CarinanRuss

So were now in Mexico city after making it thru Cuba with only a few bouts of food poisoning between us! Cuba has the worst food in the world, i never want to see another bean soup again, its all they ever serve. Apart from the terrible food it also costs a lot as they have separate tourist curancy which they rip you off with. As their is a shortage of hotels in Cuba, the government has let ppl rent out rooms in their houses so we stayed in the ´guest´ rooms of families which was really interesting. We got to experience the ppl being made richer by the tourist trade in this comunist country! We landed in Havana and met Carinas Dad and got a taxi to the city. Havana arrivals was the worst airport ... read more

We made it to the famous Inca site that we were so keen to get to....eventually! We trekked down the Colca Canyon in Arequipa, Carina was quite worried that she would have to live down there as the 2 and half hour walk uphill was steep! The first 2 days we trekked to the bottom and then along the base next to the river. It was beautiful. We got to see the local villages which, due to the semi tropical climate, grows tropical fruit like avocados, figs, and lots of Peruvian fruit. Peru seems to have a lot a fruit which we have never seen before, so we have grouped the lot together as Peruvian fruit! The second day we camped at an oasis at the bottom. It was tucked in the valley and was lovely ... read more

We spent 3 days and 2 nights from Uyuni to almost the border of Chili, on an organised trip in a jeep that kept breaking down. (Anyone reading this dont go with the company called LIPEZ). The first day we spent waiting for the front suspension to be fixed before we finally went to a train graveyard (yes full of old rusty trains) and then on to the salt plains of Uyuni. They were beautiful. The mountains were reflected in the salt water. We saw the locals digging it up in to mounds and then taking it back to the village, presumably to purify it before baggin it up and selling it on. Had lunch in a ´salt hotel´where all the furniture was made out of salt blocks, something different to eat off a salt table! ... read more

Ok well i think we left u when we went to Iguazu falls. So here is the update. We got another night bus up to Campo Grande, where we organised a 2 night 3 day trip in to the Panatanal. Easy we thought. But the first day we spent on a very hot mini bus to get out there. When we arrived we got on to a jeep and bumped down a dirt track for 45mins to the camp. Off the jeep and the road into camp was under water. All the bags went in the boat, but we had to wade, bare foot, thigh deep in to the swampy sludge that was also home to caymen, pirannahs and thorny plants. We waded for about 20 mins and arrived with all toes intact, phew. The camp ... read more

So for an hour and a half we have finally negotiated the dodgy USB, holding the wire at a particular angle seems to do the trick. Here are some pictures for u to view from New Zealand to Rio. We made it across the border from Brazil to Bolivia yesterday and spent the night on the death train as it is known. For 15 hrs we shook and bounced north to Santa Cruz. All i can think to describe it was like riding a wooden rollarcoaster. Luckily Carina was sitting next to a very fat, jabba the hut sized man, so instead of being bounced in to the arm rest like Russ, she had a nice soft cusion! But we are alive, the train didnt detrail, get hijacked etc and it was only 30mins late! What ... read more

We have made it in to South America. We landed in Buenos Aires and spent 2 days trying to find stuff to do. Other than the balcony where Evita made her famous speech and where she is buried we didnt find much to do. It didnt help that it was a public holiday so the whole town seemed to be shopping and not doing much else! So we moved north to Uruguay, to the capital Montevideo and wondered ´what are we going to do for 2 days?.....hummmm were not quite getting this continent! Like Buenos Aires there was lots of old buildings to wonder around which look about half a day. So we watched the Americans off a big cruise ship wondering around the market. The market was more like a car boot sale as they ... read more

This is almost our last day in New Zealand so time to update you on what we have done in 4140kms in Gramps our Nissan Sunny hire car, and Tallulah the tent! We flew into Christchurch (South Island) and decided to rent a car, buy a tent and off we went. We drove south to the Banks Peninsula to the town of Akaroa. Here we went to the beach and saw fur seals coming out of the sea and sleeping on the beach. They were huge and not at all bothered that we had suddenly turned Japanese with the amount of photos we took! At dusk we went to another beach/cliff area and saw little blue penguins waddling out of the sea back to their burrows. They were everywhere, under cars, running through ppls legs as ... read more

So this is once again our last day in Sydney. However we thought this 2 days ago when we tried to leave! Before this drama we shall fill u in on our New Year celebrations. We went to Bradleys Head which is on the harbour front on the opposite side to the Opera House. We had amazing views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Got there at 9am, only 30 ish ppl, some who had put up tents and blankets the night before. It drizzled in the morning, so that was nice to spend it under our umbrellas. In the afternoon the weather cleared up and the sun came out and then it was too hot. More ppl arrived with picnics and blankets and gradually the grassy areas were all gone under ppl. The ... read more

Happy Christmas Everyone Happy christmas to all those snowmen and snowwomen in England:)We were in Mudgee for christmas which is 4hrs drive inland from Sydney with Carina's family. We were all ready for our first hot christmas to wake on Christmas morning to find it drizzling.....and it drizzled all day!!!! Auntie Dolores was exstatic it was raining as it rained 51ml and it hasnt been that heavy since April. We, on the other hand, werent quite so happy....but never the less it was lovely to spend the day with family. Carina was once again doing as the locals do, and went swimming as its supposed to be hot in OZ on christmas day (I lasted about 5mins, enough for photos and to prove a point!) Russ was taking on Australia in Monopoly....which he drew. We had ... read more