22/04/06 - 25/04/06 The wine capital of Argentina....and rightly so!!! wine is cheap and great!!! i´ve become friends with a grape called Malbec!!! i love anything Malbec...why we dont get it imported to asutralia surprises me!!! i arrive here at 2am in the morning and get into my hostel only to randomly bump into a guy called Feargal that i had now randomly bumped into for the 6th time during my travels!!! small world!!! so i unpack, have a shower and go out clubbin with him and 6 others (4 argentinians,1 spanish and 1 french!!) in a club called Apeteco...this lack [View Full Entry]

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16/4/06 - 22/04/06 Capital of Chile, poluted, but pleasant enough city. well planned and landscaped and a great metro system. stayed in Bella Vista, the trendy area of restaurants and clubs. climbed up the cerro santa Christobel and watched the sunset over the city surrounded by the domineering surrounding andes mountains...a sight that clearly defines the image of Chile for me, and yet you never get sick of seeing it!!! After 2 days, i was ready to leave Santiago, when i met a few local Chileans. we drank, we laughed, we danced. we had a great time- Paula, Viviana, Rodrigo, Angelo [View Full Entry]

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13/4/06 - 15/04/06 Crossed into Chile, passing by the footsteps of volcano Lanin, 3800metres high, and bordering both argentina and chile. Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile. was travelling with 3 others at this point...its like that in south america. most people are independent travellers. we were Aussie, English, American and Israeli!!! We woke at 3am to start climbing the Villarica volcano at 4am!!! this is the second highest mountain in the region, still active and is demanding at a height of 2800metres. so at 4am, 15of us, guided in the dark with our headlamps on and 5 layers of clothing, [View Full Entry]

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12/04/06 - 14/04/06 Having left my much loved backbacker lifestyle in Bariloche, i ventured by bus to San Martin, passing through some of the most beautiful landscape you will see...it should be labelled as one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Australia has its great ocean road, Argentina has the 7 lakes road trip...passing through crystal lakes reflecting their green cloaked mountains and winding landscape..but unfortunately i was on a direct bus trip that did not allow for us to stop and admire the landscape in its entirety... finally arriving in San Martin...a small pristine town, surrounded by lakes [View Full Entry]

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Im in love with this town...i have found the backpacker haven!!! this is party central...home to acute alcohol intoxication and everything exiting!!! ive been here for 1.5 weeks...picked up 5 spanish lessons with a cute argentinian called natalia...within the first lesson i was able to learn how to find out if she has a boyfriend (novio) in spanish...which to my misfortune she does... i partied 7 out of 9 days...averaging 4-5 hours sleep...met some great people at my hostel...went out for awesome food (best steak so far...and awesome pastas!!). the best chocolate ive ever tried and ice cream that leaves your [View Full Entry]

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a small quaint hippie town akin to nimbin in australia, full of dreadlocked hippies, street kids trying to sell u pot and home to anything organic and home-made. this has become a backpacker stop for obvious reasons. i stayed in a refugio on a farm. no i didnt milk any cows!! it was very tranquil...went trekking up a mountain made of granite to get to a view point with 25 figures made from the stumps of dead trees...yep, you're right, it wasnt that exciting!! The town becomes alive on market days- tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays...these, it seems, are the only days [View Full Entry]

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This was a 2 day bus trip from hell!!! i was told that this was meant to be a highlight of the patagonian experience...arid landscapes, beautiful mystical scenery.. a must see part of the backpacker experience!!! after a few hours it was clear the people who wrote about this must be on drugs!!! i was stuck for 2 days on a bus travelling down route 40 with its desolate interior and the andes mountain range in the distance...no point trying to romanticise it...between snorting the dust fusing its way through the bus and trying aimlessly to get rid of that cramp [View Full Entry]

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EL CHALTEN (FITZ ROY NATIONAL PARK)- after all that trekking, i still did more trekking. and i went ice climbing...with crampons for boots and ice picks, i climbed a glacier!!! woohoo!!! exhilirating...oh and the views were great too...some even compared to torres del paine. It seems everyone in South America is travelling for months...and evryone is gettin away from something or has an agenda. although im travellin solo, i never feel alone. its actually hard to get time to yourself!! i never know what im doing from day to day or where i end up...but thats the beauty of this trip...its [View Full Entry]

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one of the worlds biggest glaciers. 30km long, 5km wide and 60-90m high...a break or crack from the edge would make the ground tremble and the waves shatter and plurt in its wake!! and it was freezing cold!!! [View Full Entry]

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I´ve seen alot so far, but nothing has yet compared to the beauty of Torres Del Paine national park!! I decided to go on another trek...having arrived in Puerto Natales, i met a german guy called Volker..and we decided to trek and camp together...got our tent, got our mats, cooker and burner, and food to last us for 5 days..and chocolate!!! We get into the the park carrying 15+kg backpacks....and it starts raining...trudge up steep slopes for 3 hours to a refugio ( places where u can stay for a night in a dorm for 50 dollars aussie or camp outside [View Full Entry]

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