Dee and Lorna

While staying in Puerto Iguazu, we decided to take advantage of its location on the Triple Frontier by visiting the neighbouring countries of Brazil and Paraguay. The three countries are so close that it's possible to drive between them in less than an hour. So, we hired a driver for a day to explore the sights, starting with a "shopping trip" to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay. Ciudad del Este, Paraguay Although it may sound like a glamorous and perhaps appealing prospect to some, this was going to be no ordinary shopping trip! Ciudad del Este is reputed to be one of South America's most corrupt cities. As Paraguay's second largest city, it's had a repuation as a smuggler's paradise for decades. But in more recent times, it's also been identified as a centre for drug ... read more

After leaving the wilderness of the Los Glaciares national park behind, we arrived 3 hours later in one of the most populated cities in the world. Buenos Aires is home to more than 12 million people and is the financial and political centre of Argentina. Our first glimpse of the city was from our taxi window as we drove down the massive Av 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world with no less than 14 lanes of traffic! Along the avenue, we passed the famous Teatro Colón (unfortunately closed for refurbishment at the time of our visit) and the symbol of Buenos Aires, the Obelisk. We were staying in San Telmo, the city's oldest neighbourhood, full of cobbled streets, antique shops and beautiful old colonial mansions. This barrio is home to writers, artists, poets ... read more

After leaving Bariloche, we had been hoping to continue our journey south along the legendary Route 40 (the road that Che Guevara famously travelled in his book the Motorcycle Diaries). Unfortunately though, it turned out to be closed for the winter, so we decided to head east to the Atlantic coast instead. After a 14-hour bus trip from Bariloche, we arrived bright and early at our hostel in Puerto Madryn. Peninsula Valdes Puerto Madryn is situated in the central Patagonian province of Chubut and is the gateway to Peninsula Valdes, one of the most valuable wildlife areas in the world. The peninsula was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1999 and is home to important breeding populations of elephant seals, penguins, sea lions and orcas (aka “killer whales”). From June to December though, the stars ... read more

We left Auckland shortly after 6pm on Saturday June 27th and after 11.5 hours on the plane, we touched down in Santiago just after 1pm on Saturday June 27th. Magic! Crossing the international date line would wreak havoc on our body clocks for the next week and a half though. During the flight, we were amused by the "map" of the plane's route which consisted of nothing but a blue square labelled "South Pacific Ocean" most of the time. At one point, we did see a recognisable land mass in the shape of Tahiti which popped up briefly on the map as a tiny white speck! After landing in Santiago, we made our way to our hostel and decided to stay awake for another few hours in the belief that sleeping at night time in Santiago ... read more

Our first glimpse of New Zealand was the spectacular sight of the Southern Alps from the airplane window as we flew over the South Island. It was like flying over a frozen world and, considering we were going to be driving around it, the views both frightened and excited us at the same time! We touched down in Christchurch on 2nd May and began our Kiwi adventure. Christchurch Christchurch is New Zealand's most English city and this influence can be clearly felt in the city centre with trams running down the streets, punts meandering down the Avon river and a large cathedral in the main sqaure. We were staying on Hereford Street, just across the road from the Arts Centre and our first introduction to New Zealand was the Sunday market held there. There were all ... read more