After 5 days of fabulous carnival chaos and musical thunder of Salvador we were glad to make our way to the peaceful island retreat of Morro do Sao Paolo, off the Bahia coast of Brazil. We hadnt booked the high speed catamaran that takes just over two hours to get there and so were faced with a comical 6 hour multi modal journey that included 2 boats, a prehistoric coach and wheelbarrow!. The journey was hot, humid, slow etc but well worth it. This island is stunning - miles of sandy beaches, no vehicles except for the odd van provided by [View Full Entry]

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Finally, it´s carnival time. We had a taster of it in Rio and Paraty when the samba bands were practising but now for the real thing... We stayed at another lovely poussada in the Rio Vermelho area called Catherina Paraguacu. It´s a traditional portuguese / colonial place and was a great retreat in a pretty crazy city. We met lots of fun people here including an eccentric, fun german guy called Reinhart who showed us around the city. If we're still having so much travelling when we're retired we'll be doing well! Salvador was much bigger than we expected and was [View Full Entry]

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Us again! well we´ve made the classic but must do groc pilgrimage to the wonderful iguazu falls and it was well worth it. We stayed in a great little hotel called St George in Puerto Iguacu which had a great swimming pool and poolside bar with hamoc and serving deadly caiparinhas! weather is hot and humid, like a sauna. We visited the argentinian side of the falls first with a guide. This gave a close up view of the various waterfalls, including the so called devil´s throat!. The scale of it is truly amazing. The next day we then got our [View Full Entry]

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A flight via Buenos Aires and we arrive in Sao Paolo late afternoon. The shuttle coach into the city gives a good insight of the the sheer size of the place. Contrary to the many reports that we received the place seems friendly, modern, clean and relatively organised compared to the concrete mayhem of Bangkok. The Golden Tulip is a really smart modern hotel right in the heart of the shopping and commercial area and thankfully has a decent aircon unit in the room. During our 3 days we manage to find our way around the interesting regions of Jardin and [View Full Entry]

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Morning(?!?). Rod here. My body clock has yet again been hit for six due to a 11 hour flight from Auckland to Santiago so have decided to venture to the depths of the Galerias hotel basement to update the blog. We were up at 6am on a grey overcast day in Kaikoura, ready for our whale watch. Binoculars in tow we were picked up by coach and on the giant sized cataraman by 7.30am heading towards the deep ocean shelf that is a real hot spot for sperm whales feeding. With the sonar equipment we were able to track 2 of [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone..here is the next instalment!, have had an amazing few days travelling round. NZ is such a great place and the van has been a good way of getting to see it all. We've been staying in camper van sites though as they make it a bit more sociable (and have showers and toilets). We travelled up the tropical west coast and stopped in to Franz Josef glacier which was not visible to the human eye due to the dense fog (didnt feel too disappointed as we'd already seen Mount Cook). Went for a few beers in the evening and [View Full Entry]

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Hi guys, well we've been in NZ for a few days now and it's been amazing. We picked up our camper van at Christchurch airport and headed for the deep south !. We've heard so many good things about the South Island but nothing really prepares you for how amazing it is...it's like travelling through a postcard. So far we've been to Mount Cook, then headed south through wanaka, arrowtown, queenstown, te anau and onto Milford Sound. We had an amazing day trip across the doubtful sound, fiordland discovered by cook. It was very peaceful. We were also taken down a [View Full Entry]

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Another smooth flight from Bangkok to Sydney once again landing in beautiful sunshine. Our hotel (Sebel Pier One) is right by Harbour Bridge with the Opera House just a short way across the harbour. Flights and time differences playing havoc with our bodyclocks! 11th January Up and early and bought daytripper ticket and jumped on the 8am ferry to Rose Bay. Quick and healthy (?!?) Brekky in Berlascino's cafe and then on to Watson's Bay. Great chilled beach. Took a walk round part of the coastline to South Head which has stunning views and then sampled the legendary fish and chips [View Full Entry]

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Hiya y'all, Well we're just about to head off to Sydney...so here is the first journal of our adventure. The 10 hour flight from London to Bangkok was smooth and passed quickly. It was great to arrive on a clear sunny day and and feel the 30 degreee heat! well the food has been amazing, there's street food aplenty and great restaurants all over. We went to the cabbages and condoms restaurant, named because it supports local health projects not because they're on the menu!. On the second day we visited the Grand Palace which was totally bling but a great [View Full Entry]

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A glorious 3 days spent in the city of Venice from 13 to 16 November 2006. Covered the whole place by foot using our trusty 'Lonely Planet' to guide us around. Spent a day using the Vaparetto to do some island hopping across to the beautiful islands of Burano and Torcello. Glorious sunny weather for the whole stay. Bellissimo!!! Everywhere you look and walk is a masterpiece. If you get the chance just go and experience the sheer magnificence and splendour of this floating dream of a city. And don't forget to try the gelato too! [View Full Entry]

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