http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/mark and chrissie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from mark and chrissie en-us Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:16:07 UTC Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:16:07 UTC Day 597 15.11.08The Islas Ballestas are perched offshore from Paracas just north of where wed been staying. An hour or so on the bus took us to this little town which was all but devastated last year as a result of a 7.9 earthquake. There is now a huge amount of construction work going on to repair the homes and businesses in the area.Finding our way through the building sites we were soon clim http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Ica/Ballestas-Islands/blog-346365.html Day 595 13.11.08We set out in the morning to see Huacachina in the light and by the time we'd wandered along the grand promenade surrounding the lagoon and admired the fancy buildings we were already beginning to fall under the spell of this peaceful little haven. Our hostel provided us with a free 'boat trip' on the lagoon this would be selfpropelled though We took a little row boat out on t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-346364.html Day 593 11.11.08After a pretty sleepless and cold night on the bus we arrived in Nazca a little the worse for wear. Teaming up with a German girl called Kat we found our hostel the WalkOn Inn and checked into our room. Unfortunately we couldn't get in until 12.30 so had a huge brekkie at the hostel and got chatting to a couple more of the guests staying who had a fascinating story of retiring a http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Ica/Nazca/Nazca-Lines/blog-344448.html Day 588 61108Waking early yet again we dragged ourselves out of our comfortable beds and grabbed some brekkie before hitting the already sizable queue for the bus to Machu Picchu. We could have got up earlier and walked up but with all of us still not feeling quite right we wanted to make the most of our visit without killing ourselves getting there.We arrived at the gates with the other earl http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-343788.html Day 591 91108Feeling a little more refreshed after our lazy day we wanted to see a couple more of the Incan sites around Cuzco. We had been recommended to see a citadel a short walk from Cuzco called Saqsaywaman pronounced by all travellers as 'sexy woman' and took the 30 mins uphill walk out of the city to the gates. The unique thing about this site is the size and craftmanship of the block http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Cusco/Pisac/blog-343787.html Day 589 71108We left Kayla and Jason neither of whom was feeling well in bed and headed out to the market to find a few bits and pieces for lunch. As we walked into the market who should we bump into but our lovely guide Roger tucking into a fruit smoothie. We joined him for a drink and so began the magical mystery tour that today was going to turn into. Roger decided that he fancied Cuy fo http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-342594.html Day 585 31108It was a horrible early start but all of us in varying states of awakeness arose. Chrissie was still far from 100 and struggling to eat anything but confident that she was feeling a little better was happy to push on with the planned itinerary. Jumping in a minivan we had a 4 hour ride before we reached the start of the Lares Trek. Stopping off at a market in a town en route http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Cusco/Lares-Trek/blog-342590.html Day 583 11108Arriving at not too horrendous a time in the morning we entered Cusco and grabbed a taxi over to our chosen hostel. By the time we had checked in breakfast was not far off so we chilled out and checked our email before having a bite to eat more bread and jam and then hitting our room for some bed time. Cusco is at an altitude of 3400m and any of the treks that lead to Machu Pic http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-340865.html Day 581 301008A lazy morning was spent around the hostel with some hammock time a yoga lesson with Jason in the garden and some excellent showers.In the afternoon we set out to explore the city which is the second biggest in Peru. The whitestoned colonial architecture here is fantastic and the central Plaza de Armas one of the most beautiful squares we've seen with arched galleries running t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-340113.html Day 580 29.10.08 Today we were headed further north and into Peru. However before we could set foot on Peruvian soil we had to negotiate the slightly confusing method of crossing the border. We heard the best way to cross is with a Collectivo essentially a shared taxi. We thought we'd be able to catch this all the way through the Tacna the border town just inside Peruvian lines but when we got http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Tacna/Tacna/blog-339997.html Day 579 28.10.08Arriving in at the bus station at the crack of dawn we pulled our stuff into a taxi destined for a hostel Jason had reserved a room at. When we arrived we were greeted by a slightly bleary eyed but very friendly hostel owner who showed us around dropping us off at our vast spacious dorm room. A great place. After some early morning delerious hilarity we all crashed out for a cou http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Arica-and-Parinacota/Arica/blog-339985.html Day 575 24.10.08Nothing much to say for today as we had a whole 26 or so hours of travel before reaching our next destination. A quick hop back to Santiago from the coast and then a all day all night journey to the Atacama desert where wed arrive in San Pedro de Atacama a small oasis town at about 9am the next day. The semicama bus seats half bed were pretty comfy and we managed to get a http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Antofagasta-Region/San-Pedro-de-Atacama/blog-339340.html Day 574 23.10.08Today was a day to explore the arty port town of Valparaiso or Valpo for short but before we could get going with yet another day of pounding the streets we had to finalise travel plans going North. Unfortunately we couldnt go directly from Valpo so a trip back through to Santiago was needed before picking up our 24 hour long bus ride. We hit yet another hurdle when we found t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-337747.html Day 573 22.10.08The first question everyone asks you when they hear youre going to South America is Hows your Spanish and today we were about to find out.After getting packed up and doing a quick Spanish lesson from the iPod in the hostel courtyard we did what we havent done for quite a while and set off with our backpacks securely strapped to us. Having bought the van in Australia settle http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Vina-del-Mar/blog-337743.html Day 571 20.10.08It's 2pm on the 20th October 2008 are wea Waiting in a queue in the post office in Auckland NZb Sitting on a bus on the way to our hostel in Santiago Chilec Both of the aboveDue to the wonders of the International Date Line the answer is c. After spending the morning finishing off little jobs in Auckland we caught the bus out to the airport and at 6.35pm took off and waved http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-336756.html Day 568 17.10.08Finishing off the drive we dumped everything in at the hostel before going over to the hire car company to drop our wheels off. The rest of the day was spent rather boringly in and out of internet cafes which are half the price here in Auckland than they are across the rest of the country trying to get up to date with burning CD's of our photos and making a big dent in getting http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-336736.html Day 567 16.10.08We left our lovely spot at Ahipara and began the journey southwards. Tomorrow we'd have to return the car so we wanted to get close to Auckland today whilst stopping at a few spots on the way. We took the long route around the lovely Hokianga harbour area too cheap to pay for the ferry and found a lunch spot on Pakia Hill overlooking the coast and the vast sand dunes at the en http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/blog-335573.html Day 566 15.10.08Opting for a tour rather than driving up ourselves as no rental cars are allowed to drive on the beach we were picked up by our guide Senny to learn that there would only be four of us in the bus today superb. After a quick stop in Kaitaia to pick up the post our trip was also doubling as the local postie as well we were headed north on our way to the most northerly tip of Ne http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Ninety-Mile-Beach/blog-335248.html Day 564 13.10.08After an early start and a drive from Thames to Auckland we stopped in at the hire car company to exchange our dirty white not working Toyota for a clean shiny working silver car of exactly the same type. Nice work. Quickly back on the road and we spent most of the day on the road where we ate up the miles with a quick stop at the bizarre Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa unti http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/blog-334520.html Day 561 10.10.08Our first full day in the Coromandel and we started it off with a drive along the coast northwards. Spotting a great little beach on the way we pulled in for a walk finding a rock FULL of cormerants and coated in oysters. Sadly we didn't have the penknife on us or a snack of oysters would have been greatFurther on up the coast we reached Coromandel Town. On our way through we co http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-334519.html