After finally taking advantage of everything being free on the aeroplane. We arrived in Singapore to the 28 degree heat at 10pm!! We got a taxi and watched the skyscrapers go by before arriving at the hostel to a very nice air conditioned room!
The next day after a good night's sleep we headed in the hot, clean city + firstly explored chinatown which was a lot more chinese than the one in Sydney! After being called "my friend" in the market I purchased a watch for 1 pound 30 + we both had lunch for 2 pound fifty!
Following lunch we headed to the shopping street + it can be fair to say we have never seen so many shopping malls all in one road it was unbelievable! We continued walking around the city and ended up in "Little India" which really did feel like we were in Mumbai with the crazy traffic and little stalls! Thats when we decided it would be curry for dinner!! And it lived up to the atomsphere of mumbai with a delcious curry not exactly sure of the name but it was good!!
The following day we headed north to Kuala Lumpur! We were on a very nice air conditioned bus then to our surprise they even put a dvd on! We couldn't believe it when the dvd turned out to be Mr Bean!! So thats was us occupied for the next 5 hours! We had booked a guesthouse but had no idea where in Kuala Lumpur we would be dropped off! The next minute the guy was telling us it was our stop so we got off! We had the address of a guesthouse so it was just a matter of getting a taxi! Our backpacks being an obvious giveaway we are foreigners we were hounded by people asking us whether we wanted a taxi. We got to a taxi man and handed him the address on a piece of paper, he then called his mate over to ask where it was!! For some reason they didn't know where it was, but he started driving and reassured us he knew where he was going! We drove up the street and luckily I saw a sign and he pulled over otherwise I think he would have just left us to find it!!
The guesthouse was a nice surprise in that it was clean, air condidtioned and we wouldn't have to share a room with 6 other people as it was just to ourselves for 4 pound each!
The next day we got up early to go up the twin towers. They gave out free tickets before 10am but we were told to be there for at least 8 to ensure we got them. By 9:30am we had our tickets and allocated time of 10:15am. In the meantime we went + had coffee. Something never to be repeated as the coffee is not the same as home!! But luckily it came at a very small price!!
We went back to go up the towers and reached the 42nd floor! It was quite impressive and good that niether of us suffered from vertigo!
That afternoon we explored another Little India and Chinatown which was pretty crazy! We had our first look at a market + I have never seen soooooooo many fake handbags!! We got into the bartering which is my new favourite hobby! (I must follow my mum in more ways than one!) Nic got a casio watch at a bargain price and I got some sunglasses!
We walked back in the baking heat and headed down yet another huge shopping street which I think even topped Singapore for the amount of shopping malls! However the best thing about the shopping malls would be that they would have foodcourts which was really cheap and so many different cuisines to choose from! Both our meals came to 2 pound but we are still trying to work out how to use chopsticks and often have to ask for a knife and fork!!
The following day we were moving again this time to Thailand. We were aiming to get to the Thai islands but could only get just over the border into South Thailand to a place called Hat Yai. We panicked a little at the border wondering whether we needed a visa etc but luckily didn't and we got there ok. But again we had no clue where we would be dropped off and this time no idea where to stay! We luckily passed a hotel and thought we'd stay there. But when the bus stopped I saw our bags being taken off and taken away. We quickly rushed off to find out they'd been taken into a tour operator and were bombarded with questions "where to you want to go?" We quickly picked up the bags and headed to the hotel. The hotel was again a pleasant surprise and this time even had a tv!!
That night we headed out for our first sample of thai food. After just having a look around in the shopping mall we soon experienced our first thunder storm in south east asia and we moan that it rains in england! It's nothing like this. We thought initially that it'll be over in 20 minutes but we were wrong and instead of staying in the dry in the shopping mall we braved the rain and found ourselves a restaurant.
I ordered Pad thai and nic ordered thai green curry. Very excited we received our meals and were bitterly disappointed when mine contained egg for some reason and Nic, (usually being good with loads of chilli) had a couple of mouthfuls and had to give up because his mouth was on fire! When then ordered some nachos to make sure we didn't go hungary that night!!
We woke up the next morning bright and early to go get our bus to the islands at 8:30am. We arrived at the tour agent and sat down and waited. They said to us that we were too early but by our watches we were bang on time!! I firstly thought it was a scam and they were trying to make us miss the bus but they soon said "no it's 7:30am did you come from malaysia??" We then realised that malaysia was an hour ahead but no-one told us!! Feeling very stupid we had an hour to kill before catching the bus.
Once again we got on a minibus with no idea of how we were getting to the thai islands and we would often stop at what we thought was a service station where we had the pleasure of hovering on the toilet! We reached a ferry terminal and got told via hand gestures where to go by our bus driver. The only thing was we were waiting in the passenger terminal and were the only ones without our luggage as the driver insisted on keeping it in the bus?? So we had 3 hour ferry crossing with no clue as to whether we would see our luggage again!! We got off the ferry at Koh Samui and thankfully our bus driver was there waiting and kindly showed us to a taxi where we don't even think he got comission! We got in a taxi which was actually a pickup truck which fitted about 10 of us in the back!! We reached the beach and got out where it looked like it was busy and went in search of a guesthouse. We'd asked a couple who said they were full or were bascially too expensive until we eventually found one.
That night we headed out to dinner and ended up taking advantage of the 80p beers on the beach listening to some music and watching some fire dancing! The following day it was time to hit the beach and top up the tan. But as soon as we laid our towels down we were sweating so much we had to go into the sea to cool down. But the sea in no way cooled us down as it was more like a luke warm bath! From then on we were unable to sit on the beach as it was too hot so instead spent the rest of the day in the sea and we even rented a lielow for the day but paid the price when Nic burnt his shoulders!
The following day we decided to head off to other another island called Koh Phangnan. This time we even had a room overlooking the beach for 8 pound a night!! We did a lot more sunbathing and were finally getting used to the motorbikes in asia and further weird and wonderful things until we then saw a woman riding a motorbike with a monkey in front of her!!Crazy!
One night on the island we ended down the beach for dinner and some drinks. On the beach we found some crazy things happening including a big skipping rope which was lit with fire!! But along with it a bunch of crazy english lads getting serverly burnt!! At this point Nic and I weren't feeling brave enough to and instead ventured for the buckets that were on offer. (Thats buckets filled with alcohol!) It soon went down hill after two buckets of gin and lemonade and we found a limbo stick on fire which we were joining in on!! We called it a night at some point or another and Hannah enjoyed a lovely drunken phonecall from me as a result of the buckets!!
The following day after we paid the price of our previous night's escapades where were we heading to bangkok on a 15 hour journey! Again we had now idea exactly how we were getting their but were luckily given stickers so whenever we got off a bus or a boat we were herded in the right direction. We were meant to arrive into Bangkok at 6am but when we were woken up at 4am saying we got there we were quite surprised!
We got off the bus very dazed to then be bombarded with taxi drivers. Yet again we had booked a guesthouse where they didn't quite know where it was!! The taxi driver was then saying "how much you pay me?" But we didn't have a clue where we'd been dropped off in Bangkok, therefore how far it was away from our guesthouse. We soon got rid of him when he refused to put the fare on the meter and luckily found a driver who did. After struggling finding the place we were pleased to realise the fare was a quarter of the price the previous taxi driver was offering us!
After a good night's sleep we headed to the Royal Palace in Bangkok, which was truely unbelieveable! Better than any churches we've got in europe I think! The only thing was I had to wear a lovely, stinking, glamourous shirt to cover up my shoulders and Nic had to wear what looked like scrub trousers a doctor would wear!! Following the Palace we walked further around the city and the next day headed to chinatown where we experienced the craziest market ever!! It was extremely busy selling all types of things but the thing was the alleyways were so small and cramped two people could barely get past each other let alone the motorbikes which were trying to get down the alleyways!!
After a crazy two days in Bangkok we looking forward to heading to Cambodia where we were hoping things would be a little less hectic!!
Lots of Love
Jen and Nic
xx
Friday, 28 August 2009
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Australia
G'dday!
We arrived in Australia to a warm welcome from Mr and Mrs Stone (Kris's parents)! We were even more pleased that it was 25 degrees heat and for it to be their winter!! After a tour round the grand designs house which included a cinema room and jet powered pool we headed to the local wildlife park! We saw everything Australien from Koalas to crocodiles + even fed some kangaroos! It can be said the Australia has some of the weirdest looking animals on earth! Kris's dad then told us he'd seen a few snakes at the end of their garden!!
That evening we headed out for dinner at their local British pub! I had bangers and mash which was a very nice change from the chicken and rice we'd been having in Fiji! In the evening it got a little colder enough to just put a jumper on. But Kris's mum was layered up so much you'd think she was going on an Artic expedition! I would have liked to have seen her survive the winter we had had in Britain!
The following day we had breakfast on the barbie! Then headed up to a place where you had a view of the city! That evening we enjoyed T-bone steak cooked on the barbie along with some "stubbies" beer to you and me! Nic was happy to be able to watch the ashes but at that time England were winning so no Aussies would admit to liking cricket, only when they were winning did they like cricket!
Our last day in Birsbane we walked around the city + got back to a nice meal of lamb! Of course cooked on the barbie! We were given a lift to the airport + were very grateful to the Stones for having us and said our goodbyes + headed north to Cairns!
The flight was 2 and half hours and we were still in the same state! We were picked up by the hostel we were staying at. As we were heading into town we saw a group of lads walking on the side of the road with a large bank to the side of it. The driver said it was very dangerous for them to be walking and we just assumed it was because of the traffic, but he then went on to say it was dangerous because of the crocodiles!!!
We headed out of the hostel early the next morning for a day out at the beach and to obviously make the most of the 30 degree heat!! As we got to the beach all excited, we found out it was too dangerous to swim in the sea due to the deadly box jelly fish and sharks and most probably crocodiles as well!! So we settled for the lagoon instead!!
Our first trip in Oz was to the Great Barrier reef. We boarded our 50 foot sailing boat and headed out to sea! Once anchored we had a couple of hours snorkelling to explore the reef! It was unbelievable , 1000s of tropical fish (including nemo) and stunning colourful reef! We boarded the boat and had an amazing lunch which we both took full advantage of. The best part of the day however was after lunch when the instructors were feeding the parrot fish and also 4 (1.5 - 2 metre) black tip reef sharks! So everyone grabbed their snorkelling gear and jumped straight back in the water. The sharks were amazing but once again we were told they were harmless but I had at the back of my mind that Australia has the most amount of shark attacks in the world!! On the sail back to port we enjoyed cheese and bisuits and a glass of wine, to end an amazing day!
Another part of Cairns we particularly enjoyed was the free food! For some reason bars gave out free food and not even any hidden agenda! We would go in even order tap water from the bar eat the food and head out! One night we went to 3 different places to get 3 meals!! After the few days in cairns it was time to move on down the coast. Cairns was a nice place however we didn't meet many Australians!
Our next stop was a small town called Airlie Beach which was the gateway to the Whitsunday islands!
The next day we set sail on a two day two night sailing trip around the whitsundays on a boat called the New Horizon! After learning about the islands, we anchored for the night. After some baked fish we started the drinking games. As beer was so expensive in Oz we shared a box of wine or goon as they call it! However when you pay 5 pound for 4.4 litres of wine you're not expecting anything special!
After being woken up very very early to a rocky boat, whereby after breakfast I was unfortunately very seasick off the back of the boat! We set sail to the white haven national park home to whitehaven beach named second most beautiful beach in the world! It was unbelievable the sand was so white and soft, and we don't think the photos do it justice!
We anchored later that day to go for some more snorkelling (Nic's new favourite hobbie!) again the reef was amazing and we were very lucky and saw turtles. That day we sailed further and viewed a magestic sunset! More drinking games commenced and lots more goon drunk! After an amazing view of the milky way we went to bed. Our Whitsunday adventure had come to an end however still had more to look forward to in Oz!
After the trip things started to go a little down hill. We headed to the after party and met up with our new found friends from the boat but as I had developed a boil on my bum the only way I was comfortable was to be horizontal! So the party was short lived.
The next day we headed further down the coast on a 14 hour night bus to go on our next adventure! We were going to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world! There was 11 of us altogether + we were basically given a 4x4 + food to explore the island as we wished! We were given a safety briefing on driving the car, the tides + to stay away from the Dingos! After that we were on our way! After a short boat journey we were on the island + had put all our trust in a Finish guy to drive us and was pleased to say he luckily didn't drive as fast as Mika Hakkinen!
We reached the campsite after a few hairy moments getting stuck in the deep sand. Then the boys cooked steak and the drinking games followed!
We were woken up in the morning at 6 am by a angry park ranger! In our briefing we were told to lock all of our food away in the cars because if we didn't it would attract dingos + we would get a fine of $300! Luckily there was no food left out however she wasn't happy about the beer cans lying about. We had 15 mins to tidy up the camp otherwise she would fine us. Luckily we passed the inspection and continued cooking our scrambled eggs for breakfast! That day we explored the island further including swimming in a crystal clear lake!
Unfortunately we arrived back down at the beach at high tide and were unable to travel up the beach to camp where we were supposed to! We were told by some rangers it was too dangerous to go onto the beach + instead pointed us in the right direction of a camp site! Once reaching the campsite there was a lot of signs saying we'd get a $300 fine if we were loud after 9pm + the chances we were gonna be with the very loud Canadians in our group! Luckily the rangers turned up + said they would show us somewhere to camp but they really shouldn't be because they would lose their job if someone found out. The place they showed us was a picnic area which was scattered with "no camping" signs! We set up camp, ate dinner and started the drinking games and it wasn't long before the rangers were there with their beers joining in! After a very late and cold night and yet another 6:30am start we were all very happy to get back to the hostel later that day for a shower and some sleep!
The following day we headed south of Brisbane into New South Wales to a place called Byron Bay. After a very busy week of trips and overnight buses we definately needed to recharge our batteries! We had come to the right place because it was full of chilled out hippies!
That night we went to the cinema close by + it was the coolest cinema ever because there was big cushions so you could lie all over the floor + even big teddy bears you could cuddle! Unfortunately I was a little to comfortable and I am following my mum in that I fell asleep during the film for a little bit!!
The following day we chilled out by the beach! We even contemplated surfing but after watching the surfers it liked like too much hard work! We treated ourselves to a subway because we had a 2 for 1 voucher on the back of our supermarket receipt!
That night at the hostel there was a talent competition but not like the type I know you're thinking of! Bascially we felt very left out as I think we were the only people in the hippie hostel who couldn't play the guitar and sing!
The next day we got a night bus to Sydney to again enjoy some home comforts staying with Nic's, Dad's Cousin's Daughter! If you lost on how nic and her are actually related don't worry because we all were! We had some time to kill after getting off the bus so we got our bearings and took a stroll by darling harbour. By communicating with Jeanette (Nic's, Dad's Cousin's Daughter!) via text we jumped on a train and headed to the surburban area they lived in + waited to be picked up. I think the big rucksacks gave it away as to who we were! We arrived + instantly thought good things when we entered through the large electric gates + then we drove up the driveway to what can only be described as a mansion! It was huge, swimming pool, billards room + we even had our own quarter! We had an amazing meal which was a nice change to the noodles we'd been living off to save money!
The next day was a day of sightseeing. We headed into the city to circular quay to get a ferry over to Manly ( a part of Sydney with a beach). The boat went straight past the opera house and harbour bridge so got snappy happy with the camera! We arrived in Manly + had a good look around + walked along the promonade by the beach. For lunch we splashed out on fish and chips because they are not as cheap as home! We go the ferry beack and further walked around the city and even walked across the harbour bridge before catching the train back!
Yet another delicious meal + an early night ready for the following day where we headed to the blue mountains!
A two hour train journey later we found ourselves hopping on a little trolley bus to take us round the area! We had another voucher to get 2 for 1 traditional english cream tea so jumped at the chance of a taste of home! After using every single bit of cream and jam on the scones we headed for the mountains! We took lots of photos of the mountains + valleys sadly didn't have the time to do any walks before jumping back on the train to sydney.
The following day we headed to bondi beach. After a pitt stop at Nic's, Dad's Cousin's sons house, where we even watched his sons who were 6 + 9 play rugby! Lets say the future of Australien rugby is looking good!! We then had a traditional Aussie lunch of fresh prawns we even had to remove from the shells! We then went to a bar to have a few beers overlooking bondi beach which I think live up to all the hype!
That evening Jeanettes eldest daughter who was 16 was hosting a party after her formal. We were asked to be on patrol for alchol and gatecrashers! But we'd been 16 and there's no way of stopping any drinking! Anyway there was no mishaps and we helped tidy up and went to bed gone 3 am.
The next day we said our goodbyes + promised their kids they had a bed whenever they came backpacking to england!
So we had come to the end of Australia had a really good time in their winter! So god only knows how hot it must be in the summer!! We were now looking forward to South East Asia for the beer and food to be cheaper + to start the shopping!!
Hope all is well at home!
Lots of love
Nic and Jen
xxxxxxx
We arrived in Australia to a warm welcome from Mr and Mrs Stone (Kris's parents)! We were even more pleased that it was 25 degrees heat and for it to be their winter!! After a tour round the grand designs house which included a cinema room and jet powered pool we headed to the local wildlife park! We saw everything Australien from Koalas to crocodiles + even fed some kangaroos! It can be said the Australia has some of the weirdest looking animals on earth! Kris's dad then told us he'd seen a few snakes at the end of their garden!!
That evening we headed out for dinner at their local British pub! I had bangers and mash which was a very nice change from the chicken and rice we'd been having in Fiji! In the evening it got a little colder enough to just put a jumper on. But Kris's mum was layered up so much you'd think she was going on an Artic expedition! I would have liked to have seen her survive the winter we had had in Britain!
The following day we had breakfast on the barbie! Then headed up to a place where you had a view of the city! That evening we enjoyed T-bone steak cooked on the barbie along with some "stubbies" beer to you and me! Nic was happy to be able to watch the ashes but at that time England were winning so no Aussies would admit to liking cricket, only when they were winning did they like cricket!
Our last day in Birsbane we walked around the city + got back to a nice meal of lamb! Of course cooked on the barbie! We were given a lift to the airport + were very grateful to the Stones for having us and said our goodbyes + headed north to Cairns!
The flight was 2 and half hours and we were still in the same state! We were picked up by the hostel we were staying at. As we were heading into town we saw a group of lads walking on the side of the road with a large bank to the side of it. The driver said it was very dangerous for them to be walking and we just assumed it was because of the traffic, but he then went on to say it was dangerous because of the crocodiles!!!
We headed out of the hostel early the next morning for a day out at the beach and to obviously make the most of the 30 degree heat!! As we got to the beach all excited, we found out it was too dangerous to swim in the sea due to the deadly box jelly fish and sharks and most probably crocodiles as well!! So we settled for the lagoon instead!!
Our first trip in Oz was to the Great Barrier reef. We boarded our 50 foot sailing boat and headed out to sea! Once anchored we had a couple of hours snorkelling to explore the reef! It was unbelievable , 1000s of tropical fish (including nemo) and stunning colourful reef! We boarded the boat and had an amazing lunch which we both took full advantage of. The best part of the day however was after lunch when the instructors were feeding the parrot fish and also 4 (1.5 - 2 metre) black tip reef sharks! So everyone grabbed their snorkelling gear and jumped straight back in the water. The sharks were amazing but once again we were told they were harmless but I had at the back of my mind that Australia has the most amount of shark attacks in the world!! On the sail back to port we enjoyed cheese and bisuits and a glass of wine, to end an amazing day!
Another part of Cairns we particularly enjoyed was the free food! For some reason bars gave out free food and not even any hidden agenda! We would go in even order tap water from the bar eat the food and head out! One night we went to 3 different places to get 3 meals!! After the few days in cairns it was time to move on down the coast. Cairns was a nice place however we didn't meet many Australians!
Our next stop was a small town called Airlie Beach which was the gateway to the Whitsunday islands!
The next day we set sail on a two day two night sailing trip around the whitsundays on a boat called the New Horizon! After learning about the islands, we anchored for the night. After some baked fish we started the drinking games. As beer was so expensive in Oz we shared a box of wine or goon as they call it! However when you pay 5 pound for 4.4 litres of wine you're not expecting anything special!
After being woken up very very early to a rocky boat, whereby after breakfast I was unfortunately very seasick off the back of the boat! We set sail to the white haven national park home to whitehaven beach named second most beautiful beach in the world! It was unbelievable the sand was so white and soft, and we don't think the photos do it justice!
We anchored later that day to go for some more snorkelling (Nic's new favourite hobbie!) again the reef was amazing and we were very lucky and saw turtles. That day we sailed further and viewed a magestic sunset! More drinking games commenced and lots more goon drunk! After an amazing view of the milky way we went to bed. Our Whitsunday adventure had come to an end however still had more to look forward to in Oz!
After the trip things started to go a little down hill. We headed to the after party and met up with our new found friends from the boat but as I had developed a boil on my bum the only way I was comfortable was to be horizontal! So the party was short lived.
The next day we headed further down the coast on a 14 hour night bus to go on our next adventure! We were going to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world! There was 11 of us altogether + we were basically given a 4x4 + food to explore the island as we wished! We were given a safety briefing on driving the car, the tides + to stay away from the Dingos! After that we were on our way! After a short boat journey we were on the island + had put all our trust in a Finish guy to drive us and was pleased to say he luckily didn't drive as fast as Mika Hakkinen!
We reached the campsite after a few hairy moments getting stuck in the deep sand. Then the boys cooked steak and the drinking games followed!
We were woken up in the morning at 6 am by a angry park ranger! In our briefing we were told to lock all of our food away in the cars because if we didn't it would attract dingos + we would get a fine of $300! Luckily there was no food left out however she wasn't happy about the beer cans lying about. We had 15 mins to tidy up the camp otherwise she would fine us. Luckily we passed the inspection and continued cooking our scrambled eggs for breakfast! That day we explored the island further including swimming in a crystal clear lake!
Unfortunately we arrived back down at the beach at high tide and were unable to travel up the beach to camp where we were supposed to! We were told by some rangers it was too dangerous to go onto the beach + instead pointed us in the right direction of a camp site! Once reaching the campsite there was a lot of signs saying we'd get a $300 fine if we were loud after 9pm + the chances we were gonna be with the very loud Canadians in our group! Luckily the rangers turned up + said they would show us somewhere to camp but they really shouldn't be because they would lose their job if someone found out. The place they showed us was a picnic area which was scattered with "no camping" signs! We set up camp, ate dinner and started the drinking games and it wasn't long before the rangers were there with their beers joining in! After a very late and cold night and yet another 6:30am start we were all very happy to get back to the hostel later that day for a shower and some sleep!
The following day we headed south of Brisbane into New South Wales to a place called Byron Bay. After a very busy week of trips and overnight buses we definately needed to recharge our batteries! We had come to the right place because it was full of chilled out hippies!
That night we went to the cinema close by + it was the coolest cinema ever because there was big cushions so you could lie all over the floor + even big teddy bears you could cuddle! Unfortunately I was a little to comfortable and I am following my mum in that I fell asleep during the film for a little bit!!
The following day we chilled out by the beach! We even contemplated surfing but after watching the surfers it liked like too much hard work! We treated ourselves to a subway because we had a 2 for 1 voucher on the back of our supermarket receipt!
That night at the hostel there was a talent competition but not like the type I know you're thinking of! Bascially we felt very left out as I think we were the only people in the hippie hostel who couldn't play the guitar and sing!
The next day we got a night bus to Sydney to again enjoy some home comforts staying with Nic's, Dad's Cousin's Daughter! If you lost on how nic and her are actually related don't worry because we all were! We had some time to kill after getting off the bus so we got our bearings and took a stroll by darling harbour. By communicating with Jeanette (Nic's, Dad's Cousin's Daughter!) via text we jumped on a train and headed to the surburban area they lived in + waited to be picked up. I think the big rucksacks gave it away as to who we were! We arrived + instantly thought good things when we entered through the large electric gates + then we drove up the driveway to what can only be described as a mansion! It was huge, swimming pool, billards room + we even had our own quarter! We had an amazing meal which was a nice change to the noodles we'd been living off to save money!
The next day was a day of sightseeing. We headed into the city to circular quay to get a ferry over to Manly ( a part of Sydney with a beach). The boat went straight past the opera house and harbour bridge so got snappy happy with the camera! We arrived in Manly + had a good look around + walked along the promonade by the beach. For lunch we splashed out on fish and chips because they are not as cheap as home! We go the ferry beack and further walked around the city and even walked across the harbour bridge before catching the train back!
Yet another delicious meal + an early night ready for the following day where we headed to the blue mountains!
A two hour train journey later we found ourselves hopping on a little trolley bus to take us round the area! We had another voucher to get 2 for 1 traditional english cream tea so jumped at the chance of a taste of home! After using every single bit of cream and jam on the scones we headed for the mountains! We took lots of photos of the mountains + valleys sadly didn't have the time to do any walks before jumping back on the train to sydney.
The following day we headed to bondi beach. After a pitt stop at Nic's, Dad's Cousin's sons house, where we even watched his sons who were 6 + 9 play rugby! Lets say the future of Australien rugby is looking good!! We then had a traditional Aussie lunch of fresh prawns we even had to remove from the shells! We then went to a bar to have a few beers overlooking bondi beach which I think live up to all the hype!
That evening Jeanettes eldest daughter who was 16 was hosting a party after her formal. We were asked to be on patrol for alchol and gatecrashers! But we'd been 16 and there's no way of stopping any drinking! Anyway there was no mishaps and we helped tidy up and went to bed gone 3 am.
The next day we said our goodbyes + promised their kids they had a bed whenever they came backpacking to england!
So we had come to the end of Australia had a really good time in their winter! So god only knows how hot it must be in the summer!! We were now looking forward to South East Asia for the beer and food to be cheaper + to start the shopping!!
Hope all is well at home!
Lots of love
Nic and Jen
xxxxxxx
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Fiji
Bula,
The day of our flight started out really well because we got all of our insurance deposit back for the campervan ( therefore the lady checking it luckily didn't see the cracks in the windscreen + we did manage to drive away from a campsire with the electricity cable still in, stupid I know!!) Thankfully she missed that too!!
However, our day soon went downhill when we got to the departure screen to find out there was not a flight to Auckland at 9:50am! We were a little suspcious before arriving at the airport because we were flying with Jetstar New Zealands equivalent to Easy Jet and Ryan Air!! A little worried we asked at the desk + they said the flight was leaving at 10:30am. Bearing in mind we had to change planes in Auckland to get to Fiji! Therefore it turned out we would have only 30 mins to get off the aeroplane, collect our luggage and travel the 15 mins to the international terminal! After a panic phonecall to Hannah we'd come up with a plan that I would run off the plane to the other terminal + hold check in whilst nic collected the bags!
We were reassured by the Jetstar staff that the flight was on time and we would be boarding at 10am. When it reached 10:20am and we still hadn't boarded, Jetstar were definately living up to their reputation! We took off 10mins late which doesn't seem like a lot but in our time scale it was huge!! We asked several dumb stewardesses what time we would be arriving, all of which didn't get back to us but turned out we were 5 mins late! So as soon as we landed I rushed off the plane! I ran as fast as I could but being unfit this resulted in some brisk walking at times! Amazingly I reached the check in and the woman happily asked me the necessary questions but Nic still hadn't arrived! Eventually he made it just as check in closed, then it was a sprint for the gate ( it really felt like something off a film!) We made it on the plane and were particularly impressed with the stereotypical Air Pacific polynesian music and outfits the stewardessess were wearing! We were then definately in the holiday mood!
We had the heat hit us as we stepped out of the plane which put a smile on our faces and before we knew it we were at the hostel and booked our island hopping adventure for the next day!
We got on the boat at 8:30am and headed north for 5 hours to our first resort (if you could call it that!) We arrived to a Fijian welcome song + sat down to eat our first lunch which consisted of mushy rice! We then were showed to our dorm which had about 30 other people in it! And the outdoor shack which was the cold showers and toilets! We were however 5 hours from civilisation so I was impressed they had electricity!!
That afternoon Nic spotted some guys playing rugby so jumped at the chance to throw a ball around! He was even happier to find out later that day there was touch rugby against the Fijians! I even joined in the volleyball but soon stopeed when I felt my height restricted me + they were definately talking and laughing about me in Fijian about my volleyball skills!
The next couple of days consisted of the same get up eat, sunbathe, eat and sleep! One resort we were able to walk to the other side of the island through the bush! On the way were saw lizards, insects and even came across a pig penned up! We finally made it to the blue lagoon the set for the film "blue lagoon" which starred Brooke Shields! (We'd never seen the film but it was Fijians claim to fame!) But it was like paradise, white sandy beach and crystal clear waters and the best thing was we were the only ones on it!!
That night the resort only had 7 people on it which compared to the 60 in the one before it was very small. We did however take part in a Crab Race whereby they collected a number of hermit crabs and numbered the backs of them and set up a ring. There were 3 rounds + the top 3 in each round went through to the next. The aim was for the crab to get outside the sand ring. When it came down to the first round niether Nic's nor mine barely moved whilst everyone elses raced for the edge! So that was the end of that game for us!!
One day we had the opportunity to go swimming with Manta Rays ( a friendlier version of a stingray!) So we jumped at the chance!
We got our snorkling gear + got out on the boat! Within seconds of being in the area they were the guy spotted one and shouted to everyone "get in". So literally it was a case of jumping in and swimming after it! It was one of the biggest things I've ever seen + at one point we were following one and we were probably about one metre away from it! It was incredible! I did however always had the thought of Steve Irwin at the back of my mind but luckily they didn't have a long stinger and we were informed they were harmless! One of the guides even dived down and touched it on it's back!! It was however extremely difficult to keep up with the Manta Rays but there was 1000's of fish to look at too!!
That evening we were entertained by some Fiji dancing which included fire dancing! We were even made at one point to get up and dance too which meant Nic was able to show off his lack of rhythm!
After 6 different islands and resorts we headed to our last resort Beachcommber for Nic's birthday which is known as the party island. We had bought a bottle of gin before leaving the main island to save on the pennies! We met a lot of people and played lots of drinking games but sadly they found out it was Nic's birthday and it turned out he was drinking a lot more than the rest of us and sadly couldn't handle it so was in bed at 11pm passed out!! I however had a great night and even ended up in the sea at 1am!! But I soon got out when I found out that the reef sharks came really close to the shore as they were attracted to the light!
The next day, very hungover, we headed back to the mainland ready to catch our flight to Oz the next day! So after 14 days of sun, a lot of mosquito bites, we were sad to be leaving Fiji but are looking forward to our next adventure in Australia, where nic is hoping to watch a lot of the Ashes!!
Hope all is well at home!
Lots of love
Jen and Nic
xxxxxxx
The day of our flight started out really well because we got all of our insurance deposit back for the campervan ( therefore the lady checking it luckily didn't see the cracks in the windscreen + we did manage to drive away from a campsire with the electricity cable still in, stupid I know!!) Thankfully she missed that too!!
However, our day soon went downhill when we got to the departure screen to find out there was not a flight to Auckland at 9:50am! We were a little suspcious before arriving at the airport because we were flying with Jetstar New Zealands equivalent to Easy Jet and Ryan Air!! A little worried we asked at the desk + they said the flight was leaving at 10:30am. Bearing in mind we had to change planes in Auckland to get to Fiji! Therefore it turned out we would have only 30 mins to get off the aeroplane, collect our luggage and travel the 15 mins to the international terminal! After a panic phonecall to Hannah we'd come up with a plan that I would run off the plane to the other terminal + hold check in whilst nic collected the bags!
We were reassured by the Jetstar staff that the flight was on time and we would be boarding at 10am. When it reached 10:20am and we still hadn't boarded, Jetstar were definately living up to their reputation! We took off 10mins late which doesn't seem like a lot but in our time scale it was huge!! We asked several dumb stewardesses what time we would be arriving, all of which didn't get back to us but turned out we were 5 mins late! So as soon as we landed I rushed off the plane! I ran as fast as I could but being unfit this resulted in some brisk walking at times! Amazingly I reached the check in and the woman happily asked me the necessary questions but Nic still hadn't arrived! Eventually he made it just as check in closed, then it was a sprint for the gate ( it really felt like something off a film!) We made it on the plane and were particularly impressed with the stereotypical Air Pacific polynesian music and outfits the stewardessess were wearing! We were then definately in the holiday mood!
We had the heat hit us as we stepped out of the plane which put a smile on our faces and before we knew it we were at the hostel and booked our island hopping adventure for the next day!
We got on the boat at 8:30am and headed north for 5 hours to our first resort (if you could call it that!) We arrived to a Fijian welcome song + sat down to eat our first lunch which consisted of mushy rice! We then were showed to our dorm which had about 30 other people in it! And the outdoor shack which was the cold showers and toilets! We were however 5 hours from civilisation so I was impressed they had electricity!!
That afternoon Nic spotted some guys playing rugby so jumped at the chance to throw a ball around! He was even happier to find out later that day there was touch rugby against the Fijians! I even joined in the volleyball but soon stopeed when I felt my height restricted me + they were definately talking and laughing about me in Fijian about my volleyball skills!
The next couple of days consisted of the same get up eat, sunbathe, eat and sleep! One resort we were able to walk to the other side of the island through the bush! On the way were saw lizards, insects and even came across a pig penned up! We finally made it to the blue lagoon the set for the film "blue lagoon" which starred Brooke Shields! (We'd never seen the film but it was Fijians claim to fame!) But it was like paradise, white sandy beach and crystal clear waters and the best thing was we were the only ones on it!!
That night the resort only had 7 people on it which compared to the 60 in the one before it was very small. We did however take part in a Crab Race whereby they collected a number of hermit crabs and numbered the backs of them and set up a ring. There were 3 rounds + the top 3 in each round went through to the next. The aim was for the crab to get outside the sand ring. When it came down to the first round niether Nic's nor mine barely moved whilst everyone elses raced for the edge! So that was the end of that game for us!!
One day we had the opportunity to go swimming with Manta Rays ( a friendlier version of a stingray!) So we jumped at the chance!
We got our snorkling gear + got out on the boat! Within seconds of being in the area they were the guy spotted one and shouted to everyone "get in". So literally it was a case of jumping in and swimming after it! It was one of the biggest things I've ever seen + at one point we were following one and we were probably about one metre away from it! It was incredible! I did however always had the thought of Steve Irwin at the back of my mind but luckily they didn't have a long stinger and we were informed they were harmless! One of the guides even dived down and touched it on it's back!! It was however extremely difficult to keep up with the Manta Rays but there was 1000's of fish to look at too!!
That evening we were entertained by some Fiji dancing which included fire dancing! We were even made at one point to get up and dance too which meant Nic was able to show off his lack of rhythm!
After 6 different islands and resorts we headed to our last resort Beachcommber for Nic's birthday which is known as the party island. We had bought a bottle of gin before leaving the main island to save on the pennies! We met a lot of people and played lots of drinking games but sadly they found out it was Nic's birthday and it turned out he was drinking a lot more than the rest of us and sadly couldn't handle it so was in bed at 11pm passed out!! I however had a great night and even ended up in the sea at 1am!! But I soon got out when I found out that the reef sharks came really close to the shore as they were attracted to the light!
The next day, very hungover, we headed back to the mainland ready to catch our flight to Oz the next day! So after 14 days of sun, a lot of mosquito bites, we were sad to be leaving Fiji but are looking forward to our next adventure in Australia, where nic is hoping to watch a lot of the Ashes!!
Hope all is well at home!
Lots of love
Jen and Nic
xxxxxxx
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
South Island
After a thankfully not so choppy crossing from the North to South Island we had our first night back in the campervan after having a week of luxury out of it!! We headed to Nelson ( What is said to be the sunniest part of New Zealand!) When we arrived it was raining! Typical! After being confined to the campervan all day we headed out into town to watch the All Blacks v France and hopefully enjoy the Kiwi rugby company!
We went to the sports bar in town which was packed and after standing at the bar and being asked by several people who do you think is going to win my quick response was the All Blacks! Watching the game was very different to the bars in Cardiff we're used to in that Kiwis actually watch the game and don't take part in any form of singing which was disappointing as we thought they might have they own Kiwi take on Bread of Heaven! When the All Blacks played rubbish + France won we made a swift exit!
The following day we headed west and having been over many mountain ranges in NZ we were used to them. However on this occasion we were coming down one hill for what seemed like a very long time and after a while we turned the down music down to realise the van was making a strange noise. We pulled over to find our tyres steaming! The van obviously couldn't take the amount of breaking we were doing so we sat and had a cup of tea for an hour waiting for the wheels to come back down to normal temperature! We did start to feel stupid when many kiwis took pity on us + asked us if we needed any help!!
The next day we embarked on a two day sea kayaking trip in the Abel Tasman National park! To begin with I thought it was a stupid idea in that we would be the only ones staying in little huts in the winter overnight ( as the park was only accessible by water or on foot) Luckily there were two other Americans ( you can decide for yourself if you think this is lucky!!) stupid enough as us hiring a kayak which put me a bit at ease! When asked which one of us was going to sit at the back of the kayak Nic jumped at the opportunity to steer!!( By lunchtime I was at the back of the kayak steering as we had had a couple of close encounters with some rocks).
The kayaking consisted of some hardcore paddling at times in some choppy waters! We stopped off at some of the most beautiful beaches + bays which in summer I could have imagined being packed, I suppose being in New Zealand in Winter has its plus points in that we had the beach to ourselves!! We got to the beach where we were staying for the night after getting wet we were thankful for a gas heater!( Obviously a hot shower would have been better but we didn't have such luxuries!!) As it was dark by 6pm and no electricity i.e no lights we were pleased to be accompanied by about 10 other people!! After our nutritious meal of noodles we exchanged travel stories with a couple of other people! Then a German guy came bursting through the door saying " You've got to come outside I've never seen the milky way so clear" At this point I felt a bit stupid in that I knew the milky way had something to do with stars but didn't actually know what it looked like until we went outside! I have never seen so many stars in the sky! We couldn't believe it! It was unbelievable! So there we were 10 complete strangers, stood on a beach in the middle of nowhere staring at stars! Quite surreal!
The next day we continued the kayaking and saw some seal colonies + at the end of the day got picked up by a water taxi! By the end of the trip you could say we definately feel at home with nature. To say I was sad to be leaving my kayak I would be lying because a hot shower appealed to me way too much!!
We had arranged to meet my friend, Laura, on the Tuesday to do a days wines tasting in Marlborough but once we were in the van we soon realised it was actually Tuesday night and therefore the fresh air had obviously had a big effect on us!! The following morning we went to sample some New Zealand wine and even splashed out on a bottle in my quest to make Nic like wine!
We then headed down the east coast to Kaikoura a place where there are lots of marine animals e.g seals, dolphins + whales! We did a coastal walk which we find ourselves doing more and more walks as due to the budget it is an activity to do which is FREE! I made the mistake by walking out the shore and whilst walking back I had my head down to see what I was stepping and I heard the loudest noise which could only be described as a bark and it turned out I had got too close to a seal and it wasn't very happy with me!!
The next day we booked onto a dolphin swimming trip and after waking up far too early with excitement we headed to the bay in our quest for the dolphins. However to our disappointment the sea was too choppy so our dreams of swimming with wild dolphins were slashed . Following the bad news we headed south.
We arrived at a sleepy town town called Hanmer Springs ( famous for its hot springs!) We quickly got changed in the freezing conditions and jumped into the 40 degree volcanic springs. It was surreal to be sitting in boiling natural springs in temperatures below zero with views of snowcapped mountains.
We woke up early next morning and I jumped in the car to get us on our way, however instead of listening to Nic I managed to reverse into a big pile of snow! So not for the first time the campervan was stuck! After lots of wheel spinning, arguing and mud flying at nic the van was eventually free and on his way to Christchurch!
After checking out what the very British city had to offer us ( not a lot) due to it only being about 150 years old! we headed to Methven, a small ski town at the base of Mount Hutt. We had high hopes for the ski resort as kiwis raved about their skiing unfortunately we were very disappointed when the piste map and mountain did not quite match up because there was really only one run with a few variations. However it did offer fantastic views and was really cool to be skiing above the clouds. I found myself on a number of occasions throughout the day half way down the mountain turning around to find out Nic wasn't there! 10 mins later he would appear covered in snow saying he'd fallen over. This was a reccurring event throughout the day and I'm still hearing about his painful hip!!
Our next stop took us to the glacier country on the West coast after a beautiful 6 hour drive we pulled up to 1 of only 3 forward moving glaciers in the world. However after seeing the glaciers in Argentina this one didn't quite compare!
Again heading south we headed for a small town called Wanaka which is home to the world famous Puzzling World, lots of rooms of optical illusions. After we spent the morning there we headed to the maze. After an hour of walking in circles and getting no further we decided to leave out of the emergency exit before we stopped talking!!
The following day we ended up in the touristy Queenstown. After a quick check of the bank balances we decided that we couldn't afford to ski and that it would have to be our favourite of walks for the next couple of days!! We did however go on a trip to Milford sound which is rated as one of the most beautiful places in the World. The trip involved a boat trip through the Milford Friords with snow topped mountains, 200 m waterfalls which made us feel very insignificant in the unbelievable landscape. While stopping to look at the waterfalls we heard the captain shout dolphins (finally) so as everyone rushed to the front of the boat, however due to their speed and my photography unfortunately they weren't captured on film!
One day we headed up to a mountain to a deer park with again fantastic views over Queenstown. After plucking up courage we bought some feed and started feeding the various animals, this was hard for Nic as him and animals are not the best of friends!! Therefore he retreated to the car most of the way round!! While in Queenstown a big winter festival started, the opening cermony was cool and there was lots of fireworks!! Even the New Zealand prime minister opened the event!!
Our final day in queenstown consisted of a two hour walk to another view point. ( There was a gondala up the viewpoint, however due to the tight pursestrings we decided to walk!) This was a bad idea as I was very tired and grumpy about the walk in that it was only saving us 8 pounds!! then again when your a traveller every penny counts!! At the top we luged down the mountain which consists of little karts on a race track which was fun!! In the evening Nic had bumped into an old school friend (Chris Lewis) who invited us round for dinner which was really nice and we had our first sunday roast of the trip!
On our way back to Christchurch we stopped at Lake Tekapo. Takepo is famous for is turquoise colour and awesome views over Mount Cook the tallest mountain in New Zealand!
Therefore the second legg of our trip has come to an end! We've travelled 5,283km in the cosy campervan and enjoyed every minute but we are definately looking forward to finally getting a tan in fiji!!
Hope everyone is well at home!!
Lots of Love Nic and Jen xxxxxxxxx
After a thankfully not so choppy crossing from the North to South Island we had our first night back in the campervan after having a week of luxury out of it!! We headed to Nelson ( What is said to be the sunniest part of New Zealand!) When we arrived it was raining! Typical! After being confined to the campervan all day we headed out into town to watch the All Blacks v France and hopefully enjoy the Kiwi rugby company!
We went to the sports bar in town which was packed and after standing at the bar and being asked by several people who do you think is going to win my quick response was the All Blacks! Watching the game was very different to the bars in Cardiff we're used to in that Kiwis actually watch the game and don't take part in any form of singing which was disappointing as we thought they might have they own Kiwi take on Bread of Heaven! When the All Blacks played rubbish + France won we made a swift exit!
The following day we headed west and having been over many mountain ranges in NZ we were used to them. However on this occasion we were coming down one hill for what seemed like a very long time and after a while we turned the down music down to realise the van was making a strange noise. We pulled over to find our tyres steaming! The van obviously couldn't take the amount of breaking we were doing so we sat and had a cup of tea for an hour waiting for the wheels to come back down to normal temperature! We did start to feel stupid when many kiwis took pity on us + asked us if we needed any help!!
The next day we embarked on a two day sea kayaking trip in the Abel Tasman National park! To begin with I thought it was a stupid idea in that we would be the only ones staying in little huts in the winter overnight ( as the park was only accessible by water or on foot) Luckily there were two other Americans ( you can decide for yourself if you think this is lucky!!) stupid enough as us hiring a kayak which put me a bit at ease! When asked which one of us was going to sit at the back of the kayak Nic jumped at the opportunity to steer!!( By lunchtime I was at the back of the kayak steering as we had had a couple of close encounters with some rocks).
The kayaking consisted of some hardcore paddling at times in some choppy waters! We stopped off at some of the most beautiful beaches + bays which in summer I could have imagined being packed, I suppose being in New Zealand in Winter has its plus points in that we had the beach to ourselves!! We got to the beach where we were staying for the night after getting wet we were thankful for a gas heater!( Obviously a hot shower would have been better but we didn't have such luxuries!!) As it was dark by 6pm and no electricity i.e no lights we were pleased to be accompanied by about 10 other people!! After our nutritious meal of noodles we exchanged travel stories with a couple of other people! Then a German guy came bursting through the door saying " You've got to come outside I've never seen the milky way so clear" At this point I felt a bit stupid in that I knew the milky way had something to do with stars but didn't actually know what it looked like until we went outside! I have never seen so many stars in the sky! We couldn't believe it! It was unbelievable! So there we were 10 complete strangers, stood on a beach in the middle of nowhere staring at stars! Quite surreal!
The next day we continued the kayaking and saw some seal colonies + at the end of the day got picked up by a water taxi! By the end of the trip you could say we definately feel at home with nature. To say I was sad to be leaving my kayak I would be lying because a hot shower appealed to me way too much!!
We had arranged to meet my friend, Laura, on the Tuesday to do a days wines tasting in Marlborough but once we were in the van we soon realised it was actually Tuesday night and therefore the fresh air had obviously had a big effect on us!! The following morning we went to sample some New Zealand wine and even splashed out on a bottle in my quest to make Nic like wine!
We then headed down the east coast to Kaikoura a place where there are lots of marine animals e.g seals, dolphins + whales! We did a coastal walk which we find ourselves doing more and more walks as due to the budget it is an activity to do which is FREE! I made the mistake by walking out the shore and whilst walking back I had my head down to see what I was stepping and I heard the loudest noise which could only be described as a bark and it turned out I had got too close to a seal and it wasn't very happy with me!!
The next day we booked onto a dolphin swimming trip and after waking up far too early with excitement we headed to the bay in our quest for the dolphins. However to our disappointment the sea was too choppy so our dreams of swimming with wild dolphins were slashed . Following the bad news we headed south.
We arrived at a sleepy town town called Hanmer Springs ( famous for its hot springs!) We quickly got changed in the freezing conditions and jumped into the 40 degree volcanic springs. It was surreal to be sitting in boiling natural springs in temperatures below zero with views of snowcapped mountains.
We woke up early next morning and I jumped in the car to get us on our way, however instead of listening to Nic I managed to reverse into a big pile of snow! So not for the first time the campervan was stuck! After lots of wheel spinning, arguing and mud flying at nic the van was eventually free and on his way to Christchurch!
After checking out what the very British city had to offer us ( not a lot) due to it only being about 150 years old! we headed to Methven, a small ski town at the base of Mount Hutt. We had high hopes for the ski resort as kiwis raved about their skiing unfortunately we were very disappointed when the piste map and mountain did not quite match up because there was really only one run with a few variations. However it did offer fantastic views and was really cool to be skiing above the clouds. I found myself on a number of occasions throughout the day half way down the mountain turning around to find out Nic wasn't there! 10 mins later he would appear covered in snow saying he'd fallen over. This was a reccurring event throughout the day and I'm still hearing about his painful hip!!
Our next stop took us to the glacier country on the West coast after a beautiful 6 hour drive we pulled up to 1 of only 3 forward moving glaciers in the world. However after seeing the glaciers in Argentina this one didn't quite compare!
Again heading south we headed for a small town called Wanaka which is home to the world famous Puzzling World, lots of rooms of optical illusions. After we spent the morning there we headed to the maze. After an hour of walking in circles and getting no further we decided to leave out of the emergency exit before we stopped talking!!
The following day we ended up in the touristy Queenstown. After a quick check of the bank balances we decided that we couldn't afford to ski and that it would have to be our favourite of walks for the next couple of days!! We did however go on a trip to Milford sound which is rated as one of the most beautiful places in the World. The trip involved a boat trip through the Milford Friords with snow topped mountains, 200 m waterfalls which made us feel very insignificant in the unbelievable landscape. While stopping to look at the waterfalls we heard the captain shout dolphins (finally) so as everyone rushed to the front of the boat, however due to their speed and my photography unfortunately they weren't captured on film!
One day we headed up to a mountain to a deer park with again fantastic views over Queenstown. After plucking up courage we bought some feed and started feeding the various animals, this was hard for Nic as him and animals are not the best of friends!! Therefore he retreated to the car most of the way round!! While in Queenstown a big winter festival started, the opening cermony was cool and there was lots of fireworks!! Even the New Zealand prime minister opened the event!!
Our final day in queenstown consisted of a two hour walk to another view point. ( There was a gondala up the viewpoint, however due to the tight pursestrings we decided to walk!) This was a bad idea as I was very tired and grumpy about the walk in that it was only saving us 8 pounds!! then again when your a traveller every penny counts!! At the top we luged down the mountain which consists of little karts on a race track which was fun!! In the evening Nic had bumped into an old school friend (Chris Lewis) who invited us round for dinner which was really nice and we had our first sunday roast of the trip!
On our way back to Christchurch we stopped at Lake Tekapo. Takepo is famous for is turquoise colour and awesome views over Mount Cook the tallest mountain in New Zealand!
Therefore the second legg of our trip has come to an end! We've travelled 5,283km in the cosy campervan and enjoyed every minute but we are definately looking forward to finally getting a tan in fiji!!
Hope everyone is well at home!!
Lots of Love Nic and Jen xxxxxxxxx
Monday, 8 June 2009
New Zealand - North Island
Kia Ora,
Well it has been an actioned packed couple of weeks and to our disappointment it has only got colder than Argentina!
We arrived in Auckland being very confused by the time difference and the 2 days that we seemed to lose on the aeroplane! We arrived at our hostel at 6am and luckily the door was open so we were able to sit in the common room where I soon had my first cup of decent tea!! That day we headed into the city and went up the cities stand out feature the Skytower ( the tallest building in the southern hemisphere!) it was sunset and was quite spectacular especially when we got it at a student rate!! Later that night due to the severe jetlag we were in bed at 8pm which only resulted in a vicous cycle of waking up at 6:30am!!
The following day we got a boat over to a suburb of Auckland called Devonport. We thought it was only our luck when it started bucketing down once we started walking up a hill! Luckily once we reached the top we had fantastic views of the city including a rainbow across the skline! Further wandering around the city and again another early night due to the early start!
The next day was the day we would start our campervan adventure! Following a lot of papers whereby we signed our lives away we were off to get our supplies!! After a few little arguments due to nic's map reading around Auckland we were onto the road and heading north of Auckland! We stayed a couple nights up the coast and went for walks on some stunning beaches! One night we even managed to watch a super 14 game in a bar! We did find some caves which were even better once we found out they were free!! We passed a guy coming out of the caves ( he was by himself crazy!) who said that we would definately need a torch and that he had turned back because he saw a huge spider there was also apparently eels in the water!! At this point i was thinking no way am i going in those caves but once we got to the opening nic wadded through the water until the point it was pitch black and there was hundreds of gloworms so i thought this was an opportunity i couldn't give up. Luckily we didn't see any spiders or eels!!
The following day we headed to the Bay of islands, which is a holiday destination for kiwis surprisingly it was quite good weather! We headed to a bar that night and being Saturday night it was quite happening! We were soon handed out raffle tickets and to our surprise they were giving out prizes!! The ticket to be pulled out first was nic's number!! Couldn't believe it! There was a catch though because you had to play a game of play your cards right to win the prizes! It was all nic's luck the first card drawn was a 7 and when he said lower and the next card was a jack saying i was disappointed was an understatement!!
Luckily there was a group of people next to us that won and because they were heading back to Auckland the next day they couldn't use any of the vouchers so they gave them to us!!! So after using our 2 4 1 drinks vouchers we headed back to our very cold campervan! ( I'm starting to realise there is an underlying theme of freebies in this part of the blog!)
The next day we used one of the vouchers to go on THE MACK ATTACK! The fastest boat in the bay of islands! It travelled up to 70 kmph and on some of the waves let just say we got a spraying!! I was a bright sunny day and we headed out to what was a literal description of a "hole in the rock"! The most annoying thing about the trip was that our guide decided to rub it in saying that the week before they had seen killer whales in the bay and they would often see dolphins but the days before they hadn't seen anything and on this occasion we didnt :(
The next day we headed north to the northest point of New Zealand, however the only problem was that you had to drive on 20 km of unsealed road and because we didn't take the extra windscreen insurance out we were very worried! (I was even more worried than nic because i was in the passenger seat!!) We finally got there and it was tipping down with rain so instead of seeing the views in the rain we camped there for the night hoping the weather would get better in the morning! We reached the camp site which was a government run one which meant it only consisted of cold showers and a long drop! We parked in the field designated for campervans. We soon realised another campervan drove in and drove straight back out and we saw that the entrance was becoming very muddy so we decided to follow them and make a quick exit! I think i spoke too soon when i said quick as I managed get the campervan stuck!! The wheels were skidding and at this point we thought we were stranded with no one around! Nic got out and tried to push but soon became covered in mud! After a short while of continuing to try luckily a kiwi guy came to help us dressed in the appropriate attaire of wellies compared to nic's flip flops!! He managed to work out how to get us out and we were very thankful!!
The following morning was a sunny day and we headed to the lighthouse on Cape Reinga which symbolised the Northest point of New Zealand and where also the Tasman and Pacific ocean met!! We were really pleased with the weather as the views were spectacular and even more happy when we got in the car and it started to rain again!
We took a couple more days to meander back to Auckland along the west coast and it is certainly true there are a lot of sheep in New Zealand!! We arrived back in Auckland where we met two of my friends Charlotte and Laura and headed on a night out!! I managed to barter in one bar for 4 drinks for 20 dollars the equivalent of 2 pound a drink which for a sat night wasn't too bad!! we ended up in a club which sold cocktails in teapots which was pretty cool!!!
We got back on the road and headed to a place called Rotoura (Maori capital). We arrived late afternoon and headed to our first adventure activity Zorbing!! For anyone who doesn't know what zorbing is it is getting in an inflatable ball and rolling down a hill and in our case it was also filled with water!! We were still with my friend Laura and we managed to blag half price!! We were travelling up in the van to get to the top of the hill and the guide (who was a maori) was asking us what we were doing the next day. Laura's response was that we were going to an aboriginal village!! (bearing in mind kiwi's hate Australien's) i think it was a massive insult and couldn't believe she said it but they took it in good spirits! (probably because they knew they were about to throw us down a hill!) Anyway the zorbing was so much fun and we could not stop laughing all the way down!! Almost to the point I nearly wet myself!! That night we met two guys from leeds who shared travel stories and turned out were heading in the same direction as me and nic.
The following day we were feeling cultural and headed to a geothermal maori village! We had a tour and it is very difficult to describe the smell because it absolutly stank due to the sulphur from the ground! The tour ended with a maori cultural performance which consisted of the HAKA!! I was very dissappointed with nic though because they were calling the men in the audience to come up and learn the haka but nic didn't go but then again it is meant to scare people and the only person nic would probably scare is himself!! Following the tour we parted ways with Laura and headed South with our newly found Northern friends.
We reached Lake Taupo where the lake is bigger than singapore! There was a few ideas going around that we all wanted to do a sky dive and that nic and another guy wanted to do a bungy jump!! It was soon thought why not do both in one day!! ( i know what you are thinking thats bloody crazy!!) I was thinking the same thing! We had KFC to give us all the needed energy!!haha and after some cards had an early night!!
It was the start to the adrenaline day!! We headed very early to the bungy place and after looking over the edge i was having second thoughts!! Nic went first and following his analysis of the jump there was now no turning back for me!! You sat down on a little bench where they straped you in and stood towards the edge and all the said was 1 2 3 bungy and you jumped off all very quick and easy but also very scary yet amazing!! After the adrenaline had calmed down it was difficult to believe that that afternoon were were also going to be jumping out a plane at 12,000 ft!! We had our lunch then headed to Taupo airport!!
We were shown a dvd of a skydive which only got us more and more scared but also excited!! we met our instructors which one of their response was "don't worry I'm only really hungover" at this point I wasn't finding anything funny!! We started to get all the gear on but I soon realised that I was missing a piece of equipment that everyone else had!! Since my instructor had disappeared I asked someone else and it turned out he had forgotton to give me a Lifejacket and considering we were skydiving over a massive lake I thought that it would have been a vital piece of equipment!! Anyway after a couple of photos we were all couped inside a tiny plane! At this point we still had no instruction of what to do!! After being in the air for about 5 mins my instructor decided to tell me some very vague instructions in my ear! All i could really hear was something about making the shape of a banana!! Before we knew it the two guys before were falling out the plane and it was my turn!! It is very difficult to describe the sensation of falling out of a plane but it was AMAZING! My instructor decided to spin us round and go upside down so I could see the plane we'd just fallen out of!! After 45 seconds he opened the shoot and on the clear day we had fantastic views of the lake! Sadly before we knew it were on the ground :( But we can safely say it was the best thing we had ever done!!
That night we had received vouchers from the skydive place for drinks in the pubs in town so we thought it was rude not to head out!! It turned out it was quiz night in the irish pub so we soon signed up!! Unfortunately it turned out to be the hardest quiz ever!! However we came 10th out of about 20 which wasn't bad!! We then hit Element a bar/club where we took part in some very strange dancing with our adrenaline junky northern friends!!
The next day a little hungover we found out about some free thermal springs which sounded like a good idea when we probably hadn't showered in about 3 days due to saving on campsite costs!! The thermal pools were like a warm bath but we were probably sweating due to the high temperature!! We then parted ways with our northern friends and had an early night!!
The following day we headed to Napier which is on the East coast! In lonely planet it kept describing it as an art deco capital! If i'm honest I have no idea about Art deco but Napier was also described as a british seaside town and that I could see!! We went to the National Aquarium which was pretty cool!!
The folowing day we headed further South to a spot of luxury by staying at Nic's friend's house in Wellington! We have currently been here for 4 days because there's so much comfort such as showers everyday that we don't want to leave!! We are planning to head to the South Island soon but the thought of sleeping in minus temperatures when hearing the weather is so good back home is somewhat putting us off!!
Lots of Love
Nic and Jen
xx
Well it has been an actioned packed couple of weeks and to our disappointment it has only got colder than Argentina!
We arrived in Auckland being very confused by the time difference and the 2 days that we seemed to lose on the aeroplane! We arrived at our hostel at 6am and luckily the door was open so we were able to sit in the common room where I soon had my first cup of decent tea!! That day we headed into the city and went up the cities stand out feature the Skytower ( the tallest building in the southern hemisphere!) it was sunset and was quite spectacular especially when we got it at a student rate!! Later that night due to the severe jetlag we were in bed at 8pm which only resulted in a vicous cycle of waking up at 6:30am!!
The following day we got a boat over to a suburb of Auckland called Devonport. We thought it was only our luck when it started bucketing down once we started walking up a hill! Luckily once we reached the top we had fantastic views of the city including a rainbow across the skline! Further wandering around the city and again another early night due to the early start!
The next day was the day we would start our campervan adventure! Following a lot of papers whereby we signed our lives away we were off to get our supplies!! After a few little arguments due to nic's map reading around Auckland we were onto the road and heading north of Auckland! We stayed a couple nights up the coast and went for walks on some stunning beaches! One night we even managed to watch a super 14 game in a bar! We did find some caves which were even better once we found out they were free!! We passed a guy coming out of the caves ( he was by himself crazy!) who said that we would definately need a torch and that he had turned back because he saw a huge spider there was also apparently eels in the water!! At this point i was thinking no way am i going in those caves but once we got to the opening nic wadded through the water until the point it was pitch black and there was hundreds of gloworms so i thought this was an opportunity i couldn't give up. Luckily we didn't see any spiders or eels!!
The following day we headed to the Bay of islands, which is a holiday destination for kiwis surprisingly it was quite good weather! We headed to a bar that night and being Saturday night it was quite happening! We were soon handed out raffle tickets and to our surprise they were giving out prizes!! The ticket to be pulled out first was nic's number!! Couldn't believe it! There was a catch though because you had to play a game of play your cards right to win the prizes! It was all nic's luck the first card drawn was a 7 and when he said lower and the next card was a jack saying i was disappointed was an understatement!!
Luckily there was a group of people next to us that won and because they were heading back to Auckland the next day they couldn't use any of the vouchers so they gave them to us!!! So after using our 2 4 1 drinks vouchers we headed back to our very cold campervan! ( I'm starting to realise there is an underlying theme of freebies in this part of the blog!)
The next day we used one of the vouchers to go on THE MACK ATTACK! The fastest boat in the bay of islands! It travelled up to 70 kmph and on some of the waves let just say we got a spraying!! I was a bright sunny day and we headed out to what was a literal description of a "hole in the rock"! The most annoying thing about the trip was that our guide decided to rub it in saying that the week before they had seen killer whales in the bay and they would often see dolphins but the days before they hadn't seen anything and on this occasion we didnt :(
The next day we headed north to the northest point of New Zealand, however the only problem was that you had to drive on 20 km of unsealed road and because we didn't take the extra windscreen insurance out we were very worried! (I was even more worried than nic because i was in the passenger seat!!) We finally got there and it was tipping down with rain so instead of seeing the views in the rain we camped there for the night hoping the weather would get better in the morning! We reached the camp site which was a government run one which meant it only consisted of cold showers and a long drop! We parked in the field designated for campervans. We soon realised another campervan drove in and drove straight back out and we saw that the entrance was becoming very muddy so we decided to follow them and make a quick exit! I think i spoke too soon when i said quick as I managed get the campervan stuck!! The wheels were skidding and at this point we thought we were stranded with no one around! Nic got out and tried to push but soon became covered in mud! After a short while of continuing to try luckily a kiwi guy came to help us dressed in the appropriate attaire of wellies compared to nic's flip flops!! He managed to work out how to get us out and we were very thankful!!
The following morning was a sunny day and we headed to the lighthouse on Cape Reinga which symbolised the Northest point of New Zealand and where also the Tasman and Pacific ocean met!! We were really pleased with the weather as the views were spectacular and even more happy when we got in the car and it started to rain again!
We took a couple more days to meander back to Auckland along the west coast and it is certainly true there are a lot of sheep in New Zealand!! We arrived back in Auckland where we met two of my friends Charlotte and Laura and headed on a night out!! I managed to barter in one bar for 4 drinks for 20 dollars the equivalent of 2 pound a drink which for a sat night wasn't too bad!! we ended up in a club which sold cocktails in teapots which was pretty cool!!!
We got back on the road and headed to a place called Rotoura (Maori capital). We arrived late afternoon and headed to our first adventure activity Zorbing!! For anyone who doesn't know what zorbing is it is getting in an inflatable ball and rolling down a hill and in our case it was also filled with water!! We were still with my friend Laura and we managed to blag half price!! We were travelling up in the van to get to the top of the hill and the guide (who was a maori) was asking us what we were doing the next day. Laura's response was that we were going to an aboriginal village!! (bearing in mind kiwi's hate Australien's) i think it was a massive insult and couldn't believe she said it but they took it in good spirits! (probably because they knew they were about to throw us down a hill!) Anyway the zorbing was so much fun and we could not stop laughing all the way down!! Almost to the point I nearly wet myself!! That night we met two guys from leeds who shared travel stories and turned out were heading in the same direction as me and nic.
The following day we were feeling cultural and headed to a geothermal maori village! We had a tour and it is very difficult to describe the smell because it absolutly stank due to the sulphur from the ground! The tour ended with a maori cultural performance which consisted of the HAKA!! I was very dissappointed with nic though because they were calling the men in the audience to come up and learn the haka but nic didn't go but then again it is meant to scare people and the only person nic would probably scare is himself!! Following the tour we parted ways with Laura and headed South with our newly found Northern friends.
We reached Lake Taupo where the lake is bigger than singapore! There was a few ideas going around that we all wanted to do a sky dive and that nic and another guy wanted to do a bungy jump!! It was soon thought why not do both in one day!! ( i know what you are thinking thats bloody crazy!!) I was thinking the same thing! We had KFC to give us all the needed energy!!haha and after some cards had an early night!!
It was the start to the adrenaline day!! We headed very early to the bungy place and after looking over the edge i was having second thoughts!! Nic went first and following his analysis of the jump there was now no turning back for me!! You sat down on a little bench where they straped you in and stood towards the edge and all the said was 1 2 3 bungy and you jumped off all very quick and easy but also very scary yet amazing!! After the adrenaline had calmed down it was difficult to believe that that afternoon were were also going to be jumping out a plane at 12,000 ft!! We had our lunch then headed to Taupo airport!!
We were shown a dvd of a skydive which only got us more and more scared but also excited!! we met our instructors which one of their response was "don't worry I'm only really hungover" at this point I wasn't finding anything funny!! We started to get all the gear on but I soon realised that I was missing a piece of equipment that everyone else had!! Since my instructor had disappeared I asked someone else and it turned out he had forgotton to give me a Lifejacket and considering we were skydiving over a massive lake I thought that it would have been a vital piece of equipment!! Anyway after a couple of photos we were all couped inside a tiny plane! At this point we still had no instruction of what to do!! After being in the air for about 5 mins my instructor decided to tell me some very vague instructions in my ear! All i could really hear was something about making the shape of a banana!! Before we knew it the two guys before were falling out the plane and it was my turn!! It is very difficult to describe the sensation of falling out of a plane but it was AMAZING! My instructor decided to spin us round and go upside down so I could see the plane we'd just fallen out of!! After 45 seconds he opened the shoot and on the clear day we had fantastic views of the lake! Sadly before we knew it were on the ground :( But we can safely say it was the best thing we had ever done!!
That night we had received vouchers from the skydive place for drinks in the pubs in town so we thought it was rude not to head out!! It turned out it was quiz night in the irish pub so we soon signed up!! Unfortunately it turned out to be the hardest quiz ever!! However we came 10th out of about 20 which wasn't bad!! We then hit Element a bar/club where we took part in some very strange dancing with our adrenaline junky northern friends!!
The next day a little hungover we found out about some free thermal springs which sounded like a good idea when we probably hadn't showered in about 3 days due to saving on campsite costs!! The thermal pools were like a warm bath but we were probably sweating due to the high temperature!! We then parted ways with our northern friends and had an early night!!
The following day we headed to Napier which is on the East coast! In lonely planet it kept describing it as an art deco capital! If i'm honest I have no idea about Art deco but Napier was also described as a british seaside town and that I could see!! We went to the National Aquarium which was pretty cool!!
The folowing day we headed further South to a spot of luxury by staying at Nic's friend's house in Wellington! We have currently been here for 4 days because there's so much comfort such as showers everyday that we don't want to leave!! We are planning to head to the South Island soon but the thought of sleeping in minus temperatures when hearing the weather is so good back home is somewhat putting us off!!
Lots of Love
Nic and Jen
xx
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Patagonia, Wine district, Mendoza and Chile
Hola!
Its been a while and we've done a lot in that time so think this is gonna be a bit of a long one sorry!!
We've got on out first internal flight in Argentina and headed South to a place called El Calafete the flight took 5 hours so it shows how big a country Argentina is!! We arrived in what was probably a one roomed building absolutly tiny and when you stepped outside the airport (if you can call it that) there was nothing to be seen! We got on a trusty minibus which took us to our hostel! We don't really know what we were expecting but it was like a big open space with a couple of houses dotted around with a view of an amazing blue lake! Our hostel was really nice and to our surprise they were putting on free dinner!yey! For dinner that night it was cottage pie which we thought was great. However, we didn't have the usual peas or carrots with it. They had rice! They do love to carbo load and all argentinians still remain skinny! (I hate them!!) We got an early night as the next day we were to do our mini trekking on the glacier!
8am we got picked up by the bus and it was still dark outside, it took an hour and 20 mins to get the glacier by which is had only just got light when we got there! We got on a boat which would take us across a lake. We went on the top of the deck to hopefully get good views but after about 5 seconds we couldn't handle the wind or the rain so it was very short lived! we were met the otherside by our guide 'Carlos'. We had all the clothing to do the trekking i.e warm jackets, hats etc. But we were missing gloves. We had met a northern couple who had done the trek the day before and said they asked to borrow some gloves and they were lent them so we thought we'd do the same! Nic asked Carlos if there was anyway we could borrow some and he turned around and said 'No, you were told to bring all your own clothing'! Following this response he gave a little talk about the glacier and said 'its very important to wear gloves as the ice can be sharp!!' we were thinking thanks Carlos!! Luckily we were fine though and there were no tumbles! The trek was awesome. We were given proper grampons which proved to be very difficult to walk in as you had to walk like John Wayne to avoid tripping over! We were on the ice for about 1 1/2 hours and our reward at the end was a glass of whiskey with freshly chipped ice from the glacier and a chocolate! ( the only problem was, niether nic or i liked whiskey).
After the trek we were back on the boat where we went to a viewing platform whereby you could see how big the glacier really was! (it was bigger than the size of Buenos Aires and BA was big!) Very cold and tired we were out cold sleeping on the bus on the way back and i woke up to forget where i was! We had another free dinner that night but unfortunately got landed talking to the most annoying couple in the world! The girl was from London and boy from Hereford! I couldn't believe Herefordshire could produce such a wanker! They both went to Warwick therefore spoke down to us considering we only did sports science ( in nic's case sports coaching haha!) and banged on about how great peru and bolivia were and couldnt believe we didn't go there! We swiflty made excuses that we had to go to bed and escape the patronising conversation!
The next day we were organising our next move which we soon found out the bus would take 28 hours!! all because one road was closed because it was coming into winter!! But it was gonna be a comfy bus and we hoped for english speaking films again! we got on to find most of the people on their were travellers which was pretty cool! 6 films later and hours and hours of deserted landscape we eventually found our selves in our next destination Bariloche!
We arrived to again more rain and it was 10 o clock at night so we got a taxi to the hostel! We soon found out when we got in there was no seat belts! After this we realised the driver speedometer didn't work and when were were probably going about 70 miles an hour he thought it was a good idea to answer his phone!!! We were very happy to arrive at our hostel to say the least! After a good nights sleep we were pleasantly surpirsed when we came out to breakfast to see a fantastic view of a lake!! On a quite a nice day we thought we would we would be active and go on a famous bike tour of the 7 lakes ( which is what makes Barlioche famous). We were told the distance was 27km which was a scary thought to begin with but they were pretty good mountain bikes with 24 gears and thought we'd stop off for a nice lunch etc. After about 5 km I was pushing my bike up the hill!! ( Yes i know what you're thinking we're sporty we're supposed to be fit, but not hills like we were doing on gravel!!) After about 7 km we were very happy to stop for a hamburger and homemade chips for lunch in a quaint swiss little village. We sampled some homemade beer then were on our bikes again! After lots of pedalling, pushing the bikes up hills and some spectacular views I was more than happy to reach the bike shop and hand the bike back!!!
That night we realised that we were very much hurting from the lack of cushioning on the seats and headed out for some drinks with a scottish and geordie lad to num the pain!! We soon realised we've been out of uni for too long and could not keep up with their drinking pace!!! especially when it was more homemade 10% beer! We played some cards and soon got kicked out of the pub to head home for a goods nights sleep before being active again the day after!!
The next day was the day nic would overcome his fear of horses!! We booked to go on a 2 hour horse trek! We thought we would come to some big stables etc! but no, there was just one man with about 12 horses attached to a tree! The demonstration was very short considering most of us were novice riders!! It consisted of hold onto the reigns and kick the horse! After this he even gave us a stick!
Luckily the horses tended to follow the one in front but this also meant when the one in front trotted your horse started to trot! It was all my luck I got stuck behind an Israelly girl who didn't like hurting animals, therefore didn't use the stick or kick the animal!!! The path was really narrow and I couldn't get past!! No matter how much our guide shouted at her 'use the stick' her horse was happily walking along!! I took it into my own hands to kick my horse as much as possible which made her horse run as well! We eventually caught up with the rest of the group! We climbed up a pretty steep mountain to an amazing view and on the way back down, feeling a little more confident we trotted and cantered a lot more!!
That night we had a couple of drinks with two irish lads which came horse riding. The beer was quite expensive in the hostel bar so we soon moved onto the red wine (which was an error). We woke up very hungover the next and awaited our bus to the next destination.
We got on the bus at 4pm and it was going to take in total 17 hours! We had a very chirpy steward and about 4 hours into the journey he brought round bingo cards!! Although after realising we didn't speak much spanish he put the tray of numbers on nic's lap so we could see what numbers he pulled out of the bag!! Sadly we didn't win being very competitive we were disappointed to miss out on the prize which was a flask!
We arrived in Mendoza (wine district). The first day we walked around the city which wasn't a lot and stopped for steak for lunch! and that night we headed to a pizza party organised by the hostel!! After all you can eat pizza there was free tequila shots and lots of (dodgy) argentine music!! We didn't drink too much considering we were going on a wine tour the next day.
We rented bikes and headed to our first winery, where we had a tour of how wine was made etc and how you are meant to taste it!! We now like to think we are wine experts but that was after a few glasses of malbec!! We also went to a chocolate and liquor place and further wineries one of which we had the best steak sandwich ever!! After what seemed like a very informative day we went to bed fairly early ready for a further day of travelling the day after.
The next day we headed to Chile on an amazing ( hair raising) bus journey over the Andes. We arrived in a very nice hostel and had our daily siesta and headed out for dinner. We asked the guy in the hostel what some traditional Chilean dishes were and one consisted of Chips, fried onion, fried egg and a sirloin steak so that was a definate choice for us and we even shared it and could barely finish it!! The next day we did pretty much the only thing there is to do in Santiago which is to go up a cable car. Which was pretty high and because Santiago is so polluted you could see where there was a layer of smog over the city!
Today we are just wasting time before catching our flight to Auckland, where we will most definately be happy to be able to have conversations with natives in english!!
So Part 1 of our trip ( South America) is over and we're definately looking forward to the rest!!
Nic and Jen
Its been a while and we've done a lot in that time so think this is gonna be a bit of a long one sorry!!
We've got on out first internal flight in Argentina and headed South to a place called El Calafete the flight took 5 hours so it shows how big a country Argentina is!! We arrived in what was probably a one roomed building absolutly tiny and when you stepped outside the airport (if you can call it that) there was nothing to be seen! We got on a trusty minibus which took us to our hostel! We don't really know what we were expecting but it was like a big open space with a couple of houses dotted around with a view of an amazing blue lake! Our hostel was really nice and to our surprise they were putting on free dinner!yey! For dinner that night it was cottage pie which we thought was great. However, we didn't have the usual peas or carrots with it. They had rice! They do love to carbo load and all argentinians still remain skinny! (I hate them!!) We got an early night as the next day we were to do our mini trekking on the glacier!
8am we got picked up by the bus and it was still dark outside, it took an hour and 20 mins to get the glacier by which is had only just got light when we got there! We got on a boat which would take us across a lake. We went on the top of the deck to hopefully get good views but after about 5 seconds we couldn't handle the wind or the rain so it was very short lived! we were met the otherside by our guide 'Carlos'. We had all the clothing to do the trekking i.e warm jackets, hats etc. But we were missing gloves. We had met a northern couple who had done the trek the day before and said they asked to borrow some gloves and they were lent them so we thought we'd do the same! Nic asked Carlos if there was anyway we could borrow some and he turned around and said 'No, you were told to bring all your own clothing'! Following this response he gave a little talk about the glacier and said 'its very important to wear gloves as the ice can be sharp!!' we were thinking thanks Carlos!! Luckily we were fine though and there were no tumbles! The trek was awesome. We were given proper grampons which proved to be very difficult to walk in as you had to walk like John Wayne to avoid tripping over! We were on the ice for about 1 1/2 hours and our reward at the end was a glass of whiskey with freshly chipped ice from the glacier and a chocolate! ( the only problem was, niether nic or i liked whiskey).
After the trek we were back on the boat where we went to a viewing platform whereby you could see how big the glacier really was! (it was bigger than the size of Buenos Aires and BA was big!) Very cold and tired we were out cold sleeping on the bus on the way back and i woke up to forget where i was! We had another free dinner that night but unfortunately got landed talking to the most annoying couple in the world! The girl was from London and boy from Hereford! I couldn't believe Herefordshire could produce such a wanker! They both went to Warwick therefore spoke down to us considering we only did sports science ( in nic's case sports coaching haha!) and banged on about how great peru and bolivia were and couldnt believe we didn't go there! We swiflty made excuses that we had to go to bed and escape the patronising conversation!
The next day we were organising our next move which we soon found out the bus would take 28 hours!! all because one road was closed because it was coming into winter!! But it was gonna be a comfy bus and we hoped for english speaking films again! we got on to find most of the people on their were travellers which was pretty cool! 6 films later and hours and hours of deserted landscape we eventually found our selves in our next destination Bariloche!
We arrived to again more rain and it was 10 o clock at night so we got a taxi to the hostel! We soon found out when we got in there was no seat belts! After this we realised the driver speedometer didn't work and when were were probably going about 70 miles an hour he thought it was a good idea to answer his phone!!! We were very happy to arrive at our hostel to say the least! After a good nights sleep we were pleasantly surpirsed when we came out to breakfast to see a fantastic view of a lake!! On a quite a nice day we thought we would we would be active and go on a famous bike tour of the 7 lakes ( which is what makes Barlioche famous). We were told the distance was 27km which was a scary thought to begin with but they were pretty good mountain bikes with 24 gears and thought we'd stop off for a nice lunch etc. After about 5 km I was pushing my bike up the hill!! ( Yes i know what you're thinking we're sporty we're supposed to be fit, but not hills like we were doing on gravel!!) After about 7 km we were very happy to stop for a hamburger and homemade chips for lunch in a quaint swiss little village. We sampled some homemade beer then were on our bikes again! After lots of pedalling, pushing the bikes up hills and some spectacular views I was more than happy to reach the bike shop and hand the bike back!!!
That night we realised that we were very much hurting from the lack of cushioning on the seats and headed out for some drinks with a scottish and geordie lad to num the pain!! We soon realised we've been out of uni for too long and could not keep up with their drinking pace!!! especially when it was more homemade 10% beer! We played some cards and soon got kicked out of the pub to head home for a goods nights sleep before being active again the day after!!
The next day was the day nic would overcome his fear of horses!! We booked to go on a 2 hour horse trek! We thought we would come to some big stables etc! but no, there was just one man with about 12 horses attached to a tree! The demonstration was very short considering most of us were novice riders!! It consisted of hold onto the reigns and kick the horse! After this he even gave us a stick!
Luckily the horses tended to follow the one in front but this also meant when the one in front trotted your horse started to trot! It was all my luck I got stuck behind an Israelly girl who didn't like hurting animals, therefore didn't use the stick or kick the animal!!! The path was really narrow and I couldn't get past!! No matter how much our guide shouted at her 'use the stick' her horse was happily walking along!! I took it into my own hands to kick my horse as much as possible which made her horse run as well! We eventually caught up with the rest of the group! We climbed up a pretty steep mountain to an amazing view and on the way back down, feeling a little more confident we trotted and cantered a lot more!!
That night we had a couple of drinks with two irish lads which came horse riding. The beer was quite expensive in the hostel bar so we soon moved onto the red wine (which was an error). We woke up very hungover the next and awaited our bus to the next destination.
We got on the bus at 4pm and it was going to take in total 17 hours! We had a very chirpy steward and about 4 hours into the journey he brought round bingo cards!! Although after realising we didn't speak much spanish he put the tray of numbers on nic's lap so we could see what numbers he pulled out of the bag!! Sadly we didn't win being very competitive we were disappointed to miss out on the prize which was a flask!
We arrived in Mendoza (wine district). The first day we walked around the city which wasn't a lot and stopped for steak for lunch! and that night we headed to a pizza party organised by the hostel!! After all you can eat pizza there was free tequila shots and lots of (dodgy) argentine music!! We didn't drink too much considering we were going on a wine tour the next day.
We rented bikes and headed to our first winery, where we had a tour of how wine was made etc and how you are meant to taste it!! We now like to think we are wine experts but that was after a few glasses of malbec!! We also went to a chocolate and liquor place and further wineries one of which we had the best steak sandwich ever!! After what seemed like a very informative day we went to bed fairly early ready for a further day of travelling the day after.
The next day we headed to Chile on an amazing ( hair raising) bus journey over the Andes. We arrived in a very nice hostel and had our daily siesta and headed out for dinner. We asked the guy in the hostel what some traditional Chilean dishes were and one consisted of Chips, fried onion, fried egg and a sirloin steak so that was a definate choice for us and we even shared it and could barely finish it!! The next day we did pretty much the only thing there is to do in Santiago which is to go up a cable car. Which was pretty high and because Santiago is so polluted you could see where there was a layer of smog over the city!
Today we are just wasting time before catching our flight to Auckland, where we will most definately be happy to be able to have conversations with natives in english!!
So Part 1 of our trip ( South America) is over and we're definately looking forward to the rest!!
Nic and Jen
Monday, 4 May 2009
Rest of Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls
Hola,
The rest of our stay in Buenos Aires was good and have definately had the best food ever which at the moment our days are revolved around!! We thought we would sample the local buses and when we stood at the bus stop the destinations we wanted was on the front of the bus so we happily got on! after about 15 mins we realised we hadnt reached our destination (which we should have done) and we soon found out we had got the bus in the opposite direction!!(you are probably thinking thats a stupid mistake to make) However it appears that when you can speak very little Spanish it is an easy mistake to make standing on the wrong side of the road! So after about an hour on the bus doing a round trip (we cant say we havent seen all of Buenos Aires) we reached La Boca! This is a part of town with lots of colourful buildings and holds the famous Boca Juniors stadium! Home of Maradona!!
We are learning a few more words in Spanish the most used is Habĺa Inglesas? (Do you speak english?) But when nic went to ask for something (having told him bout 20 times how to say it) he said to the guy Pablo Inglesas!!! I think the guy just humoured him at his response saying "a little"!!
Having grasped the local buses we went onto another area called San Telmo where we officially had the best steak ever!! it was in a quite a dingy place but was absolutely filled with people and was quite noisy! we shared a fillet and by the size of it was very glad we did along with some chips and salad!!(very british) we did refrain from asking for tomato ketchup!!Along with a litre of beer the bill came to 10 pounds!!
Everyday we have our usual siesta and that night we headed out for a couple of drinks in the nice part of town Palermo! found some really quirky bars one of which had a whole room dedicated to board games, therefore we took advantage and played a game of battleships!! Our next bar was a little bit more upbeat playing some stevie wonder! we shared our first bottle of argentinian wine which cost us 3 pounds! being a litle bit tipsy we headed back and got on the bus home arriving at our hostel about 2 o clock the same time the argentinians are going into the clubs!
The next day we finally go to go to the zoo! It was brilliant for 3 pounds! saw all the big cats, elephants and even a polar bear! ( not sure how happy he was in the 25 degree heat!) after we headed for our usual lunch had menu del dia for 5 pounds - steak with the most amazing mash potato a drink and desssert!! That evening we headed to the oldest cafe in town (Cafe Tortoni) for some tango!! In a small intimate room of only 50 people we listened to a live band, a dodgy man singing and two brilliant dancers who would give Vincent and Flavia a run for their money!we paid 12 pounds for the 1 hour and half show!!Not bad for our live version of Strictly Come Dancing! This was our last night in Buenos Aires!
The next day we had the morning to kill before catching our bus to Iguazu falls! We werent really sure what to expect from the bus but we were pleasantly surprised! Wide comfy seats a pillow and a blanket! and to top if all off the films came on and were in English with Spanish subtitles brilliant!!We watched Slum dog millionnaire, the boy in the striped Pyjamers!! the time flew by and we both probably got 6-7 hours sleep which wasnt bad! We arrived and headed straight to the falls which were amazing never seen anything like them!(will try and put some photos up) Again the next day we went which consisted of about 10 km walking!! Not good when I have continuous shooting pains going through my foot!!We saw lots of animals incluing monkeys and colourful birds! Luckily on the second day we were just leaving when it started to absolutly piss down! We got stuck in a tropical thunderstorm!!We think it rains in england! Nothing like this!! Our final day in Iguazu we headed to the Brazilian side (another stamp on our passport)! It was a really good panoramic view of the falls! We then got back on our trusty bus yesterday and headed back to Buenos Aires where we arrived this morning! Just killing time today before catching our 8:10am flight in the morning to patagonia! Where the glaciers will be our next stop!!we have our warm jackets ready for the cold!!
Hope all is well
Love Nic & Jen
xxxxx
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