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Published: April 13th 2008
Sean and Emily
Cottontree, Sunshine CoastA busy 16 days since our last update. We had a week or so in Chile, starting in San Pedro de Atacama just over the border from the Bolivian Salt flats. Bizarre little town in the middle of the desert. Highlights included an evening of Astronomy and star gazing - we saw the rings of saturn and the craters on the moon through some very impressive telescopes! We also went a day trip to the 'Valley of the Moon' - a beautiful moonscape like landscape with wonderful rock formations, a large crater and a perfect place to watch the sunset light up the Andes.
Next we headed 17 hours south to the Chilean coast, La Serena, a small town with lovely long beaches. We chilled out and watched a local girls football match on the beach.
We stopped in Santiago for a couple of days and had fun being back in the civilised world - fancy shopping malls, restaurants and bars were a shock to the system after our few months in Peru / Bolivia. The western prices were even more of a shock after living on a couple of pounds a day in Bolivia!
Santiago is a great city, buzzing
The Rings of Saturn
Through Penny's Camera with energy. We sat in the main plaza watching street performers and opera singers (Darryl obviously got picked on by a stand up comedian!). We visited the zoo and went up two large hills for views of the city. Penny celebrated becoming a Partner in her new practice on April 1st with a fancy dinner and champagne!
From Santiago we had a long flight to Melbourne via Auckland. We had a great few days exploring the city and surrounding area and were lucky to encounter some beautiful weather (sorry about the snow in England...) We met up with our friend Meredith who we first met in Peru, she persuaded Penny to take part in a little local run.. 55km ultramarathon (35miles) from a strip club to a pub! With no training and kitted out in someone else's trainers and running gear, Penny managed half - 17.5 miles, and then could not walk for 2 days! Daz was support crew and drove the trail giving out energy drinks and bananas. Great way to see the Mornington Peninsula and lots of fun.
Another highlight was an Aussie Rules Football match in the MCG - 65,000 spectators, great fun! We hired a car
and visited Phillip Island (Wineries and little penguins) and the Great Ocean Road, covering 1000km in 2 days. We were lucky to see the coast with glorious sunshine which was spectacular. It was Melbourne comedy festival too, so we went to see Josie Long which was a great show.
On our final day in Melbourne, Penny had a pamper morning while Darryl joined the Casino to win some cash playing Poker (He won enough to pay for Penny's pampering!)
We have now been in Brisbane for a few days for Sean and Emily's wedding on the Sunshine Coast. Having been forecast rain, we sorted things out and brought the sunshine that has been following us. The wedding was beautiful at an idyllic beach-side spot and it was great to catch up with uk friends.
So, last day today and tomorrow we fly home... Gutted that our adventure has come to an end but it has been an amazing 3 1/2 months and we are really excited about catching up with everyone and boring you all with our photos and tales!
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meredith
non-member comment
Hey Penny + Daz... Penny, you'll be glad to know you weren't the only one who strugled to walk following the run. I came good wendesday. Walked like those little fairy penguins mon and tues. Michelle still cant squat and we've sent Andy off for a bone scan (querying stress # in foot). Looking forward to seeing the photos you took. Hope the rest of Oz treated you well. Good luck with starting the new job. Thanks again support crew :-)