http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/TimandKirst/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from TimandKirst en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:04:50 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:04:50 +0000 We got home last night so I'm writing this last blog from the chilly UK a bit of a shock to the system coming from 35 degrees in Rio to freezing temperatures hereOur last blog left us in Sao Paulo where we spent one day and one night unfortunately that one day was a Sunday so the centre of town was pretty dead the only other people on the streets were the homeless and the preachers and all http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/blog-371220.html Dear AllWe loved Buenos Aires and ended up staying for five nights we could have stayed longer but we are now against the clock before its time to come home eek so we had to tear ourselves away and move on. There was so much to see and do there and it seemed to have a real buzz. Plus of course the food is great as long as youre not vegetarianWe stayed in two different areas of BA th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Paran-/Foz-do-Igua-u/blog-366657.html Some more photos of Indonesia Australia and New Zealand... http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-362526.html Hello and Happy New YearIt seems like a long time since we last caught up with our blog in fact we havent done it since last year Sorry this might be a lit of a long one...Hope everyone had a fun and festive break and is looking forward to a happy new year. We cant believe what we managed to pack into 2008 mine and Jens 30th a month in NZ and Borneo in February our wedding in August http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-361892.html Hello and Merry ChristmasI am writing this latest blog from Valparaiso in Chile on a sunny Christmas Day. Since last catching up we have had a whirlwind tour of friends family and the Coromandel Peninsula in North Island of NZ. We left Queenstown on a cloudy day our Qantas flight being 3 hours delayed because the Qantas pilots arent trained to use the necessary navigational aids to takeoff http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-357174.html Hello out thereWell I thought it was about time I wrote another blog as it's been a while... We're now in Queenstown and enjoying some home comforts at Tim's parents' house overlooking the lake and dramatic mountains behind but have spent most of the last two weeks on the road in a tiny campervan called a 'crib' and not really a campervan at all but a converted Toyota people carrier What fun http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-352567.html Hello AllWe're now in New Zealand and Tim is stocking up on all his favourite NZ crisps and chocolate bars that he can't get in England The sun is shining at the moment but the weather is a bit cooler than we're used to. We've both just had haircuts and are feeling very smart. All in all we're feeling glad to be back to some home comforts.Our week in Bali was very enjoyable with some relaxing http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-347035.html Photos from India Singapore and first part of Indonesia http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Yogyakarta/blog-340892.html Hello AllSince we last wrote we have become Auntie and Uncle Baby Girl Hobbs no decision on name yet as far as I have heard arrived two days early on 1st November. And she's gorgeousMeanwhile we have been touring around East Java. We flew straight into Yogyakarta from Sulawesi avoiding spending any time in Jakarta which doesn't sound like a very pleasant place for a tourist.Yogyakarta w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Lovina/blog-342488.html Hello againWell since our last blog last week we've had a fabulous time in Sulawesi and are all set to fly off to Java early tomorrow morning.We survived the 14 hour boat journey to the Togean Islands which was a bit rough in the night and even managed to get a bit of sleep in our tiny hot cabin before waking to a rainstorm at 6am as we arrived at the first port of call in the Togeans. Thankfull http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sulawesi/Menado/blog-339949.html Hello Friends and FamilySince we last wrote we have once again left civilisation and as I write we are sat in just about the only internet cafe in the small town of Gorontalo in Sulawesi Indonesia. We have been rushing around in the last week and covered quite a lot of ground and water...We arrived in Bali in the middle of the night last week to find the 1st Asian Beach Games had come to Kuta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sulawesi/blog-337192.html Hello Lovely PeopleI hope you are all well.Since we last wrote we have left the quiet town relatively for India anyway of Bundi in a taxi yes we copped out of public transport yet again for Pushkar. Pushkar is a holy Hindu city with a sacred lake supposedly for bathing but it was far too dirty and smelly for that and we didn't actually see anyone in the water thankfully. It is very much a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-333953.html Hello Avid ReadersI hope you are all well and thanks for reading our blogAfter leaving Jodhpur we heard there was stampede at a mosque the night after we left with over 100 people killed. We were at that temple only 2 days before and saw all the scaffolding set up to separate the men's and women's queues. Rest assured we are not so keen as to be up at dawn to visit a temple which is when the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bundi/blog-330714.html Hello AllJaisalmer was dry and sandy coloured and right in the middle of the desert. The fort is perched on top of a hill in the middle of the city and looks just like a big sand castle even down to the little triangular flag on the top It was really very hot there compared with everywhere else which is just very hot and we were forced to spend a lot of time lazing around in the shade o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-328493.html It feels like a long time ago that we were in the relative peace and cool of the mountainsIn Haridwar we watched a big puja celebration by the Ganges a daily even in the pilgrim town which culminated in some chanting cymbals and drums and sending small baskets of flower petals down the river with candles on top. There were a few thousand pilgrims lining the banks. As the river was almost bur http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-326217.html Hello again I don't mean to bombard you with emails about our trip as I'm sure you will soon get bored of them please feel free to delete but as apparently there was a bomb in Delhi at the weekend I thought I would just send a quickie to say we weren't there Instead we were trecking through part of the Himalayas to a place called the Valley of Flowers around 4000 m above sea level which s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Haridwar/blog-326212.html Hello Everyone or Namaste as everyone here seems to say I hope you are all well and happy. Just thought I'd write a quick note to say we've made it to India We arrived in Delhi on Monday morning and left on Tuesday afternoon having seen as much as we wanted to it really is as hot busy noisy and dirty as everyone says We have now retreated to Rishikesh in the foothills of the Himalayas http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Rishikesh/blog-326211.html