Last Train to Transcentral

Ever since Liz made the first Guest appearance in India i have been wondering on a regular basis how likely it was that i could get into this blog. By the time Anne-Marie showed up in Argentina i was running out of ideas and Catherine and Patrick were running out of countries. Luckily their flight was changed meaning a stopover in Madrid was a likely possibility and seeing as it was a lot more affordable to get to Madrid from Granada than to Brazil i thought to myself BINGO... So on the 11th of April i arranged to meet our two favourite world travellers in Madrid Bus Station on their definitely last stop before home. As the arranged time approached everyone in the bus station started to take on Cat or Pat appearances (bald patricks, ... read more

Since we left Annemarie in São Paulo, we have whizzed around the last country in our itinerary (yeah really, this is almost it!). We've seen Curitiba, the amazing Foz de Iguazu, briefly stopped in Brasilia, witnessed Amazonian rains in Belém and hit some magnificent beaches on the northeast. All in a few weeks ... and Brazil is almost as large as the USA and just a smidge bigger than Australia. Our first stop was Curitiba, where we spent a really relaxing weekend after the mayhem of Rio. Curitiba is a sedate city, with some nice markets and an amazingly designed modern art museum. Oscar Niemeyer, the Brazilian architect, designed the museum and the exterior is shaped like an eye, with a curved pathway surrounding it. It's really beautiful and the interior had some really interesting ... read more

In this episode, Cat and Pat are joined by Annemarie, Cats little sister. They visit the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Once arriving in Buenos Aires, after travelling up the east coast of Argentina, it feels like entering a whole new country. This city is all grand boulevards, huge colonial mansions and stunning parks. Nothing resembling what we had encountered on the east coast so far. The Portenos (port people) are brash, beautiful and busy. We didn´t have a whole lot of time to check the place out initially. Just straight to our hotel and the next morning we took the cheap bus (2.5 hours) to the airport to meet Annemarie. It only takes about 20 minutes in a taxi we later discovered. Such is the life of the backpacker though, lots of time, little ... read more

Happy New Year from Easter Island - or Rapa Nui as it is actually called by the locals. Easter Island is so remote, if you can´t pick it out on the map you should have a try. It´s part of Chile now but still 3,700km from the mainland. One of the most remote populated places on earth. So is it worth the trip? Well if quitting your job and blowing all your savings was something you were thinking of doing, then this is one of the places that makes it all feel worthwhile. Isolation, stunning scenery and literally tonnes of history and mystery. Around 400AD it is believed that about 100 Polynesians arrived here and set up home. They set about planting crops, hunting and fishing and by around 1000AD they were capable of supporting a ... read more

So what's so great about New Zealand then? It's one of those countries that no one says anything bad about. In fact, anyone we have met who has made it this far south hasn't shut up about the place. So let's cut to it, we know you all have Christmas parties to embarrass yourselves at. So, is New Zealand: Really that beautiful? Yes. Always wet? Yes, well, we have only had 2 wet days out of ten so far - but that is very lucky. Parts of this Island get over 7 metres per year. Full of sheep? Yes, 10 for every 1 New Zealander. So that's about 40 million. And that's a lot of sheep to shag! Erm, so anyway, we arrived in the South Island in Christchurch which is the major city of the ... read more