After leaving Buenos Aires, There was definitely a dark cloud a-hanging. A stupid amount of time was spent travelling to get to Caracas. But, once I got there; as the planes wheels hit the tarmac my instant thought was "What am I doing in Venezuela?" Yes, it had all been worth it. After escaping the clutches of a few uniformed con men, myself and a couple of Argentines got a lift into town with a friend of theirs. Oscar took us off in a swirl of leather interior, plush oil money surrounds, while giving us a complete run down on Chávez [View Full Entry]

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Looking through the haze of the after effects of a Christmas and New Year, all in 40c heat.. Buenos Aires looks like more of a proud and mental city to me. It has been a groundhog day of steak, beer, dancing and riding my bike through traffic. All fantastic. The drivers here are as mental as I am, and for some reason it seems to work. The tourist rumour is that 20 cyclists die on the roads of BA a month... ALL from Australia! Sorry Ma.. Just a joke. It is truly mental, and my princess is a beaten up cruiser [View Full Entry]

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I flew into Buenos Aires, it´s HUGE! I jumping 20c in temperature and 20 notches in excitement. After spending nearly a month in the relaxed beauty of Patagonia, a city, THIS city is making me mental. My hostel was chosen with the intention of being friendly over Xmas and NY, so it may even be a little too friendly... Party every night. Because everyone is on a different timetable then no one really gets any sleep. Because the city doesn´t, then we don´t. For NY I booked another place with some space though, thankfully... I am currently a little sick due [View Full Entry]

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I left Chile, on a bus to Ushuaia, Argentina. It took 12 hours all up. We stopped; in order to cross a channel by ferry, and as we waited we drank tea in a desolate truck stop with a broken slippery dip and seasaws, surrounded by rubbish and freighters. Watching the ferry that charged over the rough waters coming toward us. It was a crazy and rough trip, with a sea lion spotting, truckers, and a bus load of pervy locals in their beaten up bus. Complete with every window cracked by stones and generally falling apart. With an onboard chef, [View Full Entry]

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¨So, did you do the W?¨ I don´t know what this phrase is in Spanish although I should know it in every language. Torres Del Paine (Towers of Pain; for obvious reasons!) is a National Park here in Chile and is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world. The ¨W¨is a 3-4 day hike around the towers, past glaciers, snow capped mountain ranges, and through an ever changing landscape. The peppermint glacial water, the mountains looked as though they were desserts dusted in icing sugar, perhaps the walks were just making me really hungry.... The Flora was [View Full Entry]

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From the quay-side strip joints of Puerto Montt, myself and thankfully not a gazillion American retirees, hopped aboard the 4 day ferry to Puerto Natales. The trip wound its way through the channels of the Patagonian fjords, through sea sickness and meatloaf and some incredible landscapes. We were so lucky with the weather, it rained only a little and what mist and scattered light there was, only added to the experience. The 2nd night the route was in the open sea, and all those drinking since midday were a complete mess. I would have preferred to jump off the boat than [View Full Entry]

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I DRAGGED myself away from the sunshine of Reñaca, to head south and begin the Pantagonian leg of my trip. I voted John Howard out (!) at the Australian Embassy in Santiago, then got on an extemely comfortable overnight bus to Puerto Varas. Complete with business class style seats, a dinner box and breakfast... cute! I awoke to lush green hills and shabby European style houses, with moss covered roofs. Puerto Varas completely blew me away, I walked the town in some delerium, as the photos will show, it is just gorgeous. I hired a bike and rode by the lake [View Full Entry]

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Three days ago I popped on a bus from Santiago to here, Valparaiso. The trip out of the city and through the mountains was great. Just like as in Sydney, you have this spread of housing developments, KellyVilla! They are called the City of Valleys (Ciudad del Valle, i think...) and under the shade of mountains (that to my Australian standard are MASSIVE). The new burbs are actually marked by HOLLYWOODesq signs on the mountain above them. So these big mountain ranges have a wee sprawl beneth them, with the new suburbs names in big white letters and an ARROW to [View Full Entry]

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¡HOLA! Well! It has begun! I have been here in Santiago for 6 days thus far, and all´n´all.. insane. I am starting to get used to the fact that i cannot communicate. I was walking around with a lost puppy expression, or shock, for a while too! But! Santiago is cool, the people (when not pained by my blank expression) are so great. I´ve am constantly suprised at how helpful everyone is. I´ve been adopted into groups of friends, walked home and generally treated like an odd and interesting idiot. Everyone has been so generous with their time. I was adopted [View Full Entry]

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