http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/McLarkin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from McLarkin en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:59:05 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:59:05 +0000 Our third day in Peru was spent with our GAP guide Ozzie and group in the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo. It was as expected breathtakingly beautiful scenic and HIGH. By spending each day at a higher altitude we were supposed to be acclimating our bodies before attacking the trek which gets as high as 4440m about 14600 ft above sea level. I fell in love with the children of Peru. They http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Ollantaytambo/blog-441058.html Our final stop in South America was Peru more or less exclusively for the trek to Machu Pichu. I would have loved to have spent more time there but time's up not to mention money so I'll take what I can get for now and save the rest for a future trip. We spent one night in Cusco to acclimate to the high altitude before setting off on the Lares Trek. Cuzco is a charming if touristy city wher http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-426599.html After spending one week of our alotted two week timeframe in Chile we decided we had seen enough and bused it back over to Argentina. I'm so glad we did because Bariloche was incredibly beautiful. The night we arrived and the entire next day was lashing rain and people in our hostel were fed up after many of them had spent a week or longer there in that same weather. We got lucky though because t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-415668.html Castro on the island of Chilo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Los-Lagos/Chiloe-Island/blog-415235.html Val Paraiso is more than a bit dodgy two people in our hostel had their cameras stolen out of their hands while we were there but the photo op's in the old town are pretty incredible especially when the lighting's right. The old town sits on a hill overlooking the sea and the rest of the city. It has narrow winding and dilapidated but charming streets with an array of colorful buildings. The http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-412865.html Iguazu Falls larger than life. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Puerto-Iguaz-/blog-410891.html Im so glad we didnt heed fellow travellerswarnings and skip our stay in the El Calafate area. It is by no means shut down for winter and the landscapes weve seen over the past few days have been nothing less than unique and remarkably stunning. Our first full day started at 430AM for a 530 pickup to Torres del Paine in Chile. We booked the tour through our hostel at around 100USD for the d http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-397683.html Our plane landed in Buenos Aires on the 1st of the month after a 12 hour overnight flight from Auckland. We stepped off the plane into a 25 degree C afternoon and I was immediately relieved that I hadnt sent my flip flops home like Id originally planned We were expecting the winter and strolled into summer but no complaints here..We spent 4 nights in Buenos Aires which is usually ample time http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-397678.html Since leaving Raglan our last stop on the North Island our plan has undergone a few revisions but not at the sake of the excitement We started off in Queenstown where our original plan was to find work and an apartment for the month. That didn't work out because in the end we decided a a month was not enough time to find work get trained then give notice and b finding a furnished apartme http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-388621.html For our one full day in Nelson a laid back hippieboho beach town we took advantage of our hostel's The Bug highly recommended free bikes for a beautiful morning ride to the beach. While we were parked for photos a friendly Kiwi grandpa walked past and stopped for a friendly welcome to NZ chat on his way. Shortly following him came a couple who didn't respond to my hello greeting as they http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/blog-382421.html Raglan is a cool tiny surfing town and our favorite on the North Island. We spent a couple of relaxing lazy days at the chilled out Raglan Backpackers which surrounds a hammocklined courtyard complete with spa and sauna. The hostel sits right on the water where you can let free kayaks and go cliff or bridge jumping just in the backyard We spent very busy days cooking eating taking walks http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Raglan/blog-388439.html We spent an uneventful St. Pattys and the next day recuperating in Tauranga and Mt Maunganui about 10 min. drive apart on the North Island. Luckily we celebrated early the Friday before after running into our Irish friends from Christchurch at our hostel in Nelson before running into the Birmingham Boys for about the 6th time in 2 countries. We did come away with a funny story after a 2am ru http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Plenty/blog-385070.html We managed to complete the strenuous 6 hour 19K Tongariro Crossing some of us in suboptimal health after a 530AM start to our day. It was scenic and diverse starting with a landscape resembling the surface of Mars and ending with fields of Heather and a thick Princess Bridestyle forest. We had our lunch at the summit surrounded by 3 radiant turquoise lakes. There were loads of people the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Tongariro-National-Park/blog-382419.html Queenstown is a beautiful lakeside town with a skiresorty feel. After a quick Thai lunch we walked by the lake where there was a man playing the guitar on the open grass and vendors selling various crafts. There's a gorgeous chocolategelato shop where we pitstopped for coffee and much longingdrooling before heading for a hike up the Queenstown Walkway where we treated ourselves to breathtaki http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-380672.html Wanaka is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been It's centered around a stunningly pristine lake with dramatic snowcapped mountain peaks as a backdrop. Our hostel the Purple Cow has a gorgeous frontrow view of it all and is minutes away from town and the trails around the lake. We had a glorious crystal clear sunny day and came to the conclusion that everyone is perfect and happy http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Wanaka/blog-378356.html Yesterday morning we picked up our sweet ride co Budget Christchurch complete w gps and spoiler for around NZ1250 for 15 days. We're planning on doing a quick loop of the South Island and a short venture into the North Island to shop around for where we'd like to lay our roots for the next few weeks. Things here are so easy We reserved the car online the night before and there were no hassl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Dunedin/blog-379008.html Our last overnight bus wahoo brought us into Cairns at 6AM on Wednesday. The 3 of us checked into our hostel The Travellers' Oasis just outside the city center. It's a clean and colorful hostel that caters to the oldermore quiet crowd a great relief after our last night in Airlie Beaches fleabag party hostel. There are 2 kitchens a swimming pool outdoor shaded picnic tables in the cou http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/Cairns-City/blog-378357.html We arrived in Christchurch late at night on the 1st and already are in love with New Zealand. The people are friendly both locals and fellow backpackers our hostel The Old Countryhouse is gorgeous and the staff lovely the town is small and charming and everything is half price since the USD is double the NZD We already don't want to leave.. Our hostel is a bit outside of the city center b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-378337.html On Sunday we caught the evening ferry with our new Swiss travel buddy to Moorea where we hopped on the bus that loops the one road that circles the small island. The drive let us off at the Moorea Camp grounds which were low on the glamscale but beachfront so at 35USD for the 5 of us we were happy to unload our bags. It being Sunday most things were closed so after a quick sunset dip we hea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/French-Polynesia/Moorea/blog-369776.html We spent our first 3 nights in French Polynesia on the main island of Tahiti at the Taaroa Lodge on a small cliff directly above the water. After a comfy 8.5 hour ride on Air Tahiti Nui we arrived in Pepeete just after 10PM where our host Ralph was waiting with the van to take us back to our lodgings Taaroa Lodge. Our dorm room was in a midsized beach bungalow above an outdoor kitchen with 6 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/French-Polynesia/Tahiti/blog-369077.html