Hobbit Wanders Part Three: There's No Place Like Home. Climbing the rock face with Moka and jumping into the crisp Akatarawa River on a fresh March evening: It felt like time had spun backwards at least a decade, my inner child was smiling with eyes wide open. Blimy! I remember more than 20 years ago during summer, when Mum would pick my brother and I up after school in the Hillman Hunter. She would bring our togs and towels and we would get changed. Then take a dive at twin bridges - OH the days! It was so fantastic to share [View Full Entry]

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HOBBIT WANDERS - Wai-o-tapu As our hobbits gather food for the night’s meal, (at Pak’n’save) they are attracted by a new sight: strawberry flavoured Lindaur - popular NZ bubbly wine. It seems like a great idea putting strawberry flavour with the wine. They later realise that although it tastes fine, it’s a shame it smells like toilet spray. It might have been better drinking water from the ‘rotten egg’ smelling sulphur pools at Wai-o-tapu. So what is Wai-o-tapu? It is Maori for ‘sacred waters’. You can see from the pic [View Full Entry]

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HOBBIT WANDERS: Tane Mahuta Hay Kids, It has been a while since I last sent you some tales. Mum has been here in the UK for the last 5 weeks. We had such a super-fun-busy time. Ye ol blog has taken a back seat however. So where were we? Oh yeah.... After Santiago we hoped on a plane bound for the land of the long white cloud: Aotearoa!! A place where hobbits wander and birds are so relaxed that they no longer fly. A place where two kids keen for an adventure, speed north of Auckland looking to speak with an [View Full Entry]

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The Elusive Obvious - by Moshe Feldenkrais Having just finished this book and think it is absolutely fantastic! I have distilled the main ideas and added quotes from the text. This is suppose to be a travel blog - but travelling isn't just to other countries you know! Internal travel is just as cool! 'Come on a journey through space and time' (Mighty Booshe) Introduction Moshe is a super cool guy - I won’t bore you with a litany of his achievements except to say that he is a smart Russian gut who opened the first Judo club in France, and [View Full Entry]

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Santiago - Great Wine and Great Views It’s my third time here in Chile’s capital. The first time I thought it was stinky, the second time I discovered the wine and this time I liked it. I am glad to be back and ready to take advantage of my previous experiences and discoveries. Every time we visited Santiago we stayed in the same place - Plaza de Armas. We rarely repeat an old experience, but sometimes familiarity can be welcoming. The Hostel we stayed at on the 6th floor overlooking the city’s main plaza has a view second to none and [View Full Entry]

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Lake Titicaca - Island of the sun. By Tina Torres After backpacking around Bolivia for a month everything is a bit dirty, a bit stinky and a bit worn out, especially me! We have been constantly on the go, finding buses, finding accommodation, finding food, finding that monument that is on the map but not on the street. I am glad to be on Isla de Sol, (Island of the Sun) for a genuine break and a chance to find me. Lake Titicaca, which is situated on the border of Bolivia and Peru. Isla de Sol is one of many islands [View Full Entry]

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Cerro Ricco - The Rich Mountain By Tina Torres ‘Si si si, yo soy de Potosi. ‘Sings a boy in the middle of the restaurant. He collects a few coins then heads out the door. Why is this boy so proud to be from a dodgy town in the south of Bolivia? Turns out that Potosi was once a place of huge richness, where the street lamps were literally made from pure silver and where Spanish aristocrats flocked to enjoy the finery of life. The Inca had previously started to mine Cerro Ricco - ‘the rich mountain’, but had stopped when [View Full Entry]

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The Death Road / North Yungas - Bolivia. Andean mountains, rain, mud, a bicycle and a great big smile: An adventure to remind me how much fun it is to be alive. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank stated that the North Yungas Road, a few hours from Bolivia’s capital La Paz, is ‘the most dangerous road in the world’, and they would not be providing funds to have upgrades or repairs made. A new route has recently been constructed, while the ‘Road of Death’ remains open for cyclists and tourists with a desire for a thrill and some wic [View Full Entry]

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Cholita Wrestling in Bolivia Petticoats fly across the ring as the two women send each other crashing to the floor. The passion and effort behind the moves is sensational and the crowd are caught up in the performance. I read an article on this extraordinary twist on wrestling in The National Geographic last year. So when I found myself in La Paz on a Sunday evening, it was a perfect coincidence and opportunity to see exactly what this is all about. Cholita is the name of Bolivian women who wear traditional dress, and in most parts of Bolivia 80% of ladies [View Full Entry]

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San Pedro: From Sunrise to Sunset (Like cactus and tequila in a shot glass.) Finding time to put pen to paper has been extremely hard between epic bus rides and bustling new towns. Oh and please excuse the long title, but anything shorter would fail to describe the lands of wonder I am in. In fact I feel a lot like Alice. You know the one who fell into wonderland. And on that note I will begin. “Terry who? “ I ask the random gentleman who greets me as I fall off the busssub, in my best ‘I haven’t been sleeping [View Full Entry]

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