Solly43

We left Asuncion in Paraguay early in the morning on a bus bound for Iguazu in Brazil. It was a rather long trip, but also a little stressful. This was not a tourist bus - just the normal daily bus run. So there was no guide to help us out here. We knew we had to get off the bus for a passport check to get out of Paraguay, then get back on, then get off again with our passports to enter Brazil. There were people jumping on and off at various stops, and we had no idea where to get off. My Spanish didn't help, as we were into Portuguese territory now. But, like everything else, we sorted it out and made it through the borders safely. The Iguazu Falls are another one of those ... read more

Hi All, Now to continue from where I left off. Sorry about not saying "good-bye" with the last entry but in some places you have to pay to use the internet and the money ran out that you have to put into a control box to use some computers. Paraguay. I believe that I was at the stage where Patty, "Frisky's" brother came on the scene at the village of Cosme. He had been working in Australia for some 28 years in the building industry, in Qld. and N.S.W. He too was also another "Frisky" fathering many children to an number of women, I think he had 2 marriages. Paddy's English was good although heavily accented. He talked about this life in Australia and also the lives of the early settlers in Cosme. He could recall ... read more

Hi All, At 7.15 a.m. Mr. Woods, Mary and I set off for Cosme ,the second settlement of the Australian pioneers in Paraguay. This village is about 220Km. S.E. of Asuncion. We were traveling parallel to the railway line that the settlers used when setting up at New Australia. They got off at Villarrica then had to face a 3 days journey by ox-cart to their new life. The railway was closed about 15 years ago but the old stations and the odd old steam engine can still be found. Villarrica (pronounced Via-rica) is a large unattractive town but it is well known for its artists and musicians. Mr Wood's cousin is a very well known and famous cartoonist, although little known in Australia. After here the next port of call was Caazapa (Car ah zapa) ... read more

Hi Everyone, As Mary has so far done all the blogs I thought that I should give it go, so here geos. I believe that Paraguay is our next adventure and what a surprise it turned out. PARAGUAY. Please bear with me as I explain the reasons why we went to Paraguay. Firstly it is not a well know counrty in Australia, but Australia has a connection with Paraguay that not many people know about- but now a short history about this country. Of all the countries in S.A. Paraguay is unique. On its flag it has two coats of arms-one on each side. There are two official languages spoken (Spanish and Guaranies) and it is very common to use both when they speak to each other. Since 1952 until 1989 it was ruled by a ... read more

Hi everyone To continue our travels in Chile - we flew from Santiago to Puerto Montt on the way to Puerto Varas. This is a lovely little lakeside place (Lake Llanquihue). Beyond the lake was a beautiful snow covered volcano (Osorno) - so pictuesque. The beach was crowded, but the black volcanic sand was not to our liking. The water was crystal clear. Puerto Varas is known as the city of roses - they are everywhere. Many Germans settled here in the late 1800´s, and their influence can be seen in the buildings and the food. We cannot believe how many roses we have seen in S A. We heard some wonderful musicians here - another surprise. There was a fabulous concert in the street, where we heard all sorts of music including a very nice ... read more

Hi everyone. Well, thanks to Argentine airlines, our plans have been hijacked again, so we have an extra day in Paraguay instead of the day we had planned in Buenos Aires. So this means we now have time to continue our blog. We are sorry that we don't update you more regularly, but shortage of time is a factor, as well as access to computers in some places. Now, back to La Paz for the most ëxciting"(NOT!!!) part of our adventure. We had a day to spend in La Paz. We had the option of going on a bus trip up on the highest road in the world (supposedly). However, it was cloudy, rainy and foggy on that day, and we thought better of it, because the road would probably be dangerous in the wet and ... read more

On Friday 11 February, we arrived in Cuzco. We were a little dizzy and breathless, but the altitude did not present a great problem for either of us. A little bit of oxygen and some horrid coca tea did the trick. We started our many tours of Inca ruins that afternoon. Gordon particularly enjoyed the Saqsayhuaman site (sexywoman!) It was all very interesting and enjoyable, but after having been through it all and having climbed hundreds (maybe thousands) of stone steps we were all stoned out, and I don´t want to climb another set of stairs as long as I live. On the way to Ollantaytambo- oh so many steps there!- Gordon really enjoyed the colourful craft markets. Everywhere we go there are colourful craft markets, and he is just in his element - NOT! We ... read more

Hello everyone. You must be thinking that we have dropped off the planet, because it´s so long since we have been to our blog. We don´t have much time today, as we are off to some thermal springs in the Andes for a couple of days in a few minutes. We will update you on our adventures¨ when we have more time. We have had some good times and some bad, but overall it has been wonderful. We are both well and happy - hope all our friends are the same. Hasta luego Mary and Gordon... read more

Here we are in Santiago, the capital of Chile. We spent one night in Auckland, then flew to Tahiti, then straight on to Easter Island. When we arrived, we were not impressed. We didn´t like it at all - it was raining, with mud and smells everywhere. We visited the town, which we did not enjoy, and were feeling sorry that we went there. However, the next day we did a full day tour of the island, with a wonderful local guide, who spoke four languages and we had a fabulous day touring the Maoi sites and seeing the rest of the island. There are horses everywhere, which really worried us. There are 4000 of them on the island, all roaming free, even through the township. We thought the people were very poor, with run down ... read more