Viva Las Vegas

Well well, after our fun in Miami chilling on the beaches we flew into vegas. Arriving at midnight the view from the plane flying into Vegas was mental, I have never seen so many flashing lights. Our first stay was at a low key hotel just off the strip, but even this had a large casino. We crashed out for the night to energise ourselves for a full day of vegas in the morning.
After a small lie in we checked out and walked over to our next hotel.... the MGM Grand! The worlds biggest hotel, and it is pretty large, the Casino floor houses a Lion Habitat!! We checked in, got lost in the mayhem of flashing lights in the casino and found our way onto the strip, across the road at the tropicana hotel was a queue for a free pull on a one armed bandit. the potential prizes being a car, $15000 or free tickets to a Vegas show, so up i walked with my lucky digit at the ready. And he only went and bloody won it! The free tickets... but still, Dirk Arthurs Xtreme magic is not to be sniffed at. We claimed our prize amd continued our walk down the strip to Mandalay bay, where in the hotel gardens there is a shark Aquarium.... obviously. So we looked around the aquarium, saw some sharks, turtles, and many other fish, before walking on. We passed a giant faux sphinx and pyramid at Luxor and a hotel/medieval castle at excalibur before reaching New York New York hotel. NYNY is a giant replica of the manhattan skyline, with the chrysler building, empire state etc, oh yeah and it has a looping rollercoaster around it. you might be getting the impression that Vegas is mental, well..... It really is. So we Went inside and had a ride on the rollercoaster, which gives awesome views of the strip, if you can concentrate on the view. After this it was time to hop back to the MGM to get ready for our free show.
The show was pretty cool, Dirk Arthur is very camp, and while this normally wouldnt be much to comment about, it was amusing when he was surrounded by his scantily clad female helpers and attempting to seem like some sort of playboy. The magic was good, although he obviously hasnt heeded the lesson of sigfried and royd as it included huge tigers. After the show we were back on the strip to see Vegas by night, we gambled like the high rollers we are by feeding a massive $1 into the 5cent slot machines at a few hotels, and ended the night a dollar to the good. we were back in our swanky room at about 2am after a crazy day in the most ridiculous city on earth.
Change of scenery and atmosphere the next day as we hired a car for 2days and drove to the grand canyon via the hoover dam. The hoover dam is tall, but after the second largest dam in the world in south america is wasnt that impressive. Maddy was indifferent so we looked at it for 30mins then hit the dusty trail to the canyon. Indifference was definately not on the cards there, its MASSIVE!! Too big to comprehend really, we watched the sunset from the south rim at Mather point and then drove to our campsite. MGM one night, a reclined seat in a Dodge Calibre the next.
We were up at 4am the next day to watch the sun rise, it was a bit cloudy but still awesome. Next we parked the car up and caught a free shuttle bus to the start of the south Kaibob trail, where we walked for 2hours to the strangely named Ooo Aaa Point, we Oooed and Aaaed for a while and took soem amazing photies which i will upload soon. After our early start we were back in the car and heading back to Vegas at 2pm. Back urban madness we checked into our next hotel, Circus Circus, where trapeeze artits and other circus acts perform daily for free avobe the casino. Quick shower and we were back in the car for a very american experience, a drive in theatre! The movie we watched wasnt the best but for the experience it was worth it.
For our next and last day in Vegas we walked the rest of the Strip, to Paris where there is a 2/3rd size Eiffel Tower, and an Arc de Triomphe. To Flamengo, which has a rare bird habitat in its gardens, and to Treasure Island where there is a nightly mock battle on its two pirate ships out front. We bought a pass for the indoor theme park in Circus Circus, and found that we were 10years older than everyone in there, it seems everyone old enough to drink or gamble in Vegas is out drinking or gambling. Apart from me and maddy who go on childrens theme park rides.
So that pretty much brings you up to date, this morning we caught a bus to LA and it is there that I am, in a very nice hostel on hollywood boulevard. Plans for our 4 days in LA are beach for some surfing and star spotting and house oggling around hollywood. Hope you are all well.

Blog soon

Rich

Benvenido a Miami

Sup Y'all. I have arrived safe and sound in Miami, got into Miami international airpost at 1am and after an hour at passport control arrived at our hotel on south beach at 2:30am. Maddy was waiting for me at the hotel as she had landed 3hours earlier. The next morning we had a slight lie in, and missed breakfast :(. It was a pretty relaxing day, we went for a wander along ocean drive, had brunch, got caught in a thunderstorm (very common at this time of year) and shopped for some food for dinner. That eve we had a very healthy dinner of salad with a cuban loaf (that should keep mum happy), then went for an evening walk down the main shopping and eating strip and had the one thing americans do best, a nice thick milkshake.
Yesterday morning we woke at 7am, had our complimentary breakfast (muffins, danish pastys and croissants served with cream cheese). We then headed out to downtown Miami to see some parks and explore little havana. The day was put on hold slightly while we sought refuge from a thunderstorm, but we fit it all in. Little havana was very spanish, we only heard one english speaker whilst we were there. Back at the hotel we had another heathly meal of salad and wraps, went out for an ice cream, and back to the hotel for an early night.
Today its been a scorcher, so we monged on the beach, as Maddy frantically tried to reduce the colour difference between us. Swam in the sea a bit, and we are now about to go to out to a swanky ocean drive bar for a happy hour cocktail. The fruitier the better! Hope you are all well.

Rich

The End of the Road

Good morning, or aftenoon to all you UK dwellers. Its 9:30am here on the last full day of our south american adventure, sniff sniff. Since my last blog we have travelled to Rio and spent most of the days lounging around on Ipanema beach. We had a tour of the touristy sites on monday, which included Christ the Redeemer (the big statue of JC on top of a mountain), Sugarloaf Mountain (a big lump of rock which looks like a sugarloaf) and the Lapa steps (some steps). Yesterday we went for a wander down copacabana beach, which is very similar to ipanema, just bigger and not as nice. On the whole a nice relaxing end to our 3 and a half month Jaunt. Today we have the champions league final to look forwards too in the afternoon, and maybe seeing a live brazillian footy match in the evening. Then at 9am tomorrow morning we head to the airport.

So. Since our trip has come to an end, time to summarise.

BEST MOMENTS (in no particular order)

1. Scuba diving, both the barrier reef and thailand. Awe inspiring, breathtaking passtime which i will definately continue doing.
2. Arriving on Ko Tao (thailand). After 14hours of flying, 2 days in bustling bangkok, an 8hour bus journey and a 4hour ferry. Arriving on the tropical paradise of Ko Tao, and relaxing in the bath warm sea was a pinch yourself moment.
3. BUNGEEEEEEE!!!! Once (or maybe twice) in a lifetime experience of sheer panic/exhilaration/fear/excitement all rolled into 20seconds of madness. Epic.
4. The Inca Trail, a combination of breathtaking views, rewarding hiking and most of all the camaradary and friendliness of our group made this 7days fly by.

WORST MOMENT

1. The only thing i can think of for this is either attempting to sleep in Singapore airport or the bus journey to the Uyuni salt flats. But im glad we did both, even though it was uncomfortable, it was an expericnece.

BEST COUNTRY

1. New Zealand! Without a shadow of a doubt, the reason there is no NZ specific best moment is because there are too many to list. Pretty much every day had WOW moment, from the wilderness of our 4day treck in the national parks. The jurassic feel of volcanic rotorua with its bubbling pools, the baron lunar landscape of tongariro national park and the jagged alpine mont cook region. World class surfing in Raglan, world class madness in Queenstown and all of this in a country populated with the friendliest people Ive met. Top stuff.

So..... I guess this is it. Its been a blast! Ive thouroughly enjoyed blogging and i hope you have perceviered through my sometimes rushed entries and enjoyed keeping track of our shinanigans.

But WAIT!! If you really cant get enough, or you simply have nothing better to do. Although this is the end for Me and Daves combined travelling, while he is jetting beck to sunny blighty, I am heading to even sunnier Florida, to meet a stange lady who goes by the name of Maddy. So i guess i will probably continue to post the odd blog over the next month. So perhaps speak to you then.

Rich.

Iguazu falls and Sao Paulo

Hello again. We have covered a lot af ground again since i last blogged, after arriving in Puerto iguazu on the 17th morning and checking into our hostel we chatted to some tourist information people and booked a boat tour thingummy of the falls for the next day. For the rest of the day we mostly chilled out, we watched Nadal vs federer in the final of the madrid masters and i went for a jog as the many long distance bus journeys have been making me crave some excersise.

the next morning we caught an early bus the the Iguazu falls national park, we walked up to the top of the garganta del diablo (devils throat), which when in full flow is them ost voluminous waterfall in the world. Even though it is dry season at the moment it was still an awesome sight, it is hard to hear anything over the din of crashing water. After a walk around the circuito superior, we joined our tour and were driven through the rainforest towards the river where our boat tour started. In the rainforest we we saw monkeys up in the canopy, and as we approached the waters edge there were an extraordinary number of butterflys, filling the air like confetti.
Our boat ride took us upstream towards the falls, where we had awesome views of the cliffs towering above us. Then, to our suprise, the boat drove into the waterfall! This was part of the tour, just a part i wish we had been warned about, we might have packed some spare clothes. Back on dry land we walked the Circuito inferior and then found some sun to dry off in.

The next day we were again up early to head to the brazillian side of the falls, this was on another booked tour, and included was a trip to the Itapu damn. The second biggest in the world, and a random shopping trip to paraguay. The damn was big, paraguay was naff. But the brazillian side of the falls were spectacular. As the brazillian side is higher than the argentinian side it provides amazing panoramic views of the falls, all 295 individual waterfalls which make up the iguazu falls. That evening we caught a night bus to Sao Paulo, and i gave my picture taking finger some much needed rest.

We arrived in Sao Paulo at 11am yesterday morning, its fairly standard big city really. the hostel is nice, there is a dog called gringo. Tomorrow morning we catch the bus to Rio, our last bus journey! blog soon

Rich

Busbusbusbusbusbusbus

Just a quick update for you as we have not done much but travel. From the salt flats we took the overnight train to the argentinian border, which was very comfortable and i got a good nights sleep. We arrived at the border town at 7am and after a very long queue be stepped foot in Argentina at about 11am, headed straight for the bus station and caught the 8hr bus to Salta. We met up with an irishman with a silly beard in salta bus station and found a hostel, then got an all you can eat buffet for dinner, with desserts. For a fiver. Amazing. The next day me n dave wandered about Salta, its very nice, we booked a bus to Resistencia for the next night and monged at the hostel for a bit. The next day we watched the tennis on telly, then at 5pm caught the 12hr bus to Resistencia. That brings us to today, we arrived at 5am, got a taxi to the centre, couldnt find any hostels, decided to mong about and catch the bus to Puerto Iguazu this evening. So after a day of lying in the sun on our bags like the tramps we are, we´re back in the bus station awaiting another overnight bus. We arrive at the Falls tomorrow moring at 8am and have a hostel booked for 3nights, so some time to relax, shower, do some hikes and see some water! Blog soon.

Rich

Salar de Uyuni

Soooooo, as our bus pulled into La Paz in the afternoon of the 11th we decided that this was not a place we wanted to linger. Its like one massive slum, houses made out of mud bricks, raw sewage in the streets..... no thanks. So after 2 hours in the bus station having a bite to eat we were on the night bus to Uyuni (still having trouble pronouncing that). A 12 hour overnight journey on a comfy tourist bus with mega reclining seats, fantastic! Or so we thought, for some reason a spanish dubbed kung foo movie was being played on the bus' Tv and at an excruciating volume. Then after an hour of relative comfort (if you discount the battering our eardrums were taking) the road became a dirt track. The next 11hours can be best described as trying to sleep whilst enduring a continuous earthquake and a spanish jackie chan practiced kung foo infront of you. When the bus journey from hell finally ended, and all the travellers had collected their belongings which had been strewn about the bus, we booked a one day tour of the salt flats.

This was very pleasant. The salts flats are, in a word, HUGE!! We took a 1hr drive to a lump of rock sitting in the middle of endless salt, strangely called fish island. The climb to the top was short but it opened up a mind blowing view of the flats, as far as the eye could see in all directions was white, pure bright white. A good job i bought some 1pound sunglasses before departure. After taking some silly photos we headed back to Uyuni and bought a ticket for the night train to the argentinian border. Which is what we will be boarding in...... an hour and a half. Hopefully no kung foo this time! Blog soon

Rich

Lago Titicaca

Hi all, we have spent the last two days exploring lake titcaca on a boat trip. We went to puno (a town on the shores of the lake) from cuzco with hannah, a friend from the inca trail who handily speaks spanish. On our first day we pootled to the floating islands, made from the roots of the lakes reeds. We were told that the people of the islands live here permanantly on about 10sqm of floating reeds. Hovever on the bus to puno, a peruvian told us that the "island people" actually commute from puno to the floating islands before the tourists arrive. After being told this it did seem apparant that it was all a sham. Hannah asked one of the children which house she lived in and the child looked confused and pointed to the mainland. Children never lie.
From the island of lies we went to Isla Amantani where we were split into twos and given to a family. Me n Dave were sent off with our mama, and hannah had to share with a scary italian who was addicted to cocoa leaves! It was an intersting experience staying with the family, as spanish is their second language, and my broken spanish is pretty terrible. After a very awkward lunch, of egg, cucumber and some sort of corn; we met back up with the tour group. Here we walked up to a football pitch where us tourists played some of the locals at 5-a-side, we lost 3-0. It was good fun nonetheless although playing football at 4000m above sea level if fairly tiring. From here we walked to the highest point of the island at 4200m and watched the sun set. Then back to mama peru's house for dinner, which was pasta rice and nuts. mmmmm. The next morning we had breakfast of a pancake and tea and waved mama goodbye. Back on our boat at 7am and off to Isla Taquile, here we simply walked around and admired the stunning views of the lake.
We arrived back into puno at 4pm that afternoon and hannah caught the next bus back to cuzco, while me n dave booked into a hostel and arranged transport to La Paz, Bolivia the next day.

Rich

The Inca Trail

Hola, right then, the inca trail. Our fist day of exploring was on the 1st of may, we left the hotel early and travelled to the sacred valley. Here we explored some amazing incan ruins where some massive slabs of stone had been hauled to the top of a hill and then abandoned before they were assembled. That evening was our last night of civilization in a hotel, we were up and away the next morning at 7am for our first day of walking.
It was a scorching day, and although we walked for 6 hours, this was broken up with many stops at sites of historical interest so the pace was fairly easy going. The porters however pretty much ran the trail with all of our gear, food and tents on their backs. We arrived at camp at about 4pm with enough time before dinner for an England vs the world dodgeball match, which we lost..... comprehensively. Our dinner than night, and for all the nights on the trail was amazing, a proper sit down meal with a dessert.
The next day was the hardest, involving the crossing of dead womans pass, a high saddle 4200m above sea level, requiring a climb of 1200m. It was fairly gruelling but getting to the top was very satisfying, even more so as i was the first one to the top. After the climb we admired the view from the top for an hour while everyone from our group made it up took plenty of photos and then headed down 700m to our campsite. That night was pretty chilly, and with us getting up at 5am the next morning it was not a good nights sleep.
The next day was our last full day of walking, with 17km to cover, but mostly down hill so it was a nice day of stolling along and having a chat. We arrived at camp with enough time to have a few cervezas and relax in the sun. As it was our last night camping we gathered together and gave the porters a well deserved tip. The next morning we had a wake up time of 4am so everyone got an early night.
Our final day to machu piccu was only a 2hr walk, but it was by far the least enjoyable, as every group doing the trail left at the same time so it was very crowded. We got our first glimpse of machu picchu at 9am and with the wisps of morning cloud still lingering aroud the valley floor it was an amazing sight. As we descended the could slowly cleared and revealed more of the ancient city until we arrived at the site with clear skies. It was spectacular, as a location for a settlement i think the incas picked the most innacessible and visually stunning place possible, which all adds to the enigma. As our guide was saying that Machu Picchu was not really an important city to the Incas and it is more the stunning setting that makes it the icon os Peru.
We got back to our hotel in cuzco at 6pm, sleep deprived, stinking and sore, but thoroughly satisfied. A nice shower, quick nap and a shave later we met up with the group to go out for a slap up meal to cap off a very special few days.
Next stop is Lake Titikaka where we head tomorrow. Hope you are all enjoying some sun at home. Blog soon

Rich

The eve of the Inca Trail

Hola! So here we are in Cuzco, 3500m above sea level, on the eve of our Inca adventure. We arrived in Lima two days ago, Lima is a fairly nice city, or at least the district that we stayed in was nice. After a brief wander around some shops we found a cafe to watch the champions league in, and that was pretty much our day in Lima. That evening we met up with our group for the inca trail in the hotel, there are 4 canadians, 4 scando´s, 2 brummies, 2 other northeners and just the one southerner. It seems like a really good bunch, and after a few hours of chatting in the hotel we went out for a pizza for dinner. This morning we woke at 6am and flew out of lima to cuzco at 9:30, arriving at the hotel at midday. At this altitude although i feel fine and dandy walking about, carrying the bags upstairs made me a bit light headed. In the hotel we met our travel guide who will be leading us up the treck and learnt about our itinerary. After this we went for a wander into town and bought ourselves some thick peruvian jumpers for the cold Andean nights. And that brings you up to the present, i think this eve as it is my b-day tomorrow and a brummy girls birthday on the 3rd we are going to go out for some food and some drinks. Then get some good sleep in before our early start tomorrow, when we head to the sacred valley, and then on to our first day of walking the trail on the 2nd. It will be a week until we have access to the internet or mobile phone reception so we will be giong dark until then. Hope the weather is nice in blighty, its scorchio here.

Rich

Buenos Aires

Hola! We have arrived safe and sound in Buenos Aires, we landed at 5pm local time last night and found a couple on our flight who were equally clueless in spanish nd teamed up. Together we managed to get a taxi to the centre and find a hostel. We went out for a few beers and some food that evening and thats about all there is to tell so far. This afternoon me n dave are gonna go for a wander about the city, it seems like a bit of a sprawling mess, but we are armed with a map! Then i think tonight there is some sot of street festival/carival going on, so we might go check that out with our new friends. Then we only have half a day tomorrow before we head back to the airport and off to Peru! Its all go for us. Blog soon.

Rich

Aroha nui Aotearoa.

Hello, I think this will be my last blog from NZ as we are flying out to Buenos Aries in 2 days. Since our tramping adventures we have been hot footing it to Auckland to watch the Auckland Blues play the Queensland Reds in the super 14. On the way up we stopped off at the two glacier towns of Fox and Franz Joseph, and went hiking on the Fox glacier. This was pretty amazing, its fairly surreal to be walking on a giant lump of ice whilst the sun is beating down on you. Our next point of interest was Abel Tasman national park, where we went sea kayaking along the cost, here we saw seals frolicking about on the rocks, and a lot of cormorants. We stopped for lunch on a deserted beach and it was a beautiful sunny day. Seeing the rugged costline from sea level in a kayak is definately the way to do it. I am now in Taupo where we are simply stopping to use the internet, have lunch and chill for a bit before hitting the road again.

Thisd past four and a bit weeks in New Zealand have been epic, its been the most action packed 4weeks of my life. So far NZ tops the list of countrys i have visited, and i definately want to come back. The people have all been nice and friendly and the whole coutnry is like a giant adventure playgroud. Dad, you should definately come out, its like the lake district on steroids.

So anyhows, next stop South America and Buenos Aries. Blog soon.

Rich

PS. The blog title means Goodbye New Zealand in Maori

Trampers

Hello all, so the past 4 days we have been Tramping in Fiordland and
Mount aspiring National Parks. We covered 70 kilometers over 4 days, which was fairly comfortable and allowed plenty of time for relaxing and meeting people in the backcountry huts. The first day was a 6 and a half hour walk over most of the routeburn track, one of NZ's great walks, and the hut we stayed in had 50beds, gas cookers and lights!! The views on the first day were fairly spectacular and we had good weather for the time we were walking. However when we reached the hut the rain started to come in, that evening the hut ranger gave us a talk saying that this area of NZ recieves 7m of rainfall annually, and 200 wet days a year. That night the rain was torrential and the following morning when we set off to walk it was still coming down. The effect on the walking track was spectacular, the hillsides were gushing torrents of water, and at no point over the next 3hours of walking did we escape the sound of cascading water. It made for a pretty walk but we were sodden when we arrived at the next hut, a much smaller affair with simply bunks and rainwater supplied taps. Here we met a kiwi teacher, an American traveller called Aaron and a french mountaineer called Arian who was training for his attempt at two 8000m peaks in the summer. The next day was a very short day, with only 4hours of walking where we met up with the kiwi again at the hut for the night. A routine walk out the following day (today) and met up with Aaron and Arian in the carpark and made plans for a big fat burger to treat ourslelves. And this was no ordinary burger, $16 of beef bacon egg and salad. I think we deserved it after our hiking efforts. Next we are heading up the west coast. Blog soon.

Rich

Bungy and Swing videos

This is the first person view i had on the Nevis Arc.


Me doing the swing


Lloyd doing the swing


Me Doing the Bungy

Mothers, look away now

After the healthy hiking of Mount Cook we decided to even things up in Dunedin with Tours of the Cadburys Factory and a Brewery. Both were really good fun, altho I feared for the cadbury tour guides mental heath, he was overly jolly. From Dunedin we set sail for Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world! We almost ran out of fuel on the way, but after an overnight stop in a field we managed to limp to a petrol station in the middle of nowhere at 7am and waited for 2 hours for a man to come and open up shop. Back on the road we were soon at Queenstown and within 30mins of being there we had signed our lives away on the 3rd highest bungy jump in the world and the worlds highest swing.

The bungy and swing were biblically epic. The Nevis highwire bungy is a 134m drop with 8seconds of falling before you bounce back up. The most nerve jangling thing is wiating around in a tiny gondola dangling high above the valley floor waiting for your name to be called. Jumping out into nothingness with your feet tied to a length of elastic is a strange sensation. The first second feels amazing, the feeling of hurling youself out is liberating, its the next 7seconds of falling that are crazy. The floor approaches mighty fast. Bungys completed and high on adrenalin we moved on to our next activity, the Nevis arc. This is basically a giant swing over a canyon, falling from 120m up you rush towards the floor and then at what seems mighty close to the bottom you swoop across and up the other side. I asked to do mine upside down and took my camera with me, the video is pretty cool. And all going well the vids should be posted abover this.

Next up for us is a spot of lugeing today, then tomorrow we are going for a nice relaxing two day stroll along the Routeburn track. Hope you are all well. Blog soon.

Rich

The Southern Alps

Camper Capers

Hello there. We have covered a fair amount of ground since we picked up the camper. After getting sorted with our gear we headed inland to a place called peel forest, where we went for a short walk along a river and tossed a rugby ball about, that evening we collected firewood and had a nice little fire by the camper, we even cooked our dinner over the embers. We were hoping to go white water rafting the next day but too much rain meant the river was too full, so instead we headed to Lake Tekapo, a nice lake in the shadow of the southern alps. The rain that had scuppered our rafting at peel forest had dusted the lake Tekapo region with snow, and made for a very pretty scene. After a walk around the lake and a nice warm cup of tea we headed towards Mount Cook the highest peak in NZ. The mountains were all covered in thick cloud when we arrived at the campsite, and it snowed again that evening. However when we woke the sky was crystal clear and the mountains glistened with fresh snow. We went for a walk up to the foot of two glaciers around mount cook, which took us all day and now after i finish up on here we are giong to cook dinner and find a place to park up and sleep. Next stop Dunedin, the scottish city. blog soon.

Rich

The South Island

So, from wellington we got the ferry over to the south island, the views from the ferry heading into the Marlborough Sounds were pretty spectacular. Upon arrival we went to the i-site tourist info place and booked our hostel, a train down to christchurch and a wine tasting tour of the marlborough wine region. The wine tour was that afternoon and was good fun, we pretended to be sophisticated by engaging in all the unneccessary wine tasting parafanalia before we drank the stuff. Some even spat it out!!! We visited 4 vineyards and one place that made schnapps and all sorts of alcoholic concotions for tasting. The hostel we stayed in that night was by far the best we have seen. For $25 or 9pounds we got a twin room, with towels soap and shampoo, a free pool table, free darts, a free hot tub, two cats, an aviary, a free continental breakfast and free coffee and tea. The next morning we woke earlyish and went for a quick 2hr walk into the hills around Queen Charlotte Sound, after the walk we caught the tranzcoastal train down to christchurch. Internet time is low so have to rush, picking up a camper today and touring the south in that. blog soon

Mt doom Videos

The View From the Top...


Making up for lost time on the way down, the quickest way is in a straight line...

Hot Pools and Mount Doom

For our second day in Rotorua we rented a 7seater car with some of the other members of our bus tour who had hopped off and headed out to a geothermally active site called Wai-o-Tapu. It was very smelly, with all the sulphur and whatnot, but an amazing place. We wandered around bubbling hot pools of mud, steaming lakes and saw a geyser erupt. The geyser was least impressive however as it was artificially triggered at 10:15 every morning by a tour guide putting some soap powder in it. On the way back we stopped at a bee-ery and tasted some honey.

The next day we hopped back on the bus and headed to Taupo 80km south of Rotorua, on the way there we stopped for an hour at an amazing place where a hot river from a hot spring met a cold river. Here we bathed in the waters it was awesome, you could sit close to the hot river for a nice toasty bathe, or there was a ledge at the meeting point where you could sit and the hot water warmed your front and the cold water cooled your back. After we had had a nice soak we continued to taupo, the group on this bus were/are a really good laugh and that evening we all went out to a pub quiz.

The next morning we were up at 6:30am to go to the tongariro national park and walk the tongariro crossing, voted NZ's best one day walk. It was epic, and a 2hr detour from our supposedly already 7hr walk would allow us to walk up mount doom! So despite the woman guide telling us not to do it as we didnt have time, we went for it. It was a hard climb though, mainly because we went straight up, in a straight line. The views from the top were amazing, stretching out over the entire national park. The way back down we used the soft crumbly ash to pretty much straight line it and got down in about 10 minutes. The rest of the walk was spectacular and we completed it all in 6 and a half hours with plenty of lunch and photo stops. We were shuttled back to our alpine lodge hostel, and the first port of call was its spa pool, where we soaked our aching limbs for a good 40minutes. That evening we watched Lord of the rings to see our conquested peak in all its cinematic glory, although I only lasted 1hr before retiring to bed.

And so that was our final day on the stray bus, it took us to wellington yesterday, the final stop on our journey and where I am now. Tomorrow we head to the south island and go it alone in a camper. Blog Soon

Rich

Bus Tour

Right so, the bus tour... We jumped on the bus at 7:30am in auckland, and met our fellow bussers and our driver Lucky (her parents were hippies). From auckland we hot footed it to the north coast to a place called hot water beach, which suprisingly is a beach with hot water. Geothermal vents bubble up through the sand and if you dig a hole in the beach it will fill with nice warm water, when the tide came in the mixture of refreshing cold waves and sitting in hot water was very nice. That evening we all chipped in $10 and Lucky cooked us a huge BBQ, homemade dips, garlic breads, steak, sausage, the works!

The next morning we woke early to watch the sunrise, then set off on the bus at 8:00am to a place called Raglan. One of the worlds top surf sites, there we rented boards and had an afternoon of surfing, which was cool, and i am definately improving, by the time i hit LA i want to be good. Played some touch rugby on the beach with some kiwis then back to the hostel for fish n chips.

Set off at 8:00am again the next morning and headed to Waitomo, where we went caving, abseiled down a waterfall and crawled through caverns lined with glowworms, that was really cool. In the afternoon/evening we headed to a maori tribe and had a cultural evening, we learnt the haka, ate maori food and had a fire on the beach.

Bus at 8:00am this morning and we headed to where i am now, Rotorua, where we went white water rafting this morning. We got 5lads together and told the guide we wanted to go extreme, and he delivered the goods. The raft flipped over twice, and we went over a 7m waterfall, the biggest rafting drop in the world..... Backwards, it was amazing. We bought the CD of photos so they will all be on facebook later.

So that brings you up to date, this afternoon we are gonna chill in Rotorua, we are staying here for 2nights then catching the next bus to continue the tour. Tomorrow I think we are gonna check out the hot pool and geysers and other such geothermal things. Best wishes, blog soon.

Rich

New Zealand

Alloha. So, we arrived in Auckland yesterday at midnight, after a taxi into town and wandering around to find hostels with 24hr reception we got to sleep at about 3am. The flight from Cairns was pretty awesome, i asked to be sat on the side of the plane with views over the barrier reef and got cracking views, it is huge.

But anyway, New Zealand. We were hoping to rent a campervan today and start our tourn of the north island, but it seems march is still classed as high season, so they are very expensive. Because of this we have decided to wait until april to get a camper as prices drop dramatically. So for today and tomorrow we rented a car and are doing a quick tour of the northenmost tip of the north island, returning to auckland on tuesday and hopping on a coach tour to take us - via many stops - down to christchurch. First impressions of NZ, its very hilly, the coastline we have been hugging today is mainly rocky, but tomorrow we are going to the northernmost tip of NZ and heading back via some beaches. Hopefully doing some dune surfing or standard surfing. blog soon.

Rich

The Great Barrier Reef!!

So, the day before our Reef trip the only real point of note was watching England dominate France in the rugby with some lads from the hostel which was good fun. But anyway, onto the meaty stuff....

Take your pick of superlatives, they wont even come close to describing how good it was spending two days and a night on the Great Barrier Reef. I feel the need to just blurt out random amazing parts but ill control myself and try to recount it chronologically and fit everything in.

We rose at 5am on the 17th, it seems like so long ago but it was only yesterday. After dragging ourselves out of bed we decided to take the 30minute walk to the jetty to wake ourselves up. The boat which we were to spend the next two days on was called the Rum Runner, and is fairly small as far as live aboard boats go, with room for 16 passengers. There were 10 of us on this trip and that was on the crowded side. At 7:30am we set off from the harbour 3hrs away from our first dive, being a small boat there was plenty of movement out in the open water, but it wasn't too bad. As cairns shrank into the distance we basked in the sunshine on the deck, being cooled by the occasional big wave that would spray us with salty water. After about 2 and a half hours we began to notice what looked like breakwater in the distance, a sign of a reef just below the surface, sure enough in a few minutes the water around us showed splotches of turquoise and we began to kit up for our first dive.

The first dive was at a small reef called horseshoe reef, the visibility was not that great but even so the vivid colours of clown fish (Nemo), parrot fish and angel fish shone out from meters away in the murky water. First dive over we hopped back on board, and while the skipper took us to our next dive site (1hr away) we ate lunch. The next dive was at a location called the three sisters, and was an entirely different animal, visibility was much better, and the coral formations were amazing. The coral is not just amazing for its colours, but the intricate detail in the different formations and types of coral, and in between these delicate and fragile growths hide hundreds of tiny fish, sheltering from the dangers of open water. The most notable fish on this dive were a stingray lurking about the bottom, and a reef shark, probably 1.5m long, darting beneath us.

Back on board the boat and time for another snack as we pootled to the next dive site, only 5mins away. Here we moored up for the night and me and dave decided to go it alone for this dive, sans guide. In the water for no more than 30seconds and still getting our bearing and a turtle wafted past, no more than a metre from our masks. Theres something endearing about the cumbersome paddling of the fairly plain turtle in comparison to the elegant and bright tropical fish. The highlight of this dive however was getting caught in a bait ball of 10cm fish, thousands of them, and they seemed to be circling me. Perhaps because they knew i was harmless but might scare away the bigger fish. Being surrounded by these shimmering specks, cascading light as they twisted and turned to avoid being eaten was something very special indeed.

Next dive was at the same reef, but with a twist..... it was at 8:30pm, pitch black! Highlights of this dive as far as fish are concerned was helping some big red fish (whose name has escaped me) to hunt but shining our torches on smaller fry. The biguns would lurk behind us as we waved our torch about, then when we found a little fish and were busy admiring it.... Bam! The big reduns would strike, bye bye little fish. But by far the best part of the night dive was not what we saw, but what we didn't see. Being submerged in the dark water, with only a thin beam of light reaching out into the nothingness, that was a surreal and bewitching experience.

That evening I reclined on the deck with a couple of glasses of red wine and felt very nautical, staring up at the stars through the crystal clear sky on a gently rocking boat.

7am start the next day and the visibility underwater was even better, and early morning is when most fish wake up and are feeling hungry, so plenty of activity down there. Im running out of time, and am inclined to say that the last two dives were much the same as the previous. Lots of fish and lots of coral. But no two dives have ever been the same, and every one has been nothing short of spectacular.


Right, back at the hostel now and ill put down my thesaurus, heading out tonight to a bar in town for a drink with the crew of our boat and a few of the diving peeps, then tomorrow think i will go to the botanical gardens, where crocs live!! I probably wont blog again until New Zealand which is on Saturday the 21st. So unless anything terribly exciting happens between now and then, my next blog will be around then. Best wishes.

Rich

Australia Zoo and Cairns

This might be a bit rushed so excuse the spelling and grammar. After arriving in Brisbane and getting a mammoth pizza takeaway from Eagle Boys we settled in at the hostel and watched telly, Australian TV has so many adverts it hurts your brain. The next morning we woke early at 7am and got a rental car out, we then drove our swish new wheels to Australia Zoo, the project set up by the late Steve Irwin and now run by his family. It was awesome, we got to hand feed elephants and kangaroos, and petted koalas kangaroos wallabies and even a baby croc. All in all it was a cracking day out, on the way back we climbed up to a veiwpoint, but it was a bit cloudy due to a cyclone that is working its way down the east coast. We dropped the car off that eve and arrived back at the hostel for all you can eat pizza and film night (dont worry mother i am back on healthy eating now, plenty of fruit n veg).




The next day we flew to Cairns, got some cracking views of the reef as we flew in, we arrived at our hostel at about 5pm, to be given a FREE MEAL voucher! and two BOGOF beer vouchers! Too good to be true we thought, considering we are paying $15 a night. It was, the beer tokens were fine, and for the first time in australia they served it in proper pint glasses. But the free 'meal' consisted of three mini vegatable samosas. Ah well.

The next day we headed into cairns and investigated Dive companies for scubaing the barrier reef, then in the eve had a pool competition, i got through to round 2, then potted the white after potting the black to win. Day after swam in the lagoon and played ball games on the park then watched rugby in the evening, all very relaxing. Got to go now internet time runnign out. hope you are all well. Blog soon

Rich

Coffs and Byron

So, We are now in brisbane, after spending our last day in sydney attempting to surf, we travelled to Coffs Harbour. Coffs is a small town, with a big Jetty and a BIG Bannana! We spent two nights there, arriving on the first day at 6am. While lloyd slept i went to a dolphin and seal show where i got to stroke the dolphins and get a kiss from a seal. It was good fun, but i always feel uncomfortable at such places because the animals are in captivity. I came back to the hostel to find dave awake, and we watched a film over lunch, then rented a canoe and paddled down the creek. We saw many wading birds and a few fish jumping from the water, but no koalas :(. In the evening we had a BBQ at the hostel and chatted to a few of our roomies.

The next day we got up and went to the beach for a swim, I jumped off the jetty which was fun. Then we headed back and rented bikes, and rode to the big bannana, which is a large concrete and fibreglass bannana..... Bizzare. Back at the hostel that eve we watched a film and then got an early night.

Headed to byron bay the next morning on the bus, and had a surf lesson. This was really good fun, and i stood up on the first wave! Kelly Slater eat your heart out. Spent the eve in byron playing Jenga in the hostel. The next day (today) we caught the bus to brisbane and here i am. Tomorrows plan is to rent a car and go to Australia Zoo, which is Steve Irwins family run zoo and should be really good if we are to believe the reviews. Next stop Cairns on the 12th. Will blog then.

Rich

G'Day from Australia

Hello there. So.... we are in sydney, bondi beach to be precise. And to be honest, theres not that much to report, we have been beach bums. We arrived at 9pm in bondi and met up with Ben (a mate of mine from uni) who took us back to his place and there we have been sleeping on his floor for the past 3nights. First day we monged on the beach, had a burger, monged, slept. Second day we went into sydney, took a picture of the opera house, its a lot dirtier than it looks on the postcards. Took a picture of the harbour bridge, not that big. Had a burger, and then came back to bondi and went to the gym where Ben works for a free workout. That evening we went out to a bar on the beach, had a few schooners (what aussies call a beer, but its considerably less than a pint). Today we are gonna teach ourselves to surf, should be interesting. Then tonight we are getting the night bus up to a place called coffs harbour, where we can do daytrips platypus spotting and go to a koala bear hospital. Should be awesome. Hope you are all well, blog soon.

Rich

Frolicking Monkeys at Tiger Cave Temple

Top of The Temple

A Busy Few Days

Make yourself comfy, this could be a long one.

So... After arriving on Phang-nan we got up early and went for a walk, supposedly to a waterfall then on to a secluded bay and a fishing town. The waterfall didnt exist, or more to the point it was a bit too dry, but it was a nice bit of scenery anyhows. So we continued on, saw a couple of elephants then arrived at our secluded bay, this was really nice, for the first 15mins we were the only people there, a few more people arrived but it was still beautifully quiet. We had lunch in the fishing town, which was infested with flies then headed back as the sun was setting. We had decided not to stay another night as we wanted to do lots on the west coast. So that evening we caught a night boat to the mainland then got a bus across to the west coast and krabi!

Our first day in krabi consisted of wandering about aimlessly and getting our bearings, we went to the night market in the eve which is epic! Main meals for 60p, satay sticks for 10p, big chang for a pound! Met a couple of aussies that evening at a bar called western bar and irritated them by trying to do a kiwi accent. The next morning we monged a bit then got a midday longtail boat to Railay, which was stunning, huge limestone edifices sprout out of the sea, and the beaches were pristine white. I sunbathed for a bit and had a swim, it was the most remarkable location for a swim ever, shoals of baby fish swimming round your ankles while huge cliffs towered over your head. Spent a lot of time watching the sand crabs playing football, i will post a video of that just below later so you can see what i mean.



Night market again that evening then the next day we went shopping! Lloyd got a spectacular diamond encrusted gold watch for....... 4.50 and i got some gold police sunglasses for 3.50, pure cheap fake tat. Watched a movie in the evening then night market again.

Then yesterday, was one of the best days yet. We rented out scooters (cue mothers cringing) and scooted up to a temple (or wat) called tiger cave temple, saw some monks, and a troop of monkeys frolicing about and doing other naughty monkey things. We went to a buddah statue where people light incense sticks, i lit one.... then a monk came over and said "you must light three, one is bad, one means people die!"...... crap. So we frantically tried to light two more incense sticks, however the cieling fan that was on to keep westerners cool kept on blowing out our matches, the monk was getting increasingly agitated, and we were beggning to strike 3,4 and 5 matches at once to try and light these incense sticks. Both us and the monk were sweating now, the damn ceiling fan wasn't even cooling us down! Eventually, using a bundle of 5 matches we got three sticks lit, and swiftly left!

Next stop was to walk to the summit of a 700m limestone lump, 1300 steps, in 30degrees heat. Sweaty! But the view was well worth it, ill post a video from the summit here later. You could see well out to sea, it was truly stunning. After a rest at the top we descended the steps, this was a lot scarier than going up, but a lot easier on the legs. Re-hydrated at the bottom then hopped back on the scooters and headed over to a national park, there we saw a nice waterfall, not as spectacular as it would be in wet season, but at least this one had water in it! Trekked through the jungle for a bit, and saw nothing but flies. But it was good fun non the less, We got back on the scooters to head home at 6ish and rode off into the sunset towards krabi and the delights of the night market. After pigging out on two main meals for 1.20 we collapsed into bed for some well earned rest. A thoroughly enjoyable day over.

Today has been a lot more relaxed, just had breakfast, going to chill out for a bit longer, then head over to a beach called Ao Nang and maybe watch some Muay Thai boxing. Catching a bus to Singapore tomorrow morning at 6am, so the next blog will probably be coming from Australia! Speak to you all then.

Rich

Exploring Koh Tao and arriving in Phang-nan

So.... what have we been up to since the last blog. I got up early on friday morning to skype maddy which was cool. Then me n lloyd walked across the island to a secluded bay, was a nice walk, but very hot! and we were both sweaty sweaty men. As we left our side of the island a dog started trotting alongside and stayed with us all the way across to the other side. Had lunch then started walking back, i went up to a viewpoint and got some cracking pictures of the island. Came back and jumped in the sea then caught a ferry to Koh Phang-nan, got a cracking bungalow for 4pound a night, two double beds, hammocks outside, and a hot shower! Although the toilet doesnt flush. Had a big lie in this morning, going to have a bit of a chill day today i think then go for an explore tomorrow.

Scuba Scuba Scuba

Hello again, We are both now qualified open water scuba divers! Had our last two dives this morning, it was amazing. Uncountable numbers of fish were swimming around us, up to our faces, nibbling on scabs. Big fish prowled around the coral where the young fish try to hide looking for a quick meal, eels darted out of cracks to snap up littleuns. We even saw a sleeping singray. The colours are amazing too, i wish i could have taken photos down there, but there was an underwater video. If you can purchase it in digital format i think i might. Heading back to the dive school in a few hours to watch the vid and have a few celabratory beers with our group. Which has a Spaniard called havier, who quit his job to come here for 3 months, an American couple called james and sam, and a French Canadian called rene. Just gonna chill out tonight get a good nights sleep, then do some exploring tomorrow, treck through the jungle to the other side of the island maybe. Then off to Koh Phang-Nan. Hope you are all well, Blog soon.

Rich

Tuk Tuk Ride

A First person view of the terrifying Tuktuk ride through the streets of bangkok.... Fun tho!

Palm Trees and Pina Coladas

Hello again, we have covered a lot of ground since the last blog, so ill start where we left off. Saturday evening we went out on Khao San road to a few bars and found somewhere to watch the England Vs Wales match. The pub was full of welshmen and was a really good atmosphere, good fun despite the result. The next morning lloyd was feeling a bit worse for wear after eating some dubious meat on the way back. So while he monged out in the hostel i went for a bit of an explore around bangkok.

That afternoon we got on a 7hour bus to the south, arrived in the town of chumpon at midnight and managed to find a room for 2pounds. We booked a ferry to Ko Tao island in the morning which involved getting a taxi at 6am, so only got about 4hours sleep. As most of the bus journey had been in darkness the morning taxi ride was fantastic, away from the grime and smog of bangkok the land is dripping with vegetation. Deep rich green plants and trees are sprouting up from every avaliable square inch of land.

The ferry itself took three hours and we arrived in Ko Tao at 10am, and it is gorgeous, i feel like i am on the lost island, slightly more populated mind. Walking off the boat there were large shoals of small fish swimming in the crystal clear water, and a dip ion the sea is like taking a warm bath. We booked a scuba dive course which starts tomorrow morning so an early night is on the cards tonight. Ill try and put a load of pictures up soon too. I have been taking plenty.

Blog Soon

Rich

Just a few things too clear up!!!! Jet airways may have a silly name bt is the most outstanding service i have ever witnessed, the one game richard felt competant at was something beneath me and i thought it best to let him win, when he was sleeping (sleep is for the weak) i was posting high score after high score.
Currently searching the web for real cases of jetlag, so far i have not seen any evidence, as a pair of scientists we can safely say it is for soft people from the south of england, and some parts of wales.
In airport security we discovered for ourselves how rude the french are, and also how long a man wearing a red blazer and cowboy hat can keep me amused for.
Currently a bit tired as there is still some blood in my reed bull stream, temples were what you would expect really lots off people praying, monks reading the paper and americans generally making a fool of themselves, or maybey they were being friendly, its too early to tell.
Tuk tuks are the most thrilling way to travel well worth the eventual 80p (because witter folded) never has death stared me so close in the face, made a little bit more comical by another drivers fake horn (he was making a strange horn sound) and a pair on a moped keeping up with us even though the driver was incapacitated and the passenger was carrying the drivers crutches.
Heading south pretty soon for the beach and a bit of peace loving every minute speak soon,
Dave

Hello from Bangkok

Well.... I am currently sat in a bar in bangkok, blogging away. This whole ordeal started on thursday travelling to london, where we met up with jack, lloyds mate. Had a few beers in a pub, lloyd beat me at poo head (a card game mother [1-0]). Then got a good nights sleep. Up at 5:30am to go to heathrow. I conveniently forgot the directions jack had wrote so we walked for 10mins in the wrong direction. But we got there in the end, flight was on time, and very plush! Personal TV with movies on demand, and games, where i beat lloyd at scorpian racer [1-1].

Transfered to bangkok from mumbai, managed to get an hours sleep on the plane, and despite only having that one hours sleep (lloyd practiced games instead) we both defeated jetlag, as its now 9pm ad we are going strong.

Arrived in bangkok, it was a big shock, lots going on, got instantly jumped upon by tuktuk drivers trying to take us to places we hadnt heard of. But managed to escape and find a nice hostel. Dumped our bags and went for some street food, very tasty! Red bull is 30p btw so that helps with the jetlag. Oh yes and we are constantly reminded that the No1 rule in the hostel is NO PROSTITUTES IN ROOMS!!!

Went out in the afternoon and had a tuktuk ride, after being offered a 20p fare, looking horrified we attempted to barter down to 10p, with no success. Walked off in disgust, we found someone else and ended up paying 80p! Went to a few temples, took photos, drank cheap beer. So! Thats our first day, it was all very exciting and random, more of the same tomorrow then heading south. Blog Soon, hope you are all well. xx

Rich

4 Weeks to go

All booked and Paid for. Our itinerary is.....

London - Bangkok: 13th-14th Feb

Singapore - Sydney: 2nd March

Sydney - Auckland: 21st March

Auckland - Buenos Aries: 26th April

Buenos Aries - Lima: 28th April

Inca Trail: 29th April - 6th May

Then on the 28th of May we will be flying from Rio. Lloyd is heading back to blighty and I am flying to Miami.