Day 33 Rotorua A storm blew in overnight with torrential rain that didn't look like it was going to stop all day and sure enough it didn't disappoint. We made an early start (about 9am which was nice for a change) and made our first stop after an hour and half driving in terrible conditions of gusty wind and rain at Tauranga. This city is a large port although we saw no boats working today! We had a quick walk around the town as there was nothing else to do due to the rain, bought a coffee and headed back to [View Full Entry]

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Day 31 and 32 Coromandel Peninsula As I was feeling a bit better we venture with all our luggage to see the harbour in day light. It was a lovely sunny morning and it was great to get some fresh air. We decided to get the airport bus from the city back to the airport to then get our camper van company (Freedom Campers) to come and collect us. This worked out well and they provided us with a great service. Camilla (we named the camper!!) is fab she is 13 but has everything we need and is very well maintained, [View Full Entry]

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Day 30 - New Zealand - Auckland The flight to Auckland with carrier Lan Chile was probably one of the best flights we have ever been on. It was very comfortable despite Laura being ill and it did not seem like a 12 hour flight. When not asleep we were kept entertained by the state of the art entertainment system which including movies, games and music. On arrival to Auckland we had about an hour to kill before the bus started operating into the city. Even though we missed Shrove Tuesday we managed to find pancakes at McDonalds in the airport. [View Full Entry]

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Day 28 - Santiago The bus was new and comfortable and the journey smooth despite the fact that Laura was ill the entire journey, good job we had seats next to the toilet! We arrived into Santiago just before 2pm and jumped a taxi to take us to our hostel. The Plaza De Armas Hostel is set right in the centre of the city in an old building that over looks the main square. We were very surprised to be shown to our room to find out that it was part of an apartment which we would have all to ourselves [View Full Entry]

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Day 26 - San Pedro De Atacama - Chile We leave this morning at 4.30am to travel the same journey we did a few days ago. We even stop for a break back at the hot springs we had visited on day 2 of our Jeep tour! Unfortunately this was the only way we could travel to Chile and had no choice but to retrace our steps. Our Jeep stops at the Bolivian border for us to grab some breakfast before changing into a Chilean minibus for the next part of our journey. As soon as we cross the border we [View Full Entry]

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Day 25 - Jeep tour day 4 Well we were up early again this time to see sunrise over the famous Uyuni salt flats. Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt plain in the world and measures 12,000 sq km and stretches for as far as the eye can see. It was a cloudy morning so the sunrise was not what we expected although, it was still amazing being in the middle of this immense white space to enjoy the peacefulness of this isolated plain. Once the sun was up we continued to drive over the salt plain to visit a [View Full Entry]

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Day 24 - Jeep tour day 3 Our hostel was located at the side of Laguna Colarado so this was our first stop of the day. It was a red lagoon full of wild flamingos enjoying the warm season. We then pass through the Desierto de Siloli which is famous for its tree shaped rock formations in the middle of the desert and we all enjoy taking many pictures here. Unfortunately the weather changed and we were unable to see the semi active volcano Ollague as it was covered in cloud, but we have seen many other ones along the way. [View Full Entry]

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Day 23 - Jeep tour day 2 Alberto wakes us up early as we have a long day ahead. After Sylvia lays on breakfast we pack up the Jeep and head off to San Antonio a small ghost town that was once famous for its wealth in gold. It was very cold at this time in the morning so it wasn't long when we all jumped back in the Jeep for our next stop. We saw many lagoons including one where they extra the chemicals for making soap. The highlight of the day was stopping at the natural hot springs for [View Full Entry]

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Over breakfast we meet everyone joining us on our 4 day La Torre Jeep tour of southern Bolivia we are all mostly from England or Ireland. We load our bags onto the roof of our Jeeps (Toyota Land Cruisers) before climbing in and setting off in convoy with 2 other Jeeps. We share our Jeep with Emma and Eoghan from Ireland who were great company. Our driver was called Alberto and our cook was called Sylvia they did not speak much English so this was going to be interesting! As we drive out of Tupiza we see the surrounding red desert [View Full Entry]

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Today we have a much needed rest and chill out while in the small town of Tupiza. Tupiza has similarities to the American wild west as it is surrounded by red coloured mountains, rocks and canyons. This small place is famous for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as it was around here that they met their end. We had hoped to do some horse riding in this area but we are too tired and need a day resting. We spend the morning typing up our blogs for the past few days but unfortunately the internet cafe felt like it had [View Full Entry]

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