Kimberley Green

So from galapagos went to quito for the night and then made our way up to Columbia to Cali where there is a massive 5 day festival with salsa, bullfighting, parades and just general mayhem. thought we would leave on 23rd, spend 1 hour or so at border and be there morning of 24th. eh...not quite the way it worked out. The ecuadorian border was mayhem, 1 queue for both getting your exit stamp and entry stamp and just so busy. arrived at 4pm, the place shut at 10 and we had barely moved so in order top not be in the queue at xmas we decided to sleep out. so many people were crammed on the pavement was quite funny, until it started to rain... luckily only spitting for a while. not the best nights ... read more

Ok so had a few problems with my photos and crappy computers and just generally being rubbish so will try to cram 2m into 1 page! After inca trail hung around in cusco for another week or so, going out lots and went on a 3 day raft trip on grade 3-5 rapids on the apurimac river. Good fun although camping was very normal compared to luxury of inca trail! washing my own dishes i dont know!!! From cusco went to arequipa where did a week of spanish lessons which was fun, especially my gay teacher who was very reminiscent of fronk from father of the bride! Did a 3 day trek into the colca canyon, very hot and dusty. Going down was fine, but the 3 hour trek up on the last day was a ... read more

Well managed to negotiate chilean customs and immigration with my lack of spanish but not too much else! Oh well all adds to the experience i suppose! Landed in Santiago after a 10h flight on which even the air hostesses didn´t speak english and my wee tv was broken so no movies! Santiago is alright, a few cathedrals and museums to see and lots of ice creams and hot dogs to eat! Seems to be the national food-i´ve never seen so many! Spent 2 days here then got a 24hour bus up to San Pedro de Atacama in the far north to cross over into Bolivia. And yes its in the middle of the Atacama which if u didn´t know is the driest place on earth. San Pedro is a cool wee town, all red and ... read more

Wellington Ferry journey across was luckily nice and calm-don't think i could've coped with more seasickness! Really nice coming out of the Marlborough Sounds. Wellington is really nice and chilled-plenty of cafes with lots of yummy food and nice harbour to wander round. Seems a lot warmer as well...or maybe it's my imagination. Spent 2 days here doing the sights, the national museum Te Papa which was ticked off in 2 hours-prob a record! Got the cable car up to the botanic gardens and then wandered down the hill towards the parliament buildings and the famous beehive. Day before had gone up to Mt Victoria for some lovely views of the city. Napier 4 hour drive up to Napier-still lovely weather. Really nice little seaside town with lots of Art Deco buildings as the place had ... read more

Wanaka Pretty little town but quite quiet-think it only really gets going in the height of summer. Decided I had to start getting fit if I was to do any of the Great Walks so went on a day walk-fairly beasted it and did in 5 hours what should have taken 7-8. Was a bit knackered by the end especially after a 2 hour straight up and down glacier walk at the end! Had my first run in with the DOC (Department of Conservation) office. The woman here was lovely though and really encouraging. Not so much the further south I went... Went to the famous little Cinema Paradiso that everyone has raved about. It is quite cool, lots of old sofas and comfy chairs and fresh warm cookies at the interval (!). Queenstown After 2 ... read more