Paraty - a very wet rum festival; a very sunny sailing adventureHaving left Ilha Grande on a very very wet boat, we braved our first locals bus and sped towards the pretty colonial town of Paraty. A 5 hour journey later, we arrived to.....rain, rain and more rain. A soggy day and a half later, our spirits weren´t dampened! we persevered through a weird, muddy pinga rum festival (a hillbilly brazilian festival complete with eerie paper mache inbred figures depicting farmers - the water somewhat deformed their features making it all the more freaky) and then to our delight, the sun [View Full Entry]

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Ilha Grande - Brazil´s grand islandWe were wistful leaving Rio de Janeiro given how much fun we had there, but the pretty boat ride (complete with dolphins playing in the sea) was enough to keep us entertained, combined with the reputation Ilha Grande has for being one of Brazil´s most stunning islands. What we found was just as expected, but for all the Australians reading this, the island is similar to the beaches back home which made it a little homesick for jean indeed! We did manage to squeeze in a few sights between bites and sausage dog spotting however....City highli [View Full Entry]

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Rio - the only city in the world that has a jungle (and the smallest bikini bottoms you'll ever see)We've discovered that Brazilians run to a different time to the rest of the world; there's no rush or sense of urgency......until you step into a taxi. Driving at ludicrous speed, running red lights and weaving between cars we arrived at our hostel at Ipanema beach slightly unnerved. But the warm reception Paul received at the front desk (Tracy the Aussie remembered him!) and the water pressure in our new bathroom was enough to get us back into the swing of things. [View Full Entry]

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And on the 7th day, God made Morro de Sao PauloIt takes a trecherous 2 hour catamaran ride to get to this tiny little island, but the seasickness which affected most of the boat is well worth it (although Paul was fine to have crabs, chilli AND a prawn empenada and still have a stomach of steel; very brave!!) as you pull into the blissful docks of Morro. Imagine an island consisting of 4 large beaches each with its own unique character; a place with no roads, where wheelbarrows serve as taxis for your luggage; eclectic restaurants, pousadas and bars that [View Full Entry]

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Salvador de Bahia - African coast of BrazilFollowing our amazing adventure in Iguazu, it was just a short flight and harrowing taxi ride away from our lovely pousada in Salvador de Bahia! It was the first time we had witnessed a driver put eye drops in his eyes whilst steering with his knees on a freeway at 130km/hour! However we were able to quickly get over this trauma for the enticing weather (is hot!), glorious beaches and lively street night life complete with cheap caprihinas and live bands.City highlights: Barra - the beachside neighbourhood we´re staying in is incred [View Full Entry]

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Iguazu Falls - a very big waterfallFollowing a 2 hour delay at Buenos Aires airport, we arrived in early evening to the balmy, humid weather of Iguazu! Our taxi ride to the ecolodge where we were staying required headgear it was so bumpy, but we were pleasantly surprised by the prettiness of our lodgings (it has a pool!!), the friendliness of the staff, and the jungle noises surrounding us as we slept.City highlights: there´s only one reason you come to this part of argentina, and it´s not for the hospitality....the Falls are AMAZING. Taking a speedboat over the rapids towar [View Full Entry]

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Montevideo - surprising city of artA speedy 2.5 hour bus ride east of colonia, with jean snoring at the countryside, we headed to the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo! the weather was awful....cold, wet and miserable. but we mustered up enough energy to explore a city that didn´t look very enticing....we were very proud of ourselves!! So here´s what we discovered...City highlights: ok....we´re struggling here. we stumbled across an incredible gallery devoted to ´latin american gangs - a history of violence´which was pretty amazing.Accommodation: 3.5/5. A charming old ho [View Full Entry]

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Colonia: coastal city of clowns and golf cartsYou may ask why and we asked each other exactly the same thing. for a small sleepy town on the coast of uruguay, there are a lot of clowns milling about and lazy tourists zipping around in buggies. It has been bitterly cold over the past 2 days but we were able to layer almost everything we brought along with us to stay warm. The sun made an appearance for a few hours today for us to discover that the city itself is very pretty; lined with cobblestone streets, historic buildings, cafes and stray [View Full Entry]

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Buenos Aires - meat city!After battling through a mini tornado to get to Auckland airport, we bid farewell to our action packed vacation in NZ and made our way to Buenos Aires - a city that has sweet pastries, chocolates and cakes for breakfast, all you can eat meat (steak!) for lunch and more of the same for dinner.....this was our kind of town!! so with our appetites ready, we attacked the city (and its numerous parillas) with unbridled gusto and managed to see/learn a few interesting things along the way.City highlights: 5 hour bicycle tour through downtown BA that saw [View Full Entry]

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RotoruaThe town smells like rotton eggs.....which isn't a problem if you're into that kind of thing. You do get used to it though. Having dropped our gear off at our b&b (coincidentally the oldest heritage listed building in the city) we went for our tour of "Hells Gate" and mud spa. The town itself is not much to look at, but we weren't fooled....there are loads to do in the nearby surrounds. Jean displayed he-man like courage during the bungee swoop and we were both humiliated when turning up to our "zorb" activity in speedos and a bikini (everyone else was [View Full Entry]

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