J&M's Big Adventure

Travel Epilogue by JG

2009-12-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

Travelling is a funny thing - you have the feeling of freedom that you can go wherever you want whenever you want - if you like somewhere, you stay, if not, you move on. With a trip that lasts for a year, the inevitable 'end of holiday' blues are mostly irrelevant and it is impossible not to feel slightly smug that you are having so much fun. I imagine perhaps it is hard to settle when you return to regulated life from a trip of this length due to the nature of constant movement and the novelty of different surroundings. The mind seems to condition itself to adapt to constant change during a trip like this because it knows that you are in ‘travel mode.’ It is similar to the strange concept of somebody feeling ready to go home, whatever the length of their travels, be it a weekend, two week holiday or one year trip, it seems the mind cleverly adapts and prepares itself to think in a positive way. We met a couple in Laos, when we were only 2 months into our trip, who had travelled the world like us for a year, and were going home in a week - the look of devastation on my face for them must have been scary, but they were really happy about it saying they were ready to go home and 'crack on with new projects.' Mark and I still talk about them thinking they were bonkers and betting that if we said something like that to ease the pain of finishing the travels, we would blatantly be telling huge porkies.

If I am truthful, every time I have been on holiday, without fail, a few days before I am meant to go home, my mind sneakily puts aside the thoughts that I would far rather stay on the beach for another week/ski that run again, etc, and starts thinking of the 'fun dinner next Tue with Joe Blog,' how great it will be to continue to learn salsa, and wow, how I actually feel enthusiastic about getting stuck into the new project at work, etc, etc. As well as the obvious point that after a holiday you are usually well rested and should have more energy, the brain has an innate ability to provide a cushioning preparatory layer of positivity, arguably tricking you into happily returning to whatever you left behind. I am truly happy that this occurs and could compare it to how the brain eventually looks back at most experiences, even less than perfect ones with a softening, positive light – why do you think women have more than one child?

There is also the softening factor of home comforts, familiarity and routine, things which can be both cherished and dreaded at the same time, depending on who you are. Personally, I find that when returning from an amazing experience where perhaps you were moving from place to place, suddenly the mind looks forward to permanently clean sheets, a bubble bath, knowing the way to the station, seeing the familiar face at the market stall, having all of your things easily accessible in one place, etc. Of course, this is a complete contradiction to the sensation of freedom and novelty at breaking your routine when you first commence a trip. I remember hearing from a friend who went home after 6 months of travelling and a week prior to going back he said, quote “I am actually looking forward to wearing a suit again.” Now that is a little extreme in my eyes, but he was starting to prepare himself for the inevitable return to being a professional again, rather than running around in board shorts and flip flops the whole time.

I am just trying to rationalise the concept of returning to and adapting to normal life - a popular discussion amongst long term travellers. The experience you get from travelling really depends on the time of life at which you go - having travelled around Asia for 2 months in my university holidays at age 20, my objectives were obviously very different to now - still very much about the carefree fun and pushing oneself to have new experiences but now, much more about evaluating what you have done so far in life and really thinking about what sort of life you want to lead in the future. While I had a very happy and fun life in London, living in a nice flat which I owned with a best friend, having a good job which allowed me to travel the globe, socialising with my lovely circle of friends, earning enough money to do fun things, etc, taking a step away from that life has helped me to realise a) how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to have all those things but b) that I would be even more motivated if I had more freedom to be creative in the workplace. Meeting inspiring people while travelling also gives one the confidence to break away from a typical work routine, which is quite a brave thing to do in terms of financial security and also in personally overcoming what one is brainwashed into thinking one 'should' do with one's career.

It is funny as I am sure when I get back, I will meet up with people who will say how amazing it is that I have taken the jump and 'lived the dream' for a year, and am now trying to do something different, but who secretly are thinking, 'it looked like fun, but I am glad that I am not unemployed/broke/one year behind in my career ladder, etc, etc.' And there will be those who are perhaps inspired to do it themselves and will do - everyone is different and that is what makes the world an interesting place. The additional appeal of being self employed will be the eventual ability to take longer holidays and enjoy a better work life balance, something which is very underrated. I think there is also a fine balance between people who travel long term to have new experiences and people who perhaps run away from life with the excuse of travelling. I believe I have met these two types of people on this trip and have made a mental note to be the former.

Meeting someone as inspiring as Mark made the decision to set up my own business very easy. It will be a huge learning curve and I am sure we will have much fun along the way. I feel that the sense of achievement that will come will be bigger than anything ever experienced in a previous job, which is very exhilarating.

In summary, when faced with the prospect of going home and getting on that flight in Rio, my philosophical mind has magically evolved from ‘how will I cope with not wearing flip flops all the time’ into the following stream of consciousness:

• I always thought that it was not possible to beat certain times in my life - ski season in France at 18 years old, university life at Durham, travelling with friends, but this year has surpassed them all into being the best year of my life so far – I do not think I could have had more fun if I tried – a year like many to come I am sure.
• I am so excited about seeing my family for Christmas again and friends after the New Year, who I have missed so much.
• Mark and I have put a lot of research into our business plan so it will be really exciting to put it into action at full pelt when we are back. We both have so much energy, enthusiasm and desire to make it a success.
• While money is by no means a priority, it does make life easier, and it does allow you to do fun things like skiing and travelling. Therefore, this year has inspired both of us to work as hard as possible to enable this kind of thing to be possible on a regular basis.
• And most importantly, I have found someone that I love deeply and can have heaps of fun with – the memories of travelling together for a year are absolutely priceless and something I will keep forever.

Travel summary by JG

2009-12-22T16:49:00.000-08:00

The year of International Woman of Mystery is drawing to a close, so I thought I would write a few departing thoughts. Most people will ask with fascination, as they have done so far, where was your favourite place? It is quite an impossible question to answer a) as there have been so many for different reasons and b) because sometimes factors affect your experience at a certain place to make it memorable, for example, you could be standing outside the Taj Mahal and someone could throw their sticky drink over you before you are attacked by a swarm of bees, or you could be sitting in Hyde Park like you do every week, and you could see a rare moon eclipse, making it more of a memorable place – you get the picture! I will try to summarise my highlights as best I can:

Asia – having travelled extensively to this wonderful continent, both personally and many times in a professional capacity, it did not have the quite the same level of intrigue for me as perhaps the unknown Central America, however, being a real ‘Asiaphile’ it is always a pleasure to go, and it is one of those places where you always see something different and mind opening. Laos still has the rare quality of genuinely smiling local people with a complete lack of greed that you cannot see in rapidly commercialized countries such as Vietnam. It is also beautifully rugged, simplistic and relatively unspoiled – go now! Borneo was just amazing in terms of diving, the people we met, jungle activities and of course, that delicious Malaysian food. In terms of amazing sights, the Great Wall of China was absolutely breathtaking and walking along its towering & deserted length at 7am on a cold Beijing morning with the mist rising over the mountains will be something I never forget.

Australia and New Zealand – Hiring a camper van in both of these countries made the experience exceptionally fun. Having the freedom to go wherever you want & also to cook for yourself under the stars each night is very special. In Australia, the vast beauty of the outback was spectacular, and in NZ, well the scenery was mind blowing – the advantage of having the van being that we could stop at any point and walk in it, rather than stare longingly from a stuffy bus window. Fishing for six metre jumping, man-eating Salties has to be one of the most adrenaline pumping memories which contrasts nicely to the more civilized affair of first time sampling of some of the finest wines in the continent in the Hunter and Marlborough regions.

USA – Hawaii was most memorable for surfing in ‘small’ summer waves and swimming with the giant turtles that seemed to follow you gracefully around. The highlight of California was of course my mummy coming to visit for a wonderful 10 day trip. I will also never forget turning 27 in Vegas – it will be a hard act to follow!

Central America – Mexico has one of the richest and most individual cultures I have ever seen. I loved everything about the country – food, dancing, friendliness, difference in landscape and most of all, my correction of image about Mexico City – it is clean, green, safe & very civilised. Seeing hot molten lava flow down a volcano in Guatemala was absolutely incredible and certainly unlike anything I have ever been privileged enough to witness. Costa Rica was like a holiday within our travels – fun activities, amazing wildlife, interesting people and of course, our lovely anniversary in the romantic Tortuguero Lodge. The San Blas Islands in Panama were the most idyllic & unspoilt of the trip.

South America – Chile stands as my favourite country, with the decision being highly influenced by a week staying on the farm in Pucon, Northern Patagonia. With the most idyllic and rugged setting, dogs on the porch, the fire burning, the steak grilling, the Malbec breathing, the boyfriend laughing and the knowledge that you are off for a two day horse trek into the Andes the following day, it is hard to imagine a more perfect situation, or place. JG

Rio de Janeiro, Dec 19th - 22nd

2009-12-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

We left the beautiful island in style…by speedboat in the horizontal rain, which was pretty fun. Then a bus to Rio, where we got dropped at our hotel, the Bandeirantes. Located just 2 blocks from Copacabana Beach, we had to get our togs on and go for a swim. The beach is crazy…full of people sunning, preening, flaunting, playing volleyball, avoiding bikini removing waves and just generally having a good time. Copacabana has a great vibe, and seems a little more rough and ready than Ipanema, but Mark and I actually found we liked it better as it had more character and of course, the people watching opportunities were fantastic. No thong, unsubscribe.

Visiting the Christ was absolutely amazing. It is perched on one of the highest rocks in the city, and you can pretty much see it from everywhere. We took a local bus to the train, which winds up through the rainforest to the summit. It is a great ride and the view from the top is spectacular, although we did spend most of the time in a cloud, but when it cleared, it was fab. The city is so beautiful, with loads of little hidden beaches, coves, rocky outcrops and big towering hills all around covered in lush tropical vegetation. We visited Santa Teresa, which is based on top of a hill, and is full of impressive colonial style mansions with views to die for. It is quite a bohemian area now and definitely has a buzz to it.

Going up the cable car to the top of the Sugar Loaf while whistling the Bond theme tune, in homage to the Bond god, was really fun, and the view even better than from the Christ. In fact you can see it from a distance, which looks really cool just perched on top on the city.

On our last night, we went to a gorgeous little restaurant, where we drank pink bubbles, ate exquisite food and really toasted our last day in style. Wow, what a year. JG

Ilha Grande (Granje) Dec 13-19

2009-12-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

With the massive trip behind us, we found ourselves with the last leg of the trip from Mantagatiba to Ilha Grande, aboard a ferry in the sunshine. As this is the tropics we soon found ourselves on a ferry in the tropics in the pissing rain and arrived in the pissing rain. The whole area was filled with waiting super tankers which are quite amazing to see from a tiny ferry, huge tubs sat in the water..

The walk around town in the rain was very pleasant, refreshing really. Finding our hostel that we had booked proved to be more challenging and frankly, in the rain, a little more than boring. So we opted for another hostel called Overnativa or Green hostel which was terrific. The lady that ran it cooked meals every evening and we ate well, and I think quite traditionally and locally. I would even advise visiting her hostel just for the food. We had a lovely little double room overlooking the entrance and the mountainside. The island is a huge hill like many of the others so typical in the area, surrounded by lush rainforest and beaches, some required a good hike to get to. We didn’t do too much for the first day, it rained quite constantly, but on the second it was my 31st and we did a little exploring and chilling. The island boasts lots of great little restaurants and bars on the beach which we then visited in the late afternoon. The capirinhas and the cachca mixed with fresh Passionfruit juice made the evening amusing and we got chatting to some material oil engineers who engaged in laying pipes and the welding of them… sounds fascinating I know... but when they lay them 2km deep and 40 km long then it becomes quite a feat in my books. The restaurant we were at also served great BBQ, where I had a great King Mackerel and King Prawns as my dinner. For my first birthday out of London since 18 I was enjoying myself quite a bit in the most relaxing style. We then met another English couple who had Norfolk in common and we carried on chatting and celebrating my birthday till the bar shut. Jen had actually fallen asleep in a corner by then. The next day the lovely hostel staff gave me a birthday cake which Jen had organized with them.. the cake was incredible, chocolate with dulce de leche and coconut crème filling, we ate it over the next few days sharing with the our new friends.

The next days we spent exploring the island, walking through the rainforest to beaches, swimming and playing cards. It was a very tough life and we really hated every minute of it. One small problem did present itself… there are no cash points on the islands, but thankfully there are lots of places take cards, even the kayak rental place. I thoroughly enjoyed our days there and the motorboat trip back to the mainland and bus ride to Rio took only 2 hours, the trip though the outer areas of Rio, the extensive Favelas was eye opening. Obvious gang tags abundant [marking buildings and blocks then being replaced by other ones], more barbed wire than they used in the first world war and well, very obvious abject poverty. The change between the outskirts and the central parts of Rio were amazing. With the country getting richer, I hope some of the wealth trickles down sooner than later.

Iguazu to Ilha Grande…the journey

2009-12-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

What a ride. It took us 48 hours almost… and it really isnt that far. We looked for routes and blogs about getting from Iguazu to Ilha Grande and there didn’t seem to be that much information which was very clear. That is mainly because there is no direct routing as Ilha Grande in Brazil is not really a main city or on a main artery. We chose the cheapest route from Iguazu area which involves travelling from Argentina through Brazil to Paraguay, this knocked off a good hundred pesos.

So… incase you are wondering and looking for how to get from Iguazu in Argentina to Ilha Grande in Brazil then follow these steps. Go to the bus station and ask at the Crucero del Norte bus station for a Cama seat unless you don’t want to sleep. Getting a Cama seat does not mean you will get great service like you get elsewhere in Argentina, in fact using Crucero Del Norte is only advised as they have a service that is cheaper than the Brazilian buses. We asked for a cheaper option and were presented with a trip from Paraguay which involves getting a bus from Iguazu through to Paraguay bus station which is a local bus and does not always leave you time to get your passport stamps. We took this option but without the bus, getting a drop off at the Brazilian/Argentian border. We didn’t wait for the bus, so we walked for around five kms and it was good exercise. When we got to the next border post, the actual brazilian one we stamped in, and waited for a bus. A few came through and they were all full so we had to get a cab which a border guard called for us. It was not too cheap, but it took us to the Paraguay/Argentina border which is very busy, and the total cost was still less than getting a bus from Brazil or Argentina for us both. We stamped in, which you must do to get an exit stamp… We witnessed a fair bit of corrupt behaviour with the border guards on the way out, so get the stamps coming in, and have your consultate number handy… It doesn’t matter what the locals say or the border guards say, get the stamp for entering the country as otherwise they will find excuses to make cash demands.
Our onward trip was usual for latin american countries, chaos rulling the duty free area around the border, so we haggled with a taxi who wanted ten dollars for a four km cab ride. We refused point blank and eventually he agreed to a five dollar charge, I think our skills picked up in Asia were well remembered…

The bus station was a total dump as was the city, and with two hours to kill and intense humidity, we stayed put and ate some homecooked gnocchi with chicken, very nice. Eventually, the bus arrival time and departure time came and went and a huge thunderstorm turned the carpark into rivers and lakes, with the wind whipping the rain off the bus tops. The reason for the delay with the bus were known to us, the only border crossing with Brazil which we had walked across earlier moved at less than walking pace. When we did finally get on the bus we found our seats being used as a platform for the cleaner who was packaging the rubbish and I wasn’t too impressed. We watched him use his shoe to shove the rice on the floor under our seats and I asked him to clean it up properly in my poor spanish. He ignored me and told me to put my bag up rather than under the seat… I was not impressed as he pushed past with the rubbish. After that I headed downstairs to complain and got a lot of bemused looks from the drivers who and other staff who basically all had no intention of cleaning up. As the cleaner came back and signed off the “cleaning” record I interjected and asked him to clean up properly. The bus then reversed out and I lost my rag completely. At this point one of the drivers finally agreed to come up and have a look at the situation. He didn’t want to clean it up either but we then had some help from a fellow traveller who in pretty stern tone told him it was entirely unacceptable and he should clean it up. I can only say, with Crucero Del Norte firms that they run a decent network, but our experiences with them in Buenos Aires and here left a piss poor impression. Avoid them if you can.

The bus journey was delayed by 3 hours at the border so our time onboard increased by three hours to 20 hours of travel. Joy. After a freezing night on the bus to Sao Paulo we arrived at one of the largest bus terminals in South America, pretty impressive with around one hundred bus stops it is a pretty busy place. Above the bus station we found the ticket offices and got ourselves sorted out with some breakfast and onwards tickets. The next bus was expensive.. but it was a lovely bus and was scheduled to take a mere seven hours. The roads and infrastructure in Brazil are good, but the winding roads around the incredible scenery is timeconsuming, but with the mix of films, stops every two hours and very comfortable seats we managed well. Our bus tickets were for Angra which is where we were to get a ferry from. Arriving in Angra, we spoke to a Chilean girl who had been travelling from Chile to come to Ilha Grande, and she heard that we could get a late night ferry from down the road, so we hopped back onto the bus and an hour later arrived, jumped into an old VW transporter and got ferried to the port. Then we found out the ten pm boat was a myth… 30 hours on the road… There isnt much in the way of accommodation… so we had to make do with a pretty horrible little place for a little too much money.

The next morning the first ferry left at nine and took an hour, at fourteen Reais it was fairly reasonable we thought, the weather changed as we left and the rain pissed down and the wind lashed us. Out the window were absolutely huge oil tankers waiting for access to the filling station and the boat went pretty close so we got to inspect them a little better. They are amazing, huge tubs with rounded fronts so they look like massive bathtubs. We learned later from a french engineer that some of the platforms in the area have two kilometer deep pipes to the filling stations which is pretty amazing too.

The island was a site for literally sore eyes. The picturesque town and the beaches with the mountains in the backround, even in the rain was the end of the epic travel we had… I’d like to say endured, but it wasn’t tough at all. Just a lot of sitting down and very annoying idiots/high prices to contend with. After our luxurious and very relaxing travel around Argentina and Chile, this was a rude awakening and shock to the system, yes we found ourselves back to shit services for too much money where everyone seems to think their job is beneath them. MT

Iguazu Falls – 8th – 10th December

2009-12-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

Situated on three borders, the Iguazu Falls are pushing to become one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and with good reason…they are absolutely mind blowing. We stayed at a great hostel on the Argentine side, called La Guembe, which is a very relaxed and quiet little place with the best Caipirinas in town & very friendly staff. It’s a small little town, totally geared around the Falls and the subsequent tourism. We got a lift to the Waterfalls with the hostel owner as we bought one of his boat trips, which I would highly recommend. You go on a unimog through the jungle and although you cannot see much wildlife, it’s a fun trip. Then you board a speed boat, which takes you up the river for about 20 mins and then gets close to the falls, making sure you get an absolute drenching. It is really spectacular to get so close to them and feel the power of the water as it comes crashing down on your head!

The park itself is very well set out – there are lots of footpaths through the jungle for you to follow and the various viewing platforms for the waterfalls are located at spectacular points, for example, right at the top of the falls so you can look over the edge and at the side so you can almost touch the water! There are many falls, with the most spectacular undoubtedly being the Devil’s Throat, which is incredible. There is also a train which you can ride on, taking you further around the park. If you like birds and butterflies, you will be spoilt here – sometimes we saw so many that it looked like leaves fluttering around in the wind – absolutely beautiful. For 60 pesos (about 10 pounds) you get entry into the Falls, which is great value considering how much there is to do. If you want to return the next day, it’s only 30 pesos, so great if you just fancy doing more walking or having a picnic in some very spectacular surroundings. Although it’s a long bus ride from Buenos Aires, I would highly recommend the falls, as it really is a once in a lifetime sight and definitely deserves being a new natural world wonder! JG

Colonia, Uruguay – Dec 2nd – 7th

2009-12-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Colonia is just a mere 1 hour’s boat ride across the river from Buenos Aires. It is a very popular place for day trippers from Buenos Aires and well as for those in search of nice beaches and a bit of relaxation. This was just the ticket for the CELTA weary crowd, therefore a few of us headed over to chill out for a few days. The old town is lovely – much of the original wall & buildings remain, and with cobbled streets & very old fashioned cars parked everywhere, it certainly has a nostalgic feel about it. We stayed at the Hostel Espanol, which is a very relaxed place. It was a great few days, spending time at the beach, playing cards and cooking big hearty meals in our group at the hostel – very relaxing and sociable. We decided not to head further up the coast, as the main appeal was beaches & we have Isla Grande coming up in Brazil, so thought we would head back to BA and go up to Iguazu instead, as it worked out to be the cheaper option. Uruguay is also a lot more expensive than Argentina so that also factored in our decision to leave early. It was sad saying goodbye to my little CELTA family, but they are all going off to do exciting things around the world, as am I, so it will be great to keep up with their adventures. JG

Buenos Aires, 28th Oct – 2nd Dec

2009-12-10T07:52:00.001-08:00

The Thompson’s

Arriving in Buenos Aires, it was a real treat to be picked up at Retiro station by Uncle David, who kindly came to get us in his car. We went back to his house in Temperley to be greeted by May and a lovely spread of medialunas and to Mark’s delight, real tea! It was great for me to see David again, as it had been about 10 years since I last saw him, and the first time for me to meet my aunty May and my cousin, Martin. We stayed with David for 4 days, going into the city and looking around, seeing both of his schools and even helping with a kid’s Halloween party, which was cute! On the Saturday we went bird watching in the Pampa, and every night were treated to May’s delicious cooking as well as lovely nibbles and an asado on David’s very cool outside BBQ. Once I had started my CELTA course, I went back to David’s a couple of times at the weekend for lunch, which was a lovely escape from the city and good to have a bit of ‘home life’ which always included rummy! It was really nice that Teresa and Andrew were there one weekend as well. Big thank you’s to the Thompsons for their wonderful hospitality!

The course

It was great that I met everyone from the course on the Saturday night before as it meant that we all knew each other beforehand. It is unusual to have a group of 12 people where everyone gets on, so we felt very lucky, as everyone was genuinely lovely, really making it feel like a support group during the month. The course was very intensive, involving a 9 – 5 day, with an average of 5 hours work a night, plus most of us got up about 6am to make final adjustments to our lessons. The weekends were not so relaxing either, as we normally had a lesson plus an assignment to plan. However, because the course was so intensive, the learning curve is huge & it really is very rewarding. Most of us managed to go out for a couple of malbecs on a Friday night and usually managed to get at least one day off at the weekend. Everyone passed, which is great news, and most of us went to Uruguay afterwards to celebrate having so much free time again!

The City

Buenos Aires is a beautiful City which is full of character. Some people may disagree with that statement, claiming that it does not have its own identity as it’s such a mixture of different European cultures, but I think that makes it unique in itself. My highlights of Buenos Aires are as follows:
• The dog walkers in Belgrano, sometimes holding up to 20 dogs (although the dog shit is not such a good thing).
• Tango in the street
• Polo – we got to watch a match on our last day – the semi final & it was so exciting. The best thing was you could get so close to the players and the horses…we saw the best player in the world Adolfo, which was exciting.
• The food and drink: I am not sure how Argentines stay so thin. The pastries are to die for & far more delicious than anything I have eaten in France. Then there are the Parillas, where you can get the most succulent meat imaginable for very little money. And of course, the red wine. A two pound bottle of wine is very quaffable and if you spend, gasp, 5 pounds, you have a very luxurious bottle. Heaven.
• Bars – the nightlife in BA is fantastic with some really funky bars and restaurants. We went out mainly in Palermo, & of course, to the polo after party in Recoleta.
• Cemetery – based in the centre of the city on prime real estate, this amazing place is full of the deceased rich and famous, housed above the ground in luxurious crypts. The place is fairly eerie, reminiscent of ‘interview with the vampire’ and certainly not the sort of place you would want to get lost in at night. We even saw in one of the older coffins, an arm falling out, which was a bit gruesome. However, there is also something serene about the place, with lots of trees and flowers. It is also the burial site of Eva Peron, as well as many other famous people.
• Palermo Park – this huge expanse of green space is beautiful and full of beautiful gardens, like the Japanese & rose ones, as well as lakes and fountains.
• Puerto Madero – this rejuvenated dock area is similar to Canary Wharf and full of up market bars, restaurants & cafes – it’s really pretty just for stroll up and down.
• The ice cream – Volta & Persicco are the best – I had the best ice cream of the whole trip and Persicco: raspberry and lemon pie, which had real pieces of meringue and fruit in it. Yum.

In summary, Buenos Aires is a great city and definitely somewhere I would like to return to spend more time. There is something familiar about it, yet still exotic and exciting, which is a wonderful balance. JG

Mendoza, 24th – 28th October

2009-12-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

After a bonus night in a posh hotel, plus another 3 course lunch (there is such a thing as a free lunch) in Buenos Aires courtesy of LAN, we spent the afternoon wandering around Buenos Aires in the San Telmo district, famous for being bohemian & having lots of street tango. We had a lovely time sitting in a sunny piazza, sipping beer and watching the very impressive & feisty tango dancers strut their stuff. Being forever the observant one, Mark caught a glimpse of a cheeky dancer who had decided to leave her knickers at home & was doing a dance which involved lots of high leg kicks. After this, it was impossible for both of us not to look at that, just to check of course, which became quite hilarious. Maybe we were wrong…she could have bought black hairy knickers.

We got on the bus in the evening & were very pleasantly surprised at the level of ‘suite class’ which we had treated ourselves to for the 12 hour overnight trip to Mendoza. Being greeted with hot empanadas and a glass of sherry, as well as having totally flat beds was more reminiscent of first class plane travel rather than an overnight bus trip. The waiter was lovely and obviously very used to having excited people on the way to Mendoza, being very generous with the red wine he dished out our 3 course dinner. A glass of whisky, a film and being tucked into bed resulted in a lovely long sleep and waking up to a medialuna 30 minutes before arrival. Now that is what I call civilized travel – and only an extra 10 pounds to upgrade – my advice, do it!

Not having booked any accommodation, we found a lady at the bus station, or rather she found us, and told us about an apartment she had for rent. Having watched other backpackers brush her off as a sleazy salesperson, we decided to listen & found that she was offering a brilliant one bedroom apartment with a big outside space right in the centre of town for only 120 pesos a night. We bargained her down to 100 and we had a deal (this is less than two dormitory beds). She was so sweet in explaining how things worked, speaking really slow Spanish for us and covering everything. Brilliant! During the first afternoon we pottered around the pretty town, then went to a tango show in the evening, which was celebrating ‘vino y tango.’ It was quite touristy, but I love watching tango, so it didn’t matter at all and was a lovely night.

The next day, we did what you have to do in Mendoza…went wine tasting! We hired bikes and went off with our bottles of water, picnic lunch and map. First we went to a wine museum, which is free and based in the San Felipe Estate. It is a fantastic museum, packed full of old fashioned tools and methods of wine making. You get a free tour which is definitely worth doing, as it is really interesting and gives a lot of information about how wine production has evolved over the years. Next, onto xxx, where we sat on their beautiful terrace in the sunshine with a great view of the snow capped Andes and sampled some of their recommended wines. Then, onto xxx which involved more wine tasting, and the smell of their BBQ meant that we had to stop and eat our gourmet picnic of Serrano Ham, blue cheese, olives, tomatoes, etc, in the grass, which was lovely! Next stop, xxx, where we got another free tour and sampled some more wines. We actually bought three bottles of Don Angelo, a 2004 limited production Malbec, which has been entered into a competition in France, which if it does well, will substantially increase the value. Makes a change to share trading as well!

Our final stop was xx, a lovely French style vineyard with excellent Malbecs. Having bumped into a few people along the route, we got chatting to a lovely Dutch and French couple & invited them to our apartment for an impromptu dinner party. While waiting for the bus at the bike ranch, the owner plied everyone with free wine, ensuring that the word was passed on…I actually cannot remember, so obviously not a great sales tactic, fun though! We had a lovely dinner party & enjoyed swapping travel stories!

On our last day, we walked around Mendoza and found the beautiful park, which is absolutely huge & has a lovely lake with rowing boats. I would highly recommend Mendoza for a visit, and of course, in winter, you can go skiing very nearby…
JG

El Calafate

2009-12-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

Leaving Ushuaia by plane was terrific. The taxi journey to the airport on the spit of land in front of the town, promised a bumpy take off as the car was buffeted by extremely strong winds. We arrived in the airport with twenty minutes to take off and wandered through the check in and up to the lounge. All very relaxed, the good passengers were all there early so we had no queues to contend with. The plane landed and ten minutes later it was fully fueled and we were onboard. The plane taxied down the runway, then turned around and took off into the wind, making for a very smooth take off, not a single bump. The scenery was breath taking and we could not have wanted more, having travelled the full length of the Chileanean and Argentinean Mountains we saw them from above. The snow covered peaks for as far as the eye could see. Once we were over the clouds and away from the mountains, we were flying over the Pampa of Patagonia. The wild rivers, the terraced steppe landscape was all fascinating, especially as we had spent such a long time driving over it.

Landing in El Calafate was interesting, the area seemed to be much drier from the air than we had previously experienced, and there was a beautiful azure lake with ice bergs floating? Glacier land, we had arrived. The mountains receive a vast quantity of snow each year resulting in glacier growth of a huge range of mountains. The perspective of which gives an idea of how earth might have looked 10000 years ago during the last ice age. We got to see the glacier a few days later…

We took a cab to a hostel which was based in the newer part of the town, dusty roads and an old airfield formed this part and it was a little surprising to see. There is are laws here to prohibit the dispersal of plastic bags from shops, but there are still a huge number of bags flying around which have been set free of both the bins they were in and the rubbish, not by humans, but by scavenging dogs apparently. One would think, the next step would be to keep the dog population under control. The town itself is a tourism town which we found to be very “nice” with main road and a few shops and bars. When we arrived the staff sat us down and explained the offers for tours, all provided by the same company, and sadly, waaaay to expensive for us. A day trip with some walking on the glacier was billed at over 600 Argentinian Pesos… which I around 100 GBP. What? A walk on a glacier with crampons and ice picks for what? Frankly the pricing is a joke and not as many people do it as there is space for, a real shame and a very short sighted attitude by the tour organizers. Apparently, a lot of the land in the area is being bought by the Presidential family, the Kirchners, one could speculate as to their power on pricing? We spent some time taking in the scenery and with our friends from Rio Gallegos decided to hire a car check out the glacier and then day trip to El Chalten the next day, only 200km north.

We headed out early the next day with the car and found the glacier, which is amazing, an amazing blue chunk of ice heading into the lake and of course took a number of photos of it from different angles. We saw and heard a number of ice chunks calving into the lake, but sadly the efforts to photograph it were in vain. The glacier advances each year which makes it the only one!

On the way home we headed out for a different route, turning off onto a dirt road. We drove past some enormous birds who apparently were juvenile Condors and also a lake with flamingos in it. We had to stop and I tried to get closer. These birds keep an eye out though and moved through the shallow lake as we moved around the outside. It was extremely amusing to be greated by two bleating lambs who were perhaps no more than a week old, fluffy floppy eared and slightly stupid, happily bounding through the sheep carcasses which are very common. Apparently the cost of sheep is so low that they are pretty much feral and left to get on with it, allowing the Condors and Eagles and I presume Jaguars and dogs to kill at will…

We saw a number of Condor families and we took some amazing photos of these gigantic birds flying through the mountains. We stopped to try and take a picture of one feasting on a bit of meat in the middle of the road to show how big they stand off the ground but didn’t quite manage as it flew off while I frantically tried to change my camera battery.
El Chalten was our target the next day. We started out our day with a great drive through a cold desert as we skirted the lakes created by the melting glacial ice and snow from the mountains. Two hours later arrived in a tiny village which called itself El Chalten, the old El Chalten was covered by ash from a volcano a couple years ago. It is known as the hiking capital in Argentina, and we expected perhaps a little more, but we were there in the off season, so we weren’t spoilt for choice when looking for a café. The wind was brutal, so we headed out for a wander, and found the tourist office, which gave us some options for some day hikes. They turned out to be straight into the wind which was driving snow into our faces so we decided a short walk would really be the only option. We would have liked to go for a longer one, given the lack of proper gear and the biting cold it wasn’t really an option. The area outside of the villages and towns in Patagonia are pure wilderness, without a compass and a good map getting lost is all too easy apparently. So we shall return I hope and do some hiking to the peaks in the future. The drive away from the area saw us photographing the clearing view through the mirrors and stopping frequently to get more photos of this incredible landscape.

Our final day loomed and we enjoyed great dinners and chats with the Irish and dutch we had met enroute. We packed our bags and got ready to go to the airport and said goodbyes the next morning. On trying to leave the hostel informed us or flight was delayed and would not be taking off till ten that night, so we called LAN to get confirmation. No, the flight was normal, so we booked a cab and headed to the airport much to the bemusement of the hostel guys. We got there and waited in line for a little while thinking that there weren’t too many people on the flight! When we got to the desk we found out that a bird had flown into the engine in Ushuaia and our plane was going to be 12 hours delayed. As we had not been contacted they would provide us lunch and a place to take it easy that day. Lovely. We then pointed out that our bus booked (not really) that night was our accommodation for the night and we would need them to organize something else for us. They did without fuss. BA etc learn how it is done . We then boarded a bus and got taken to a lovely hotel at the other end of the town and some.. overlooking the lake and with a view of the town. It was a tough day. Free three course lunch of steak and more followed by relaxing in a lovely hotel room. Then being chauffeured back to the airport for our flight. We eventually left an hour late as further technical checks were carried out, better safe and delayed eh!

Bye bye Patagonia as we flew into the darkness.

MT

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2009-11-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

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Ushuaia

2009-11-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

Ushuaia

2009-11-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

Ushuaia

The land of fire was tantilisingly close in terms of Argentian travel, so whilst in Puerto Madryn, we made the choice to head down afterall. It had been an aim of mine to reach and have a look around, and perhaps fly south to Antarctica from there too, but it was really a one step at a time scenario.
Tierra Del Fuego was named for the many fires that were sighted by the Spanish explorers, the likes of Magellen and co. when they first saw the fires dotted across the landscape from their tiny ships. Lit by semi nomadic tribes who had wandered down from north america and asia around 20,000 BC, the locals were extremely primitive still wearing furs tied to them rather than sewn, it was the beginning of summer when we arrved and snowed pretty much every day, so I think they must have been pretty damn cold..surely. A hardy bunch I think. The good Spanish and European people clothed and housed the natives, but forget to immunise against diseases related to sedentary living and dirty clothes and rapid development. By the beginning of the 20th Century there were around one hundred native indians left. Why the european explorer stayed is clear. Who doesn’t want to ski at the end of the world? The ancient ski lifts still work there and as we arrived had only just closed for the “summer”. The abundant wildlife and the control of the southern tip of America might actually have been a more relevant reason. The Brits had their eye on the area too and Cook in the Beagle managed to find a slightly safer route past as is now referenced by the Beagle Channel, which Ushuaia guards.
The landscape is incredible as you would expect and the main town and point of reference in the area is Ushuaia, serving as a strategic military base against those pesky Chileaneans who also like the idea of owning the islands, and perhaps the oil that lies beneath the Southern Atlantic ocean?

We had found our hostel with a group of fellow mad dogs and Irishmen, following the Irish contingent who had booked. The hostel only offered bunks, but was extremely clean and tidy with very comfy beds,. and I would highly recommend it. Cruz Del Sur I think.
The next day we headed out for a walk around town to see the sites, i.e. the sea, the surrounding landscapes and absorb the life there, and of course the museum, which I think should be called Museum at the End of the World. I loved it, and would like to return for some skiing next time.
The town is nestled in beneath the mountains and offers the more well healed intrepid explorer a base for expiditions to the the Antarctic, perhaps next time we thought, it looks so close and in reality was a good 48 hours on a ship. We headed off for a day of walking in the national parks nearby which offer a glimpse into what the area was like pre european settlement i suppose. We had inquired about walks and found that sadly a good number were still closed due to the snow line, so wandered along the lakeside to the Chilean border. We had wondered why the track did not run the entirety of the lakes perimeter. The border itself showed of times less peaceful, with old barbed wire fencing in the forest still up. The signage now was quite laughable, but we obayed and stayed on the Argentinian side so as to not lose our lunches.
It was a shame to have to catch the bus back into town, a day or two of camping and walking would have been enjoyable. Apart from the skiing and the walking in the national park there is also a glacier to have a look at. We attempted this and walked up a powder covered ski piste with questionable older snow under it and could feel it cracking every now and then. We heard a couple days later that a fellow tourist had falled into a stream and got a soaking.. The top of the ski lift was the basis for the walk to the Glacier, signs advised against further walking without a guide so sadly we turned back, and faced the wind pelting snow into our faces as blizzard conditions suddenly appeared. The funniest and perhaps most bizarre part of the walk up was our Japanese friend who decided to bring his Ukulale with him and then gave us a mini concert in Japanese at the top. Brilliant and very talented, but in a blizzard, bizarre.
At the bottom of the run we found a small hotel with a tea room that could have been kitted out from Laura Ashley with the full floral curtains and cutlery. They served hot chocolates or Submarinos and great cake and kindly called a cab to take us down the hill to the town once more.
We booked ourselves flights from Ushuaia to El Calafate and then onwards to Buenos Aires as they were only marginally more expensive than the buses and much more comfortable and less dusty. Ushuaia was really more than I imagined it could be and I look forward to returning to do some european summer skiing and walking.

2009-11-10T17:48:00.000-08:00

Travel to Ushuaia by BUS

We boarded a bus in Puerto Madryn that took us to Rio Gallegos. The Bus ride started at five pmish and we got there after watching a couple of movies so it felt anywa …. There was a few hours of sleep… some of us more than others. The bus ride was comfy enough, but the chance to see Llamas running around in the morning mist was something that became fascinating and kept me from sleeping as we trundled across the mind numbingly flat and largely featurelss landscape. The arrival into an entirely non descript town was a little depressing, there was a HUGE Carrefour, some large Army barracks and nothing more really. The buildings are all little run down one storey shack types and we didn’t really want to hang out all day. There was only one bus a day to Ushuaia and the bus ride had been long enough, so we had made the decision to make a break. We walked around town and killed time for the day, Jen cooked a superb stew and we enjoyed some more cheap wine with our fellow travellers in another nice little hostel type place. The bus ride the next morning started out as an interesting ride... we didn’t move for an hour after arriving at eight thirty for it. There was another bus that looked a little nicer than left earlier which left a little more promptly.
Eventually, just as Jen had gone to the loo off the bus, it started to close the doors and reverse. I headed to the driver and had a few words in broken spanish made it clear he was being an asshole as he has just watched Jen get off the bus and the two extra minutes to his hour delay did not justify this lack of patience… I don’t think he understood or cared too much. It became clear the journey would be a long one, more that we expected, not more so, than at the first border crossing into Chile. The road does not follow an easy route, the terrain is highly politicised and borders seem to have been drawn by crayon at an asylum and make no sense. So, on the way to a city in Argentina, we crossed into Chile, most people handing over packed lunches and fruit to the border guards who must have a terrific lunch each day. They made it complicated to say the least, but it seems to be a LOT better than it used to be, with the border building now shared.
The Logical workflow at this border station would be to check in with the Argentians on one side and trapse through the building with bags to be Xrayed then reboard the bus. No. First enter and line up to leave Argentina. Then reboard the bus. Then get out again, take bags to the border desk and line up to have bags Xrayed infront of the Argentian border desk. The repack the bags and stand in line to have your passport stamped… at desks which sit behind the Argentians… very muddled, confused and time consuming. I suppose at least they have to make it appear they work for a living.That took three hours.
Through the beautiful but featureless landscape we trundled, as we had crossed into Chile the infrastructure was not really present, and the roads were dirt. The crossing of the Beagle Channel was fun. Driving down to the shore on a narrow concrete ramp we boarded a boat and started crossing through what appeared to be a very fierce current. Arriving the otherside and the first signs showed warnings of mine fields. Still not sure who the were to keep out. I then found a tangerine in my bag that had been X Rayed… and was pretty pleased. Ha.
The trip continued along the coast line and we had views of the roughest seas in the world on a calm day. It was wild and beautiful but quite flat. We had been warned that it might still be covered in snow by two travellers we had met who had been holed up in Ushuaia for a few days extra, but all we saw was green grass and lakes and rivers with wind whipping up the water into white caps. This continued for a good two hours until we were around ten hours into the trip when suddenly trees started appearing on the landscape..very deformed oak and beech trees we think. Then the bus stopped and we changed to a smaller older bus and were told it would be one more hour. The human landscape was very functional and not promsing, we drove slowly into the mountains which we had been waiting for with bated breath almost, looking for the path the road would be taking through the mountains into the pass beyind and the southern shores. It finally came and with it the rain and snow. It bucketed it down and well into the next day, so we arrived in the pissing rain and went walkies for a hostel which we found to be pricey but nice. Thirteen hours in the bus, thank god we hadnt continued on the day before and had a day break in Rio Gallegos…
MT

SRW Calf

2009-11-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

2009-11-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

Whale of a time in Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn arrival was early, and despite the very comfy semi cama bus ride, we and the various other travellers looked appropriately disheviled and tired getting off. We sat down for some breakfast and were joined by some of the fellow travellers from Holland and Switzerland. They had met in Mendoza and were a fun bunch who had just completed their medical degrees so were having a bit of fun before the “real world”. We then found out it was a long weekend in Argentina and the hostels were pretty much all booked up and we as usual, did not have a booking. Oops? We headed off to find some accomodation and even though everyone said it would not be possible, found a very acceptable small hotel in the town centre with a nice clean room available for once more, less than it would have cost us in a hostel.
Still tired we mooched around town and then met the rest for a few drinks and chat. We passed the afternoon in high spirits before heading out for some dinner. The dinner turned into an epic card playing evening which ended up in a club at two am, partiyng in Argentine style. Needless to say, the next day was slow and we took it easy wandering around town on our own enjoying the beeches with the great reflections of the buildings on the sand and ducking into the odd café to avoid the rain showers while keeping an eye out for whale spouts and breeches that are fairly common along the entire coast. The reason for visiting the area for tourism is primarly the wildlife, the extraordinary easy of whale watching here,penguins and Southern Sea Lions. We looked at the distances and the costs and for once it was cheaper booking a tour than a car for two of us. The tourism here relies heavily on locals coming down from Buenos Aires apparently so prices are kept fair. The tour was a round trip of 400 km plus, an hours bus trip and covers a very wild peninsula. The guide was funny and had an endless supply of information which was really nice, and ironically he wore a Japanese Whale Study t shirt… One of the first things he pointed out was the tide range differential between the two parts of the peninsula which differ by up to 8 metres in height across a 40 km land stretch; whales pods take advantage of this and follow the krill around apparently. We were there there just after calfing season so after seeing alsorts of interesting animals that hop like rabbits and look like deer, large birds similar to the Emu and a scuttling armadillo we took a walk along the coast line for a good hour. The sea lion colonies were terrific, stretching along the coast line huge bulks of males guarding their hareems. We noticed a difference to the Californian ones, the snouts on the Californian ones are more pronounced and trunk like.. and I think perhaps a little bigger?
The landscape was terrific, huge sand cliffs dropping from raised beaches indication of lots of eustatic rise {how awesome to see text book stuff in reality…who is a geek?} and massive sandy beaches on which the humungous sea lions were sunning themselves. There were also loads of penguins running around, which made me laugh as they looked like the penguins in from a certain cartoon.
So.. onto the main bit of the day. WHALES. Southern Right Whales to be precise. The boats leave from a tiny hamlet which is overun and entirely populated by tourism businesses. No piers have been built and tractors push out boats into the water once they have loaded up on trailers. The arrangements are interesting, and very efficient. Apparently it is very common to have whales off the shore but we saw none. The boat we got onto was a nice size, but rammed with tourists, I made sure I had a good space by getting on first and it really paid off. The masses of photos I took of flukes and breaching whales were great and the whales were just majestic to watch. The calves came to visit followed by their mothers which gave me loads of opportunities to just watch, but then also take even more photos. The whole day was topped off when our guide took the van down another dirt road following the coast and we stopped on a beach to watch them close to shore doing things like “handstands” where they bash the waves with their tails in a vertical position. Having worked for research teams in Argentina on penguins and whales, and a real fountain of knowledge, I was very pleased to have been introduced to the guide.
So we spent another day pottering around and then got to the bus station undecided on where to go. At the bus station we met an Irish couple who were talking about Ushuaia which had been a must see on the trip for me, but was seconded due to other fun things like diving. I decided to bite the bullet and go, so we headed onto a bus with some fun Irish and close to 40 hours on a bus to go. MT

2009-10-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

2009-10-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

Image of Bariloche

2009-10-23T05:14:00.001-07:00

2009-10-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

Bariloche Oct 2nd – 10th

Bariloche is the Argentine gateway to their lake district and also has a very nice ski resort nearby as well as a very large lake for summer actitivies. It is pretty perfect for the outdoors sports and lifestyle, if a little far away from us Europeans. The town itself has a very clear tourist area, lovely little hotels etc, but the majority live in a fairly small, unfinished houses which is rarely seen by tourists. The roads leading into the skiing are along the lakeside and accompanied by more little hotels and self catering chalet type builds, chocolate factories and other fun nice stuff. The only point at which you might just see the rest of the town is making an effort to see it, or heading out to the lakes south of the town which requires a drive through.
We arrived as per usual, by bus, and were immediately approached by a few people in the usual south american style; relaxed and with a smile. Perhaps being out of season makes them friendlier? We couldn’t tell, but were promised some cheap accomodation near the shoreline in the centre for not all too much; ninety pesos per night. I would say there are similar places in the area which offer just as good but it seemed fine when we arrived so we stayed. The reception girl was a bit odd; clearly confusing her home and the hostel. Comments were made about our non Kosher habits when we were cooking our Carbonara, drinking fresh milk and other things like that; frankly, either put up signs in which case I would not stay there, or accept all cultures and the money they bring and shut up. Puerto Verde needs to decide who its target audience is: or not we think. It was a nice appartment though,comfortable, there are other places in town with jacussis and better views for the same money if you bother to look, same kind of pricing.
The rest of the area is lovely, with St Bernards with pups bounding around , little fluff balls following their parents around who are being used as photo props for some reason. There are a number of steak restaurants of course, all very nice and quite cheap. On recommendation by our hostel we headed to a Mexican restaurant which was very average and not very mexican flavoured. Margueritas were great, the food portions were big but that was it. Not enough mexican flavour and spice. Lesson, stick to the local food. Bariloche is also linked to Chocolate so there are shops all over which sell loads of the stuff, very tasty indeed. We had a great evening, finding a tango club with a show tucked beneath a building just out of sight of the main road. The show was very very good, with live musicians, around 80 playing the music for some dancers and singers to entertain. It felt like something out of another era and really made the week.
We hired a car to drive out to find a black glacier which provided a terrific day out. The drive out of town was a little dissapointing with the environment poorly cared for, plastic bags everywhere. The argument is not that there are too many plastic bags used, or that they might want to ban them, but that the stray dogs, also clearly no ones fault, tear them open and rummage through them, the wind does the rest. Once away from the town, there was breathtaking scenery again through some azul lakes and then down a dirt track path in a driving blizzard. The snow was great and the little GOL thing we drove handled reasonably well on the off road, taking us over and up to a glacier covered in dirt. It took a fair old while and we were the last of the cars up that day before the road was opened for cars returning. Having a look at the glacier in the driving snow was still great, the lake was full of frozen water mixed with massive chunks of glacier. Very impressive. The national park we headed to also has a waterfall in it; throughout our trip we have seen a fair number of waterfalls, but the driving was fun, so we headed off and the photos say more than words as usual. The waterfall was the most impressive we have seen so far, swollen rivers from meltwater providing an absolutely huge volume of water, clouds of spray, snow and a very scenic walk to the waterfall all made it very worthwhile. A must do if you head that way.
With the extra snow we decided to go skiing at the resort, it wouldn’t do to not do so especially as it was the last few days of open resort. The bus ride up and the ski equipment hire was cheap, less than 30 pounds each for the day inlusive of ski pass. The skiing was fun, but very limited, only a couple runs had been opened which was a pain as there were tons of great pistes to be seen nearby… so we had to contend with beginner snowboarders and skiers cutting us up and being annoying. Prices for food was reasuringly expensive and the same as Austria for a hot chocolate and chips. It was fun to ski again.
Bariloche to where next? South or not.. Off to Puerto Madyrn from where we could make a more informed decision while looking at whales, penguins and more stuff. So only an overnight bus ride and some to go. We met a couple of dutch girls and swiss guy who made the trip fun, and the next couple of days entertaining.

San Martin de los Andes – Sep 29th – Oct 2nd

2009-10-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Wandering around San Carlos was beautiful, the spring feeling of a ski town is not always a friendly one, with a number of businesses closing for refits and so on. We took the chance to do some work on our ideas, and generally enjoy the place. The walk between our lodging and the centre of town was around one kilometer so that helped us keep the effects of the sugary and really very tasty bakery snacks at bay which are sold at small bakeries, it seems, at every corner. The days were beautiful and sunny, the trees in bloom and it seems the people here have a very good work life balance.

We headed to the supermarket on several days to buy some lunch and lounge around the lakeside,and it seemed pretty much everyone else did as well. The shops were closed all afternoon, which is a very Argentinian thing it seems, and then open late in the evening again. Taking the best from each European culture I suppose. Evenings were spent in small cafes or the Irish pub, or eating very large steaks. The highlight was a great evening in a small restaurant eating Waterbuffalo steak with mashed pumpkin and spinach, drinking great red wine for not very much at all. It was another dose of food extasy and an example of things to come. It is apparently in the lonely planet too…. So if you are headed that way, perhaps look it up on Thorn Tree or in the book. We had a fantastic lunch on the lake, set in the brillant sunshine, watching people rowing and sailing while we ate our lunch made up of meats, cheeses for jen, olives and crackers and a bottle of very nice Malbec. Needless to say, we had a few fans, wagging their tails and looking reproachfully at our meat selection. They didn’t like the crackers…

The town is nestled in a valley and home to some outstanding skiing, we decided against skiing here as we thought there had to be a reason to return in the future, perhaps one august for some great powder skiing…. We shall see. There are a number of Austrian and Swiss run sports shops dotted around the place and a lot of new builds going up, so I presume it is an increasingly popular area for Argentine tourists to come to. The chocolate theme and convivial coffee shop atmosphere prevails, great exports from the Germans and Austrians once more….We really enjoyed the time here, but had to move on to Bariloche, the city of chocolate. MT

Pucon to Argentina; San Martin de Los Andes - 29th September

2009-10-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

Pucon and surroundings were some of the most beautiful we had seen so far, the volcanoes and the lakes, rivers and forests make for living life in a very outdoorsy way, although apparently it was pretty horrid in winter when it rains a lot. We were next headed to the shadow of the Andes, Argentina where the rainfall is substantially less throughout the year. We headed south from Pucon in a coach as per usual, following a road down a ever narrower valley until there was no longer any substantial human population , just the occasional farm and small hotel. The scenery was more and more jagged and wild it seemed, with the trees “growing” lichen from every branch and twig. Then the road changed from tarmac to a dusty track which was well maintained, but in parts very narrow, and constantly climbing to reach the pass on the north side of another volcano. The entire area is a national park and it is shared between Argentina and Chile I think. With such rugged and seeminly primordeal landscapes it made the bus ride an absolute pleasure and slow enough to take photos out of the window. We arrived at the Chilean border and passports were scanned and stamped as usual, a few passengers scrutinised and questioned, but let pass. A five minute bus ride on was the Argentinian border post. Each of the buildings was quite imposing, the chilean border looks like some kind of Ski Chalet built out of wood, whilst the Argentine one is a Ski Chalet with a massive fireplace inside, built out of Stone and wood, both in keeping with European Alpine traditional development. Nice change though from little shacks and concrete huts in the Caribbean. The changes in landscape were also quite interesting, the Chilean border marking the change between mixed forest to Monkey Puzzle forest which is one of the oldest tree species alive, and the Argentine border continues with the Monkey Puzzle tree but a thinning variety that gives way to scrub land pretty quickly.

The Argentine border was all very efficient, the military type police with gleaming uniforms, boots and combed hair were all proud as to be serving the HUGE flag they sat under and also took the liberty to search a few peoples luggage, for what I don’t know. Two women of caribbean origin were refused entry so while things were sorted out or not, we hung around and stared at a very active volcano or warmed ourselves by the fire inside. Then it was back to the border to verify something with the Chileans and then back again to the Argentine side, luckily it is only a five minute drive between the borders…the result was that the two women were still not to be let in. Off the bus and onwards ho.

The bus hit a tarmac road fairly soon and trundled through the changing landscape, much drier already that Chile, but equally beautiful until we hit the north of the lake district and the town of San Martin de Los Andes. Driving towards the bus stop we were given a quick tour of the very tourist mountain sports orientated town, ski chalet type buildings everywhere again and then a very pictureque lake. A very relaxed tout handed us a a slip of paper and then cycled off advertsing a room in a private house so we hesitated, but after walking to some other hostels we met the tout again who knocked off a good thirty pesos a night which sealed the deal. This marked our arrival to San Martin.. nothing overly exciting, but very beautiful.
MT

Pucon Horse Trekking with Antilco - 26th + 27 Sep

2009-10-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

Horse trekking… whose idea was that? We had initially come to Pucon to visit the Antilco horse farm which was by far the cheapest riding in the area as far as I could find from my research. On arrival we had considered a half day ride around the area, but, as it happened got a little more that we planned. The first weekend was their first weekend of 2 day horse treks and it was very reasonable to go, so we decided to go for it. The horses all looked really healthy and whilst moulting slightly, Jen was almost exstatic by the trip planning. The day came and we saddled up our horses, mine a light brown Mare and Jens a dark brown Mare. We were accompanied by two french medical students who were spending a semester observing at a nearby town and Antilco guides Jamie and Luis. We trotted off in an organised manner, our horses behaving themselves for the moment.
The trip was terrific, and luis and jamie both knew the horses well, Luis is a born Puconese guide, wilderness expert, horse trainer etc, and Jamie was spending a couple months working while travelling. We headed into the sun with dark skies threatening rain, but thankfully disspearing sooner than later. The trail meanwhile changed from dusty road to backcountry and then road again through Mapuche village and finally onto a steep hill side. My horse developed its own personality very quickly and was taking me for the ride it seemed, trotting when it felt like it, galloping at will too. It didn’t manage to throw me off by the time we had lunch and also managed to find itself lots of yummy snacks of leaves, twigs, grass and anything else it fancied along the way. Jen seemed to have more control over her horse…

We stopped for lunch on a nice hill side overlooking Pucon and Lake Villarica, with dark skies in one part, sunshine in the other and the volcano in the other direction it was a terrific view. The horses didn’t seem to care too much, the grass was apparently much tastier. The next stage was through the first pass and the path wound its way around the steep mountain sides, thickly forested, crossing streams and rivers. At one stage it got a little too steep for us and we pulled our horses up the path while Luis and his horse rode on ahead. His skills and horse were admirable; although our horses all really wanted to take a bite out of his baring their teeth and flattening their ears everytime he got too near. They did the same to each other, but to a lesser extent.

Eventually we reached a level which was perhaps the tree line and trotted and cantered through the landscape. My horse refused to drink anything when the other horses were busy drinking, choosing instead a choice small waterfall with a selection of branches and trees around my face height instead. Only the best for my horse. We reached our camp for the night and it was cold, perhaps 2 degrees celcius and as night fell we huddled near the fire for warmth, and importantly, for steaks and sausages cooked by the fire. The steaks were mounted onto a bamboo stick and grilled near the fire and then later cut off, resulting in fantastic steaks, eaten with a lovely potato salad and other stuff. The meal was finished with Pisco Sour, grilled marshmallows and chocolate… What a great day.

The next day the horses were recovered from the paddock nearby, our frozen bodies thawed over steaming cups of tea. The tents and stuff was repacked and saddled. I decided to get on my horse which I had left snoozing on the horse and it wasn’t quite as pleased to have me on its back, bucking a little as I tried to walk it across to the others. The horses were all a little frisky that morning and I learnt a little about rein control. My horse refused to do anything with kicks, but responded instead to a small whip attached to the reins which I had to whip it with when I wanted it to get moving. Downhill frisky horses…. Jens bit most horses that came too close, Jamies was generally very excited and well mine, once more, did pretty much what ever it wanted. Walking down slopes for example, was largely not an option, a trot was the only acceptable way, so it would stop and wait for the other horses to clear out and then trot down. Finally, we reached the flats along the river again near the farm, the path was beautiful and the plants very tasty. I think until we reached the last bit of road my horse had some kind of plant in its mouth the whole time. I had been watching the others trot at this point, and decided to try standing in my stirrups for the last bit of the ride, but this didn’t really have the reaction I thought it would. My horse simply got faster and faster and broke into an outright gallop, what fun! When I finally stopped it I was pretty much at the front gate and waited around for most of the others, one other horse and beginner rider had joined my mad dash so we joked about our horses and our poor riding skills.

The whole stay with Antilco was outstanding, and highly memorable. I would really recommend it to anyone, even a non rider. The team was able to give me pointers and help my riding along, while the equipment is very comfortable and felt more secure than the western kit I had used in Australia and Mexico on shorter rides. The closed stirrups also felt pretty good, and well with the horse deciding over much of the route, the chaps came in very handy. I also havent seen Jen much happier whilst doing any of our activities.. beaming pretty much the whole time. Definitely worth returning to see Matthias and the crew there again. MT

Pucon 22nd – 28th September

2009-09-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

After a ten hour overnight bus ride, which was exceptionally comfortable, we woke up to stunning lakes, forests, snow clad mountains & Swiss style chalets. The bus is so comfortable in fact that you are tucked in by the conductor… I quite liked it, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea! We were picked up and taken to Antilco, a farm with self catering accommodation that Mark found knowing that I love horse riding, which was very sweet. The farm is owned by a really nice German guy called Matthias and they specialize in Andes trekking, having 16 horses on the farm. The 25 minute journey from the town really highlighted just how isolated the farm is – 6 km down a dirt track, crossing a single small car wooden bridge over a gushing river, rolling hills with the snowcapped peaks in the background – scenery that is so stunning, it’s breathtaking. Arriving on the farm, I was so excited to see the little log cabin which was just for mark and I (no other bookings) with its own little kitchen and wood burner, which heated the whole place. The farm has really cute dogs who love cuddles and follow you everywhere, even on the horse treks apparently. There are also ducks, chickens, a terrace by the river, waterfalls nearby, kayaking etc, etc. You can get involved in helping with the horses, so I volunteered Mark on our first day and he did a great job of catching one of the ponies, giving it a good groom and saddling it up ready for a ride…having been shown by me how to put on a bridle, Mark took the matter into his own hands, doing a very amusing and effective job by saying ‘come on horsey, bitey, bitey.’ As Jamie (the Australian groom) and I were looking at each other in amused disbelief with the expression of ‘he did not really just say that,’ the horse opened its mouth and lent forward to grab the bit, leaving me with a very smug boyfriend. In the afternoon we cycled into Pucon to book our Villaricca Volcano trip!

Starting at 5.45am we got a taxi to the hostel to collect our equipment, which consisted of crampons, ice pick, trousers, jacket, hat, etc, etc…pretty serious stuff. BTW, we were all given the same kit, so the photos are not a his ‘n hers special edition...one of my pet hates! There were 6 people in our group – only Mark and I made it to the top. I do not think it was because the climb was exceptionally tough, rather that the others did not like the cold, or something like that. We walked up the ski slope which admittedly was a hard slog, but even from low down the views were stunning, right out over the Andes and into Argentina. The volcano is one of the most active in South America standing at around 2850m high. We started climbing at 1300m, so had a good 1450m vertical climb. Near the top, there are beautiful ice formations on the glacier, including blue ice. Once we reached the summit we were treated to a massive crater, which was impressively deep and emitting very sulphuric fumes – apparently it last erupted in 1984 and the eruption to village destruction time is 7 minutes…good to know. Coming down took 1.5 hours vs. 5 hours up – not that we are super unfit, rather you slide down chutes in the snow on your bum, using your ice pick to control your speed. It was actually one of the most fun things ever, like tobogganing without the toboggan – whoohoo! What a great day…satisfaction of completing a challenge, amazing views and sliding down a 1400m toboggan…yeeha.
We have booked a two day horse ride into the Andes with an overnight camp, which we will do tomorrow…update to follow. JG

Santiago de Chile – 18th – 22nd September

2009-09-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

We arrived at our abode, the Hotel Angamos, at five in the morning from the airport and were welcomed in by the cute old man who runs it with his son. The hotel was a real find…about half the price of a hostel bed for a double ensuite room with breakfast, which consists of fresh bread, homemade jam and coffee. It is not a high spec sort of place and is a little chilly (boo boom), but is perfect if you are on a budget…the location is very central. Once we woke up around midday, we went off to explore the city. With the spring sunshine on our backs and bright blue skies, it was a real pleasure just walking and walking without a map, seeing what we would discover. Wow, I love Santiago…lots of beautiful buildings left by the Spanish, big parks, clean streets, amazing metro network and the best thing…360 degree views of the snow capped Andes, reminding you that not only are you in a cosmopolitan city, but also very close to fun activities, like SKIING. We had arrived in Chile for their Independence Day celebrations, so in the evening, Mark and I went to one of the parks to soak up the festive atmosphere and try some local delicacies, which was fun.

The following day we hopped on one of the sightseeing buses to see some more of the city. We found the shopping plaza, where we booked a cheeky ski trip for Monday (whoop woo), and then walked around the old town in the afternoon enjoying the singing, dancing and general fun atmosphere that comes with a national holiday weekend. We also visited the Museum of National History, which was very interesting, as well as the Museum of Fine Art, which has some lovely sculptures. Climbing up the hill to the small fort provided an excellent view of the city and mountains at sunset. After all the walking Mark and I were starving and lucky enough to come across a restaurant, which was amazing. All decked out in wood, with lots of quirky pictures, it had a warm chalet feeling with homemade smells coming from the kitchen and an amazing wine rack that reached right up to the high ceiling…probably over a thousand bottles of Chile’s finest. I had the venison steak with a courgette and goats cheese tower…health health health but AMAZING …every mouthful was heaven. Mark had a good ol’fashioned steak all washed down with some delicious Chilean red wine so we were in food nirvana.

Needing to burn off some calories, we headed to Valle Nevada, a ski resort only 40kms from the Santiago. The road is impressive, long and winding with sheer drops. The terrain is beautiful, sometimes reminiscent of the Grand Canyon before the snowline begins. The skiing did not disappoint, despite being late in the season…there was not too much ice and definitely enough runs to play for the day. I would say that the resort & runs are too small for a week but perfect for a few days & having missed out on the season in Europe (poor us, we’ve had such a hard year), it was a pleasure & a real treat to be skiing. The fog descended around 4pm so Mark and I had to blindly find our way back to the resort. It also made the trip down the mountain in the bus interesting with only 3m visibility, but in some ways it is quite nice not to see the sheer drops. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. On a real high from skiing and nicely tired, we feasted on miso soup, sushi and green tea before hitting the sack.

On our last day, we visited more museums and went to another great restaurant called xx which is a 1960s style city bar with simple but deliciously done food (mark was drooling over his steak) & again, an impressive wine list. We had a quick bite, and then headed off to the Tur Bus station to catch our night ride to Pucon. Big thumbs up for Santiago and what a great introduction to Chile…could potentially rate as one of my favourite countries so far…we will see…JG

Columbia for coffee and dinner – 17th September

2009-09-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Our flight from Panama to Santiago had a nine hour stopover in Bogota, so we thought it would be fun to venture into the city, at least for some Columbian coffee. We got a taxi to the old town, which is a beautiful area, with grand colonial style buildings, winding streets, cosy cafes and a definite student vibe. This contrasted starkly to an area we drove through with the taxi…prostitutes in every door, old women sniffing glue in the street and just general bad feeling…needless to say our driver bent round and locked our doors for us.
I got to have my coffee which was delicious, especially with the addition of cardamom seeds. We found a little café tucked away on one of the steep hill streets and had a delicious local soup with chicken, sweet corn, potatoes, cream and fresh avocado…definitely a winter warmer for a much cooler city than expected. After giving the street llamas the obligatory stroke, we headed back to the airport feeling refreshed and ever so slightly jet set…JG

Panama City 9th – 17th September

2009-09-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

After a 9 hour trip from Boquete (which should have been 7 hours, if it wasn’t for a fallen tree on a truck, totally blocking the road) we arrived in Panama City and ended up at a hostel called Zulys, which is alright but nothing to write home about. The good thing about it is the location, which is very central. The bad thing (s) – I genuinely believe the owner, Zuly was not taught how to smile in childhood – she is grumpy, rude and everything is far too much trouble…not sure about her career choice but there you go. Anyhow, it was adequate, and we arrived late in the evening, so we got on with it.

For the first couple of days, we had to sort out stuff which required a larger city, like insurance forms, posting stuff home, etc – snore! We did make it to Albrook, the big & super cheap shopping centre, which is awesome – think jeans for $5. On the 11th, we had a little ‘holiday’ on the San Blas Islands, which is three hours drive from PC – see previous blog entry.
Returning from the San Blas,
we explored Panama City, going to the Casco Viejo (the old town), which is beautiful and makes a great contrast on the skyline to the equally fabulous modern skyscrapers that are popping up along the sea front. There is an excellent path which goes all the way between the two & makes for a great afternoon walk. We visited another shopping centre, the multi-plaza, which was definitely a playground for the rich and more of a window shop for us, or at least until we get jobs again! The highlight of Panama is definitely the canal. We went to the Miraflores Lock, which is where many ships pass through from Pacific to Caribbean and vice versa, depending on the time of day. They have an excellent museum, which is really informative and well laid out. You can stand and watch the boats coming through, although unfortunately for us, there was a 2.5 hour gap with no boats when we were there, so did not see any. Despite this, it was still a very interesting morning and comes highly recommended. In the evenings we went out for dinner with our boat captain, Tony, to a fun Lebanese restaurant and then an Italian one the next night – always nice to be shown where to go by a local!

In summary, Panama City is a fun place, with a very apparent American influence – a good place to end our Central American adventure before hopping on a flight to pastures cooler, namely, Chile. JG

San Blas Islands – 11th – 13th September

2009-09-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Having heard amazing things about these islands, we decided it was essential to book a sailing trip to get a taste of some of the 360-odd tropical paradise gems scattered around the Caribbean Sea. The journey started in Panama City with a 4am wake up call to take a jeep for 3 hours along a very steep dirt road & even through a river. The trip was stunning with the sun rising over the rainforest clad hills and the mist starting to rise. We were interested by the tax we had to pay on entering the Kuna Indian territory. Having their own laws, they have the right to change any costs at the last minute & regularly do so. On arriving at the sea, we took a little boat an island, which had a Kuna Village and waited for the start of our sailing adventure.
We were lucky enough to find Tony Santos, who regularly takes out his own boat, the Andiamo, for San Blas sailing trips and the journey to Cartagena in Columbia. Not a charter, but not a ‘pack the backpackers in,’ the Andiamo provided the perfect solution to having chilled out sailing with fun people and at a good price. The boat allows for 8 guests (3 private cabins & single beds) and the whole trip is geared around people mucking in with the cooking, washing up and general fun-making. Tony is a great guy with lots of energy & interesting stories, especially regarding his negotiations with the local Kuna chiefs, who he seems to get on with very well. Sailing definitely seems like the best option to actually see some of the islands, rather than staying on one, which may be slightly limiting. We sailed to a few different islands, stopping for obligatory swimming in the crystal clear water & some snorkeling. The islands are undoubtedly the most beautiful I have seen, looking every bit the desert island cartoon, some with just one palm tree and a white sand beach shelving into the perfect turquoise water...the question is, what or who would you take with you??! Tony managed to negotiate some freshly caught lobster from one of the Kuna, which made a delicious dinner one night. We were unsurprised to hear that only two years previously, you only needed to put your head under the water to see an abundance of lobster winking at you from the bottom, with ‘eat me’ inscribed on their claws. Due to overfishing by the Kuna, the lobsters are much harder to find. When we questioned the morality of continuing to buy lobster from the Kuna, Tony explained that the problem is not so much the fishing, but more that they catch lobsters which are too small, or full of eggs, which naturally would inhibit future stocks. Therefore, Tony only buys large lobster from the Kuna and I was very happy to eat them.
The Kuna are a classic case of a minority stuck between traditional and modern society. While they are happy to indulge in Panama City, spending all of the taxes they regularly collect from visitors to their land on mobile phones, designer clothes & other modern appliances, they also seem to stick to their traditions in a way which only has a negative impact on the environment. For example, they refuse to accept any offer of education on how to protect their environment, i.e. why they should not throw rubbish straight into the sea, why they should not ruin ecosystems by overfishing, etc, seeing any outside advice as a threat & causing them to be defensive and subsequently reassert their power in negative ways. Some Kuna chiefs have obviously been bribed enough by the foreign investors as a new road is in the process of being built along the mainland with the area open for land purchase for foreign investors & a marina is being built. Based on our wild and adventurous journey to the islands, I think the new road will make the islands a very different place when it opens next year – I am just glad that I saw it in its tranquil, pristine and exquisite state before it becomes the next Bocas del Toro.
If you do decide to go to the San Blas Islands, I would really recommend Tony’s boat: http://theandiamo.com/logwp/tag/andiamo-sailing-club/ Mark and I had the most relaxing time & the place is just gorgeous. JG

Panama: Bocas del Toro and Boquete, 6th – 9th September

2009-09-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

The first impression of Panama was amusing and back to bullshit. We got out the laptops to show the border guards our flight details then went on a hunt for a ride to Bocas Del Toro which is widely hailed as a party town on the backpacker trail. What isn’t hailed as a party town, I am not sure. But, the islands Bocas Del Toro sits on are beautiful and are home to dolphins and a diversity of wildlife and lonely beaches. We were approached by a taxi tout as usual who proclaimed that the bus rides would take at least 4 hours and cost a minimum of 8 dollars each, which was only 2 dollars less than we would pay for his collective trip. We were not the mood for another long bus ride so grudgingly got in, but didn’t pay anything. There was general annoyance amongst the travellers in the bus that we were obviously being ripped off so they got out to organize something else. They managed to get a 5 dollar deal which is still 2.50 more than the bus ride to Bocas. So we got out and persuaded the last two tourists to get out to and make other arrangements. The annoyance of the touts and the driver was evident and filled me with Schadenfreude. The ride took 2 hours and took us to a little port where we handed over another four dollars for a speedboat to the island. When we got there, more touts. We told them to bugger off and when asked where we were staying said none of your business which shut them up for once! Bloody Touts.

The town of Bocas is dusty and colourful. The hostels and hotels ranged from cheap and dumpish to not too cheap and quite nice looking, we opted for one notch above cheap and dumpish paying a whole 2 usd more each and enjoyed a/c AND hot water and a nice bed. The difference between our hotel/hostel Brisas and the most commonly known one was enormous and well worth spending a little extra. We met up with the others we had been travelling with and enjoyed Rum and coke for a dollar a cup, jumping into a pool and partying till late. The hostels and clubs had personal checks for weapons and things, but nobody seemed to check or kick out the very obvious drug dealers who constantly offered cocaine and marijuana, it was irritating!

The next day we headed out to sea; dolphins and red frogs on a beach. The trip was fantastic, cruising around the islands in a small boat we found some dolphins and tried desperately to take photos, unsuccessfully it turned out. The boat spun around creating waves and the dolphins jumped the waves and did spins, it was fantastic. Who needs a Marine park when you have that? Further highlights of the trip were a new marina in which we saw amazing Super yachts, sailing and motorized ones, and enjoyed a beach on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, waves crashing into some exquisite soft sand, a couple meters behind us the rainforest. Idyllic it was, and hopefully remains as such, and a total opposite to Bocas itself. The local communities might be doing ok from tourists, but once more the majority of developments were outside investors and stranded travelers who had decided to stay on, although I am not sure why. Bocas didn’t impress as a town, and the surrounding seas may have once been host to numerous life, but snorkeling around it was evident that the fish life was being depleted quickly. The area has a lot of potential to be much more for both tourists and locals, but needs more in the form of control for the developments. I wasn’t sad to get on a boat again and head towards the mainland.

The next stage was a day long trip to the Pacific coast of Panama, where we headed to the best coffee plantations in the world in Boquete. The bus trip was long, and cost all of 7 usd and took us to David, from where we took another chicken bus to Boquete. It was delightfully cool and the rain was a great change to the hot sun. On arrival we checked a few places out, and found the locals to be very friendly indeed and accommodating! Venturing out we found a terrific Mexican restaurant that was cheap and the owner cooked and served her food with a flourish. If you head there see if you can find it, head south on the main road from the main square, then turn right at the first major crossing, it is on your right hand side.

We booked a trip for a coffee trip the next day, which we highly recommend, with a firm called Café Ruiz which is apparently one of the top 5 coffee producers in the world. We were shown how the farm produces coffee and uses the similar conditions to grow rare coffee varieties. They also used fruit trees and other food producing trees to provide shade and provide their workers with food during the picking season. The workers, our guide started at 10, are all indigenous Indians who are housed in fairly nice and new accommodation during the six month picking season and tramp between the coast between Boquete and the Caribbean coast where they live in the dense jungle. I was extremely impressed with the coffee plantation and their ethics, and I feel I learnt a lot! For example, the beans they discard – that float or are slightly off are apparently favourites for producers such as Nescafe and others who produce freeze dried coffee. Sadly, a lot of the farmers are selling their lands for short term profits to retiring Americans primarily who like to build beautiful gated communities. I would have thought a coffee growing region could sell Carbon Credits and earn more per year than the short term income generated by the land sales? Anyone fancy a project?
We left after the coffee tour as we had booked an exciting sailing trip in the San Blas and needed some time to organize things like insurance documents and so on in Panama City. We took a bus back to David and then got a bus to Panama City. It took a while as a tree had hit a truck, wrecked it and blocked the road, adding around 2 hours to the journey. Nobody was hurt which was good, sadly a beautiful tree was destroyed. MT

Puerto Viejo - 31st August to 5th September

2009-09-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

We arrived by cab into Puerto Viejo and found another sleepy little town full of small restaurants, cafes, and shops and hostels bordering on an exquisite black sand beach on the one side and small inlets and shallow reefs with white sand beaches on the other. It was pretty hot so we decided to find accommodation asap and went hunting for the recommended and advertised ones hostels we had seen. They were the usual mess and not particularly great for the money they were demanding. There is an absolute piss take around the world by hostel owners who have “cool” places which usually provide crappy rooms; uncomfortable beds and large bar areas which aren’t that expensive; but usually too much for what they offer. We turned around and walked out of several places before finding a locally owned hotel, that was not only cheaper than the hostels in the guide books, but was superior in layout, bedding quality and room sizes, not to mention the actual state of the place. It is called Talamanca if you do head there and was a left when walking south about 1km out of town towards Rockin J’s. We paid 10k Colones per night for both of us. A quick shower later and we headed into town to find out what it was all about.

Puerto Viejo, as mentioned is full of small bars and cafes, owned locally and by expats from the US and UK primarily it seems. They have done a good job in creating bright and fun little places, generally serving food that is reasonably priced. It is too expensive for a developing country; with the majority of tourists not being backpackers in the past few years, I suppose they have been adjusted slightly, and this is a trend matched across all tourist areas in Costa Rica. We found that they western restaurant and bar owners were far friendlier than some locals who seem to miss the point slightly- working in hospitality doesn’t mean you can just rip people off to make money out of them; you do need to be friendly! The town languages were Creole, English, Spanish and surprisingly, a lot of German!
There was good internet all round the town, and the main internet café also has a large screen up and shows three films every night which is great way to have a cheap evening away from the computer and the many bars, and attracted a good number of travelers every night. It got extremely hot each day so we found ourselves looking for shade and internet to pass the midday sun.

We had a very relaxing time in Puerto Viejo, catching up on blog writing, wandering around taking it easy. The black sand beach was terrific, Jen spent some time rubbing a lot of the sand all over her and looked quite funny when she finally headed for the water she was really quite covered, it sticks really well. The stuff doesn’t come off to easily though and we spent ages rubbing it off in the water, and also added black specs into her bikini top and bottom. The black beach carried on for miles and miles, we walked for miles coming across a number of small hotels and houses just behind the beach, all quite idyllic we thought! Waking up surprisingly early each day was a little annoying and we’d often find we were in town looking for breakfast before the places were open, which is around 8:30 usually. One of the best breakfast places we found overlooked the small harbour on the way into town and service and food was superb. There was also a French style bakery that made a typical coffee and croissant breakfast which was near the bus station. Lunch and dinner always seems to be similar, rice, beans and chicken or fish … maybe it was because of our budget though.

Puerto Viejo was great, and while we didn’t do any surfing or diving there this time, I would happily return for more of the very relaxed way of life here and perhaps head out to practice surfing and do more diving. We were ready to roll on at the end of the stay and looked forward to the next bit, Panama! All we needed to do was board a bus or two and head south.

The trip to the border cost next to nothing, 2 USD each I seem to recall. The chicken bus heads north along the coast then across the hills and south to the border. The border itself is a river with a narrow old rail bridge with planks of wood as the road surface serving as a crossing for people and trucks. The Panamanians like to see you have onward travel arrangements handy. MT

31st August Speeding through the Jungle

2009-09-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Our fantastic little holiday from holiday was done we felt rested and ready to pack the bags again. Incidentally, I think it was quite possibly the best hotel I have ever stayed at! Where to next? The bus rides all the way didn’t seem to really make sense to the boat trip was the obvious connection. It meant an early trip leaving at 10am and a little more expense, but that was certainly worth every penny!
Our boat was full of Spanish and our taxi driver/tour guide hit the throttle hard, as usual. We sped down the river Pacuare running behind the front lines of the islands and then into some much smaller canals and streams. The ride was intense, bits of tree or whole trees not uncommon, but the throttle speed was kept high. The right corners and the racing mode was great fun and cruising through dense jungle was fun. It felt like being part of Apocalypse Now once more copying the river boat going up stream. We didn’t see any monkeys, but every once in a while there were things like turtles and small croc’s to be seen – Caimans which really don’t seem to be very menacing at all. At one point we were stopped by a tree that had fallen across the path of the river and was in the process of being chopped up by the park ranger types and we helped another boat through by nudging it none too gently across.

All in, we were very pleased not to have spent lots of money on a tour as we saw a lot and the driver stopped several times for photos to be taken. The trip took a whole four hours due to the various stops we made along the way for fuel, food and well the tree issue, and of course smaller boats which might be capsized by the wake we created.

There is no way anyone doing this bit of the trip south should take any other route. It was great. Arriving at the largest docks in Costa Rica was nothing special, some very large banana boats loading and a road out. The shared taxi for 70km was $10 each and quite fair we thought. We had no real desire to wait for chicken bus and travel that way just yet! The road winds along the coast and through some more great landscape and when we arrived in Puerto Viejo it was like stepping back in time to the San Pedro bit of the trip mixed in with Costa Rica. Great little place to hang out in. With a little walking and a lot of sweating we found a new Cabinas called Talamanca which wasn’t too far from the backpacker place Rockin J’s (which we couldn’t face) and slightly cheaper too! MT

Tortuguero - 29th – 31st Aug

2009-09-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

The journey from Cariari to Tortuguero really highlighted just how desolate a place we were entering. First, you take a bus which follows dirt tracks to La Pavona, which in essence is a farm. Then you board a river taxi, which takes you on the most exciting trip down swampy canals with overbearing rainforest enclosing on you from both sides of the river bank, giving it a real Indiana Jones crossed with Heart of Darkness feel. The taxi is the water equivalent of a chicken bus, with lots of people crammed in & regular stops to say hi to friends of the driver. Still, the ride is beautiful and it’s possible to spot all kinds of birds, monkeys and crocodiles during the two hours. The heavens opened as we reached Tortuguero Village, soaking us to the bone, despite the raincoats the driver kindly lent us. From the village we took another river taxi to the Tortuga Lodge, our abode for the next two nights…
The Tortuga Lodge – a little piece of paradise in the heart of the jungle.

For a special treat & to have a holiday from being a backpacker, Mark and I splurged on this fabulous boutique hotel which is without doubt one of the best hotels I have stayed in. In my previous job I regularly travelled the globe and stayed in some very good 5* hotels, however, despite only having 3*s, the Lodge is absolutely world class in terms of tranquility and personalized service. I will go into some detail regarding the hotel as I really had such a special and memorable experience there, even so far as to say one of the best of the whole trip.

On arrival, looking like drowned rats with big smelly backpacks and muddy clothes, we were greeted with big smiles, relived of our bags and shown to the terrace overlooking the river before being handed a delicious fresh fruit cocktail. Curling up on the squashy sofas, drinking steaming hot coffee, munching on freshly baked cupcakes and watching the rain pound down on the river, Mark and I started to feel slightly smug about the decision we had made. The hotel manager came to welcome us, talking us through the services & then showed us to our room after handing us an umbrella each, as it involved a pretty walk through the tropical gardens and past the crescent shaped pool with a hammock house in the middle. Walking into our room was magical – it was set in a chalet style building, all clad in beautiful polished hardwood, on the first floor and with a 360 degree veranda featuring hammocks, rocking chairs and cushions. The room opened up onto the front balcony offering a beautiful view of the river & gardens and also onto the back where you were on the edge of the 146 acres of private virgin rainforest. The room had some thoughtful features such as a bookshelf teaming with interesting reads, photographs depicting some interesting history of the lodge, such as when the owner caught a Bull Shark just off the river pier, and lots of information on the efforts the lodge is making to be ecologically friendly – most of the furniture is made out of local wood or coconut shells giving interesting shapes and dimensions to the room. The atmosphere was very serene – huge bed with crisp white linen, squashy pillows, fluffy towels, immaculate tiling in the bathroom, low lighting and lots of candles, which contrasted exquisitely with the dark hardwood – it looked like some kind of heaven for our weary bodies. The best thing was the lack of phones, TVs, even glass in the windows (only nets) really making you feel a million miles from anywhere. Although the lodge has wifi in its office room, it is your choice whether or not to go in and use it, so it gives you the opportunity to totally switch off from the outside world and really get back to nature.

For lunch, we sat on the restaurant veranda and enjoyed a beautiful 3 course meal with an excellent bottle of cabernet sauvignon, the rest of which we finished on our balcony lying in the hammocks and listening to the sounds of the jungle. While Mark snoozed, I read my book, although I kept getting distracted by the 15 or so howler monkeys that decided to jump around the trees right next to the balcony putting on quite a fun display for me – the sort of disturbance which is a pleasure to receive. Later, Mark and I decided to go exploring on some of the many trails through the rainforest which belong to the lodge. They lent us a pair of wellies and off we went. Tortuguero national park is famous for its turtles which come to the protected beach to lay eggs every year. It is also one of the largest national parks in Costa Rica and has the widest expanse of rainforest which is inaccessible by road – the only way to navigate the jungle is through the intricate network of canals which exist in certain areas. Subsequently, the variation & richness of wildlife in the jungle is impressive – jaguars are known to be spotted on the beach looking for the turtle maternity unit, monkeys wander around like tourists in Leicester Square & there are more iguanas sunbathing by the pool than teenagers desperate for a tan on Brighton Beach. On our little stroll through the jungle, we spotted the vibrant red poison dart frogs having fun in the puddles, lots of monkeys, big spiders on glistening webs, many butterflies, especially the big vibrant turquoise and black variety & cheeky leaf insects trying to unsuccessfully blend in.

The hotel also has a games room with ping pong, chess, connect four, etc, so Mark and I had fun messing around with a healthy dose of competition. For dinner we had booked a special meal to celebrate a year of being together, which was to be held in the tropical garden by candlelight. On arriving at the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail & homemade appetisers, we discovered to our delight that everywhere had been candlelit – the restaurant, pool area, & along the river making it look magical. Considering that we were the only ones in the hotel, & it had all been done for us, it was an amazing effort on the part of the hotel staff. Receiving very personalized service from our waiter, we were escorted to our table which looked so beautiful. It is hard to put into words how happy I was…picture a balmy night, tropical flowers lit up by dozens of candles placed on the ground twinkling like magical glowworms, lanterns hanging from the trees, fire torches along the river, songs of cicadas filling the air, the occasional waft of wild jasmine, and there in the middle of it all, hundreds of miles inside the exotic rainforest, a table beautifully set for two. The meal was delicious, with the waiter remembering all of our personal tastes. The only interruptions were the iguanas plopping into the river next to us, and Mark and I pondering over whether the red dots on the river were envious crocodile eyes licking their lips at such delicious fare. The meal was topped off with a cake specially made for us, brought out by the chef Valentin. As if the meal was not amazing enough, when we retired to our room, a little fairy had been inside to put fresh towels, turn down the bed and light candles all over the place. There were even two flutes of coffee liqueur placed on the side table – the whole experience was the most romantic thing I have ever seen.

The following morning, where an alarm clock was provided in the form of toucans and monkeys, we dined on a scrumptious breakfast of fresh fruit, granola, bacon, etc, and of course, delicious Costa Rican coffee. A double mattress with fresh towels had automatically been laid out by the pool ‘in case’ we wanted to go for a swim – so typical of the hotel, always anticipating your needs before you even have to think or ask. Therefore, alongside the huge iguanas we lounged around before bumping into the gardener, who very kindly took us on a walk around the grounds. This proved to be very interesting with him pointing out a snake, the tree to look out for the resident sloth (which happened to be next to our balcony), places to look for toucans, the sunbathing spot of the resident Caiman & all sorts of kingfishers. Later on that day, the manager came to find us to show us the sloth which was only metres away, clumsily falling from one tree to another. We also found a big tarantula in a hole and about 10 colourful toucans that were all munching on palm dates. Lunch and dinner provided more three-course mouth watering delicacies & then it was time for the piece de resistance – the night time turtle watching.

The hotel took just Mark and I to the place in their boat with a guide and we went to our allotted space on the beach (it is timed as it is a national park and they need to restrict the number of visitors). We were a little disappointed to discover that there were about 6 other groups, some with up to 8 people all to see the same turtle, which meant taking it in turns to watch them. Perhaps this was a result of the exclusivity we had been spoilt with over the last few days, or maybe there were just too many people, who knows?! This small annoyance quickly vanished at the sight of a 300 pound trying to dig herself out of her nest, obviously exhausted from laying all her eggs. The ranger gave her a helping push and then she dragged herself down the beach, back into the pitch black sea. We watched another turtle come in shortly afterwards, dig a nest and then could see her popping out the eggs like ping pong balls in quick succession – I think she would give the girls in Pat Pong a good run for their money. It was quite special to watch & definitely worth waiting around for.

We left our little paradise the next morning, quite sad to be going on our way & returning to the backpacker lifestyle, but armed with some amazing memories & a great incentive to work as hard as possible to stay in boutique hotels again! JG

Pacuare River - White Water Rafting – 28th Aug

2009-09-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

We were picked up at ridiculous o’clock from La Fortuna by Exploradores, the company we had chosen to go rafting with due to the good reviews and their adherence to safety, i.e. providing kayakers to back up the rafts, etc. After a 2 hour journey to Talamanca national park, which is beautiful btw, we arrived at the company headquarters to enjoy a hearty breakfast and drop off our bags. Then a 40 min bus ride up a very steep and winding hill to the river. We were put in a boat with 4 other people, plus our instructor, who was really fun & from the local area. Off we set down the river, navigating the various grade 3 & 4 rapids. It was SUCH GOOD FUN!! It made the rafting that we did in NZ look tame with big crashing waves coming up over the boats and lots of drop offs where the raft pointed straight down. We all managed to stay in the boat (unless we chose to jump out for a swim) which was fun, although there were some near misses where we nearly lost people temporarily. The river is absolutely stunning, going through two different canyons & dense tropical rainforest known for its jaguars, birds and other wildlife. We passed many crashing waterfalls, some of which our guide kindly (!) steered the boat under to give us all a well needed shower (although there was not much choice)! After a good four hours of non-stop smiling & adventure, we arrived back at HQ for an excellent lunch then hopped on the bus to Guapiles.
From Guapiles, we got another bus to Cariari where we stayed for one night in order to catch the 6am bus/river taxi to/from La Pavona. Cariari is a small, local place with not much to do, however if you do find yourself transferring there, I would recommend staying at Las Palmas, which is a great hostel with cheap, clean rooms, a really cute puppy and a kind owner who even let us use his washing machine for free. JG

La Fortuna – 25th – 28th Aug

2009-09-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

We arrived by ‘jeep’ ahem, mini bus to this volcanic town, based around Mt Arenal, which is an active volcano regularly spitting out exciting red and black matter. We had heard good things about ‘Gringo Pete’ so tried out the hostel, which turned out to be really fun and cheap (12USD for a double room with private bath). In tow with our new Southern Boooy (yup he got sick of me saying that), we set up camp for the night and had an early one as we were all bushed.
I know Mark mentioned our new friends in his previous post, but I would just like to say how fun it was to meet them. Being slightly obsessed with the southern drawl anyhow, I was particularly excited to meet someone who grew up riding horses on the ‘farm’ (got corrected swiftly from ‘the ranch’), calls his father ‘sir,’ knows how to waltz and do the ‘swinging you around really fast with linked arms until you either die laughing or get flung into outer space’ dance & is funny, polite and just generally fun to be around with a sense of humour that was necessary to deal with Mark and I constantly trying to take the mickey out of him. Well done Sean – you survived.
The first day in La Fortuna was fairly relaxed where we caught up on emails, did some work and pottered around the town. In the evening, we shared some wine with Sean and a German girl called Melanie before going out for some salsa dancing & impromptu karaoke – it was not meant to be karaoke until I heard someone singing Queen in a very interesting style that sounded remarkably like Mark…hmmm…I managed to break my little toe with my terrible salsa moves, but all in all, it was a very fun night.
The following day, the four of us shared a taxi to the natural hot river, which is so cool. Heated by the volcano, it flows fairly fast and is steaming hot in some places and cold in others, so it is possible to lie with your head in the cold water and feet in the nice warm area – all totally free as well. We ended up lounging around there for about an hour, then said goodbye to Sean & Melanie, who were heading back to his Cousin’s house. Mark and I decided to visit the Baldi Hot Springs, which was an excellent decision. We went in the evening so had the pleasure of choosing between 25 different hot pools all set on the volcano hill amongst tropical gardens. The pools vary in size, temperature, bubbles, etc, and many have swim up bars, although the drinks were extortionately expensive. The huge natural Jacuzzi was really fun, as were the slides. The hottest pool was 67 degrees centigrade – a little hot even for toe dipping, although rumour has it that some hardy onsen accustomed Japanese tourists sat in there for a whole 5 minutes the day before – perhaps they were trying to boil an egg? With a buffet dinner thrown in between the lounging in the spas, it was a very relaxing way to spend an evening – would highly recommend it! JG

Santa Elena; Wired and Zipped - 23rd to 25th August 2009

2009-09-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

We had an absolute ball in Santa Elena. Sean’s birthday had to be celebrated and we had booked in on a Zip line experience and forest walk. In addition to that we headed across to a butterfly and frog “sanctuary” before leaving towards La Fortuna by “Jeep Boat Jeep”.
Santa Elena is geared to tourism, in fact, I don’t think there is anything bar tourism here, so the selection of bars and restaurants was very decent, the prices aren’t great for backpackers though. There was only one club which we could see, but that was pretty big and quite empty given the lack of tourists in the town. When we arrived we had been almost attacked by a number of touts who were perhaps a little on the desperate side. The economic downturn was certainly being felt, and for a “one horse show town” I suppose things get especially hard. The upturn will come and they will make more money again! However, the down turn and the fewer tourists means that all the attractions and fun stuff was not oversubscribed and a lot more fun for us!
We bought a day of zip lining which was simply incredible. Nursing slight hangovers from the rum and cokes from the night before, we were driven at high speed up into the hills and to their base. From there we geared up and were shown how to hang, brake and glide and then it was off. 10 Zip lines in total plus two surprises were on the agenda. The zip lines crossed through tree tops; then across valleys and were great fun, looking down into the valleys while flying across was a great rush. The longest of which was the last, and measured a 1 kilometer! The cross winds in the middle made me spin under the wire, and ducking the wire repeatedly I flew across the valleys; I regret not having bought the superman package which flies you across the valley hung on the wire facedown, it looked even more fun! The surprises were great too. At one point we zipped into the canopy of a seriously high tree and then waited patiently in line with no idea what was next. Then there was a great abseil down the entire tree which felt superb followed by a short walk to the next event… This was possibly the most fun, and was based on the same tree. Attaching ourselves by the harnesses to an extremely long rope we jumped off a platform in freefall then jerked and swung through the air Tarzan style, my feet touching the branches of the tree at the top before heading back towards the platform... it was like Laos but without the drop into the water and a lot higher! We headed back to base and some very friendly co zip liners were kind enough to share the photos with us: thank you Randy and Dave! We have put a few up of us. During the trip I had an interesting chat with a woman who seemingly knew or understood nothing of how poor the country is. She complained constantly about the cost of park entrances and how everything in Spain was free. When I explained that she was paying for the upkeep of the park as the Costa Rican government was too poor to pay for it by themselves, and this was how conservation was aided by tourism, she didn’t quite get the connection; it wasn’t really her English that was bad. I couldn’t believe how obviously stupid she was, thankfully I had a wire to catch!!!
That evening we headed out into the forest for a nature walk. Armed with torches we went hunting for sloths, ocelots, spiders and anything else we could find. Really impressive stuff that included a hummingbird nest with sleeping bird inside, an ocelot and a couple of sloths, but I guess you saw that coming…
We would have loved to see a Jaguar but apparently they are pretty shy and wouldn’t have come too close, a proper jungle walk would have been necessary.
The next day we got up late for our travel standards… 8am and got packed and ready before checking out; we had booked the “jeep boat jeep” trip to La Fortuna which is at the foot of Mt Arenal which left at two and gave us some time to chill out. We headed to the Butterfly/Frog house with Sean and saw the various massive and very colourful butterflies and also a whole load of frogs large and small. Arguably the most vibrant frogs were the smallest, poison dart frogs, vivid red with black spots and the green tree frog with awesome huge red eyes. We tried to photograph a couple of them but it wasn’t that easy given lighting and aquarium darkness. We saw some poison dart frogs later on in the wild too.
The “jeep” arrived at two pm to pick us up… not quite a jeep, more like a 4x4 people carrier but hey it drove the stretch to the lake and saved us a very long bus ride and 6am start. The driver drove as if he were possessed and overtook pretty much everything else on the winding dirt track that headed through the hills to the lake that stood between us and Arenal. The lake is the product of a hydro electric power plant that provides something like 60 percent of the energy for Costa Rica, and is actually very beautiful. As we arrived the heavens opened and it rained solidly for the next hour while we waited for the boat to arrive. When it did arrive the very kind tourists refused to get out while we stood in the rain waiting for them. Some impatient and slightly wet person yelled at them and they then started moving. What a bunch of pricks. The boat ride across the lake was beautiful; the boat was fast and low with the water fantastically smooth as always during a rain. We then arrived at the other side of the lake on the Arenal side and disembarked. MT

Scuppered! Ometepe to Costa Rica (Santa Elena) 21st – 22nd Aug

2009-09-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

The plan was to head from Ometepe to El Castillo, a fortress town that held off the Brits, French and various marauding pirates and buccaneers for more than four hundred years at the south eastern coast line, current border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It was taken shortly by a young Horatio Nelson and gang, but dysentery got the better of the forces and they retreated from the Spanish…. There is a link on certain days of the week to San Carlos, a small border town from Ometepe running only weekdays. We found ourselves slightly less entertained there than anticipated and decided to make a move sooner than later; three days earlier. We got up at 4am to get the bus and then connected with the 6:30 am boat to the mainland which apparently linked to a bus …. And then another bus which would take us to San Carlos routing around south of the lakes …. Or not? The ferry across to the mainland was a very under powered boat which was probably left behind by the Spanish in the late 1800s, and took forever it seemed, however, it provided the service for not too much money!
As it turned out, the buses didn’t provide the link and we found ourselves at the border having taken two chicken buses and with no other options than cross or head back north to Managua from where there are “definitely” buses. We crossed the border refusing to cover ground once more, slightly disappointed; it is in the books for next time though. The border was a bizarre affair, with touts selling border cards on either side of the border for a couple of pence. These are of course free of charge at the counter. We didn’t buy the cards out of principal, but did get charged a fee for entering the border area and then two dollars each to leave Nicaragua. The short walk to the Costa Rican border control was fine and then the queue for the stamps was fairly horrendous. The larger buses crossing between the countries all seemed to be at the border simultaneously which created the queues. The border behind us, we found a line to join for buses to Monte Verde apparently; not that there are direct buses there. There was no indication of a bus ticket counter or anything, if you are heading that way and are travelling cheaply, it is opposite the passport check exit/entrance, next to the Douane sign, on the right. The bus will sell you tickets onboard, but you won’t necessarily get a seat. We managed to get a seat somehow. Then into Costa Rica! The bus rolled along spending much of the trip in the other lane, and stopping frequently for Police checks. We assumed that they were for illegal immigrants and drug mules and watched a couple people frog marched off the bus. The Police weren’t too bothered about any western types, but the process was annoying and arduous.
We had done some reading about how to get to Monte Verde and somewhere in the back of my head a name Tiburon popped up as we saw the sign. I spoke to Jen about it and an Alabama drawl suggested from the standing spaces that was the way to Monte Verde and it would be a good idea to get off! As it happened we made some good friends, Sean and his cousin Dow from Alabama and spent a couple more days in their company. The buses or cross country coaches have standing room = if you didn’t know, the aisle in the buses are all fine to be filled up. We then stood in an aisle for 40 minutes to Tiburon where we had to wait until the following day for the bus to Monte Verde and St Elena and passed the time eating a very late lunch. On arrival we found a small hotel in a very small town, clean tidy and much appreciated coolness away from the heat of the past weeks. The hostel was cheap and cheerful, the Chinese food tasted just like anywhere else in the world and well Tiburon was a stop off point for a lot of people we saw the next day heading towards Santa Elena/Monte Verde. There are two buses a day from Tiburon at the more acceptable time at 12:30 costing fifteen hundred Colones each btw. The chicken bus bounced along and then hit the 30 km dirt track.
We met Dow and Sean again who had come in from their accommodation in the Arenal area to head across to Monte Verde at the bus station by chance almost and boarded our bright yellow school bus. The road from Tiburon was incredible and in some instances we had no idea how such a huge bus was able to drive down such incredibly steep dirt tracks, however looking out of the windows at the incredible steep hills dotted with cows and sheep, the drive was vaguely reminiscent of drives through Switzerland, an abundance of greenery all around with plenty of livestock and not too many people! The one village we passed through had some kind of celebration which was starting to get busy, with a huge number of horses saddled and ready to go, a fair ground and lots of parked horse trucks everywhere. It looked like fun, but we needed to get to Santa Elena so we stayed on the bus and carried on. The bus found another tarmac road and then we were there, Santa Elena. The first assessment was that it looked like a small ski resort out of season, small chalet style places with nice wood, but then there was the tropical rain which reminded us where we were… Heading out later that afternoon for some internet access we found a great bar/restaurant/café called the Tree house, which was more expensive than anything I have come across since London!!! We paid $10 for a coffee and a milkshake which I thought was extortionate! However, the place was built around a massive rubber plant tree, Ficcus something or other I believe. The internet was also pretty decent but not good enough for us to go. Ducking beneath the branches to get around could provide problematic for those who have drunk one too many cocktails.
As we had turned up in a group of 6 and it was definitely low season, we got a decent deal at Cabinas Eddy which was very clean, comfortable and had a nice kitchen to use. This actually saved us a bit of cash and it was great to cook our own food once more. We got $8 each, but I think the usual prices were more like $12 each. Set back from the road, it was nice and quiet and they also helped out organize our adventures for the next few days. MT

Ometepe 19th – 21st Aug

2009-08-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

As the boat approaches this island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, you can wonder at the fact that there are Bull Sharks & Sword Fish in the fresh water below you which made it by ‘jumping’ up the river from the Caribbean Sea. The island looks magical, like something out of Jurassic Park, with two towering volcanoes, each surrounded in mist & lush jungle beneath them. We hopped onto a chicken bus on arrival to travel for two hours to the other side of the island. It is not that big, however, the island does not have proper roads and there was a big downpour as we arrived, making the mud tracks into muddy rivers. The 1960s US style school bus delivered though and we made it to the track at the entrance to Finca Magdalena, a hostel we had outlined before arriving. We did get a little unsure as we walked up the steep ‘1km’ pitch black dirt track through the jungle, dripping with sweat from carrying our rucksacks. After checking with a local, we discovered that we were on the right path and kept plodding on. The track was more like 2km & having been warned about snakes before getting on the bus, we were a little concerned at our lack of torch. However, out of nowhere, hundreds of tiny & beautiful twinkling lights appeared making the darkness look like there were fairies everywhere guiding us along – glowworms of course – my first experience of seeing them was entirely magical & meant that I didn’t care how long the track was as I could have looked at them all night flashing away. We heard lots of other exciting noises from the jungle too on the walk up, the most memorable being something which sounded a bit like a laser on a computer game firing away – not sure what it was, but hoping to get a guided walk in Costa Rica to find out! We arrived at the hostel, which was very basic but fun, had some food and collapsed into bed early.
On waking up the next morning, the view was spectacular – the climb up to the hostel meant we could see way out over the lake and all of the lush foliage which came before the beach. The lake is so big, you actually forget that it is not the sea you are staring at. There is a great veranda at the hostel, which is always full of interesting travelers swapping stories and enjoying the island. Directly in front is a beautiful tropical garden filled with all sorts of exotic, colourful flowers & subsequently, hundreds of butterflies. That is no exaggeration – they are everywhere, different shapes, colours, sizes fluttering around and they certainly made breakfast very pleasant indeed. We were even lucky enough to see a hummingbird fly right in front of our table to enjoy a bit of morning nectar. The hostel is actually a working farm that includes coffee, banana fields & they pride themselves on being 100% organic. The food is cheap, simple & delicious & the coffee speaks for itself – you cannot get fresher than this.
Mark & I enjoyed a walk around the jungle, looking out for interesting bugs and monkeys, which we could hear but were proving to be elusive. We followed a trail which is famous for its periglyphs – interesting stone carvings from the pre-Columbian era. We also walked down into the village, which is very poor and basic, with dirt huts, farms animals, etc, but quite obviously self sufficient and full of friendly smiles. We found some American girls who also wanted to climb the volcano & so we got a cheaper guide for the next day.
Climbing the volcano was interesting – 8 hours up and down the muddiest, rockiest path I have ever seen. The four of us were sliding all over the place and we certainly got to the point where we would have been happy to lie on the floor and do star jumps in the mud as we were past the point of no return. The path took us up through the coffee and cocoa plantation, then up into the jungle and cloud forest. We saw some interesting wildlife…Howler monkeys, White Faced monkeys, lots of red ants, a coral snake and most interesting, a mountain crab! I just assumed he was a bit lost and confused, but apparently they live in the mountains too. At the summit, you descend into the crater to find a pretty lake, which you can swim in. We sat and nibbled our crackers as we had not been organized enough to get sandwiches and were kept entertained by the many rats that live in the grasses, who kept coming out to investigate. After a cold shower, bowl of chicken soup and some tea, we were feeling human again ready for our very early bus the next day [4.45am] – yikes. JG
Nb. The climb is steep and not necessarily easy. The hostel lies at 100m above sea level and through five kilometers of jungle you hike up to 1200 meters before dropping into the crater to the lake which lies just below it. The change of the vegetation was pretty interesting from jungle through to cloud forest at the top the massive amounts of mud made the trekking challenging. MT

Granada 17th – 19th Aug

2009-08-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

Arrival in Granada was a pleasure after being in Managua, with colourful buildings, bustling streets and smiling faces. We found an abode right next to the market, which is a very rough and ready area of town but a lot of fun if you have the energy. Our hostel was beautiful inside the main entrance hall – built in the 1500s with 5m ceilings; it used to be a government building and then became a bus station, before being the hostel that it is today. The rooms are very basic, but fine, & there is one shared bathroom for boys and girls, which again, serve a purpose and are adequate. The key thing to say about the hostel is that it feels really safe and has a lovely outside area for eating/chatting, etc. The old people who run it are really sweet as well and were very happy for us to practice our pigeon Spanish. Look out for it – Esfinge – bright yellow & opposite the market & only 11 USD per room.
We struck lucky again with our timing, discovering that there was a festival on in the town that afternoon. We wandered through the town and the atmosphere was electric – different varieties of live music & pumping stereos everywhere, people dressed up in all sorts of outfits (especially cowboy) milling around the streets, women with big trays of toffee apples on their heads, men selling cashews, huge dancing ladies on sticks with their dresses swirling, children dressed up as little characters (looked like potatoes to me) and people merry-making in the streets. Mark and I got a great spot on the side of the street at a café and watched the parades, then came the horses! Big, beautiful beasts prancing along with sleek lines & proud riders swigging beer and looking very Western film-esque. A totally different and wealthy image compared to the sticks and bones beasts we had seen previously carrying heavy loads. There were also toddlers riding these huge horses, wearing dresses which nearly reached the floor & even some riding cattle. Next to our café was the ‘Marlborough’ sponsored tent, which had scantily clad girls doing an amusing parent-style side step to techno music and handing out free cigarettes, which I was quite suprised at – it’s been a while since the West has actively advocated and encouraged the public to take up smoking. For a change of scene, Mark and I walked down to the lake front, to catch some of the cool breezes. On our way back up, we got ‘caught’ in a crowd and it became quite an uncomfortable mosh pit – barriers on both sides of the road so we could not get out and horses stamping down one side & way too many people on the other – Mark and I got quite pushed around and then he had his pockets picked by a bunch of kids, which he knew was happening but could not hold onto the rucksack/camera/pockets etc all at the same time as there were quite a few of them. Luckily we only had 3 cards between us and had hardly any cash in his wallet, so it could have been much worse. On going to the police station which was a shack on the other end of the town, we were told to come back the next day as basically they could not be bothered to write a report (we later found out that about 90% of Westerners who go to the festival get pick pocketed in the same way that we did, making us think it was a total set-up). We returned the next morning, only to be told the same thing, so we kicked up a fuss and eventually someone took our details and wrote out a report on an old fashioned type writer. We had to go to a shop to pay for photocopies of passports as they did not have one in the station! I wish I could have taken pictures of the place as it was so unlike a police station with buckets of water catching the rain from holes in the roof, big puddles of sewage outside, etc, it was comical.
We stayed one more day in Granada as I need to wait for my card to send some cash, which was very pleasant – there’s a great café which serves breakfast called Edward’s – yes, run by Edward, who is a very entertaining Dutch guy with lots of stories and GREAT pancakes. We also liked the Europa café, which had a great courtyard off the street, good coffee and free wifi, which is quite hard to find.
We left the town by getting a chicken bus to Rivas for 1USD, taking another bus to San Jorge and then hopping on a cargo style barge thing to Ometepe, an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. JG

Guatemala to Nicaragua (Managua) 15th – 17th August

2009-08-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

After hanging around walking the streets of Antigua with our backpacks until 2.30am waiting for our bus & being questioned by the police about our loitering, we finally got picked up by a taxi who drove us to GC to catch our 4a.m. connecting bus. We travelled with King Quality, which is a pretty comfortable way to travel, essential for a 16 hour journey. We got woken up at the border to El Salvador but were allowed to stay on the bus as we were in transit. Looking out of the window, the country is really beautiful but obviously very poor, with the San Salvador being covered in barbed wire. Next border, Honduras, which was fairly straightforward, except we needed to borrow some cash from a very kind Nica to leave the country. A few rubbish movies later and with stiff bottoms, we arrived in Managua, which to be honest, is a total dump. We went to one hostel which we had read about online to find they wanted 20USD for a total filthy, shithole of a room, so we politely declined and went next door, which was marginally better but still a total rip off at 18USD per night. However, we had just been up for 48 hours and were quite keen just to lie anywhere which did not have unidentified stains on the sheets, so we obliged.
The following day, we caught up on a few emails then grabbed some lunch in someone’s house, actually recommended by a homeless guy who I understand has an arrangement with, i.e. he brings in customers and he gets a free meal, so we were happy to oblige as we were hungry anyhow and the food was great. The sites of Managua include the Palace, which houses a museum of natural history & some sort of theatre & the cathedral which is totally derelict, presumably as a result of the frequent earthquakes from which the city suffers & partly from the civil war, highlighted by the many bullet holes in the ruins. There happened to be an army show whereby the military were showing off their finest weaponry and good deeds, which was quite interesting to mooch around. Finally we went to one of the many cafes by the lake & enjoyed a bottle of Tona between us (40 cd for a litre, about 2 USD). The atmosphere in the café was really fun, with people of all ages getting up to dance to the vibrant music. In summary, you can see the sights of Managua in about an hour – it is an extremely poor city, with large shanty towns purely made up of bin liner covered shacks & even the locals seem scared to walk in the streets alone or get taxis with people unknown to them. It has much potential as a city, but it needs a total overhaul of its infrastructure.
We got chicken bus to Granada for a dollar each to enjoy the old colonial town. JG

Volcano in action, hot stuff!

2009-08-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

Guatemala - short but fun - 11-14th August

2009-08-18T14:18:00.001-07:00

We got to Placencia and suffered a slight dilemma. The onward trip to the Bay Islands of Honduras OR head south through Guatemala and into Nicaragua as quickly as possible. We had already made plans to return to the eastern seaboard of Mexico and make trips through into northern Guatemala and then to Honduras for some diving in the future so the option to head south to Antigua seemed the best. We looked for options and routes and were presented with a boat leaving Placencia at 6:30am followed by a chicken bus ride from Independence to Punta Gorda. This bus was scheduled to leave at anytime between 7:30 and 9:00 and arrived at around 8:30. The town of Independence was hot, humid and full of dogs that provided entertainment in the blistering morning sun. The early morning rain had provided an extra dose of humidity and we sat waiting for a bus sweating a little like Charlie Sheen in Apocalypse now… drenching our shirts and shorts creating little puddles around us. Well, I did anyway. The bus arrived and we threw on our bags and enjoyed the breeze while chatting to a teacher from Norway with his enviable two month holidays every year. He knew the score for the trip as he’d done the reverse two days earlier. Arriving in Punta Gorda at ten a.m. we found we’d missed the boat at ten and that the next would be at twelve thirty. The newly developed customs house needed to be paid for so the exit fee had been hiked up by 26.50 USD each and there was a park fee of USD 7.50 each to pay as the boat travels through a maritime park. So... instead of costing $3.50 as advertised by the Belizean Government website, for exiting we ended up paying $37.50 for the pleasure. Betta Belize it for the last time!
The boat was powered by two very fat 200BHP engines which, roaring to life, ripped through the fairly calm coastal waters and made the trip seem like it was taking no time at all. The distance from Belize rapidly increased and Honduras and Guatemala decreased. As we arrived close to the first stop, Livingstone, the forested landscape in the back was beautifully framed by the small town and its very colourful houses and boats, manicured gardens leading to the sea and a very random statue in the sea by the headland. Like most forms of transport in the area, there was another boat waiting patiently for our boat to arrive prior to its departure upstream into Guatemala. Our departure to our destination Puerto Barrios was an estimated minute later and then we were cruising past shrimping boats and the coast line once more. As we arrived in Puerto Barrios the distinction between a working city and the tourist city Livingstone became abundantly clear; there were no brightly coloured buildings here! There was a massive battered Banana ship in dock loading huge refrigerated banana containers and the town was full of trucks taking more to the port or heading inland with empty trailers. When heading out of Puerto Barrios later that day by bus, it looked like an enormous truck parking station. Arriving there was interesting, with no port authority or passport control, but a wave of the hand in the vague direction of the authorities office. It was nice to see that there was almost no interest in our arrival, a stamp without a passing glance and then a wave to carry on…
Guatemala’s first impressions were encouraging, cheap and cheerful as we had hoped! The bus ride to (70 Quetzals for both) Guatemala City took a cool 5 hours and we arrived having watched a number of pretty rubbish films, one in English and two in Spanish. The impression gained of GC as we drove through it at night was not positive. The streets were devoid of human life it seemed, cars and cabs dominated the very empty streets and when we arrived at the bus station the very kind taxi drivers informed us that it would pretty much be suicide to walk around at night. So we took a cab around the corner to a “safe” hotel and booked in for the night. It was fine, clean and tidy and GC was refreshing, a cool breeze was a nice change from the heat of the coast line. The city lies at around 1500 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. The next day we walked back to the bus station and were put into a taxi to the chicken bus station where we jumped on a bus that left almost immediately (8 Quetzals each) and headed to Antigua, the must-see town nearby.
When we arrived at the bus station we were greeted by an enthusiastic tourist guide… for once we decided to give a local some time on hotel advice and we didn’t get a bad deal! The hotel we were taken too had a lovely big bed, was clean and safe. Casa Santa Lucia is on Calle Poniente 6a which was the next street to the south of the bus station and we were charged around 80 Quetzals each for the night. The town itself was very picturesque and has a dozen or more Spanish schools in it, so the population was pretty western and dominated by tourists both backpackers and wealthier types. We headed out for lunch and to our surprise found a very good Austrian Restaurant called Wiener! I had to try the Schnitzel which was possibly the best I’ve had in over a year! We had no further plans so mooched around town for the day before booking a trip for the next day to the Volcano. Earlier in the afternoon, we were sitting in a café when a volcano to the West of Antigua began erupting, billowing large plumes of smoke and ash, it was very exciting.
I think the volcano was the best 20 dollars we spent on the whole trip. The long bus ride which started a little late was spent training one of the drivers who stalled at junctions and swapping over here and there supported by some college boys from the US who whooped when the trainee got into the driver’s seat. The 4km hike up the mountain started out very tamely then as we scrambled up the sharp rocks and loose gravel it became slightly trickier. We’d opted for the later afternoon walk up so reached the interesting bits around 5:30 in time for what is usually a very nice sunset, except it was clouded over. What I had expected to see was there in front of my eyes, and since reading a National Geographic about lava and volcanoes waaaaaay back in the 1980’s (late) has been something I’d wanted to get close to. The rocks we walked over were hollow, some slightly brittle and certainly not safe. Then the heat hit us, the kind of heat that blasts from an open oven that has been on maximum heat for the past hours and the glimpses of red hot molten lava between the rocks in crevasses. There was a crowd at one area which we thought was just another group milling around, but when we headed over to them we saw molten lava flowing out of the mountain side. The view from less than a meter away is amazing and incredibly hot, much hotter than any sauna. We toasted marshmallows and they toast very well up there, perhaps better in the crevasses than near the molten lava though. Jen was using a stick to clamber over the rocks and realized that the end was on fire, which was funny. Looking at the lava was only possible through dancing as the rocks were so hot that you needed to keep moving to stop the shoes melting. This has definitely been one of the trip highlights, toasting marshmallows on a live volcano that is due an eruption anytime soon! I don’t think this really is an option anywhere else in the world… the trip back down was interesting, half sliding, half running to stay up and off the sharp rocks, lots of sliding down on our bums did happen. There was a lot of dust in my shoes, small rocks and debris. Oh, we had to do it in pitch black - what a great day out!
We arrived back sweaty and dirty at around ten, four hours to kill before our massive road trip to Nicaragua… and decided to make one more visit to the Wiener restaurant for a “romantic” candle lit dinner. The food was terrific but we did feel like tramps, stinking of sweat and slightly grimy from the hike, which gave us both a good laugh. The toilet sink did get quite abused as I washed my feet in it. After it closed we found some bars and consumed vast quantities of red bull, coke, tea and then had a wait in the park (this seems to be quite common and was fairly busy for 2am…) until our cab picked us up to start our trip. The city closed its doors at one am, so not really the party town we’d hoped for when making the booking for the bus! MT

You betta Belize it! Man – Jul 30th – 11th Aug

2009-08-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Belize has plenty of outstanding attributes. The beaches, the colourful, vibrant restaurants, boats and buildings and perhaps this one is my favourite; the almost complete lack of interest of the touts in actually pushing their wares. It has some negative ones too, Belize City being its largest.
We arrived in Belize by boat from Xcalak, Mexico; there is no scheduled service, so as we outlined, go out there and find a Capitan and boat, it shouldn’t cost more than 2000 Pesos. They might need some dollars for buying themselves lunch on the way home, so perhaps half and half is fair. You arrive in San Pedro, the town on Caye Ambergis on the back side of the island, get off the boat and find yourself crouching low to avoid the very low, but welcome roof sheltering you from the sun. Then a short walk to the immigration office. This is neatly tucked away on a second floor, and doesn’t really have much in the way of signposting. You need a stamp, so go and find it. If you get stuck look for Fido’s Restaurant, it is opposite that on the first floor.
We were then directed to Ruby’s, a beach side hotel which cost 40 Belize Dollars for a night, that is ground floor room and shared bathroom and shower. I think we got the only one for that price; the rest are pricier, but have a view I presume and get some breeze. If you have got more of a budget, spend it! There is another hostel type place with a pool apparently, but we got into the Belizean swing of things quickly and couldn’t be bothered to find it and look.
Stepping off the boat into the town of San Pedro was terrific. From watching the clear azure sea whizz by under brilliant sunshine, we were greeted to an island where the houses are colourful but a little ramshackle, the beach is pleasant but not really ideal for swimming or snorkeling just there, and the people extraordinarily friendly, fellow tourists and locals alike. We were on the hungry side so headed to Fido’s for some lunch that we had spied walking down to the immigration police who had waved us through with flourish. Belizean food is very much similar to Jamaican and West Indian; BBQ Jerk chicken, rice with beans and coleslaw was available for lunch and dinner for $10 Belizean which made life quite tasty and cheap. The restaurants served variants with fish or other stuff, and of course as has been prevalent throughout, the presence of Lobster. Breakfast was Johnny Cakes with chicken or beef filling or some fruit…
We spent a lot of time doing very little, the searing heat and high humidity was not encouraging. We did manage to book ourselves onto a boat trip though which was to take us out to the Blue Hole for some diving. We took off at five thirty am for a fairly long boat ride to an atoll around 40 miles off the coast. Here we got the chance to make our first fairly deep dive into the Blue hole. The blue hole is fairly typical geological feature of the coast line in this eastern area of the Caribbean, some found inland, others, like this one, out to sea. They are essentially flooded cave systems with collapsed roofs. This one was around 800 meters deep and when you start sinking into it, the gloom really sets in. There are stark warnings to all divers, the onset of narcosis is very typical with deeper dives, however, to see what rock formations there are in the blue hole, you have to sink to 40 meters where we had around 8 minutes of diving time. One of our group was happily sinking down in a world of her own, the dive masters of the group grabbing her tank and pulling her upwards until we reached 10 meters once more! The swim through of the huge stalactites was fantastic, we had dropped to 40 meters and were swimming back up towards the lighter blue which when we got to a resting depth of 10 meters we were treated to a fantastic display. My mask had fogged up quite badly and I was running low on air so I only saw some of the show sadly. There were at least 10 four-five metre black tip reef sharks swimming around and coming to our group for a little inspection, then suddenly veering off closer to the surface where they were feeding on a school of fish. It lasted minutes and they then left as quickly as they had arrived, a terrific performance really showing off what amazing creatures they are. We ended up staying 10 days on the San Pedro, waking up each morning to a magnificent view of sparkling emerald and azure seas is pretty hard to beat. Could have done with a hammock, though that might have delayed things further...
The day continued with a lunch on a desert island and two further dives. The main element of diving in the area that surprised me was the amazing reef life; the multitude of corals was incredible with the range of colours, sizes and shapes making for incredible dives. We didn’t come across any further macro life that day though, which was a shame. On the boat back they fed us with the usual fruit and some very potent rum punch. We go chatting to some vets who had been doing the world a favour by reducing dog populace in Mexico making the long return ride very enjoyable and interesting. We didn’t bother introducing ourselves until they got off at Caye Caulker which is the neighboring Caye to Ambergis. Meeting them the next day on our island was a pleasant surprise especially as they informed us about our next trip to be, a day of snorkeling. We took the opportunity to leave the island and headed south the next day to meet them and got on the sailing boats with our groups. The trip turned into one of the best water days we had experienced on the entire trip. Small nurse sharks, beautiful and very rare manatees as well as eagle rays and loads of fish enthralled us for hours on three separate dives. The rum punch on the way back and total lack of wind turned our boat into a bit of a party boat which then continued at a very fun local bar at the north end of Caye Caulker. As you would expect there were a good number of deck chairs in the water, plenty of shade and we stayed till closing time. Strangely, the name evades me, rum and cokes were very very cheap.
With an appropriate hangover, in serious heat and humidity we bailed from the island scene, heading south to Belize City with a plan to get to Placencia, another island legendary for laid back living and great beaches. We arrived in BC and frankly, it was pretty rough. We had a good walk around it, were eyed up by some very shady looking characters who then pretended to be going our way for over an hour. We got back to an area we knew near our hotel and then engaged in some ducking and diving, eventually losing them, and in the meantime booking a flight to Placencia with Tropic Air for the next day. From the travel agent we learnt that BC has some serious drugs issues, with crack being responsible for much of the crime, which was increasing. We had been told by a fairly annoyed American in Caye Ambergis that Skype doesn’t work for voice calls in Belize, which is a real pain in the arse and very anti competitive. Complaints please to Hon Chairman of the Tory Party in the UK, Lord Ashcroft who owns seventy percent of the firm apparently! Would he allow this in the UK? Probably not, so why allow it in Belize? Greedy man. Calls from landlines to the UK were twenty five USD for five minutes!!! The Belizeans are not too happy about it we heard a lot of complaints!
The plane trip was brilliant. The 14 seater first picked us up at the airfield in BC then like a collective bus flew to the international airport and from there to small airstrips along the coast, which resembled dusty tracks in a field more than airports much provoking a reaction of ‘he is not seriously going to land there is he?’ I spotted a manatee in the water and we got some amazing views from the plane as it swerved around thunderstorms and onto tiny landing strips. It was sad to get off the plane, but certainly worth the additional 20 USD for the flight, N.B. If you choose this route make sure you don’t fly from BC international as it will cost more in fees.
Placencia gave us a wet start, we got off the plane were bundled into a taxi by the airport staff and the heavens opened. I think flushed might have been more appropriate. We wondered around and baulked at the prices per room, 20 USD minimum for all standards it seemed. We stayed at the Sea Spray hotel/hostel which was clean, tidy and pleasant, but had the rudest reception staff during the day. An absolute inability to say hello, make friendly and correct statements about internet access, book lending and more really got our backs up. Next door was the D Tatch restaurant staffed by a very friendly Mayan Belizean in the morning and a grizzled old American during the afternoon. It seemed to be like that on the entire island, fifty fifty friendly/downright rude. One of the best spots on the island was a small smoothie/shake bar near the shell garage which made terrific fresh mango shakes and other smoothies. They have chess boards, various other board games and a terrific view of a channel between the end of the island and the next Caye. From what we could see there was a lot of fish life in there as the fishermen would haul our fresh tuna, barracuda and other large fish which could then be eaten that night in any of the various shacks up and down the strip.
Four days into the Placencia and it was time to leave Belize, again, planning our trip to leave by boat to Guatemala, we first took a water taxi with 400 BHP on the way back to Independence from where we took a bus that comes at anytime it seemed - after that to take us to Punta Gorda. From there the trip by larger water taxi took us to Guatemala which is the next leg of our trip.
Belize is more expensive, but if you are happy taking it easy and not going nuts it is still very affordable. Our initial plan had been to head south to Honduras, given recent troubles and also mood changes the in land, rerouting was to be a great option. MT

Xcalak - "Ischkalak" Jul 28th -30th

2009-08-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

We got off a bus at 6am arriving from Palenque. The ride had been quite long due to our seat positions. Right at the back which is usually not a problem, this time though it was a little disgusting. The toilets on the buses are usually kept pretty clean and smell fine – however, the number of ill looking mainly French travelers on the bus had obviously left the bus in need of some care and attention. The toilets really needed a thorough clean. Lucky us to be sat by them… So the putrid stench of filthy toilets didn’t give us much chance of sleeping too well and on arrival in Chetumal Jen and I gasped for fresh air before collapsing on a bench. We’d heard about a little place off the beaten track called Xcalak and wanted to go there. The bus trip left from Chetumal – 12 minutes later as we then found out. The bus was a little less luxurious and drove through the still sleeping town into the sunrise and a scorching hot day. The mist over the bay and mangroves was beautiful and we bounced along, too tired to think about taking photo’s. The road turned from large to small and then quite sandy, the landscape becoming more and more mangrove forest. There was a lot of hurricane damage for much of the peninsula and vast swathes of the forest lay dead and apparently have been for the past 4 years. The returning signs of life were there, as was the stupidity of the local population who use open space to dump things, any rubbish it seemed was fine for the landscape.
The forest then came back into being and our bus driver detoured slightly to pick up his kids and lunch from home, then onwards to Xcalak. We were excited as we’d heard it was a great little sleepy place which was lovely. I don’t think we’ve seen a quieter or deader town. We learned later than it had been THE place to be until in 1951 it was devastated by a hurricane. The village has a lot of potential but the area is lacking in investment. It really shocked us that there was so much debris and decay in the area, but locals who only earn money in the high season from sport anglers and diving from the posh resorts in the area (very few).
We found a cheap place to stay called Hotel El Caracol. They offer very basic rooms and we negotiated a third off the price. This bit of Mexico- the Yucatan coast is very expensive compared to the Pacific and central parts. The large amounts of tourists paying premiums mean that the cost of living for the locals is higher too so even the cheap places were significantly more than we expected. However, it still only cost around 300 pesos for the night and the room was ok. The town is tiny and we’d walked around it extensively, spoken to some diving places and decided it was too expensive for what it was and how to best move on. We had read about getting to San Pedro (Caye Ambergis, Belize- La Isla Bonita that Madonna sang about) by boat and on the map it is within spitting distance. The dive shops offered a staggering $250 per boat which we declined to pay. Part of the sales patter had been we even do your VISA work for you. As Brits we don’t need a visa and decided they were talking crap. We did pay 200 pesos leaving Mexico to the Harbour Master/Port Authority who have to prepare paperwork allowing a boat to transfer us. We found our captain and boat in a bar/restaurant which was called “disco” but was well tended and very nice! We negotiated briefly and came to a price that allowed them to make a little money but was fair to us too. 1700 Pesos… still a fair whack! The boat ride was great fun and was a superb start to our next stage the Caribbean adventure!
Xcalak… it is lovely, visit it, go fishing, diving is great too, don’t expect cheap holidays though! The locals are super friendly and happy to talk- they have one thing most holiday makers don’t have. Time. Take the boat to San Pedro, pay between 1700-2000 pesos in total.. the trip is 2 hours roughly and absolutely stunning, going along the coastline and then inland through a turquoise lagoon! MT

Palenque 27th – 28th July

2009-08-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Palenque is amazing and you should visit. The town itself was a little on the rough side and as we got off what seemed to be a very long bus ride with Oli we were pretty happy. Oli was heading on to the north of the Yucatan peninsula that evening so the break was enjoyed! The town bus station was a far cry from the brand new, air conditioned halls with security guards and clean marble floors. More like what we had expected of Mexico and Latin America. Slightly rough round the edges, not particularly big and surrounded by vendors who sell all sorts of useful things like chewing gum and other stuff. So we traipsed off into town and did a little shopping around for a clean cheap hotel/hostel. We didn’t find anywhere worthwhile recommending, as they all seemed to be similar. We dumped our bags and headed off with Oli for a final dinner before we said goodbyes later that evening. Chicken and rice and cheap beer and then Oli was off. The town is nothing to write home about… but it does look like there is investment by the town and they are trying to make things nicer for tourists and the inhabitants. So, I take it that given a couple more years, it will have a nice central street and square and will subsequently attract more people. There are quite a few large, out of town hotels in the area and of course the ruins, which we visited the next day, were amazing.
Heading back to the hotel after seeing Oli off we found the hotel room to be enveloped in revolting stench emanating from the drains, on complaining we were asked to wait for the shift change in twenty minutes which frankly we couldn’t be bothered with. As we had already paid we moved rooms to a larger room and made bets on this becoming a slight issue in the morning, and of course it did. We refused to pay, dumped our bags and walked in direction of the ruins as we needed a walk. En route we were accosted by several Mexicans who seemed to imply the walk to the ruins was a mad idea, but when the pavement finished and we were soaked in sweat from the early morning sun, we got the idea they might be a little further out than we thought. The usual number of collectivos were roaring past and we hailed one, it cost something like 10 pesos each to get to the ruins. The cost of getting in was fifty more pesos for entrance into the national park area and then another fifty to get into the ruins. Money well spent… the photos do not do justice to how amazing the ruins are – so spread out and still encased by jungle, they really give an impression of what a marvelous sight it must have been for the Spanish explorers who first discovered them. Palanque is probably one of the hottest and most humid places in Mexico, so climbing up the steps of the many temples resulted in Jen and I having drenched tops, although it was totally worth it for the views. In the evening we hopped on a night bus to Chetumal after paying for a much needed shower in the hotel. MT

San Cristobal de Las Casas – 22nd - 26th July

2009-07-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

The night bus from Oaxaca City to San Cristobal was another long 12 hour stint of not much sleep; however the bus was remarkably comfortable again. We could tell that we were steadily ascending in the early hours of the morning as we all experienced popping ears and could feel the bus wind around tight, bendy mountain roads. On arrival at the bus station, we bumped into a very nice French man who was promoting his B&B & decided to have a look. For 200 pesos per night we got a private room with shared bath plus free breakfast and WIFI, so decided to take him up on his offer.

San Cristobal is a beautiful and very colourful town perched in the heart of the mountains at an altitude of around 2200m. All the houses are painted in vibrant colours and the streets are narrow & cobbled giving the town great charm. The surrounding luscious mountains give promise of exciting outdoor opportunities & really highlight just how misguided the West is in its view of Mexico being a dry, arid place full of Cacti & cowboys. The main attractions in the town are the numerous churches, which have beautiful interiors & are regularly on top of hills, giving a spectacular view as a reward for the hot, sweaty climb. The Artisan & Food markets are very interesting, offering numerous types of Jade & Amber jewellery, embroidered clothes/bags & leather goods. I managed to resist buying anything – it’s amazing how restrained you become when you know you have to carry everything on your back for the next 5 months! The food market is full of interesting smells, herbs, fruits & meats – for a few of your finest pesos, you can purchase a whole cow’s hoof, mud on the bottom thrown in free. Another bargain is the dried innards, which are hanging everywhere for you to absorb as you walk past.

We were lucky to meet two really fun girls from Belgium, Maggie & Veronique, who accompanied us for some dinners & shared the experience of our horse riding day. The five of us set out with some others to make a large group of about 15 riders. We were taken by pick-up truck to the ‘ranch’ which consisted of a broken fence and some fairly skinny looking mule-ish ponies. Size of person did not seem to matter according to size of pony, although I guess it was less distance for them to fall if something went wrong! The ride was very picturesque, taking us up through the forest and into a village, where we stopped to have a look at the market & enjoy some refreshments. The blatant lack of safety was very amusing – our group was led by a 6 year old & 12 year old both on the same pony, who seemed to find it hilarious to whack the back of people’s horses to make them go faster. I did actually find this quite funny and asked them to do it to me, which they did and we all went galloping off down the road together. After they could see I actually enjoyed going fast, every opportunity was spent having a race each time we got to some open land or road – it was quite hilarious – lack of control, no riding hats, galloping along roads on these tiny ponies – I think my DC at pony club would have had a nosebleed if she had been present. I did feel quite guilty about making mine run when we got back to the ‘ranch’ as I realized that another group had just arrived to do the afternoon ride on the same ponies and it contained some quite obese Americans – poor beasts!

The following day it was Mark’s turn to choose the activity so we went mountain biking. The first part involved a 3 mile steep ascent up the winding mountain road, which was very rewarding getting to the top but definitely caused the thigh burn! Then onto a track & the fun began – lots of grassy/rocky paths to bump along and totally stunning scenery – it reminded me more of Switzerland than Mexico, again like my comment above, it opened my eyes to what a varied and beautiful country we were in. It was a 4 hour ride, around the mountain plateau and then back down a different side – I can shamelessly say that I preferred whizzing down the bending road with the wind in my hair to the slog up, but I suppose one comes with the other. Feeling starving, we happened across a little restaurant, which had two tables inside and a sweet old lady with her two daughters who were cooking up a storm. We picked our dishes and boy were they good – beautiful homemade soup, pork loins in mustard with mashed potato & fresh orange sauce & lemon pudding to finish – all for a meagre 50 pesos each & service with the cutest old lady smile I have ever seen! We went back the next day for lunch as it was so good!

Mark and I did much walking around the town, exploring all the little streets. One of the strangest things we saw was a dog who enjoyed biting cars as they drove past. It was so bizarre, like some kind of extreme dog sport, for he would wait patiently until one came close, run out alongside it, then try to attack it – a losing battle. We hoped we would find a cure for such madness in the Mayan Medicine Museum, which I would highly recommend. It has interesting displays on the old traditions of the Mayan tribes, including all of the local remedies used to cure different ailments. The museum concludes with a video you can watch which shows how a midwife delivers the baby. It contains some interesting rituals, such as the mother kneeling in front of the father in his lap while the midwife kneels behind to deliver the baby. To speed up the process, the midwife makes the woman drink a raw egg, and then she rubs the egg over her face. As an egg lover, I found this pretty repulsive; however it seemed to work for them. The placenta is buried face up or down inside the house depending on if the couple wants a boy or a girl as their next baby. During the next part of the video, i.e. once the child is born, I heard somebody sniggering beside me & found that I could not help laughing too, so much in fact that we had to leave the room. A live rooster or chicken is held over the child and rotated in circles to ward away evil spirits - I know you should not laugh at people’s traditions, but the sight was just so ridiculous that it set Mark and I off into hysterics that did not stop until we were in the safety of the street. JG

San Cristobal food market

2009-07-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

Oaxaca Jul 18th – 21st

2009-07-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

The night bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca City was very comfortable & non-eventful – still so impressed by public transport here. On arrival in a somewhat cooler city at 6am, we warmed ourselves up with the local favourite – a hot chocolate. Next we took a taxi to the city centre and starting the search for accommodation. Normally this consists of walking from place to place looking for the best deal, which is exactly what we did. However after asking in about 10 suitable places it seemed that most were fully booked due to a festival that was happening in the City. Finally we found a little place for 200 pesos a room with a good view (to be honest we were prepared to take anything by then) and were finally really pleased that we had coincided with the festival.

After some sleep, we ventured out into the City - it turns out that we were ideally positioned near to a large indoor market which was perfect for lunch. We were totally spoilt for choice in terms of where to eat, being bombarded as we walked in with shouts of ‘the best mole in town,’ ‘come and eat tacos here’ etc, etc. In the end we opted for a little stand where we perched at the bar and had the most delicious ‘choriqueso,’ a mixture of chorizo and cheese served with beans, rice and tortillas. We also had freshly squeezed orange juice & coffee served in bowls – I was happy. The market was fascinating, being full of steam, exotic smells, chatter and Mexicans going about their daily life, cooking delicious fresh food, selling breads, meats, vegetables and of course making chocolate. The market became our venue of choice for many breakfasts and lunches – breakfast normally consisting of a large bowl of local hot chocolate served with a bun. The chocolate has a lovely bitter cocoa taste & is locally produced in Oaxaca, with many shops demonstrating how the cocoa beans are ground up into the thick paste, which is then combined with sugar, of chili for the classic Oaxacan ‘Mole’ dish. Oli became a serious fan of choriqueso, having it for breakfast and lunch nearly every day – we were impressed with his commitment to the cause.

Oaxaca is a beautiful city, full of old colonial style buildings and extremely colourful. I wonder how drab Mexican’s must find London when they arrive to only grey and red brick. The town square is beautiful and up on the hill there are many old cobbled streets, lovely big wooden doorways opening onto vast courtyard oasis’ which often house cafes or restaurants and lots of street music, really giving the place a nostalgic ambience. There are also numerous churches, some of which are very opulently decorated, cast with gold leafing and sculptures, leaving no doubt as to the wealth and influence that is still maintained by religious faculties. They are quite beautiful to look around and offer a welcome cool escape from the scorching sun outside. Mark and I had fun just pottering along the little streets, enjoying getting lost and seeing what sort of novel things would turn up.

Being in town for the Guelaguetza/Lunes del Cerro festival was a real bonus. Although we would have had to have booked months in advance to get tickets for the stadium show, the buzz & electric atmosphere on the streets was fantastic. On our first evening there was a great street parade full of native dances in varied costume, huge papier mache figures on sticks, live bands and bizarrely, lots of political protestors who seemed to be supporting Marxism. Every night we had fireworks and the entertaining wooden bull, which had a Catherine Wheel attached to its bottom as it bobbed around on its stick in the crowd. The festival is traditionally held on the last 2 Mondays of July, after the death day of Benito Juárez (July 18). Beginning in 1932, when Oaxaca celebrated its 400th anniversary, groups from many regions of the state perform their wonderful native dances in all their varieties of costume. The original event, of pre-Hispanic origin, enacted reciprocal gift-giving and ceremonies in honor of the Corn Goddess.

For a change, we took a tour (even though we vowed never to take one again) to see some ruins at Mitla, the world’s widest tree, a Mezcal factory, a petrified waterfall and Zapotecan rug making. The things we saw were really interesting, but we all felt pretty stressed about being herded around, told what to do when and things not working out as they should, i.e. having to change bus three times and being back 3 hours later. Somehow, if this happens on your own, it adds to the experience and it’s funny, but tours drive me nuts!

On our last night, we went to a lovely restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square. We had tuna steaks flambéed at our table in mezcal and fresh orange, which was just exquisite. With the fireworks and a very decent glass of house wine, it was a nice way to end our Oaxacan adventure. JG.

Mark having fun in Mexico City

2009-07-24T18:08:00.001-07:00

The beautiful cathedral

2009-07-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Mexico City

2009-07-24T18:02:00.001-07:00

Is not what I thought it would be like at all. The city is modern, clean and tidy with enormous shopping centres, a highly efficient and very cheap public transport network and lots of great little bars, restaurants and tidy green spaces. The very scary picture painted by so many travel sites, books and other warnings is once more so much of a boring and overhyped subject.

Driving into the city after a fairly long bus ride from Guadalajara we were welcomed into a huge bus station, El Norte Bus Station. The place has something like 120 coach parking spaces for boarding with three classes of buses able to park and board passengers. The place was impressive. Ferdi had given us some very straight forward directions which, on leaving the bus station were very easy to follow. Unlike in London where tourists have to walk around to find Victoria coach station which is frankly quite badly sign posted, the metro here was right on the door step as you'd expect. Paying the princely 2 pesos per ride we changed tubes once and found ourselves near the road and headed off to find it. The Metro system is old French stock it seems, the trains have rubber tires- the stations themselves are large and have lots of marble making them easy clean I suppose! The presence of the police at every station was a constant reminder that there is a HUGE gap between the rich and the poor here, as also the rides. Each trip was accompanied by one or two CD salespersons that livened up the trip with remixes of their CD's and yelling down the carriage 10 pesos per CD on getting on or off, in addition to them there were countless blind beggars, junk food sellers and more.

Wondering around town was fantastic too, the streets showing off the best mix of Mexican food culture through the ample (in number and size) food vendors, new cars from Europe as well as the ancient Beetles and VW T1 vans around the place. It is quite an exciting city, lots of cultural things to do as well as the usual shopping and entertainment. We chose a couple things to do culturally and managed to get in quite a lot of random evening activities…

We'd arrived and Jen had really wanted to visit a few places. The main priority was Frida Carlo's house (museum) and then as it was around the corner, and we had learned from watching Frida a few weeks earlier, there was Trotsky's place around the corner! We headed to both of course. Frida Carlo's museum was entertaining and in some instances, as with any modernist artists, suitable bizarre. The house and the documentation was very close to the film which was a nice change, too many films it seems make their own histories as applicable. Oli in his very dark skin was thought of as Mexican and given a local person discount, a 10 peso discount, how unfair, but devious! The area between Frida's and Trotsky's house is very very nice.. and could perhaps be compared to Hampstead or Chelsea, or the Viennese 18^th/19^th districts; the large mansions, nicely tended front gardens and paths were quiet and the Mexicans exceptionally helpful in helping us find the places. Sign posting was not the best. We headed off to meet Ferdi later that afternoon at his office… www.mexlinks.com have a look if you want to learn Spanish in Mexico – he can help you out! Following an exhausting day out, we headed to a bar for a drink or two prior to heading home and taking it easy. We'd been left a nice double bed in the flat which provided a great change from cheap hotel beds… so much nice sleep to catch up on.

The next day we took it easy and planned the onwards trips, sorted out flights and mooched a little, we'd planned to head out to http://wikitravel.org/en/Teotihuacan the next day. The trip outwards was interesting; the bus ride costing 33 pesos was a good hour from the edge of the city took us through picturesque villages before dumping us at a gate on the edge of what seemed like a very large green area. Starving, we got a cab to a restaurant and then took off to see the ruins, and rebuilds. The site is fairly substantial with the primary pyramids – the Temples of the Sun and Moon being the main attractions. They are huge! Interestingly, some of the rebuilding work seems to have added a fifth level to the temple of the sun which is the larger of the two, which makes the walk up just a little easier. It is definitely a very interesting place to go to. Of course, there were a number of sales people, selling the usual crap; tourist trail junk that collects dust and nothing more: Calenders, obsidian face masks, stupid noise makers and then more usefully, large straw hats which, we did buy and then left on the bus at the end of the day. We did replace them in Oaxaca for less than a third of the price though.

Mexico City has a whole neighborhood which is essentially Venice with grass and small houses etc. The tourists, locals and internationals helpfully guided to the boat area by pretty much anyone there and then we took to some boat negotiations. The initial price for three of us was close to 750 pesos and we ended up at 200 pesos for an hour and a half. Then we headed off to a small café style place and had some outstanding meat dishes with I think cactus. The boat trip- was a little on the relaxing side- heading off around various canals approached like on the streets by a myriad of vendors on smaller boats selling everything from the kitchen sink and concrete to food and stupid fluffy toys. The banks had a number of semi wild dogs and puppies which were a joy to watch, playing around with each other in the shade of the trees. Paying for Mariachi bands was left to other larger tour groups- of which there were so many that it made little difference if you paid or not to hear their music. We did end up buying some bbq corn on the cob doused in limejuice and chili they are a great light snack. The fish finish off the cob for you!

Our travel was to continue the next day – heading to Oaxaca with the night bus.. leaving at midnight and arriving at 7am.. of the seven buses leaving we finally managed to get seats on a second class ADO GL bus (UNO is the first class hereabouts). Having been cooked a great dinner by our hosts Ferdi and Carlos, we hit the road just after ten pm and, once more, trouble free used the public transport late at night to go to an extremely busy bus terminal! It was like getting to Stansted at 7am in the morning and finding all the queues at a maximum… quite mental! Very glad we had printed off the tickets before hand.

Puerto Vallarta 5th – 12th July

2009-07-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

The bus journey from Guadalajara to PV was surprisingly luxurious and comfortable. I had imagined bus travel in Mexico to be more on the lines of bouncing around on a wooden chair in the aisle hugging chickens, and while I am sure this method of travel is possible, the buses are so cheap anyway that we took the nice one. The scenery is stunning – you travel through a lush mountain range & then slowly meander down towards the coast. On arrival in PV, we were picked up by one of the school reps and taken to our hotel.

PV is hot – high humidity and scorching sunshine, which actually is very pleasant when you can jump in the sea/pool. The school was in a beautiful old casa, with open space, a huge terrace, white washed walls and rustic furniture. The atmosphere was relaxed, with all the staff being seriously friendly and helpful. The school is located in the old town, which comprises of cobbled streets, old buildings and lots of rustic cars around, mainly in the form of old VW Beatles. It was great to be able to walk to the school, especially along the Malecon, which is a long promenade along the sea front with lots of very interesting sculptures.

Mark and I were put in a Spanish class with Myla, who was great fun & full of beans. It was just the two of us, which gave a good opportunity for lots of conversation practice and learning. Classes normally finished at midday giving time for extra study/beach/pool/walking around the town. I joined a gym for the week and did that some evenings, which was fun. Oli arrived on the Monday, so we went out for a few beers with him to swap travel stories. On Wednesday night the school organized drinks at ‘Japanice’ – a great restaurant which served free margaritas for females – lucky me. We met some great people at the dinner – particularly Joelle, Diana and Nancy, arranging to meet them the following night.

Thursday afternoon involved a cooking lesson in the school, which was interesting – Chicaquiles were on the menu, and despite the large number of chiles put into the dish, it was surprisingly mild. In the evening, we got a taxi to Joelle’s apartment, which is gorgeous & has a large pool, of which we took advantage. Oli kindly shared his fish that he caught earlier in the day and cooked us a great cerviche/grilled fish and salad.
On Friday, we convened back at Joelle’s apartment to finish off the rest of the fish Oli caught – we had some lovely cold white wine with the fish and sitting on Joelle’s balcony watching the sun set having fun with new and old friends was very special.

On Saturday we chartered a little boat & went to Yalapa, which is a beach only accessible by boat about 45mins from PV. The ride was stunning and the beach itself also very impressive. We had a very easy day, swimming in the sea, reading, playing with the very boisterous black lab who I had great fun racing into the sea to get the thrown plastic bottle & of course, eating yummy Mexican food. On the way back, the skipper stopped at Los Arches where we jumped into the water and snorkeled with the very colourful fish. Oli had fun throwing the bread just in front of my face, so I had swarms of chomping fish around – very funny. In the evening, we went to a gorgeous restaurant on the Malecon with Diana and Joelle. We were sitting outside but covered & the tropical storm that came in before the sunset was impressive – the sky was so dark with fog, it looked like the world was going to end. The food was amazing – I had an octopus & chorizo salad and red snapper, which was cooked to perfection. Oli chose the fine wine and did a good job as usual. After the meal, we wandered up and down the Malecon, then went to a bar for what I would describe as the biggest margarita in the world. I managed to drink about 1/8 of it before throwing it away – you could actually get one to share between 5 people and you would have plenty! Delicious.

On Sunday, we got the bus back to Guadalajara and stayed for one night before getting the bus to Mexico City. We met up with our Dutch friend Gergo again, which was fun, especially as he took us to his girlfriend’s architectural project, which was very interesting. JG

Sombrero!

2009-07-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Guadalajara Cathedral

2009-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Guadalajara 21 june-3 july

2009-07-12T17:27:00.001-07:00

We landed in Guadalara at a very unsociable 5:30 am having left Tijuana at just after midnight. The flight was only 2 hours but the time differences were taken into consideration too of course. The excellent instructions from IMAC meant we could stumble off the plane and into a pre paid taxi that would take us to our host family. The poor cab driver a rough idea only of where we were headed so spent a good 30 minutes cruising through side streets we found the phone number in our stuff and he made a call. It was literally a block further on. We didn't do too much that day needless to say, bar eat some outstanding Mexican food and sleep. What immediately struck me was the general great health of the Mexicans; press reporting would have it that half the Mexican population was dying quickly from swine flu. Apparently not!

The next day we had to wake up a little early to get into the school for the induction, so it was a horribly early start. We took the bus into town as we'd do every day thereafter and tried to pay attention to the bus station where we got off. Not so, the next two days we got off too early, too late and got generally lost. The reasons for this were the same bus had a,b,c,d and the routes were all slightly different – although stations are pretty much anywhere when the buses stop or you ask the driver. Avoid them as a pedestrian though as they drive like the devil is chasing them. Bus drivers seem to only drive "their" bus and customize heavily.. one had flashing white lights for stopping in addition to the buzzer, as well as a strobe light in the footwell that flashed in time to his raving fifties and sixties tunes.

Anyway, getting back to the school; on the first day we headed in for the induction and were asked to sit a test. As I was an absolute beginner I read through it and then handed it in without filling it in.. what was the point in me wasting time at this point? The students were divided up and we met our teachers and bought the text books etc. Being back at school…. Bells ringing and mainly Spanish students running around learning English.. The school is based in lovely old building with covered courtyards and smallish classrooms where we'd spend 4 hours a day from 9-1 daily. Important places were located quickly, like the coffee shop and bakery. Our class colleagues were one slightly neurotic American lady who despite living in GDL for over a year hadn't managed to learn any Spanish at all and very quickly drove me nuts with frequent outbursts about grammar and learning. One Hollando who was pretty hilarious and had come to Mexico to be with his Mexican girlfriend (picked up Spanish pretty quickly) and then Jen and I. The week after there were a few changes, the American girl thankfully decided she would be better teaching herself after all…and we were joined by a 3^rd grade teacher from New Jersey and an expat US chap. Other American students at the school were a nice bunch but definitely fit into the loud American category of tourist, los Gringo's galore.

The teaching was augmented by computer programmes and just hanging out so we slowly but surely learnt enough to supplement our onward travels I hope.

GDL itself is the second largest city in Mexico, it is the home of Tequila and world party beer provider, Corona. Apart from that, it was also filled with some of the oldest churches and cathedrals, buildings left behind by the French and the Spanish. The mixture is spectacular and certainly worth visiting. The city is 1500m above sea level, putting this into perspective; in Europe most ski resorts are based at around this height! Mexico city is 700 meters higher! The surrounding landscape is full of fairly recent volcanic activity, a geologists/volcanologists dream! We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season and it showed. Massive amounts of rain poured down as the heavens opened every day at least once, somehow we avoided getting soaked on any of the days.

Part of the learn Spanish package included a city tour and a town of Tequila tour. The tour of the town was most amusing. We'd spent the day wandering around the city and had a few bottles of beer and water with a light snack. The tour included a meal we'd been told. We found the tour bus and got our seats at the front. The hostess for the tour came around and offered tequila, we felt obliged and had one or two … or four? The tour was a great drive around the city on the top of the bus, but the stop for dinner was much appreciated. A bit touristy, and with a mariachi band to join us, we were given very large sombreros to wear during the meal with the highlight dancing around after the meal- steak and beans or something similar. Back onto the bus to drive around town again, we and the rest were happily waving our hands in the air and ducking branches! We got back into town and had a great night out visiting the various bars before heading home quite the worse for wear.

Touring Tequila was ironically much more sober. The bus left GDL and headed out of town eventually arriving at small production plant outside of the Tequila. We had a good look at how they cut the plants and processed them and to the other tourists horror were not allowed to drink anything as nationwide they had local and regional elections meaning a 48 wide booze ban! The town itself was dominated by the central Jose Cuervo plant, but it is the stuff you get across the world and is pretty grim. Other drinks we'd tried are so much smoother- but it still isn't a drink I'm particularly enamored with, roll on the nice red wine or rum!

The production of tequila was quite interesting, the core of the agave plants which grow for at least 8 years weigh about 50kgs when they harvest them. Then they are steam cooked and crushed. Each core provides enough liquid for around 10 litres of tequila! Then it's double distilled as otherwise it would kill or blind you as the methanol level is very high!

The next day we took a bus down to Puerto Vallarta!

San Diego 18th – 20th June

2009-07-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

It was a long drive to San Diego from Las Vegas, all the way along route 15. Nearing our destination, we both decided it was definitely time for a loo break, so stopped off at a bar. As we were walking towards the entrance Mark and I suddenly went flying over onto the pavement – we had both totally missed a big concrete step and ended up sprawled on the pavement nursing bruised knees and stubbed toes. Mark went into the loo and then the funniest thing happened…a lady from inside the bar came out with ice and said all the people sitting around the bar had seen ‘the show’ and wanted me to come inside for some medicine to make me feel better. Hmmm…medicine was in the form Don Julio tequila served iced cold and very smooth – everyone clapped when we went in and were so sweet and funny – big thumbs up for introductions to the people of San Diego!

On the first night we just stayed in a little motel which served a purpose, although we did move nearer the car hire place to a different motel the next morning as it was in the cooler Gas lamp district. Dropping off the car near the airport was impressive as the planes flew right overhead so low and would have been exquisite for a budding plane spotter.

San Diego is a fantastic city with great beaches, an awesome marina and lots of impressive boats (it’s home to the US Navy fleet). The art work dotted around the city is interesting with there always being a sculpture that takes you by surprise. The regenerated Gas Lamp District is one of the better known areas & certainly has a nostalgic feel with lots of cafes, bars and great architecture. Most of the day was spent walking along the sea front and pottering around downtown, taking in the atmosphere and the generally relaxed pace of life.

To get to the border, we took the Trolley, a train/tram that runs through SD. Crossing the border was remarkably easy – no checks, no passport, just walking through some big iron gates and that’s it. I imagine it is not a similar story coming the other way through. They do not seem to care who enters Mexico! Once through, we hopped in a taxi to Tijuana airport & had a very chatty & friendly driver. On the way, we passed along the border wall, which had thousands of names inscribed on it, which he explained all belonged to those who had died trying to cross the border – incredible. Then a 5 hour wait at the airport, which was made more fun by meeting an American Head Chef who worked at a Club Med Resort in Mexico. Then, onto the flight to Guadalajara. JG

Viva Las Vegas – June 16th 2009

2009-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Viva Las Vegas – June 16th 2009
Well, it was fun waking up with the prospect of driving into the centre of Vegas on my birthday – you cannot really get more exciting than that! We had bacon muffins for breakfast, I opened a few cards which Mum had snuck out and slipped to Mark before leaving & had coffee in bed – all very relaxing. About 11am we drove into the centre of Las Vegas to the 5*Trump International Hotel, which I had booked as a little birthday present to myself. We could see it shimmering gold in the distance as we approached the strip – so ostentatious but perfect in the crazy setting that is Vegas. Mark and I were like two excitable children as we cruised down the strip, absorbing all the crazy structures & sheer cheesiness of the place – I am surprised that we did not crash the car.
The Trump is just as plush inside with the lobby harbouring outrageously large chandeliers & many shiny marble surfaces. We went up to our ‘suite’ – yes that is correct – on the 54th floor and wow, what fun walking into the room. I stayed in some pretty nice hotels when working for SCB, but the bath in this one was just fantastic – big enough for 4 people and with its own Jacuzzi – yippee! The room was huge, with the biggest bed I have ever seen – I could comfortably lie sideways as well as lengthways. There was also a 3 piece suite from which we had a fantastic view over the city. The first 5 minutes were spent racing up and down the room shouting “I do not need to use the gym because it’s big enough to run in here” and of course, the obligatory jumping up and down on the bed a few times.
Time to head out and see some sights – we were positioned right next to a luxurious shopping centre, so we walked through there and came out opposite the Venetian, which is of course famous for its recreation of Venice. It is quite hard to explain just how bizarre/hideous/wonderful the place is – they have recreated St. Mark’s Square exactly, including a blue sky inside the hotel and the canals, which have gondolas floating down them. There was opera in the piazza, Italian street entertainers on stilts and of course, all the Italian delis/shops, but all still inside the building. Many of the hotels connect to each other & nearly all of them have a large casino. In this way, it is possible to go to Venice for coffee, Paris for dinner, New York for brunch, etc – mad. Once back in the daylight, we decided to have a mojito and sat in the sun watching the world go by, which was fascinating in itself. Next, to ancient Rome through Ceasar’s Palace, and then to Paris, which naturally has the Eiffel Tower outside and is extremely Parisian on the inside with little French shops, people playing the accordion and your classic people walking around with strings of garlic/onions around their necks – realistic.
We asked one of the hotel doormen what he recommended to do in the evening and he proceeded to list off the many debaucherous things that were available in Vegas, to summarise, you can do anything you want. We decided to buy tickets to see Anthony Cools, who is the US equivalent of Paul McKenna, only a little dirtier. This was courtesy of Mum, who had given me some money to do something fun on my birthday, and the ticket also included a 3 course meal in Paris, so it was very memorable! More of that later…
Before leaving Paris we sat at the bar and shared a margarita out of a huge Eiffel Tower shaped glass and gambled on the machine which was inset in the bar – they make it very easy for you! Then off for a bit of shopping – Mark got some sunglasses & very sweetly bought me a bottle of champagne, which we took back to the hotel and drank in the bath – I felt like a movie star!
Back to Paris for dinner, then to the show – it was so funny. The audience had to volunteer to be hypnotized, and went onto the stage for 5 mins for this to happen. Then the fun began…one girl was told that she could not remember her name, so she would introduce herself in a job interview and get seriously frustrated when she could not remember what she was called. Another was told that her vagina was telling the audience all the naughty things that she had done over the last month, so she kept trying to muffle the noises by covering up, etc – it was hilarious. Another guy was told that every time certain music came on, the only way to get rid of his ‘ring of fire’ was to sit on the floor and drag his bum along…he looked like a dog with worms and had no idea what he was doing. Everyone who got hypnotized, including an older lady was convinced that a chair placed in the middle of the stage was the best looking man/woman ever and had to seduce it, going as far as they could…well that got some wolf whistles from the audience! I could go on, but I am sure you get the picture. It certainly kept Mark and I in hysterics for 90 minutes & I was very glad that Mark had stopped me from volunteering – he definitely knew something that I did not!
As we came out of Paris about 10pm, the fountain light show outside the Bellagio was just starting and was absolutely beautiful & really made everything feel very exciting. We got a taxi down to the Stratosphere, which is the tallest tower in Vegas and went up to the top for the best view of the city. There are also some petrifying rides at the top which literally hang you right over the edge of the tower…definitely not for the faint hearted!
Next, back onto the strip and randomly we bumped into some fun people from Oklahoma & Texas, who decided to join in the birthday fun, which continued in the Bellagio until about 3am. Wow – what an amazing birthday – a total whirlwind of fun, giggles, excitement and new experiences. Viva Las Vegas!

17th June

Ouch – sore head. Checked out of Trump – 4pm. Moved to Hooters, which was only 20 USD per night – bargain! Feeling a little delicate, we pottered around the hotels we had not visited – New York, The Luxor and The Excalibur, which is an outrageous “medieval” castle & looks like a funny fairytale from the outside. The Luxor is shaped like a pyramid and naturally has the Sphinx inside (it’s Vegas) and lifts which run diagonally up the building, which is quite cool. We had a fairly relaxed night, ready for our big drive the next day to San Diego.

Nevada Road trip 13-15th June

2009-07-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Kristine kindly took us hiking in Malibu, which was absolutely gorgeous. We climbed up through the Santa Monica mountains to get a superb view from the top over the ocean. Great to know that there is something like this so close to the sprawling city that is Los Angeles. In the evening, we said goodbye and a HUGE thank you to Kristine, and picked up our hire car from the airport. They had messed up our booking, so we got a much better car than expected for a great price, so we were feeling pretty smug as we drove out of LA towards Joshua Tree, which is where we stopped for the first night in a little motel.

Sunday

The next morning, we realised just how much the terrain had changed - the moutains we initially went through had turned into barren desert and rocky hills & the weather had climbed to about 95 F - it was a stunning change. We sniggered as we drove through Kickapoo, then kept going along the super long straight roads that make Arizona & Nevada famous. THese roads are so long and straight, that you cannot even see where they end. There is something quite exciting about being so far from anything or anyone. We stopped off to stretch our legs by climbing the Amboy Crater, which is a distinct lava field and cinder cone. It looks impressive standing alone in the wilderness, black and forboding. It was a hot sweaty hike, but worth it for the views from the top and down into the crater.

We continued driving up towards the Grand Canyon until we reached a tiny village, or should I say settlement of scattered trailers, a few battered houses and an ancient shop of Meadview. We managed to find a little hut to stay in for the night and went off for a walk in the gorgeous evening light - the views of Lake Mead were absolutely stunning, as was the whole area. You could see the start of the Grand Canyon rock formations, as well as the barren beauty that is consistent with a desert landscape. As most of the food in the little shop went off about 2 years ago, we opted for some ready meals!

Monday

The big Grand Canyon day! We are advised to get a bus along the dirt track to the site of the canyon, however at 15 USD a head, and having driven down worse I am sure in Australia, we took the car. The road was absolutely fine and the bus is obviously a ploy to get more dosh out of guillible tourists. On arrival at the Canyon centre, it is very organised and also extremely touristy. This does not however take away from the grandeur & colossal size of the Canyon - it certainly does not disappoint! One of the ropes was down, so Mark and I laid on our stomachs on the edge looking down the 4000ft into the ravine - it's quite an experience - until someone told us to move and we did our polite 'oh we did not realise it was off bounds.' There is extra stuff you can pay for like the skywalk, which is a bit of glass over the edge of the canyon. A very cool concept, however, it is ridiculously overpriced when you have already paid quite a lot to get in. The helicopter rides look really good fun, and I think will be on my to do list when I go back with some more cash to splurge. Overall, it is just such an amazing natural landmark that you will leave feeling exhilarated whatever you end up doing there!

In the evening, we drove towards Las Vegas (baby!). We had booked a very cheap hotel on the outskirts of Vegas which was more like an entertainment complex, called Sam's Town. The place was seriously tacky but quite fun, and full of interesting characters, especially in the Casino. A generalistic description would be someone in their 50s, sitting at a slot machine, fag hanging out of mouth, wearing their pyjamas (trackies and baggy t-shirts) & obese. But, they were all obviously having a seriously good time, which is the main thing. Mark and I treated ourselves to an 'eat all you can buffet' and I can see how these peeps got their muffin tops - quite an unreal quantity of food, and not just seconds, but tenths, elevenths, etc, etc. Amazing.

The Flintstones

2009-07-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

Dadadadadadadada

2009-07-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Universal Studios 12th June

2009-07-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Feeling a little delicate after a night of turtle racing, we made our way from Venice to Hollywood to visit the world famous Universal Studios. Having never been that interesed in visiting Disney Land, and the like, I went into the day with mediocre expectations. How wrong I was proved - the place is absolutely mindblowing and so cleverly put together. Even as we walked in, I was suddenly suprised by the copper scupltures in the fountain moving and giving me a thumbs up. The place is laid out in a series of film sets and different memorabilia from different movies, for example, you can walk through London's Notting Hill and visit Hugh Grant's book shop or else walk through a quaint street in France, etc, etc. The rides are amazing. First we went into the House of Horrors, which you walk through and has scenes/characters from nearly every horror movie ever made. It is seriously clever, and Mark did not stop laughing at how much I jumped at the people coming rushing out from behind tombstones, etc. You even walked through a butchery at one point with lots of dead bodies hanging everywhere - very impressive.

Next, the new Simpson's ride, which is set in 'Krustyland' - you walk into the fun fair, and let's say that it's very interactive, with actors, etc. Then you board a SImpson's car, and get lifted up into a 3d world which is unbelievable - go now!

With a taste for the imaginative, we went on the Jurassic Park ride. Again, it's hard to describe just how brilliant and well thought out these things are, but I suppose if I did that properly, it would ruin the fun! Each ride actually makes you feel like you are there in the film and part of the action. The highlight of this ride is the unexpected super steep drop in the dark down a water chute at the end...there was a photo taken at the top and the only thing I can compare my expression to is the horror character from the film SCREAM, yup - it's a scary photo.

The Mummy ride is full of thrills - from building up the atmosphere slowly going through scary looking tombs, the lights suddenly go out, and the ride turns into a superfast twisting rollercoaster in the pitch black. WHen it abruptly comes to a halt, and you think the ride is over, it suddenly takes you backwards just as fast! Brilliant!

I won't write about everything, but other highlights were the waterworld show, where actors do a scene from the film with a great use of pyrotechnics, the terminator salvation show, Shrek 3d experience and Backdraft.

The area outside of the Studios is also fun, with a big cinema (where we watched Terminator) and loads of shops/restaurants, etc. If you like films and action, you will love Universal Studios - if I lived in LA I would own an annual pass! JG

Los Angeles collage

2009-07-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Route 1 road trip collage

2009-07-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

Sacramento To LA (via Yosemite)

2009-07-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

Heading the wrong way up to Sacramento wasn’t entirely wrong. Arriving there wasn’t quite part of the plan, the route to drive from Napa Valley to Yosemite didn’t really need to include it- with no map to read just the occasional internet lookup, the rerouting wasn’t entirely surprising. However, we did and it wasn’t too far out the way. The car we hired in San Francisco from Budget had issues with the brake pads it seemed, and as the car drove onwards and they got hotter we screeched a lot, and then had a little shudder run through the car as we stopped. Therefore, with screeching brakes we came off the motorway a couple of times to look for motels that were not too far away from our route south. Finally, we found a very nondescript motel in the ‘burbs of Sacramento which smelt of curry in the entrance hall. The ownership of motels in the West of the US- the smaller ones in particular really all seem to be in Indian hands. The beds comfy and the rooms slightly smelly of stale cigarette smoke, the decision to stay was cost and time. We’d arrived fairly late and had a fairly early start ahead of us. We also bought a map.

Sacramento really is a town of distinct haves (downtown and the area and have nots – cheap motels off freeway…) so in the area of the have not’s we decided to have breakfast. I made a decision to get breakfast – lovely McDonalds all have one level of service and same food- tea and coffee etc. Not this one. The experience was perhaps the worst possible service in a McDonalds I have ever had. Los Idiotos centrallos. I only wanted tea with Milk and not coffee creamer…but instead there was a really pathetic attitude of on no, surely not, milk etc.. etc.. I had words and frankly we haven’t been back to a McDonalds since! So if any McDonalds executive might happen upon this page, read it and weep, your restaurant in Sacramento Stockton Blvd sucks, with the very worst of the service I have experience so far around the world, you might even want to consider retracting their franchise. Long live Starbucks and the attitude of if isn’t right, we’ll make it right!

So anyway, on the road again towards Yosemite, the car climbing slowly up the hills from the fairly mundane flats. Driving through the flats through are hundreds of door sales for the various fruit farms there what treats at such low prices! $3 for 1kg of cherries, makes me happy that.

Eventually we headed off the larger roads and into the almost wilderness and the clouds began to make an appearance. The road windy and steep made our car work hard for its gas but the scenery was breathtaking. We had to reroute ourselves as the signposting was taking us to an eastern entrance to the park and that wasn’t quite what we wanted so saw more backcountry that we’d though- which really wasn’t a problem! We arrived into the Yosemite Valley eventually and it was pissing with rain. Plans for a long walk dissolved quickly with the rain. The valley is amazing though and really worthwhile visiting- negative aspects are the crowds of people- perhaps only that weekend? The soaring cliff faces make for fantastic waterfalls and made me wonder if I was set to perhaps see as many waterfalls as I could possible do this year.

Yosemite … very expensive place to go.. book early and go camping it seems to be the best way of doing things. The roads were pretty full up as were the hotels and valley centres, perhaps a nice trail walk would get you away from the crowds. Worth the drive through – it is amazing; with the rain pissing it’s being revisited.

Onwards, and downhill.. cruising through the landscape again, from the steep mountain passes and river valley systems back into the rolling hills and sunshine! With the drive down the coast the next day we opted for a longer evening drive once more and found a motel in Merced. Great value at $45 per room per night after a little negotiation with.. an Indian! Bar the motel, there were a few other motels, a train line, a freeway and well.. not much more. We headed south west from there the next morning and found the best example of a traditional diner in our entire US trip – Hollisters finest Diner called “Jerry’s” . Great service with a smile, meat mixed with pancakes and syrup and oodles of free coffee for Jen and her mom. They even did free refills for tea!

Feeling pretty full and ready for a snooze, but with no time to lose, we headed west again – headed for route 1 and the coast. The scenery again changing from flat lands to the dry mountain landscapes following the ocean, created by the fault line activities over the past millennia. The road changed too, from large scale freeway to normal size double roads hugging the coast line with a constant mountain view until we reached Carmel by sea. This is a quaint little seaside town with glorious white sand beaches built on one steep hill ending in the crystal clear pacific ocean. No one was swimming despite it being well over 30 Celsius as the water was bloody freezing!!! What a great place for a nice break in the driving.

From there we continued with route 1 and drove until we reached Big Sur, which in winter has great surfing waves apparently, not that we saw any though. The area is home to sea otters – and as much of the coast line is protected it is apparently possible to see them. Not sure if we did see one from the car. The Big Sur featured some smaller hotels and a very cool restaurant bar which featured a live band and in river seating for those looking to chill out. A short break later and onwards we drove. The coast road dipping and diving, climbing and curving around the coast line, the inlets and bays. To our amusement and possibly of many other foreign drivers, there are, as in Australia, a host of “historic” bridges.. perhaps 60 years or so old, frankly I don’t know why they bother!

As we continued into some flatter lands near San Simeon, we saw quite a number of cars parked and decided to pull over and have a look why. The air was filled with a stench not quite unlike poo, fairly unpleasant really, but with the seabreeze it was ok. Wandering over to a sign we were pretty pleased to see that there was a colony of male (and presumably female) Elephant seals who are seasonal visitors to the area. The bigger ones were giving a great show, competing for space and dignity in very awkward looking sumo wrestling style combat movements. The sea and the beaches were full of heaving seals which were amazing break from the road. The road once more beckoned and we headed south to San Simeon where it was definitely time to find some accommodation. What we didn’t see properly was the William Hearst Castle and it was shame. The place had closed sadly, but provides an amazing view into the opporunties that the very wealthy have, but also how easy it is for them to lose it. The exhibition at the base of the grounds displayed a lot, and while some of the building was very gaudy, it was still pretty nice- and would have been amazing to be living in. The charges for the tours aren’t exactly cheap. I reckon they should turn it into a 18 Star hotel instead, at least that way the poor can walk around it for nothing if they decide to visit the bar and have a drink J.

Having found a nice motel we popped open a bottle of very nice red wine - a Cabernet Frank from the McKenzie-Mueller winery that had been purchased and had a glass or two each on the coast line watching the sea and the sunset. Spotting a cloud of spray in the air, I was pretty excited by the possibility that there were whales to be seen from the shore. The sprays were soon joined by flukes and breaches as a school of whales we presumed must have been feeding. Sadly the light was to dim to take any photos but the sight was definitely one for the memory bank. Jen’s mom then kindly took us out for dinner and we had some great conversations into the evening. At around 1 am, we were joined by some Raccoons which provided hilarity as Mary took to chasing one to have a closer look, they then scampered up the tree and hid. Occasionally they’d have a little peak out to see if we were still there.

Getting closer and closer to LA….

But first we found Santa Barbara, and it was a much needed break for all. The car journey had been fairly long and we’d definitely felt the wine we’d been drinking the night before, thankfully automatic cars do make things a little easier so a quick walk around and a break was appreciated! The town is incredibly neat and tidy, each area is maintained with love and attention to detail it seemed. The shopping street had the required number of Starbucks, I think there were around 100. We spent far too little time there sadly, it warrants a return and some time surfing nearby! The car return time was creeping up on us and then we hit LA we think. The outskirts through the hills might have been LA.. not sure. Through the hills we toured until we randomly came across the turn off for Santa Monica and somehow managed to squeeze into the road. No signs as to which way to go, so we took a chance, turned right and eventually arrived at the beach! The motel we were looking for was closer to Venice Beach than Santa Monica but the distance between the places is minimal. The next trick was to get the car back to Hollywood drop off. Have a look at a map if you’re bored and count the number of traffic lights between Santa Monica and Hollywood, driving there was deadly and we arrived well over an hour late. Turning off from a busy road before a junction was no easy feat but we bullied our way across and slid into the car rental. Made that sound easy didn’t I. First we actually found a different one in Beverly Hills- that seemed to be an option, but we were told would cost us another $200 for returning there. That one was pretty nice, the place looked like a millionaires garage complex…every flash car under the sun. I think our PT cruiser just didn’t quite fit in.

LA has public transport that works. Thankfully. We found the right bus – all the way down Santa Monica Blvr right to the beach again- the end of the car adventure was.

We were very kindly picked up from the Motel by to be Mrs Khristine Roberts and taken back to her flat after a quick and excellent Italian meal opposite the motel which was kindly sponsored by Mary Gray J. Once we arrived at the flat we immediately crashed and woke up 12 hours later or so, pottered back to the Motel- again an excellent bus service- and from there we headed into town. Not exactly sure what we did on the first day, it seems like we might have spent a lot of time on the buses again. The second day we emulated the first to a certain extent. Only the afternoon was much more amusing.

The tour bus around LA was perhaps one of the funniest bus rides I’ve ever been on. Celebrity this and that, eats here, farts there was constant and how much this cost and that didn’t was almost as common. The bus ride did deliver though, we saw Larry Flynnt getting out of his car into his wheel chair; only recognizing him by his RR’s number plate: Hustler. The highlight of the tour was tea and coffee at the famous Chateau Marmont which was very nice and welcoming and calm. The city is mental to say the least, mental but fun.

Tour highlights included the farmers market which is a huge shopping mall and carpark, the hustler media centre, the Hollywood blvrd and more very random stuff inclusive of the chicken restaurant Brad Pitt worked at while like so many of the aspiring actors/waiters. We got off shortly before the end and wondered down Santa Monica blvrd again- it’s a bloody long road if you don’t know! Found a Mexican bakery and tried some utter repulsive deep fried somethings which I am sure doesn’t exist in Mexico!

So.. notes on the tour. Drinking on the street and I assume on the bus is possibly illegal. Go to a pub first, it will only make it bearable, or… don’t go at all.

LA back and forth in the cars and buses, we took Khristine out to an Ethiopian restaurant that evening which was in part a thank you and a new exotic food for Jen’s mom also as a thank you as she’d paid for so many of our breakfasts and dinners. The usual great food, full of spices and jeerba all located in Little Ethiopia in LA, I think the London restaurants know how to serve the food with more panache, but the food was just as good!

Having spent so much time exercising only our bottoms and sitting abilities we hired bikes for a ride down the huge beach. Cycling past marina’s and loads of people taking it easy was great. Definitely not the place for skint people who’d like a boat, so cycling past as quickly as possible was a must. There is a pretty amazing chain in the US called Ralph’s and they do great hot lunches, a bit like in the UKs Sainsbury and Co, but city centre and hot… and more choice with free top ups of the drinks and so on.. (why do we only get ripped off in the UK and not get great food at supermarkets like this?- I could rant for hours.) We popped in and bought some lunch, and headed to the beach to find a place to eat it. Just north of LAX we found a nice spot shaded by the palms with a little grass. There are three runways at LAX and it looks pretty amazing to see three planes take off at the same time… We got back to Santa Monica later that day and headed for a last evening with Jen’s mom, Mary. It was pleasant, relaxed and easy, I didn’t get the impression that Mary was all too keen on leaving the holiday mode behind though. The next day we took to pottering as one does. Up the beach to the pier where we went on a fun mini rollercoaster and ship thing before heading to the end of the pier to listen to a crooning electric piano playing dude who sang lots of sad/quasi romantic songs. They must be easier to write than the more fun stuff as so many people seem to write and sing it…. Yawn.

Further pottering around the Santa Monica and then our good byes to Mary! To mark the occasion we headed to a bar called Brenans to watch a final NBA playoff game between LA and Orlando (Jen wasn’t aware of this when we left the house though) and then the infamous TURTLE RACING. This is possibly one of the funniest things I have seen and if you want to get an idea of what goes on, look it up on YouTube. Jen and I paid for a racing turtle, aptly painted british racing green (or is that how they come?) When our round came, Jen in a fairly drunken state took the turtle and placed it into the pen. Sadly our Turtle who we’d named William the Conqueror didn’t win. But we had managed to get a lot of fans all shouting Go William! Jen’s bending over straight legged (a requisite method for putting down a turtle) brought on a lot of whistles too.. hehe. The evening was pretty funny, but Kristhine regretted it the next day as some of us other may have too. Except we went to Universal Studios!

Napa Valley highlights

2009-07-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

Napa: The first of many to come.

2009-07-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Napa Valley 6th June

2009-07-03T17:04:00.001-07:00

What a day! Napa valley is huge.We only visited a couple places, fewer than in Oz and NZ, but that was simply as it was gargantum and this makes it nigh impossible to get around too quickly. We headed into Napa looking for the closest free wineries on the list. They have a nasty habit of charging for tasting which, if you make good wine, really shouldn't be the case I think. On the main road into the Napa Valley we turned off at a large sign indicating we might be able find a map of the valley and perhaps some indicators as to where we should visit. Have a look here: http://www.napavalley.com/visitorsinfo/Napa_Valley_Winery_Map.pdf

We got more than we wanted – some vouchers and the map. So we marked out a few places we thought might be visitable and headed off. The importance of Napa Valley is of course that this is the home of the cold press production methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winemaking if you'd like to know more. The first place we visited was small and reminiscent of the small places in Australia, friendly dedicated teams who really enjoyed their jobs. The winery Bouchaine was lovely. The wines fresh and clear, as I was driving I tasted only two while Jen and Mary had a a little taste of them all. They recommended that we try their neighbors, McKenzie& Muller. I highly recommend them. They are an appointment only place which we were lucky to get a slot for. They still utilize the traditional French method of wine production which allows the wine to continue fermenting in the bottle… making the wines more flavourful and stronger. Good idea to decant this wine too as it frequently pours bits into the glass. The tasting was great and we ended up buying some of their white wine Chardonnay produced in the NZ method- half in oak, the other half in stainless steel vats which makes for a nice clear taste apparently. The red wines were more to my taste rich and full bodied. The winery doesn't ship to anywhere in the world sadly, duty tariffs and their production were just too small… But.. it was certainly worthewhile going there. Jen and Mary were definitely feeling the wine when we left and I headed north to the next place. The road north through Napa is a little souless and touristy in the worst sense. The large wineries with large budgets too often have bus loads and huge car parks and concentrate not on their wines but on the paraphernalia. Employing people who have obviously got sales targets… the really big international ones on the other hand just have people who don't really care it seems- which is fine as there is no pushing. We had to go to Sutter home which is about three quid a bottle in the UK- and taste their US specials, which tasted pretty much identical to the other stuff I've had from their house in the UK. Jen and Mary however, found glasses (yes, reading glasses in a winery shop – perhaps to find the wine glass) and fooled around which provided entertainment for at least half the bar and me. Other wineries which we stopped into provided some decent food tasting options which had to taken advantage of and made us forget that lunch might have been a good idea.

The wineries that really made also made dents into the taste buds were Charles Krug (not related to the Champagne people), St Clement; and for quality of wine and just sheer ridiculousness Il Molino which is an Italian Castle rebuilt in the US and frankly pretty amazing, but mad. Jen and Mary were pretty well oiled by the end of the day as they'd tasted a LOT of wine as one does… so a meal in an Italian was absolutely necessary. Another hallmark of the good wineries was the fact that they loved to talk about their wines and entertain us as we entertained them. It is something that was absolutely noticeable throughout the entire trip and all the wine tasting in New Zealand, the US and Oz.

San Francisco!

2009-07-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

The low cloud cover made for amazing photos, but also made our first day a little cold... not very Californian

San Francisco by night - view from the Intercontinental cocktail bar

2009-07-03T16:53:00.001-07:00

San Francisco 30th May till 5th June 2009

2009-07-03T16:08:00.001-07:00

Sooo….. Hawaii was pretty sweet as it goes. The beaches, the bikini's, the surfing, the .. yadda yadda yadda.. are you bored yet how awesome it was? So sadly, it had to end for this trip and we had to head back to the airport. We decided on taking public transport, something we haven't really done since umm. Malaysia. Bugger me, what a kick in the teeth. The buses took an astonishing 2 hours for less than 30 miles, but we did only have to pay $1.25 each. I think we saw every single military base on the island. Having initially got up at 630 am, we had wanted to make a quick trip to see the USS Missouri, part of the floating museum in Pearl Harbour, but the getting up early only made sure we got to the airport in time for an early check in. The 52 bus is great otherwise though, and the services around Oahu are superb if you have a lot of time. The buses even have bike racks on the front for two bikes! Great!

Our accustomed easy living at the airport was sadly also a little broken, but a sign of things to come it seemed. The entire airport is undergoing extensive modernization, and like Heathrow terminals one through four, it is much needed. The lounges were rubbish not even the free wireless internet we were used to. Paying for it really does count as lounge services- Oneworld you are let down by the Qantas lounge in Hawaii for the moment. So onto our flight, a code share of Qantas; run by American airlines. I thought the stingy screens and in-flight entertainment systems were crap on Qantas and Air New Zealand. It turns out the AA doesn't even provide food for a five hour flight! I'm sure we didn't book a Ryanair flight… So.. don't fly with AA, they suck.

Arrival in San Francisco was great though, finally off the plane, we found our bags quickly and then awaited pick up, not for too long and we found ourselves chatting to Geraldine and Joe and being driven to the Californian In and Out, feeding on some great burgers and shakes, devoured by us as we hadn't eaten anything since our north shore breakfast. This arrival couldn't have been better, meeting with Geraldine and chilling out at her place avec some very long haired and friendly cats with some outstanding wine was a perfect introduction to Palo Alto. The next day we had some lunch after a lazy morning walking around, then headed off on bikes around the Campus of Stanford University. I don't think I would ever leave it if I went to university there. The grounds were enormous, the facilities amazing and like a lot more in Palo Alto, it was so pleasant to be in, it could almost be a fairy tale. The town itself is home to Facebook, Google and a couple other well know landmarks of the internet, we didn't see any of them in Starbucks though. Staying with the Shen family was superb and really made our trip beginning very special, catching up with Geraldine's parents who I'd last seen around 15 years ago as well as meeting her grandparents also made the trip a very pleasurable experience and well, thank you very much to all Shen's, and Joe. You were terrific. The next day we hoped onto a Caltrack into San Francisco where we met with Jen's mom who was out for her annual holiday!

Central San Francisco is a lot of fun, and really helped tone up our neglected legs. The steep short walks and long walks around the waterfront made for outstanding interval training, making then nice and painful for the next day or two. The sites were great to see, Union Square, 5^th Street, the Pier all gave us a great impression of the city and as a whole being on a budget here means a revisit is absolutely necessary. We met Mary in a Starbucks just off Union Square and she had already done a good deal of walking so we decided it was high time to have a snack- some breakfast/brunch was necessary. Staying in Starbucks wasn't an option and we spotted a Cheesecake Factory ontop of Macy's on union square. Jen had been raving about the massive portion sizes they served so we headed up to check it out. People were just starting to be sat at tables, and whilst it was empty, it seemed to be essential to wait for at least 15 minutes before being sat. This gave us time to have a look at the very substantial range of cakes on offer- not just cheesecakes but also enormous chocolate cakes which were at least 1 meter high and covered in rich chocolate fudge icing. I had a piece of course. I didn't finish it though and had the doggy bag packed with half a ton of cake to drag back to my hotel room fridge. The hotel jen and I stayed in was perhaps an Indian version of Fawlty towers; based in San Fran, but the smell of curry pervasive into every nook and cranny was slightly different from what I would bet Fawlty towers would have smelt like- assuming mildew and mould. The door was kept locked at all time and we had to wake the family up by ringing on the door bell at all time, confusing me a little – surely a coded door entry would have been a good idea- or at least better than waking up all during the night? The room itself and the hotel were in a great location and very reasonably priced. Don't go if you hate the very delicious smell of curry though.

We were back to union square several times over the next few days, not least as it was definitely time for Jen to treat herself to a new haircut! This turned out very nicely indeed!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/idiotproof.com/SanFrancisco#5345220397752501362

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/idiotproof.com/SanFrancisco#5345218722263639378

San Francisco's first impressions on me brought back memories of university papers which described and attempted to analyze the homeless within the city, engendering their plight or what ever else people can dream up that will ensure they are paid for research. Not some of the most interesting stuff I read I'd have to say. However, the hundreds of homeless, alcoholic and drug addicted bums lying around the various shelters, green areas and beaches are seemingly just a part of the furniture in the city giving it a very distinct odour in many instances… it's pathetic that this extraordinarily rich nation cannot afford to properly look after its outcasts and provide them adequate shelters and support- perhaps it's on Obama's list of to do's?

We ate and drank well, then rented bikes to explore the city and bay area. DO THIS If nothing else, it was the best use of $30 for a while. The bike trip took us around the bay and across the bridge, the along the shores. We cycled a little further than planned - the cycle routes and sunshine making it a very enjoyable trip indeed. Just across the bay we arrived in Sausalito which has a number of very "nice" little bars, restaurants and café's making it imperative to stop for lunch and then an ice cream. From there we cycled west a little and around the various inlets to end up in Taburon for just after five pm. The ferry took ten minutes to get us back to pier 7 and provided terrific views of the city and the bay bridge on the way over. The next day was actually similar – headed out to Castro and the rainbows which was enroute to the big park in San Francisco that I can't remember the name of… We walked a pretty long way in getting there… thankfully there was another bike shop which rented bikes. The park was a great ride and we eventually found the beach after having a look at the very lazy buffalo's the various bizarre windmills (out of place or what?) and the very nice park. On the beach we took a little break and enjoyed watching the people, ships and birds on the beach before heading back up the hill towards the bike shop and our bus home.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/idiotproof.com/SanFrancisco#5345220117989392946

We topped off our visit to San Francisco with a visit to the lounge bar at the top of the Metropolitan Intercontinental hotel where we sampled a few of the signature cocktails. To our surprise while staring over the city and bay, we were joined by a live Jive/Swing band and what looked to be regulars who came to dance and gave us a show! Having spent the evening watching a spectacular sunset from the top of the building we headed back to our hotels. The next day we had scheduled to pick up the car and drive up to Napa Valley and do some more wine tasting.

Hawaii 1st – 8th June

2009-06-22T15:16:00.001-07:00

Aloha Hawaii! What a fabulous place to arrive after a whole month of winter…(has that made you sick yet)?! Hawaii memories seem to merge into one big relaxing smile, so I shall summarise as best I can…

North Shore Backpackers

We decided to stay here for the full week and have a 'base' as such after so much moving around. We opted for a private room in a shared 'tree house' which was pretty chilled out. It had a great communal area with a kitchen and big sociable table as well as a veranda which stretched the whole way around the front of the building filled with squashy sofas. As the name suggests, we opted for the quiet and relaxed north shore of Oahu rather than the built up and popular area of Wakiki, just south of Honolulu. Boy did we make a good choice, I fell in love with the North Shore immediately. The staff at the Backpackers were good fun – one played the guitar and we spent many a night sitting on the veranda reading listening to him strumming away in the background mixed in the with the sound of the waves. We went to a BBQ they organized one night and met some other fun people with who it was great to share travel stories with.

What did we do?

For the first few days? Bugger all! I read about 4 books, went swimming and just generally had a very relaxing time!

Cycling

However, incapable of being inactive for too long, we hired old rusty granny bikes one day and cycled off along the shore in search of a dive shop, which we found in Halei'wa, the main hub of the North shore. The bike ride was great, passing many gorgeous beaches to our right and lush hills on our left. Halei'wa is a fun little town with great coffee shops, an excellent marina and loads of surf shops (MT: and great shops selling tiny bikini's). The sign outside the dive shop confused us a little stating 'parking in rear.' We opted to leave the bikes out in the front. We booked a dive & also treated ourselves to new snorkel and masks as we were bored of the hire ones always filling up with water. I bought a new bikini then we cycled back towards home stopping at one of the beaches to snorkel with the resident Giant Turtles which come up onto the sand to sleep in the day. It was fantastic being in the water with them – they are so big, gracious and of course, ancient!

Diving

We got up early and rode the granny bikes the 5 odd miles down to Halei'wa marina. We went out to a couple of sites – the visibility was excellent and the scenery underwater very different to any other dive location. Huge volcanic mounds have created eerie looking stumps and holes in the lava which are great fun to swim through. There were also very cool air bubbles coming from various rocks on the ground and if you looked up when you were swimming through a cave, you could see the bubbles stuck on the ceiling, looking like something out of the Terminator films. The first dive took us through a turtle cleaning station where we saw the huge creatures relaxing while other fish kindly attached themselves to the shells for a bit of spring cleaning – rather like a carwash for turtles. We saw a few Moray Eels, a sting ray and lots of nudi banks. We perhaps did not see as much marine life as other places but the lava tube environment made it a very special dive, and besides, you never have a bad day diving!

Beach life

The hostel was located right next to a great little beach but then all the beaches in Hawaii are fab. We were 5mins walk from the famous Waimea beach where all of the big surfing contests are held each winter. Luckily the waves are small in the summer, so you can swim safely and also snorkel. Shark's Cove is another place where the season was a bonus as in the winter, it's apparently just a wash of foam and during the summer there's fantastic snorkeling in calm clear waters. Armed with our fancy new masks, we had a great time snorkeling and saw lots of fish/turtles, etc. There's a great swim you can do from one beach to another which goes around the point and takes you more into the open ocean. It's quite exhilarating being so far out and I was certainly glad that I had my mask so that I could see what was going on beneath me – still good fish and definitely more of a chance of seeing macro-life.

Surfing

You cannot come to Hawaii and not try out the surfing, if you like that kind of thing. Having had a taster in Australia, Mark and I were very keen to give it another shot. A dude at our hostel called Craig who has lived on the North Shore for years offered to take us out and we waited every day to get the word from him that the surf was big enough, which it was not, until our last day at about 5pm, where he said, 'let's go'! So we dropped everything, pulled on the boardies and jumped into his car. He took us to a spot which is not visible from the road and we could certainly see the white water breaking on the reef out at sea. The wave break point was a long way out, perhaps 300 metres and the waves stopped rolling just before the reef. Craig explained that there was a channel where we could swim out to behind the waves and not get too many breaking over us. He also kindly told me to be careful climbing over the rocks with my board and not to cut my toes and it attracts sharks quickly…I kind of wish he had not told me that beforehand, but I guess it was an incentive to catch the wave properly. Craig was a great guy – really laid back and totally obsessed with surfing. As we paddled out, the waves were getting bigger and bigger – he had explained that for some of the really big ones, we would need to jump off our board. It was pretty full on as some waves would be rolling up to us with Craig shouting 'get ready to jump off your board' with this big monster towering over our heads, then we wouldn't get the call and would bob over it. I remember looking at Mark knowing he was also thinking 'they didn't look this big from 300m back on the beach but this is awesome!'

So we got lined up to catch our waves – Miraculously I managed to stand up on my first one and ride it all the way back to the reef, which was so brilliant – the ride was so much longer than what I had done before. Mark also did well and caught them in too. On two of the waves, I stood up and then another wave seemed to come in on top of the one I was riding sending me through the washing machine and my board pinging up in the air. This was to be expected except I found myself caught in the middle of a big set of waves right at the breaking point and as soon as I came up another one crashed over me and to make things worse my board cord twisted around both legs so I couldn't kick, which was a bit scary. However, the set finished and I got back to the channel with a big 'doh' look on my face. Craig gave us a hand, giving a push to help us get enough momentum to get onto the wave. The funny thing was that he was obsessed with getting the biggest and best waves (of course) so we would sit out at sea bobbing around like seals waiting for 'the wave' – I was very happy to take his advice, although I did say to him a couple of times that I didn't mind not getting the 'biggest' wave, as the 'too small ones' powering in looked pretty big to me! The whole experience was so exciting – sometimes we saw a turtle popping up for air as we were sitting on our boards, the sun was setting and the light was beautiful and when you did manage to get a wave, it was such a rush. It was definitely an adrenaline rush and quite scary, but in a very good way. Big thumbs up for surfing in Hawaii and I think I may need some more practice before trying out the winter waves…JG

Auckland 28th – 30th May

2009-06-22T15:08:00.001-07:00

Driving into Auckland was quite a shock after spending time in the rest of NZ. It's a large cosmopolitan city and seems so busy, especially after seeing Wellington and Christchurch. That's not meant in a negative sense, more one of pleasant surprise. We did a recky of the city first, driving through the centre and then along by the port which all looked very beautiful at night. We had a walk along the sea, a quick beer in a really cool bar which was like an old warehouse and then into the van to find a sleeping spot as it was pretty late. We ended up camping on the edge of a large rugby pitch which worked well, although one of the bollards on the way into the car park is a little flatter now than it used to be…oops. We went to a late film in the evening to celebrate being in a city again!

We decided to be culture vultures and visited the Auckland National Museum, which is full of interesting exhibitions and gives a great insight into the history of NZ. The section on the wars is particularly good as was the impressive Maori room with the 50ft plus preserved wooden long boat, which was used in various gruesome battles.

After a long walk into the city, we pottered around talking in the ambience. At around 5pm we took a ferry to Devonport which is a lovely little place sat on top of one of the many volcanoes in Auckland. We climbed to the top of Mt. Victoria and marveled at the fantastic view of Auckland's twinkling lights by dusk. You could also see the many small islands that make up the city, as well as some very impressively sized cargo ships and Navy boats. We boarded the ferry after sampling some of the town's yummy hot chocolate and headed back to Auckland city. It was a long walk back to the van and we were happy to finally get there. We drove to a random track near the airport ready to hand the van back the next day.

In summary, NZ is a country with such outstanding natural beauty. Where most countries will have beautiful areas, such as the Lake District or Yosemite, it seems that everywhere in the South Island is just stunning & the novelty did not ever wear off. For outdoor enthusiasts I would wholeheartedly recommend NZ. I am definitely going back one day to do more hiking, particularly the Tongariro mountains and The Remarkables. It also made a huge difference having a camper van – the joy of the outdoors is getting away from it all, and that is truly possible in a van. While the 'Kiwi Experience' buses seem like a great fun thing to do when you are under 21, giving you company, somebody organizing you and parties, it would not have been for me. I liked waking up at the bottom of Mt. Cook in the eerie quiet and being the first to crack the ice on the puddles. JG

Coromandel 26th – 28th May

2009-06-22T14:54:00.001-07:00

The Coromandel Peninsula is absolutely stunning. We drove up from Rotorua, stopping en route for walks and headed towards the east coast which is famous for its beautifully rugged coastline. There is a great walk which we did to Cathedral Cove which is a beach only accessible by foot. The path is stunning and snakes down the cliff through the woods passing other even smaller beaches where you can stop off and snorkel (there is lots of marine life due to the national park protection status). Cathedral Cove itself is famous for the huge arches in the rocks caused by years of sea erosion and certainly looks very impressive. We also visited Hot Water Beach where you can dig your own pools in the sand which are geothermally heated. Unfortunately the tides were not working in our favour so we settled for standing on the edge of the rocks and getting soaked by unpredictable waves coming over – great fun!

Coromandel town itself is very quaint and full of little delis, cute cafes and cosy bars. We spent a night there enjoying the local beer and wandering around the marina drooling at the yachts. Before leaving the next day, we made sure to visit the Smoke House which specializes in smoking fish. Lunch was a real treat of smoked tuna & a local fish as well as some chunky homemade seafood chowder, which was totally delicious and a nice change from pasta. The drive on route 309 was great fun – it's a bumpy dirt track through the mountains with lots of interesting and bizarre things to do on the way. The 309 Road is a 22.0 km, narrow, winding, gravel road between Whitianga and the town of Coromandel. In fact, it's the shortest route between Mercury Bay's Whitianga and the Hauraki Gulf's Coromandel township. Our first stop was the Waterworks museum, which is hard to describe. It's set in someone's large back garden and is designed to show you the different things you can do with water. It has some really cool structures & interactive activities which focus mainly on different methods of hydropower. In addition, there are many boards which have various quotes and funny stories, normally the sort of things you would read on an email forward, which was quite random. There was also a great adventure playground, which I think was meant for kids, but Mark and I spent a while on the death slide, although the amount the rope sagged under our weight made me think it was perhaps not meant for childish adults. I also gave Mark a giggle when I had a go on the human hamster wheel, forgetting how to make it stop and running faster and faster until it took me down with it (horrid thing). It took him a while to stop laughing as apparently I had an expression he had 'never seen before.' Hmmmm. Luckily the next section involved water pistols…

Driving further along the road, we got to a peak which we thought we'd try to climb called Castle Rock, an old volcano core. Getting to the start involved a precarious but beautiful drive up a tiny track with hairpin bends and steep sides. Much to our frustration there was a big sign saying that the path was closed, so we had our lunch with a view to die for and carried on.

The road also took us past some really tall Kauri trees which are famous for having Maori legends attached to them. We got our walk in and pottered around the forest marveling over the width of their trunks and how some had formed, particularly the impressive 'Siamese trunks.' With the light fading, it was time to drive towards Auckland for some city fun. JG

Rotorua

2009-06-22T14:42:00.001-07:00

On route to Rotorua we stopped at Mata Mata which is home to the famous Lord of the Rings set 'The Shire.' Unfortunately the tour was extortionately expensive and the set had been mostly dismantled in any case, so we ended up camping by the village Green for the night and indulging in true hobbit fashion in some more fine Marlborough Pinot Gris and delicate campervan stove cuisine while continuing the chess championship deep into the night. Onwards to Rotorua, which you can smell before you see it; yes it is the hot spring capital of NZ with more bubbling sulphur than the special smell of a student fridge's fry up collection. Having been spoilt living in Hokkaido where you can jump in natural hot pools on the mountain top while skiing, I found Roturua to be too touristy and lacking in what makes hot springs special, i.e. uncrowded pools in the middle of nowhere. We had also just visited the Butcher Pools near Lake Taupo which were wonderful, so posh spas which charged you to get in just did not cut it. However, we did go to one tourist attraction which was very funny and definitely highly recommended: The sheep shearing show at The Agrodrome. This is very cheesy and commercialized but quite hilarious. In essence it's all about making the audience look stupid and involves much participation, for example feeding the lambs and milking a cow on stage (something which I think Mark was amused to realize I could do well – growing up in Norfolk was useful in some ways). We also had a good look at all of the sire prize rams which was interesting in particular the impressive shaggy haired Merino beast. The show was followed by a working sheep dog presentation which was very impressive.

Following the Agrodrome, we had a fun game of crazy golf, which in fact drove Mark crazy…hehe! JG

The North Island. Wellington to Lake Taupo.

2009-05-24T21:04:00.001-07:00

We had arrived, Wellington, the capital, what next? Heading through the town we did a not so quick drive around town, got semi lost and thoroughly enjoyed being in what felt like a very big city (it really isn't though). Parking was reassuringly expensive, parking spaces were few and far between, people seemed to be in a rush. So we parked, and went for a wonder through the shopping area and then down to the harbour. The hardly frenetic activity died down quickly, and by the time we found a little Mac's brewery and tried some of their homebrew the city was almost entirely still. The Kiwi's love to party it seems, and when we got out of the cinema a little later on, the streets were almost full of Thursday night revelers. Not really being able to camp in the centre of town, we headed off into towards the Botantical gardens in light rain. Wellington is built on some pretty steep hills and the van struggled to get up some of them them, cursing us as we pushed it up in 2^nd gear in some places almost having to change to first in others! We found a nice quiet space in a parking lot near the botanical gardens and did the usual free camping. The wind was picking up … and seemed to keep us awake all night as it was buffeting our van with gales that rocked the van back and forth. How lucky we were to have crossed the Cook Straights 12 hours earlier! In the morning we woke up to find out van, with hand brake on, had been moved a good meter backwards and the wheels at the back sat outside the parking bay in the very quiet road- torrential rains and wind what a combination. Looking around we saw other vehicles in a similar position and heard on the news that some vehicles had been turned over. Apparently these winds were typical though and could get far worse in their spring, 1-0 for the wind as it pushed us out of town heading off first east then north in the pissing rain.

In character, the north island is very different to the south island, the mere presence of people in the north and the flatter landscapes have meant that it has been the more densely populated of the islands. This still doesn't bring it to anything near European levels of population densities though. We drove through small towns and villages, many it seemed supported only by tourism and/or agriculture- i.e. sheep farming. The bungalows type houses in the villages and dotted along the road usually resembling converted caravans, with metal walls and roofs, the occasional house was built or perhaps just clad with more solid brick structure. The wealth is not invested into buildings in New Zealand it seems, as we learnt later on, very few houses have central heating and some of the poorer ones might only have portably electric heaters, the majority having wood burning stoves. We had 500 kms on the one day to drive so didn't take too many stops as we headed north, a little shopping, fuel and lunch was pretty much it until we drive past a honey shop.

There are actually a lot of honey shops in New Zealand, this being the first we came across; it's a very nice way of getting to know the various honey products that you wouldn't really expect to have like skin creams, ice cream, mead candles etc. The tasting of manuka honeys was great, they have such a distinct flavor, I would have loved to buy some but didn't think I'd be able to finish it in time for our departure. We ended up with Ice Cream, honey and cream based… very very tasty before heading off.

As the day drew on, the light grew dimmer and it rained more heavily- heaven on earth for driving, well maybe not. The landscape was changing though as we drove closer to Lake Taupo, more rugged and desolate- the national park area with volcanic peaks, snow covered had apparently also been used in the making of the Lord of Rings- and somewhere around the was Mt Doom. It was sadly too dark for us to stop off and have a wander so we enjoyed from the car and motored on around increasingly windy roads, cornering slowly again, the driving that we'd become so used to on the south island.

We arrived in Lake Taupo and it was fairly chilly. Having spent the last night in quite wet and windy conditions we thought we'd look for a campsite for a change and use their amenities, things like our three daily shower were certainly necessary! Lake Taupo we'd arrived!

So after carefully backing into a tree (no damage to car or tree) we took to our usual evening occupation, eating and drinking and listening to the patter of rain on the van roof. It stopped in the morning and we read about hiring some bikes which to our delight, were cheap only 30 NZD for the day and definitely fine for what we had in mind! There is a specific mountain bike trail heading to see the local waterfall/gorge and it as it was the first real exercise in ages, the path was a little tough in parts, but seriously good fun. Starting off in pines and light forest, we'd head down through valleys dark and damp with plenty of mud in them on narrow trails up and down hillsides with steep drop offs and little bridges and then back into pine woodlands with views over the river. We'd decided to make a day of it and carried on up to see "craters of the moon" which was the first of some fairly putrid smelling hot air vents or mud pools. The entire area was superheated and even down by the river there was warm water here and there. The smell of sulphur was the constant accompaniment to the environment which we later drove through. The day of biking was great fun and we're feeling it that evening.

The next day was set to be exciting, we'd decided it was a must to go rafting and had made some enquiries about the rivers open. Apparently, even though there was lots of rain, it wasn't enough for some rivers to be opened as they need much more snow melt, meaning the ones we'd wanted to go on and had spent time increasing our insurance levels for were closed and we could only go on the smaller 3-4 rivers which are largely damn controlled apparently. The Rafting van picked us up early in the pouring rain and it never stopped raining all day, however, kitted out as we were it wasn't exactly cold! 5mm thick wetsuits and various apparel meant we were warmer wet than most nights dry in the van. The Rafting was south and the into the mountain, we'd picked up a fairly hungover backpacker on the way so we totaled 3 customers and one guide- perfect I suppose for getting a flavor of the rafting. We rafted 12kms down the river which picks its way through a national and unesco heritage listed site, and it was breathtaking in parts, the river was never too quick and the whole trip was a definite great fun day and I'm looking forward to faster and bigger rivers! Following the drop off after the day we revved up the van and headed north again to find a pool called "Butchers Pool' which was good to camp at and would be a nice hot bath to relax in. We found it eventually. The next morning it was beautiful sunshine and we took our time leaving the pool, having a good long soak in what seemed to be around 40 Celcius water- which in some parts was not suitable for standing in as the ground felt somewhat hotter than that! That was pretty much the last of Lake Taupo and area, so onto the next bit! (MT)

Bits we missed:

Tongario Crossing- 17km walk closed due to snow fall and poor conditions.

Ferry Crossing from South to North

2009-05-22T01:23:00.000-07:00

Tea break en route to Nelson...

2009-05-22T01:21:00.000-07:00

To The North (via Nelson and Picton)

2009-05-22T01:19:00.001-07:00

It's great driving around small islands, the distances are so short and with such minimal traffic, it always feels like you make such good time. So to make it more equitable to places such as the UK, throw in a couple windy roads and things start to take a little longer. Those little roads do make travelling so much more interesting. Leaving behind the valley of Bacchus (or one of his many valleys) the route took us through horse country and past some inlets that cover much of the northern coast line. Interesting as they are flooded river systems by the sea (sea level rise) as opposed to the southern variants of flooded valleys – the Fjords which are ice created and much more dramatic in scale. Nevertheless, this was a great and beautiful drive, with the logging and fishing being the obvious mainstays of the economy here. Heading through the mountains towards Nelson we noted a couple of campsites which looked pleasant and a route to Picton which was decidedly more interesting that returning via Blenheim. So a couple more bendy ups and downs with signposts for 25kms at each one and we eventually got to a coastal flat of Nelson. The number of trucks roaring up the hill for more logs almost created a busy road.

Nelson is a lovely little place spread out between the main grid city and then along the coast line to the south. The main harbour had a couple of ships loading timber and some very nice yachts in the marina. We took it easy, ate a pleasant lunch overlooking the marina and then found some parking and wandered into the main city looking for a little internet which wouldn't be too pricey. Nelson has some good shopping – focused mainly on the outdoors sporting life and boating/fishing. The town isn't massive and well, we spotted another cinema and decided to watch a late showing of Defiance which was pretty good – again, cinema is so cheap so it's a nice way of being warm and taking it easy while not sitting in a van. I think we are getting over the van this being the 10^th week in one :-0. Well evenings anyway! Nelson has an interesting cathedral in the city and the history behind it is quite trivial and vaguely interesting. It seems small mindedness and independence from the other island persuaded Elisabeth to grant them their own Archbishop (CoE) and thus Nelson is a city in its own right. The cathedral has been rebuilt a number of times, those bloody earthquakes keen ruining things. The bell tower might want some help in being replaced though, its hideous and frankly worth tearing down, or perhaps cladding with wood or something. Imagine the architects of south bank in London with their love of concreted building a cathedral tower and that's pretty much what you have. A little less concrete though.

So onwards ho, back up the hill to a little campsite, the drive up in third gear mainly- it's pretty damn steep!!! Arriving at an aforementioned campsite. The next day Jen drove the last stretch to Picton along a very windy picturesque road – almost in a convoy with some other campers. The road not only twists and turns hugging the coast line, but dips and climbs very erratically to bays and summits. Tunnels?

Then as you start wondering where Picton is, a small port full of logs turns up with two Chinese ships loading at a relaxed pace- but that isn't it; around the corner the town of Picton appears. We didn't bother visiting the town as the port was practically the first left as we entered the place and frankly the view from the ship a little later was all we needed… the primary route between the islands, the town has a lot of rail tracks and roads from the south (two of each) heading to the ferries. Our ferry was an ex GB-France one as the painted over name on the side was Pride of Cherbourg….

On board was the usual ferry ride, a good view of a town not really worth spending time looking at, but great views of the sea and in the clear waters below, the fish and birds swimming/diving in the water chasing them. Leaving the dock, we headed out into the sounds following the coast and executing a couple tight turns around through the valleys. We finally reached the sea and while we had been warned it could be choppy, did not expect what we had. Complete and utter calm waters, the whole way. It was great, the ferry trip afforded us some views of Albatrosses and the usual people watching, cups of tea and chocolate. What felt like 1 hour was actually three and when we arrived, we found a new and very different NZ to what we had experienced.

Cycling through the vineyards of Marlborough

2009-05-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

Marlborough Valley wine tasting

2009-05-22T01:15:00.000-07:00

Blenheim 11-12th May

2009-05-14T00:36:00.001-07:00

More wine. Fine wine. Cheap fine wine. Well perhaps. The promise and lure of tasting wine from an area made famous by two brands –Oyster Bay and Cloudy Bay – of white wine, we were looking forward to finding smaller independent vineyard cellar doors. On the route in, we were almost out of fuel- the red light just about to come on when we found the first petrol station after almost 100kms on the coast road which flanks the north eastern line- hugging it tightly as you pass crayfish vans and crashing waves. The pace was sedate, but none of the other traffic seemed to be particularly hurried either for a change. Stopping at the petrol station the freshly baked sausage role begged attention so it had to be bought. It was truly outstanding, lamb mince with pork wrapped in homemade pastry- the mince was more like a burger in size, and it was less than $5NZ!!! Fully fuelled up, the car hose finally stopped too, and we paid a wopping 100$ NZ for our full tank of 58 litres.. 2 litres left when we arrived, close call!

Not too much further down the windy road we found the first winery sign and decided to follow it down and found a very new building surrounded by vines well kept and multicoloured- lighter than those in the Otago region- still green where there were leaves! The winery was called Yealands, and belongs to a Peter Yealand apparently. Very keen on environmentally friendly production methods, his key sales points apart from the very nice wine was his full commitment to organic and natural production methods. Amusingly, they were looking at baby doll sheep to graze around the vines and keep the lawns low as guinea pigs hadn't been allowed in by the government. What are baby doll sheep? I'm assuming some kind of mini sheep that can't reach the grapes. We were provided a tasting with four others by a very outgoing and knowledgeable wino who ignored some of the others when they asked him to hurry up without even skipping a beat of his presentation. In fact, I'm pretty sure he slowed down after that. The winery is apparently the largest contiguous vineland in the southern hemisphere- well over 1000 ha under production. Keep an eye out for Yealands in the UK, it was quite nice!

Onwards we drove, through some other vineyards- literally we had a mini detour and rallied around one as we couldn't find their cellar door and then took a wrong turn- luckily they are all so well maintained it turned into a lot of fun driving. The Handbrake may have been applied more than once. From there we drove towards Blenheim town and found the large wineries, Montana which Jen knows well. It was gigantic… and frankly ok, but not the best wine we tasted. The staff were as ever helpful and friendly, but we managed to leave without buying anything and headed onto two more wineries, one small and outstanding with a very chatty owner once he warmed up (Lawsons Hills); the other, well mass market but they did serve great nibbles (Wither Hill). (MT)

NZ-Milford Sound, Queenstown pt2 (Arrowtown), Mt. Cook

2009-05-12T01:37:00.001-07:00

Leaving Queenstown fairly late after a very relaxing spa sessions at the Queenstown Lodge (far end of town uphill from roundabout…) we headed into the black night and settled in for a the dark drive to Te Anau which is the last permanently inhabited town area before the fjordlands of the south island. We arrived shortly before midnight and found a "campsite" on the side of the road- in an area in where camping is made pretty difficult with lots of very obvious no camping sites. The night had been blustery and it was fairly cold outside, when we hit the pillow it had started to rain gently. Waking up to pissing rain wasn't that great, the occasional car driving by and beeping wasn't much better. What was worrying at 8am was the large amount of tour buses driving by and other campervans! So, in spite of really wanting to stay wrapped up in the warmth of the van- relative warmth, it was bloody freezing in our van, we got ready quickly and headed south east though fields of golden long grasses contrasting beautifully with the dark skies and the driving rain. When the rain abated around a half hour later, the nature of the road had changed to winding through lush temperate rainforest which was various shades of green around and above us and above that the steep sides of mountains which had received a good sprinkling of snow. The higher we drove the deeper the snow and the more fantastic the thousands of waterfalls looked cascading down the dark grey basalt rocks. What a drive! The roads cleared quickly by the mountain road clearing teams, we were held up once briefly while they swept snow off the road ensuring the hoards of buses and campers could pass. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, winter and all keeping visitor numbers down. Through a long tunnel reminiscent of dwarfish work perhaps; we headed down hill into the next valley- rather Fjord/sound, and our destination Milford Sound. The drive down was steep and our brakes were kept very hot by the steep gradients and the sharp corners, taking us down into the valley floor once more and to the harbour. It started raining fairly heavily at this point so we decided to have a long lunch – but first checked out the costing of the tours which turned out to be rather expensive. With the serious lack of visibility it didn't make sense to do any of them, even though one did include a lunch deal. Sadly it was also too rainy for the kayak trip which would have been the ideal trip taking us close to penguins, seals, possibly dolphins and whales, and incidentally wasn't bookable from the sound, but from Te Anau. Milford sound was terrific- and definitely a place to recommend.

Heading back towards the Central Otago region – yes once again through the pissing rain for much of it during the day meant that we this time saw much more of the countryside we'd driven through towards Queenstown. It was pretty impressive - nonstop "wow's" with final amazing wow around the lake coming to Queenstown. Naturally, we had to be headed for a spa and sauna, followed by a nice meal- and a cheeky camping site in the spa hotels carpark J Thanks!!!

The next day we left early and headed to Arrowtown a little way out of town- and were very pleasantly surprised. The whole area was a gold rush area and apparently attracted a vast number of Chinese from Hong Kong in the 1870's who effectively migrated there and build a small community of very small huts- have a look at the picassa pictures!!! The remnants have been restored in some instances and are well kept for tourists to have a look at- off the beaten path. The town itself is an upmarket little tourist place, which sells lots of merino wool products and has created an image of itself to suit an illustrious past- very twee and quaint. Visit it, and have some very tasty scones and cream. It is also located like everything and everywhere else in NZ near some great walks along rivers, through mountain and in the autumnal conditions made for a lovely morning. The colours of the forests in the autumn are simply perfect - from the golden and rust coloured vines through to the shades of yellow and light green and coppers in the mixed forests up the flanks of the hills and mountains. West from there we found our route once more and drove solidly until we arrived at Mt Cook, stopping only for fuel and a stretch of legs here and there. Oh- and of course, yet another great picnic spot overlooking another lake, some vineyards and the snow capped mountains. For those of you that enjoyed the Two towers in Lord of the rings, we drove past Twizel (yes!!! A small town where lots of battles scenes with Orcs were filmed - private land so only organized tours for uber geeks), and then up the road near Mt Cook , the shots of Isengard, the mountain refuge castle – the name escapes me, and what looks like the big trek through the mountains on a path far up the mountain. It is an amazing setting and keeps the locals interested in the outside world I think. I have a sneaky suspicion it would be very easy to ignore all but the millions of sheep farmers at your doorstep in this area- the mountains and heliskiing, and lakes… Film buffs who have visited the south island will also recognize the Fjordland Milford sound and this area featuring in Wolverine, the locals were very pleased about this!!! (MT)

I shall just write a little about Mt. Cook…amazing drive into the village, past a huge turquoise lake with the majestic peaks rising cheekily into the mist on the horizon. We camped in a wee site, very basic but right at the base of the mountain. Arriving early evening, our first port of call was the information centre, which on discovering being shut, turned into the gorgeous café next door. It is a family owned business and fits all the wonderful clichés of a mountain lodge: huge roaring fires, animal skin covered armchairs, piano, hot chocolates that you could drown in pleasurably, etc, etc. However, this place also had a funky floor-ceiling glass wall overlooking the mountains as well as photos of all the mountaineering relatives from decades back – you actually do not need a gortex North Face jacket – we should all be wearing tweed Victorian dresses for mountain hikes. Chatting to the chap who owns the place has the benefit of not only feeling like you are in a place steeped in family history, but also in the very safe hands of an expert mountaineer. Mark and I were very excited by the fact that he takes people up onto the glacier for a day's skiing in his little plane and I think if it had not been too early in the season, we would happily be much poorer now. We booked a day's glacial kayaking on the lake instead which sounded pretty amazing, although unfortunately when we got up the next morning it was too windy to go out safely. That night, I cooked a big hearty stew and we tried to stay as warm as possible in the very cold van – we had ice on the inside the next morning. As the kayaking was cancelled, we went for a walk around the valley which was beautiful and very energizing with bright blue skies and a bracing wind blowing us along our way. Before departing Mt. Cook, it would have been rude not to sample the hot chocolate spectaculaire one more time… (JG)

Christchurch to Queenstown 30th Apr – 4th May

2009-05-05T01:39:00.001-07:00

Christchurch 30^th April

After a very smooth flight from Sydney, which took a surprisingly short 2.5 hours, we arrived in Christchurch. We immediately picked up the van, which was absolute luxury compared to our Australian version. For a start, you can stand up to full height inside, which will hopefully save weeks of near unconsciousness. It has a fridge (no steaks floating in smelly water at the bottom of an ice box), 2 gas hobs inside and a sink with running water and a proper duvet – yippee! I optimistically ordered outside chairs and tables as well, however, I think we are going to be very glad that we can do much more inside. It's funny what excites you when you have been used to living very basically for a while – probably quite good for everyone to do it now and again to appreciate the simpler things in life! The first night we met up with Stevie who was staying in a hostel in the centre of town, not before having a late pub lunch of roast lamb – mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Christchurch is very small and there is not a huge amount to do, so having agreed to meet up with Steve and the other boys (who fly in on the 8^th) to do some wine tasting on the 9^th May, Mark and I decided to head south.

Arthurs Pass: Trans-Alpine route – May 1^st

My sister recommended quite a few places in NZ including this drive – it is the same route that the Trans-Alpine train takes from Greymouth to Christchurch and it does not disappoint. For our first taste of NZ scenery, it definitely had the wow factor. Every corner you turn is accompanied by a 'wow, get the camera.' Rolling valleys and dramatic mountains, red and gold autumnal leaves, sprinklings of snow on certain peaks, rushing crystal clear rivers and everything being a luscious green. We stopped en route for a walk around some fantastically shaped rocks which reminded me of a giants' cemetery. In addition, we had many stops for quick walks, view admiring and of course, one of Aunty's homemade venison pies. Greymouth is set on the sea with a backdrop of the dramatic snow capped Southern Alps. We visited Speights ale bar and sampled some of their offerings, before returning to the van to camp by the beach in a quiet spot off the road. Friday night was probably not the best to camp, as we were interrupted by some teenagers 'pretending to be the NZ police' – quite convincing aside from the banging tunes coming out of the revved up car and the giggles in the background. Very comical. I thought I was very safe the next morning using the outdoor loo on the deserted beach in front of the van, until a helicopter appeared out of nowhere only 20m above me, with a waving a smiling pilot…what else could I do other than to wave back and give my best grin?

Franz Josef Glacier 2^nd – 3^rd May

You would imagine that you would get blasé about the consistently stunning scenery, however it is impossible, and as ever, the drive from Greymouth to Franz Josef was beautiful, having the sea on our right, and the mountains on our left. Franz Josef is a small wee alpine resort totally geered into visitors, with some cosy bars and the all important hot springs. We arrived mid afternoon, and decided to get some fresh air, so hiked up a hill and along to one of the rivers, which flows down from the glacier. It was a beautiful 3 hour walk and we even managed to pick up a lost cat on the way back who was extremely friendly, following us all the way down. I am not normally fussed about cats, but this one was really very sweet, enjoying being carried down some of the hill and constantly purring. I did feel a bit guilty though once we had lured it down to the bottom as a huge great Rottweiler came bounding out of nowhere – oops. The cat suddenly wasn't so tired anymore.

In the evening we visited the hot springs, which are beautiful at night – all open air and flood lit, there are 3 pools from 36 – 40 degrees. Compared to the cold air outside of the pool, it is fantastic to lie there steaming yourself and looking at the stars. We camped up near the glacier and seeing it by night was beautiful as the moon lights it up making it look like a big snowy river. We had to turn up the gas stove that night though as it was pretty chilly!

Bright and early we walked to the bottom of the glacier. There is a huge river bed in front of the glacier where the retreat has taken place over past years. You have to walk over this, and then you get to the base of the glacier. It is fantastic being able to get so close and see the river underneath, almost in a natural bridge. It retreats or extends by up to 1m a year, and it is very interesting/scary to see how much it has retreated since, say the 1920s, when the river bed was actually a lake. You can climb the glacier with ice shoes, something Mark and I would love to have done, however we were not keen on route marching up in a group of 20 (x perhaps 15 groups). Therefore we both decided it was a beast to be conquered when we have more money and can hire a private guide!

We also drove past the Fox glacier, which is also possible to climb. Onwards towards Queenstown, which was a relatively long drive (although nothing seems long after Australia). We stopped at Bruce Bay and Lake Wanaka, which were just gorgeous. We also had a brief pit stop at a new winery in Central Otago to get a bottle of red to go with our lamb chops that night. We met a very friendly NZ lady who had just come over from living in Guernsey to 'live her dream' in setting up her own winery. She loved the fact we were driving around in a van!

Queenstown 3^rd – 4^th May

We got to Queenstown just as it was getting dark and found somewhere to camp, along the lake esplanade. The town is really cute – beautiful setting by a lake and surrounded by the Remarkables mountain range, it surpassed my expectations as purely being a party town for the ski bums. It does seem to have great amenities, international cuisine and a whole host of adrenaline seeking activities available – not for the faint hearted. We visited a small wine bar/cellar door which drew us inside purely by the big open fireplaces and sheepskin rug clan armchairs and had a winter warmer before exploring the rest of the town.

Rudely awakened the next morning by a traffic warden banging on our door, we thought if we pretended to not be in the van and hide further under the duvet, he would just go away. Unfortunately this was not the case & he was peskily persistent. Apparently our lake side abode was simply not acceptable & we had to move/not camp within 10km inside the town again – he was friendly enough I suppose and at least we did not get fined. So we moved about 20m down the road and had breakfast over looking the lake, which was lovely. Then onwards and upwards – we took the cable car up to the top of the hill and had a crack at the Luge, which is great fun by the way. Their marketing is very much around the consensus that once is 'never enough.' They were right – I believe that being equally competitive meant Mark and I had to have another go at the hilarious carting track from the top of the chair lift down to the bottom.

Quick hot chocolate, then off for a walk. We followed the track towards Ben Lomond saddle, which went through some gorgeous pine forests then into the open fields, with great views of the lake. We walked up for about an hour and a half before we got to the saddle, and then decided that we wanted to climb to the top, so we kept going. The weather was warm and windless, so the 360 degree views were absolutely spectacular. We struggled a bit towards the top as it was about 3pm and we had not eaten since the naughty traffic warden woke us up about 8am, so we were both absolutely starving. It was 100% worth the climb though as it felt like we were on top of NZ at the top (we weren't actually – that'll be Mt. Cook next week). After wolfing down a very late lunch (about 5pm) we went off in search of a shower, which we found in the form of a great jaccuzzi and sauna overlooking the lake for only 5$ - this made us very happy indeed! In the evening we drove about 170km to Te Anau in preparation for our trip to Milford Sounds in the morning. JG

Blue Mountains & Sydney

2009-05-05T01:38:00.001-07:00

We arrived in the Blue Mountains to be somewhat surprised by the cold weather – 6 degrees C – Australia is not meant to be cold! We had a fun day driving around, stopping at various walking tracks and pottering around looking at the impressive craggy views. We ended up camping in a random rest area, making a fire and drinking some more of our Hunter Valley purchases. We were joined by an Aussie chap called Roy, who was driving around on his own, and we had a very pleasant evening cooking together and sharing travelling tales.

Next day, onwards to Sydney! We arrived just as the light was fading and got a spectacular view of the city skyline as we drove over the bridge, which was exciting. We did a bit of a recky of the city trying to find somewhere to camp. Parking is so expensive and it seems that they have all areas covered, or maybe not! We found a little spot in Rushcutters Bay to camp, hoping that we would not wake up to banging outside the next morning. Even better, we opened up our van door, and had a fabulous view of the harbour and the bridge – for free – who needs to stay in the Intercontinental?!

The next day, first stop was the public swimming pool – I could have sworn that there was a film of dirt around both of us despite showering beforehand! Moving further down the coast had meant that the free cold beach side showers were not so appealing, so we were going an average of 3 days at a time without showering! Feeling clean and spritely, we had an excellent day pottering around the city, which was every bit as accessible as I remembered – Sydney does seem to be one of those places where you can 'have it all' – the outdoorsy healthy lifestyle combined with a cosmopolitan city. Day 2 we prepared the van for return, which took quite a while, particularly getting those last bits of Outback dust out. We did this at Bronte Beach, which is just a short walk around the cliff from the popular Bondi and much more beautiful.

On the final day, we walked around Darling Harbour and up to the Opera House, having a picnic of take-away sushi in the Botanical Gardens. The evening was spent with some of Mark's friends from London who have moved to Sydney, so it was fun to get a 'Sydneysider's view of the city while enjoying some excellent and very cheap Indian food. For the last two nights, Mark and I treated ourselves to a hotel room, although I say treated, it was still cheaper than two youth hostel beds at the YHA! What a wonderful time we had in Australia – and so much more to see another time. In hindsight, the best decision we made was taking a camper van – it really gave us the choice and flexibility to become very isolated or join the tourist trail. I am looking forward to NZ for more camper van adventures! JG

Bluemountains.. cold !!!

2009-05-05T01:37:00.000-07:00