Oh my God I can't believe it...

I've never been this far away from home (for all you Kaiser Chief fans!)

We arrived in NZ yesterday morning at about 6am, after a 13+ hour flight from Argentina. From Argentina we had to first fly back to Santiago, Chile, our flight was 11:40am so we were up early packing all our stuff up and enjoying our last Argentinian breakfast of coffee and croissants (hmmmm!) We took a taxi to the airport as it was 35km from Buenos Aires so we didn't want to chance Public Transport. Our flight was no hassle, there was a bit of confusion with our flight though as it had changed from the original booking and everybody was sending us in different directions to get checked in, we eventually managed it and headed off to the departure lounge. The flight to Chile is only 2 hours so we seemed to be getting off just as we were getting comfortable. Once we got to Chile we had to go through more security checks and through the "In Transit" section back into another departure lounge to wait for our NZ flight. The only downside to this was, our next flight wasn't departing until 22:45, which was made even worse by the fact that when we got to Chile we had to put our watches back an hour because of the time zones in America. It was a long long day, has anybody ever seen the film Terminal with Tom Hanks??

The flight to NZ was a bloody long one, we were both tired after being up all day and just sat about so we were looking forward to getting some shut eye on the plane. When we boarded and got into our seats it was quite obvious that we were in for a very uncomfortable flight, the plane was tiny for a long haul trip, we both agreed that we had been on bigger flights to Europe. I haven't got particularly long legs but even I was cramped. The flight was full too, we were packed in like sardines! But there wasn't a lot we could do so it was a case of grin and bear it. The in flight entertainment was good with loads of good films and games and it was good to be back among so many English speaking people again (even if they were all loud mouthed Ozzies!!) The flight was really bumpy too, we had constant turbulence for over 2 hours. Im not a nervous flyer (unlike Matt who isn't too keen) but I have to say it's one of the longest and most uncomfortable I've ever been on.

It got dark in Chile at about 6pm on Friday and we didn't see daylight then for about another 15 hours, because you cross over the date line too on the way to NZ we lost a whole day. We were totally disorientated when we landed (still in darkness) and mentally and physically exhausted.

We got through the tight Passport Control without any real hassle, the Kiwi's really are friendly people, and it was all "good on ya" kind of banter all the way through. We did get our shoes checked and asked if we had any feathers or "raw hide" in our back packs!! So once we got out of the airport we were as excited as we could be considering our mental state, we were a pit pi$$ed off as we couldn't check into our hostel until 8am, and even then couldn't have our room until 11am (which actually turned out to be nearer 1pm!!) as there was somebody still in it. From the airport we took the "cheap" bus, there were a few options of getting to the hostal but we decided that because it was English speaking that we would take the bus, if we got lost we could quite easily ask somebody the way, ask the bus driver to tell us where to get off etc, all the things that we could never communicate to people in Sth America because of the language barrier.

Once we got our room we had a shower and unpacked our stuff (all in desperate need of washing!) We didn't want to go straight to bed as we knew we wouldn't sleep in the evening, I had quite bad motion sickness from the flight though and still felt like we were on it, it was a weird feeling. We went for a walk in the area where were staying which is Parnell Road. It's full of restaurants and pubs, heaven. They all speak English and the majority of restaurants are Indian and Thai. We could probably spend the whole 7 weeks here quite happily ;-) We headed for an Irish Bar, The Bog as they were doing a Sunday Roast and we had really missed not having one since we left in May. So we had a BIG belly buster, a couple of pints and watched the local Rugby League (a perfect afternoon for my dad!!) it was after the alcohol that we really did start to tire. So we headed back to the hostal at 3pm, got into bed and slept until 7am this morning!! We both feel much better for it.

Obviously we haven't seen a great deal yet so theres not a lot to tell you, we get our Camper on Wednesday and were heading straight off up to The Bay Of Island, where the beaches are superb (90 miles long) it is also a couple of degrees warmer "Up North" The weather is much milder than Argentina (which was freezing!) but it is only Spring here so were not expecting any heat waves, we will have to wait for Fiji for the beach wear to come out.

We wont be blogging as regular in NZ as most of the time we will be on the road and hopefully in the middle of nowhere, and obviously because were not in hostals there will be no free internet. I know this Camper Van we've hired is a good one with all mod cons but I don't think it included internet access!

South America - Summarised

Hi all, no doubt you`re all looking forward to the B/H weekend and the good weather that is forecast! As you know we fly to New Zealand tomorrow, we are soooo looking forward to it even though we lose a day of our trip and don't sleep for 2 days!! The last few days we have been walking the length and breadth of Buenos Aires, we know the place intimately now. We went to the BA zoo on Tuesday, you may have seen the pics. I`m not sure how I feel about zoo`s to be honest, on one hand the animals are safe from extinction and well looked after and kept, but on the other hand it`s not a natural environment for the animals to live in. Most of the animals we saw were hunters so the thought of them being hand fed everyday is a bit strange. Anyway that`s just me having to much time to think ;-)

So I'm not going to write a long blog today, instead we have put some numbers together regarding our time in Sth America which I hope you enjoy. I have posted extensively about Sth America since we have been here and it is difficult to summarise the place up and put it into words. I can honestly say it has been the most exhilarating experience of my life, and if I never travel again (highly unlikely) then I am just glad that we chose Sth America to spend the majority of our trip. It is an experience I will NEVER forget. So rather than go on anymore I will post the facts and a summary of words that spring to mind when we think about Sth America.

Time spent in South America from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile to Argentina was: 90 days

Hostels stayed in: 32 (1 dorm)

Buses travelled on: 29
The time spent on buses was 190 hrs which equates to 7.9 days.
Longest bus journey was 26 hrs, Buenos Aires to Iquazu.
Shortest bus journey 2 hrs, Quito to Otavalo.

Planes travelled on: 3
Boats: 4
4 x 4 wheel drives: 2

Geographical Highlights
Ecuador - Jungle, Andes, The lush green landscapes
Peru - Maccu Piccu
Bolivia - Salt Flats, Uyuni, Andes, The remoteness of the country
Argentina - Buenos Aires

Lowlights
Bolivian Roads, Poverty, Altitude

Highlights
Hospitality, Argentinian Wine, Scenery and diverse landscape, Culture, Value

South America - The Summary
Diversity, Poverty, Resourceful, Friendly, Colourful, Cold, Fruit, Handicrafts, Rawness, Dog Muck(!) Stray Dogs, Altitude, Value, Currency, Politics, Indigenous, Markets, Animals, Injustice, Happiness, Hectic, Noisy, Pollution, Police, Taxis, Sweets, Vegetables, Finger puppets, Buses, Diarrhoea, Protests, Culture, Landscapes, Climate, Winter, Incas, Silver, Desert, Spanish, Borders, Remoteness, Snow, Architecture, Llama, Amazon, Equator, Volcanoes, Religion, Coca, Pisco Sour, Passport, Government, Pacific, Beer, Costumes, Dust, Derelict, Anguish, Hospitality, Transport, Punctures, Tradition, Farming, Love, Improvisation, Cultivation, Basic, Injustice, Happy Children, Football, Road Blocks, Hope.

It`s difficult to chose a favourite place or country here but mine is Bolivia. Everyday life is a chore, the majority of Bolivian families living in poverty, transport networks are also the most difficult in South America, yet they take it all on the chin and always with a smile. It is such a heart warming place to visit and it has been a truly life changing experience for me.

Happy Birthday Gary!!

Were back in the bustling city of Buenos Aires, we LOVE it. It is the most exciting city I have ever been to, it`s knocks spots off New York!!

We got back here on Thursday night, a little unexpectedly! On Thursday morning we left Cordoba for a 6 hour bus trip to Rosario, our Lonely Planet Guide book insists that Roasrio is the best thing since sliced bread so we were quite up for a few days there before heading back to BA. We arrived at the bus terminal about 4.30 in the afternoon and got a cab into the centre to a hotel that we had picked out of the guide book. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately!?) they were fully booked so we decided to try a couple of others that we knew about in the area. It was as we left the hotel that we agreed that we didn't know what all the fuss had been about in our LP book as Rosario looked to be a bit of a dump, litter and rubbish everywhere, really noisy and pollution from all the cabs/buses and a few unscrupulous individuals eyeing up our back packs (although I`d love to see somebody attempt to run off with my 13 kilo pack!!) Anyway we trudged along to the next hotel, where again there were no rooms or hospitality for that matter, we tried the 3rd one same story there. We spotted a hostel on an opposite corner so decided to try there instead but luckily we couldn`t find the doorway. So we considered our options, we could try some more hotels and rather than stay the planned 3 nights there just stay for one as we were getting a bit tired by this point, OR we could jump back on a bus and just head straight back to BA (another 4 hours) So that's what we did. We arrived in BA at about 11pm totally cream crackered, we decided to try the hotel that we stayed at the last time we were here but they were full, so off we went again with our packs weighing us down and really taking their toll on our mood. We tried another FIVE hotels before we found one that could only guarantee us 1 nights accommodation. By this stage we were so tired, crabby and in need of sleep that we decided to take the room, knowing that we would feel much better after a good nights kip. We went down for breakfast the next morning and then checked with the reception again if there was a possibility that we could extend our stay for another 7 nights, to our surprise the guy said that yes we could "no problemo", Hurrrrah!!

So here we are, a whole week in BA. To say it`s a relief knowing that we don`t have to do anymore mammoth bus journeys is an understatement. I don`t care if we never see another bus again, although Asia will be the same, and not half as luxurious :-( It actually feels like were on holiday for a week now, we`ve unpacked all our stuff and made ourselves right at home in the hotel, it`s a great feeling after all the thousands of miles we have bussed.

Yesterday we had a walk round BA, there was a local radio station broadcasting live in one of the busy roads (18 lanes wide, it`s THE widest road in the world) and the radio show could be heard in the street and we could see the broadcaster. It was some kind of phone in, we didn`t have a clue what about as obviously it was in Spanish, so us being the tourists we are Matt waved at the guy who was speaking live on the radio, and the guy waved back. Me and Matt were giggling like a couple of stupid school kids, we thought it was hilarious (this is what happens when you spend too much time in someones company ;-)) We then went to an Irish Bar for a bottle of wine, we fancied a chilled out afternoon, it was Friday after all and we were thinking of people at home who had been at work all week, we knew they must be exhausted ;-) So this one bottle turned into, 2 bottles, many beers and finally finished off with a curry. What a treat that was, the curry was lovely too. It was all really for Gary though who is celebrating his Birthday today. Happy Birthday Gary, we miss you and will definitely be out for your next one!

Tomorrow we are visiting the San Telmo District, they have massive Antique Markets on a Sunday (Massive market, not massive antiques) and then you can go to one of the many cafe bars and take in a Tango Show. Although there is a pub in the area called Gibraltar where you can get an English Sunday lunch so the Tango may have to wait another day.

For anybody that enjoys the cafe bar culture and fine restaurants then Buenos Aires really is the place to be. Everything is in abundance and you are really spoilt for choice. We have made a shortlist of good places to eat and drink, we have 6 days left to get through them all...

How long?

Hi all, just wanted to draw attention to the fact that we have now been away 100 days, woo hoo!! (I can hear all the party poppers, and streamers going off at home!!) It certainly doesn`t feel like a hundred days. Although the time really is flying by, it`s starting to hit home now that we are planning our time in NZ and Fiji, as when we came away those countries seemed a lifetime away!

Yesterday we took the bus from Salta to Cordoba, it was just over 12 hours which was quite a short trip by Argentinian standards. Cordoba is "The Heart" of Argentina, and is the 2nd biggest city to BA, it is also where all the Argentinian Universities are so you can imagine it`s quite a young and lively place with lots of bars and cinemas etc. We will stay here a few days before heading off to a smaller place called Rosario which is reportedly another busy place, and nearer to BA which is where were heading back to for next Friday.

We went on the trip on Saturday and to be honest we were a bit disappointed, were not sure if it`s because were all cultured out, but everything we saw we had pretty much seen already in the other countries we have already visited. It was 15.5 hours on a little mini bus too, right at the back getting bounced out of our seats. It was good to get off the beaten track though and see some of Argentina, it is a beautiful place but a little bit too big to do the place justice in 3 weeks.

We are definitely ready to leave Sth America now, although we will be sad to leave, mentally we are now geared up to NZ and having our own transport again, and not having to eat out EVERY day/night! I also feel like I`m running out of thing`s to blog about!!

The Friday feeling!!

Hola amigos, were now in Salta, Argentina after a very long 26 hours on the bus. It is a really busy and lively place and when we arrived yesterday it was lovely and sunny, today it´s grey, cold and overcast, I´m beginning to think were never going to experience summer again!
The bus is the longest one so far, I mean in terms of distance, not the actual bus itself! There are a few stop off´s along the way but it´s mostly just driving, the longest stop was a change of bus yesterday morning at a place called Tucuman, where we got of and had an hour to get breakfast, stretch your legs etc. I counted 3 different drivers for the whole journey, I´m not sure what the European laws are on driving hours across the continent. I know when I went to Austria years ago that we actually stopped off overnight in France and stayed in a hotel.
We chose to sit at the front of the bus as theres nothing worse than somebody in front of you with their seat fully reclined for the whole trip, the only thing with choosing these seats is you get to see the drivers every manoeuvre, good or bad!! Let´s just say that 2 of the drivers seemed to be in a rush to get us there, maybe they´d left a pan on at home!! Hopefully were not going to use the company again.
I´m not sure where you would end up if you got on a bus in the U.K at Lands End and drove for 26 hours, probably out in the North Sea somewhere, it just gives you an idea of the absolute vastness of this country, let alone continent.

We have just been to the launderette to get our stinking washing done, we try to get it done weekly (whether it needs doing or not ;-)) normally when we take it in they just weigh it and come up with a random figure of how much it will cost, and the wearer of the smelly socks and pants walks out with a certain sense of anonymity. Well today it wasn´t to be, it was like being named and shamed!! The woman emptied all the washing out into a plastic basket on the counter in front of a busy shop of people and started counting the items, i.e 8 t-shirts, 3 pairs of trousers. I was mortified, talk about airing your dirty laundry in public! We´ve got to go back at 7pm to pick it up, I might buy a rubber mask so she doesn´t recognise me!

We are going on an organised tour tomorrow (if we ever manage to get it booked) it used to be an amazing train journey, it´s called Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) for more info see enclosed link here
but due to a train failure a couple of years ago the line has been suspended, pending maintenance, which means that we will have to it by bus (12 hours) It´s a fantastic tour though and you get to some dizzying heights (impossible after the Bolivian ones) and see some fantastic scenery. No doubt the camera will get a good hammering.

Argentina itself is brilliant, we´re both really enjoying the place and it´s culture, again not quite as much poverty as we´ve experienced in some of the other countries and on the whole they have got a great standard of living. Everybody is happy and friendly and they love to help you out in any way they can, giving directions, recommending accommodation that kind of thing. We hope to come back to Sth America again, whether it will be a holiday or another RTW trip we don´t yet know. We have only scratched the surface, especially in Argentina, we will aim to come back in their summer so that we can head further South too.

One last thing, we got chatting to a "cockney wideboy" on the bus from BA to Iguazu, he started out as quite a nice bloke, amiable you know the sort. Anyway we said our goodbyes when we arrived at Iguazu and wished him well with his trip thinking we´d seen the last of him. The next day he was on the bus to the falls, and suddenly he seemed extremely over animated and excitable and talking really loudly, not caring who heard what he said, the bus was packed too. Well as I´m sure you can all appreciate The Falklands is not something we talk about openly while we´re here as we don´t want to offend the locals and raise the past. If we have spoken about it, it has been quietly or in private. Well this guy knew no shame and just started shouting out about it on the bus (my toes are curling now just thinking about it) talk about no decorum! Credit to Matt though he did say to him "well it´s not something we really broadcast here" This did bring the conversation and luckily the bus to an abrupt halt and we all departed!!

Have a nice weekend all!!

Video and Pics

Just a quickie to say check out the photos of the Iguazu Falls on Flickr and check out the video on YouTube by clicking here

We´re in Salta now and were hoping to do a train ride up into the mountains but apparently it´s been closed for 2 years due to some sort of accident. I thought the tour guides were trying to fob us off so that we went on the bus (me being synical again!) and I can´t confirm this on google so I´ll just have to trust them!

Adios

Don´t worry about me, I´m in Argentina!!

Hi all, just a quick update. We are still bussing our way through Arg, we have spent the last couple of days in Iguazu, where we visited the spectacular falls, and also went to the frontier where you can look out and see Paraguay and Brazil, pretty impressive ey? The weather here is sub tropical, so we´ve being soaking up the sun and making the most of it, as it´s been cold since Bolivia. Today we are going on a 26 HOUR bus journey, staying "up North" to a place called Salta, we will spend a few days there taking in the sights before we start making our way Sth again back to BA, via a few more stop offs along the way. Again the weather in Salta is averaging temperatures of around 22c at the moment so we´ll be getting our summer attire back out ;-)

Argentina is a fantastic country, and so friendly and laid back, the fellas think something of themselves, but then I´m from Hull so I´m used to it ;oP
Matt has being enjoying the steaks, while I sit opposite and picture a qualified vet tracing signs of life (of the steak that is not Matt) Wine is as cheap as ever and I can´t remember the last time I had a beer, it´s going to really rankle us when we get home and have to pay at least triple what were paying here for it. We plan to stock up at the duty free before we fly to NZ!

So that´s all I´ve got time for today I´m afraid, as the 26 hour bus beckons! When we get to Salta on Thursday we will upload the pics of the falls.

It`s curry for tea in Argentina!

Well as Matt has already told you we are in The Capital City of Argentina and it is HUGE! I have never been to a city this BIG before, I can`t even begin to tell you the scale of it. Put it this way, New York is big but is like a piece dropped off Buenos Aires. It really is a fun and friendly place, and like any Capital City is non stop hustle and bustle. The price of things is also relatively cheap too, we are staying in a hotel in downtown BA and it is costing us $30 a night, I don`t think you could rent a cardboard box for the night in London for $30. When we stayed in NY in May we were paying $100 a night, and that was with a shared bathroom, and it was a right shithole!

So Matt told you we`d being splashing out a bit on flight`s and then the Lonely Planet for Argentina, well let me tell you what prompted him to buy the LP Guide. It was the fact that there were 3 different restaurant's listed that served curry dishes (2x Thai, 1 x Indian) we bought the book yesterday and already we have visited 2 of the 3. The book may well have only cost us $32, but the money we have spent in these restaurants makes it an expensive book!!! We have had curry withdrawal though and we both agree that it`s money well spent!

Tomorrow we are back on the bus for probably our longest ride yet, it`s 17 hours!! We are going "up North" to the Argentinian/Brazilian border to see the Iguazu Falls, we will spend a few days there before deciding on our route back to BA (which is where we fly from to go to NZ) Argentina is a massive country and we now have less than 3 weeks to take in and see what we want, so were in for a busy time on the public transport unfortunately. Were still not sure on our priorities after the falls, we had plans to hop across to Brazil, and maybe even spend a couple of days in Uruguay but I think we were being a little bit optimistic.

Argentinian steak is apparently the best in the world, it`s not the kind of thing I can get excited about I`m afraid. We did have a great pizza the 1st night we arrived in BA, after a mammoth walk trying to (unsuccessfully) get our bearings and find somewhere to eat, we threw ourselves into the nearest/next restaurant we could find. As soon as we sat down Matt said "shall we just get up and go" it was just one of those places that doesn`t quite fit the bill if you know what I mean?! Anyway we decided to sit it out and we`re glad we did, as the pizza was superb and so was the bottle of red wine we drank (2.00GBP)

Since we left Bolivia we have experienced a whole new South America, Chile and Argentina are by far more richer than the other 3 countries we have visited on this continent, although it doesn't make them anymore enjoyable to visit. I didn`t fall in love with Chile or the Chileans, they take themselves far too seriously and think far too much of themselves, but as I`ve mentioned before (lots of times) the Bolivians are the warmest people we have met so far in a country where nobody has anything.

Stew and Kirsty are now on their mini RTW trip, spending 3 days in Singapore (where Stew was struggling with the humidity apparently) then to Oz (where they should have arrived today) for 2.5 weeks before flying back via LA for 3 nights. My dad has just emailed me to say he can`t keep track of us all and the different time zones. I wish we could have planned our trip so that we could have met up with them at some point but it just wasn`t geographically possible. Stew will leave Oz about 3 days before we arrive in NZ :-(

Matt has posted the few pics that we took in Chile and also there`s a few we have taken in BA.. enjoy.

BA (Buenos Aires NOT Mr.T)

Well we finally got out of Chile and into Argentina after blowing our budget and booking flights instead of waiting for the pass (between Santiago and Mendoza) opening up again. After our delays in Bolivia due to the miners strike we didn´t want to wait around and lose anymore days. Argentina is a huge country and we want to see as much of it as we can in our three remaining weeks in S.America.

So, we arrived in Buenos Aires, the capital, yesterday afternoon and first impressions are good. It is a mammoth city with plenty to see and do so I think we´ll be spending at least the weekend here. This place is a lot more lively than Santiago and there seems to be thousands upon thousands of restaurants too, which is always good. In true budget-blowing fashion (well we seem to be on a roll now) we bought the lonely planet guide for Argentina too for the sole reason of it having a bigger list of restaurants than our rough guide. Lo and behold there is an indian restaurant here, called Mumbai, which we´re going to seek out later. We´ve just bought tickets to see Oceans 13 (although the name in spanish bears no resemblance to the English version so I hope it is Oceans´ 13!) so after that we´ll be hotfooting it over for a curry.

Well ,there´s not much more to report on here, so I´ll leave it at that. One more thing I´ll say is that I hope everyone at eComet enjoys the "leaving do of leaving dos" tonight as four of them are either leaving or going on maternity leave. So, on that note, Phil Sewell, good luck with your pregnancy and I hope you don´t get weird cravings for gherkins and marmalade!!

Adios Amigos!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Well today we were supposed to be going to Argentina, but as we have come to learn, travel in South America can never be taken for granted! We got up early this morning, packed all our stuff up, missed breakfast and made our way on the Metro in rush hour traffic to the Bus Terminal to catch the bus to Mendoza. We were at the platform waiting for the bus to show up.. but it didn´t!! Matt went off to make a few enquiries in his best pigeon Spanish and came back about 5 minutes later to tell me the bus was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. So we bickered at each other for another 5 minutes about what we could do (nothing!) before agreeing that we would have to stay in Santiago, it was either that or walk to Mendoza?!
Anyway to cut a very long story short, we have now booked flights to fly to Buenos Aires tomorrow, which is better for us really as it saves lots of long weary hours on the bus. We were also advised that Mendoza is particularly tricky to get to at this time of year by bus (Sth American winter time)

Yesterday we decided to take the afternoon off, so we got ourselves plonked in a good Italian Restaurant and got pleasantly pi$$ed on dirt cheap Chilean wine (2.50GBP a bottle) we must have been in there 4/5 hours, a perfect way to spend the day in chilly Santiago.
In the restaurant you could see into the kitchen as the chefs were working behind a massive glass window. Well in there there was a "big lad" who looked to be the head chef, now I don´t know what Gordon Ramsey would have made of him, but this lad did like his grub! For every dish he must have prepared he was taking a dish for himself, he was constantly, spooning sauces from the large pans, cutting bread, dipping it in various bowls and dishes. They would need to make a lot of money in that restaurant to cover his massive appetite, maybe they pay him in food not wages? It did look really unprofessional to be honest, he wasn´t just sampling the sauces for taste, he was literally wading in and filling his face. I thought he was going to put arm bands on at one point and dive into the pan!!

The food in Chile is pretty poor to say they are more European(ly)influenced than South American, I don´t think we have had anything really nice to eat since we arrived, does Dunkin Donuts count?!

When we get to Argentina we are thinking of hopping on the ferry at Buenos Aires and going across to Uruguay for a couple of days, we were hoping to maybe get to Brazil for a few days but it is extremely expensive to get there and probably a bit too far now with only 3 weeks left here.

It is really cold here in Santiago, I´ve got hat, scarf and gloves on today and Buenos is going to be no warmer, we are both looking forward to 2 weeks beach in Fiji in October ;-)
Everywhere we go here there is piped in music playing in the streets, and it´s all dodgy 80´s stuff in panpipes, it get´s a bit noisy sometimes, especially as you turn a street corner and then pick up on a new tune as the last one is fading out, a bit like a stars on 45 mega mix (for those of you that aren´t too young to remember!!)
There are also hundreds of stray dogs here and we have spent more time dog watching here than sight seeing. There is a really busy main road here and cars and buses just bomb along at speeds of about 70mph. Along this road is where all the dogs are, literally laid out right on the road edge, or on a busy intersection in the middle of the road (imagine the Champs Elysee in Paris) every now and again one of the dogs will jump up and start bounding towards an oncoming bus or car, barking and going berserk. If the bus got the dog it would be history (the dog not the bus!), but how can you tell this to a dog? Everytime we see one at the road side we try to cajole it along with us to a safer place. We do our best :-)

We have started making enquiries about campervans in NZ, were really looking forward to having some independence again when it comes to travel, as we are fed up of public transport and all the problems it throws at us. It is easy to travel overland through Sth America, but timetables cannot be taken at face value and the weather and various road blocks have also caused us a fair few set backs along the way.
We hope to hire mountain bikes in NZ too so we can get out and about without having to drag the camper everywhere.
I think I might try and cook us a Sunday Lunch when we do pick it up, we both crave one, do you reckon it would be possible on a 2 ring gas stove? I reckon beans and toast will be easier ;-)