over to the mainland to start the walk. As it turned out we didn't need quite so long.. the ruins.. hmm, not so impressive and didn't really take long. Chris didn't even bother looking at them but Dawn, Johnny and I figured we were there we might as well... it had started to look a little threatening weather wise too and rain a little.. none of us fancied a repeat of day 2 of our Inca trek so we considering our options but they were pretty limited so when the motor boat turned up we got in it! (Usually these trips to the mainland are done in a row boat but that would've been impossible in the wind that day so we'd had to pay more for a motor boat).

Luckily once we'd made it back to the mainland, the skies were kind to us and the sun came out for our walk back. Most people do this walk the other way round so we met a lot of people going the opposite way, with varied responses to our 'how far is Copacabana?' questions!! We passed through villages and cut over an ancient Inca road, almost totally obliterated now, saw a monument wher apparently miracles occured and finally rounded a corner to find Copacabana in view in the distance... we didn't realise then how long it would take us to reach it!! It was like a mirage... always there but never getting any closer and although the walk was flat it was soooo exhausting in the sun with your destination seemingly so near and yet so far! I think that was probably the hardest part of the whole 3 days trekking, forget the hills and the breathlessness.... it was this relentless, endless flat walk at the end that killed us all... we made it evntually though and I think we all did damn well... good work guys!!

As soon as we made it to town, Chris and I were finally able to get money out from the bank then we collapsed at a restaurant for much needed food.. it was 4pm!!! Ouch... but quite proud of myself I have to say! None of us were capable of much that evening it's safe to say, we all had much appreciated long hot showers, chilled out, caught up online and had a tasy mexican meal...... then bed.... bliss!!! It had been a wicked 3 days though, Isla del Sol is beautiful and I'm so glad I took the time to se it properly. i was worried about it eating into the time I had left but I've realised that there was no way I was going to fit everything that i wanted to see in, in a mere 2 months here so its best to not rush everything but just do less things and do them properly... anyone gets the opportunity to come here, I definetly recommend it, it's beautiful! xx

Lake Titicaca.... the Peruvian side and Guinea Pigs!!

2006-10-30T22:53:00.000Z

So... we left Cucso at 0830 on the Saturday morning, despite Chris' worries I was on time picking him up... infact may have even been a little early.... yes, really!!! Our destination... Puno... the reason... Lake Titicaca; apparently the world's highest navigational lake.. although that's according to what we've now affectionally named 'The Lonely Liar' and there is some debate!!

Anyway, it was a 6 hour bus journey and passed pretty uneventfully... we reached Puno mid afternoon and set about getting ourselves to a hostel (Don Julio was the chosen place and pretty decent at that) eating (always high on the boys' list) and sorting out our Lake Titicaca plans for the next few days. Puno isn't the nicest of towns and is really only on everyone's route as it's the gateway to the Peruvian side of the lake... namely the Floating Islands and other islands on the lake. We got our tour sorted for the next day and then went for dinner and drinks.... dinner venue was chosen by the lads as they wanted to try..... of all things... the local delicasey..... Guinea Pig!!!!!!! Hmmmmm... lurvely!!!! The restuarant, Kintu, was actually very nice... Dawn and I didn't indulge in the Guinea Pig unsurprisingly... but here's a pic of the proud pair with theirs!!! They said they enjoyed it but hmm... skepitcal, me??!! Never!!

We were up early for our pick up the next day... Chris nearly missing breakfast which wouldn't have put him in a good mood... god forbid, a man should miss a meal!! ;0) and then we were off. We'd opted for just a one night stay on the islands... first stop the floating islands, which are amazing islands all made of reed, depsite explanations from the guides I really have no idea how they manage to make these islands from scratch.. and apparently the oldest one isn't even floating anymore, it's rooted itself!! Random!

Anyway, we spent a few hours there, looking around, going from one to another on a reed boat (the type of which you see in the pics here) and generally being amazed that people can live on them. It's all well and good in decent weather but imagine the winter, as you can imagine it wouldn't be the life for me.. I don't deal with the cold well in England let alone at altitude on a reed island in nothing but a reed teepee!!!! Fair play to those locals is all i can say!!

After we left the floating islands, we set off on a 3 hour boat journey to the island of Amantani, where we were due to spend the night with a local family. Luckily the 4 of us managed to get placed in the same house, usually they only put 2 in each but they have one with a few rooms so were able to accommodate us all together. The family we stayed with were lovely, they had several children and it was mainly the young girls that prepared our meals for us. The pic on the left here is the house we stayed in.

About 3pm we all set off on a walk up to the highest point of the island to watch the sunset, it was a bit cold and I'd not really come prepared for the walk so was a bit chilly but the sunset was beautiful and it was a good walk. The photo here is Chris and I having just reached the top... and the 2 below are obviously the sunset with the centre one being us at dinner with 2 of the girls from our host family!

We were all ready for dinner by the time we got back to the house though... more Quinoa soup, as you tend to get with every meal over here but I'm quite a fan so wasn't complaining. They also don't really eat meat on the island so it was perfect for me!!

After dinner.... the family had a little treat for us.... out came the traditional dress... the boys were given poncho's and hats while Dawn and I were trussed up in the traditional skirts and tops and headresses.... then it was off to the local Fiesta.. where all the other people on the tour had recieved the same treatment!! It was classic... dancing ensued much to our amusement and everyone's host families made sure we all danced with them. A classic evening, loads of fun!

The next morning we were up early to catch the boat to the second island; Taquile... this is the one that most people visit and it's somewhat more commercial. We had about an hours walk to the main square and there happened to be some kind of election demonstration going on so there was all sorts of people around and we got caught up in the crowds. It was good to see it all going on though. We only had a few hours on this island though so after a tour and lunch, with more Quinoa soup, we headed back to the boat for the long journey back to Puno. It was short and sweet but it had been fun and eye opening being there. The islands are beautiful and the people are lovely. Apparently they're still very traditional and only marry people from the same or neighbouring islands.... with a population of something like 4,000 on the largest island, that's not much of a choice.. at least considering some of us have trouble with the whole world out there!!

As we got back to Puno late afternoon we'd decided to stay overnight there and leave the next day, so we had a leisurely dinner and chilled out in front of Mr Deeds before bed. From Puno we were heading to Copacabana, a popular little town on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, I was looking forward to seeing how the Bolivian side compared to the Peruvian side. So far, i had been impressed! xx

Recovering in Cucso!!

2006-10-22T23:02:00.000+01:00

Refreshed from a decent nights sleep Katy and I made it up and out of the hostel in time to meet Chris for lunch at Jack's Cafe (although comically i found Chris on the street on the way to meet him, asking a random Peruvian directions to 'Chips'..... typical American!!! ;0) Once again, Jack's came up trumps with a lush salad and chips (and we all know what a chip addict I am!!) and the rest of the day was spent sorting photo's, shopping and pampering ourselves... after the war wounds we'd picked up from the previous few days we decided we deserved a bit of pampering so found our way into the Royal Inka Spa for a massage and pedicure (I think I'm the only backpacker with a french pedicure, it looks strangely out of place to have neat feet!) and in Katy's case, a manicure too. All our beauty treatments took a little longer than anticipated and after grabbing a ridiculously quick dinner we rushed back to the hostel to glam ourselves up for our Post Trek Piss up! Everyone was pretty much already waiting for us at Mama Africa's so it was a double quick change and off we went.... only an hour late (not bad for me some may say!!)

It was great to see everyone looking refreshed and lively following the trek (although Chris just looks a bit drunken in the pic on the right here.. heehee! mind you, i can't talk.. look who's sporting a Rudolph nose in the pic above!), all but one of us had made it out and Justin, our lovely guide had also come along. We started with a few drinks in Mama Africa's but the cheesy old skool music soon got to a few peeps and we headed out for a second bar, Justin still in tour guide mode, and knowing slightly more about Cusco's nightlife than any of us, took us to Ukuku's and the dancing got underway. I think everyone was on a high after the trek as it didn't take us long to be throwing those shapes on the dancefloor and generally causing mischief!! We lost a few peeps along the way, some had to be up early the following day etc etc so our numbers dwindled after a while, although by this time it was pretty late.. by English standards though, and hey, England's a long way away!! Anyway, after we'd 'rocked' Ukuku's those hardcore amoung us decided it was time for Bar number three... or to be more accurate; Bar 7. The place to be in Cusco on a Tuesday night apparently! So, those of us left; me, Katy, Chris (the american) and Dawn & Johnny (the Kiwi's) set off for the notorious Bar 7 and spent a very comical few hours there which despite not involving more dancing did involve lots of other amusing antics.. games of Truth or Dre being high on that list!!!!!! How old are we!?!?! haha!!

A few other characters joined us through the night, many familiar faces from Loki had opted for Bar 7 that evening too and Katy and I were also introduced to a rather charismatic old friend of Dawn and Johnny's too....nicknamed Yahtzee by Chris for reasons I can't actually remember!! Anyway, amoung the 6 of us the night continued as it had started, lots of fun, banter, mischief, silliness and making new friends!! Although we lost Dawn and Johnny to their beds after Bar 7, the rest of us and some other peeps from Loki decided a hat trick wasn't enough and went onto Uptown, a cheesy club near the Plaza das Armas..... more dancing and silliness followed and it wasn't until it was full on daylight outside that we emerged in order to finally go home.... nothing like missing a nights sleep... esp for Katy who was flying to Lima in a mere few hours!! oops! It was a wicked night full of unexpected antics and a perfect way to round off the trek. So, all you Team Inca bods... for those I'm not continuing on with, enjoy the rest of your travels and keep in touch... Dawn, Johnny and Chris..... bring on Lake Titicaca and Katy.... don't go... who needs to work anyway!! hehe!!
It was actually only a few hours later that I had to say goodbye to Katy... she was flying to Lima in order to catch her flight back to London the following day. I can't believe that the 3 weeks we'd travelled together had gone so quickly... Chica.... I've had a wicked time travelling with you, thank you so much for coming to meet me and making my first 3 weeks in South America soooooooo much fun. We've had a ball haven't we and I'll laugh whenever I think of things like... early morning walks, random chilean house parties, vegetable soup and all sorts of other things. Can't wait to see you when I get back! Hope you had as much fun as I did!!

Katy might've left that day but my hangover certainly hadn't.. infact it steadfastly stuck to me like glue throughout the day. After I've waved Katy off, and I have to say I was feeling a little daunted to be on my own in a country who's language i didn't speak, I decided the only option was to go back to bed... I had 3 hours before I had arranged to meet Chris for lunch and that time was allocated as sleep time. I obviously overslept then had a few issues with the hot water and finally made it about half an hour late to meet Chris... he calls it 'Flee Time' so was basically expecting the wait (sounding familiar to anyone?! i obviously stuck to my defence... I'm worth waiting for!!!!!! hmm..... I can feel the laughter and raised eyebrows from here people... watch it you lot!! ;0)

Anyway, the fact that I'd managed to drag my hungover self out of bed at all was a bit of an achievment in itself and as Chris was as hungover as I was after lunch we decided to take advantage (or that was probably just me taking advantage actually given it was his room anyway) of his hostel... where he had his own room and a TV.. all either of us were capable of was lying very still and tuning out to some mind numbing film.... and that was that for the rest of the day... sleep didn't allude for long and by 9pm I was back in bed and fast asleep... I'm clearly too old for this all nighter lark!! Thanks to the hangover and Chris' company I had managed to survive my first day without Katy though!

Oh, I did manage one other thing that day..... to collect my newly repaired and fully functioning camera again... and it only cost me 20 quid..... yay!!!! I don't need to tell you all how happy I was to have my little camera back!!

The next day I felt slightly more human again and spend the morning, with the assistance of Mario.. a fluent in Spanish Aussie... getting stuff sorted at the post office, shopping and indulging in a lush hot chocolate at Jacks! It really is delicious if anyone is there and hasn't tried one... do it!! That night I met Jacqueline, Chris, Dawn and Johnny at Moni's for dinner.... once again, the veggie restaurant came up trumps, the food was lush... although I did manage to drop my knife again... something that's become something of a habit for me lately... and always when I'm eating with Chris.. I think he's bad luck!! haha!

Friday the 13th dawned, our last day in Cusco..... I'd decided to head off to Lake Titicaca with Dawn, Johnny and Chris.. I was going to stay in Cusco a while and learn Spanish but as I was so short on time (a massive misjudgement on my part about how long I'd need over here) and the others were heading to where i wanted to go next I decided to go with. So, Chris and I booked our bus tickets before meeting Jacqueline for lunch then I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting things out, packing, having a rather intursive bikini wax... 2 women.. one each side... i felt a little like i was being examined and could barely speak a word to them either... an un-nerving experience I can tell you!!

Anyway, once all was set for the morning, I met up with Chris for a bit of dinner... i.e... more tomato soup and chicken sandwiches (the boy is obsessed with both!) and then headed to bed in preparation for the early start the next day. I was a little sad to be leaving Cusco, it's such a fun city to be in.. and it's easy to see how people get stuck there for ages...if i'd had more time...!!! x

Taking my Breath Away!

2006-10-10T18:43:00.000+01:00

I don't even know where to begin with this entry..... the thought of that first sight of Machu Picchu still takes my breath away 3 weeks later. It is simply stunning and the pictures just don't do it justice.

We were up at 4am and left the hostel to begin the Dawn walk up there by 5am.... it's a tough walk, I believe one of the girls counted how many steps up there are... something like 1400 i think it was... and i have no idea how she counted them, it was all i could do to breathe!!! the first part to the base of the mountain is fine but once you start to ascend it's not the easiest thing in the world... i was determined though so took a deep breath and off we went. (Pic below is Katy and I looking our finest (?!) having nearly climbed all of said steps!!)

I have to just admit, and acknowledge, one thing and one person before I continue though.... somehow and I'm not sure how but I certainly wasn't complaining, I'd found myself with my own personal bag carrier... namely Chris... the American I mentioned in the last entry. Yes, I quite agree the phrase 'Jammy Cow' springs to mind.... and i think that's prob what Katy and everyone else was thinking too. I will just explain though, it's not quite as cheeky as it sounds... Chris only had a big backpack with him and didn't want to carry it up to Machu Picchu but had snacks and stuff to take up with him and no bag to put them in... so offered to carry the bag of whoever let him put his stuff in with theirs... I just got in their first... well, do you blame me?! In fairness though, he did go above and beyond... even after all his snacks were gone (which didn't take long Chris being Chris!!) he continued to carry my bag throughout the day, even when climbing Huayna Picchu.... and took it all the way back to Aguas Calientes for me too!!! Although he did have his unbelievably sweaty top from the walk up in the side pocket which I didn't want to go anywhere near so i think it was partly fair! haha!! No seriously... thanks Chris... you made my life a whole lot easier that day, it was much appreciated!! (Just for the record I wasn't completley mean, I did carry Katy's bag for a little of the way up to give her a break!! ;-) oh and pic here isn't Chris.. it's our fab guide Justin.. thought I'd just show you guys him! He was lovely, fab at his job and the sweetest guy ever. Thanks for everything Justin, you made our trek wicked!

Anyway... back to the matter in hand...... we made it up to the top by about 6.15am and set about entering Machu Picchu.. we still had a bit of a climb to go before we reach the view point but we were nearly there. First though we had to do the official bits, including getting our passports stamped.... I was loving that it had it's own stamp, another one for the collection and Jules, it has a stamp so it had to have a badge too... they'll be one sewn on the bag soon!!!

Once through passport control we headed up for the final climb... it wasn't a long one and before we knew it we were walking out on to the open with Machu Picchu revealing itself below us.... the view was unbelievable, I really don't have the words to describe it. The picture below is that first view... it doesn't even look a fraction as impressive as it really was.

I'm sure all of you know all this but just in case... Machu Picchu is literally translated as the 'Old Peak' and known as the City of the Lost Inca's. It's basically a pre-Columbian Inca Ruin located high on a mountain ridge. It took the Inca's 90 years to build it and it was obviously all done manually, with them carrying the rocks (and they're not small) up the mountain on their backs. It stands at an elevation of approximately 2350m above sea level and sits above the Urumbamba Valley in Peru. There you go, a little bit of info for you all....!!!!

Back to my day up there though, cos that's obviously far more important than all that factual historical stuff... haha!! We stood in awe for a bit just taking it all in when we first saw it, people had told me how it takes your breath away when you first lay eyes on it but you don't really expect it to..... which probably just makes it all the more amazing!! Before we even realised what was happening it had all but disappeared beneath a thick layer of cloud... the sun hadn't properly risen yet and so the atmosphere was somewhat eerie but also added to the amazingness of it all (is that even a word?!?!) We continued on to another point where Justin gave us some history on the place and took the group piccie you see here.

Then we started our tour, Justin being the fabulous guide that he was took us round for an hour or so explaining all sorts of history and symbolic meanings and all that about the place. It really is incredible. After that Justin headed back to town to get lunch under way for us while the rest of us had some free time up there do look around some more or do one or two of the other hikes... up to the Sun Gate, to the Inca Bridge or up Huayna Picchu.... Katy and I having taken leave of our senses decided that we wanted to do both Huayna Picchu and the walk up to the Sun Gate... my hip was crying out... 'don't do it you fool!' but I wasn't about to give up now and I knew if I didn't go to both I'd regret it. The pic here shows Huayna Picchu in the background... how on earth did I make it up there??!!! Huayna Picchu translates to New Mountain I believe, although it's just as old as the rest but was rediscovered more recently... it is also home to the Temple of the Moon.. a cave near the top that is believed to have held mummies in the Inca's time.

Anyway, somehow our determination rubbed off on Chris too and he found himself, despite his claims there was no way he was going to, setting off on the climb up to the top of Huayna Picchu with us.. not before I clandestine toilet stop in the quietest, most secluded spot we could find... yes, I know we really shouldn't be relieving ourselves on protected, historical, sacred Inca grounds but needs must.... what can I say!!! Anyway, bladders emptied, we set off.... I have to admit I wasn't relishing the idea but I was looking forward to having done it.... the mountain is ridiculously steep and towers over Machu Picchu. The climb is all on steps, and just to be cruel you start by descending some distance before you can actually start the climb up. They say it takes an hour to walk up to the top...... you'll all be amazed to know I made it in 38 minutes... Katy and Chris both beat me (Katy did it in about 32 mins i think, and Chris in about 20!!! Well, the boy lives in California and typically so, what can you do!) but that's not the point, the point is I made it.. full stop! It wasn't an easy climb (although Chris still had my bag so it was made slightly easier thanks to that) and there were several stops on the way with my hip crying out in pain and not really wanting to support my weight anymore but check out the view on this pic here.... that's Machu Picchu below us in the background.... how could anyone not want to experience that!! I'm glad it was afterwards that we found out about the amount of injuries (and worse) from people falling off!! It was every bit worth the pain though i have to say, The pic below is the 3 of us right at the top, as far up as you can get... you can see the point in the pic above looking towards the mountain... I know I keep going on about it but it really was unbelievable!

Once we'd sat and enjoyed the view, looked around at the ruins up there (even more unbelievably, the Inca's built up there too!) got scared from dropping my water down a crack in the rock and got our breath back, we ventured back down... I think this was even scarier for Katy, coming down those steep steps right at the top, it was only my glacier 'training' from the ice steps in NZ that made me ok with them all!! We had to be back in town by about half one so only had limited time to make it to the Sun Gate... something I really wanted to see.

We bumped into Dawn and Johnny when safely back down at Machu Picchu and left Chris with them, he was wimping out of the walk to the Sun Gate... another 45 minute uphill walk... although took my bag with him so I wasn't really complaining!! Katy and I set off for the Sun Gate, only to be told by one of the officials just a few mins along the way that thanks to the recent landslide we needed a guide to accompany us up there... and there wasn't one available for another hour.... we didn't have an hour to wait and so at a loss of what else to do, gave up and made our way back to the hostel. I don't know whether we were had for fools and the guide thing was rubbish or not but i am so disappointed that I didn't get to see the Sun Gate... I'll just have to go back and do the official trek so I can arrive through the gate next time. It didn't really diminish what was a totally awesome experience though.... I can't believe I've actually made it there after all the years I've wanted to go and physically it was a pretty big achievement for me too! I'm still completely in awe of the place and can't recommend enough that you should do it. And for those that told me in no uncertain terms not to get the train and bus up there... thanks, I never intended to anyway but trekking up there is so much more rewarding!

The rest of the day was pretty easy, especially compared the previous 4 days... we all lunched together at the hostel in Aguas Calientes before hopping on the train back to Cusco, minus Justin who had to get a later train. The train journey back took a good four hours and was possibly the most entertaining train journey ever, aside from our card games, i-pod sesh's and chatter we were treated to some classic Peruvian shows; a fashion show and a musical of sorts with a scary looking man in a mask skipping his way up and down the carriage and stopping to involve random passengers, Chris and Johnny included, along the way... it was highly comical trust me!!

We'd planned our post tour piss up for the following night as everyone was so shattered from the early start and the last few days so once back in Cusco we said our goodbyes for the night and all headed off for well earned sleep in our respective hostels! A welcome thought but it was also with a little sadness that I realised it was over....... it was hard work but as one of my must do's off this trip, let alone pretty much most of my life, it was more than worth it. I couldn't have wished for a more brilliant experience and I'm so glad I've been lucky enough to do it. xx

Head in the Clouds!!

2006-10-10T18:42:00.000+01:00

One of my main things I wanted from this trip was to do the Inca trail, it's been a dream of mine for as long as i can remember so despite the early morning (no, I'm still not a morning person!!) it was exciting that I was finally about to do it!!! We were up at 5am (it still hurt, despite my excitement!!) for a 6am pick up. We'd chosen a company called SAS Travel to go with as along the way I've had several people recommend them, they were a little more expensive than some of the other companies but well worth the extra, esp given some of the horror stories I heard afterwards!!!

Anyway, first of all I should explain, it wasn't the official Inca Trail trek we were about to embark on... despite being aware that it was neccessary to book a good few months in advance, as i didn't know when i was going to make it there until a mere 6 weeks or so before I arrived in South America, it was impossible to book... so instead we opted for an alternative trek... the Lares Trek- a 4 day Mountain Valley trek that still ends up at Machu Picchu, the only disappointing thing being that you don't get to enter through the Sun Gate... but I was on my way and that was enough for me!

DAY 1 (Friday 6th October): So, at 6am.. a group of very sleepy people rolled out of Cusco on a bus en route to the starting point of our trek; Calca. About an hours drive toook us to this small town where we stopped for breakfast and supplies at the market, then it was really on to the starting point and the morning began with a 3 hour trek across the Andean mountain valleys. We were to become very accustomed to drinking lots of coca tea and chewing on the leaves to help us with the whole altitude thing. Despite having been at high altitudes for a while now, i was still getting nose bleeds and constantly getting breathless, a horrible feeling that makes me feel even more unfit than I am!!

We made it to our lunch spot in record time... I obviously started as i meant to continue and took up my position bringing up the rear of the group.... slow and steady people, slow and steady.. and were treated to a surprisingly good feast. Given that the team of cooks etc with us had limited resources in the middle of the andes with nowt but a tent and goodness knows what contractions to cook anything with, the food throughout the trek was brilliant, always really tasty, the veggies amoung us well catered for and popcorn, tea and snacks always provided when we arrived at our campsite each evening.... a nice and unexpected but very welcome touch.. one that you can see me trying to warm up over, with my rosy cheeks, in the pic here!!

Anyway, i digress... luckily we reached our lunch tent just as the hail started and were happily tucking into our food while that got itself out of the way in time for our afternoon activities. First up was a short drive on the bus to some hot springs.. not sure exactly where they were but they were gratefully recieved.... having revived ourselves in the springs we set off for our afternoon hike that would take us to our first campsite... the scenery throughout the day had been amazing and continued to be so for the afternoon. There was a fair bit if uphill (not my fave I'll admit) so i was exhausted by the time we reached our home for the night.... standing at 3700m the Huacawasi Community was where our tents were pitched and the locals awaiting us.

Along the route you come across many locals and children, we were naturally armed with plently of pressies for the kids.. colouring pencils and the like... or I'm not sure we'd have made it out of their alive. The locals are lovely and very welcoming and the kids are just the cutest, one thing I do find sad though is that many of them will now approach you and will outright tell you to take their picture in exchange for presents, alot of them seem very ungrateful too.. it seems a shame that these kids have become accustomed to expect material things from passing tourists but I guess we only have ourselves to blame!

Our first night was spent in the tent, feasting on a lush dinner, playing cards (Lotty, Graham and Andy... I've been spreading the Sevens, Hearts and Chase the Ace word you'll be pleased to know!!), trying to keep warm and getting to know each other a little better. We had quite an eclectic mix in our group, some kiwi's, an american, us 2 english girlies, an Austrian, dutch and any other nationalities I've forgotten to mention... apologies Team Inca.. I'm hungover as I write this and my brain's not working all that well!! All in all it was a good start to the trek, we'd survived the first day, everyone seemed nice and Katy and I tucked outselves up in our tent for the night, with our thermals on and the makeshift hot water bottles that Justin has fashioned from our water bottles for us all... (they did the trick nicely.. good work Justin!!) and praying that we didn't need to venture out to the loo in the night!! (Pic here is of the view from where our tents were pitched that night btw.)

There was just one thing that damped the day for me......... just as we started our first trek that morning I got my camera out (I was well prepared for the thousands of pics i would be taking over the next 4 days) only for my camera, after 10 months of flawless service to chose this moment to break!!! yep, can you believe it, the infamous Canon's, apparently not technically recognised as a fault but actually pretty fatal for a camera, E18 error appeared on my screen, my lense jammed and that was that... I was cameraless and not a happy girlie!! Thankfully Katy had her camera and everyone else promised me copies of their pics.. all very much appreciated everyone btw.... although I was still yearning for my little Canon, being the snap happy wannabe photographer that i am... but oh well, I have it all in my head too!!

DAY 2: Today dawned bright and early... a 6am breakfast followed by a house visit in the Huacawasi community and I hve to say.... it really does show what a multitude of luxuries we have and take for granted every day... the house was just one small room and housed a family of about 8 I believe.... including Grandma - shown in the pic along with Mum and eldest daughter here!! There were guinea pigs running around everywhere and a big carcass of something, not sure i want to know what, hanging from the ceiling, the floor was simply a dirt floor and the bed covers were Llama skins..... it's amazing how these people live. I certainly couldn't do it.

After our visit with the family we set off on our morning trek..... Day 2 is notorious for being the hardest day and we soon discovered why.... a 4 hour up hill trek across the Ibsacocha Pass (4400m) which even the stunning views over the Cordillera Vilcanota couldn't disguise this hike as being anything but bloody hard... and just to make it harder for us.... the weather decided not to be as kind to us as yesterday too..... it started with a little rain but quickly turned to a lot of rain and by the time we reached the lake beside which we were having lunch we were all soaked through and shivering.. with no way of drying out we just spent our lunch time complaining alot... poor Justin must've been sick of us right then!! The food was good though and once we'd filled our bellies we decided the best thing was just to get on and get the afternoon trek underway, we were all freezing and the weather didn't appear to be getting brighter.... in fact, it was to get worse!!! The pic here was taken close to the beginning of said section... clearly I wasn't looking even close to this spritely by half way through, let alone come the end!!

The 3 hour afternoon trek to the Patacancha Community where we were staying that night was relatively flat, with a little downhill.... so it wasn't the actual trek that hindered us... more the hail and snow that found it's way to every part of us as we trudged across the Andes, all bundled up in our waterproofs and anything else we could find to keep us even remotely warm (we'd given up on staying dry) every now and then I'd peek out from under my waterproof (I had two on and was still soaked and freezing) and take a look around me, the scenery in the Andes really is stunning and didn't cease to amaze me once in the whole 4 days and the altitude meant that we were literally walking in the clouds at times. It was awesome! In the end the whole weather thing just became comical, we were all so wet, a few people had fallen over, Katy included.. I'd only narrowly saved myself from falling at one point too and we all just decided we may as well laugh or we'll cry. The pic on the right here might give you a little idea of the conditions we were enduring that day!!! Fun fun!! and the one of the left was taken early on, apart from yours truly in action in it, I like it cos it shows just how close we were to the clouds!!

I think I can safely speak for the rest of the group too when I say never have tents been a more welcome sight than when we reached the campsite that evening.... somehow our team of cooks and porters had managed to get the tents up and get the dinner on and we set about somehow making ourselves slightly dry and warm - ish.... unfortunately for Chris (the American among us) he only had one set of clothes so had to stay in his wet stuff all evening....... not nice! We all gave our trainers to Justin to put by the fire in the hope they'd be dry for the morning... they weren't!!! The evening, unsurprisingly didn't last too long, thanks to everyone being wet through after some more cards and dinner we all headed to our tents in our vain attempts to warm ourselves up. I think I slept through pure exhuastion.... it was a really tough day for me, my hip had begun to hurt the previous day and a 4 hour uphill trek on it hadn't helped but I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself for getting through it.... and not succumbing to the temptation to get on the back of the horse that was walking alongside us to scoop up anyone that felt they couldn't carry on.

DAY 3: We were up again bright and early today and relieved to see that the skies looked pretty clear. We had some locals come and lay out some textiles and things for us to check out before leaving the campsite... a welcome sight as my gloves were still soaked through and i figured the 10 soles (about 1.20 GBP!) was worth forking out to keep my hands warm. We'd survived the hardest day and today's walk, although 4 hours long was mostly downhill, if not flat, so not too daunting and a welcome rest for my hip. The descent took us into the town of Ollamtaytambo, at a lower altitude of 2900m and with some impressive Inca ruins.. shown in the pic on the left here) where we had lunch at one of the restaurants (although still prepared by our fab team of cooks.. pictured with us all in the last pic on this entry... our fab guide Justin is the guy knelt in the front of us all with the white cap) then we had an hour or so free time to wander round the towns markets. We also got to try the local speciality; Cheeka (I think that's what it's called anyway).... it's very potent and not really that nice i have to admit but it's offensive not to drink it once you've bought it apparently.... thankfully Chris, Johnny and Justin, and one of the girls i think but i can't remember which, did a good job of finishing it off!! Good work you lot! (Below is Katy partaking in the delicacy!) There was also a random local girl who came to sing us a song... I don't mean to be offensive but she was just plain odd! I don't even know how to describe her!!

Once our free time was all used up we headed for the train station.... our walking over for the day we boarded the train to Aguas Calientes, the town that sits at the bottom of Machu Picchu and where we would be staying that night... in a hostel with hot showers and not a tent.. i can't tell you how excited we all were about this!!!! The train journey was long and hot and filled with some comedy american tourists exclaiming their 'Oh my Gawds' at every little leaf they saw from the window but it was all worth it when we finally got there and soaked ourselves in those showers... although i did then discover that my foolishness of not putting suncream on my face that day had taken it's toll.... I had a nose worthy of Rudolph and I've not doubt Katy will take alot of amusement from assuring you all that that is a very accurate description!! It's only just stop peeling and this was 3 weeks ago now!!!! haha!!

The evening was again a pretty short one, Chris and Jacqueline ventured up to the towns hot springs but Katy and I along with everyone else decided the hot showers were enough for us. Katy and I did manage to join Pami and Caro for a cheeky drink in town before dinner though, along with me firing off a panicked, 'help please research this horrid camera error and find a way to fix it for me' email to my Mum, Brother and Sister... in the hope one of them would reply sharpish. Lottie came up trumps with the research although it wasn't really want I wanted to hear and needless to say i was still cameraless the next day when Machu Picchu came into sight!! Ah well!!
We all had dinner together that night and voted unanimously that we wanted to climb up to Machu Picchu and not get the bus (as if... we'd made it this far, I wasn't about to give up and take the easy option now!!) I'm not sure Justin was overjoyed at the thought, I'm sure he's had to climb it with annoyingly enthusiastic groups many a time but he rose to the occasion well and that was that, decision made, we headed to bed to get some much needed sleep in a proper bed before leaving them at stupid o'clock the next morning in order to make it to the top for sunrise!!! I have to admit even though i was exhausted and my hip was killing me, the thought that i would be at Machu Picchu in a few short hours was soooooooo exciting!! I'd really enjoyed the trek, even with the weather and hills, but this was what it was all about.. I couldn't wait!! xx

Why do Birds....??

2006-10-04T21:37:00.001+01:00

So... early on Monday October 2nd we settled ourselves down on yet another bus, this time bound for Cusco.... it was to be a 12 hour journey... and a long one at that!! Usually these long journeys can be done overnight and so slept through but not this time...it was to be a long day!! After crossing the border, getting a new stamp in the passport, adding Peru to my travel list and managing to sleep away a few hours, Katy and I became restless and entered into several million games of '20 Questions' and 'Shag, Marry, Kill' to entertain us.... and entertain us it did, our favourite equasion involving 'Milli Vanilli, Big Fun and Bros!!!' Quite a combo we think you'll agree!!! (The pic below is a view of Cusco from our hostel btw).

Anyway, eventually our game playing passed the time, along with some random on board entertainment in the form of two young lads in the pic here and being amused by the sourfaced French woman sat in front of us and we finally arrived in Cusco and jumped in a cab to Hostel Loki.... unsure what to expect from both the hostel and the city we were pleasantly surprised by both. Loki is a really cool hostel with free internet, a fantastic view over the city from the bar (and some of the rooms) hammocks in the gardens and a really friendly vibe. I'd recommend it to any backpackers visiting Cusco... esp those who are struggling with their Spanish language skills like me... in fact Cusco on the whole is pretty easy to get by in without knowing Spanish, not that that's an excuse not to learn it.

Our first evening, shattered from sitting on a bus all day (?!) was intended to be a quiet one, some food, a quick drink and bed... obviously, as with all 'quiet nights' it didn't quite happen like that. We had dinner at the hostel, tasty Burrito's then ventured to the bar for our one drink before bed, with one of our new room mates (yep, we were finally staying in a dorm and not a private room!) Being at altitude it didn't take long for us to find ourselves tipsy... a dangerous state when you have free internet at hand!! haha!! All in all it was a good night though made all the better by being able to stumble to our beds so easily from the bar!!

The next day was a bit of an admin day, we'd allowed ourselves a few days in Cusco to chill out before embarking on the Inca Trail trek so spent the day sorting all the arrangements out for that, catching up on email, doing our laundry... all the usual stuff... then we treated ourselves to a gorgeous lunch at Moni's vegetarian restaurant (another place I'd recommend in Cusco) before shopping (Cusco is pretty dangerous for that!!) the afternoon away then having dinner at Jack's Cafe... somewhere that became a bit of a regular haunt for us during our time here.... where I fell in love with the Tuscan Vegetable Soup.... that you can see me devouring in the pic here!! Jack's Cafe is awesome, would totally recommend it to everyone too... they do amazing hot chocolates and limonada's with fresh mint... yum!!

After our excesses of the previous night, we both got our heads down pretty early and so were up fairly early the next day and back in town doing what we do best.... shopping!!! and eating at Jack's again (anyone spotting a trend here!!) It was a beautful sunny day and one that was perfect for mooching around town in the sunshine. Cusco is a really pretty city, the central square; the Place de Armas is lovely with 2 ornate churches, manicured gardens and a central fountain feature surrounded by bars, shops, restaurants and cafe's... despite the ridiculous amounts of times you find yourself muttering the phrase 'No Gracias' every day, to all sorts of people trying to sell you anything from postcards to pictures of themselves holding a lamb, it's still a great place to hang out.

As we were feeling spritely from our early night and we had the next day to recover, we decided it was time to sample Cusco's nightlife that night so after our leisurely day we headed back to the hostel to glam ourselves up a little (or rather as much as possible, which is basically very little, with the limited backpacker wardrobe that is ours!!) that done... didn't take long... and a little distraction of the aussie in our dorm performing a little trick or us with a full scooner and a 20 cent coin (random but quite cool) we grabbed some dinner at Chez Maggy's; a tasty italian in town, then hit the bars... first stop Mama Africa's which is apparently the place everyone goes.... but it was dead and despite the free drinks (rum and coke... no alternatives!) we didn't even bother staying for those. There are free drinks offered at every bar in town with several million people vying for your custom so we weren't short of venue options and were even physically dragged into one place (or at least they tried too, neither of us took too kindly to it unsurprisingly!)

In the end we opted for Mythology... a much busier bar with a far better atmosphere... all was looking promising until to random dutch guys, one of which danced like your dad... but worse, seemed to take a little liking to us and we had a fair bit of trouble shaking them off.... following that and me being mistaken for an Israeli a number of times (not really sure what that was all about but apparently it's the curly hair!!!!) we decided it was time to move on..... bar number 3; Extreme.... and i have to admit by this point we were feeling a little sleepy and were toying with the idea of calling it a night.... Extreme was pretty empty so we thought we'd just stay for one... famous last words.... there ended up being a pro dancer pair in there who were shaking their moves on the dancefloor quite impressively so we stayed to watch them and ended up partying the rest of the night away with some British Navy Bods we came across who were there on leave from the ship for a little holiday to do the Inca trail.... John, Lee and Sarah are shown in the pic with Katy and I here, they were a lovely bunch and it turned into a very comical night... not least cos of the comedy hat John's wearing... lovin' your style John!! ;-)

The next morning it was safe to say our heads hurt but we managed a highly amusing early morning stroll to Jack's for breakfast.. it was the only thing capable of easing our hangovers! Safe to admit that we went back to bed straight afterwards though, haha!! The rest of the day was spent somewhat leisurely with the only thing we had to do being turn up for our Inca trail briefing at 6pm. The trek was starting at 6am the following day, at this point in time, the last thing we felt like doing was spending the next 4 days climbing mountains and crossing valleys... but we went and met our guide and the rest of our group, depsite the list of only 4 of us, all female, when we signed up for the trek, the group had now grown to about 10 or so, although only including 3 guys, one of them being the guide!!! Still... all briefed and set for the adventure we headed off for some food... on our hangovers we wanted good food and ended up at a plush restaurant on the Place de Armas... was yum!! Bellies filled we headed home, packed our bags and slept in our warm beds for the last time til Sunday night... a whole 3 days away!!!! Chilling out in Cusco had been fun but now it was time to put our hiking boots on and head for the hills.... xx

The Scariest thing I've ever done!!!

2006-10-04T21:37:00.000+01:00

We arrived in La Paz at about 7am and made our way to El Solario.. a hostel recommended by the Lonely Planet as well as various people who´s brains I've picked about South America over the past 10 months! Unfortunately, they didn't have a bed available for us until 10am so with 3 hours to kill before i could get into a proper bed, we left our bags and found a cafe for breakfast and set about sorting our plan of action for our time there. We had to be in Cusco for the Inca trail on the 6th October and were planning on having a few days there before having to head off on the trek so we had a few days to play with in La Paz.....

There were a few things we were thinking of for our time there but one stood out above all others... Mark, who we'd bumped into in Uyuni had mentioned it and I had been told, several million times, by Mat way back in Thailand, that if I didn't do this thing, he'd kill me anyway when I get home... so, that was that, decision made.... we were off to conquer Death Road!!!!!! I have since come to the conclusion that Mat actually just wanted me dead..... I have never been more scared in my entire life!!! Young Mathew... you have some explaining to do when I make it home!! ;-)
Anyway, once we'd decided on our plan of action, we spent the rest of the morning sorting things out, booking Death Road, checking email, booking our bus to Cusco for Monday morning (today was Friday October 29th by the way) and deciding to stop overnight in Corioco, where the Death Road experience ends (if you make it that far!). All that done, we finally checked into to the hostel... i didn't get to rest though, thanks to our plans, we only had that day and Sunday evening to explore La Paz, so once we'd showered and sorted ourselves out we headed back out and hit the 'shops'... Bolivia's cheap but my god, my credit card could take a battering there!! I'm going back there too so I'm not out of danger!! The evening didn't get too late for us, we had an early dinner at Olivers (an english pub) and then headed back to get sorted for our early start the following day and get some much needed sleep.

I have to say I really liked La Paz, it felt like you were really in South America, and everyone there is really friendly. I've had a lot of people rave about how fantastic Bolivia is but you never really know if you'll agree until you experience it for yourself... so far, I'm in agreement!

We were up at 6am on Saturday and at the meeting point for breakfast by 7am. Mark and his friend Karen were also on our trip and it was nice to know a couple of people in the group. There were about 15 of us altogether i think and everyone was pretty friendly... not to mention apprehensive. For those of you that don't know what I'm on about when I say Death Road.. its basically a road the runs for approximatley 64km along the side of a mountain, with a sheer drop at one side, and simply for the adrenalin rush, you Mountain bike down it!!!! The pic above is Katy and I on the minibus to the start of the route... looking glam in our head gear!!! ;-) and on the left is me doing the ritual offering and then drinking of some very potent, not particularly nice, drink they give you before we set off on our way..!!

It's known as Death Road for 2 reasons... 1; Its the worlds most dangerous road and has pretty much weekly injuries if not fatalities and 2; way back I can't remember when, a previous Bolivian government used to take people they weren't happy with up there and push them off!!! Nice!! I also managed the exquiste timing of discovering the night before that my friend Nicky had managed to break her shoulder and cause herself the need for several stitches and a big fat upper body cast, doing exactly what we were about to do... oh joy!! You'll be glad to know Nicky is at home and recovering well now though! Phew! Piv to the write gives you an idea of what kind of road Death Road is!!!

Needless to say, that, coupled with the fact that it's actually quite dangerous... had me feeling a tad scared on Saturday morning.... actually, you know what, scratch that, i promised I'd be honest on this blog.... I was a complete wreck... seriously... never been more scared in my life!! I'll even admit I welled up a couple of times... was completely neurotic for most of the day and have no idea how the guides put up with me... but they did and I have to say, I'm so glad I did it. As scary as it was.. and you can probably see the fear in my face in the pic of me in action here... and as much as I feared for my life several million times a minute, having survived it I can honestly say it was wicked! You do have to be careful and concentrate loads but the scenery is amazing and the rush is brilliant! I'd highly highily recommend that if anyone of you is thinking of doing it, do so with Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking... they're slightly more expensive than most other companies but they're worth the extra, the bikes are top quality, the guides know what they're doing and if they can put up with the likes of me then they're definetly a good company!

We finished the biking about 4pm, it takes about 5 hours actually on Death Road.. you start on asphalt just to get used to the bike then make it to the actual road by about 11am.. the road is also an open road so you have traffic to contend with also and Gravity stop you at several checkpoints to make sure your bikes are ok and have snacks and stuff. Once you've made it down you get to have a lovely hot shower and lush meal at a hotel in Corioco. Bliss!.. this pic is Katy and I showered, fed and sporting our death road t-shirts!! You're also given a feedback form to fill out.... it's won't surprise you to know that my response to the 'what did you enjoy most about the experience' question was... 'Surviving it!!!'

We'd been told Corioco was beautiful so had decided to stay there for a night with the intention of going horseriding in the mountains the next morning before heading back to La Paz. Those plans didn't quite happen.. we ended up staying at the most beautiful hotel (Esmerelda) or own room for about 3 quid a night, with balcony overlooking the mountains (which i'm stood on in the pic here), a gorgeous pool, sauna and generally a perfect setting for just relaxing... we were both shattered from the biking and decided to sack off horseriding and have a lie in, relax by the pool and catch up on some much needed rest! Tough life eh!

We spent the evening just having a leisurely meal with some girls that were on the Death Road trip with us then headed back to the hotel to gorge on some chocolate treats... although, am still yet to find Mars Bars over here...am not impressed!!! The last one was the one Glen bought to Fiji for me... don't these people know I need m fix!! ;-)

Anyway, sorry... off on a chocolate tangent there.... the following day went exactly as planned and we even splurged a cheeky $4 for the hotel's taxi service back to La Paz... not in keeping with the backpacker rules but it was comfier, took the new road, thats not quite officially open yet but alot safer than heading back up death road in a bus and took half the time... worth the 4 bucks we think!!!

We made it back to La Paz by about 5pm and had a nice evening meal, a few drinks and then bed in readiness for our day long bus journey to Cusco... Bolivia had been too short and sweet but I'll be back! xx

Salt Flats and bizarre noctural occurences!

2006-09-28T20:42:00.001+01:00

So, following very little sleep we dragged ourselves and our backpacks to the pick up point for our Salt Flats tour for 8am the following morning... it hurt! We met our fellow 'saltflatters' and companions for the next 3 days.. there was 6 of us; myself and Katy, Jo and Mike (an English couple from Kent) and Jean-Baptiste and Chloe, a French couple.. who luckily for us spoke fluent Spanish.. handy! Pic here.. L-R front Katy, Jo, Mike. Back; Jean-Baptiste & Chloe.

First task of the day was to navigate our way across the border (a hut in the middle of nowhere that is! Pic here is Katy and I at said border!) to Bolivia... that successfully completed we hopped back on the bus for our trip across no mans land before stopping for breakfast at the entrance to the Bolivian National Park... a national park like no other you've imagined before... all very sparse dry desert lands, rocks, volcanos and crazy lakes of varying colours... and obviously the Slat Flats but we'll come to those later!

Once across the border we swopped from the mini bus to a jeep that would be our transport for the next 3 days, it was nice and cosy and our guide (and i use that word loosely) Leon, was at least a decent driver - there's very little else i can sing his praises about I'm afraid.. as much as I'm sure he's a very nice man, he was entirely disinterested in us (other than to stare intently at whoever was sat in the front with him) and offering us any information on the sights we were seeing around us!! That day we stopped at numerous laguna's... the first being Laguna Blanca, (for those who haven't twigged yet, that'll be the White Lake) standing at 4350m above sea level, then Laguna Verde (green lake) before a stop at the Hot springs, pictured here, it was freezing getting in and out but while in there was like a lovely hot bath, with a backdrop of mountains and flamingos!! Then came the Geysers, with the volcanic activity found in this vast park these were amazing. Next stop was lunch, at what was to be our home for the night, what we didn't realise at the time was how utterly cold beyond belief we were going to be there. We had a little break after lunch, and for me a much needed nap thanks to the lack of sleep the previous night as well as me not dealing too well with the altitude... little did i know it was only going to get worse!!

Anyway, after our little siesta, we headed off to Laguna Colorada... the Red Lake... this was probably the most impressive of the lakes and we spent a good while there running around taking pics of the scenery, flamingos and lamas that were mooching around all over the place before heading back to the 'hostel' ... and i use that word in the loosest possible way... for dinner. The food so far was ok, although that would all change soon too and dinner passed in a blur of chatter and random encounters with some friends of Mike and Jo's turning up there too. It also randomly transpired that night that Mike knows people I know from home.. small world eh!

Anyway, that was our first day, a good day and some incredible sights, the likes of which I've never seen before and I was most impressed! Little did I know I was about to have one of the most uncomfortable, disorientating nights of my life... the hostel is situated 4800m above sea level, I thought i'd pretty much adjusted to the altitude thing by now but clearly not. We'd been warned that the hostel was basic and had no running water but we were entirely prepared for exactly how basic it was.... we all had beds, not the most comfy but it could've been worse, what we weren't prepared for however was the cold.... I don't think I've ever been as cold in my life (and my lot back home know how i hate to be cold!) dusty, dirty concrete floors, a very minging bathroom and a completley pointless fire... so we went to bed wearing as much as we possibly could... including thermals... never have i been more grateful to Luke for giving me his thermal top as at the last minute before I left New Zealand.. thanks Pucas! and Jules, your sleeping bag is being put to good use here too!! The hatred place is shown in the pic below... its not as innocent as it looks, trust me!!

I did manage to fall asleep, at least I'm assuming I did because the next thing I'm aware of is that I woke up at what i think was about 3am, needing to pee... something we were all praying we wouldn't need to do til the next morning... I however, couldn't ignore it so I reluctantly managed to get myself out of bed and get my trainers on, find my torch and navigate my way to the dorm door.... that's all i remember... the next thing I'm aware of is that I'm lying on the cold concrete floor in the doorway of our dorm with 2 people and a torch light comnig towards me.. i have no idea how long i was there for, although Katy tells me it wasn't too long, but I then managed to get myself up and make my way to the bathroom.. the 2 people said something to me although i have no idea what it was.... and again, the next however long is also a blur... once more I found myself lying on the floor, this time in the bathroom, once I'd realised where i was and what i was trying to do I managed to get myself to a cubicle and finally pee (too much information I'm sure but hey, too late now!) After that, i wasn't capable of getting myself back to bed and I was ridiculously hot too, so having stripped to just one layer, i lowered myself on to the floor (a realisation I didn't welcome the next morning when seeing the bathroom floor in the daylight!) and waited it out until i felt human enough to make it back to bed. It didn't even occur to me until half way through the following day that I'd fainted!! I've never fainted before in my life (at least not to my knowledge... right Ma?) so why on earth would i have done so now?! It was obvioulsy the altitude, my body clearly didn't like it much but at the time it was actually really scary, I was completely disorientated, felt terrible in a completely unknown way and had no idea what was happening to me... and no you skeptical lot, there was no alcohol involved!! The next day, apart from a few random bruises that I'm assuming are from the falls, I felt fine!!! All very bizarre!!! I wasn't sorry to leave that place as you can imagine.

Anyway, there's my little tale for you all.... the next day we were up and away by 7am, with various sights to stun us once again along the way, including Volcano's simmering away, stone trees, more laguna's, a stop at San Juan village (where you can see me hugging a cactus in the pic below!!) and a very very random lunch at PMA Chiguana Army Barracks, which our guide assured us was a 'normal' stop for all tour groups.... the fact that they were totally unprepared for any such event and Leon, as we discovered the following day, had to give away some of our food as a 'fee' for eating there, didn't exactly convince us of the normality of the whole event... its safe to say we also encountered THE worst toilet in the world here... and I've seen a fair few dodgy ones too!!!

Luckily that night we were staying in a nicer hotel, although no thanks to our guide who wanted to put us up in another similar venue to the previous night... thankfully the lady that ran the place had decided to take herself off somewhere so wasn't around to check us in ... resulting in us having to go to the Salt Hotel.... a lovely hotel, with all the walls and everything made of salt.... although for us, the best feature was the hot showers.... it was utter bliss i can tell you. We were there fairly early and just chilled out and chatted until dinner, had a little 'fight' with Leon about getting up for sunrise over the salt flats the following morning... basically he didn't want to but its something that's promised as part of the tour and we were naturally all keen to do so. Thankgod for Chloe and Jean-Baptiste who could effectively argue our case with him! With case settled and wake up call set for 4am we all headed to bed in our comfy warm hotel, where you'll be relieved to know there was no repeat performance from the night before!!

4am came all too quickly and we were packed up and on our way relatively on time to Isla Incahuas, where we were to watch the sunrise. We actually only just made it, Leon ended up forgetting the meat that everyone ended up wishing he'd left behind and we had to turn back, adding some vital minutes onto our journey... we hotfooted it up to the top of the island... not an easy task at 3660m above sea level... we were shattered by the time we got there! We did make it though and it was an amazing sight, well worth the rush. This pic here is of the sunrise, it doesn't really do it justice but you get the idea. Once the sun was up, we headed back down for brekkie and then had some free time to wander out over the flats and get some pics.... the place is unbelievable and I'm so glad I got to see it... its one of the things that was recommended to me to do in Bolivia and I'm so glad i listened. Its such a strange feeling to be walking out over a massive expanse of salt that looks like it should be the ocean.

After we left there, we drove across the salt flats, stopping for pics and encountering a crazy couple cycling their way across the flats and the park.... nutters!!... saw the salt being mined, manually, as it still is and collected into little mountains as you can see in the pic, stopped at another salt hotel for a peek and then headed to Corchani for lunch.... a tiny village with a random salt museum and lama's wandering around, as they do. Lunch was in a word.. hideous.. with half the veggies lunch having been given to the soldiers at the barracks the previous day and the meat for te others looking anything but apetizing...we were all looking forward to reaching Uyuni, our final stop, for some more food!

Anyway, after 'lunch' we had one final stop before the tour was over... the train cemetery... which is what the title suggests... basically a big area where trains go to rust and end their days. We climbed around on them, had a little look, took some pics then got on our merry way to Uyuni... which we reached at about 2pm. Katy and I were intending to stay overnight in Uyuni but when we arrived, as ok as it was, there wasn't much to it so we decided to just get on our way to La Paz so we'd have a few days to chill out and enjoy the place before heading to Peru for the Inca trail. We booked our overnight bus, then killed the rest of the afternoon eating, catching up on email, shopping and eating some more. We bumped into Mark, a colleague of Katy's from home in the fab pizza restaurant we were spending our last few hours in Uyuni in, who as it turned out was also heading to La Paz that night. Our bus left about 8pm and we managed to cause about as much fuss as 2 girls could when we finally got on it... we managed to siti n the wrong seats twice, the second time, we'd packed all our stuff into Katy's packsafe and tightly attached it to our chair before being asked to move by the seats rightful occupant..... i think by the time we were settled, we'd pretty much made ourselves unpopular with just about everyone on that bus!! oops!

The journey took about 11 hours, and Bolivia being the poor country that it is, means the buses aren't as nice as the ones found in the rest of South America and the roads not exactly well made. Katy was feeling poorly so was out for the count the entire time, which was lucky methinks... me on the other hand, didn't sleep so well.... i managed to forget to get my trusty eye mask out (and we weren't undoing the pack safe for a 3rd time i can assure you!) and it was all a bit uncomfy.... I also found myself with a french girl, venturing out into the middle of nowhere in the pitch black to relieve our bladders while we desperately prayed that the bus wouldn't leave us there!! It didn't thankfully and several hours of no sleep later we arrived at our next stop, bolivia's capital La Paz!!

Now, I know it sounds like i've complained a lot about our Salt Flats tour but don't get me wrong, its the tour company that left a lot to be desired, not the tour itself... .the place is unbelievable with sights you can't imgaine and the Salt Flats themselves just blow you away... I completely recommend to anyone that that should go and experience it... just with a different tour company!! xx

Hangovers at High Altitude!!

2006-09-28T20:42:00.000+01:00

So, I just wrote this entry, nearly completely, then lost it all!! Not amused!! Anyway... I'll try again... One thing Katy and I hadn't considered during our partying the ngiht before was the altitude and the effect it may have on us!! oops! San Pedro de Atacama is a lovely little town, with a bit of a 'wild west' feel to it that sits at 2440m above sea level. The pic here is one of only a few we have of San Pedro and doesn't do it justice at all, it's far prettier than it appears here and was somewhere that Katy and I would've both been happy staying in for longer given the chance. It was small and peaceful and just what we needed after our marathon journey.

Having never been at a high altitude before though it wasn't suprising my body was crying out in pain for putting it through not only excessive amounts of travelling but also plying it with Gin and sending it to ridiculous heights!!! When sipping on our Pisco Sours under the Chilean skies at our random party the night before we hadn't considered the althitude thing, trust me though.. we couldn't help but remember it the morning after.... Hangovers at high altitude are anything but fun!!!

We managed to drag ourselves out of bed and into the peacful suntrap of the hotel courtyard for breakfast and I don't mind admitting that I went straight back to bed afterwards. I know I should've been exploring the place but I had a warm bed waiting for me and felt shocking so that was the place for me. Not only was I dealing with a hangover but I wsa trying to adjust to the altitude... nose bleeds are just one of the lovely symptons I had to contend with... hmm, nice!!

I did manage to see most of the afternoon though and after a unbelievably lovely hot shower and a mooch around town we headed to La Cave; the restaurant the our new friends Ian and Ceaser worked in, for dinner.. where despite our resolve to not let a drop of alcohol pass our lips, free Pisco Sours were presented to us and well, it would've been rude not to really!! We did however manage to stick to our guns and fulfill our plans of getting to bed early and sober... annoyingly though I found myself unable to sleep.. what Ma would call Sods Law I believe!!

We did wake to find ourselves feeling slightly more humn the following day luckily and after a leisurely morning and lush fish lunch at a cheap local restaurant we took leave of our senses and hired mountain bikes in order to cycle to the Valley de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) approximately 12km form San Pedro, to see the sun set over the sand dunes. The Valley is one of Chile's (and South America's) many amazing parks with stunning mountainous and volcanic landscape. As we set off about 3:30pm, the sun was blazing and it was hot and dusty....

The pic on the left here is me having a little rest at the entrance to the park and the other (below) is me contending with the hills.... Katy's fitter than me and managed to stay on her bike for most of the hills, unlike me although it was steep (the sign says so) so I think I can be forgiven!! It really is an amazing place though, you can easily see why its named so, resembling the moon's crater immensly. And just to prove to those skeptics out there.... the pic on the right here is to prove I did actually ride the bike, not just wak next to it the whole time!!!

The sunset is best viewed at the top of the masive sand dunes, so along with all the people that had been sensible enough to book themselves on a driven tour of the valley, at 5:45pm we climbed the masive dunes and settled ourselves down to watch the sun disappear behind the Northern Chilean mountains... not a bad sight, I tell assure you!

Now, we do have a little confession to make... while sat there watching the sun go down, we contemplated our return journey to San Pedro... and weren't exactly relishing the thought of it... as we'd been on planes and buses for so much of our time recently, we were both feeling quite lethargic nd had wanted some exercise.... now, though we were just shattered and so decided to hatch plan... there seemed to be several half empty tour buses all heading back to San Pedro so we figured a ew Chilean Peso's ought to convince one of the drivers to take pity on us and our bikes!! As it turned out though, we did one better.... on our descent from the sand duens we spotted at Australian couple in a UTE (obviously!) with 2 empty seats and a big fat empty trailer on the back... we cheekily asked them to take us and our bikes back to San Pedro (luckily where they were heading anyway) and offered them some money for their trouble... they wouldn't take the money but thankfully would take us... so, 2 weary girls and their bikes hitched a lift back to town and were more than grateful to be back in double quick time and showered and off for dinner at a respectable hour. This time at La Casona... which served the most delicious Salmon. The rest of the evening was spent just chilling out and chatting with Ian (shown in pic here), who'd joined us (Ceaser was home nursing sunburn!!!!!! p'ah, call himself a man!! ) we were leaving early the next morning on our Salt Flats tour so it probably wasn't wise to not go to bed til about half one but it was a fun evening and had been a really good day. We were both sad to be leaving San Pedro, it's such an easy place to be and we'd had fun... but time was ticking so we had to go... xx

The longest journey EVER!!!

2006-09-28T20:40:00.000+01:00

So..... little did i know that as I reluctantly got out of bed that morning at the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel it would be the last time my poor body had the luxury of a bed to sleep in for the best part of 3 days!!! The flight from Nadi to Santiago was via Auckland and in total took 15.5 hours.. the Nadi to Auckland was pretty painless and a very sweet irish couple had kindly paid for the taxi to the airport I'd shared with them (bargain!) so all in all the journey wasn't starting too badly. Transferring to the SAntiago flight was a tad slow but still ok, then i spent the next few hours searching for antihistamine cream for the ridiculous amounts of bites I now had on my legs (perhaps my own fault for spending too much time relaxing on a hammock in the open the night before but hey, sympathy anyway please!!) and using the last of my NZ mobile credit by waking my mum, sis and Becky & Aideen up (technically not their night but as they were on night shift me calling them was just as annoying I suspect!) Anyway, the next leg was pretty dull, a 13 hour flight that saw me watching far too many movies, not sleeping very well, not eating all that much (thanks to me yet again forgetting to tell anyone I needed the veggie option!) and most excitingly of all... saw me crossing the date line.... after 13 hours on board, I arrived in Santiago nearly 4 hours before I'd taken off!! Bizarre!!

So.. Sept 22nd 2006 Take 2; somehow Katy and I timed things perfectly and found oursleves walking towards each other off our respective flights (hers from Buenos Aires) have to say was very relieved this was the case given the amount you get harrassed the minute you walk through from arrivals! Before I go on... just for those who don't know, Katy and I are friends from home (via our lovely mutual friends Zoe and Nicky - Hi Girlies!) and had arranged while I was in Sydney to spend the first 3 weeks of my time in South America travelling together. She has 6 weeks leave before heading back to London to start working far too hard as a Lawyer so this was her time to party... who was I to complain!!

Once we'd worked our way through the mob at the airport and found ourselves a taxi to a hostel in the city; La Casa Roja, we checked in, both of us exhausted but decided it was sensible to keep oursleves awake until a respectable hour for going to bed..in an attempt to beat the jet lag! We busied ourselves for the afternoon, having lunch, getting some money changed and booking our bus up to San Pedro de Atacama, in Northern Chile... where we planned to do the tour of the Salt Flats and cross over to Bolivia from. This was where our thoughts of a nice warm bed were firmly put to rest (pardon the pun!). Thanks to the only availability on buses being 3 days later or that very evening, cos of time limitations we had no choice but to opt for the bus leaving that night at 9pm... I was meant to be sound asleep by then!!! Ah well!!

And that's how it came to be that we found ourselves boarding a bus for a 24 hour journey to the nroth of Chile. It was a shame we didn't have time to check out Santiago but I'm told that it's not all that anyway and I already have Easter Island on my list of places still to visit so I'm sure Santiago will feature in that somewhere! We did manage a little look round when we went for lunch and to book the bus and I have to say the one thing I noticed about the city was that my name was everywhere.... there were streets named after me, launderettes, shops and metro stations! It was even commented on when I checked in at the hostel... ok, so I'm sure 'Mr Ricardo Cumming', whoever he may be, might object to me claiming it's all named after me but hey, I think I'll risk it anyway!! Luckily the buses in Chile are pretty luxurious.... they include food and semi reclining seats, that recline back enough for sleep to not be too difficult... that said I could've slept on a cold concrete floor with no blankets I was that tired!!

In fairness the journey didn't prove too painful... probably cos I was asleep for most of it but hey!.. (the first pic on this entry is us half way through the bus journey) we had to change in Calama, 23 hours in and luckily were guided to the bus from there to San Pedro by a very sweet Chilean named Gilbert who took a little shine to our Katy, even giving her a cheeky little squeeze when they posed for a requested photo....!! It was a blessing he was there though or I'm not entirely sure how we'd have found our way to the other bus. We did though and an hour later arrived in San Pedro.. slightly concerningly we were dropped in the middle of nowhere and as it was dark we decided the sensible thing was to get a taxi to a hostel. We picked a slightly micer hotel; Takha Takha - we'd decided we deserved it and the real clincher was that it offered 24 hour hot water.... trust me, a luxury I couldn't wait to make use of!

We worked out that by the time we reached San Pedro, Katy had been travelling for 36 hours and I'd been on the road for 54 hours!!!! Ouch!!! Definetely the longest journey I've ever done... and i thought the 23 hours from Bangkok to Phi Phi way back in December was bad!!

Now, you would think that the sensible thing to do after travelling for that long would be to go to bed.... so we went out!! Obviously!! We decided we deserved a drink after surviving our mamouth journey plus we'd been together for nearly 2 days and still hadn't had a drink together. We were too tired to care what we looked like and have to admit, skanky as it is, other than cleaning our teeth, we went out as we were... as you can probably tell from the picture above, with our first drink together!!! The plan was we'd just have one cheeky drink then head to our beds, with nothing to get up for the next day we were both looking forward to a lovely long lie in! As you can probably all guess... those 'quiet nights' never quite go according to plan so you'll not be surprised to learn that a mere few hours later we found ourselves at a very random Gay Chilean's party in the middle of nowhere being charmed by the likes of odd magicians and 2 lads who were to become our friends during our time in San Pedro; Ian (Argentinian) and Ceaser (Peruvian.. shown giving Katy a cheeky dance lesson above!!!!).... all in all it was a very comical, unexpected night and a sample of South American hospitality. It didn't take us too long to want nothing but our beds, plus the lack of a bathroom other than in the darkness, speeded up the desire to be back at the hotel... so we finally made it into proper bed, a few pisco sours later... I can't tell you what bliss it was!! x

Leaving too soon!

2006-09-24T22:26:00.000+01:00

Our prayers weren't answered and the day of our departure from Caqelai dawned grey and wet.... 45 mins in what was basically a rowing boat with an engine attached to it was not going to be fun!! After we were seen off from the island with a scarily funereal like song from the locals, we proceeded to get ridiculously wet bumping up and down over the waves..... now that it's over it's quite comical, at the time.... not so much! Anyway, we'd arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the bridge and take us back to Nadi. Lotty and Graham were flying out to LA the next day, my flight was the day after and we had friends from Sydney arriving the following morning too. The journey back to Nadi, once we'd dried out was ok, it rained most of the day so we didn't really mind being stuck in a car all day. We made it back but about 3pm and checked into the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel.. which had been recommended to us. It was a great little place with 2 swimming pools, bars, restaurants and decent dorms, not to mention a proper shower! Yay! we spent the afternoon just catching up on emails, doing our laundry and having a long awaited proper shower... lush! Then, along with David, a guy from our dorm, headed to a nearby Mexican restaurant for our last supper together where we discovered Pictionary so had a cheeky game while waiting for our food. (another long awaited thing... a good feed, the food on Caqelai wasn't all that). As you can see from the pic, Graham in particular enjoyed the meal!!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and chilled out in the bar with a cheeky cocktail before bed. We ended up bumping into a lot of peeps that had been on Beachcomber with us so it ended up being quite a late one. Fun though.

Thursday morning dawned... my final day in Fiji - Boo! Lotty and Graham weren't flying until that evening and Steve and Glen were arriving mid morning so the day, although sad as I'd have to say goodby to the lovely Lotty and Graham, would be a fun one too. Luckily it was beautifully hot and sunny so once we were up and about we set ourselves up by the pool to soak up the sun. By mid morning we'd found Steve and Glen checking into our dorm and caught up with them - having not seen them since Sydney, we'd been looking forward to them arriving. The rest of the day was spent by the pool, mostly playing Trivial Pursuits - the aussie version which took us an age to get through but we managed it in the end. Obviously not sure about Lotty and Graham but Glen and I let Steve and Andy win... we were just being nice!!! ;0) Honest! (pic here is the newbies, Glen and Steve btw, not that you can actually see Glen - there's a clearer one of him below though!!)

After the sun had set we all headed up to the dorm and chilled out while Lotty and Graham got packed and ready to go... and I pretended to pack (although how lying on the bed chatting is pretending I'm not really sure but hey it was fun!!) 7pm came and it was time for the cheeky two to leave us..... I can't believe it came round so quickly..... Lotty and Graham I had a ball travelling with you both, you rock and I can't wait to catch up when we get home (if not in South America) I miss you loads but hope you're having fun and games in LA!!

Anyway, once we'd tearfully waved them off we headed back to the room, Glen got the drinks in while I had a shower and the evening went from there..... somehow all except Andy 'forgot' to eat and while everyone else headed straight to the bar, Glen and I sat and chatted in the dorm, which unintentionally meant that we were sensible and didn't drink for a little (although we made up for that later). We finally dragged ourselves from the comfiness of our beds and joined the others in the bar where numbers had multiplied several times over in our absence, Andy had done his usual socialite thing and brought the masses together so there was quite a crowd going on and the atmosphere was great. Glen and I settled in nicely and thanks to several weeks of banter (aka: abuse) concerning our drinking abilities, it seemed only right to put such claims to the test... which meant only one thing... Sambuka!! Ouch!!! I don't know why I imagine I can do such things and be ok (and Glen, that isn't me admitting I'm a lightweight... that's your title!!) I did manage to hold my own though and if I recall correctly, the nearly full bottle of beer left voluntarily at the end of the evening didn't belong to me did it Mr Cameron??! Anyway, in a nutshell the rest of the evening post-Sambuka was spent, drinking, chatting, chilling out on the fab (and ridiculously big) hammocks the hotel had dotted around and generally being mischievous and having fun. Needless to say we all awoke with big fat hangovers the next morning and surprise surprise, we had to be up early to catch our respective boats/buses/planes!!!!! Clearly I will never learn my lesson!! Was a wicked night though!

Anyway, 8:30am Friday morning and it was time to say goodbye again... yet again to people I didn't really want to leave... having already said bye to Lotty and Graham, next to leave were Glen and Steve who were off to Beachcomber for a few days... Lads, it was wicked to see you again albeit for too short a time, it's a shame our timing wasn't better and we only crossed over by one day but it was a good day and the perfect way to end my time in Fiji. I hope you're having fun back there and I hope we'll meet again.... it's so much fun abusing Glen it'd be rude not to eh Steve! ;0) Glen.. what can I say.. I think we can call it even on the drinking stakes but I'm clearly still beating you on the tan front!!! xx

Next to leave was me, which meant another goodbye, to a very hungover Andy... the only one of us that didn't have to get up that morning so I let him off seeing me off and believe he promptly passed out again after I'd left. Andy... it was great to have met you and I know I speak for Lotty and Graham too when I say we're really glad you joined Team Fiji, you were fun to travel with and we'll see you back in London, Brentism's, Top 10 Saints and all!! Enjoy the rest of your trip matey.

And that was that... Fiji over.... I was on my way to the airport for my penultimate flight... a very bizarre feeling!! I could've done without the hangover for the marathon journey i was about to embark on but the hangover was worth it and at this point I wasn't to know just how long my journey was really going to be!! Fiji went all to quickly... it's strange how you look forward to something for so long and wish for it to come then before you know it it's been and gone. Even though I was really excited to be heading to South America, I have to admit I would've happily stayed in Fiji a little longer... xx

Quacking in Caqelai!!

2006-09-24T22:24:00.000+01:00

Basically all of Saturday was taken up with travelling, we left Beachcomber at 1130, me battling with a nasty hangover and an even nastier reaction to one of my malaria tablets that I've been taking in preparation for South America - having missed brekkie thanks to it and only getting sorted thanks to Andy looking after me (thanks matey). We said goodbye to the peeps that had a few more days on the island... Simon included despite it being touch and go the previous day thanks to a close call with the loss of his passport and tickets (luckily found just before he was about to head back to the mainland in search of them... hope all's good Simon and you make it to Sweden ok. Have fun!) The pic here was actually taken at Beachcomber on our first night so not really relevant to this post but Lotty I thought it was a nice one of you and you always tell me off for putting not so nice ones (in your opinion anyway) of you on here! ;0)

The plan for us was to hop on the bus down to Suva, check out Fiji's capital city for the night then head over to Caqelai for 3 days chilling out on a nice remote tropical island. We ended up getting a taxi to Suva, as there was 4 of us it only worked out about $1 more expensive so it seemed daft not to... we made it down there having passed the 4 hour journey with some comedy games.. by early evening and checked into the Sunset Motel.... take my advice, anyone that finds themself in Suva... don't stay there. It was grim and like sleeping on a plank of wood.... we weren't sad to be on our way the next morning. We did have a little venture around the city to see what it was like and to be honest it felt a bit like being back in Asia - this was Andy's first experience of anything like it and it was really interesting to see a different side to Fiji than the idyllic tropical islands it's famous for. I'm not sure it's on my list of places to go back to and other than a great curry (according to the others anyway, me being a wus found it way too spicy!) there's not much more to be said about it.. so I won't bother!

Sunday morning came and we started out for Caqelai... the only way to get there was by taxi and boat. We got a taxi to a place called Waidalice River where the people from the island were picking us up... you can see from the pic here that we were basically dumped in the middle of nowhere, all feeling a little skeptical about whether any boat would be turning up at all!!

It did though, and bang on time too. The next 45 mins were spent whizzing our way down the river to the island, we felt a little like we were back on the Mekong in Laos.. it was great fun. We arrived at the island by about midday and as it wsa a Sunday they were serving the traditional Fijian meal; Lovo. We were quite looking forward to trying it but I have to admit I don't think any of us were that struck... sorry Fiji! It was all a bit bland and lacked taste.. other than the fish anyway. Pic below is on the boat ride to the island!!

Caqelai though....... a strange island. Chosen because it was recommended by a mate of Graham's... aesthetically speaking it's stunning, as you can see from the pic's, beautiful white sands, palm trees, the lot... from all the other points of view, a little odd if we're being honest. It's run by Buddists who were all very lovely people and there was only about 15 guests on the island, maximum but I'm not sure how to put it so it doesn't sound offensive, they weren't exactly the same types of people as us... many of them we're sure like to think of themselves as 'proper travellers' ie, the type that look down their noses at the likes of us! Now don't get me wrong, some of them were very sweet but it was pretty clear that we weren't about to become best buddies with them... there seemed to be a routine to the island... so when we attempted a bit of volleyball at a time other than the usual 4pm, after tea... it was met with a little tension!!! comedy!!

Anyway... as we had the 4 of us there it was all good... the day we arrived, it was overcast so after lunch when we'd settled into our dorm - which was wicked, we had it to ourselves for all but one night and were able to fashion seperate 'boudior', lounge and even a bar section - we got on with some cards, then joined in the volleyball (at the accepted time) although I still have a big fat bruise on my arm and once Lotty and I had tired of nearly breaking our bones and listening to the somewhat pompous wannabe professional volleyball player (who really wasn't that good) we took it upon ourselves to crack open the duty free gin and take the boys a post-volley drink... ok so it was only 5pm but hey, there's nowt else to do on an overcast desert island! Suffice to say, the rest of the evening was hilarious... involving the discovery of George the cat (so named by us) dinner then a bit of a party for 4 in our dorm.... and also saw the birth of Team Toilet.... the toilets on the island, not to mention the cold bucket showers, left a little to be desired and as they were a little trek from the dorm, after dark there was no way Lotty and I were going it alone so Team Toilet was established... long may it live on Lotty!!

Talking of which.. on one such excursion... our fate as the misfits of the island was sealed when we encountered what we believed to be our friendly french neighbour... we happily greeted her with our Bula's and were promptly met with... 'would you keep it down, you're Quack Quack Quacking all over the place!' Needless to say it was all Lotty and I could do to keep a straight face and from there on in all team toilet outings were accompanied with actual Quacking!!!! Classic! We were naturally most disappointed to find that she was leaving the next day!!! ;0)

Luckily our second day there was lovely and bright and hot.... it was tough getting over the hangover but we managed to get some snorkelling gear together and head out to Snake island whnen the tide was out... it's a crazy little rock formation really shaped like a pirate ship and named so cos of all the sea snakes that reside there. When the tides out you can walk out there... so we did. It was cool to see but thanks to the shallowness of the surrounding waters we didn't manage to snorkel there and headed back to the beach to check out the underwater world there. It was cool to snorkel but it was still really shallow and the colours were no where near as impressive as on Bechcomber. The rest of the day was spent soaking up the sun, poor Andy got a tad burnt (and yes, that's me being kind, sorry Andy) and playing cards before dinner and a bit of a sing song at a bonfire the island peeps had organised. Thanks to the hangovers we didn't last too long that night and headed home to chill out before bed. One thing I've forgotten to mention thus far is a little comical element to our friend Andy.... he has an unconcious ability to imitate the comedy genius that is Ricky Gervais - although we all find it far more amusing to have nicknamed Andy; David!! haha.... it's truly hilarious, sometimes you'll just catch a 'Brentism' and he has no idea..... don't stop Andy, it's a good thing honest!!

Our third and final day on Caqelai was unfortunately dull and wet so it was mostly spent chilling out, reading, playing cards (surprise!) with a little frisbee thrown in between the rain in an attempt to do something other than lie in our beds all day. The pic you see here is of the lovely Lotty and Graham looking out towards the rain cloud that was approaching (shown in the other pic) it was awesome, you could see it coming towards you and where the rain started and yet be stood there totally dry... although not for long.... we had to do a mad dash to shelter right after those pics were taken!! Was wicked to see though. The evening was much the same as the last, dinner, drinks, cards and some comedy charades thrown in for good measure!! We were leaving the following morning at half 9 and although there were several oddities about the place, it was a good few days, spent with 3 people that are wicked and so we all had fun and I think were glad to have seen the place and experienced a different side of Fiji. We were just hoping and praying for good weather for the return river boat journey!! xx

Team Fiji!!

2006-09-22T23:44:00.000+01:00

So, it was goodbye to NZ and hello Fijian sun.... I couldn't wait to get my flips back into action, the bikini out and put the summer skirts to use again. I didn't quite manage to update the blog whilst in Fiji, there was just too much of very little to be getting on with but I'll tell you about it now.... the early start from Auckland was a bit of a mission, espically after only a couple of hours sleep but the boys, bless them made sure i was up in time.... Luke just whacked the side of my bed to make sure I was awake... bless, thought that counts eh! S0, at 5am I hugged Dan and Luke goodbye (really for the last time with Luke on this trip - boo!) and climbed onto the bus to the airport... the journey there wasn't as relaxing as hoped thanks to some drama's at home (thanks Nan and Grandad btw!) but with that sorted I found Lotty and Graham at the airport and it was Fiji here we come! Having relieved duty free of a fair bit of their wine, gin and vodka we boarded and the flight passed uneventfully, mostly cos I was alseep for the majority of it, then we arrived and we had that lovely feeling you get when you walk out the plane door and he heat hits you in a wave.... awesome!

The plan for our 10 days here was to be..... first night in Nadi (pronounced Nandi, the islands main hub for arriving tourists) to chill out, get some supplies and sort out bookings for the islands over the next 9 days. We'd decided to visit 2 islands; Beachcomber - Fiji's party island and Caqelai (pronounced Thangelai) a more remote island on the West coast of the mainland, ending up back in Nadi on the 20th in time for our flights out of tropical paradise.

So, we headed to a hostel in New Town; the Tropic of Capricorn, for the first night and given the early flight we were there by midday and chilling out by the pool not long after that. The rest of the day was spent doing just that, with a little trip to the shop thrown in for good measure. We were leaving at 8am the following morning for Beachcomber and as we were all shattered from the early start we had dinner, watched the sunset (see pic above), wasted a few good dollars on the worlds slowest internet connection and got our heads down. We could've picked a nicer hostel for our first night but in fairness it did the job, was clean and a bed for the night so it could've (and has been) a whole lot worse.

The sun was shining for us the following morning and after a brief bus journey and boat trip we arrived at our first tropical island desitination.... Beachcomber (shown in the pic here) is well known for where all the backpackers go and we were expecting a mass of people, Ibiza syle... espically given the 84 bed dorm we were booked into!! In fact, it wasn't anything like that. The island is tiny, you can walk round it in about 15 minutes and although the dorm was massive it was actually pretty decent, well organised and even people snoring wasn't really a problem. There were only about 70 odd people on the island while we were there and the vibe was great, really chilled out with little else to do but sunbathe, play volleyball, read, swim, eat, drink, take advantage of the free snorkelling trips, play cards, mini-golf and generally have fun. So, with 3 nights on the island, that's pretty much what we did. All the food was included in the price and it was provided in abundance (something which Graham was grateful for) and it was lush... I developed an obsession with the yum banana muffins they had at breakfast.

Wednesday was our first day there and the day we added another bod to our little group... introducing Andy, a Kent lad who we met at lunch and who ended up travelling with us for the rest of our time in Fiji. BTW - Lotty and Graham shown in pic on right and Andy with me (obviously) in other pic here. After lunch that day, Lotty, Graham and I foolishly played crazy golf without any mozzie spray on and Lotty and I got devoured.... my right leg alone had 18 bites on!!!! Nice!! We won't mention the final scores for the golf though eh!?!

That evening started with happy hour in the islands only bar before sneaking off to polish off some of the duty free wine then heading back to partake in the Bula Dance - a dance disturbingly like the Macarena!!!! - and sample my first and last taste of the Fijian traditional drink Cava - it basically is like drinking dirt!! hmm!

The next day we awoke to overcast skies and the threat of rain so after brekkie it was back to the dorm to chill out.... there's not much to say about today except that we all got through a fair bit of our books, started the card playing (Girls are clearly better at Hearts and Sevens Graham... there's no escaping it!! ;0) got fleeced on the ridiculously expensive internet there and managed to catch the few rays of sun that did come out. The boys went snorkelling but Lotty and I decided to save that for a nicer day... or rather tomorrow, the only other day we had left there! The evening was comical... Crab Racing was on in the bar, with an auction held for the crabs you wanted... we ended up with Pakistan and China - I can't remember the names so Team Fiji, if you can post it on a comment pls! We'd added another stray to our gang by now too... Simon, someone I recognised from New Zealand and who'd been told to 'look out for me' (err!!) by Dan and Jamie, the boys I'd stayed in Rotarua with. Needless to say, some more of the duty free goods were sampled and our crabs lost but hey it was fun. Much of the evening, infact much of the whole trip, was spent playing various games to amuse us..... favourites being, 20 questions, the name game and numerous variations sometimes made into drinking games, sometimes just to pass the time. We liked it anyway!! (pic on left is me with Andy, Simon and John).

Luckily, our last day on Beachcomber dawned bright and sunny so the day was naturally spent on the beach, soaking up the sun and working on our tans... we headed out to the sand bank for some snorkelling too, which was utterly amazing. It really is like something you see in a holiday brochure here, the waters are so blue it's amazing and the reefs are gorgeous, I wish i had pictures from the snorkelling but i don't so you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it was probably the best snorkelling i've done, including the Great Barrier Reef, the colours were stunning and the sea was so clear. After a tough day on the beach we'd managed to add a few more peeps to the equation and along with them (Stuart, an Aussie who's actually been around the whole time I just forgot to mention him, oops! John, a Scottish lad from Dundee, and Ed and Patrick; 2 young english lads, one of which looked like he belonged in McFly) we managed to tuck into a fair bit of the duty free stash as well as the makeshift black russians that Graham had got going on.... there were many drinking games, for which the Black Russian was the losers 'prize' and alot of amusement involving such peeps as St Francis of Assiss (is that spelt right Andy?) Ansell Adams, Metal Mickey and Caravaggio (prob not spelt right at all!) I'll not bother explaining as it's prob not funny to anyone but the Fiji gang but if anyone knows what St Francis did.. you know where the comments button is..!

The only other thing to mention from today, or rather that night, is the moon - i didn't get a decenet picture but it was amazing, a really deep orange, sitting almost on the horizon... it was stunning!
It was a shame but our time on Beachcomber was nearly over, Andy had decided to come with us to Caqelai and so Friday night was our last night there, and in true NZ Flee style, I'd managed to get drunk the night before I had a journey to embark on... this time by boat instead of bus but as you can tell, i still haven't learnt my lesson!! oops!

All in all though, Beachcomber was wicked and I'd recommend anyone to go there, especially if you're travelling alone, it's really easy to meet people and is loads of fun. For us though, it was bye bye Beachcomber... next stop Suva... xx

The end of NZ and Unexpected Reunions!

2006-09-10T11:22:00.000+01:00

0742 and my phone beeps.... 'The Luke' is back in town... waiting for me in reception so I crawl out of my bed and far too many people in reception get a sneaky peek of my Marks and Sparks PJ's en route to collecting Luke from his almost comatose state on the sofa... I was really pleased to see him, it was only a few days ago that we discovered we'd be crossing over here by one day and as we had thought we wouldn't see each other again on this trip it was fab. I was, however, most relieved to see he was looking shattered (and annoyingly tanned) so wouldn't take any pursuading that crashing out for a few hours was a good idea. That was how we spent our morning, then once we'd got ourselves up and showered we had some lunch and watched each others skydive DVD's and my bungy then headed out to actually see a little bit of Auckland - something I'd as yet managed not to do.

Dan (from Rotarua - (aka Action/Sandwich Dan) also arrived today and he joined our little outing too. In fairness we weren't all that productive, we made it to the wharf where we promptly indulged in some yum ice-cream before leisurely wandering a bit further around the wharf, then Luke and I jumped on the free bus for a little sightseeing before hopping off at the Sky Tower and 'getting high' for a while... up to the 56th floor it was for us, in a lift with glass floor... wierd sensation! We spent the next few hours meandering around up there, making the most of the cafe, catching up over tea and cakes as we watched the sunset over the city. From 220m up the views aren't bad and you can see why Auckland is known as the 'City of Sails' - apparently one in 4 families has a boat and there were plenty on show in the numerous marina's.

Once the sun had set we headed back down to earth and off to the hostel so I could get packed up before dinner. Luke was calling in on the bet I lost way back when we left Sydney - only a month ago but it feels like longer - so I was buying him dinner, or contributing should i say... so, eventually we made it out and along with Dan filled ourselves silly at Denny's... now we're back at the hostel and it's nearly time for bed.. I have to get up in a few short hours for my flight to Fiji.... I'm really excited about going but I'm sad to be leaving here too. I've had an absolute ball in New Zealand and I'm sure I'll return one day. It's been wicked spending my last day here with Pucas and Dan too. I've said all the emotional rubbish in my 'Things I'll miss' so I'll not flatter the boy anymore but I have missed Luke loads in the last month and know I'll miss him lots once I leave here too. This time we really are saying bye - at least for now as our trips are taking us in different directions from now on - so I've no idea when I'll see him again or where it'll be but I know that we will.... weddings and funerals remember Pucas - so it's all good!!

Right, it's off to bed for me now.... I need some sleep.... so, next time I write I'm assuming (hoping!) it'll be while I'm having myself a quick break from lying on a tropical beach soaking up the Fijian sun..... how is the weather back home by the way you lot?? hee hee!! ;-) xx

Auckland and the Girls Final Fling!!

2006-09-10T09:25:00.000+01:00

We made it into Auckland by about 8pm, i got myself checked in and went to find my girlies... we spent the next couple of hours catching up and faffing around getting ready to go out - Aideen's just like me in that respect, it's great... Beck has a job on her hands getting us organised bless her but for all you lot back home... there's someone else like me.... and I love it! Aid - you rock!! haha! Bet no-one's ever told you your faffing is a good thing before!! ;-)

Anyway, we finally made it out about 10pm, I'd managed to not find the time for dinner so it didn't take too much vodka for the effects to start to make themselves known! First stop, Irish bar, the Fiddler to meet Ray; a friend of the girls from their time in Perth. We had a few there then headed to the Cock and Bull - an english pub - in some suburb of Auckland somewhere - to meet some of Ray's friends. The rest of the evening passed by in a bit of a blur, there was lots of drinking and silliness and a crazy Canadian who ket buying me shots (my wallet was happily staying in my bag so i wasn't complaining bless him!) at some point we all ended up back at The Fiddler for some silly dancing and more drinking... i believe there was a point around 4am when i thought about going home to bed but clearly that didn't last long as the next thing i knew we were all piling back to someone's house, i attempted to teach Barry, one of the lads, to juggle with oranges - suffice to say, the oranges came out a little worse for wear - and then somehow the sun was coming up, the birds were singing and it was time to get back to the hostel so the girls could pack and catch their flight. I'm also not quite sure how Becky and myself managed to find ourselves in McD's at 9am this morning either - it wasn't pleasant but vodka warps the senses!!! That's my excuse anyway!!

Somehow, the girls managed to get themselves ready in time and the next thing i knew I was finding myself in the midst of more emotional goodbyes as they hopped on the bus to the airport. They've both flown back to Sydney to work there for a while and I'm very jealous... not only do i miss Sydney but I already miss them loads too.... and they've only been gone since this morning!

I have to say first of all that i think I'm too old for this 'all nighter' lark.... I'm running on auto pilot at the mo, desperately trying to get up to date with this little blog before Luke arrives tomorrow. Today's been a bit of a washout, despite intentions of being productive today, i slept away most of it, managed to do my laundry, eat and do this, oh and catch up with Anna and Jonathan from the cruise who're also staying here.

Anyway, missing a nights sleep is not as easy as it used to be.. but hey, it was fun! I'm not sure Becky and i should be allowed out together though... we seem to get each other into all sorts of mischief when we do, although obviously I blame her! ;-)

The only other thing left to say here is about my lovely girls... I can't believe that I'll be leaving NZ in less than 2 days, I'm gutted.... it has been one big month of fun and that is largely due to the people I've shared it with. Becky and Aid, I'm so glad i met you and got to rock NZ with you... you're both absolute stars and i love you lots and lots.... as I've said before there are some people you meet on a trip like this that you know you'll never see again and then there's the handful of people that you know you'll always be friends with.... you two are obviously the latter... (and Cat and Kirsten too). The past month has been just what i needed and i can't thank you girlies enough for making it so much fun... I have laughed til my tummy and cheeks hurt, sometimes for no apparent reason, I've done things i never thought i could do, I've drunk far too much and I loved every second of travelling with you... don't ever change my lovelies and make sure you keep in touch...... Miss you loads already but enjoy Sydney and the sunshine, say hello to Coogee for me (I'm already plotting ways I can make it out to visit!) and make sure you cause all sorts of mischief over there... I want tales ladies! Love you loads FantaPants and BeltWoman.......... xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ps - just think of all the christmas plans that are happening now you're not here??! haha!

and now it's time for me to get to my bed..... I'm going to be rudely awoken by Pucas at stupid o'clock so I need some sleep - does it show that I'm actually looking forward to seeing him!? ;-)

Playtime in the Bay of Islands!

2006-09-09T04:21:00.000+01:00

Thursday morning and it was time to say goodbye to the boys and Rotarua.... Dan and Jamie, you've been fab to hang out with, i hope you both have awesome trips and hopefully we'll catch up again one day.

Next stop... Auckland.... albeit briefly... the bus journey there was pretty quiet (and can i add for once i wasn't hungover on the bus!!) We got to Auckland by mid-afternoon and checked into ACB hostel. The rest of the afternoon was spent running around on a wild gooschase trying to find the post office that mum had sent a parcel for me to. Without success i returned to the hostel and got my head down early as it was another early start for me the next day... at 0715 i was off to the Bay of Islands for 2 days. Named so due to the 144 islands dotted around the area and famous for being where the first settlement was in NZ. I did manage to call home before bed though, today is my lovely brother's 25th birthday so thought I'd call the 'old' boy and say hello. Map - I hope you had a fab day and got spoilt lots, I'm sorry i couldn't be there. Love you lots x

Not bright, but early the next morning I was on my way up to Paihia, 4 hours north of Auckland.... we hotfooted it up there and were there my late morning. The girls were actually up there too but they were heading back to Auckland and as I'd bookec myself on the Swimming with Dolphin's tour that afternoon we wouldn't manage to catch up which was a shame. Anyway, I was excited that I'd finally get to swim with the Dolphins so early afternoon headed out on the tour... the waters were calm and things were looking promising.... but it wasn't to be! We saw lots of bottle nose dolphins and they were amazing but despite several attempts, getting very wet and cold, when we got in the water they were more interested in catching themselves some fish than playing with us. I was gutted I have to admit and kicking myself that i didn't swim with the ones in Kaikoura who were so playful. So, i returned to shore a little downhearted but figured that I'll try again somewhere else so c'est la vie!

The evening was spent at the hostel just having some food, chatting to Ehuka - one of the Stray drivers - who took pity on my dull pasta meal and kindly gave me some tuna to spice it up a little - then headed to bed and relaxed with my book. I was booked on a cruise out to the famous Hole in the Rock at 9am the next morning so thought I'd get an early night -not to mention try and save some pennies.

Despite the early night, i still managed to have to run to catch the boat the next morning - much to the amusement of Anna and Jonathan, 2 peeps I met when out of breath i made it on to the boat!! I ended up spending the whole cruise with them, Anna a kiwi and Jonathan from Israel are both lovely and made the cruise fun - especially as much to our disappointment, we'd woken to grey skies and rain.... resulting in rough waters, seasickness for yours truly and not a hope in hell of us even getting close to the hole in the rock let alone sailing through it!!!! We managed to have fun though and amuse ourselves watching Anna beat Jonathan at arm wrestling - the male ego took a little beating on that one, bless you Jonathan!! heehee!

I had a few hours to kill before the bus back to Auckland but as it was raining so much there was little else to do in Paihia so i just chilled out in the TV room at Pipi Patch, the hostel i was staying at. To be honest, the whole 2 days cost me a fair bit of the little money i have left and thanks to the weather and the dolphin swimming not happening, was something I could've done without really. The place is amazing and you can tell in the sunshine why people would love it so much but i don't think I really saw it at it's best. I'll have to go back in the Summer when I've more time to get up to Cape Reinga, go sandboarding and see where the ocean's meet - that's supposed to be wicked... the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea i believe it is!

Anyway... the journey back to Auckland passed painlessly enough, we watched Wedding Crashers and bantered away with driver Jarrad... I was excited to be going back to Auckland as Becky and Aideen were there and we had a big night out planned. I was looking forward to being back with the girls - I'd missed them loads and it'd only been a few days! x

Glow Worms and Mud Baths!

2006-09-09T04:20:00.001+01:00

I was very sad that the girls were leaving without me but had decided to make the most of my few extra days in Rotarua and if I was going to be on my own then I'd do it in style (not that i really was on my own as Jamie and Dan were there looking after me). Anyway, i was up and away on Tuesday morning before the sleeping beauties had even stirred. Dan and I were off to Waitomo to go Black Water Rafting in the caves there. Dan, bless his heart, had evenn made me my sandwiches for lunch... you're a little gem Dan! Waitomo is a 2 hour drive from Rotarua so it was a 0715 start for us, although thanks to Dan's comfy shoulder i did manage a little extra sleep on the way there!

I'd opted for the Labyrinth experience, a 3 hour tour, with 1 hour underground - I knew it was going to be freezing and i figured that was long enough for me down there. Dan was doing the Abyss, a 5 hour tour and would be staying overnight in Waitomo so once we got there we headed off in seperate directions for the day. There were 3 others on my tour that I knew from the Kiwi bus; sisters Sarah and ??? and Sarah's boyfriend Johny. It was nice to have a few other peeps I knew on the tour as i was feeling a little apprehensive about what it involved!! There was about 15 of us in the group althogether though and everyone was really friendly and team work was all good. There was also a lovely english couple on there who reminded me so much of Jules and Oli.... they were so like you guys - it made me miss you more than I do anyway!

Anyway, the tour.. we got kitted out with our sexy wetsuits, hardhats and bootys as you can see in the fetching pic's here - i don't think I've ever looked so good!! haha! then headed out to the caves.. first stop though... tube selection... the caves are mostly nativaged through by sitting in the inner tube of a type and floating down letting the current take you. Size selection is most important and done by sticking your bum out and shoving the tube around you and seeing if it falls off - a compical sight with 15 of us all doing it at the same time. Then we had a practice jump off a step into the river - as in the caves there are some waterfalls that you have to jump backwards off - ooer! - then it was off to the caves themselves! We walked down and climbed down into the darkness.... stopped and took a few minutes to introduce ourselves and get used to the lack of light in the caves. All done we set off, the first bit was the scariest if you get claustropobhic, you had to lie flat back in your tube as the cave was so low and be pulled through it by the guide.... and did i mention the water.... freezing- and i mean freezing - by the time we finished i barely had any feeling on strength in my fingers that it was actually a struggle to get my wetsuit undone!!

Anyway, we spent the next hour floating down in the caves, jumping off waterfalls, gazing up in the dark at the glow worms (infact Maggots) that the caves are famous for and checking out the stalagtites all around. It was qutie a scary thought that we were several metres below ground but it was an amazing experience and the guides were fab so we all felt very safe. i have to admit that an hour down there was long enough for me, and my bladder too - I'm not sure I could've managed another 2 down there but it was wicked and so much fun - now that I've thawed out anyway!! There is a hot shower, soup and bagel at the end of it too, bargain and very welcomed by all of us!
We had a couple of hours to kill before the bus headed back to Rotarua so headed into town (and i use the term loosely as it consists of about 5 buildings and very little else) we got ourselves a hot choc (or milk for oddbod me) and chatted the time away. As Dan had stayed in Waitomo it was just Jamie and I that evening - again in our efforts to safe money we opted for vegging in the TV room after dinner, i was quite happy cosy in there, i was still trying to warm up!! Plus I had an early start the next day..... it was to be my day of pampering!!

Although, it is questionable that a day of pampering would be done some where called Hell's Gate but that was the venue so off i went. I managed to oversleep and actually only caught the shuttle bus by seconds and thanks to Jamie waking me up when he realised i really shouldn't still be in my bed. Cheers Jamie!! Hell's Gate is one of Rotarua's geothermal parks. It attracted me as it has a large volcanic park that you can walk around and see all the steaming mud pools, mineral pools, an active mud volcano (pictured here) and hot water waterfall and all sorts - as i said before all that stuff fascinates me so I was really excited about seeing it all. I opted for a guided walk too - which is were i learnt about the Sulphur smell thing i mentioned before.

After the walk came the pampering, they were doing a winter special that included a massage so I thought it'd be rude not too... so i was shown into my massage and relaxed for the next while - it was bliss, although I do have to say the massause (sp?!) was slightly annoying - i don't think she stopped talking once and i could've sworn the idea of a massage it to relax. Anyway, despite that it was lush and afterwards i was shown into the thermal waters of the Spa to relax some more before my Mud bath. The mud baths were the other reason I'd chosen this place particularly - not all of the spa's have mud baths. I was shown into my own private mud bath and it was fab... very very hot though and i have to admit would probably be more fun if you weren't alone but I wasn't about to let that stop me going. My bikini is still suffering the effects of the mud now too.... after you get out you have to have a freezing cold shower - a shock to the system i can tell you - in order to open up your pores again and get your circulation back to normal as the mud clogs it up i believe. After that though it's back into the nice warm spa to chill out until you're ready for your Manuka tea (yum!) in the lounge. I could so get used to this lifestyle!!

My morning of pampering went all to quickly, and after randomly bumping in to Lotte and Graham there too I spent the afternoon catching up on bits and pieces before whiling away my last evening there with the boys (and 2 newbie Scottish boys that had moved into our dorm too) in the hostel's spa pool - well, may as well carry on the theme for the day eh!) Tough day really!! ;-) x

Rolling around Rotarua!!

2006-09-09T04:20:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning rolled around all too quickly and before we knew it we were back on the bus on our hungover way to Rotarua, there was only a few peeps on the bus and we weren't feeling the most spritely but we managed to survive, we're getting quite practised at it now!!

We had a few things planned for our time in Rotarua, well known as New Zealand's cultural capital the first thing on the list was the Realm of Tane, an evening of theatre, dinner and introduction to the Maroi culture in a traditional Maori village setting. There was 6 of us that booked to go that night so en route to Rotarua we stopped at the Maori centre for a brief welcome session which included some tasty samples of Maori cuisine. Before this we'd also made a brief stop to check out the bubbling volcanic mud pools, shown here in the picture. Rotarua has masses of Geothermal activity so everywhere you go you can see steaming Geysers, mud pools and numerous spas and retreats offering all sorts of treatments. It also means the town is famous for it's 'rotten egg smell' hmmm lovely. This is mosst commonly put down the the Sulphur emanating from all the volcanic landmarks, however, I learnt a little something in my time there - Suplhur doesn't actually smell, the specific cause of the smell is Hydrogenated Sulphite Gas (or something along those lines. 'scuse spelling btw) this is apparently one of the most lethal types of gas you can get but as it's so dense it simply falls to the ground and we don't inhale it, therefore it doesn't harm us! Handy that!

Anyway, after all that we checked into the hostel - Hot Rocks and promptly did the only thing we were capable of..... went back to bed!! We'd made a new friend, Dan, who was on the bus with us that morning and he was sharing our dorm too - so when our other 'roomie' Jamie entered a couple of hours later when we'd all just about vaguely woken from our naps, he was somewhat amused to find us still in bed at that hour!! Anyway, the 2 boys became our partners in crime for the next few days and thanks to Cat's musings about how cool it would be to be Sabrina (the teenage witch) at some point in Queenstown i think, we managed to get onto the subject of Super powers and superhero's - as you do! - and the next thing we know, we had our theme for the next few days... Superhero names and powers were to be stated quick smart, no duplications allowed (the last time I found myself in this scenario saw the birth of Glimmerman way back at Ayers Rock!)

Anyway.... I'm not sure we actually ever completed the full set but we got as far as this:
Dan became 'Action Dan' (or Sandwich Dan as we sometimes preferred) with Super strength as his power (as well as making ace sarnies!).
Jamie became 'T-man' with the power of err... making tea?! Sure there was another one but it escapes me now - Jamie, leave me a comment and remind me??
Aideen was Fanta Pants (cos she's a fiesty redhead and Jarrad the driver had taken to calling her that and we found it amusing) who's power was Flying! A power she got to demonstrate the following day too!
Becky was Belt woman (although she doesn't know cos i just decided that... for reasons that will amuse her no doubt!) and she never decided on a super power!
and me, well apparently I'm 'Gossip Girl' cos my chosen power was Invisibility, partly because how much goss would you be able to overhear when you're invisible!!

Anyway, that's all beside the point to everyone really isn't it but it was highly amusing to us... back to the day though... oh, just to explain though.. the Sabrina thing - came about when feeling tired and lazy and just wanting to be up and showered/have brekkie or a cuppa in your hand... it's self explanatory (and very lazy) but how cool would it be to be Sabrina at times like that, just conjure up a cuppa or chocolate, or in my case Chips!! ;-)

Anyway... sorry, I'll stop talking about crazy stuff now, got a bit carried away there didn't i!? Once we'd dragged ourselves out of bed, in normal human non-Sabrina style, Becky and I had a quick walk into town and indulged in some penny sweets like the children we are before heading back in time for the pick up for the Maori thing. Jamie had booked to come with us too so the 5 of us hopped on the bus with mouths watering at the thought of a proper feed for once!

The evening was really good, it started with a display of Maori warriors, then a walk round the village with displays of some of the things a traditional Maori village would get up to day to day before heading into the theatre for a performance of some of the traditional tribal dances and the famous Huka. Then it was off to dinner, a gorgeous buffet with all sorts of Maori dishes, including sweet potatoes and stuffing (veggie) not to mention several dessert choices. Yum! We all stuffed ourselves stupid and then went to watch the demonstration of how the meal was cooked before hitting the gift shop. Now, you may all be wondering why on earth there's a pic of a random Maori doll here - the reason it's on here is for Mum, Lotte and Map to see.... it was in the gift shop and the minute I saw it, i thought of Dad. I remember when we were little, whenever he went away anywhere he'd always bring Lotte and I back a doll, just like this one, from the country he'd been too. It's funny the things that spark your memory but it made me smile and think of him so I thought my lot would like to hear about it. i also gave into temptation and bought a Jade ring - I'm told the Jade is supposed to be given to you, you're not meant to buy it for yourself and as I lost the jade earrings i bought myself in Lake Maniphua I decided not to tempt fate so instead got Dan to buy it for me - not technically a present as i gave him the money but i haven't lost the ring yet so i think I got away with it! ;0)

Anyway, the evening lasted til about half 10 then we were all back on the bus, randomly singing a song from each of the native countries of the people on the bus (London's Burning was what the english among us opted for) before being dropped back at our hostels and saying goodbye in the traditional Maori way - by touching noses twice - before hopping off the bus. I also learnt that the Maori greeting is Kaiora and the formal greeting, when offering someone respect is Tenakque (I've no idea if that's splet right but that's how it sounds, only learnt that one a couple of days ago hence i can still remember it!) Once home, I popped to the Lava bar at the hostel for a quick drink with Dan and Jamie before it was time for my bed again. The hostel here was quite nice in that it didn't have bunkbeds so it felt a bit like we were all mates on holiday!! random i know but small things eh!! All in all it had been a good day, ok so the Maori thing is obviously geared at tourists but it's a good evening out and the food was delicious!

Monday was my last day with the girls until the weekend as they were heading off up to Auckland the next morning and i was sticking around for a few extra days. We started the day leisurely then at lunchtime hopped on the shuttle bus to try our hand at Zorbing.... which is basically when you put yourself in a big inflatable ball with some warm soapy water and get rolled down a hill. A simple idea and so so so much fun! Dan came too but as he'd already done it decided not to today so was camera man for us. The 3 of us went in to one ball together (the best way i think, wouldn't be as much fun on your own), they give you the sexy clothes you see us sporting in the pic here to wear as you obviously get soaked in there and then you comically have to do a running leap into the ball through a small hole - when Aid got to test out her Superhero flying powers!! - then they close up the ball, tap it on the side to signal it's time to go and you topple yourself over the edge and down the hill. There's not a chance in hell of remaining standing up and so you spent the next 20 seconds on your bum, rolling round and round in the warm soapy water as if in a washing machine and laughing your heads off... hilarious!! Its over way too quickly but I can't recommend it enough..... so much fun! If you ever get the chance make sure you do it!!

We had a bit of a wait for the next shuttle bus back to the hostel after that so went for a little wander to the Agrodome where they do all sorts of other activites; jetboating, bungy etc etc - we didn't partake in any of them, just whiled away the time there waiting for the bus then once back at the hostel wandered into town, had some dinner and got the cards out for a few games of Shithead, watched some TV, ate popcorn, drank tea and went to bed. We're all feeling the effects of the last few weeks on our wallets so the aim of the game is to save money, hence staying away from the bar.. it was fun though, Dan and Jamie are good lads and we all get on well and as they say it's all about who you're with not where you are so despite having to be disciplined and not go drinking we had fun regardless. x

Hot Stuff (Springs I mean!)

2006-09-06T07:43:00.000+01:00

I hadn't quite decided how long I'd be staying in Taupo and thanks to the night before I was in no fit state to decide at any point between leaving Wellington and arriving in Taupo. I'd already done my Skydive, which is the obvious thing to do in Taupo and unfortunately couldn't afford to do another one so that was one thing I didn't need to allow time for... the only other things i really wanted to do in Taupo were get to the Hot Springs and do the Tongariro Crossing.

Before we reached Taupo we stopped for the usual photo opps - I was quite happy to do this however as we were passing fantastic volcanic areas, past Mount Doom of Lord of the Rings fame - shown in the pic here. It seems that almost everyone you come across here had something to do with the production of those films - Smiley, our previous driver was one of the location managers on the production team, and Jarrad, our driver today well, his dog was the one that starred in the first film! Anyway, back to the Volcano's - they have official names obviously Mount Doom is not it's real name but I can't remember them now so will add them later.

The landscape of the North Island is dramatically different from that of the South Island - while in the South you'll find Snow capped mountain ranges, in the North, you still get some of those but you also get rolling hills and alot of greenery - in some ways very similar to England - as well as the diagonal line of volcano's that run through the island. Active Volcano's can only be found on the North island, the reason for this and difference in landscape is all due to the techtonic plates that New Zealand is settled on. In the South Island the plates meet equally and the movement of them pushes upwards creating the Southern Alps mountain ranges that you see all around, while in the north, one plate is positioned just under the other and when they push together, while they still push up some mountain ranges, the difference in height also results in the dramatic volcano's you see running up through the North island. So, when you're driving through you can look to one side of the bus and see snowcapped mountains and on the other is volcanic crators and active volcano's. It really is breathtaking, especially if you're a geek like me and are fascinated by such things - I blame Dad's love of Volcano's for that. I remember him watching all sorts of documentaries on them when i was little and i think i was quite enamoured by the thought of being s Daddy's girl!!! ;-)

Anyway, we stopped in a little place called Turingai for lunch and then had one final stop at Huka Falls in the Waikato River Valley before we reached Taupo. As you can see from the pic, the scenery was beautiful once again. We checked into Urban Retreat hostel mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the afternoon mooching around, watching Agassi in the US Open - we all got a bit caught up in that but once we'd seen him win (yay!) we headed to town for a cheeky hot choc (or in my case hot frothy milk - yes, i know I'm a child but i love it so there) and to check out the famous Lake Taupo - which is in fact a filled in crater created from a long ago volcanic eruption and measures 40k x 30k in size!!! It's a beautiful setting and you can see why the place is so popular. Once we'd watched the sunset over the lake (beautiful as you can see from the pic below) we headed back to the hostel to get some food before flaking out with tea, biscuits and far too many sweets in the TV room - no bar for us tonight - the thought of drinking wasn't too appealing for me, funny that! It didn't take too long for us to get tired enough for us to head to our beds.. i was ridiculously grateful for mine it won't surprise any of you to know! This night also saw Aid's all time low reached... for the sake of her dignity all I'll say is; bin, crisps and a lot of laughing! Good work Aid!

Somewhere through the day I'd managed to chat to Jarrad - our driver - about the Tongariro Crossing, i really wanted to do it but according to him and several others at this time of year (Winter that is) it's fairly treacherous and they only go on the crispest, brightest of winter days. The volcanic landscape really interests me and I so wanted to do it but all their talk of it put me off a little so I decided to put that on the list of things to come back and do in the Summer one year (that list's getting a tad long now though!). Becky and Aideen were heading to Rotarua on Sunday too so I decided to go with them as there were things I wanted to do in Rotarua that would be far more fun in a group than on my own.

So, that decided we had 2 nights in Taupo - the first spent recovering from the excesses of my last night in Wellington and so the 2nd (Saturday night) was earmarked for a night out! Saturday daytime we decided to explore Taupo and went in search of the natural hot springs that the area, thanks to all the volcanic activity there, is famous for. Once again, the hot springs are free - bonus!! It was a good 40 minute walk to the springs, the sun was shining and it was lovely - once there we got into our bather's and basically got into a bath... it was gorgeous. There were a few other bods there too but not too many and it was lush, just sitting around in the sun, in bath-like waters. Heaven!

Once we'd whiled away the afternoon in the water we headed back to the hostel and cooked up some culinary delights - pasta again then!! ;-) then got ourselves clean and tidy and headed out for a few bevvies to Mulligans - Taupo's not the biggest of towns so there aren't that many choices for a night out and to be honest, the evening started pretty slowly, there weren't many people about (guess it's out of season) and there was a somewhat dubious band playing - with what looked like a 14yr old lad on keyboards - who actually turned out to have the most amazing voice and remind me of a young Jarrad - all very disturbing! After a few comical encounters with some not so bright locals... when they discovered Becky and Aid were nurses they asked 'what, in a hospital??' hmm... ok lads!! Anyway, we made our escape and headed to the bar in an attempt to revive the evening - we were one drink away from calling it a night about 10pm then all of a sudden it was 2am and we were only just leaving the pub... oops! Was all very amusing in the end, with Becky getting a personal performance of the Huka, instigated by the Rugby being on that evening, and Aid and I being subjected to some rather baffling honesty.... don't think it really was the best policy for the people in question!! haha!

Anyway, we'd managed to continue the trend of getting ourselves drunken when we had to be up for the bus in the morning so after satisfying our late night munchies back at the hostel, we headed to bed to catch some shut eye before having to face the inevitable hungover bus ride!! There's a surprise!! x

Chivalry is alive and well and living in Wellington!

2006-09-06T07:42:00.000+01:00

We left Kaikoura on a bright fresh morning, none of us feeling quite like that ourselves, unsuprisingly!! Smiley was still smiling though - how on earth I've no idea but I guess that's professionalism for you!! ;-) Anyway, I for one was sorry to be leaving Kaikoura so soon, as you can see from the pic's it's a beautiful place especially when the sun's shining like it was this day. But leave we had to, so a bus full of jaded bods (as Becky's demonstrating well in the pic below - sorry bec, couldn't resist!) made their way out of town, stopping on the way to check out a colony of Seals mooching about on the rocks - they were well cute - before starting our journey to Picton where we'd be splitting the group in half, leaving some of them behind while the rest of us hopped on the ferry over to the North Island - next stop Wellington.

I was sad to be leaving the South Island too it has to be said, I could easily have filled lots more time there... but time was ticking on and progress needed to be made. Plus I had a friend waiting for me in Wellington with a lovely home far away from hostels for a few days - despite only having been back on the hostel trail for a mere few weeks it was a welcome thought I can tell you!

We got the ferry about lunch time - all still feeling a tad rough to be fair - the ferry takes 3 hours and shows off some beautiful scenery as you both leave the South Island and approach the North Island. It's safe to say none of us were feeling too enthusiastic about it all and all except myself, Becky and James managed to sleep away most of the journey on the sofa's inside!

We docked in Wellington Harbour about half 4pm and made our way out to get our bags. My friend Stephen was meeting me at arrivals so it was time for me to say the first of a few emotional goodbyes... Cat and Kirsten were leaving the following morning so I'd not see them again once we left the port! Boo! A little aside for those 2 crazy sisters..... you two rock! I couldn't have wished for a better pair to make up our little harem and I miss you both loads. As is evident to everyone around us, Cat brings out the immature mischief in me (might have something to do with the decade in age difference) but I love it and Kirsten you make me do things i would never normally do - even if you don't do them with me!! I love you both lots and lots... thank you for making me smile so much... bring on the reunion!!! ;-)

Anyway, once we'd got our bags, I'd said goodbye to Smiley, Lucy and the others and seen my 4 girlies on to the bus (the back seat gang rock btw!!) and waved a tearful goodbye to those 2 mad Scots', I headed back inside to wait for Stephen. It was only a few minutes before he arrived - and I recognised him despite him being convinced that I wouldn't remember him!! Just so you know, Stephen's one of the guys I travelled through Laos with all the way back in December and is also the lovely man responsible for me having a birthday cake on my birthday (obviously)! In fairness though, we soon found out that Steve was actually the one that had forgotten me - he thought i was 26 and from Milton Keynes... glad you were paying attention young man!! ;-)

I have to say though, from the minute he met me, Steve spoiled me... it was bliss! ;-) and very much appreciated. We made our way into town and got dropped off by the bus at the train station, a good 20 minute/half hour walk from Steve's house.... regardless of this Steve had from the minute he met me off the ferry, taken my bag and proceeded to walk all the way home with it on his back, and steep isn't even the word to describe the hills by his house - if he struggled he didn't show it (me on the other hand, i was nearly dying with just my day pack on my back - and that doesn't weigh nearly close to the 20kg's Steve had on his back thanks to me!)

Once I was safely installed on his sofa, he made me tea and we sat down for a catch up. Given I'd not seen him for 9 months (a duration that was called into question as 'significant' by a few of his friends.... does no-one believe opposite sexes can just be friends anymore?! ;-) it took us a while... then Steve continued the spoiling the skint backpacker and took me out for dinner - not Subway, McD's or Oporto's either... a proper lush 3 course italian.... yum - frozen baileys and white chocolate mousse for desert too... tough life! It was naturally totally un-neccessary, I certainly didn't expect to be treated to dinner, I should've been the one treating him as he was giving me a free roof over my head for the next 3 days but he insisted.. thank you Steve, you're a gem!

Thanks to my massive hangover and day's worth of travelling I have to admit I wasn't the best of company (sorry Steve) so after the meal we headed for a little walk by the beach so Steve could show me some of the city and it's artifically made beach then it was straight home to veg out in front of the TV before bed. Talking of which, another totally unexpected act of generousity from Steve here... he gave up his bed for me and slept on the sofa for 3 days! How old school is that! I'm loving it! I tried to insist that he really didn't need to, I'd be more than happy on the sofa myself but he wouldn't hear of it and basically said either you sleep in my bed or no-one does, so I gave in! I'm still amazed at how much of a gentleman this man is - maybe I'm selling some of you short but I'm not sure there's many men about that would do that same, at least not without attempting to share the bed with you anyway... let this be a lesson to you boys!! ;-)

Stephen had to work the next day (I'd given him all of a day's notice before turning up on his doorstep so fair play) so I slept... and slept and slept... don't think I surfaced until about 11am, think I may have needed it! I'd arranged to meet Becky and Aideen in town that day for a bit of sightseeing, somehow though, as you'll all be amused to know I sat down for brekkie, switched on the TV and got a tad engrossed in a rubbish film - yep, some thing's never change eh! He's got Sky TV what can you do!?! - it was only when i got a text from Aid questioning my whereabouts that I managed to drag myself into the shower and make it out of the house. Luckily the girls were feeling in a 'moochy' kind of mood too so we spent a leisurely afternoon in Wellington's Botanical Gardens.. we got the Cable car up there, got ourselves a cuppa (and possibly the worst hoot choc ever but hey) and sat in the garden's cafe chatting away - anyone would've thought we'd not seen each other for a year not just a night!!!

After a few leisurely hours up there we got the cable car back down to town and I left the girls and waited for Steve to finish work. Once he'd turned up we went for a wander and ended up in the pub... oops, how did that happen!?! .. we were well behaved though and after one headed off for dinner, this time to The Humming Bird although Steve being the gentleman that he is insisted on my choosing the venue, which - as will not surprise some of you - resulted in a rather lengthy wander round while i did my usual indeciciveness trick!! Turned out as well that there was some big gas crisis in Wellington and all the restaurants could only to limited things so we basically ended up with Fish and Chips! Was nice though, and once again, after dinner i was lame and shattered so we went home and vegged out again (anyone think i might have been burning the candle a little too brightly at both ends lately?!) attempted to watch me jump off a bridge but the DVD player didn't want to play it so we ended up just chatting away into the early hours.

Thursday dawned and guess who slept in again... oops!!! Steve had taken the day off too and thanks to him having to sleep on the sofa had been awake since 6am when his flatmates had got up for work... how bad did i feel? (well rested too though!!!) Anyway, after I'd eaten a lovely brekkie of croissants that Steve had gone and got fresh that morning (in his attempt to 'fatten me up' apparently), I managed to drag Steve away from Baywatch - a feature length episode too - and we got out of the house in time to enjoy the afternoon... Steve had been planning on taking me up to the Botanical Gardens but I'd put paid to that idea by doing so the previous day so instead we first went to the NZ Parlimentary buildings, famously known as 'The Beehive' for obvious reasons as you can see in the pic here. They do free tours every hour so we thought we'd check that out. Free is always good at the mo!! It was good too, they show you down into the basement where the earthquake protection system has been installed, it's amazing what can be done and was really interesting to see. The architecture of the whole place was amazing too - I'm a bit of a geek when it come to historical buildings and the like so I really liked seeing it all!

After that was done we headed down to the wharf with the idea of getting the boat over to Eastbourne, one of Wellington's beach settlements, we thought we'd have a walk by the beach and lunch somewhere.. it wasn't to be though, the ferry's weren't running that day so we went for Plan B... lunch by the Wharf and then to the Te Papa museum - the famous museum of New Zealand... was fab too, first we went to the Earth, Moon and Stars exhibit - which has a massive Volcano and earthquake section, both of which fascinate me so i was absorbed in that for quite a while. Then Steve managed to get some free tickets from a friend of his for us to see the 'Constable: Impressions of Land, sea and Sky' exhibit that's currently showing there. Some of Constables work was done famously in Brighton so I was looking at pic's of home - although from a fair while before even Mum was an apple in Nanny and Grandad's eye so can't say it was all that familiar!! Good though! ;0)

It was time to head home after that, I was gatecrashing drinks at Steve's friends flat that night so we got ourselves home in time for a quick 'power nap' - i don't know what's wrong with me lately, I'm constantly tired! - before I had to make myself look halfway decent. I think this was the first time since Queenstown that I'd even bothered to put make up on - as you can tell, i'm making the best of myself these days!! haha!

In true Flee style we were a little late getting Steve's friends flat but as we were armed with beer and wine i think they forgave us! There was 6 of us there, the couple who's flat it was and another couple - both lads Steve plays football with. We hadn't planned to stay long simply because Steve had to work the next day and I had an early bus to catch and hadn't packed yet......... best laid plans and all that though... somehow the wine and beer went down a tad too easily, the banter was flowing all too well (of which Steve bore the brunt to be fair, heehee sorry Steve - although the whole 9 month thing was brought out in the open with the culprits too, comedy!!) and all of a sudden it was 3am before we realised we really should think about getting our heads down! Steve's friends were lovely and the evening was great fun, thanks for letting me gatecrash guys!

So, once again I'd managed to get drunk the night before i had to get up early to catch a bus... I shoved everything in my bag and promptly fell asleep. Have to admit aswell that if it hadn't been for Steve waking me a mere 3 hours later I'd say there was fat chance of me ever having caught that bus!!! And, like the true Gent that he is, Steve not only woke me up but gave me breakfast to take with me and came with me to see me off - before going to work early for the first time ever I believe! I think it's safe to say that, thanks to wine being the beverage of choice the night before, this was the worst hangover to date.... the journey to Taupo was not an altogether enjoyable one i have to say!

That was my time up in Wellington though, it once again went way too quickly but it was lovely to see Steve again and be treated like a princess for a few days. Steve, you really really didn't have to spoil me so much but it was all very much appreciated. As i said in your book, don't ever stop being so lovely! You're a star and i'll look forward to catching up when we're both back in London. Be careful climbing Mount Cook too Mr - let me know how it goes - and thanks again for the roof, bed, food and fun. x

Kaikoura and the Whales!

2006-09-02T06:22:00.000+01:00

After a much needed sleep in the Sanctuary, we were up and back on the bus the next morning on route to Kaikoura - I'd still not made my decision about how long to stay and what activities to do, as you can tell this trip hasn't improved my decisiveness at all!!

Other than a little stop in Cheviot for brekkie, the trip to Kaikoura didn't take so long. Our driver Smiley was just as his name describes (and named so due to his appearance as the 'Colgate Kid' on NZ adverts when he was a wee nipper... classic! A lifetime's supply of Colgate was part of the deal too, bargain!! and it passed pretty painlessly. To our amusement, it seems that we've gained ourselves a bit of notoriourty with the Kiwi Experience... as soon as any driver looks at one of our tickets the reaction is usually something along the lines of 'oh, you're Justin's girls!!!' Comedy!!

We reached Kaikoura by late morning and checked into a gorgeous little hostel - was basically a converted house and the feel to it was really homely. I'd still not decided how long to stay but had opted for Whale watching that afternoon. We had an hour or so to kill so made ourselves a cuppa and chilled out on the sofa's and in the garden at the hostel while we waited til it was time to head out. The temperature now that we were headed north had noticably improved and there wsa finally no need for the ski jacket at all times. It did come with me that afternoon in fairness but it wasn't really needed.

We checked in for the whale watching tour around half 12 and although i'd been warned about motion sickness I thought i'd be ok, I'd survived all the other boat rides so why should this one be any different?! Couldn't have been more wrong..... from start to finish it was 'eye's on the horizon, deep breaths' just to make sure there were no embarrasing incidents when the wind may have been blowing in an unfortunate direction!!! That said, the tour was fab, i still managed to enjoy it. How can you not when you spot 8 Giant Sperm Whales and get so close to them. I've never seen whales before so it was really exciting. I learnt something new that day too - did you know that a Killer Whale isn't in fact technically a whale - it's actually the largest member of the Dolphin family, named the Killer Whale simply because it preys on Whales!! Now maybe that's an obvious thing to everyone but I didn't realise that so there! ;-)

Anyway, once we'd spotted the whales - 3 of which were all side by side, an amazing sight! It was time to head back to shore, on the way though we came across a pod of Dusky Dolphins, about 300 of them... all just swimming anc jumping around in the water, they followed the boat for ages and it was an unbelievable sight - made me want to swim with them even more. After spending a while with the Dolphin's it really was time to get back. The only reason i was glad to get off the boat was so my stomach would settle, otherwise it had been an amazing few hours. A definete must do for anyone!

I'd decided to leave the decision of whether to stay a few extra days and swim with the dolphin's up to the fate of my bank balance... unfortunately it didn't really lend itself to staying so the decision was made to leave for Wellington the next day and try and fit in the swimming with Dolphin's when up North before I leave if I have enough money... obviously jury's still out on that one but fingers crossed as i'm told you can do it in the Bay of Islands and from Auckland!

Anyway, once we were back on dry land we headed back to the hostel and vegged out til it was time for dinner. The hostel offer's a fish and chip supper, including drink for $5 so Cat, Kirsten and I had opted for that. After we'd stuffed ourselves silly, Smiley took us off to the wholesalers for a 'beer run' - Kaikoura is just a small town and in an effort to save money too we'd decided to just have a few drinks at the hostel that evening. I'm not entirely sure how this saved us money in the end as Cat and I found ourselves giving into our temptation and buying ourselves a bottle of Southern Comfort between us - oops! - Just call us 'Flashpackers!!' Was yum though and yep, we managed to polish off the entire bottle that evening - infact we made scarily easy work of it... oh dear!

It wasn't just us though, everyone else tucked into there chosen tipples with avengeance that evening - Becky and Aid got through 2 boxes of Goon between them.. good work ladies!! Some of the lads on the bus were getting through their beers nicely and needless to say it was another very comical, very late evening.... ending in laughing fits, hat antic's (Becky!!) Cat picking me up and throwing me on the floor (no injuries don't worry - just more laughing!) Aid earning herself the new nickname of 'Patsy' - photo here should tell all - and yet again, there was an early morning bus to catch the next day... like i said - we'll never learn!!!!!

All good fun though and I have to admit I could've quite happily have stayed longer in Kaikoura, it's a beautiful spot by the ocean, and with the weather as it was at the time, the sun out - the colours were gorgeous and the place very welcoming. I loved it there. xx

The Morning After...

2006-08-27T11:15:00.000+01:00

8am rolled around way way too soon for my liking, we dragged ourselves out of our beds, got our bags packed hastily and made it to the meeting point for 8:45am... I've no idea how.. we were leaving Queenstown, I'd have happily stayed a few more days. I hadn't managed to fit in some skiing lessons which I'd really wanted too because of the Skydive being cancelled the first day 9my plan had been to go on the Saturday) but there was no time left if I was too fit everything else in in the little time I have here. So, it was off back to Christchurch for us. A full day on a bus and I'll be honest, there's not much to report... we stopped at Lake Pukaki briefly for a quick photo opp looking over to Mount Cook, stopped for lunch in a little place called Lake Tekapo and attempted to sleep for the majority of the rest of the journey to Christchurch... which we arrived in a few hours ago now. We've just had a lush dinner at The Bog - Irish pub and it's now time for our beds... I'm so looking forward to mine. We've another early start in the morning... next stop Kaikoura!! Good night you lot... I'm off for some well needed beauty sleep! xx

ps - am still completely on a high from that little thing called jumping out a plane I did yesterday. I wish i could bottle this feeling and bring it out whenever I needed a boost! Can I just say too, after talking so much of my emotional last few weeks in Sydney, it's amazing how things can change so much so quickly... everything is so good and fun and fab here. I am having such a wicked time, we realised earlier that right now, the biggest decision we have to make or worry about is whether to stay 1 or 3 days in Kaikoura and whether to go Whale watching or Dolphin Swimming or both........... what an amazing place to be in, physically and emotionally! Now... how can I hang onto this for those rain days!?! ;0) xx

The Best Thing I've Ever Done.....

2006-08-27T08:08:00.000+01:00

Well, despite the fact our attempts the previous day had failed and the fact that everyone has told me to Skydive in Taupo.... the 3 of us had put our names down for Skydiving in Queenstown on the Saturday.. yesterday infact. I'd found out that Taupo prices are going up as of September the 1st and I'll not be there by then so the difference in price, although it will still be cheaper up there, will be minimal so I'd decided that as the weather was a tad unpredictable and I could easily find myself up there and unable to do it that I should sieze every opportunity possible, just in case. Plus I wanted to do it with the girls and we may not still be together by the time we get to Taupo as they fly out sooner than me. I also figured that falling out of the sky above the snowcapped mountains of Queenstown wouldn't be too bad a view!!

So, that's how it came to be that on Saturday 26th August at 1230 I was getting ready to throw myself out of a plane from 12,000 feet in the air! I was nervous, I'll not deny it, but this is something that I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember so I was really looking forward to it too. It was totally different to the Bungy Jump - with that I was just plain scared, with the Skydive it wasn't so much fear, more nerves and excitement!!

Anyway, we started off my watching a DVD of a Skydive and being briefed on how it all worked, then hopped in the bus to be taken to the drop zone - an area called The Remarkables about 15 minutes drive from Queenstown centre. The pic above is of us on our way to the drop zone, in case you couldn't tell from Aideen's expression that this was a pre-jump shot! There was about 10 of so of us in the bus and it actually worked out really well that it was just the 3 of us jumping instead of 5 of us as the planes only hold 9 people so you jump in groups of 3 (accompanied by your tandem instructor and your photographer if you've opted to have the pic's and DVD done, which we had.) We were the 3rd group of our bus load to go up so had a bit of a wait watching the others fall from the sky. In a way we wanted to just get on with it but it was cool to see them and reassuring seeing them make it safely back to solid ground!

Eventually our turn arrived though and we were taken through to don our sexy jumpsuits, get our harnesses on and meet our instructors and photographers. Aideen was the most nervous of the 3 of us; Becky's done one before and now that I'd braved a bungy jump I was feeling more confident about these mad things NZ keeps making me do (or maybe that's just me.. and nothing to do with NZ!) All of our instructors and photographers was lovely. Mine two guys were Chris (instructor) and Jeff (photographer), they clearly knew what they were doing and put you very at ease - depsite Chris being a little joker. He was really cool and I felt quite safe knowing I'd be firmly strapped to him during the jump. Once we were all kitted out and had been instructed on how we were meant to position ourselves when hanging out of a moving aircraft 12,ooo feet up, it was time to go.... we headed out the plane, anxious looks on our faces (or at least on Aideen's!) and climbed on board. I was first in so would be last out... yep, I had to watch my 2 new friends throw themselves into mid air before my turn came. I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, we all squeezed in and found ourselves engaged in all sorts of banter and loving the 3-6 ratio of male/female in our favour.. the highly female nature of our bus meant it had been a while since we'd been surrounded by so many men, let alone being sat between there legs harnessed on to them... quite an experience in itself eh girls!! ;-)

It took about 10-15 mintues for the plane to climb to the right height for us to jump. The day was perfect, with a think layer of clouds sitting on the snow capped mountains surrounding Lake Wakatipu and I took the odd peek outside to see an amazing view that I'd soon be falling through the sky towards.

The plane ride went quickly and before I knew it, it was just me, Chris and Jeff left in the plane (and the pilot obviously) i turned away for a split second only to find when I looked back that both Aideen and Becky were no longer on board... Then it was my turn. We edged to the door, with Jeff already out on the wing, poised to take my exit picture and next thing I knew I was free falling at 300km an hour from 12,000ft and it was the most amazing, thrilling feeling in the world.

It all went far too quickly, the free fall part only lasted 45 seconds but it was unbelievable. I remember flipping upside down and just seeing the upside of the plane against a clear backdrop of blue sky - I can't even begin to describe how amazing it all was. Before I knew it the drove shoot had been pulled out to stabilse us and then the main shoot... all of a sudden we slowed down and everything became a lot calmer... the wind was rushing in your face before, making you look very daft, with cheeks flapping everywhere, then it was all quiet and we were just floating above the most amazing scenery. Once the parachute's out (and i knew i was going to live!! ;-) you have the chance to really look around you and realise where you are. From there to landing takes between 4 and 8 minutes from the height we jumped so there's enough to really soak it all up. Chris and I had a little chat in the air, he was a fab instructor to be falling through the sky with and I can see why he loves his job so much - not a bad 'office' to have! We floated through the air and spiced it up a bit with a few spirals, twists and turns and all too soon it was over, I was landing in the 'classiest' of ways - on my a*se - but hey i was down and on a total high, I don't care how I landed, the fact is I just jumped out of a plane from thousands of feet in the air and I was ready to get straight back on the plane and do it all over again!!

That was yesterday and I'm still on a high from it all now, I can't stop smiling and I will definetly be doing another one as soon as I can (sorry Ma!) Becky and Aideen's jumps went brilliantly too and all 3 of us were totally elated, and still are. Aideen's nerves were completely gone and she was also ready to go up again. I think we've all got the bug! Anyway, once we'd calmed down enough and stopped hugging our respective instructors, we were sent in to de-robe from our sexy jumpsuits (despite promises that we could keep them and wear them out on the town that evening!!) and then it was back on the bus to town. (As you can probably tell by the expression on Aideen's face again, this is post-jump photo below and Aid loved it... nerves had vanished completely and she was as eager as Bec and I to get back up there - we're very proud of you chick!)

We couldn't collect our DVD's and pic's for a few hours so chilled out impatiently until it was time then spent ages reliving the whole thing - as we still are actually!! The evening that followed, minus our jumpsuits, was spent out on the town, in various bars, celebrating and generally running on the high from the entire day... we met up with some of the other chickadee's from our bus (and Scott), found Mr Incredible again - minus the tights and fetching red nylon jumpsuit and enjoyed a very silly very late night out...... one thing though... when will I learn not to go out on a big night when I have a bus to catch early the next morning!!! You'd think at my age I'd know better!!! Ah well... too late now, it was 4am and I was only just crawling into my bed! Oops.. but what a day! One of the best!

I still can't believe I've done it after wanting to for so long, and I can't recommend it enough. Everyone should do one at least once in their lives. As NZone's slogan instructs; Embrace the Fear, and do it anyway!' I would do it again in a heartbeat. It really was one of the best things I've ever done! xx

Queenstown and a few days off!!

2006-08-26T01:14:00.000+01:00

The day after our Milford Sounds adventure was officially my day off... obviously that meant not getting up til late... bliss! Becky and Aideen had prebooked some ski passes and headed off up to the slopes, Cat and Kirsten were around though so we all lounged in our beds and gossiped away the morning before heading to Winnie's for a lush pizza lunch (which also provided me with tea.. bargin!) had a wander round town then headed back to the hostel to do a bit of 'admin'... I was seriously in need of sorting my finances out before doing any more daft things like spending it all on bungy jumps as well as having to organise our next move after Queenstown and up date this here blog.

Duties done it turned out the Lotty and Graham (friends of mine and Adam's from Sydney) had just arrived in Queenstown too so the evening was then spent with the 4 of us having a few cheeky drinks and playing some pool and table football.... it's safe to say my pool playing skills have worsened (yes Andy, I know you didn't think that was possible) I managed to pot the black in two games in a row... Graham being my doubles partner was slightly despairing of me... sorry Graham but hey, it's the taking part that counts eh!?! ;-) Table football wasn't too much more successful either though I have to admit!!

Anyway, the following day we'd decided it was time to take a deep breath and throw ourselves out of a plane.. that was one of the other things we'd had on our organising 'to do' list that day and we were all booked in and set for the off at 1230 on Friday lunchtime... but it wasn't to be... the weather was a tad unpredictable and all skydives were cancelled - it was a shame as all 5 of us wanted to do it together and as Cat and Kirsten were leaving a day ahead of us it meant we now wouldn't be able to but ah well, it obviously wasn't meant to be. Instead we spent the day chilling out and headed up on the Gondola's to the top of the mountain where we had a lovely lunch and checked out the view over Queenstown. The evening saw more drinks was Lotty, Graham and Adam - Adam was leaving the next day and Lotty and Graham were off to the slopes early so it wasn't a late one... although after they'd left I joined Becky and Catriona in the Altitude bar (just next to our hostel) which was hosting it's 2nd birthday party - a Toga Party!! Although there was a severe lack of Toga's going on between us (everyone else did put us to shame) it was great fun, there was a bit more footloose action from The Cat and me and we spent the night laughing at everyone in there costumes, especially Mr Incredible here (he'd obviously read the flyer wrong!! hehe!) no, he definetly got himself noticed that night, quite a character, bless him, so i couldn't resist putting these pic's on!! ;-)

As Cat was leaving in the morning and since Becky hadn't been able to chuck herself out of a plane as planned, she'd opted to put herself through the pain of having her tongue pierced so wasn't feeling to spritely, we headed back up to our room fairly early (for us) and spent the rest of the evening indulging in a very girlie midnight feast with Kirsten and Aideen who we'd left cosy in their beds earlier on!! Don't you just love those times!

Despite the fact that we did very little of the tourist thing, it was a lovely relaxing 2 days and actually nice to just enjoy being somewhere for a while rather than constantly being on the move! Queenstown's a cool place, really chilled out and friendly. I felt quite at home there. xx

Milford Sounds!

2006-08-25T06:55:00.000+01:00

So, after less than 3 hours sleep we forced ourselves out of our cosy warm beds and made our way to the pick up point for our day trip to Milford Sounds; a World Heritage protected National Park, at the bottom of the South Island. It's a 12 hour day so it was going to be a long one and in truth we just wanted to be on the bus so we could sleep for the first leg of the journey down there, a couple of hours more sleep was very called for. There was a few of us going on the trip; me, Becky, Aideen, Nic, Charlotte, Lucy, Adam and some of the peeps from his bus too. The sleep thing, as far as I'm aware was pretty much what everyone did as soon as the coach set off, it wasn't until we reached Te Anau at 9am that everyone mustered enough energy to hop off the coach and into the cafe for some hot tea and brekkie!! Nic - I know you'l kill me but I love this pic of you and it sums up the hungover mood of the morning so I couldn't resist!! ;-)

Every so often on the journey down to Te Anau, a little town on the way to Milford Sounds, I'd managed to open my eyes long enough to see that the scenery was breathtaking and we'd not even got there yet. So many people have said you absolutley can't miss Milford Sounds as it's stunning so I was looking forward to getting there. We stopped a few times on route from Te Anau, just short stops to admire the mountain ranges, Divide Valley which runs all the way to the West Coast and, a fave of mine, the Mirror Lakes - the picture here doesn't do it justice. I'm sure all those of you that have seen them for yourselves know what I mean, they're just beautiful.

Eventually we reached the road from the valley floor into Milford Sounds. It was touch and go as to whether we'd be able to get into Milford Sounds, at this time of year the risk of avalanches is high and every morning controlled explosions are set off on top of the mountains to bring on any possible avalanches that day, then the road is cleared and vehicles are allowed in. Sometimes it is deemed too dangerous to enter and recently many of the day trips down there have had to turn back. Luckily for us, after a fairly lengthy wait, the road was opened and we were allowed to proceed. I was so relieved, I really didn't want to miss it. So, off we set again... the road we were on from the floor of the Divide Valley into the park is 32km long and one of the worlds Top 10 most dangerous roads. It was totally amazing, flanked my mountains all around and at this time of year they were steeped in pure white snow, you can see why there's such a risk of avalanches but it is so so stunning. Again, the picture here just doesn't do it justice.

To get into the park you have to pass through a tunnel... it's fairly long and basically cut straight out of a mountain with no structual support whatsoever... kind of freaky when your driver tells you that as you're passing through it!! It's pitch black and there's massive icicles that i've no doubt could be used as very lethal weapons, hanging from the roof of the tunnel. It was an awesome experience though. When you emerge out the other side, you really do gasp, you find yourself on a stepp winding road surrounded by more snow covered mountains, I know I keep saying it but it's amazing. We even saw an avalanche en route - thankfully far enough away not to be any danger too us but it was wicked to see.

We then got to the port and boarded the 'Pride of Milford' for our cruise around the fjiord. Milford Sounds, although called so is actually a Fijord. I can't remember the reason for the inaccurate name depsite being told, sorry! the cruise lasted a couple of hours and took us around the waters of Milford Sounds. Again, i was blown away by the scenery all around me, you can see why Lord of the Rings was filmed in this country, I've truly never seen anything like it before. Green mountains lined the sides of the fijord and the landscapes were amazing, along the way the boat went right up close to waterfalls - the one shown here; Ferry Falls, with the rainbow in it was so gorgeous and found tiny little penguins, the 2nd rarest kind of penguin of which only 30 reside in Milford Sounds so we were really lucky to sopt the little fella.

Once we'd docked again and all exhausted our camera's with countless pics along the way, it was back on the coach for the long journey back to Queenstown, other than a brief stop for food in Te Anau again, it was straight back and we arrived about half 7. It had been a long day but so worth it, even on a big fat hangover and lack of sleep! It was Justin's last night before he set off with a new bus load of peeps back to Christchurch, Charlotte was also going and despite our best intentions of going to say goodbye, none of us had any energy left so took to our beds and never quite managed to leave them again until the following morning. Sorry Justin!! We did manage a little goodbye text to our crazy driver though and got the following amusing text in response... 'Sweet as Hoochie's, cheers for the shits and giggles along the way, nice to meet you all. Stay happy, safe, sexy and cool! Don't go out with a loaded gun! Peace' It's typical Justin and made us all laugh so I thought I'd share it with you all. The small group had meant we'd all become quite close, with myself, Becky, Aideen, Catriona and Kirsten in particular becoming a tad inseperable and Justin being our cheeky sidekick. It was strange to think we'd be with different peeps and a different driver now. The 5 of us girls are still together at the mo, but we'll miss Justin lots now we're on our way without him - after all, we're going to have to be on time in the mornings now!!!! ;0) xx

Action Flee!!!

2006-08-24T12:50:00.000+01:00

Our alarms went off bright and early and the attempts to get the 5 of us booked on to do a skydive began. Justin did his best but unfortunately we'd left it too late to express an interest and we couldn't do it. We were all gutted, I figured that the less time i had to think about the fact i was doing it, the less scared I'd be. Ah well, it obviously wasn't meant to be today so off we set, this time with 2 other newbies - 2 english girls, they were only with us for the day though and in all honesty i can't actually remember their names! oops! First stop Puzzling World - Colin you would have loved it there!!! - a place dedicated to illusions and puzzles and craziness including a balance room that really does throw you off balance! In the pic here, Kirsten and I are actually standing up straight, the room itself is wonky! and there's a maze too - I got lost in it obviously!

We were on a bit of a schedule today, some of the girls, and Scott, were doing Bungy Jumps so we had to be at the bridge for a certain time. They were all getting pretty nervous and I was, as usual, thinking they're all lunatics why on earth would you throw yourself off a bridge/ledge/platform with nothing but a bit of elastic attached to you??!!!! Mental! It was snowing and freezing cold again that day too.

When we arrived at Kawarau Bridge, home of the original bungy jump, we were all ushered into a room to watch a short video about bungy jumps and given a little talk on it all, how they made the cords etc. Somewhere in the middle of all this, those signed up to do one where whisked off to get weighed and kitted out for their jumps. Then, somewhere in the middle of all this Kirsten turned to me and said 'Let's do a tandem jump' - naturally my reaction was 'don't be ridiculous, you'll never get me up there!'

So, I'm not quite sure how, half an hour later, with a red marker penned number on my hand and my pockets emptied, I found myself next to Kirsten, harness on, ankles strapped together and bungy cord attached, stood on the edge of a 43 metre high bridge about to voluntarily jump off.. yes, that's right you lot -I'd agreed to do a Bungy Jump... I'd clearly taken leave of my senses!!! As Luke said when I told him about it afterwards... Check out ACTION Flee!! I don't know where she came from but I'm liking her!! (don't get scared mum.. am not about to start doing such things every day!)

Just to prolong the moment of madness that little bit longer, it didn't quite go according to plan... Kirsten; the catalyst for my being in that position found herself on the edge but not wanting to jump so after making sure she was sure she wanted to back out, when i also found myself surprisingly saying, ok come on, we've got this far, we're here now, we can do this! I knew if i backed out I'd regret it, luckily Kirsten was happy with deciding not to do it so she's no regrets. And wee Kirsten don't you fret, I really don't mind that you didn't do it. Besides, if it weren't for you convincing me I'd never had got up there myself.

So, we backed away from the ledge and got her unstrapped. I was too scared to do it on my own so Justin, who'd previously said if anyone didn't want to do it on their own, would happily step up and do a tandem, was drafted in to be my partner. A bit of wait ensued as he had to get weighed and strapped in and everything, it was freezing up there on the bridge so one of the friendly crew gave me his jacket - I've never been more grateful for anything i tell you and I discovered that I was officially classed as a 'Superlight' ... I was a super hero at last!! Well, ok maybe I was just delusional from thinking about the fact I was about to throw myself off a bridge but hey, the guy before me was a 'Superheavy' so I was happy!! :-)

Anyway, the time finally arrived to edge out on to the ledge for the second time, this time next to Justin so I knew there was no backing out. I have to admit I felt safer doing it with him, there was no need for me to take the lead and I knew he wouldn't let me not do it. So, clutching on around his wasit for dear life i took a deep breath and threw myself of a bridge..... it was awesome - and it was over so quickly! I still can't believe i did it - as I'm sure most of the rest of you can't either - but I don't regret it for a second. I'm not sure I could do it on my own or again at all and I know it was my no means the highest ever jump but I'm glad that I've done it, I'll admit I'm pretty proud of myself for having the guts, aswell as thinking I'm a little mad and I have the DVD as evidence that it did actually happen. The wierdest thing is now, when i think about it, my feet go all tingly... I clearly have gone a little mad! Anyway, girls, thanks for your support in helping me believe i was capable of it and Justin, thanks for being my bungy partner!! You lot Rock!! ;-)

The pics of it shown here aren't the best - the official ones are better but I don't have the codes to access them on the website at the mo so will have to upload those ones another day. Pic just here is Justin and I - was taken in Franz Josef and is just to show Ma really the crazy man I entrusted to jump off a bridge with me - feeling calm Mum??!! ;-)

We finished off the day in Queenstown - after Becky, Catriona and Scott had gone on to do the 134m high Nevis jump - good work you lot! Got checked into the Discovery Lodge - where Adam was also staying again too - and as it was our last night together as a group - 'Justin and his Biatches' were dispersing from here on, we spent a very comical night in the World Bar with everyone, drinking teapots, partaking in some fab Footloose action with Catriona... good work girlie - that song will forever remind me of you now lady, watching Justin fall off his chair, smash glasses and wear his flipflops in freezing cold weather thanks to leaving his boots in Franz Josef, avoiding the none too subtle advances of an odd Brazilian man, not to mention a very boring Aussie and Becky's adoring Stray driver, talking to a somewhat bemused mother on the phone to tell her that I'd jumped off a bridge that day, having my precious gloves stretchd by a crazy Sydneysider who was clearly partical to some herbal delights, stumbling across a fair few hidden bars and amusing the barman with our constant girlie banter and talent spotting!! Once again, we had a ridiculously early start (6am out of our beds) the next day so when we still found ourselves out at 3:30am, well it probably wasn't the most sensible of moves but what an awesome day! It's up there with the best of them!! and can i just say.... OH MY GOD... I DID A BUNGY JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xx

Wanaka and agreeing to daft things!!

2006-08-24T12:49:00.000+01:00

We waved goodbye to Franz Josef a little later than the arranged 8am - Justin's timekeeping is about the same as mine, which suited me fine... although he's since warned us that all the other drivers are somewhat more prompt so we shouldn't get used to it unfortunately. Anyway, we also set off with an extra bod on our little bus... Justin had an extra hoochie - just one of his many names for his little harem of women (and Scott!) the newbie was Kumi - can't vouch for the spelling there but she was a sweet little Japanese girl, she only stayed with us for a couple of days but she was very sweet and gave me encouragment when i needed it - you'll find out about that later though!

Anyway, the weather was utter rubbish today, we were headed to Lake Matheson - the famous mirror lakes which I'd been really looking forward to seeing but thanks to the think grey blanket of cloud covering the sky, there was no point getting soaked in the rain to go see it.. so we sat in the cafe, safe and dry from the rain and enjoyed a lush bagel and cuppa. From there on the scenery changed alot that day, we took in Thunder Creek Falls, drove over the Haast Pass in to Mount Aspiring National Park, visited Fantail Falls and stopped for pics by the stunning Lake Hawea before making it to Wanaka where we were staying in what was more of a hotel than a hostel, with en-suite facilities and a TV in our room. Bliss!

It started properly snowing when we got to Wanaka so we quickly headed out to the supermarket to get some food for our tea, cooked up a storm and lazed around in our room watching that night's movie; Top Gun! Wicked! Before venturing across the road for a few cheeky drinks at the Red Rock.. that evening it was myself, Becky, Catriona, Kirsten and Justin. The Red Rock was full of odd characters, strange men and it has to be said the service was awful but we had fun chatting away and somewhere in the middle of it all i found myself shaking on doing a skydive the following day. Somehow Justin had convinced me that Wanaka was stunning scenery (that's true - pic here is me by the lake there, it's gorgeous) and the day was meant to be clear and perfect for such activities... so that was that. The other's ended up agreeing to it too and we even badgered Aideen via text into agreeing as well. It wasn't definete as Justin had to work his magic in the morning to get us in on a late booking but we were preparing ourselves for the adrenalin rush and all went to bed excited! xx

Me & 2 Lunatics on a Giant Piece of Ice!!

2006-08-24T07:29:00.001+01:00

Saturday morning dawned and we piled back on the bus once again, this time headed for Franz Josef. We were staying in Franz Josef for 2 nights which we were all quite excited about given we'd been constantly on the move since leaving Christchurch. That, and the fact the we'd be climbing the Franz Josef Glacier the following day!! The weather was pretty grim on Saturday so there wasn't too much stopping for walks or anything although we did stop at The Bushmans Centre for a bit of comedy possom feeding (or for Cat, big fat wild pig feeding!!) and a video about how live deer were caught once upon a time for deer farming by men jumping out of helicoptors onto their backs!! We also stopped at Okarito beach - but only briefly. It was an overcast day and the sea was rough so it was cool to see and all looked very dramatic.

We got ourselves booked on for the glacier climb the next day when we rrived in Franz Josef and then headed to the hostel. We were staying at the Rainforest Retreat in Franz Josef, a cool hostel with a nice cosy bar and good facilities. i was just making use of the internet there when I bumped into my friend Adam (one of the peeps I'd met in Sydney - he made an appearance on the Hunter Valley tour last) turned out he was on the bus infront of us and was staying there too. Despite the fact that we had a Glacier to climb the next morning, the evening found us in the bar, mingling with all the bods from the other bus and generally getting a tad tipsy. By the end of the evening it was just me, Becky, Aideen and Justin left from our bus - all the others had been sensible and gone to bed in preparation for the morning! I did manage enough self-discipline to stop drinking at a reasonable hour but the late night was undoubtedly going to take it's toll and I think several more G&T's should've been drunk really - at least the the antic's involving some guy's dice (not the kind with numbers on either) and the games he kept insisting everyone play would be more of a blur than they are - it's not actually as bad as it sounds people but even so, some things you just wish you couldn't remember!

Sunday morning did arrive all too soon and my 0915 we were up at the Glacier office being kitted out in our sexy waterproof's, walking boots and talons ready to brave the icy terrain!! It was a freezing cold day not to mention the rain that was lashing down with avengeance but ah well... that's the way it was going to happen, what's a little rain, wind and ice between friends! We did wonder whether it would get cancelled, some of the ice climbs had been the day before, but luckily it all went ahead....

...and that was how I found myself on a Giant Piece of Ice with 2 Lunatics! (see pic on right above.. haha!! Hey Girlies! :-)

here were obviously more than 3 of us up there (9 of us plus our guide - an american couple Chuck and Bonnie and 7 of us Kiwi bods; me, Catriona, Kirsten, Lucy, Charlotte, Stacey and Nicola) but the 2 Lunatics i refer to are Scottish sisters, Catriona and Kirsten... there was a time, so cold we couldn't really feel our toes anymore, that the 3 of us became slightly delusional and well, a little bit mad! I can't really explain it but suffice to say... that's where the title of this blog entry comes from and jokes that really weren't that funny in any other circumstance - the likes of 'would you like some Gin with your ice?' or 'Ice and a slice'? - had us in stitches!! Small things eh!?!

Anyway... the actual climb! I did wonder how i was going to find it but everyone had said it was awesome so i was looking forward to it. The walk to the base of the glacier takes about an hour and in that time the rain didn't let up once. We all had stylish bin liners over our day packs to try and prevent our lunch from getting soggy and our camera's from getting ruined. We were looking good i can tell you!! haha! Once at the base we all got our talons strapped on to our boots, split up into 3 groups: fast, medium and slow - guess which i was in!!?!! haha! and off we went. The first 45 minutes was fairly heavy climbing on ice steps to reach the slightly flatter plains at the top of the glacier. Guides had been up since the early hours cutting ice steps as the glacier changes so much over the course of a day. And this glacier in particular is unusually advancing rather than retreating, as most glaciers are what with global warming, so it can change so much overnight. The guides really have their work cut out for them every day. Once we'd made it to the top - and passed two very hungover irish lasses (our Becky and Aideen) who were on the half day tour and had set off before us, we came to a crevass and a few of us ventured down there, although it's really not a place for anyone with claustrophobia, i made it a little way in and then turned around but what i did see was pretty amazing.

A little after that we rested for 10 minutes and had a quick bite of lunch, a giant piece of ice isn't really something you can sit and get comfy on so lunch was eaten standing up and very quickly. A little energy boost was all we needed and then we were on our way, navigating our way across crevasses, up and down ice steps, using ropes to climb across holes and getting very very wet along the way. The rain stopped and started and the sun did come out briefly every now and again. The views were unbelieveable and the mere fact that we were wandering around on a big fat block of ice was pretty awe-inspiring. Especially with the backdrop of green mountains and waterfalls. In total we spent about 5 hours on the ice and by the time we made it back down to the base the prospect of the hours walk back to the bus wasn't the nicest thought in the world, but we managed it and were very glad to get out of our wet clothes and into a nice warm shower on our return to the hostel. Our biggest concern for the day had, in true girlie fashion, been 'but how/where will be go to the toilet if we need a wee??' Thankfully we all seemed to survive the day without needing to find out the answer to that question!!!

Once we were all warmed up with food in our bellies and dry cosy clothes on we had intended to hit the bar again but ended up with a cuppa in front of the TV before heading to the dorm, chilling out and getting ourselves sorted for off in the morning. We were setting off at 8am so there'd be no lie-in for us! We were all exhausted from our day on the Glacier but it had been amazing... a totally brilliant experience and one i would recommend to anyone. It's really something you can't imagine, you have to experience it yourself to know how amazing it is. I had several 'my god, I'm really here' moments that day - something New Zealand seems to be presenting to me quite often, especially as I've not even been here a week yet!! xx

Back on the Road.. Kiwi Style!

2006-08-24T06:52:00.000+01:00

So, 6:30am and we dragged ourselves from our beds and got our bags packed (you'll all be amazed to know I've actually managed to get mine into 2 bags now... quite an achievement for me!!) and made our way downstairs to wait for the big green bus! As it turned our our bus was green but not that big (as you can see in the pic). We wondered if we'd be getting transfered to a larger coach but as it's Winter and there's not so many bods on the Kiwi Experience trail it turned out that it was just the 12 of us... 10 girls and 2 guys, one being our driver. In some ways we were thinking it would be better to have more people, and a more even boy/girl ratio but in others it was lovely to be in a smaller bus and a more intimate group. We were all from the UK and seemed to get well and the fact that there was only a dozen of us made the trip far more flexible, it was easier to stop places randomly and organise things so I think we all ended up with the opinion that it was a good thing not to be on a bigger coach - am sure I'll find out what that's like soon enough anyway.

So, our group: 'Justin and his Biatches' consisted of me, Becky and Aideen, Catriona & Kirsten (Sisters from Inverness), Stacey, Ashley & Scott (2 sisters and Ashely's boyfriend Scott), Charlotte from Dorset, Lucy from ??, Nicola from Norfolk and Justin, our crazy Welsh/Kiwi driver! First stop Westport..... the day was spent driving through the Canterbury Plains, a stunning mountain range as you cross from Christchurch to the west coast of the South Island, pausing to stick our heads in the bum of a giant sculpture of a Moa (see pic - which was apparently the actual size of the bird, now extinct, that used to get swooped up by eagles as their prey!!!) through Arthur's Pass stopping for lunch in a tiny town owned by one man and his wife when they bought it for $75,000 - less than you'd get a one bedroom flat for in London! After some tasty toasted sandwiches raved about by Justin (who's nickname incidentally is PA - Piss A*se!) we made our way over to Westport, stopping on the way to partake in a bit of Jetboating in Buller, as you do! Most of us joined in the Jet boating which involved sitting in a specially designed speed boat and whipping down the river at high speeds, spinning full 360's every so often and cruising now and again to learn about the river and the rainforests surrounding it. It was great fun, we all looked simply gorgeous in our get ups as you can see and came back soaked and with a few bruises here and there... all good fun!

After that we headed in to Westport and got ourselves checked in at Basil's Hostel, the cutest hostel ever, it's just like a little house, with the cosiest TV room and wood burning stove, I felt like i was at home! We were all a bit tired so we all got our pj's on after dinner and settled down in front of a film (Behind Enemy Lines) with a couple of American lads that were also staying there with tea and buscuits - spot the British!! It didn't exactly lend itself to discovering the delights of Westport but we were all quite content that evening to be honest.

We all awoke fairly refreshed on Friday morning, thanks to our relaxing evening and at 0930 it was back in the bus and back on the road.. destination for the day: Lake Mahinapua. First stop for the day Cape Foulwind for a gorgeous Coastal walk with a Seal Colony along the way. It was the first of a few walks that day and although many may not believe this I was actually really enjoying being active and out in the fresh air. The scenery in NZ is truly stunning, I'd heard so many people say that but you never really quite understand until you see it for yourself. Once we'd completed the Cape Foulwind walk we headed to a gorgeous beach. I don't know the name of it but it was deserted and totally stunning, so much so that I got a bit caught up in the whole thing and didn't realise everyone else had gone back to the bus. I finally made my way up the steps off the beach to find Justin waiting for me... oops, last again!!

Next stop was at the Pancake Rocks - named so simply because the look like Pancakes stacked up on top of each other - and the blowholes, although the tide as out so there wasn't much happening with them. After that a lunch stop at the cafe nearby was in order before heading to Greymouth to pick up supplies for the next couple of days, including comedy attire for our 'silly hat's' party that evening! After all that we made it to Lake Mahinapua and Uncle Les' - we were staying at the Mahinapua Hotel, basically the only place to stay or infact go in the area. Dinner was $10 for a real feast cooked up by Justin and Uncle Les - the owner of the place. We passed the time before dinner in the bar, taking advantage of the happy hour prices and playing a few comical games of pool with Catriona. After dinner it was back to the bar in our silly hats and accessories - I'd opted for a policewoman - mostly cos I was loving the toy gun and knew that in my drunkness would find it all very entertaining.. you can see from the pic here though that we all looked pretty ridiculous, Justin actually has a nappy wrapped around his head!!! A clean one we're hoping!! A good night was had by all and we'd all begun to really get to know each other - how can you not when drinking games are involved.. especially the Roxanne game - so simple but so effective! xx

New Zealand... New Adventures!

2006-08-24T06:50:00.000+01:00

So, I was clearly worrying myself stupid for pointless reasons... sitting in the departure lounge waiting to board I was feeling very apprehensive so found myself using the last of my aussie credit texting people, wanting to hear back from friendly 'voices' to make me feel better and I figured I'd be calm enough once on the flight (which incidentally was dull and involved a large, moody man taking most of my seat as well as his, which despite being told I'd been allocated a seat on the right side for the cool mountain views I'd heard so much about as you fly into Christchurch actually found me in an aisle with no window at all!! hmm... helpful!) Anyway, I landed in Christchurch and found myself alone in the arrivals hall, feeling a little daunted I took a deep breath and told myself that soon I'd be on my way and making new friends again.... that turned out to be sooner than I expected!

I found my way to the bus stop and asked the very friendly driver to let me know when we got to Cathedral Square; where the hostel I'd booked in to was. A few mintues later another girl got on who I recognised from my flight and asked the same question. I heard the driver tell her 'the girl back there's also going to Base' so naturally the two of us spent the next 20 minutes sitting at opposite ends of the bus and not saying a word to each other... it was comical! When Mr Driver man announced that it was time for us to get off, we both hopped off with all our bags and plucked up the courage to talk to each other.... and that was that! Meet Becky, a lovely, mad Irish lass - by the time we'd walked the few hundred metres to the hostel we were asking to be put in the same dorm and checking out the opening times for the bar downstairs! I've not been on my own since!

Turned out we'd booked into 'The Sanctuary' - Base's 'Girls Only' dorms with a few added perks - towels, shampoo and conditioner - a few little luxurys and unlike all the Base Hostel's I'd stayed at in Australia, it seemed to be the same price as the normal dorms. It was ideal for me as having unwittingly surrounded myself with male travelling companions for the majority of my trip so far it was nice to be in a female dominated environment for a change (no offence you boys but sometimes a girl needs to be girlie!)

Anyway, Becky and I decided that we'd do something constructive with our afternoon and headed out to explore Christchurch.. we wandered around, shivered from the cold that was suddenly all around us (what were we thinking leaving Oz just as it was getting warmer?!) and opted for hopping on the tram ride that took you round the city and included a commentary on all the sights.... I'd like to tell you all about those sights and things we learned on that little tram ride but unfortunately all I really learned about Christchurch was that it was quite small - it didn't seem to take long for the tram ride to be completed but that may have been because Becky and I didn't really listen to a word of what was going on around us and were deep in conversation (aka: gossip) for the entire thing. Oops!! Was fun though eh Beck?!

After we'd satisfied the 'tourist' in us we headed to a lovely pub with a warm open fire for some dinner - the portions were huge (so lunch for me the next day was taken care of). After we'd thawed by the fire and filled our bellies we headed back to the hostel to chill out with a cuppa in front of a movie (Batman Begins which i'd not seen). Becky's equally lovely - and mad - Irish friend Aideen was arriving later on that night so we decided to stick to the hostel bar so Becky would be there to greet her. Along with one of the other girls from our dorm we headed down to check out the live band that was playing in the bar - turned out the singer was quite cute so we were quite content tapping our feet and enjoying the view and a few drinks. As is the norm with hostel bars we soon found ourselves surrounded by many a backpacker, some decent, some decidedly odd but the mix made for a very entertaining night and despite the fact that I'd been up since 3am that morning (and only had an hours sleep before that) I somehow found myself still awake at that time the following morning - ah well, we can sleep when we're dead right?! All in all, my first day in New Zealand turned out to be very fun and seen me make two fab new friends! The pic here is me with Becky and Aideen and a random (but rather cute) Kiwi with a soft spot for english and irish accents! Handy given his subsequent generousity at the bar!! The only other thing I have to say about that evening... Becky... did you get yourself a new belt yet???!!! ;-)

Luckily I didn't have anything to get up for on Wednesday morning so I indulged in a lie in and then spent the day organising the rest of my trip. I only have a month here so pre-planning is the key, not something that's ever really been my forte and even if I have done it I've never managed to stick to it (Australia being the prime example!) but with so much to fit into just a month I was determined not to waste it. I managed to get my NZ sim card sorted and finally told Mum that I was safe and well - she'd managed a brief connection to my old UK phone the day before but it wasn't exactly ideal - sorry about that Mum! Then set about booking the bus that would carry me around for the next month. I'd already decided that I'd do the Magic Bus - lots of people had recommended it to me and the general concensus was that the average was slightly higher and I wouldn't be stuck on a bus full of young'uns - don't get me wrong I'll party with the best of them but I was hoping not to raise the average age by a decade!!!

Anyway, in true Flee style, my decision never quite came to fruition (which on a random tangent is the name of my friend Rob's new company.. so if anyone needs any Creative Design work doing, he's very good.. you can see his website at www.fruitionagency.co.uk - nothing like a bit of shameless advertising there for you Rob!! ;-) he really is very good though everyone, I'm not just saying that!)

Right, back to me - cos it's obviously all about me!! ha ha! I checked out all the routes and prices of the 3 main bus companies that operate over here.. Stray, Magic and Kiwi Experience. Stray were too expensive, Magic seemed fine but didn't offer the exact route that I wanted to do so add on's would've made it pricier and the Kiwi Experience - the one i swore I'd never do given it's reputation - did offer the route I wanted, was able to be price matched with the Magic price (the cheapest option) and had the bonus of having Becky and Aideen already booked on to it. That cliched it... Kiwi Experience it was. I wasn't sure I was making the right decision but money paid I was locked in so we'd soon find out, we were leaving the following morning at 7am!

Organisation done, the 3 of us and the girls friend Jez who'd also turned up in Christchurch, headed out to Bog's Irish pub for some yum food before having a few drinks and getting our heads down in preparation for the experiences to come.... It was time to leave Christchurch, my first stop on this new chapter of my trip. I liked Christchurch, I'll admit there's not masses to do there unless you book yourself on trips or activities but it's a pretty city, small with a friendly feel and a relaxed atmosphere. I'm told there's a lot of trouble there on the whole but I never saw any of it and my first impressions of New Zealand were all good so far. Everyone had told me how friendly the Kiwi's are but I'd never really thought you'd notice any more than anywhere else in the world.. not so - from the minute I stepped off the plane everyone was lovely - even one of the customs guys had a little 'joke' with me about missing the hot weather back home. Even with the scariness of being on my own again, I've felt comfortable in New Zealand from the word go, it's a great place! xx