Bex and Rich

We decided to break up our bus ride from Puno to Cusco and opted for a tour bus that stoped at sights of interest along the way. The English speaking tour guide was pretty good but did insist on interupting us every 5 minutes to point out random things like cement factories and passing trains! Although some of the stops were dull, 10 minutes being pushed around a museum for instance, we did apreciate the opportunity to get off the bus and stretch our legs. One of the more interesting places was a sight of Inca ruins at Raqchi where we got the chance to walk around looking at some of the architecture and baths. In a small random town we spent 15 minutes playing with Lamas and Alpacas which was really cool, we got to ... read more

They say that you can’t travel around South American and not have something stolen and the're right! On an overnight bus from San Pedro Atacama to Arica we had one of our bags stolen in a split second laps of concentration. We had a backpack (with Rich’s new camera in it!) on the shelf above our heads only because there wasn’t enough room by our legs. We had stopped at Calama to pick up other passengers and I got off the bus to get a drink, leaving Rich sat on the bus. A couple of guys got on the bus and walked up and down the isle, seemingly looking for their seats. Then one guy lent over Rich pretending to wave at someone outside, thus blocking Rich’s view whilst the other guy grabbed the bag. We ... read more

As Rich and I stood up on the edge of the extinct volcanoe, Rano Kau, and took in the 360 degree view of the island it finally dawned on us how isolated this 117 sq km land mass was from the rest of the world. Nothing but the sparkling blue Pacific Ocean stretching out as far as the eye could see. Its closest populated nieghbour is the tiny island of Pitcairn, 1900km to the West and its a massive 3700km East to the South American coast!! Back in February 2004 when we sat in the travel agents planning our round the world route we were over the moon when it was confirmed that we could stop off on Easter Island. I cant imagine there are many times in a persons life that they find they're 'just ... read more

After picking up our new wheels it was time to set out on our 5 hour drive over to the Able Tasman National Park. After speaking to others about this area of the country, we were looking forward to some back to nature, peace and quiet. What met us on our arrival at Marahau was something beyond our imagination, a sleepy coastal village in the middle of the most beautiful 'nowhere' that we have ever seen. The handful of perminant residents were really friendly and laid back and when we asked what time the local pub opened our reply came with a smile 'October', yes even the pub gets a 6 month holiday, now thats relaxed! We were prebooked into 'Old Macdonald's Farm' where our room was a small cosy hut and the kitchen was a ... read more

Rockhampton is in the heart of Australian cow country. The lonelyplanet has it down as Australia's steak capitol and with that we didn't think there where any further reasons needed to add this town to our list of stopovers. From whichever direction you enter the town you are greated by a grand concrete cow, modelled on one of the many famous breeds from around the area. These are generally on roundabouts or in other prominent positions that are easily viewed by people passing through the town. Now, whoever designed these cows either had a serious issue about being anatomically correct or had a wicked sense of humour and decided that the bollocks of said cows needed the freedom to, shall we say, swing in the air (as bollocks rightfully should!). Now imagine, if you would, a ... read more