Well, by this point we'd been travelling for nearly 11 months and had come to regard ourselves as pretty experienced travellers as we'd managed to get by without any major mishaps - but was it really wise to turn up in one of the world's most dangerous cities without the address of our hostel??? The answer to that we found out was No!
It meant an hour driving around Rio in a cab with a driver who was starting to get pissed off and in the end just pulled over and looked like he was going to cry! Luckily at this point we were only a few doors up from the hostel - someone must have been watching over us :)
We were relieved to eventually check in. But we thought we'd been driving for so long we'd ended up back in Australia!!!! I kid you not! Australia must have been empty as 85% of the folk staying at the hostel were Aussies.
So on that basis we'd say Brazilians are at the top of the partying league, followed closely by the Aussies! Although Brazilians are hard to beat - they can only be described as close to crazy!!! They can party on buses, trains, beaches, and in the street pretty much 24/7 for a week!!!
And the Sambadrome has to be the most colourful party of them all - 2x nights, 12x Samba schools, 100's of dancers, and 1000's of spectators - oh yes, and lots of half naked Brazilian ladies shaking their booty!!!
But with any good party comes a really bad hangover and this is where Rio's darker side comes to the fore. As the week progressed it seemed the locals were starting to loose it a little - feeling rough, getting paranoid, running out of cash and picking fights :( Unfortunately some of the folk at the hostel came out worse because of this as they were robbed - we were really lucky not to be!
And when we took a walking tour through one of the Favelas we realised Rio is one scary place! The poverty there is pretty extreme and the Mafia are the boys in charge - we guessed they were the one's on the motorbikes with the guns!! You're supposed to be okay when on the tour as the Mafia have given their approval, but there's no way you can go into a Favela on your own - there were some really mean looking dudes who looked like they really didn't want ANY Gringos on their patch!
During the tour we were told by our guide that Adriano (famous Brazilian footballer), still has a house in the Favela and parties with the Mafia every Sunday! I suppose it doesn't matter how rich you are - you still want to keep the Mafia on side!
So that was it !!!!! .......the party's OVER!! .... and we were heading home :(
AN AMAZING END TO AN AMAZING YEAR!!!!
(Although, perhaps its not quite the end just yet? We still have a night in the Mal Maison to look forward to for our anniversary on the 21st of March! This will take us full circle back to the start! We'll be thinking about you all and the good times we had when we were there last year :)
p.s. Don't forget we've still got some Aussie photos & 3 months in South America to show you. I'll be posting these in the next couple of weeks - something to keep me amused while I'm getting over being back at work :(
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
30/11/09 - 07/12/09 & 10/01/10 - 11/02/10, Argentina
We first arrived in Argentina way back at the end of November but we were only able to stay a week before we had to pop back to Chile. We must have been impressed though as we came back on the 10th of January for another month! Maybe it was the tasty food and drink which enticed us back ...... hot chocolate ..... fondue ...... steak ...... fast food trout! (beats the McD Hamburgers we've been consuming elsewhere) ...... and of course the Vino Tinto :)
Talking of "el vino", I'm not one to ever condone "drinking & driving" but "Mr Hugo's Cycling Wine Tour" in Mendoza was a highlight ....... 2x rickety bikes, 10x miles of cycling, 6x refreshment stops (at conveniently located Wineries), 1x police escort and 6x hours later we were wobbling home!!!
Don't worry, the police escort was after only one glass! And it was very amusing when the police officer jumped into his car, switched on the blue flashing light and drove round the roundabout the wrong way - there was nothing for it but for us to dutifully follow as it was all just to help us find the next winery :)
It was also quite ironic when we found out that Mr Hugo has a party in his garden every night at 6.00pm. But he's not intimidated by the fact that his clients have been spending the day sampling some of the best Vino Argentina can offer - he just serves up some "vinegar" which I think he may have brewed himself. To be fair, I didn't see any backpackers knocking it back - he knows his market well !!!
Oh, there was one downside to the whole thing - we think we now know a bit about wine :( ....... "if its not been aged in oak it's a young wine and it isn't going to be so good......."
Now our return visit to Argentina was a totally different experience! We rented an apartment in Buenos Aires and put our feet up for a while. This turned out to be a very good call as we had a chance to relearn the old unused skills of cleaning up after ourselves, cooking, shopping, and as we were in South America emptying the "jobby pot" (don't worry, this was only toilet paper but trust me that was bad enough :().
But it meant we could also indulge in a bit of entertaining when Suzi & Eric came to stay. How cool was that!! - we had a great time seeing old friends, having barbies, drinking more Vino and catching up on all the news from back home.
They then headed off on a jet plane to places where us skint backpackers can only dream of :( We were also giving them a head start so our 24 hour bus had time to catch up! Sadly though it wasn't long before it was also time for us to leave Buenos Aires, which was no easy task as it's a really chilled out city with a very enjoyable cafe culture :)
When we caught up with S&E again we spent another crazy few days at Iguazu where we gawped at the magnificent Falls (much more impressive than Niagra), walked across them, round them and got totally, completely, and utterly soaked on the boat which went under them!
We had been prepared for getting a little wet on this occasion, although we hadn't realised quite how much. However, it was amusing to see how others had prepared themselves. In response to the sign which said "there is a constant drizzle when up close to the Falls so we advise you to wear a raincoat" - was it really necessary for the old guy to walk about all day in just a pair of speedos?????? (still having flashbacks from that sight!). And maybe the blue shower cap that the Japanese bloke wore on the boat wasn't really worth it - he must have ended up being drenched from the ear down!!
So alas this takes us up to when we had only 7 days left!!! ....... saying that, at this stage we hadn't quite realised what we'd saved for last - we were really going to be going out on a high :)
Talking of "el vino", I'm not one to ever condone "drinking & driving" but "Mr Hugo's Cycling Wine Tour" in Mendoza was a highlight ....... 2x rickety bikes, 10x miles of cycling, 6x refreshment stops (at conveniently located Wineries), 1x police escort and 6x hours later we were wobbling home!!!
Don't worry, the police escort was after only one glass! And it was very amusing when the police officer jumped into his car, switched on the blue flashing light and drove round the roundabout the wrong way - there was nothing for it but for us to dutifully follow as it was all just to help us find the next winery :)
It was also quite ironic when we found out that Mr Hugo has a party in his garden every night at 6.00pm. But he's not intimidated by the fact that his clients have been spending the day sampling some of the best Vino Argentina can offer - he just serves up some "vinegar" which I think he may have brewed himself. To be fair, I didn't see any backpackers knocking it back - he knows his market well !!!
Oh, there was one downside to the whole thing - we think we now know a bit about wine :( ....... "if its not been aged in oak it's a young wine and it isn't going to be so good......."
Now our return visit to Argentina was a totally different experience! We rented an apartment in Buenos Aires and put our feet up for a while. This turned out to be a very good call as we had a chance to relearn the old unused skills of cleaning up after ourselves, cooking, shopping, and as we were in South America emptying the "jobby pot" (don't worry, this was only toilet paper but trust me that was bad enough :().
But it meant we could also indulge in a bit of entertaining when Suzi & Eric came to stay. How cool was that!! - we had a great time seeing old friends, having barbies, drinking more Vino and catching up on all the news from back home.
They then headed off on a jet plane to places where us skint backpackers can only dream of :( We were also giving them a head start so our 24 hour bus had time to catch up! Sadly though it wasn't long before it was also time for us to leave Buenos Aires, which was no easy task as it's a really chilled out city with a very enjoyable cafe culture :)
When we caught up with S&E again we spent another crazy few days at Iguazu where we gawped at the magnificent Falls (much more impressive than Niagra), walked across them, round them and got totally, completely, and utterly soaked on the boat which went under them!
We had been prepared for getting a little wet on this occasion, although we hadn't realised quite how much. However, it was amusing to see how others had prepared themselves. In response to the sign which said "there is a constant drizzle when up close to the Falls so we advise you to wear a raincoat" - was it really necessary for the old guy to walk about all day in just a pair of speedos?????? (still having flashbacks from that sight!). And maybe the blue shower cap that the Japanese bloke wore on the boat wasn't really worth it - he must have ended up being drenched from the ear down!!
So alas this takes us up to when we had only 7 days left!!! ....... saying that, at this stage we hadn't quite realised what we'd saved for last - we were really going to be going out on a high :)
Thursday, 18 February 2010
All good things come to an end!
Our trip is nearly over and we'll be home in a matter of hours!!!! .... where has the time gone? .......was it worth it?....... what would we do differently? ........ what was the best bit? ...... questions ....... questions .......and that's just in our heads :)
So to avoid us having to uneccesarily refer to our trip when we get back (our plan is only to mention it if you actually ask as we've now got plenty of other things to focus on like coping with work/finding work!! - and we don't want to be accused of boring you :) So we thought we'd put a few answers up here for those that are interested.
But before we do, we'd like to say a big thank you to those of you who have stuck with the blog, sent us messages about it and commented on our photos - it's been great to know that a lot of you have been travelling round the world with us!
Not much time left to waste so here's some of our thoughts on the whole thing - maybe some of you will be thinking about going on your own trip now and we can follow your adventures :) - eh, Ian?) -
Q: Which was our favourite country?
A: There isn't one as we loved different bits of all the countries. Saying that, we found India & Japan to be the most fascinating countries but for very different reasons.
Q: Did we miss our own bed?
A: No, this is an urban myth, however, every day we missed our own toilet!
Q: Was it worth it?
A: Yes most definitely - perhaps not in £'s sterling as it was not the cheapest time to travel, but as an experience we'll remember for ever - and hopefully share and reminisce about in our old age, it was the best and we feel very lucky :)
Q: Where are we planning to go next?
A: Not very far, for 2 reasons :-
* My Mum's likely to consficate our passports when we land at Glasgow Airport :), and
* We've missed loads of folk, so we want to make the effort to catch up, especially with those who travelled so far to come and see us off at our wedding last year. Su & John, David & Irene, Eric & Suzi, Neil & Clare (to name but a few) - you can all expect a visit sometime soon :)
Q: What was the most amazing sight we saw?
A: There's been a few, but Annapurna Base Camp at sunrise is probably No.1, but Machu Picchu is somewhere we'd like to see again.
Q: Cheapest country?
A: To be honest with the british £ its hard to find anywhere that's cheap these days but pound for pound with endless things to see and do - has to be India.
Q: What did we learn?
A: You don't have to be rich to be happy, "you can be rich on happiness instead"
Q: Best piece of advice we were given?
A: From Suzi - " do something every week that we've never done before as we'll never get the chance again - enjoy every minute." We tried to do this as best we could!
Q: Would we live abroad now?
A: Maybe one day, but as yet we've not found anywhere where we'd rather be than dour, miserable, rainy Scotland - sad to say "home is where the heart is" :)
Q: Will we miss the sun?
A: We sure will - a good blast of 30 degree heat cheers up any day :)
Q: Will we be bored when we're back?
A: Maybe sometimes, like day 2 back at work! But we appreciate what we have in life so we have lots to look forward to - like a Sunday afternoon in front of the coal fire and TV :)
Q: Biggest cock up we made?
A: Thinking our flight from Christchurh to New Zealand was leaving at 3.50pm, when that was when it was arriving - also the most costly mistake :(
Q: Has travel changed us?
A: You tell us in 6 months - perhaps a little :)
But don't run away just yet, as this isn't the end of the blog - I've still to actually tell you all about Argentina and the crazy week we've just spent at Carnaval in Rio, which I'm hoping to get round to in the next couple of weeks. We were saving the most insane bit for last - don't miss it :)
So to avoid us having to uneccesarily refer to our trip when we get back (our plan is only to mention it if you actually ask as we've now got plenty of other things to focus on like coping with work/finding work!! - and we don't want to be accused of boring you :) So we thought we'd put a few answers up here for those that are interested.
But before we do, we'd like to say a big thank you to those of you who have stuck with the blog, sent us messages about it and commented on our photos - it's been great to know that a lot of you have been travelling round the world with us!
Not much time left to waste so here's some of our thoughts on the whole thing - maybe some of you will be thinking about going on your own trip now and we can follow your adventures :) - eh, Ian?) -
Q: Which was our favourite country?
A: There isn't one as we loved different bits of all the countries. Saying that, we found India & Japan to be the most fascinating countries but for very different reasons.
Q: Did we miss our own bed?
A: No, this is an urban myth, however, every day we missed our own toilet!
Q: Was it worth it?
A: Yes most definitely - perhaps not in £'s sterling as it was not the cheapest time to travel, but as an experience we'll remember for ever - and hopefully share and reminisce about in our old age, it was the best and we feel very lucky :)
Q: Where are we planning to go next?
A: Not very far, for 2 reasons :-
* My Mum's likely to consficate our passports when we land at Glasgow Airport :), and
* We've missed loads of folk, so we want to make the effort to catch up, especially with those who travelled so far to come and see us off at our wedding last year. Su & John, David & Irene, Eric & Suzi, Neil & Clare (to name but a few) - you can all expect a visit sometime soon :)
Q: What was the most amazing sight we saw?
A: There's been a few, but Annapurna Base Camp at sunrise is probably No.1, but Machu Picchu is somewhere we'd like to see again.
Q: Cheapest country?
A: To be honest with the british £ its hard to find anywhere that's cheap these days but pound for pound with endless things to see and do - has to be India.
Q: What did we learn?
A: You don't have to be rich to be happy, "you can be rich on happiness instead"
Q: Best piece of advice we were given?
A: From Suzi - " do something every week that we've never done before as we'll never get the chance again - enjoy every minute." We tried to do this as best we could!
Q: Would we live abroad now?
A: Maybe one day, but as yet we've not found anywhere where we'd rather be than dour, miserable, rainy Scotland - sad to say "home is where the heart is" :)
Q: Will we miss the sun?
A: We sure will - a good blast of 30 degree heat cheers up any day :)
Q: Will we be bored when we're back?
A: Maybe sometimes, like day 2 back at work! But we appreciate what we have in life so we have lots to look forward to - like a Sunday afternoon in front of the coal fire and TV :)
Q: Biggest cock up we made?
A: Thinking our flight from Christchurh to New Zealand was leaving at 3.50pm, when that was when it was arriving - also the most costly mistake :(
Q: Has travel changed us?
A: You tell us in 6 months - perhaps a little :)
But don't run away just yet, as this isn't the end of the blog - I've still to actually tell you all about Argentina and the crazy week we've just spent at Carnaval in Rio, which I'm hoping to get round to in the next couple of weeks. We were saving the most insane bit for last - don't miss it :)
Saturday, 30 January 2010
The Wonderful World of Oz!
The first half of our trip round Oz - your chance to meet some of the lovely people who looked after us so well and to see some of the weird and wonderful creatures who lurk in the watery depths off these sandy shores:-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=189234&id=810223271&l=a991626952
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=189234&id=810223271&l=a991626952
Monday, 25 January 2010
Cantonese Style!
Now Hong Kong is a whole different kettle of fish (quite literally as you'll see later :)
We were enchanted by HK and we'd definitely recommend booking it in as a stop over if you're going further afield, or even for a few days as Elaine & Manuel did - if you don't mind a bit of jet lag from the return journey!
It has some great food (so much better than its Big Brother), is relatively small so it's easy to get around (it even has a subway that goes under the sea!), there's lots to do and some pretty countryside too. Have a look if you don't believe me :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4636287&l=93c435db13&id=810223271
We were enchanted by HK and we'd definitely recommend booking it in as a stop over if you're going further afield, or even for a few days as Elaine & Manuel did - if you don't mind a bit of jet lag from the return journey!
It has some great food (so much better than its Big Brother), is relatively small so it's easy to get around (it even has a subway that goes under the sea!), there's lots to do and some pretty countryside too. Have a look if you don't believe me :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4636287&l=93c435db13&id=810223271
Sunday, 17 January 2010
A Taste of Thailand!
First up, these aren't the best of photos for a couple of reasons:-
1) My camera was in 'intensive care' being brought back to life, so some of the best bits of Thailand are only engrained in our minds for posterity :(, and
2) Thailand is pretty much what it says on the tin - lovely beaches, cheap beer and a great place to party, but it's not really much more than that (unless you're into its darker side!). Apologies if we've offended anyone :(, but I'll reiterate it is a great place to party and we did do plenty of that :) And that's not to say we wouldn't go back!
Have a wee look for yourself :-
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4623255&l=f9b0985af9&id=810223271
1) My camera was in 'intensive care' being brought back to life, so some of the best bits of Thailand are only engrained in our minds for posterity :(, and
2) Thailand is pretty much what it says on the tin - lovely beaches, cheap beer and a great place to party, but it's not really much more than that (unless you're into its darker side!). Apologies if we've offended anyone :(, but I'll reiterate it is a great place to party and we did do plenty of that :) And that's not to say we wouldn't go back!
Have a wee look for yourself :-
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4623255&l=f9b0985af9&id=810223271
New Year Photos - Nepal!
Well last May's actually!
But I've got round to them eventually - and these bring back some great memories for us :) Our trek to Annapurna Base Camp was our No.1 highlight of the whole trip.
I think maybe the fact it has "base camp" in the title, which is not somewhere with my athletic abilities I thought I'd never make it to, perhaps had a little to do with it too! Oh yeah, and the scenery was out of this world!!
Enjoy! -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187651&id=810223271&l=499b3c9b26
But I've got round to them eventually - and these bring back some great memories for us :) Our trek to Annapurna Base Camp was our No.1 highlight of the whole trip.
I think maybe the fact it has "base camp" in the title, which is not somewhere with my athletic abilities I thought I'd never make it to, perhaps had a little to do with it too! Oh yeah, and the scenery was out of this world!!
Enjoy! -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187651&id=810223271&l=499b3c9b26
23/12/09 - 09/01/10, Bolivia
We've drawn some profound conclusions from our travels :- India's crazy, China's disturbing, Japan's fascinating, Australia's big, New Zealand's beautiful, Chile's long and here's another one to add to the list - Bolivia's bloody high!
We spent nearly a month at altitudes between 3,500m and 4,000m (if you look up that's the equivalent of 2.2 to 2.5 miles into the sky!) but we never really acclimatised. It's so annoying feeling breathless when you're trying to sleep, not being able to enjoy big meals (unknown for a Duff :), finding it torture to climb any slope/hill and worst of all having the most horrendous hangover when you even sniff a beer!
The other thing you can't help but notice about Bolivia is that there is virtually no infrastructure - outside the capital, La Paz, we didn't see one bit of tarmacadam (well, that's not strictly true as we did see some in the distance near the Argentininian border but our bus wasn't allowed anywhere near it, we'll stick with being thrown about on the rocky/sandy bit of dirt track for now).
This extends to bridges - there isn't any. On the main road from Copacabana to La Paz we all had to disembark from the bus and jump on a rather choppy wee boat to get across the water, while our bus was loaded onto a rather ropy looking barge and floated across! Wouldn't it be better / cheaper / safer / easier for all if they built a bridge?
So not surprisingly then, Bolivia also has the reputation for having "the most dangerous road in the world", but to be honsest we thought all roads in Bolivia could be in with a shout for that title - they're all dodgy. On one road our bus twisted its way up the side of a mountain drove along the ridge at the top and then came back down again - all on dirt tracks! It was like going up a Munro on the Megabus :)
However, Bolivianos have come up with an ingenious way of keeping them and their cars/buses safe - car blessings!! Cars and their drivers come from all over Bolivia to the Catherdral in Copacabana (in one piece hopefully), are decorated with garlands of flowers and then wait in line for 2 hours for the Priest and the Holy Water to appear.
We watched this - it has to be one of the most bizzarre things we've seen! We're not knocking it, as anything is worth a try when you have seen some of the sheer drops these vehicles are trying to avoid - but baptising inanimate objects has to be a bit wacky?? (although when we were watching our bus float across the water we were hoping it had been blessed :)
Us and the bus did make it to La Paz though and its another unusual place! We don't know if you managed to see the Top Gear Christmas Special but they stopped off here - although Jeremy wasn't overly impressed as he said " it is the highest and worst city in the world".
We'll agree in that its probably the scruffiest city we've been to but we liked it for its quirkiness. For a start it has the most amazing backdrop - the whole city is built on the sides of a canyon, and unlike in the West where the best views command the highest price tags, here the lower down you are the wealthier you are! In fact if you live down in "Zona Sur" at 3,100m you're positively loaded by Bolivian standards but sadly if you're up at 4,000m in "El Alto" you're most likely living in extreme poverty along with another million people :(
But we weren't put off by Jeremy's scathing assessment of La Paz and watched the rest of their adventures in the Amazon, which was pretty handy for us as with it being the rainy season we didn't manage to make it there ourselves - but there's nothing wrong with a little bit of "armchair" travelling (we'll be doing a lot more of that before the end of the year!)
We spent nearly a month at altitudes between 3,500m and 4,000m (if you look up that's the equivalent of 2.2 to 2.5 miles into the sky!) but we never really acclimatised. It's so annoying feeling breathless when you're trying to sleep, not being able to enjoy big meals (unknown for a Duff :), finding it torture to climb any slope/hill and worst of all having the most horrendous hangover when you even sniff a beer!
The other thing you can't help but notice about Bolivia is that there is virtually no infrastructure - outside the capital, La Paz, we didn't see one bit of tarmacadam (well, that's not strictly true as we did see some in the distance near the Argentininian border but our bus wasn't allowed anywhere near it, we'll stick with being thrown about on the rocky/sandy bit of dirt track for now).
This extends to bridges - there isn't any. On the main road from Copacabana to La Paz we all had to disembark from the bus and jump on a rather choppy wee boat to get across the water, while our bus was loaded onto a rather ropy looking barge and floated across! Wouldn't it be better / cheaper / safer / easier for all if they built a bridge?
So not surprisingly then, Bolivia also has the reputation for having "the most dangerous road in the world", but to be honsest we thought all roads in Bolivia could be in with a shout for that title - they're all dodgy. On one road our bus twisted its way up the side of a mountain drove along the ridge at the top and then came back down again - all on dirt tracks! It was like going up a Munro on the Megabus :)
However, Bolivianos have come up with an ingenious way of keeping them and their cars/buses safe - car blessings!! Cars and their drivers come from all over Bolivia to the Catherdral in Copacabana (in one piece hopefully), are decorated with garlands of flowers and then wait in line for 2 hours for the Priest and the Holy Water to appear.
We watched this - it has to be one of the most bizzarre things we've seen! We're not knocking it, as anything is worth a try when you have seen some of the sheer drops these vehicles are trying to avoid - but baptising inanimate objects has to be a bit wacky?? (although when we were watching our bus float across the water we were hoping it had been blessed :)
Us and the bus did make it to La Paz though and its another unusual place! We don't know if you managed to see the Top Gear Christmas Special but they stopped off here - although Jeremy wasn't overly impressed as he said " it is the highest and worst city in the world".
We'll agree in that its probably the scruffiest city we've been to but we liked it for its quirkiness. For a start it has the most amazing backdrop - the whole city is built on the sides of a canyon, and unlike in the West where the best views command the highest price tags, here the lower down you are the wealthier you are! In fact if you live down in "Zona Sur" at 3,100m you're positively loaded by Bolivian standards but sadly if you're up at 4,000m in "El Alto" you're most likely living in extreme poverty along with another million people :(
But we weren't put off by Jeremy's scathing assessment of La Paz and watched the rest of their adventures in the Amazon, which was pretty handy for us as with it being the rainy season we didn't manage to make it there ourselves - but there's nothing wrong with a little bit of "armchair" travelling (we'll be doing a lot more of that before the end of the year!)
So what else did Bolivia have to offer? The Salt Plains! Wow! A dried up prehistoric lake now covered in salt which in places is up to 2 metres thick. It was sooooo flat and you drove for hoursssssss just surrounded by white. One of the last "wonders" we're going to see on this trip.
Talking of the white stuff, Bolivia is where we spent our first Christmas and New Year away from home. And who would have thought we'd be missing the worst winter in 20 years!! - we know you guys are totally sick of it now but it only made us feel more homesick. Maybe there'll be one last flurry at the end of February to welcome us home :)
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Happy New Year Folks!
Here's hoping 2010 is a good one for everyone :)
2009 was definitely good to us and a year we'll remember for a very long time! I think it's been a good year for a lot of you too judging by the amount of babies for us to meet on our return.
Saying that we're fully expecting 2010 to be a little quieter :) - although for you lot with toddlers starting to run about, perhaps not!
Not long to go now until we're back - about 45 days at the last count! (don't know where the time has gone our trip has passed so quick?)
We've still got a few things planned for the next few weeks but we're really looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone again - someone please remind me of this when I'm on my second day back at work :)
2009 was definitely good to us and a year we'll remember for a very long time! I think it's been a good year for a lot of you too judging by the amount of babies for us to meet on our return.
Saying that we're fully expecting 2010 to be a little quieter :) - although for you lot with toddlers starting to run about, perhaps not!
Not long to go now until we're back - about 45 days at the last count! (don't know where the time has gone our trip has passed so quick?)
We've still got a few things planned for the next few weeks but we're really looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone again - someone please remind me of this when I'm on my second day back at work :)
Monday, 28 December 2009
10/12/09 - 22/12/09, Peru
We know a few of you out there have been to Peru before and loved it so it´s fair to say that before arriving we felt under a little pressure to make the most of it! But we are starting to feel a little jaded now after 9 months on the road and the budget has been squeezed a smidgen too so we weren´t sure if we would really manage to do Peru justice.
However, our plans took a twist and were given a boost by meeting an Irish couple in Santiago who are pretty much doing the same trip as us but "the other way round". This reassured us that we´re not crazy or, there´s 4 crazy travellers on the loose at the moment? So with renewed energy we set about deciding what sights we could fit in to our 2 weeks.
The first relic (there´s a few to choose from in Peru) being the bizzare Nazca Lines. Ancient pictures in the desert, which you can only see from a plane or UFO as some theories imply. Sadly, even with renewed optimisim we couldn´t afford the UFO tickets, but we did get 2 out of the 6 seats going on the microlight plane. Luckily, our contacts had also warned us to ¨skip breakfast and take a travel sickness tablet¨ - these turned out to be words of wisdom!
And when we arrived at the airport (a pretty small one it has to be said), like most backpacking tours there was a little jostling to see who was going to get the best seats - but we (Graham only) had a secret weapon - chubbiness!!! Being the heaviest of the passengers Graham was upgraded to the cockpit to balance out the weight ratio with the ¨portly¨ pilot - result! And I was able to sit right behind next to the airvent, which stopped things getting really messy later :)
Now, a wee trip in a microlight would have been an experience for us in itself (beats the pricey red letter days you have to fork out for at home), but we were also flying and banking heavily so we could get good views of the Nazcas - very weird! And massive! The shadow of the plane was just a dot in comparison. A fascinating trip - 30 minutes well spent!
So on to the next stop - Cusco and the gateway to Machu Picchu. At this point we hadn´t had any real intention of trekking the Inca Trail but a couple of fellow backpackers let us in on the secret that in low season you can just turn up and get a cheap deal. It sounded too good to be true but it sparked our interest. Of course there´s always someone who says ¨no way, you have to arrange a permit 6 weeks in advance¨- for the record this turned out to be s**t*!
But we needed to get to Cusco and its dizzying altitude of 3600m before we could check if we were in luck. And we set out to do this in comfort in ¨cama¨ luxury - i.e. the really comfy seats that recline way back and make the memories of the buses in India seem like hell ....... but ...... there´s always something you´ve overlooked. Like the road from Nazca to Cusco being the windiest road ever! So no matter how comfy those seats were, there was very little sleep to be had. Although there was still a positive - Graham won at ¨bus bingo!!" That´s how far our Spanish has come on - we can count! It was a pretty good prize too - if we´d been planning a return trip to Lima on the ¨bus with no sleep".
Bleary eyed we arrived in Cusco but this was soon followed with breathlessness too (try saying that when you can´t breath!) - damn altitude sickness! But the good news was that the rumours were true and we did manage to get a good deal on the Inca Trek - sorted!
However, similar to jet lag the altitude sickness basically grounded us for a few days with the only thing we could do was worrying about whether or not we´d just wasted money on a trek when we couldn´t even walk to the Plaza and back! Graham wasn´t worrying about whether the altitude sickness would kill us......it was worse than that.......we could have wasted money!!!
We are pleased to say that no such catastrophe occurred and we made it all the way to Machu Picchu.....but it was tough, by the afternoon of day 3 I just wanted to cry!!! And Day 2 which they call "Dead Woman´s Pass" or the "Gringo Killer" wasn´t a walk in the park either!
I´m starting to think trekking is like childbirth - really painful at the time but you go back and do it again later?....... at this point in time I´m never trekking again ...... nothing wrong with taking the train :) Saying that, it was an amazing experience to actually do (and complete!) the trek and follow in the footsteps of the Incas - they really did pick the most serene locations to settle down. Machu Picchu has made it into our top 5 highlights of the trip so far :)
But after all that hard work we thought a wee massage wouldn´t go a miss to help with the recovery process ..... mmmmm ....... you can imagine my giggles when the last words I heard from Graham before he went for his massage were -"bad time to have a dose of the runs!!!!!!" ........ sure was ...... particularly as it was a full body massage which included the buttocks!!!! .......we did leave a tip :(
Off now to Bolivia for Christmas and we´re pleased to say feeling like we had made a real effort in Peru - and maybe we´ll be back one day to see a bit more ..... Machu Picchu is definitely somewhere we wouldn´t mind seeing again and again!
However, our plans took a twist and were given a boost by meeting an Irish couple in Santiago who are pretty much doing the same trip as us but "the other way round". This reassured us that we´re not crazy or, there´s 4 crazy travellers on the loose at the moment? So with renewed energy we set about deciding what sights we could fit in to our 2 weeks.
The first relic (there´s a few to choose from in Peru) being the bizzare Nazca Lines. Ancient pictures in the desert, which you can only see from a plane or UFO as some theories imply. Sadly, even with renewed optimisim we couldn´t afford the UFO tickets, but we did get 2 out of the 6 seats going on the microlight plane. Luckily, our contacts had also warned us to ¨skip breakfast and take a travel sickness tablet¨ - these turned out to be words of wisdom!
And when we arrived at the airport (a pretty small one it has to be said), like most backpacking tours there was a little jostling to see who was going to get the best seats - but we (Graham only) had a secret weapon - chubbiness!!! Being the heaviest of the passengers Graham was upgraded to the cockpit to balance out the weight ratio with the ¨portly¨ pilot - result! And I was able to sit right behind next to the airvent, which stopped things getting really messy later :)
Now, a wee trip in a microlight would have been an experience for us in itself (beats the pricey red letter days you have to fork out for at home), but we were also flying and banking heavily so we could get good views of the Nazcas - very weird! And massive! The shadow of the plane was just a dot in comparison. A fascinating trip - 30 minutes well spent!
So on to the next stop - Cusco and the gateway to Machu Picchu. At this point we hadn´t had any real intention of trekking the Inca Trail but a couple of fellow backpackers let us in on the secret that in low season you can just turn up and get a cheap deal. It sounded too good to be true but it sparked our interest. Of course there´s always someone who says ¨no way, you have to arrange a permit 6 weeks in advance¨- for the record this turned out to be s**t*!
But we needed to get to Cusco and its dizzying altitude of 3600m before we could check if we were in luck. And we set out to do this in comfort in ¨cama¨ luxury - i.e. the really comfy seats that recline way back and make the memories of the buses in India seem like hell ....... but ...... there´s always something you´ve overlooked. Like the road from Nazca to Cusco being the windiest road ever! So no matter how comfy those seats were, there was very little sleep to be had. Although there was still a positive - Graham won at ¨bus bingo!!" That´s how far our Spanish has come on - we can count! It was a pretty good prize too - if we´d been planning a return trip to Lima on the ¨bus with no sleep".
Bleary eyed we arrived in Cusco but this was soon followed with breathlessness too (try saying that when you can´t breath!) - damn altitude sickness! But the good news was that the rumours were true and we did manage to get a good deal on the Inca Trek - sorted!
However, similar to jet lag the altitude sickness basically grounded us for a few days with the only thing we could do was worrying about whether or not we´d just wasted money on a trek when we couldn´t even walk to the Plaza and back! Graham wasn´t worrying about whether the altitude sickness would kill us......it was worse than that.......we could have wasted money!!!
We are pleased to say that no such catastrophe occurred and we made it all the way to Machu Picchu.....but it was tough, by the afternoon of day 3 I just wanted to cry!!! And Day 2 which they call "Dead Woman´s Pass" or the "Gringo Killer" wasn´t a walk in the park either!
I´m starting to think trekking is like childbirth - really painful at the time but you go back and do it again later?....... at this point in time I´m never trekking again ...... nothing wrong with taking the train :) Saying that, it was an amazing experience to actually do (and complete!) the trek and follow in the footsteps of the Incas - they really did pick the most serene locations to settle down. Machu Picchu has made it into our top 5 highlights of the trip so far :)
But after all that hard work we thought a wee massage wouldn´t go a miss to help with the recovery process ..... mmmmm ....... you can imagine my giggles when the last words I heard from Graham before he went for his massage were -"bad time to have a dose of the runs!!!!!!" ........ sure was ...... particularly as it was a full body massage which included the buttocks!!!! .......we did leave a tip :(
Off now to Bolivia for Christmas and we´re pleased to say feeling like we had made a real effort in Peru - and maybe we´ll be back one day to see a bit more ..... Machu Picchu is definitely somewhere we wouldn´t mind seeing again and again!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Chile - "Buenos Noches Amigos"
We've made it to South America for the very first time - exciting!! And crossing the international date line and arriving in a new continent 5 hours before we had left the last one was also a bit of a novelty - that is, until we were hit by a serious dose of jet lag........for a whole week!!!.....be warned time travel has its downsides!
It also meant that 'Wee G' was able to put off turning 35 for an extra 24 hours. Alright for some - time travel and slowing down the ageing process! Although, we're now not sure if his birthday should really be on the 19th next year?
But it wasn't difficult to party this year in Santiago - as Santiago Rocks!! ..... and there was no sense in wasting the extra time we'd been gifted so we got stuck into celebrating with some Chilean Homebrew. And would you believe it the guy crooning at the bar started to sing "Wise Men Say" - now if my Spanish had been more advanced than "uno, dos, tres" at this point I would have requested that one myself!
I'm afraid there's then not much to blog about for the next few days as we pretty much slept until 4.00pm each day and chatted at 4.00am! But no time to rest too long as we had to make our way down to Pucon to meet Stephen & Natalie - so we headed off to the bus station for the first of our many bus journeys in South America. Bus travel in itself is a highlight here!
Have to say it's pretty weird when your brother and his fiance just pop round to your hostel thousands of miles from home when you haven't seen anyone for 8 months. Mind you I think it was pretty weird for them too, particularly as G has turned all hairy! But it was great to see them and Mum now has proof that we are still alive and well and we're not just a recording on Skype!
And we were lucky to get the chance to be the first to celebrate their engagement with them......and to hear their plans for the Big Day when we get back - exciting!!!! (but Susie - you will be disturbed and worried to hear that Natalie has asked me to help with the arrangements......the day I have been elevated to a Wedding Planner is not a good one!!!!... I feel alas I'll never be able to do as good a job as you but I perhaps have a more willing client :)
However, I still need to split my time between weddings and travel so back to Chile. Well, I forgot to point out the obvious - Chile is as long as Australia is big! And after 8 months on the road I think we've nearly peaked with the amount of long distance public transport we can cope with so alas for this trip we've had to put some of the best bits of Chile on ice :( - and some of the best bits of Chile involve a lot of ice!
But not to worry I have already planned our next holiday, granted that may not be until about 2015!....but we'll be able to ramp up to holiday comfort with flights everywhere! - one to Santiago, another one to Easter Island and another one right down the bottom to Torres Del Paine (I'm looking forward to it already but to really top it of we'd love to come back here with Elaine & Manuel - Manuel, you are rightly proud of Chile it is a beautiful country).
Although we have still managed to see some of the sights and soak up the culture this time - we had the most amazing seafood in Castro on Chiloe, (which included the biggest oysters ever for about 40p so was also the biggest bargain ever!), gawped at the snow clad volcanoes, fished on one of the many rivers, learnt a bit about the ancient history and admired the skill of the ChinChinNero man!!!! (he is a talented one man band who also twirls at the same time - it did not look easy!)
And we've had a good time interacting with the locals - Chileans are very congenial and warm in nature so it's not been difficult! We've also been intrigued by Spanish so we are hoping we will be slightly better than pigeons at the end of 3 months. But it would be great to go to some classes when we get back too as there is always an element of embarassment to travelling when you are from the UK - as we are always the ones who have to say "habla ingles?".
However, that's not to say we haven't tried, and if you know Graham well you'll know that he'll give most things a shot, but sometimes regardless of his skill level!! An amusing example of this was when we were trying to get somewhere nice booked in Copacabana at Lake Titicaca for Chrimbo. Our first attempt of emailing failed with no reponse, so we gave them a call but alas this also fell flat on its face as the chap on the other end was using all his 40/50 years of native Spanish and wasn't up for talking to pigeons! So what did G do?
Well, he still likes to call on his nerdiness when faced with a challenge so he googled babel fish and got it to translate what he thought would get us the Honeymoon Suite booked for Christmas. Starting with " I speak only a little Spanish......".......you ain't kidding!!!.... he was just about to tell the guy all the Spanish he knew and that didn't include the other 3 lines!!!!! I did have to stop him before he actually embarked on this call as the guy had already put the phone down once! But we compromised and used babel fish to ask the hotel owner to call for us instead, which was just as well as the guy even cut her off 3 times!! Anyway, we have it booked now :)...just New Year to sort out!
P.S. If you fancy seeing where we are going to be for Christmas check it out below (nice?) :-
http://www.hotelcupula.com/
It also meant that 'Wee G' was able to put off turning 35 for an extra 24 hours. Alright for some - time travel and slowing down the ageing process! Although, we're now not sure if his birthday should really be on the 19th next year?
But it wasn't difficult to party this year in Santiago - as Santiago Rocks!! ..... and there was no sense in wasting the extra time we'd been gifted so we got stuck into celebrating with some Chilean Homebrew. And would you believe it the guy crooning at the bar started to sing "Wise Men Say" - now if my Spanish had been more advanced than "uno, dos, tres" at this point I would have requested that one myself!
I'm afraid there's then not much to blog about for the next few days as we pretty much slept until 4.00pm each day and chatted at 4.00am! But no time to rest too long as we had to make our way down to Pucon to meet Stephen & Natalie - so we headed off to the bus station for the first of our many bus journeys in South America. Bus travel in itself is a highlight here!
Have to say it's pretty weird when your brother and his fiance just pop round to your hostel thousands of miles from home when you haven't seen anyone for 8 months. Mind you I think it was pretty weird for them too, particularly as G has turned all hairy! But it was great to see them and Mum now has proof that we are still alive and well and we're not just a recording on Skype!
And we were lucky to get the chance to be the first to celebrate their engagement with them......and to hear their plans for the Big Day when we get back - exciting!!!! (but Susie - you will be disturbed and worried to hear that Natalie has asked me to help with the arrangements......the day I have been elevated to a Wedding Planner is not a good one!!!!... I feel alas I'll never be able to do as good a job as you but I perhaps have a more willing client :)
However, I still need to split my time between weddings and travel so back to Chile. Well, I forgot to point out the obvious - Chile is as long as Australia is big! And after 8 months on the road I think we've nearly peaked with the amount of long distance public transport we can cope with so alas for this trip we've had to put some of the best bits of Chile on ice :( - and some of the best bits of Chile involve a lot of ice!
But not to worry I have already planned our next holiday, granted that may not be until about 2015!....but we'll be able to ramp up to holiday comfort with flights everywhere! - one to Santiago, another one to Easter Island and another one right down the bottom to Torres Del Paine (I'm looking forward to it already but to really top it of we'd love to come back here with Elaine & Manuel - Manuel, you are rightly proud of Chile it is a beautiful country).
Although we have still managed to see some of the sights and soak up the culture this time - we had the most amazing seafood in Castro on Chiloe, (which included the biggest oysters ever for about 40p so was also the biggest bargain ever!), gawped at the snow clad volcanoes, fished on one of the many rivers, learnt a bit about the ancient history and admired the skill of the ChinChinNero man!!!! (he is a talented one man band who also twirls at the same time - it did not look easy!)
And we've had a good time interacting with the locals - Chileans are very congenial and warm in nature so it's not been difficult! We've also been intrigued by Spanish so we are hoping we will be slightly better than pigeons at the end of 3 months. But it would be great to go to some classes when we get back too as there is always an element of embarassment to travelling when you are from the UK - as we are always the ones who have to say "habla ingles?".
However, that's not to say we haven't tried, and if you know Graham well you'll know that he'll give most things a shot, but sometimes regardless of his skill level!! An amusing example of this was when we were trying to get somewhere nice booked in Copacabana at Lake Titicaca for Chrimbo. Our first attempt of emailing failed with no reponse, so we gave them a call but alas this also fell flat on its face as the chap on the other end was using all his 40/50 years of native Spanish and wasn't up for talking to pigeons! So what did G do?
Well, he still likes to call on his nerdiness when faced with a challenge so he googled babel fish and got it to translate what he thought would get us the Honeymoon Suite booked for Christmas. Starting with " I speak only a little Spanish......".......you ain't kidding!!!.... he was just about to tell the guy all the Spanish he knew and that didn't include the other 3 lines!!!!! I did have to stop him before he actually embarked on this call as the guy had already put the phone down once! But we compromised and used babel fish to ask the hotel owner to call for us instead, which was just as well as the guy even cut her off 3 times!! Anyway, we have it booked now :)...just New Year to sort out!
P.S. If you fancy seeing where we are going to be for Christmas check it out below (nice?) :-
http://www.hotelcupula.com/
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
New Zealand in Colour!
Now there's a first!! - a blog followed quickly by the photos (that's not likely to happen twice!)
You'll see in these pictures that I was being stalked by a Fisherman, and there is a prize for whoever can tell me how many times he appears!!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4163290&l=374388f46d&id=810223271
You'll see in these pictures that I was being stalked by a Fisherman, and there is a prize for whoever can tell me how many times he appears!!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4163290&l=374388f46d&id=810223271
Thursday, 26 November 2009
New Zealand is stunningly beautiful!
That's all we really need to say but that would leave this blog entry a little bit brief. So to elaborate, it has taken all the best bits of other countries and rolled them into one - Scotland, Canada, Switzerland, America, Norway, Iceland, France, Nepal, Laos and of course Hobbiton! Stunning doesn't really do justice to some of the Majestic Mountains in the South Island - it was by far our favourite.
But as with all beautiful scenic places NZ does have a touch of the "parochial" about it - if you've seen "Flight of the Conchords", Murray really does exist! That's not saying that Kiwis are unfriendly but perhaps some are not so worldly and are used to their own patch and their own habits!
An amusing example of this was when we were trying to find the Ferry Terminal in Auckland. We harmlessly popped into what seemed like some sort of tourist office to ask for quick directions only to be met with a look of horror from the man behind the desk, and a rather perplexed "I'm National Parks" response. However, he did eventually deviate from his job description just enough to tell us it was just down the road on the right!
We also had another "affronted" encounter at the tourist office in Rotaru. We were just enquiring into "what you could do/what was cheap enough to get a look in on our budget", when the offer of going to see some "sheep shearing" was put to us. We said thanks very much but we're Scottish and pointed out that we have lots of our own sheep back home - this was met with a look that said "that'll be the last piece of helpful advice you'll be getting from me, and what's wrong with sheep shearing tourism anyway?"
There's more..... when in a pub in Queenstown Graham was caught "slightly mocking" the accent of a local. Let's just say this didn't go down well and it was pointed out for his own benefit that "it was a small town" (although we had worked that out already).
So what else were we doing except gawping at scenery and trying to understand the Kiwi psyche....FISHING! Graham was partaking in this Kiwi way of life all day every day - well not quite all day seen as the best times for fishing are early morning and evening. Sadly, even I know where and when it's good to fish these days!! But his efforts were rewarded - we've had Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Carroway and Mullet for tea! Graham even got taken out by a bunch of Kiwi's on an old boys boat - they thought he was an amateur but he caught the only 2 fish!
However, not all Kiwis pass the time with hobbies as sedate and tranquil as fishing. No, you can ramp up the adrenalin and pretty much throw yourself off anything around here - bungy off bridges, glide off mountains and roll yourself down hills in giant hamster balls!..........maybe next time........
But as with all beautiful scenic places NZ does have a touch of the "parochial" about it - if you've seen "Flight of the Conchords", Murray really does exist! That's not saying that Kiwis are unfriendly but perhaps some are not so worldly and are used to their own patch and their own habits!
An amusing example of this was when we were trying to find the Ferry Terminal in Auckland. We harmlessly popped into what seemed like some sort of tourist office to ask for quick directions only to be met with a look of horror from the man behind the desk, and a rather perplexed "I'm National Parks" response. However, he did eventually deviate from his job description just enough to tell us it was just down the road on the right!
We also had another "affronted" encounter at the tourist office in Rotaru. We were just enquiring into "what you could do/what was cheap enough to get a look in on our budget", when the offer of going to see some "sheep shearing" was put to us. We said thanks very much but we're Scottish and pointed out that we have lots of our own sheep back home - this was met with a look that said "that'll be the last piece of helpful advice you'll be getting from me, and what's wrong with sheep shearing tourism anyway?"
There's more..... when in a pub in Queenstown Graham was caught "slightly mocking" the accent of a local. Let's just say this didn't go down well and it was pointed out for his own benefit that "it was a small town" (although we had worked that out already).
So what else were we doing except gawping at scenery and trying to understand the Kiwi psyche....FISHING! Graham was partaking in this Kiwi way of life all day every day - well not quite all day seen as the best times for fishing are early morning and evening. Sadly, even I know where and when it's good to fish these days!! But his efforts were rewarded - we've had Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Carroway and Mullet for tea! Graham even got taken out by a bunch of Kiwi's on an old boys boat - they thought he was an amateur but he caught the only 2 fish!
However, not all Kiwis pass the time with hobbies as sedate and tranquil as fishing. No, you can ramp up the adrenalin and pretty much throw yourself off anything around here - bungy off bridges, glide off mountains and roll yourself down hills in giant hamster balls!..........maybe next time........
Saturday, 21 November 2009
More photos - China this time!
Be warned there are a few of them.....
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166528&id=810223271&l=2ea07a0b5f
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166528&id=810223271&l=2ea07a0b5f
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Photos from Laos!
With Graham fishing 24/7 in New Zealand I'm getting plenty of time to catch up with all these photos.....only Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Australia and NZ to go now! You did say you wanted to see some photos??......and don't worry, I'm not posting all 7,000!!!
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=163195&id=810223271&l=208fa87fcb
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=163195&id=810223271&l=208fa87fcb
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Photies from Japan!
I'm getting the hang of this now!!
More photos from Japan are on facebook or you should be able to get them with links below:-
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=161027&id=810223271&l=3c135d5f81
and from the Whisky Society:-
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162795&id=810223271&l=eae78d28eb
More photos from Japan are on facebook or you should be able to get them with links below:-
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=161027&id=810223271&l=3c135d5f81
and from the Whisky Society:-
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162795&id=810223271&l=eae78d28eb
Friday, 30 October 2009
Australia - what you should know!
We've already mentioned a few of the things we got up to so we'll not bore you with the full itinerary. We'll just stick to the things that stood out:-
1) Australia is actually very very big!
Us Scottish/English/Europeans should really realise this before we get here - but it's not the case. Take note, it is the size of Europe and how much of Europe do we visit on a regular basis? We spent 24 hours on a bus just to go from North to South Queensland - and we were gutted when we found out we could have taken the 1.5 hour plane trip for 20 dollars less!!
2) It is far, far away!
Again we should really know this but it's not until you get here that you can actually appreciate how far it is - it took us 5 months after all. And to us it felt like being on another planet not just the other side of the same one! It's so big you spend most of your time getting your head around that and there's no room left to hang the rest of the world off the sides!
3) If you show an Aussie a vegetable they run away in fear!
(which is very surprising considering a vegetable can't kill you but a lot of the other things here can!). Oh, do they love their steak - we on occasion had it for breakfast!! That's how much the Aussie barbie rules. And if you happen to be a vegetable that doesn't go well with steak you are probably extinct over here!!
4) You can just pop in off the street and watch their Prime Minister at question time!
I'd like to see Gordon Brown entertaining such behaviour. We happened to be passing one afternoon in Canberra so we wandered in to see what Mr Rudd was up to. Being heckled by an MP from Sydney actually - "tell the truth Rudd" "tell the truth" - he was thown out for that, which is not unusual. Their parliament is nothing like our stuffy formal lot - no here, let's just say its what we'd call laid back. And Mr Speaker is the best, if you start rambling you get a very dry "you're times up, shut up". If you get the chance you should have a wee listen online it's very amusing.
5) Uluru is a big rock!
We heard many Aussies describe it in this way when it came up in conversation. And to be fair, it is just that - a big rock. But it is a very enchanting one at that - we thought it was mesmorising, so much so that we watched it twice at sunset and spent 3 hours walking round it (but we didn't climb it). If you're going to Oz make sure you go to the Red Centre and see it (if you don't, then you're probably Australian).
6) Australian's love their rock!
Not the Blackpool or Uluru kind but the 80's kind. We went to a pub in Jindabyne where this was evident - everyone knew the words too - even though we'd never heard it. But maybe the 3 blokes with the moustaches and the one with the cape had over done it a bit! Not to mention the Benny from Abba look alike - or maybe it was him??
7) If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef - go soon!
It's truly amazing but it does look as though it is struggling a bit. The coral and the fish are beautiful - and I even saw a Reef Shark.
8) There's some scary things in Oz!
After reading Bill Bryson's book I was surprised to find any of my relatives still alive! Thankfully the only deadly beast we saw was 'Scarface' the 5m Croc and that was from the safety of a boat. Graham was reassured though as Croc's always go for the smallest animal/human so he was ready to push me overborad if need be!
9) The Great Ocean Road is more spectacular than Highway 1!
At least that's what we think - make sure it's on your list.
10) Time your visit with a Sandstorm in Sydney!
We were up at 5.30 that morning to go catch our plane to Ayres Rock and our first thoughts were - "the antipodean sunrise is amazing", "Bill Bryson didn't mention this in his book he must have been too hungover to get up this early" (sorry Bill). However, when our taxi driver informed us that he'd not seen anything like this in the last 25 years we realised it didn't happen everday! It was bizarre - it felt like being in a zombie movie, we were the only humans left! (we were pretty sure our taxi driver wasn't, his laugh was too evil sounding). And once visibility was better than 50m we did make it to Uluru only 30 minutes late. Luckily for us when they opened the airport again they put us on an earlier flight - result! And, we were only a slight tinge of red all over!
11) The animals, birds and plants in Australia are unique!
They just have some of the strangest and most colourful. And if you are a true Aussie you'll never have been to Uluru but you will know about the birds and the bees!! Aussies must study them at school as everyone has their own list of one's they've seen and one's they've got in the garden!
12) Aussie's love their sport!
Everyone follows something whether it's rugby league, union or aussie rules.
13) Saying all this, our firm advice is DON'T go to Australia - at least not right now!
The Australian dollar is at an all time high - gone are the days of 3 to 1, it was 1.75 to 1 when we were there!! Owwwwwwwww....they don't even have a recession!!! Let's just say we spent twice our budget while we were there and if we hadn't had family and friends to visit it would probably have been double that again - i.e. it may cost 4 times what you expect!! It is only slightly cheaper than Japan at the moment - you have been warned!!
14) And we couldn't leave without making reference to the BEACH!!!
Aussie's love them. And they have loads of them to love. It's the No 1 pastime - heading down to the beach!
1) Australia is actually very very big!
Us Scottish/English/Europeans should really realise this before we get here - but it's not the case. Take note, it is the size of Europe and how much of Europe do we visit on a regular basis? We spent 24 hours on a bus just to go from North to South Queensland - and we were gutted when we found out we could have taken the 1.5 hour plane trip for 20 dollars less!!
2) It is far, far away!
Again we should really know this but it's not until you get here that you can actually appreciate how far it is - it took us 5 months after all. And to us it felt like being on another planet not just the other side of the same one! It's so big you spend most of your time getting your head around that and there's no room left to hang the rest of the world off the sides!
3) If you show an Aussie a vegetable they run away in fear!
(which is very surprising considering a vegetable can't kill you but a lot of the other things here can!). Oh, do they love their steak - we on occasion had it for breakfast!! That's how much the Aussie barbie rules. And if you happen to be a vegetable that doesn't go well with steak you are probably extinct over here!!
4) You can just pop in off the street and watch their Prime Minister at question time!
I'd like to see Gordon Brown entertaining such behaviour. We happened to be passing one afternoon in Canberra so we wandered in to see what Mr Rudd was up to. Being heckled by an MP from Sydney actually - "tell the truth Rudd" "tell the truth" - he was thown out for that, which is not unusual. Their parliament is nothing like our stuffy formal lot - no here, let's just say its what we'd call laid back. And Mr Speaker is the best, if you start rambling you get a very dry "you're times up, shut up". If you get the chance you should have a wee listen online it's very amusing.
5) Uluru is a big rock!
We heard many Aussies describe it in this way when it came up in conversation. And to be fair, it is just that - a big rock. But it is a very enchanting one at that - we thought it was mesmorising, so much so that we watched it twice at sunset and spent 3 hours walking round it (but we didn't climb it). If you're going to Oz make sure you go to the Red Centre and see it (if you don't, then you're probably Australian).
6) Australian's love their rock!
Not the Blackpool or Uluru kind but the 80's kind. We went to a pub in Jindabyne where this was evident - everyone knew the words too - even though we'd never heard it. But maybe the 3 blokes with the moustaches and the one with the cape had over done it a bit! Not to mention the Benny from Abba look alike - or maybe it was him??
7) If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef - go soon!
It's truly amazing but it does look as though it is struggling a bit. The coral and the fish are beautiful - and I even saw a Reef Shark.
8) There's some scary things in Oz!
After reading Bill Bryson's book I was surprised to find any of my relatives still alive! Thankfully the only deadly beast we saw was 'Scarface' the 5m Croc and that was from the safety of a boat. Graham was reassured though as Croc's always go for the smallest animal/human so he was ready to push me overborad if need be!
9) The Great Ocean Road is more spectacular than Highway 1!
At least that's what we think - make sure it's on your list.
10) Time your visit with a Sandstorm in Sydney!
We were up at 5.30 that morning to go catch our plane to Ayres Rock and our first thoughts were - "the antipodean sunrise is amazing", "Bill Bryson didn't mention this in his book he must have been too hungover to get up this early" (sorry Bill). However, when our taxi driver informed us that he'd not seen anything like this in the last 25 years we realised it didn't happen everday! It was bizarre - it felt like being in a zombie movie, we were the only humans left! (we were pretty sure our taxi driver wasn't, his laugh was too evil sounding). And once visibility was better than 50m we did make it to Uluru only 30 minutes late. Luckily for us when they opened the airport again they put us on an earlier flight - result! And, we were only a slight tinge of red all over!
11) The animals, birds and plants in Australia are unique!
They just have some of the strangest and most colourful. And if you are a true Aussie you'll never have been to Uluru but you will know about the birds and the bees!! Aussies must study them at school as everyone has their own list of one's they've seen and one's they've got in the garden!
12) Aussie's love their sport!
Everyone follows something whether it's rugby league, union or aussie rules.
13) Saying all this, our firm advice is DON'T go to Australia - at least not right now!
The Australian dollar is at an all time high - gone are the days of 3 to 1, it was 1.75 to 1 when we were there!! Owwwwwwwww....they don't even have a recession!!! Let's just say we spent twice our budget while we were there and if we hadn't had family and friends to visit it would probably have been double that again - i.e. it may cost 4 times what you expect!! It is only slightly cheaper than Japan at the moment - you have been warned!!
14) And we couldn't leave without making reference to the BEACH!!!
Aussie's love them. And they have loads of them to love. It's the No 1 pastime - heading down to the beach!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
More thanks to.....
* Bob & Anne for a lovely relaxing week in Ingham - where else could we have picked oranges from the garden for breakfast? Bob also cooks a mean steak. And thanks for letting us induldge in a day of normality with a spot of gardening;
* Nelson & Estelle for showing us the sights in Brisbane and along the Coasts and for taking us to meet 130 Koalas (there's never too many!). And for sharing a very enjoyable afternoon fishing on a boat at Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast. It's just a shame we had to buy Fish & Chips for dinner (or Fusssshhhhh & Chups as we now call them in New Zealand);
* Andrew & Violet for the loan of the fishing rods for the aforementioned trip and for the invite to the Wine Tasting (a little warm up for South America);
* Mark for opening a 30 year old vintage from his 7,000 bottle wine collection - yes, now 6,999;
* Young James for saying Graham looked like the lead singer out of Kings of Leon and to his even younger brother Harrison for saying he sounded like Shrek!;
* Jonathon, Tracey, Finlay & Fergus for letting us get to know wee Finlay with a spot of babysitting. We feel we coped well with the numerous questions - "Do you live in a Castle?", "Is it like the one in Thomas?", "What was the Loch Ness Monster like the last time you met her?" We hope we answered them honestly and we'll get saving for the "Castle" just as soon as we get back. And last, but not least, for the most amazing day out to Moreton Island where we got to do some Sandboarding (still finding some sand from that), 4x4 off roading, driving along the beach, swimming in the Lagoon and watching Turtles, Dolphins and Whales frolicking in the wild (the Dolphins were actually frolicking!). So many things we'd never done before - what a treat!
* And not to forget Cath & Emily for flying up to Brisbane so we could see them again (and say goodbye to them again too!).
After 7 weeks it was now time to head south to New Zealand for our onward journey and I have to confess to shedding a couple of tears at the airport on the way out - it was the family and friends in Oz which really made it special for us. We'll miss you all and if you could just arrange for Australia to move a little bit closer to the UK that would be great! And we'd be happy to consider a swap next year when Stephen & Natalie move to Perth (Perth, Australia that is not Perth, Scotland) - it could balance out the numbers! You're all welcome anytime and we hope to see you soon again, whether in Scotland or Oz. Thanks for looking after us x.
And now back to reality (well not quite reality yet - that's another 4 months away), but what better thing to do after we've spent the last 7 months together 24/7 (with the exception of 2 afternoons, 1 evening & a football match) than to hire a 5' x 9' campervan for the next 3 weeks!!!!(anyone looking for a husband please put in your bid to ebay - don't worry there's no reserve price any offer welcome).
* Nelson & Estelle for showing us the sights in Brisbane and along the Coasts and for taking us to meet 130 Koalas (there's never too many!). And for sharing a very enjoyable afternoon fishing on a boat at Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast. It's just a shame we had to buy Fish & Chips for dinner (or Fusssshhhhh & Chups as we now call them in New Zealand);
* Andrew & Violet for the loan of the fishing rods for the aforementioned trip and for the invite to the Wine Tasting (a little warm up for South America);
* Mark for opening a 30 year old vintage from his 7,000 bottle wine collection - yes, now 6,999;
* Young James for saying Graham looked like the lead singer out of Kings of Leon and to his even younger brother Harrison for saying he sounded like Shrek!;
* Jonathon, Tracey, Finlay & Fergus for letting us get to know wee Finlay with a spot of babysitting. We feel we coped well with the numerous questions - "Do you live in a Castle?", "Is it like the one in Thomas?", "What was the Loch Ness Monster like the last time you met her?" We hope we answered them honestly and we'll get saving for the "Castle" just as soon as we get back. And last, but not least, for the most amazing day out to Moreton Island where we got to do some Sandboarding (still finding some sand from that), 4x4 off roading, driving along the beach, swimming in the Lagoon and watching Turtles, Dolphins and Whales frolicking in the wild (the Dolphins were actually frolicking!). So many things we'd never done before - what a treat!
* And not to forget Cath & Emily for flying up to Brisbane so we could see them again (and say goodbye to them again too!).
After 7 weeks it was now time to head south to New Zealand for our onward journey and I have to confess to shedding a couple of tears at the airport on the way out - it was the family and friends in Oz which really made it special for us. We'll miss you all and if you could just arrange for Australia to move a little bit closer to the UK that would be great! And we'd be happy to consider a swap next year when Stephen & Natalie move to Perth (Perth, Australia that is not Perth, Scotland) - it could balance out the numbers! You're all welcome anytime and we hope to see you soon again, whether in Scotland or Oz. Thanks for looking after us x.
And now back to reality (well not quite reality yet - that's another 4 months away), but what better thing to do after we've spent the last 7 months together 24/7 (with the exception of 2 afternoons, 1 evening & a football match) than to hire a 5' x 9' campervan for the next 3 weeks!!!!(anyone looking for a husband please put in your bid to ebay - don't worry there's no reserve price any offer welcome).
Monday, 19 October 2009
Piccies from India
At long last ....... if you are still interested in seeing some photos there are now 80ish on my facebook page!!!.....yippee.....
p.s. For those of you who aren't as advanced as my mother and have yet to sign up to the horrors of Facebook this link might work, or not:-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157625&id=810223271&l=ef5a6d6aac
p.s. For those of you who aren't as advanced as my mother and have yet to sign up to the horrors of Facebook this link might work, or not:-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157625&id=810223271&l=ef5a6d6aac
A photo at last!!!! - only took 6.5 months
2 minutes before this photo was taken the Koala had looked particularly perplexed and had nibbled Graham's beard - we think he thought he'd met a cousin!!
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