Mexico City was not high on my list of cities to spend a lot of time touring, but it should have been. There are so many museums to explore, and as I've never been a huge fan of the museums I didn´t have a clue where to begin. I opted for the hostel tour to Teotihuacan so I wouldn't have to put my brain to work. The hostel itself is in one of the most prime locations ever, behind the Cathedral in the Zocolo district. This would have been a good starting point for my self guided tour, but another day. [View Full Entry]

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Had I learned of the definition of Peru´s world heritage site before completing the gruelling Inca Trail, perhaps it might have made me walk faster with curiosity! Macchu Picchu translated into the traditional Peruvian language of Quechua means "Old Penis". It's not exactly what I´ve been striving for, in fact completely opposite might be more appropriate! I met the gang that I would be walking with for four days, the night before the 6am pickup. We were a small group, and providing all personalities get on that can be a good thing. But who can really tell at the beginning? Karsten [View Full Entry]

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I received a message from a blog reader saying that I had become the "Backpacking Bridget Jones" in her mind. So this is what my life has come to eh? Is it because I'm still searching for Mr. Right? Well, I know there are a lot of us out there...at least I'm not stuck watching The Dating Game on t.v. Havn't found it on Peruvian telly anyways! I arrived in Lima in the middle of the night after a rather exhausting indirect route from Brazil. Not quite feeling like paying for a taxi to do a few too many circles finding [View Full Entry]

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I never thought I would be so excited about landing in an airport. Rio is the first place I´ve been in a while, where I didn't have to follow the normal route (cash machine, tourist office, transit sort, accommodation sort, food needs...) as I was met by my Aunt Jojo and Uncle Peter. We were accompanied by my newly adopted gran Pene, who sensibly left the grey skies of England for the joys of Brazil. We were then whisked a couple of hours north of Rio to Buzios and met up with my cousins Ross and Blaise. It´s a holiday for [View Full Entry]

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The hostel I chose in Buenos Aires wasn´t the easiest to get to from the airport. I wimped out of the 2 hour public bus ride after the plane journey, so I ended up taking a combination of a private bus and a taxi. Bus? No problems. Taxi? I don't take these very often so it was ironic that I got the driver who thought he could take me for a ride...and he did, well, tried anyway. Following his route on the map I realized it was the long version. As much as I yelled and pointed at the map, threatened [View Full Entry]

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When I enquired about excursions from Buenos Aires, the last thing I expected to hear about was a trip over to Uruguay. An opportunity to tick another country off of the list, and see for myself how different the people are to the Argentinians? Well of course I went! Two days full of smiles. Except for the beginning. I took the ferry over to the capital city of Montevideo and stepped into the biggest rainstorm I´ve seen in a few months. I was lucky to not be carrying around my big pack as I stomped through the puddles. I muttered under [View Full Entry]

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'Chile'. What pops into your mind first? Some people may think of wine, others of hot peppers, and yet others of that cold feeling under snowy skies. It's a word and country that can certainly conjur up a lot of images. For me I will always think of my first week in South America, the most modern hostel I have ever visited, and life in the driest desert in the world. And good wine. My plane arched over Santiago's surrounding feature, the Andes Mountains. As soon as I was heading in the bus towards Santiago, the view of the mountains was [View Full Entry]

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My last week in New Zealand and I´ve still not found a rugby player. What´s the problem here? New Zealand isn´t flooded with men as I had thought, so my drought continues. In fact, one statistic I overheard was that there are actually 5 single women for every single man in the North Island! If this is really true perhaps I should have done my homework a bit more before coming!! Having left the pungent skies of Rotorua, I managed to make it to Whitianga for the night. I joined a few others from the hostel for a local tour, and [View Full Entry]

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I had contemplated avoiding the East Coast of the North Island completely, but came to my senses when I heard that it was the Art Deco capital. The sense of style and elegance from this period has always intrigued me, and I´ve never seen an entire town developed with this style. So Napier it is. In 1931 there was an earthquake that shook the foundations of everything that stood in and around Napier. The town had been almost completely flattened with a death toll of about 250. For the next 6 years designers from around the world made their mark with [View Full Entry]

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Trying to think of a catchy title can sometimes be the biggest stump of all in writing these blogs. Although this entries´ title doesn´t create a glamorous image, it is the truth. I never meant to be behind the wheel with so many splats behind me, it just worked out that way. Really I´m trying to help out the New Zealand conservation department as the possum population is a very significant problem for the rest of the wildlife, most importantly, the national symbol of New Zealand, the flightless kiwi bird. In fact, I even passed one tourist attraction that made everything [View Full Entry]

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