We’re leaving on a jet plane…….

1st July 2006

We arrived in Auckland 3 days ago on the 28th June, having left Santiago on the 26th. Our flight was only 12 hours (We are qualified to say ‘only’ having survived a 23 hour bus ride in South America!), we managed to lose the 27th June forever, due to the fact we crossed the international date line. We are now 11 hours ahead of the uk, which means the England game kicks off here at 3am (should have plenty of time for a decent pre match build up on the town!), although we must point out for Shirleys benefit, this dosn’t mean we will know the score before you!

In the 72 hours or so we have had in Auckland we have both been really impressed. There is something re-assuring about seeing good old Queen Lizzy’s head staring back at you from the currency, and the ability to say more than ‘tienne usted una habitacion double’ in the local lingo when checking into the hostel cannot be under estimated. We have checked into ‘Auckland Central Backpackers’ which, surprisingly, is a backpackers hostel in the centre of Auckland. The price of a room is about 200% more than South America, so gone are the privilages of a private room with private bathroom, replaced by a dormitory room, with shared showers and toilet!

Our room mate for the last 3 days has been Aaron, from Belfast. Living upto the stereotype, we have not seen Aaron sober yet (and not likely too, since he had done a lord lucan when we woke up this morning!), infact the only thing we have seen Aaron do in the last 3 days is sit in the room, with his bottle of Brandy, spouting nonsense, between apologies for being drunk (again) and swearing about one thing or the other. We will miss Aaron now he has gone, having made us feel like we were back in the company of Burnsy for a few days!

On our first night in Auckland we went up the sky tower which dominates the cityscape at 328m (cheers Siddle for the tall building top trumps which gave me this fact!). From here you can take in the whole city, and actually see from one side of New Zealand to the other, taking in the Paciffic Ocean in the East, and the Tasman sea in the West. The other thing you can do from here, if you are absolutlely nuts, is throw yourself off the building in a sort of controlled base jump……who knows, when we come back through Auckland maybe we will have plucked up the courage to do this!

The second day in Auckland we walked the coast to coast walk, in a bit to undertake some exercise (well, if we are honest, in a bid to save some cash!). Basically this walk involves setting off from viaduct harbour in the centre of Auckland, on one side of the island, and walking 16kms to the other side (then getting the bus back!). It is winter here at the moment but the weather in Auckland has been fine so far, much like a spring day back home, so we enjoyed the stroll which enabled us to see loads of the city and it’s people.

Yesterday, we continued the exercise theme by hiring mountain bikes for the day, and heading round the coast to Mission Bay. Here we endulged in a fish and chip lunch on the beach, which was really great (you can take the boy / girl out of Whitley / Deal, but you can’t take Whitley / Deal out the boy / girl). Whilst out cycling we were really surprised by how helpful the locals were, everytime we stopped to get the map out, someone appeared and spent the next 5 mins explaining where we were, what they suggested you did next etc etc before you could even open the map, now that certainly didn’t happen in Bolivia!

The other thing we did yesterday was book our Campervan for the rest of our time here! From tomorrow we pick up our wheels and move into our new home for the next 6 weeks. Apparantley campervans are the best way to see the 2 islands, although this sentence normally ends with, in summer. As it is winter, apparantley campervans are only hired out by absolute idiots, or pi$$ed Irishmen called Aaron. Still, we got a bargain, so if we survive the blizzards in the South Island, it could turn out to be a masterstroke! We set out tomorrow, heading to the North of the North Island, and the relative mild weather of the Bay of islands. Some of the activities we have built into our budget for our time here include dolphin and whale watching, blackwater rafting, white water rafting, glacier walking and a skydive! We are both really looking forward to it, if any of these activities (or the weather) spell the end for us, then Donny, you can have our ashes tickets!

26 Junio 2006

Well our time in SA has come to an end.  We have spent only 6 weeks in SA chosing to spend the time in south Peru and Bolivia…the rest will have to wait for another day (top of our wish list for next time is Buenas Aires and Igassu falls in Argentina).

Before we leave for New Zealand here are our top ten likes and dislikes from our time here;

Likes:

1) has to be the scenery – it has been absolutely breath-taking at times and words cannot describe some of the views we have been fortunate to see.

2) Hot showers and toilet roll in Chile – bliss! Have had to endure some cold showers along the way. Nothing beats a good dirt scrubbing hot shower with the pressure of a firehose! Plus it is nice not having to carry around a loo roll with us wherever we go.

3) Cute kids – every single baby/ toddler has big brown eyes and rosy cheeks….invariably covered in dirt or snot but nevertheless they are cute! (however see 3) under dislikes)

4) Spanish commentary on the world cup, you can´t beat a ggggggoooooooooaaaaaaaalllllllllllll that last for 2/3 minutes, better than motson and davies any day.

5) Empanadas – We first read about the culinary delights in “The mermaid and the drunk by Ben Richards” …..this typical chilean foodtype is as close as one can get to a Gregs pastie whilst travelling the world.

6) Cheap cerveza, lager tastes better at 20p per litre.

7) No monday morning sick feeling on the way to work.

8)The friends we have made along the way, not a patch on the lads / lasses at home but some great people nonetheless (even the odd decent american!)

9) Hostels – surprisingly good, a bit like being back in university halls of residence.

10) Cheap, plentiful internet access to allow us to keep in touch with things back home, something tells me we may go relatively quiet when we have to pay NZ prices!

Dislikes:

1) Dogs- dogs are everywhere in each country we have visited….and where there are dogs there is dog poo…..

2) People spitting – now call us British (polite and uptight according to our American friend) but it is simply gross…..I understand that it is a different culture and may be more acceptable but what with phlegm and dogs poo you are constantly searching for the next clean foot space.

3) Ugly women, no south american beauties in Peru, Bolivia and Chile, these women would hands down lose a beauty contest with big Mo from Eastenders

4) The look of distate when you hand a shopkeeper a note – no-one has change for a note ….it would be easier to obtain the shopkeepers liver than them have change.

5) Quinoa soup – proceeds every single meal in Peru and Bolivia, not a bad dish but becomes a little repetitive (literally) after a while.

6)Uyuni – this place will never hold fond memories……largely tarred by the horrendous bus trip and the frostbite in our toes on arrival.

7) Being looked at like freaks fresh from chipperfields circus by the locals because we are over 5 feet tall, now i know how Peter Crouch must feel everyday.

8) The D-word – shooting in (or out) at number 8 is diarrhoea…..no blog would be complete without some sort of reference.

9) The local dried carrots on Amantani – look a little like witchedy grubs from the tv show “I,m a celeb” – don,t taste much better but we tried.

10) Rude travellers – unfortunately we have met a few…..from people who fail to use “please ” and “thankyou” to a downright horrible man who spoke in an extremely condesending manner to one of our guides! Manners cost nothing afterall!

Finally managed to find a fast enough computer to download photos from Salt flat tour, Uyuni and Santiago.

For those of you who haven´t already heard from the jungle drums (or Chris´s singing "tell me ma, me ma I won´t be ... [Continue reading this entry]

The journey from La Paz to Uyuni in the South can only be described as the nearest thing imaginable to ... [Continue reading this entry]

15.6.06

We arrived here in La Paz (Bolivias de facto capital city) 1 week ago (8/6), via the bus from Puno (Lake Titticaca) in Peru.  La Paz is similar in many ways to ... [Continue reading this entry]

6th June 2006 OK....Lets start with some facts! Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and spans the border ... [Continue reading this entry]

4/6/2006  We have just uploaded some more photos....and given our Flickr websie a bit of a makeover (hopefully the photos are grouped better even if they are still not in chronological order). Obviously we have lots of time on our hands ... [Continue reading this entry]

2/6/2006 We arrived here in Arrequipa (Southern Peru) via the overnight bus from Cusco last Saturday morning (29/5).  The guide books rave about Arrequipa and the 'fine examples of colonial architechture' however, the reality is, with the exception of the main square and Cathedral (which ... [Continue reading this entry]