Finn and Pete

Meeting friends on this trip has always been something we really look forward to. Spending practically every minute of every day in each others company presents its challenges! So you can imagine how excited we were at the idea of meeting and travelling with 5 friends from home throughout May. Our first contender from up north was Lou - aka Funeral Barbie. How surprised we were when she turned up in clothes which weren't black or grey!! Apparently she had a whole rucksack full of technicolour dreamcoats.... less Funeral Barbie, more Haribo Barbie! Travelling to Hanoi, in Northern Vietnam and meeting the other four - Andy, Elaine, Helen and Kathy meant we went from two's company to seven's-an-awful-lot-of catching-up-to-do! It was quite weird for us initially as we only ever had to consider other travellers' feelings ... read more

Singapore gave us our first taste of Asia in the hot season - it was like walking through hot soup. No wonder the city is one big airconned interlinked shopping mall. After a couple of days and the obligatory Singapore Sling at Raffles hotel an 8 hour train journey took us to Kuala Lumpur and our hotel in the heart of Chinatown. If the future really is orange then this was like staying inside a tangerine. Sunglasses at the ready we ventured into the smallest orange shower cubicle with no window where we were expected to sleep. Oh yeah, there was a bed - touching all four walls. They did however manage to squeeze in a rather long list of rules and regulations with a detailed price list for every single item in the the room ... read more

When we signed up for 31 days in a campervan we knew there would be some challenges ahead. The ones we feared most were: 1. Claustrophobia 2. Sleepless nights 3. No toilet or shower in the van (we couldn't afford them) 4. Bad weather meaning that we would be cooped up 5. Having to mix with committed campers 6. Argentine steak withdrawal symptoms 7. Pete not having driven for 4 years 8. Killing each other/ourselves In fact, virtually all the above ended up not figuring. What we hadn't anticipated were: 1. Campervan Envy We thought we were doing well by booking a van you could stand upright in with a sink, fridge, microwave and DVD player and christened her Bertha (as she is an Ezy Cruiza 2-berth). Pulling in between two typical NZ campervans soon dispelled ... read more

Steak. Malbec. Argentina - why do you think we are still here?! Another bus journey took us from Chile to Salta, out first stop in Argentina, complete with its WAG wedding cake cathedral looking like it was covered in yellow and pink icing. At night, it looked so spectactular we think even Jordan would be impressed. It was with huge anticipation that we booked the best steak place in town for our first proper red meat experience. Fifteen minutes later, two sirloin steaks - each the sice of a shoe - arrived. We were not disappointed (we even tested the myth of cutting the steak with a teaspoon - it passed with flying delicious colours!). We then immediately worried about out diet for the next two months (let´s just say we are talking TOILET humour!). So ... read more

So its been a while since we left you with tales of condors, nuns and guinea pigs. A lot has happened since so we thought we had better fill you in on the rest of our Peruvian travels. Firstly, thanks to all those leaving both public and private comments on the blog. We are like a couple of kids checking umpteen times per day after we publish an entry fully expecting that you all suspend your busy lives to firstly take the time to read it, then appreciate our weak jokes and lastly leave a comment. They make our day. Anyway, another sleepless 14 hour bus journey took us from Arequipa to Cusco. We thought we would be clever on this trip and take some soroche pills for altitude sickness and diazepam to help us sleep. ... read more