http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/paulandelaine/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from paulandelaine en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:29:12 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:29:12 +0000 Well we are completo Wed have more photos but the glacier wetting of the camera back in New Zealand and a very recent dropping of it this week by Elaine has caused a motor problem with the trusty camera so weve been forced to commit more to memory.Sorry Dad Pauls gonna do a Maguiver on it once he gets home to his tools but it has taken virtually thousands of photos on this trip so http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-258718.html Well we finally wrapped up in Bariloche.Our last weekend involved our Saturday blogging to you all and then on Sunday we took a little stroll to the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi beside Lago Guttereiz our local lake and took a walk to see the little waterfalls that were in there. We had thought about hiking up to Refugio frey that Sunday with Peter a guy from the Netherlands from our school w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Puerto-Iguaz-/blog-256090.html Hmmm our plans to leave Bariloche were scuppered 2 weeks on we find ourselves still here We stayed in a nice hostle called El Barraca right in the town well up about 100 steps but we got used to that for the first week trying unsuccessfully to make plans for our limited time left in Argentina. We were still hankering after some more spanish lessons very fruitful of us I hear you all think http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-253473.html Well you probably all know now but we are coming home early We are due back on the 24th March Easter Monday. Paul got offered a job he was on a panel for and he simply couldnt turn it down. So weve shaved about a month and a half off our trip and tried to put the foot on the accelerator ..... well it turns out we have become lazy so we shaved the plans instead and have opted to just vis http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Neuquen/San-Martin-de-Los-Andes/blog-250008.html Well we left Mark and Mary in New Zealand on the Morning of the 5th February to go to the airport in Christchurch. Everything seemed to go swimmingly and we touched down in Auckland at 11.30am to change flights to our 5.30pm flight to Santiago Chile. We had some time to kill so grabbed some food checked emails read papers etc until at about 4.30pm our flight disappeared off the board. About 2 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Pichilemu/blog-246273.html So the clock is ticking... flying to Santiago Chile tomorrow morning On the last leg now it seemsWe left our blog in Dunedin as we were getting settled in. The hostel there was lovely and as the days went on an endless stream of people we had met along the way kept arriving into it Obviously a popular choice. Two swiss girls Michelle and Christina whom we had spent christmas with in New Pl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-242583.html So we left you in Franz Joseph village last time. We headed out for our free shots and spent the evening shooting some pool with a guy and girl from the netherlands. They are doing their PE teacher placements in New Zealand and were taking some time out to see a bit of the country. Unfortunately for them they were broke though and had to get up early the next morning to clean the hostel in excha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-236365.html Another blog alreadyWe've been moving fast the last few days and have a good few photos to upload so thought we had better jot down what we have been up to while we have the time However internet services have not been so willing. It has taken 4 attempts at different internet points to get this blog together. Asia had it down to a tee but they have all sorts of administrator blocks for down http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/blog-234243.html We thought we had better put up a blog since yee are all heading back to work soon or are already there and probably need something to fill your hours when you return to the office. We spent Christmas in New Plymouth in a hostel called Shoestring Backpackers. Paul n I went out for Christmas Eve drinks and after trawling the streets found an Irish pub playing christmas music so had a few tipples t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Blenheim/blog-232707.html Hallo allThought we'd squeeze in a blog before Santy comes as we've been moving round a fair bit and gets hard to recount it all when we are travelling fastSo we headed off from Pahia in the northlands about a fortnight ago in the oul' mazda with our first two hitchhikers two english guys Ross and Sam who were heading down to Auckland and who we had been limbo'ing with in the local pub th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/New-Plymouth/blog-229932.html Well its been a while But figure yee are all going to be caught up with the hustle and bustle of christmas so may not have the usual hours to sit reading our blog But here it is.We got back to Bangkok in a hurry due to hair loss. Thought it was the Malaria tablets but turned out its a 'reversible' side effect of dengue fever that sometimes occurs 2 months after having dengue so rush it s http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Islands/Paihia/blog-227677.html Hey allits been a gasping 13 days since our last blog i believe And gasping in terms of distances and speedy experiences of CambodiaWell we're back in Bangkok feeling very well travelled and very much the adventurers after our circular route thru northern Thailand Laos the length of Vietnam and through Cambodia only submitting to one flight with the rest overland Took us just over 2 mo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-223669.html So its blog time again We've pretty much done everything we wanted to do touristwise in Saigon so think its a safe time to wrap it up in a blog before we get on the road to Phnom Penh. We'll see what we can pull together hereWe wrapped up in Mui ne after having 3 surfs in total waves d7881ed down wind dropped so it was no more surf for the lads . It rained quite a lot one of the days http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-220104.html Well to start off there were some ommisions from the last blog...1 whilst we were all swimming off boat in Halong bay a girl who was about to jump in from top deck of boat called down that there was a sting ray swimming right between myself elaine and another girl who were little more than arms lenght apart in the water... needless to say i got out pretty sharp but paul dead impressed with http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-217853.html Well another busy week under our beltAs it transpired we were ACHING from the tubing... far too much swinging so we decided to get on the road the next day and make our way to the capital of Laos Vientiane. We took a minibus with Eitienne our french Canadian comrade and two people from his two day boat from Belgium Patricke and Monique. We got a place to stay quite quickly and had a wan http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-213976.html I am going to steal the blogging this time from Elaine while she's not looking. ahem .. cough cough .... After settling in Vang Vieng on the first night without delay the next morning we hooked up with the guys we took the bus down from luang Prabang with and rented some tubes. Because we were seven and doing 8 kilometers the shop provided us with a free guide La. For those of you unfamiliar wi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-211388.html Well we've had an eventful week with no real opportunity to upload the photos so we're putting up another blog now with an array of photos As usual Pauls on photo duty being the techie in our little twosome and i'm bloggingOur last night in chaing mai involved some drinks with our group from the trek We all got some grub and graced 2 establishments with our presence Despite the usual co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-210823.html Well we have returned after the most amazing 3 days ever this is gonna be a long one cos want to capture it all for historical purposes so sorry for excessive detailingWe booked our 3 day trek with Eagle house 2 a 2 night 3 day trek off the tourist trail to the hill tribes and doi inthanon in northern thailand. Cost about 60 euro each including accom and all our food and water and entry http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Northern-Thailand/blog-208431.html Well we've upped the pace since we last bloggedWe left Ko tao survived the journey to bangkok and settled back into bangkok for a few nights Met up with our old pals Gav and Hayley for what they thought was their 2nd last night until they realised at about 12 midnight that it was their last night and their plane was in an hour Last we saw they were fretfully running out door of guesthouse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-206365.html Hi all Well we've had a lovely relaxing week on ko tao Settled nicely into our little hut with the beach across the path. The water here is crystal clear and tropical blue Not much in the way of sea lice crabs and jelly fish either so it hasbeen a treat not much the lover of all things slimey and squirmy and snippy at my feet. We've been taking it slow and easy all week.. hard to even http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-203546.html