And Now The End Is Near....

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Just when you thought it was all over and you didn't have to read anymore blogs.....along comes another one. Sorry, but we forgot to post this one before we left Rio........but we thought we would send it anyway.

With just 24 hours left before we had our final flight to catch, we headed back to Rio, and back to the 'Best Rio' Hostel, which somehow didn't seem as good the second time round. But, it was just a case of doing a few last minute jobs and mentally preparing ourselves for arriving back in Cardiff, so it didn't really matter. We thought we would take a moment to think about what we have done and where we have been over the past one year and share a few of our thoughts before returning home. It has gone so very, very quickly, as we knew it would. We keep getting asked 'what are the highlights of your trip?', It is a difficult question to answer as some experiences just cannot be compared. So we thought we would compile a list of a few of our faves, our 'best evers...(copyright S Baker 1995)', so here goes our 'Top 5s':

TOP BEACHES:

1. Whitehaven, Whitsundays, Australia
2. Natandola, Coral Coast, Vitu Levu, Fiji
3. Palm Beach, North Sydney, Australia
4. Cathedral Cove, Coromandel, New Zealand
5. Trinidade, Paraty, Brazil


TOP FOOD EXPERIENCES:

1. BBQ prawns on the beach, Scallywags, Gili T, Lombok
2. Huge steaks, great red wine and tango, any parillada, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3. Pad thai (and any other thai dish) on the street side, night food markets, Chang Mai, Thailand
4. Coconut Curry/BBQ beef, Cyclo Cafe, Nha trang, Vietnam
5. Massala Dosai, Little India, Singapore
5. Curry + roti, Tatas, Nadi, Fiji


TOP JOURNEYS:

1. Sitting on the roof of the small ferry boat from Sanur, Bali to Nusa Labongan
2. Overnight train ride from Hanoi to Danang, Vietnam
3. Hitching a ride on the back of a pick up truck, Epi, Vanuatu
4. Flight to Epi on a tiny twin otter plane, Vanuatu
5. Riding the windowless buses in Fiji

TOP ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS:

1. Perro, Pichilemu, Chile
1. Orangutans, Borneo
2. Snorkelling (sharks, stingrays, octopus, many more fish), Yasawas Islands, Fiji
3. Sea Lions and Penguins, New Zealand
4. Surfing with dolphins, Pantanal do Sul, Brazil
5. Huge Bats, kangaroos, red back spiders, parakeets and more, Australia

TOP PLACES TO STAY:

1. Cabanas Paraiso, Bahia inglesa, Chile
2. Ala's Hibiscus 2, Ubud, Bali
3. Lake Tekapo, Camping, NZ
4. Point Plomer, DOC site, Australia
5. Saqua Hostel, Saquarema, Brazil
5. Estrekas do Mar, Pantanal do Sul, Brazil

TOP ACTIVE ADVENTURES:

1. Skydiving, Lake Taupo NZ/ Climbing Mount Kinabalu, Borneo
2. Skiing NZ,
3. Caving, NZ
4. White Water Rafting, NZ
5. Snorkelling, Fiji
5. Hangliding, Byron Bay, Australia


TOP NATURAL WONDERS:

1. Iguassu Falls, Argentina side
2. Mount Cook + NZ Alps
3. Halong Bay, Vietnam
4. Yasawas Islands, Fiji
5. Atacama Desert, Chile


TOP TOURS:

1. Trekking Northern Thailand
2. Macchu Picchu, Peru
3. Halong Bay, Vietnam
4. El Tatio Geysers, Chile
5. Jungle River Trip, Borneo


TOP CITIES:

1. Buenos Aires
2. Hanoi
3. Singapore
3. Kuala Lumpur
4. Rio de Janeiro
5. Sydney

Surfing ratings to be listed by Stu at great length no doubt, for those of you who are interested. We loved every bit of the adventure, even when things were tough or not going our way, we could still smile about it after and often it is the scary times that make the best stories. We loved Asia for the excitement, sights, food, climate, inland and beaches. Australia rocks for beaches and wildlife. New Zealand has jaw dropping scenery. The South Pacific is just beautiful. South America is crazy and energetic. We will always have those memories, but we also missed everyone back home and are looking forward to catching up ........and then wishing we were away again!

The things that we will NOT miss about travelling:

1. Spitting/phlegm clearing in public
2. The inability for anyone except British people to queue in an orderly fashion.
3. Rats/Cockroaches/Mosquitos
4. Dodgy toilets/not being able to put paper into the toilet
5. Pollution/traffic noise
5. long bus journeys

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Photos

Whitehaven Beach
Look how clear the water is, how blue the sky, and how white the sand. It is lovely and warm, and with few people around, only bad point: 'stingers'

Scallywags
Relaxing in the beach bar after a big plate of BBQ prawns