Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl....

---

Come back Argentina, all is forgiven!!!!!

Unfortunately, the Argie bus companies that travel to Rio were all fully booked so we had to go across the border into Brazil to catch a bus instead which cost us 40 quid instead of 30 from Argentina. And oh, my god, it was the worst thing we have done since we´ve been away! Our journey can only be described as 26 hours of sub-arctic air conditioning hell! The bus was crap, the TV had been ripped of the ceiling, the seats had as about much padding as Ally McBeal, and it stopped every 30 minutes allowing for everyone to hock the contents of their throat and nose onto the road.Mmmm! Add this in with the fact that every driver thought that he had the spirit of Ayrton Senna within him, which meant that your sleeping head smashed into the windows or each others head at the slightest whiff of a bend!!!! It all meant for a pretty crappy trip, but hopefully that was our last bus trip for a few months.

So we´ve just spent 5 days in Rio de Janeiro. And to be honest, it wasn´t all that. In our opinion, if you take away the imposing backdrop, then you are just left with Torremolinos, but 10 times as dangerous. Yes, it probably didnt help that nearly everyone we´ve met who has passed through here had some kind of horror story to tell. This ranged from attempted Camera snatching on Copacabana beach (Lisa) Bag snatching on Copacabana beach (Ellisa) to being robbed with a gun stuck in your face (Claire)!!! Couple that with the 100 text messages from friends and family imploring us to "be careful, its really dangerous!", I guess we went in with the anticipation of being robbed, especially after my La Paz incident. But we weren´t and it was fine. But I guess we were sensible about everything.

Rio is really all about the beach, and we are not really beach people. We did have a couple of days bronzing ourselves as we were lucky with the weather. Average temperatures are 20 degrees for this time of year but on one of the days it was 36 degrees!!

So we did the beach, went up the Corcovado (the biggest statue of Christ in the world) and the Sugarloaf. But apart from that there was not a lot to get up to. Unlike Buenos Aires, you cant just wander aimlessy round the streets due to the safety issue, so 5 days has been more than enough for us to be honest. I guess its a case of "been there, got the T-shirt!".

So we are back in Santaigo, Chile now and catching a flight tomorrow for Auckland, New Zealand. Stage 3 of the trip is about to commence and we have hired a motorhome for 5 weeks to cane around in. We cant wait! So any of you guys out there that have been before and have any pearls of wisdom for us as to where to go, what restaurants and bars etc. we would be mighty grateful for the info.

Adios from South America

Stu and Nadine

p.s. Ladies, I know your probably dissapointed that there are no thong photos on this page, but I have been told that it was a no-go unless I wanted a new career as Bangkok chick-boy!

---

Photos

Rio
View over Botofago and the Sugarloaf

Corcovado
Christ thats big!

Rio de Janeiro
Leblon and Ipanema Beach

Rio
Copacabana at Dusk

Rio
Sunset

Rio
Copacabana Beach

Comments

[Lulu Gon]

Aaaaaaahh!! New Zealand :o)
The trip sounds great so far, and New Zealand next - how lovely. :o) Just make sure you take ID if you go clubbing in Auckland! ;o) Eat some Kumara for me :o) - how am I supposed to get back to work now!?! xxx

[tess]

you promised
what happened, you said the thong bit was a go, and i thought you was up for any thing? sorry nads but he did say he would send a picture. well never mind there is allways the stag night!!!!!!!!!!! love to both xxxxxxxx

[deb and nik]

If in north island of nz make sure you go to bay of islands and hole in the rock but stay in russel as opposed to pahia. make sure you do the corramandel including hot water beach a must, great fun. mt rupaiua(no idea how to spell) near lake taupo awesome. love hearing sories o x o

[Liz]

New Zealand
Hiya both. Very jealous of your next destination, we are going there for honeymoon and hiring a motorhome, what company did you hire it with as we havenot booked that yet. Gutted about the lack of thong action though......glad to here there havent been any tears for a while, earlier travelblogs had rather alot and was getting a bit concerned xxx

[Alex N]

Info on NZ
Hello again the intrepid explorers. Just read your latest blog and thought I could help. Jude (my better half) travelled both islands at the end of last year and I will get her to post a Lonely planet style blog by the end of this week. Good to see you are both having a great time and enjoy NZ. Keep entertaining us!!! Al and Jude.

[Al N & Jude]

NZ Stuff
Hiya, theres so much stuff to reccommend for NZ its hard to know where to start. Mildford Sound on the South Island is a must - dont stay there though stay in Te Anau and do the day trip instead. Also on the South Island theres the Franz Josef glacier where you can do a glacier hike - very hard work but really well worth it! If you're into adventure sports etc. Taupo on the North Island is the cheapest place to skydive and the view is amazing on the way down. Theres a very good hostel in Rororua called 'The Funky Green Voyager'. Can go white water rafting from rotorua to kaituna which is also amazing. In Aukland a meal in the skytower is a must - it looks like it will be really posh and expensive but its really not. Also theres an ice bar in Aukland called -5 which is pretty good. Hope thats helpful - have a wicked time!!

[Mel x-Tucan]

hola! /g'day!
Hi guys, have loved seeing all your photos! Enjoy NZ - have done the motorhome thing and loved it, sure you will too! Looking forward to seeing you in Melbs.. ! xox