The last leg

Gill again with the blog short-straw. It is with mixed feelings I write the final installment of this fine blog. We have had a fantastic four months on the road and there is still so much of South America left to explore. On the other hand, we are looking forward to leaving the bedbugs, long bus journeys and cold showers behind and seeing everyone in Blighty again. There is the small matter of a wedding to arrange too....



I think Jonny left off in Buenos Aires where we caught yet another overnight bus to Iguazu falls. These spectacular waterfalls were slightly less dramatic than usual due to a drought in the area, none the less we were impressed and spent 2 days in the area seeing the falls from the Argentinian and Brazilian side. Our first impressions of Brazil were hot and expensive.



We caught ANOTHER overnight bus to Campo Grande, a large town in the north west which served as our gateway to the Pantanal wetlands. Unfortunately Campo Grande had nothing to offer in the way of tourist attractions - dining options were so limited that the freshest food we could find was at McDonalds.



The next day we set off in a rather crowded minivan to Pantanal. The tour was not exactly what we had been sold in the travel agency when we booked- our luxary private jungle lodge with all the mod cons was infact a fishing hut shared with 25 other middle aged fisherman on a boys weekend away. It all worked out OK in the end after Jonny and I got the frog out of the toilet....



Like Iguazu, the Pantanal region is also experiencing a drought, so the wetlands weren´t so wet, with lots of dried up lakes and river beds. We did a boat safari at dusk and saw more aligators than a trip to Australia zoo (our guide assured us they were the non man-eating kind), otters, monkeys, a camelion and lots of exotic birds. The boys were very dissappointed at the lack of jaguar and anaconda sightings but kept up a brave face.



The next day we went to the ranch for some `gentle pony trekking´. The horses seemed to have worked out that the quicker they went the sooner they got back to the stable for lunch so we galloped all the way home against our better judgement- very fun but a bit nerve racking. Jonny won by a mile on his lightening steed but couldn´t walk properly afterwards.....We also did a bush trek, a sunrise walk and piranah fishing (Claire got upset watching her fish die out of the water, I was so suprised to catch anything my fish got away and flapped back into the water and Jonny was just chuffed to catch a fish before Andy did).



It was then time for the ultimate bus journey, a mega 30 hrs to Rio on a very basic and rather crowded bus. Needless to say it wasn´t a trip highlight but we got there in the end and headed to a Copacabana hostel for some well needed rest. The next day was spent exploring Rios beaches and working up an appetite for the buffet to end all buffets for dinner. It was all you can eat for aprox 11 pounds and this included pizza, sushi, BBQ meats, salads, pasta, cheese etc.... Needless to say we all over-indulged, Andy thought he was going to pass out at one stage but recovered in time for dessert!



The next day we travelled to Ilha Grande 2 hours south of Rio, a beautiful tropical island with clear waters and white sandy beaches. The boys came down with a cold which turned out not to be swine flu, despite Andy´s initial concerns. We thought the hostel was OK until the party outside our dorm went on till 4.30 am and we realised we were too old for sleepless nights. So we found 2 lovely guest houses on the beach with no noise but the sound of the waves and spent the last 3 days walking, swimming, kayaking, drinking the local tipple (caipirinhas) and eating delicious fresh fish (who said old was boring!?).



Back in Rio we split forces again and found 2 lovely guest houses near Ipanema beach for the last 4 nights. Yesterday we all went up the hill to see the infamous Christ the Redeemer and spectacular views over the city.



Jonny and I did a tour of the favelas, which are Rios` shanty towns housing hundreds of thousands of people all over the city adjoining some of the nations richest neighbourhoods. We were assured by our guide that it was the safest place for tourists to be because the main industry is drug dealing. The drug barons are so keen to keep the police away from the area that they ensure there is no petty street crimes to attract them. We learnt a lot about the city and its people and some of the money from the tour goes back into the communities.

On the penultimate night in Rio we went to Lapa for a samba night, with lots of live music and the locals rather impressively strutting their stuff. Claire and I weren't desperately keen on the idea and Jon and Andy\decided against scaring the locals with what would have been the perturbing sight of us dancing together

The main activity on the last full day was sugar loaf mountain, although we discovered it was closed for a week when we got there as they were changing the cables!

That was pretty much it for, with severalbeach visits dispersed amongst the week. An assume and interesting place and luckily we managed to avoid the muggings that we heard so much about.

It's good bye from them, and it's good bye from me. Until next time...

XXXX

Peru, adrenaline & giardia...

G'day bloggers... Jon here. Afraid it's my turn again. The blog seemed like a great idea, and still does i guess, but when it's your turn to tap away with two fingers on a computer that is likely to crash at any second whilst everyone else chills out and drinks nice coffee... it becomes a bit of a chore. OK... moan over... let's begin.

I am following on from Claire and Bolivia. As already mentioned, we chickened out of chancing our arms with the road blocks and opted for the flight to Cuzco. Despite an early start this went very smoothly. The hostel in Cuzco proved to be a winner - newly done up room with mezzanine level. Posh! In honour of this we spent the majority of the day wrapped in very comfy rugs watching classic movies (including Jaws... yeah!). Following day we wandered around the sights and watched a variety of processions. Really really nice place with llama products to purchase at every turn. Next day we headed into the Sacred Valley, on a day trip to Pisac. Yet another (huge) market, which was initially met with frowns by myself and Andy as the ladies bought scarves, rings, and necklaces, but we quickly got into it and spent most of our time haggling for ¨art¨- much good cop/bad cop later - and one large canvass each was obtained. The evening was spent at a briefing for the Inca Trail and lots of packing.

So, the Inca Trail.... Day 1

We met up with our group at the early hour of 0550 and set off for the start, a 2 hour drive away. All were massively reassured of what was to come as a monster breakfast was served, which was touted to be a ¨quick snack¨. Our group was a good mix: father and son Swedes; 2 American girls; a Kiwi; and a couple of young Brits - all led by 2 fantastic guides, Paull and Amilka. The days walking was a fairly steady 5 hours through pretty villages and ruins, with a heart rate raising climb at the end (which Andy and I thought would be good to stride out... sweat inducing to say the least). Greeted by applause from the porters (we thought we were really special 'cos we went so fast, then realised the next day that they always do that) and tents already set up. Amazing! Within 5 minutes there were ladies selling beers, and within 15 there was fresh hot popcorn and snacks served in our mess tent. Heaven! The evening meal was a breath taking 3 course meal (with at least 4 different mains to choose from), made even more ridiculous given the fact that they carried everything, including the oven!!

This was the general gist of the whole trip: 19 porters woke before us; carried all our food and tents really fast; prepared awesome food; and never failed to smile the whole time. Incredible.

Day 2

My night was slightly marred by coming down with, at that point only suspected (later confirmed by my personal gastroenterologist - Dr Nick Bosanko - many thanks), Giardia. Messy. But hey ho... As helpfully pointed out by the elder Swede, ¨s**t happens on the Inca Trail¨. Woken by the porters offering bowls of hot water to wash with, this was actually heaven according to Gill. The icing on the cake, literally, came when we gathered around to present the birthday boy of the group (younger Swede) with a freshly made and iced cake! In the middle of nowhere!! Then we set off for a hard days walking - up Dead Woman´s Pass. 2 and a half hours up hill. The rain started early in the day and did not let up until day 4. I think it was half way up that Gill announced that this was no longer heaven and that she was never camping again. Bless her, she carried me emotionally the entire day and luckily the porters were able to carry my bag. Andy and Claire were the racing snakes of the group and pushed the pace the entire day up at the front of the pack. We should have been greeted by breathtaking views at the top of the pass, but with the cloud and rain obscuring the view and my burning desire to push on to the next toilet we plodded on. Pity. All apart from from me lunched on gorgeous morsels whilst i was given a special Incan drink to help with my bowel issues. Walked on for another few hours stopping at a few ruins on route. Still raining. Got into camp, and again the tents were all there ready and popcorn followed shortly thereafter. Awesome food and lots of card games due to the rain outside, followed by bed.

Day 3

Commenced with hot water. Always a good start. But still raining. Gill reconfirmed that she was never camping again. My previous days special tea must have done something as things were looking up for me. Nice. Made nicer by an easier day of walking to follow, albeit in the rain, mainly downhill with ruins on route. Culminated by a visit to Winawayna - really cool ruins next to the campsite. The promised Day 3 hot shower was tragically only tepid, but it did the job. More great food and lots of cards (Addendum - being day 3, most had picked up the card game we learnt on day 1... but not Claire... I have never seen such card incompetence! Sorry Claire...) in a mini night club serving beer. Surreal but really good fun. Prior to bed we had a goodbye to the porters ceremony with the handing over of very very well deserved tips.

Day 4

(In case you were wondering I am finally on fully solid food at this point...)

This was it, what we had all been waiting for... the day of Machu Pichu. Early start - 0400 - no hot water and it was still raining. You can probably guess Gill's sentiments regarding our situation. Moral soon lifted with fresh pancakes and coffee however, and we set off. The first goal was the Sun Gate - the main viewing point of Machu Pichu - where all gather to watch the first of the sun's rays to hit one of the wanders of the world. Complete white out. And still raining! Moral dropped. Really dropped. Much positive self talk and hopeful words from our guides and we again pushed on. It worked... the sun came out halfway down the track to Machu Pichu. There she was in full glory. Spectacular. We had a fascinating tour around the ruins, a bit of free time to wander, then on a bus to Aguas Calientas. We said an emotional goodbye to our leaders over lunch, then headed off by train and bus back to Cuzco. Straight to bed after eating in a secret destination.

Slept very well...

A relaxing few days in Cuzco was cut short by talk of more road blocks, so we booked a night bus to Arequipa for the same evening. Very pleasant Easter Sunday in Cuzco with good coffee and cake and processions around the square.

Arrived in Arequipa (nearly didn't as the locals had a mini riot about the standard of the bus) the following day and checked in to a hostel with penguins in the title and pictures of them everywhere. Really nice place though, made all the better by the fact that we could check in early and catch up on a few hours shut eye. Later strolled around the lovely sights of Arequipa, went to a museum with an Incan mummy in it and booked up our tour for the following day.

Following day we commenced a 2 day tour to the Colca Canyon. We were greeted by our mildly manic guide Irene and set off on the drive to the canyon, stopping a lot (maybe too much) on route. A huge buffet lunch was followed by a lovely walk to some pre-incan burial caves up a hill. Then the highlight of the day - hot springs at dusk with waitresses serving beer. Heaven was re-discovered. Dinner was followed by much local dancing. Andy's natural panpipe rhythm and associated pelvic thrusts were the highlight for me.

Another early start, and we drove out to the condor viewing point, via churches and more dancing (bit early if you ask me). We saw approx 6 condors swoop overhead. Really really stunning. Then set off back to Arequipa, with a few more stops on route. Spent the evening with a take out pizza watching Notting Hill. Nostalgia.

A well deserved lie in, followed by a stroll up to the look out point. Not much to look out upon (may have been in the wrong place). Then an incredible luncheon of the specialty of the house prawns. And lots of them. Washed down with pisco sours. Very pleasant. Then went to the Santa Catalina Convent - huge place, almost a mini town. Interesting. Then spent nearly 2 hours in the LAN office bringing our flight to BA forward... we got there in the end. Then on to another overnight bus to Nazca.

Think the bus was driven by a drunk or someone with little experience. Cornered at serious speed. Still alive to tell the tale we headed for the Nazca Lines airport to board a 6 seater to view the breath taking Nazca Lines. 45 minutes of stiff banking turns and lots of G force was slightly hair raising but brilliant (Claire's stomach took a turn for the worse, but the plane was so loud we didn't hear a thing!). Then onwards again, on a very hot bus and taxi to Ica and Huacachina - a small oasis town surrounded by sand dunes. A crazy day full of adrenaline was followed by a long siesta by the hostel pool and a relaxing evening.

Someone came up with the idea of climbing the huge sand dune overlooking the hostel prior to breakie. Half way we all thought we had bitten off slightly too much, but we all got there, and were rewarded by fanatastic views. Then a chilled morning prior to more crazy adrenaline packed activity.... Sand-boarding and sand-buggying. BRILLIANT! The buggying half was essentially us being hurled around massive dunes by a half crazed driver in a ridiclulously powerfully motored vehicle. REALLY BRILLIANT! Then the boarding bit was us laying down on a bit of MDF and flying down dunes the size of ski slopes. REALLY REALLY BRILLIANT!! One commando roll by Andy, a grazed elbow for me, much screaching and breaking by Gill and swearing like you have never heard by Claire and it was over. We came back down to earth helped by many pisco sours and beers back at the hostel.

Another lazy morning was spent beside the pool prior to heading to Lima on a measily 5 hour bus ride. Highlight of the bus was ¨bus bingo¨. Claire was robbed... having clearly ticked off all her numbers and correctly pushing her light on whilst exclaiming ¨BINGO¨, a local scallywag jumped up and also proclaimed victory. The stupid bingo hostess then said they should draw lots.... they are not the rules! Needless to say poor Claire lost, and waved goodbye to her prize. Gutted. Arrived in Lima. Quick stroll around the Miaflores district and then to bed.

Morning spent in Lima seeing the sights: plazas; churches; changing of the guard. Then back to Miaflores. Lima has a lot of smog. Bit of shopping with bargains a plenty, then evening wine, nibbles and dinner.

A hurried packing session in the morning was followed by a taxi ride to the airport for our plane to Buenos Aries...

That is where i finally finish. Again, very verbose. Apologies. I also apologise for frequent mention of my bowels, but for me it is my lasting memory of days 1 to 3 of the Inca Trail! Love to all. Not long to go now...

Hi folks...with ten weeks and four countries under our belts we have come full circle, and its Claire here with the next chunk of activity! We have just spent an awesome, action-packed three weeks in Bolivia. Unfortunately internet connections were rather more miss than hit which has left me with a rather mammoth task...I promise to try and be brief (not something I am famous for!).





From Humahuaca we caught our last argie bus for a while and crossed the border into Bolivia at a fairly rough place called Villazon. After the colonial elegance of Salta it was quite a culture shock...dusty, smelly and very noisy as hundreds of Bolivians in traditional dress, carrying huge bundles on their backs herded north! After a long queue and some unintelligible spanish our passports were stamped and we were legal.With an hour to kill before our bus out we found ourselves in a local eatery ready for lunch...the plate of the day (infact the only dish on the menu) turned out to be fried chicken with pasta, rice and potatoes. Bit of a taster of what was to come really...the Bolivians just love their carbs!! Our afternoon bus was a 4WD job...just as well given the road was a very rough, muddy track but fortunately for us dry. The journey to Tupiza took us through vast areas of rough agricultural land with people living alongside the track in muddy shacks with very few facilities.





Tupiza was a quiet little town...we checked into a lovely hostel and spent 24 hours watching CNN in bed and eating lentils (as you do!). Our main reason for coming was to join a tour of Bolivias salt flats...and two days later after some not very convincing haggling we found ourselves on the most expensive tour available. "Will the guide speak english?"...we asked nervously. "Of course" replied the sales lady..."but I would not say he is fluent!".





The next morning saw us packed up and eagerly awaiting departure. It was not an auspicious start...our cook and driver arrived over an hour late and when the key was finally turned in the ignition our jeep gave a few rather pathetic bleats and died. Barnaby...our ever cheerful driver...lept from his seat, lifted the bonnet and blew on the ignition cable with almost immediate success...and we were off. "I Barnaby" he informed us once underway and with a big smile managed..."one, two, three, four, five!"...not fluent proved to be a fairly generous description of his skills. Combined with our appalling spanish it made for a very entertaining few days with lots of gesticulating, smilling and nervous laughter on each side! That said Barnaby and Martha (our cook) were absolutely delightful and went to huge lengths to ensure our comfort and share their country.





Day one seemed to be fraught with mechanical issues...the ignition problem recurred each time the car was stationary and we also managed to pick up a strange knocking sound and sustain a flat tyre. At regular intervals Barnaby would slam on the brakes, leap out of the car, don an overrall and crawl under the jeep. Not to be outdone on the man stakes.. Jonny would leap out after him, wave his hands in the air and shout "auto kaput" whilst nodding knowingly! Clearly the Subaru is not quite a forgotten memory! The boys both had a crash course in car maintenance..the pinnacle being fixing the ignition with the lid of a beer can we found on the floor. All of that said, it was a lovely drive through the hills with awesome scenery and lots of wildlife (llamas, vicunas and chinchillas). Accommodation for the first night was a bare stone hut with no electricty or heating...it did however come with its very own dead condor! The bird, which looked to have recently passed on, was massive - wing span approaching 2 metres and ever so slightly wiffy!!





A theme for the tour were freezing cold nights (most sub zero) and enforced 4.30 am departures. At times it felt like boot camp but once snuggled in the warm jeep watching sun come up we realised Barnaby had a point! The first night we lay in bed listening to the rain and after climbing nearly 1000m the next morning it became clear that at altitude this had been a fresh snow fall. In fact we crossed the highest pass in a blizzard...stopping every so often so that Martha could jump out, grab the shovel and clear our way (dressed as she was in the traditional plaits, skirt and open toe sandals!). Even the llamas were covered in snow and watched enviously as we sailed past!





The next couple of days were spent driving through snowy mountains, visiting beautiful lakes, watching huge flocks of flamingoes and listening to Barnabys truly terrible music! We also managed to swim in some thermal pools and visit some puddles of bubbling mud. The beauty and diversity of the scenery is very difficult to describe..needless to say we will bore you all with the photos when we get home!





Day four saw another pre dawn departure...this time for the gem of the tour...the world famous slat flats. They were simply incredible...12,000 square km of salt crust, at points up to 12m thick, left behind by a huge inland sea that dried up. Vast and eerily beautiful at sunrise! We spent the morning taking lots of silly photos of each other using the perspective bending nature of the vast flat horizon...heaps of fun. The salar was definitely one of the highlights so far...we all escaped serious altitude issues and had an unforgettable trip!





Our next stop was a mining town called Potosi...a very poor community built around the Cerro Rocco mountain which has been steadily stripped of all silver and minerals over the last 450 years. The mines are open for tourist tours and to be honest it was a fairly harrowing experience. The work is totally unmechanised...using turn of the century techniques with men dragging huge carts of rubble in and out on rough tracks. The shafts are about 5 foot in height and the mountain has been so extensively and haphazardly worked that collapses and deaths are commonplace. Boys as young as 10 work in the mine and most develop severe respiratory disease within 20-30 years and retire in their 40s as invalids. The men drink 96% proof alcohol and smoke almost continuously underground...not sure health and safety has reached Potosi. The highlight of the tour for the boys was being allowed to buy their own stick of dynamite and blow it up!!





From Potosi we headed to Sucre... a much more affluent city, and historically the countrys capital.We did a lot of recouping after our week on the road but managed to squeeze in some churches and museums. We also had some great meals out including a giant fondue!! The market in Sucre was fascinating...particularly the butchery section where you could buy almost any part of any animal imaginable! The last tourist attraction we visited was a dinosaur theme park...built in a local quarry where excavations revealed rows and rows of fossilised dinosaur footprints. All very jurassic park...and made all the more entertaining by our very over enthusiastic spanish guide who announced "You can call me JC..but I am not Jesus Christ!".





An overnight bus then took us on to La Paz. A sprawling and dirty metropolis, frenetic with activity. Feeling a little homesick(?) we opted for an all english day on arrival...heading to the english pub to watch the England footie match, eat pie and chips and drink beer..before stumbling on for an authentic english curry on the way home!! We managed to stop short of singing "Vindaloo" all the way home...



For the first time during our travels, we decided to split forces in La Paz. Andy and I had met an english lad who recommended a mountain climb to us and we were both keen to give it a go. I think it was the "200m near vertical ice wall at the summit" that put Gilly off!! Turns out it was a very sensible decision.



Our trip was a 3 day effort with the aim to summit a local peak called Huayna Potosi. We set off fairly optimistically, rucksacks laden with climbing gear and chocolate. Our first day was great fun...we met our guide Eulogio at a mountain hut at 4700m and spent the afternoon ice climbing on a nearby glacier. Kitted out with crampons, ice picks and huge lengths of rope he taught us to scale a 30m ice wall, and then abseil down it...awesome! The refuge facilities were extremely basic...essentially sleeping in a large empty barn with sub zero temperatures at night. Fortunately the new sleeping bags were toasty! Day 2 began slightly ominously with Andy complaining of a bad headache...commonly due to the altitude. That said we both enjoyed a beautiful walk up to our second refuge...a tiny hut perched on the edge of a precipitous drop at the edge of the snow field. Shortly after arriving Andy became very nauseous and was sick. Never one to give up on a physical challenge he declined to walk down the mountain and spent the afternoon sipping coca tea in preparation for our summit attempt. We were woken at half past midnight to don our climbing gear and have a speedy breakfast before departure. We set off at 1am and to be honest it was incredibly beautiful. A huge peak of pristine snow with more stars overhead than I have ever seen, and the lights of La Paz twinkling in the valley. It was a fairly tough climb given the altitude and the cold but an incredible experience. Unfortunately the altitude got the better of Andy at 5900m..just 180m short of the summit. Extremely faint and nauseous the only option was to turn back for a long climb down to our sleeping bags. Returning down at dawn afforded us beautiful views across the neighbouring peaks...We have crossed Everest off our "to do in life list" but both loved the challenge (right Andy?).

Hello, quick insert from Jonny and Gilly here. We were not nearly as adventurous as the Shorters and had a far more civilised few days.....

Day 1 alone was spent walking aimlessly around La Paz. On reaching the local park a clown with an audience of thousands (well, maybe hundreds) proceeded to make "Jonny the gringo" the butt of a lot of spanish jokes much to the amusement of the crowd and our bemusement. I am sure he was only being nice. Hmm... We also breezed past the infamous San Pedro Jail much to Jonnys delight. Day 2 was our cultural excursion to the ancient pre-Incan ruins of Tiwanaku- very interesting but I wont bore you with the details. Day 3 we stepped up the altitiude to a pathetic 5300m climb on a guided hike up Austria peak. Fantastic views and a great walk marred slightly by the altitude induced nausea and fatigue! At least we summited....ha ha ha. Back to Claire now.

Reunited as a team we celebrated with tickets for the Bolivia-Argentina football match. I dont know a lot about footie but essentially there were men in green, men in blue, yellow cards, red cards, corners, penalties and goals...lots of them. In fact Bolivia, the touted underdogs, thrashed the argies 6-1...the argies worst defeat in 60years! The atmosphere in the stadium was just incredible with the bolivians going crazy. Diego Maradona (the argie coach) stood on the sidelines with his head in his hands...maybe some recompense for the "hand of god"?? We are all affirmed converts although andy tells me not all games are that good!



Next stop was Copacabana, a very pretty town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It was a stunning spot and perfect for some "r and r". Unfortunately Jonny wasnt well and spent 36 hours in bed! The rest of us had a great day visiting Isla del Sol. After the slowest boat journey in history we enjoyed a beautiful walk across the island...only to arrive at the ferry jetty to find El Presidente had dropped in for lunch! There was a full-on political broadcast in full swing on the beach and we sat and listened to Evo Morales for about half an hour. Fascinating experience as all the locals had turned out in full traditional dress, and after the speeches a full beach party/ BBQ kicked off. Keen to catch a photo we were almost mown down by the president and his entourage, on their way back to their boat...with lots of totty in tow as Gilly noted!



So...after three weeks in Bolivia it was time to move on. We celebrated our last night in La Paz by ordering the largest pizza any of us had ever seen! Measuring 70cm across it was delivered on a roofrack!! Yummy but not sure I will ever eat another pizza to be honest!



Over the last two weeks we have heard tales of transport strikes in Peru with roads blocaded against tourist buses. We decided to play safe and book a flight to Cusco in order to make our inca trail connection on time. After that fingers crossed for our journeys across Peru! Anyway...have failed miserably at keeping it brief so had better dash. Love to all friends and family in the UK and make sure you check out the new photos!

A glacier, a volcano and lots of steak...

Having managed to avoid writing for the previous three installments, it's now the contador's turn to update the captivated audience on our exploits. The last two weeks have absolutely flown by and it"s hard to believe we are approaching halfway through our trip. After 7 weeks on the road boundaries in the group are becoming a little blurred. Since the last post I have managed to call Claire "Jon" and he in turn has called Gill "Andy"...not quite time for hostel keys in the middle....

Having finished the epic hiking in Puerto Natales we jumped on a minibus that took us to El Calafate via the Perito Mereno glacier. The glacier was pretty awe inspiring at 30 kms long, 5 kms wide and with a terminal face upto 60 metres high. We just about managed to get some 'carving' shots where big chunks of ice fall from the face. Calafate is a chilled out holiday town for the Argentinians and we discovered the president owns big chunks of land and real estate there, including the local casino. As a result the services to and from Calafate are pretty good compared to the surrounding area and a lot of money is being spent on improving the facilities at the glacier... no conflict of interests there.

In Calafate we also managed to have our first serious Argentian bbq buffet which involved huge amounts of food. We were leaving the following morning on a 3am bus so decided to really go for the free food. I think all of us lay in bed that night with that post xmas dinner feeling!

The bus trip to Bariloche turned out to be the longest of the trip so far lasting a mamouth 36 hours. It made the flight from Australia home seem pretty easy. The buses are pretty good here though and dont compare to the ones in the UK, so could have been a lot worse.

We arrived in Bariloche at about midday and set about trying to find a hostel. First place was was on the 10th floor of a pretty run down building and is how I imagine the apartment blocks in Moscow to look like. We did read that this was the worst looking building in town though and the rest of the place was very picturesque, along the lines of a Swiss/German town. Finally found a place run by an old lady with a lot of chintz and doilies... seemed perfect and we, the two couples, got a double room each with en suite bathrooms. Bariloche is famous for its chocolate and it was therefore obligatory for us to overload with hot chocolate, chocolate cake and various tarts... Claire also discovered Submarinos here, hot milk with a stick of chocolate to do with as you wish

After a night of living with grandma we decided to go for something more along the wacky traveller lines and moved to a place called Periko's which importantly had a bbq (more later). That day we treated ourselves to a hire car, as it seemed cheaper than any tours, and visited the area around Bariloche. Beautiful countryside with the Swiss chalet theme really coming through. We hadn't climbed a hill for a while so Gill demanded we find the steepest slope once again and climbed about 300 metres in 20 minutes, with views at the top well worth the effort. That night we had a bbq at the hostel. A lack of firelighters meant a clandestine search for cardboard, old crates and other bits of wood from the street. And then...man make fire. Very impressed with our towering inferno we sat back and downed a few cervezas to celebrate. We all loved Bariloche with its ski resort feel and were very sad to move on.

Next morning saw us on another bus heading back across the chilean border...we just love those border crossings. This time we were headed for Pucon, a chilean holiday resort famous for its lakes and volcanos. We transited through a backwater chilean town called Osorno...not much to write about it except that Jonny managed to get himself chatted up by a 14 year old local who wanted to practice her english and show him her g string...much to the amusment of her giggling friends. We finally arrived at our destination in the dark, bored of buses and very grateful to be met by our host...a long haired, exceptionally friendly hostel owner called Herman.

Hostel Donde German proved to be a five star establishment...double rooms all round with the girls revelling in the nice linen, towels and pillows. Guess its the little things that count. It was a great place with a lovely garden for supping beer while watching the sunset over the volcano...and more opportunity for bbqs. Hermans day job was running his own adventure company and so next morning we signed up for the volcano climb...what an experience.

After getting all the gear from Herman we left for the volcano early doors, the girls getting very excited about the fireman look Jon and I managed to pull off pretty well. Climbed start off nice and slow, partly due to some unfit Brasilians but mainly due to the steep altitude climb (about 1,000 metres overall up to 2,800m) and the very dry air. The second half was on a small glacier and ice so we were required to put on crampons and carry an ice pick... bit of a scuffle as to who was going to walk behind Claire and avoid her spikes, but other than that no real issues! Top of the volcano was amazing and depsite there being no magma as it's been dry for the last couple of years, there was plenty of sulphur being pumped out, which was pretty savage if you ended up down wind. Best bit of the day was coming down though and involved putting on a giant nappy and, without getting technical, sliding down on your backside. Brilliant fun, although I did manage to bruise my coccyx pretty badly after hitting a few ice bumps just to make sure I was faster than Jon!

The following day we chilled again in Pucon, with temperatures hitting about 32c. That evening, poor Claire almost got chucked out of the supermarket for not respecting the locals and walking around bare foot. Only when she was able to explain her flip flops had broken and she was buying new ones did they let her off. Day done, we caught the 8pm bus to Mendoza, via a short stop in Santiago. All loved Pucon and turned out to be one of the first places we slowed down about.

Mendoza is a pretty decent city in Argentina, well known for its wine and steak. After setting up base at a cheap but average hostel we used the time here to catch up on a few errands we needed to do and of course visit the wineries. Jon and Gill also went horseriding out in the bush where apparently Jon nearly came a cropper whilst doing an impression of Lester Piggot. That night, tipped of by the riding instructor, we went to a posh nosh gaff where Claire, Gill and I had huge lumps of steak. Jon went for a mixed grill which included some lengths of intestine and a variety of other internal organs... rather him than me but was actually pretty tasty!

On the third and last day in Mendoza we took the bus out to the wineries and hired bikes from Mr Hugo. Slightly different experience to other vineyards we've been too, with a busy, bumpy road to navigate down, but a really nice lunch which included a cheese and meat platter certainly made it worth while. Having arrived back at Mr Hugo we were pretty dry and started to hydrate on coke and water. At this point Mr Hugo came out with a carafe of wine and poured us all massive glasses, despite the protests. Last thing we wanted but obviosuly did the gracious thing and drank most of the wine, only to have him return with more. Really nice bloke and made us feel very welcome, despite the language barriers

Mendoza done we jumped on the bus and headed further north to Salta. This turned out to be our favourite city so far, with old streets set round an attractive plaza full of colonial buildings and churches. Once again we decided we needed a break and ended up staying here for a few relaxing days which included a couple of well lubricated afternoons in the square, followed by siestas and late nights.

Cultural highlights included the Archaelogical museum which housed 3 mummified children found on top of a nearby volcano (6000 m up). They'd been sacrificed 500 years ago as part of an Incan ritual and had been preserved by the low oxygen levels, low humidity and extreme temperatures. Very surreal and half expected them to jump up because they had been so well preserved. We also watched the monthly changing of the guard and climbed another mountain. On the penultimate evening we went to an awesome bbq at one of the sister hostels of where we were staying. It was an authentic Argentinian evening with a whole load of marinated meat and a bit of salad... Had some authentic music and dancing too, culminating in the crowd being dragged up one by one to strut their stuff. It was at this point that Claire crawled under the table to avoid having to dance! There was also a guest appearance of a didgeridoo player from Australia who was touring South America.

A personal highlight of the non cultural variety was Jon trying to fix his glasses with superglue in the square. In the process he managed to glu his fingers to his shorts, which in turn were glued to his legs! Richard (Gills dad), I don't think Jon will be taking your DIY crown anytime soon. Smile was wiped off my face not long after when I was dive bombed by a local pigeon... same risks the world over.

From Salta, we hired a car and guide who took us north towards the Bolivian border. Really picturesque drive and saw some old Inca ruins on the way. These were partly highlighted by the increased density of cactus plants around the ruins, apparantly as a result of the Incans feeding the Llamas cactus fruit. Also went through a world heritage area, established as a result of the geological formations, which were pretty stunning. Stayed in Humahuaca that night, which is a pleasant small village, and then headed off to Bolivia the next day.

For those that haven't noted already, we have uploaded a load of photos, found via the link top right of this page. Turned out to be much easier on the slow internet connections

love to all and will update again soon xxx

Hi all, Gill here with the next nail-biting installment of the blog to end all blogs. I think Jonny left off in NZ with his never ending birthday and from there we flew to Easter Island for the start of our South American adventure.

As expected Isla de Pascua was fantastic. It was very hot and certainly not cheap (hotdogs for tea 3 nights in a row) but we really enjoyed visiting all the Maoi (big stone heads) which are scattered all over the island. On the first day we scaled the edge of a stunning volcanic crater and watched the sunset behind the maoi (with a few beers of course). The next day we hired scooters and zipped from maoi to maoi only stopping for a siesta and a quick dip at the beach. The museum would have been really interesting if any of us could read about geography and history in Spanish but never mind, we got the general gist....



















From there it was back to Santiago for a bit more culture in the form of Andy´s walking tour of the city, where we took in sights like the site of the coup in 1973, the law courts, churches and the national gallery.









We quickly pushed on to Ushuaia which is the last big town before Antarctica and there was a dramatic change in temperature. After much deliberation and a few sums by Andy we decided not to jump on a boat to the Antarctic. Instead we did a beautiful day walk in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was a lovely day until about 3pm when the clouds rolled over, the rain came in sideways and we found ourselves cold, wet and stuck up a mountain. Needless to say I wasn´t impressed but luckily we got down without mishap and had a litre of red wine to warm up at the bottom. The next day we caught a boat to see the Beagle channel filled with wildlife including sea lions, cormorants, and some very cute penguins. We then spent the afternoon shopping for trousers as I accidentally put all of my clothes in the wash and was only left with
thermal leggings to wear around town, not a good look!


The next day was our first of many long bus journeys. It took 12 hours to get from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas (approx 4 hours of which was spent at boarder crossings and on the ferry with a truck full of sheep) and then a further 3 hours to Puerto Natales. During this time we were lucky enough to view some of the best quality action movies ever made, "Pistol Whipped" and "Rush Hour 3" were my particular faves. We spent our time in Puerto Natales stocking up on all things waterproof and a mountain of dried food in preparation for the big trek- the infamous "W".

The next day we were dropped off in the Torres del Paine National Park and set off up the mountain to see the jaw dropping 3 towers in bright sunshine. The boys opted not the leave their packs at the refugio at the bottom like the girls, and thought it would be far more macho and "ironman-like" carry 20kg for 22km straight up in 30 deg heat. Silly boys. Andy even bought his goggles, just in case....

That evening after walking for 8 hours Claire and I decided to take a well deserved hot shower. The amenities were a short walk via the living room from our dorm and little did we know that in the time it had taken us to grab our towels a bus load of German men had arrived. We got some unwanted cheers and claps as we emerged in only our towels and one commented that he did not realise entertainment was included!

Overnight I managed to come down with man flu so it was lucky that we only had to walk 11 km over reasonably flat terrain to our next stop. Unfortunately they had no beds left so we had to "rent a tent". The term tent is a bit generous for the soggy piece of plastic we found ourselves sleeping in as the rain poured down outside (and a bit inside). Remarkably the Shorters managed 8 hours sleep compared to our 3. We had a large bowl of porridge in the morning in preperation for the big 28km walk on day 3 up Frenches Valley. Again we were lucky with the weather and the rain held off as we walked up to one of the most increadible 360 degree views any of us had ever seen. There were glaciers and snow covered peaks in all directions. Well worth the effort. Incredibly, on this remote track in the middle of Patagonia we bumped into a guy called Mark and his girlfirend, who Claire and I have worked with in Sydney- small world. After 11 hours of walking, 4 packets of supernoodles, 6 cuppa soups, 3 packets of biscuits and lot of plasters we arrived tired but happy at our last refugio which to our delight had a bar. Unfortunately by the time we showered and ate no one had the energy to raise a glass and it was an early night all round.

Day 4 was a mere 22km walk for views of the Grey Glacier. The wind in our faces was +100km hour so it was tough going but it was amazing to see large icebergs of bright blue ice float past us in the lake. Andy threatened to use the previously mentionned goggles to swim out to the ice but thought the better of it after some gentle persuasion by Claire.

We arrived back in time to catch the last boat and bus back to town last night where we gratefully hung our boots up for a few days. The sock pile was not pleasant.

Today was for R and R and a lie in was much appreciated. Tomorrow we head for El Calafete and the famous Puerto Merino glacier- no rest for the wicked or the unemployed!

JON here. It's 2200 and i'm rapidly regretting agreeing to do the next blog entry.... I did volunteer a week ago and have been talking about doing it ever since, so hey ho. Please excuse the spelling - the spell check is in spanish and is highlighting every word so i've turned him off.

My tardiness has left me with a number of days to fill in, so the glorious narrative with which Claire opened "three docs and a contador" will not be continued i am afraid. By the way, the word contador in the title means"accountant" in spanish and also just happens to be the same name as an excellent cyclist which Andy hopes someday to be a lot more like. We struggled for a while to come up with something funny but couldn't.

So, on with my diary entry...

Moving on from the glacier we headed north for ages to the Abel Tasman NP (over seven hours - only helped by: being able to lie flat in the back of the passion waggon; a large serve of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakie; and a surprisingly good curry en route). Ended up staying in a campsite aptly titled Old Macdonalds's Farm overnight - lots of animals. Enjoyed feeding the ducks early in the morning, prior to heading off to our kayak hire gaff. Before paddling off we had to endure a 3 hour briefing from a fat bloke trying to be funny. Unfortunatelty we had inclement weather throughout the full days paddle, but moral remained high (or moderate to high) and fun was had by all. Toppped day off with long awaited hot shower back at base. Abel Tasman was awesome - seals, views etc. Would be nicer in the sunshine.

Then off to Nelson the following day. Claire had promised us a gorgeous little village with plenty to see and do. It wasn't and there wasn't. Nice kebab though. Headed swiflty on to Queen Charlotte Sound - amazing. Pulled up right next to the sound. Gill, myself and Andy went for a glorious swim (cut short by increasingly paranoid talk of eels and sharks) prior to being greeted by Caire's special coq-au-vin. Divine. (Thanks Ben Stanley for the recipe).









Unperturbed by a welter of sand fly bites (suffered whilst chewing chicken bones and swilling vin rouge late into the night) we headed off for a long day hike - part of the Queen Charlotte track. Gill started to flag in the heat and seemingly never ending up-hill nature of the track, but soldiered on with the promise of a snack at the end. Pushed on to Picton that afternoon, to enjoy excellent fish and chips ("fush n chups") by the sea front.









Then came the long awaited Marlborough wine day. Nice. Stayed in a camp site in Renwick which had a petanque court. YES!! Sadly my adolescent form abandoned me and i lost badly to Andy (and also very nearly to Claire and Gill). I put it down to the constant berrating of my somewhat camp style... You can judge for yourself in the photo. Next on to the wine and food... Hired bikes and set off to Herzog Winery for lunch (research re their Michelin Starred chef paid off). Was stunning food in a stunning setting - see photo. Then pedaled around as many wineries as we could. Highlight for me was Andy accusing Claire of being "SILLY... SILLY... SILLY Claire" as she tried to master no-hands cycling whilst heading for on-coming traffic. Evening spent recovering from a day of excess watching a movie, all emotional as we were to abandon the passion waggon the following day.

Off to Chrstchurch to drop the van off and enter the world of the true backpacker - YHA hostels, games of pool and connect 4, and no more coq-au-vin for a while. (Unlike the average backpacker, given the cost, i developed an unhealthy obsession with Merino wool clothing - the bank balance is still wincing but Andy is mighty jealous of my sports/outdoor look). Took in most of what C'church had to offer with a long stroll, then flew off to Wellington the next day. A quick public service announcement - don't stay at Nomads Hostel in W'ton unless very intoxicated. We were not, and winged about the noise like people older than our spring chicken selves for a long while. We did get free lockers the next day however when Andy demanded to see the manager in his best angry contador tone.

Wellington greeted us with our first really bad meal (is this starting to sound like a cooking/food diary?) from "Mr Bun" - a bacon and egg sandwich probably made before we arrived in NZ. Hey ho - made us feel like real backpackers. W'ton looked really cool, but unfortuantrely we only had enough time to see the museum (big squid and lots more) and a few surrounding streets, and pick up a hire car.

Pushed on to Whakapappa Village (what a great name for a place) with a view to hiking the Tongariro Pass - volcano territory - the following day. Failed. Weather was too bad and thus dangerous. There was talk of pushing on regardless in true Ray Mears style but sense got the better of us. Andy was not a happy man. Really not happy. He went quiet for 30 minutes, thinking back to his days in the cadet force when he would have headed straight out there into enemy land regardless... Despite the initial set back we still went for a great 5 hour stroll around the lakes, finished with a 15 minute stretch of "double time" for the boys (Andy was happy again). Then headed off to Rotarua, via Lake Taupo - with lots of talk of Ironman (sorry girls). Desperately drove around Taupo looking for IM signs for our mate Johnno to no avail.

Rotarua - smelly but nice. Stumbled across the most amazing meal deal = huge shepheards pie and a decent beer for next to nothing. All very happy. Following morning was spent digesting the previous in hot springs - water spurting from the ground at 98 degrees (slightly cooler in the human baths). Crazy! Then moved on to see some glow-worms. Mad. Stayed in Hamilton that night. Weird b'packers - cross between a nursing home and a family home. Perfectly adequate however.

Pushed on to stay with Claire's Uncle Johnny in Whangerei. Fantastic! We were treated to a whistle stop tour of the locality, amazing bespoke 5 course meal, fine wines, table tennis tournament and much more (many thanks indeed Johnny if you are reading). Myself and Gill stayed with Johnny's friends - Jean and Doug - lovely hosts and lovely house. (Please pass on our thanks Johnny). Very early start in the morning with sore heads all round...

Valentine's Day. Drove to the Bay of Islands to meet a boat leaving at 0700 to hopefully swim with dolphins. (The NZ meat pies come highly recommended for hangover cures). Unfortunately it turned into an expensive but stunning boat cruise around the islands as the dolphins turned up too late for us to jump in. No worries. Drove back to Auckland YHA for romantic separate dinners.

Lastly, my birthday - the longest one yet. We reckon it was approx 42 hours. Got on a variety of flights, eventuating in us getting off at Easter Island. Someone else is taking over here, so adios from me. Apologies for the verbosity... Much love to all.

Hi everybody! It's Claire here - I've been tasked with our first blog update. Firstly apologies in the delay with getting up and running. I had a minor incident involving the mac and a glass of water 2 days before we left Sydney which sort of scuppered our plans. Fortunately Andy had agreed not to divorce me and it looks as though the insurance company will cough up so all good really!

We have had the most amazing 10 days here in NZ - if we continue at this pace we will be home very early with all financial and emotional reserves fully expended!

First issue was trying to get through NZ customs. For some reason I was feeling a little apprehensive under the scrutiny of the customs officers... when asked regarding my visa status I blurted out that I was carrying Earl Grey tea bags - much to the amusement of the team! That and Andy's dirty hiking boots looked as though they might be deal breakers on day one!

We kicked off with a weekend in Queenstown visiting Tona - it's an awesome place; really beautiful with heaps to do! Tona was the perfect hostess - providing is with plenty of entertainment and yummy food (thanks sweetie!). Highlights included the shotover jet (an absolute must for anybody heading this way), a lovely vineyard and an almost vertical 2 hour walk straight up a mountain! Almost forgot we also squeezed in bungies (sadly spectating only...maybe participating is yet to come?) and the legendary queenstown ferburgers (twice!). We loved seeing you T and will miss you xx

We then headed off on the routeburn..a 38km trek through glacial valleys heading towards Milford Sound. There are plenty of photos attached but in brief we were stupidly lucky with the weather, the scenery is just stunning and we had a fab time! Hardest part was persuading Jonny he needed to survive on freeze dried pasta for three days...but Andy elected to carry a full pack and managed to stow 3 litres of red wine to soften the blow. Definitely one of the best trips I've ever done. We were collected from the end of the hike and spent the day in a boat on Milford Sound - difficult to convey the scale of the fjord...incredibly beautiful! Jon (Attenborough) Adams particularly enjoyed the seal colony!? He can't wait for the penguins!!

Next stop was Mount Cook - Australasia'a highest mountain. We arrived under thick cloud cover and it remained that way for approximately 36 hours. We did manage another almost vertical hike (this seems to be becoming a bit of a theme!) with views slightly impaired by inclement weather! The next morning we woke at 6am to find beautifully clear skies and the only sensible option was to fork out on a chopper ride! Needless to say it was absolutely awesome - we flew over Mount Cook and the Tasman glacier and landed at the top. Just spectacular!

From Mount Cook we headed back south taking in a short but lovely stop at Lake Wanaka with time for some energetic mountain biking round the lake...before heading north again, this time to the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. We spent yesterday on a full day ice hike fully kitted out with all the gear including our own crampons. The morning was a fairly leisurely climb but things turned fairly savage after lunch... in brief we spent almost two hours at the bottom of a 10m vertical crevasse while a rather large boy in front managed to get wedged and had to be hoisted out! In true style I managed to get my crampons stuck together and fell sideways into the floor of the crevasse..not a classy manoeuvre in retrospect. The boys were very excited to finally be using their survival skills and we did all feel we had a fairly 'on the edge' trip! After a day feeling wet and cold we treated ourselves to a luxury campsite (with hot showers and electric hook up!)...and managed Jonny's gourmet stew and a few beers in the back of the van in celebration!

That's pretty much it folks! You can see we've adapted well to the constraints of travelling!? Hope all's well and not too snowy back in blightie! Will be in touch soon LOL from three docs and a contador!