Paul Elaine Livin the Dream

Peru is the last country on the trip, and even though we knew that reaching Peru meant the end of the trip we were still really excited to be heading over from the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka. First stop Arequipa. Like many of the major towns in South America, Arequipa was formed by Spanish colonials, and it is one of the most beautiful towns we encountered. The plaza is surrounded by beautiful arched walkways and dominated by a hugh cathedral, behind which is the outline of El Misti, a perfectly colonical volcano. Plus the streets leading off the plaza are filled with cafes...cafes with food that doesn't leave you in pain and dashing for the banos, and after Bolivia this is a novelty. The volcano behind the city, El Misti, is one that our ... read more

Down at the port of Valparaiso in Chile it's similar to most other major ports throughout the world, in other words 'buzzards', plenty of hardened sailors who look willing to take out a few tourists if you dare give em a second glance! We quickly escape the port to the surrounding hills and the reason we ended up here, for the fascinating art culture, coffee houses and street graffiti. We spend the day, doing just that, supping coffee and admiring a place willing to let the 'artists' spraypaint their talents on the walls of the houses and in the process bringing a relatively run down place to life. On the evening we try the local speciality dish, chorillana, which is a huge share plate with a base of fries, then scrambled eggs, onions and loaded with ... read more

So we left New Zealand at 5pm and landed 13 hours later in Buenos Aires at 2pm on the same day, so time travel truly is possible! Oh BA is going to be fun. Tthe cab driver tells you not to bother putting on your seatbelt and proceeds to spend most of the 80mph journey from the airport with his head peering over the back seat excitedly telling us how he loves Boca Juniors more than his wife, Maradona is "muy bueno" and a god (if indeed the two do differ) while pissing his sides when we tell him we speak no Spanish! We end the trip (in one piece) outside the hostel recreating the infamous hand of god. I´m Shilton on this occasion, the taxi driver must have amnesia as he tries to head the ... read more

Melbourne is famous for it's weather unpredicatability, however we were completely caught unaware arriving from 34 degree Cairns to a freezing 8 degrees. As soon as the backpacks were off the carasel Elaine was changing from a short skirt and vest to jeans and hoodie. Fortunately the next day the heat was back into the high twenties. Being the smaller of the two cities, Melbourne has invented itself as the supercool alternative to Sydney. Clean, modern architecture, cafe culture, sports orientated, hip shopping, beachside dining and a refreshing lack of scallies. We spent time walking the markets, the southbank and docklands area, we even recovered from a hangover to watch Victoria play Tasmania in the MCG. We visited uber-cool Brunswick street, even cooler Chapel Street, dined in the Italian district took in the sea air at ... read more

Back into Thailand! Another hair raising mini bus journey up to Krabie. Pouring rain, highspeeds and overtaking on blind corners do not mix well - added to which the driver's selection of soft rock tunes - painful! I was a bit nervous about coming to Phi Phi after the tsumani, however the regeneration of the beach areas has been swift. The hotels are back up, the stores, restaurants and bars as back in business. Though whether this regeneration is responsible I wouldn't say. There is still a lot of beach front development and bungalows with tin roofs. Tourism marches on. The weather is poor on Phi Phi, and we spent more time walking to see the beaches rather than sunbathing on them. The full place is very western, english bars selling meat pies and chip butties ... read more