http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/SineadandPhilippeRTW/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from SineadandPhilippeRTW en-us Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:15:29 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:15:29 +0000 Coffs Harbour was such a nice town that we spent two nights there. Both days were spent lazing about on the beach getting bruised and bashed while we attempted to body surf. From Coffs Harbour we headed north to Byron Bay for a night. Byron Bay is a buzzing town filled to the brim with bikini's and speedos. We were lucky to get a campsite for the night that was right next to the beach so we http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-455247.html Picking up Mitsy took forever because Apollo are the most laid back company I have ever encountered. Over an hour after starting the process we finally pulled out into Sydney schoolrush traffic. We didn't really have much of a clue of where we were going but after stopping at a random shopping centre to do our food shop we eventually found the road towards the Blue Mountains.The Blue Mountain http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/blog-452136.html If there is one thing I learned from visiting Kyran in Melbourne it is to accept people's generosity especially when it is put in writing Before we left to go on the tour in Alice Springs I emailed Kim our friend from Tango night in Buenos Aires to see if she wanted to grab a drink when we visited Sydney. Her reply shocked me with its generosity. She said that she was out of town during th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-451286.html ldquoThe time is 9.30am. Welcome to Alice Springs.rdquo As we stepped out of the plane and into an oven I asked Philippe ldquoWhat time did he say it isrdquo. I knew there was an hour and a half time change but if this was the early morning heat I dreaded to imagine what the midday sun would be like. Alice being such a small airport we quickly found our luggage and our complementar http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Alice-Springs/blog-449820.html Two days before we left New Zealand I received an email from a man called Kyran. The gist of it was ldquoI'm your dad's first cousin... It'd be nice to meet you...you're welcome to stay here if you wantrdquo. While I had heard of him in passing before I had never met him. Then I thought hey we are on the other end of the world why not So I rang to introduce myself. I was overwhelmed http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-449819.html A strange but wonderful thing happened as we were travelling around the southern tip of the South Island. On the advice of several people in Milford Sound we set off on the Catlins Scenic Drive. The rain was pouring down there were sheep and baby lambs everywhere and it was all very green looking. It was like we had been transport home to Ireland I say it is a wonderful thing because while I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-448026.html We overheard someone say that the massive amount of sand flies present in Milford Sound is God's way of ensuring that the place is not destroyed by over development. It was an excellent idea because you simply couldn't live there for any length of time without the flies driving you crazy. The population of the village in winter is 30 people and only jumps to 100 in the summer months mostly made http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Milford-Sound/blog-447213.html A lovely DOC camp site at the northern edge of Lake Wanaka was our home for one night. After an afternoon in the sun Philippe turned cub scout on me and made a camp fire out of twigs and a cornflakes box. We cooked a simple meal on our little gas burner and baked potatoes in the heat of the camp fire. Occasionally Philippe would disappear to collect driftwood from the beach to keep it burning. A http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-445673.html Getting up in the early morning is never nice. Getting changed in a van with a cold wind blowing through it is even worse At 6am we rolled out of bed grabbed our clothes and began driving towards the ferry. In true Counet style we were quite early for the ferry so having checked in we made our breakfast in the back of the van. I have a new appreciation for the common snail it is really http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Wanaka/blog-444273.html We left Auckland in Bitsy armed with a list of the places we would like to visit thanks to Elisha but with no clear schedule of where we would stay. We had booked the ferry for early on the morning of the 6th but that was our only deadline. We headed south.Our first scheduled stop was at the Waitomo Caves however en route we passed by the Kiwi House in Otorohanga. We shrugged at each other a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-442896.html Never underestimate the value of seeing a familiar face. We certainly won't after this trip South America was an amazing experience but we were definitely ready for a change and for a few weeks of speaking the same language as the locals. After getting nice New Zealand stamps in our passports the first 'local' that we had the pleasure of conversing with was a pleasant lady on the customs de http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-442894.html Our South American tour took three and a half months. We visited 7 countries took 24 buses 7 internal flights and stayed in 35 places of accommodation. The lowlights for us wereRealising the true nature of our accommodation in Vitoria BrazilBeing ill on the Machu Picchu trekNearly being pick pocketed in Salvador BrazilVarious bouts of delibellyMissing family friends and events back http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-442893.html Having recharged our batteries in Bahia Inglesa we set about discovering Santiago de Chile in 48 hours. We took our last overnight bus for at least a month. We could only buy semicama seats so fittingly enough it was quite an uncomfortable journey thus increasing the appeal of our impending campervan travels.When we arrived in Santiago at around 8.30am we were stiff and lost. A kind lady p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-442190.html We took a bus from La Serena to Caldera and upon arrival in the little town we decided that its sister city a few kilometres down the coast had more to offer. We hopped in a colectivo shared taxi and a few minutes later we were dropped on the beach walk of Bahia Inglesa.Our wishlist was finally fulfilled when we reached this summer tourist hot spot. The sun was finally shining and there was a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Caldera/blog-438530.html The further north we get the more arid and deserty it becomes. It's such a contrast from the lush Lake District down south. La Serena isn't far from the beach but the weather still wasn't warm enough to get our shorts out. The first thing that happened in La Serena was that we got fleeced by the taxi driver. Gringo prices and all that but I wasn't in the mood for arguing it. We'd had an earl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-437199.html Valparaiso and Vina del Mar are supposedly the places where the Chileans go when they need to get out of the city. We decided to visit Valparaiso or Valpo as apparently most people go to Vina del Mar. Valpo is a port city set out on an array of hills. It's most striking feature is the graffiti everywhere well that and the dog poop. It all goes together to create a laid back feel and you http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-436296.html We stayed in Chillan for less than 24 hours. In all honesty it had nothing much to offer. It's principal claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Bernardo OHiggins Liberator extraordinaire. He is fondly described in the guide book as the bastard son of an Irish man. We are so proud Though it was nice to see an Irish name everywhere in Chile. The main streets are named after him ever http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Maule/Talca/blog-435787.html In order to have a Lake District one assumes they need rain. But did it have to happen for the entire time that we were in the areaWe headed off to the bus station in Bariloche to get ourselves on the next available bus to Puerto Varas in Chile. We found ourselves on a leaky bus with a grumpy bus driver who saw fit to bully every other car off the road. It was a long six hours watching film http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Los-Lagos/blog-434988.html Arriving in Bariloche was a strange feeling as we knew that it would be our final destination in Argentina. We have truly enjoyed everywhere we have been in Argentina and wanted to finish it on a high. Where better to create some happy memories than in the chocolate capital of South AmericaWe chose to fly from El Calafate as a bus would take 26 hours over snowy mountaineous terrain and we could http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-433847.html http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-433842.html