Buenos Aires

This is a pic from the Tango show we saw in Buenos Aires. We headed over on thursday and spent a few days seeing the sights in the capital. Its like the Tango capital too so going to a show and having a class were a must do. The lesson was excellent and the food was the best we´ve had. Chris managed to blag us a table right next to the stage too, although the show was really clever and had dancers and singers in the audience a lot of the time. I got pulled up to dance with one of the guys at one point!

The hostel we stayed at was really pretty and party central so we spent a lot of time there and bumped into almost everyone we hung out with in Mendoza so we hooked up again and hung out a lot around the city. We went to the weekend markets, visited some parks, went to Plaza de Mayo where Eva Peron gave her speeches from the balcony and went to Recoleta which is a pretty, authentic area with a lot of street performance and a huge cemetery where she´s buried.

We´re actually back in Mendoza now. The coaches here are really good - there are three different classes and although even standard class is really comfy we decided to go one up for the journey back to Mendoza. But, the guy on the desk bumped us up again and we managed to get 1st Class! We got champagne, a three course meal, your own tv screen and the chairs turned into a flat bed. It was kind of surreal having that experience on a coach but it made the journey so easy! Visited some hot pools today and heading back over to Santiago for our flight tomo.

No Key

Ash & Mum, please call us asap. Please send the key to Corinne or Placida via Global Priority Guaranteed on monday. Let us know.

Horse Trek

Yesterday we went horse treking in the Andes. Here´s the cowboys arriving with our horses! Devan took this awesome pic. We trekked up into the mountains, drank maté (the traditional tea-like drink of Argentina) and had a barbeque at lunch before heading back out again for a slightly tougher trek in the afternoon. I´ve really got a taste for horses now! The horses were so obedient so I´ve really got the feel for controlling the horse and I think i´ve mastered the trot now. I was hoping to get to canter but the paths were too varied and rocky to get the opportunity. We considered doing another trek down south but our plans have changed now....

The weather here has been so great ever since we arrived so we´ve had perfect weather for all the excursions so far. On the flipside, as the winter here is creeping in so slowly its looking unlikely that we´re gonna get out skiing. The season is meant to begin on the 12th but everyone is shaking their head in doubt and the forecasts aren´t looking as if´they´ll be decent snowfall anytime soon. So, we´ve decided to head to Buenos Aires and take in some more South American culture. It´ll be a long 14 hour bus ride but we´re taking the overnight bus so it shouldnt be too bad and the coaches here are really comfy. Should hear from us there next. P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIONA! x

Argentina so far

We´ve been here in Argentina for 4 days now and, once again, its an awesome place....! Its a big difference from New Zealand where we were on the road . Kinda feels like we´re doing the raw travelling thing again as we´re in the hostels meeting people and in a new culture. Although I did kinda lamented the days of the campervan when we first arrived.

Mendoza is a desert city just over the border, the other side of the Andes so the bus ride itself from Santiago was a great trip. It was crazy getting out the bus and going through passport control at over 1000m! Life is so different here with siesta from 1 - 4pm and restaurants don´t really open till 9pm but are dead until about 11pm when people start eating - when do they sleep?! Although we´ve found ourselves up late most nights so far. The culture here is so rich. There´s guitar music and street performances everywhere, and local craft markets on the streets on weekends. Last night I was having a late siesta when a band started playing and singing on the street outside with traditional dancers doing the stamp, clap stuff. It was well wicked.

Its worked out well as 7 of us all came over on the bus a few days back and Devan coincidentally was on the same flight over from New Zealand, so we´ve been hanging out.We did a wine tour yesterday on bicyles...! You rent the bike and they give you a map so you can do it at your own pace. I was somewhat concerned about the concept and my inability to manage even the smallest quantities of alcohol, but fortunately (for me!) there was quite a distance between each winery so you´d sober up between them and we all came back relatively sober but absolutely exhausted!

Chris and I, and Devan went paragliding today. We caught a very clear day and so all got in long flights - it worked out us three kind of stuck together and so got good pics of each other. Thats me in the white canopy and Chris in the blue. Stunning views of the Andes and the desert surrounding Mendoza. We´re off on a full day horse trek tomorrow including a BBQ lunch which we´re well looking forward to. The food here is really good - especially the meat!

Time Travel

Just arrived here in Santiago, Chile. We´re really feeling the jetlag as we kind of travelled back in time - we left New Zealand at 4pm and arrived at midday the same day after a 10 hour flight. We´ve checked into a funky hostel on the Plaza de Armas in the centre . This is the view from the balcony. We´ve done pretty well with the Spanish so far. I thought I´d forgotten it all, but the pressure defo brought it back (!) and its not like Spain where they are used to the tourists so no one speaks a word of English. Buts its good - I think we had it too easy in NZ. Hoping to get over the border to Argentina for a week or so on thursday and then suss out some wine tours and skiing.

Waitomo and Northlands

After a fun time dossing around caves and seeing Gloworms around Waitomo, we headed up to the Northlands. Really nice beaches but a few degrees below beach weather - damn. Visited the Bay of Islands, which is like a mini phillipines with 144 islands scattered everywhere, then slowly made our way back down visiting tons of beaches on the way. Really felt like we were winding down from a month on the road - getting ready for the next leg.