Back in 2 Weeks... or 6 Months!

Crazy and impressive, but not one of my Seven Wonders

2013-05-02T08:32:00.001+01:00

Since we were in the area, we drove through the town of Mojave to get a sneak peak at the aeroplane graveyard they have there. The dry, hot desert conditions are ideal for long term storage of aeroplanes. Virgin Galactic and other space programs are also located here at the SpacePort. Phil is an avid follower of all the action happening in space, so he was keen to glimpse any activity. However, we must have arrived at space siesta time, because we didn't see anything exciting. (Apparently we were two days early - bugger!)

Everything I've heard or read about Las Vegas indicated it was like Vegemite - you love it or hate it. Funnily enough, I am somewhat ambivalent about Vegemite, which is how I feel about Vegas.

The Strip itself is as crazy as you'd imagine. It's an overload on the senses with every conceivable type of entertainment, shopping and dining; massive, extravagant hotels and people absolutely everywhere. Anything goes - there were beautiful women in barely-there dresses and ankle breaking high-heels passing guys in shorts and thongs (aka flip flops for my English friends) with beer can in hand.

We tested out the anything goes theory by walking through our fancy hotel's casino with our backpacks on and hands laden with shopping bags containing breakfast cereal, milk and orange juice (because we weren't paying $33 each for breakfast!). I was sure the hotel helper at the entrance to the room elevators was going to stop us and send us packing, but he let us through with merely a raised eyebrow. I guess he's seen everything.

Anyone who's done long term travelling knows that there comes a point where you need to relax and forego sight seeing and eating out for a couple of days to recharge your enthusiasm. By the time we arrived in Las Vegas, we were ready for our time out days, so we reserved a fabulous corner suite on the 27th floor of the Aria hotel and settled in to make the most of it.

Phil was delighted to find the whole room was gadget-ed to the max. You could control the lighting, air con & curtains from the TV or a number of remote controls, the toilet seats were heated (ick), and you could watch TV from the bath unless you preferred watching the Bellagio fountains, of course! The one feature I loved - a Goodnight button that turned everything off and shut all the curtains - could also cause chaos if pressed accidentally leaving us in the dark stumbling around for the lights.

Back when we planned our trip, everyone recommended the helicopter flight from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon, so I booked us a Grand Canyon Sunset Tour through Sundance helicopters. At 5pm, a limo pulled up to our hotel (sounds fancy, but they're a dime-a-dozen in Vegas!) and drove us around the corner to the heliport. We were assigned to helicopter 68 with a family from Fleet (a small town near London where Phil ran a half marathon a couple of years ago).

After a short safety briefing we were strapped in and ready to go - out over the Strip, a loop around the Hoover Dam before descending into the Grand Canyon for a champagne picnic on Indian land, we then chased the sunset back over the lights of Vegas as it sprung into life for the evening.

I was prepared to be astounded by the Grand Canyon. I've seen spectacular photos where the fiery colours in the rocks make it appear alight; my friends were animated when they described how their stomachs lurched as the ground dropped away from them into the massive canyon; and I've seen spectacular footage from the wonderful BBC documentaries as the cameramen have swooped into the canyon at sunrise. I thought all of that would be overshadowed by actually being there, in person, at the edge of the world...

But it wasn't.

Perhaps it was a case of knowing too much. Maybe it was the slight haze that diminished the colours as the sun set. It could have been a case of ABC (another bloody church (or canyon in this case)) syndrome.

I enjoyed it. It was massive and impressive and beautiful. I'd definitely recommend it to others, but I wasn't wonder struck like I was expecting. Thinking about it, that actually makes me happy. It means that I've already seen so many astounding things on this trip that one of the Wonders of the World didn't move me. That is something special.

Death Valley Delights

2013-04-20T08:30:00.005+01:00

What comes to mind when you hear the words Death Valley? Extreme heat, a vast breathless emptiness devoid of life and colour?

That's what I thought, but wow was I wrong!

At first glance the massive plains appeared to just be sparsely covered in small shrubs. They were still spectacular, as the rocks in the surrounding mountains came in all sorts of colours - oxide reds, lime greens and volcanic blacks. There was even a special tourist drive called The Artist's Palette reflecting this surprising diversity.

The true marvel occurred once we ventured out of the car - interspersed among the shrubs, sprouting from the driest earth under the sweltering midday sun were endless sprinklings of tiny desert wildflowers. A natural miracle.

Many brownie points to Phil, who patiently traipsed through the heat for hours without complaint identifying minute flowers from a brochure I picked up at the tourist office while I took photos.

I had picked the Desert Five Spot as the one flower from the brochure that I'd particularly like to see. Guess what turned up on our first foray out?!

Having spent a couple of days in the area, I can see how it easy it would be to die out there. Your perspective constantly changes. Even a couple of miles up the road, the large hill we climbed to watch the sunrise became a minor bump in the landscape that we had trouble picking out, and where we swore there was a lake, a higher elevation revealed only endless sand.

All throughout the US we've seen massive pickup trucks (utes on steriods) towing even bigger RVs (caravans on steriods). Sometimes they had a small car for local travel hitched on the back, but this was definitely the most entertaining one we passed... (make sure you zoom in on the little yellow car).

Oh! Interesting fact - we stayed at Stovepipe Wells in the centre of Death Valley. Apparently, water is brought into the town in pipes that lie near the surface of the ground. In summer, this causes the water to heat up significantly, so once it arrives, they leave it in the hot water tanks to cool down for a while. This means that the cool (or tepid) water comes out the hot tap and the hot water comes out the tap marked cold in summer, but as they move into winter and the water in the pipes cools down, it switches back to normal!

Mysterious disappearances & emergency bear escape plan

2013-04-16T01:38:00.001+01:00

Our plan for the remaining two weeks in California was to pick up a car and drive the triangle from SF out to Las Vegas, returning to the coast at LA, then up Route 1 back to SF. Car hire in the US comes with more quirks - our car only has a rear number plate - apparently the front one is not required for cars registered in some states. More interestingly, the insurance covers theft, but not "mysterious disappearances". Do you think that's alien abductions, and if so, with all their advanced technology, do the aliens usually bother taking your car?

The United States has some amazing big cities, but the National Parks are where it truly shines. The best thing is that the Americans treat the National Parks with respect and pride, so they are really well maintained, they're free from litter and they come with helpful newspaper guides telling you what to see and what to watch out for.

Our first experience was in the Yosemite National Park. This spectacular area is centred around a valley where the valley floor abruptly rises into sheer cliffs.

In case you're wondering, this photo wasn't photoshopped - there really was a perfect view complete with waterfall. It was like accidentally stumbling on the world building company from The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. You couldn't have designed a more scenic view!

It's peppered with waterfalls that plummet from gaps in the striking mountain rocks and the careful observer will see large deer, coyote and, if you are lucky, bears.

According to the locals, the bears were still hibernating. I wish I'd known that a day earlier. I'd spent half the night thinking up hotel room escape plans for when a bear, sensing the Oreos in our room, came bursting through the low windows looking for a midnight snack. (The bathroom seemed like the safest option - no food and a sturdy door. If necessary you could break the window and clamber out into the night after a quick check that the bear's buddy wasn't keeping watch out the back!)

Santiago to San Francisco - the long way round

2013-04-16T01:10:00.001+01:00

Back in December when we booked our round the world flights, it was significantly cheaper to go Santiago to San Francisco via Toronto despite the extra three hours of travelling. It seemed like a fair deal at the time, so we accepted the challenge and settled in for the flights. Besides, we've flown London to Perth many times over the past eight years, so we thought it would be fine. That was before my headache kicked in at about hour four. It didn't go away for over a week and was too often painful to sleep with. Queue week from hell!

The one positive about the flight was that we had to show our boarding passes and passports about 13 times in Toronto airport - an immense annoyance until we figured out that during our two hour stopover, we had completed all the US entry requirements and could just pick up our bags and be on our way once we arrived in San Francisco.

We had some excitement early on in the week when Phil got suspected food poisoning. After listening to him throw up for hours, I couldn't take it anymore and stuck my fingers in my ears as he once again raced to the bathroom, so I missed the thud as he fainted and split his head open on the toilet bowl. Luckily, he was only out cold for a couple of seconds and was able to call out for help. The SF fire department paramedics who answered our 911 call were very kind, patient and helpful. I was hoping to add ambulance to my list of "transport modes taken in SF", but they didn't think it was necessary (for Phil to go to hospital, I mean!)

After a recovery day in bed, Phil went off to GDC (Game Developers Conference) for the week as planned while I entertained myself.

Inspired by a reality show called Tanked about a company that builds commercial aquariums, I decided the SF Bay Aquarium was a must see. Turns out they had the biggest blue tongued lizard (an Oz special) I've ever seen, but he didn't compare to the giant octopus they've got. It was more creepy than their sharks!

I restored the natural order with a calamari lunch overlooking the bay. To my delight, Oracle's 45" America's Cup training yacht was sailing just off the wharf! I bet My boat cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge complete with over-sugared hyped up children didn't quite compare to being on board that massive catamaran.

Phil and I did act the proper SF tourists - hanging out the side of the cable car as it rattled up the hill from Union Square and down to Fisherman's Wharf, and taking the night tour of Alcatraz.

I thought the Alcatraz tour was really well done. Some of the background of the prison was given on the boat ride out to the island, then an experienced guide tried to dispel all the myths we'd heard from Hollywood movies as we all trundled up the hill to the main prison building.

Inside, we were given an audio tour and left to our own devices for an hour or so, before we were given the option of three sessions. We chose the cell door demonstrations during which the guide used the specially designed cell door mechanism to open and close a long row of the cell doors multiple times. The sound of the doors slamming closed has a chilling finality to it.

One of the "joys" of travelling with Phil is spending at least 15mins before EVERY hotel check out in a mild panic looking for something - wallet, keys, sunglasses. You name it, Phil has misplaced it in a hotel room somewhere! I'm thinking about having all his luggage shadowed like these knives at Alcatraz, so when he's packing up at least we'll know what to keep an eye out for!

Santiago seafood, street art & shopping

2013-04-15T23:45:00.002+01:00

When the MS Veendam slid into port in Valparaiso we were all disappointed. It had been a fabulous cruise and now we were all spearing off across the globe. Phil was actually keen to map our routes for the two weeks or so before and after the cruise. Between the six of us, we had been to/were going to the UK, Austria, Switzerland, France, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Canada and the USA!

But before all that, we had a couple of days in Santiago, the capital of Chile.

Santiago is a working city. It doesn't have the charm or beauty of Buenos Aires, but the people were really friendly and the seafood was to die for. One night we ordered a two person seafood platter that was piled high with enough perfectly cooked salmon, calamari, prawns and other oceanic delights to feed four of us!

In the main square there are brass maps of the city on the pavement. I felt like I was in a scene from Mary Poppins - about to jump into the chalk picture in the pavement and go on some new amazing adventure...

My favourite thing about Santiago was the animated street crossing men. Instead of the usual red man, green man, they have a white man who starts out at a slow jog and gets quicker and quicker as the time counts down until it reaches zero and he switches to the red man. (I know it's an odd thing to pick up on, but I have a thing for the different crossing signs and have photos of them from around the world. It's quite a perilous hobby as you sometimes have to stand mid intersection to get a good shot!)

***** WARNING: Kiddies should stop reading here *****

Things operate a little differently in South America. My mum and I went into a pharmacy to get some cough lozenges for dad, who was suffering with a nasty cold. Having selected the appropriate package, the pharmacist told us to go through a door/archway into the next shop to pay, then come back and collect our items. The neighbouring shop was absolutely packed with merchandise. Every available shelf and hanging space was crowded with stuff, and there were numerous customers including an ancient gentleman shuffling along with a walking stick, so finding the checkout counter took some searching. As mum paid for the cough drops, it dawned on me that the packages hanging next to the till were dildos. Yep - the perfect family vacation - shopping with your mum, for your dad, in a sex shop!

My South American Cruising Top 10

2013-04-15T22:19:00.000+01:00

Lots of people have asked me about the highlights of the cruise, so here's my top 10 in no particular order:

Wonderous wildlife - we've seen such a variety of extraordinary animals I've never seen before right up close and personal.

Torres del Paine National Park - I can't wait to go back and spend some slow travel time in the vast landscapes of Patagonia.
The Hairy Armadillo - I know he should come under wildlife, but I was so excited to spot him when I had thought there was no chance of seeing one.
Kamal and Adung - our room stewards. No matter the time of day, they always greeted us with a huge smile and made us feel so welcome. Each evening they left cute towel animals on our beds. I've seriously considered employing a magic fairy back in London to clean my house each day while I'm away and turn down my bed with a gorgeous towel creation!
Our dinner in the Canaletto restaurant - $10 for the best chicken cacciatore ever! Plus so many laughs when Jan couldn't decide which dessert to have, so the waiter said "just have both". She agreed, then Gary said "I'll have what she's having" and we ended up with more dessert than we could jump over! The icing on the cake was when they brought out a massive plate of fairy floss (aka candy floss) to much applause and laughter at our table.
Just spending time with family. Living halfway across the world from our parents, and even in a different country from Phil, it's been nice to chat face to face for a change.
Getting to know a bit more about South America - a place that I really knew nothing about, although there is still a lifetime of things to learn.

Learning how this lovely lady makes necklaces by using a special saw to grind the silver out of the piece to make tree shapes.

For days we all thought the ship was tilting to starboard. Phil tested out our theory with the in-room wine bottle.
The dessert extravaganza. Who couldn't be excited by an event where the chefs on board go all out to make some of the fanciest desserts I've ever seen and pile them all up in a magnificent display surrounding the pool?! Be warned - you need to stand back after the photo time ends and the feeding frenzy begins - those charming ladies decked out to the nines in fancy cocktail dresses and dripping gold and diamonds aren't afraid to use their stilettos if you get between them and the fondue fountain!
Being back on the water. Phil and I used to sail every weekend, and often during the week too. In London and Vienna we've been quite isolated from the water, so it was nice to be back watching the swell, listening to the waves and breathing in the fresh ocean air.
The pink meringues - seriously, they were so good that they never lasted long enough for me to get a photo!

Is this really food?

2013-04-10T04:35:00.001+01:00

After the Chilean fjords, the rest of our cruise was more of the same (in a great way!) - one too many meringues from the Lido buffet, avoiding early morning stretch class with the excuse that there was too much to see ;), quiet gatherings on on of our balconies for drinks, nibbles and bird watching, and daily team trivia sessions in the Crows Nest. Oh... and breakfast in our room with striking sunrises out the window!

We did stop off in Puerto Montt.

Phil and I spent a couple of hours unsuccessfully looking for a car to hire to go into the national park. Eventually we gave up and wandered back through town to the ship and into the jacuzzi on the back deck overlooking the city. We did stop in at a supermarket that had really groovy music (we danced in the aisles!), but at first glance I thought they were selling tinned meerkat!

It's possible that they were selling actual meerkat outside - we couldn't identify any of these items...

The ship was moored out in the bay, so they used the lifeboats to ferry people back and forth to shore. From that experience, where they only half filled each lifeboat, I can confirm that you'd want to be rescued pretty quickly in a real emergency as it would be quite unpleasant packed full in any sort if swell. Phil and I also decided we'd grab the emergency hatchet as soon as we got on board - having seen people at the buffet, it wouldn't hurt to be armed in a crisis!

Our Mums earned Adventurer badges in Puerto Montt when they braved the white water rafting. They had a fabulous time proven by the looks of joy and excitement on the DVD of their exploits.

Glaciers galore!

2013-04-10T04:02:00.000+01:00

The best part of Glacier Alley and the Chilean Fjords has been sharing my parents excitement as they saw their first icebergs!

Picture postcard scenery has drifted past our cabin balconies all day, but the highlight was the captain poking the massive cruise boat up into a small bay so we could take photos of a glacier close up accompanied by a pod of enthusiastic Dusky dolphins.

When you come to this part if the world, I recommend bringing backup batteries and high capacity camera SIM cards galore. Firstly, it is COLD and sometimes we've had to switch out temporarily dead batteries for ones we've warmed in our jackets. Secondly, you wouldn't believe how many photos you can take and still think you need "just one more" as some new wonder floats into view!

Ushuaia - quirky and beautiful

2013-04-07T19:49:00.000+01:00

Ushuaia is supposedly the southernmost city in the world. As with lots of neighbouring places (England v France, Rome vs Naples, Oz vs New Zealand) there is some dispute over this with nearby Puerto Williams, as it grows from a town to a city itself.

Either way, Ushuaia is a quirky, but beautiful place to visit. As we've found throughout Sputh America, the locals are friendly - even leaving convenient bowls of dog food outside the chocolate shop, so you don't feel so quite so guilty scoffing the fabulous jubes in front of all the scrawny street dogs. (Actually, that's not true - I still felt sorry for all the lovely dogs whose waggy tails and big brown doggy eyes begged me to save them from their hungry lives).

The government encouraged people into the area by giving benefits to electronics companies and their employees for starting up in the area. This means there are flat screen TV factories and computer manufacturers on the foreshore of this small extremely remote city. They seem so out of place alongside the fishing boats.

While Phil, Jan and Gary made their way up to the glacier via chairlift, my parents and I took a boat excursion to see the sea lions lolling about on the rocks in the bay.

These fellas were such characters - one would pop out of the water into the pile of sunbathing relatives and there would be much moaning and complaining as he tried to nestle himself down into the warm masses.

Nearby, a big sea lion would have its flipper over a little one seemingly keeping it safe from the boisterous games of the youngsters in the group.

It was a lovely relaxing day, just quietly soaking up the sights and the sunshine in this unexpectedly peaceful corner of the world.

Horn rounded!

2013-04-06T19:09:00.001+01:00

The speed at which I have transferred from a life of schedules, deadlines and endless rushing to a laid back, "do only what I feel like" lifestyle has surprised me. The London "me" seems a distant memory and I'm firmly into living what seems a more natural life - waking up when I'm ready instead of being jolted out of sleep by my alarm clock; eating when I'm hungry instead of squeezing it in between meetings and commitments; and doing what I want to instead of what I think I have to or should do. I could get used to this!

Somewhere in all this relaxing my blog posts have gone by the wayside... so, where was I in the holiday story? That's right - we'd just been on a jaw dropping tour of Patagonia. The next couple of posts will be snippets from the remainder of our cruise.

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Grand applause, please... we've officially rounded Cape Horn!

We were up on the back deck bleary-eyed and yawning at 6:30am this morning (I know it's not that early, but it's been a busy couple of weeks). For the first time on this cruise it was elbows-out as everyone jostled to get the best photo of the albatross monument on the big rock that marks the Horn. That must be why all my photos are "soft" - not because I was too sleepy to operate my camera properly ;)

The blurry diamond in the centre of the photo is the Cape Horn monument. It is a metal diamond with the shape of an albatross cut out of it.

This poem, by Sara Vial, was read out over the ships intercom as we rounded the Horn:

Cape Horn Monument

I am the Albatross who awaits you

At the end of the World

I am the soul if ancient mariners

Who crossed Cape Horn from all seas in the world.

They did not perish in the furious waves

Today the fly on my wings

For all Eternity

In the ultimate embrace of the Antarctic winds.

Having read numerous tales of the early adventurers in this area and following the round the world yacht races, we were expecting it to be uncomfortably rough and super windy here, but it has been relatively calm. We're waiting for everyone on ship to be called up to get our stories straight so we can perpetuate the "myth" of the terrible weather at the Horn!

We've been really lucky with the weather - it has been warm and sunny, but with some spectacular cloud formations to make great skyscapes for photos.

It is better to have friends than money in Chile

2013-03-11T19:15:00.000Z

Stop what you are doing, get online, and book a trip to the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia!

After a 5:30am breakfast ("Phil, are you sure this is a holiday?"), we took a tiny 20 seat charter plane from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales. I love a flight where the pilot swivels around in his seat and gives you the safety briefing including saying "We'll be flying at 1000 feet, which is pretty dangerous... just kidding!".

You don't want to crash at this point - the photo doesn't show it, but these are red peat bogs - and they suck you in like quicksand!

The plane landed smoothly at a tiny airport that was so informal that we all stood on the tarmac and took photos of the plane with snow capped peaks in the background before being herded onto a coach.

About an hour into the journey our bus broke down, but as the saying in Patagonia goes "it's better to have friends than money", so it wasn't long before the whole group was packed off in groups of five into passing tour buses, so we could all wait for the replacement bus at the cafe seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

The Torres del Paine National Park turned on all her glory for us. Close up soaring condors, quick grey foxes, herds of grass munching guanacos, real cowboys rounding up cattle on horseback and massive open plains bordered by soaring mountains.

Our tour guide Eva took us to a lovely spot overlooking fast flowing waterfalls to point out the "towers" for which the park is named.

Everyone was duly impressed with the cloud covered mountains until the wind blew the clouds away and the actual jagged towers spookily appeared like a scene from The Lord of the Rings. All around was a sharp intake of breath as jaws hit the ground. Amazing!

Apparently it is pretty rare to actually see the towers, so we were very lucky.

Lunch was served at a small picturesque restaurant perched on the side of an island in the centre of a glacier milk lake.

I'd love to hire a car and drive through the area myself. I'd definitely need a couple of months though, because around every turn was a new vista that begged me to spend some time capturing the perfect shot.

Hairy Armadillo!

2013-03-08T18:13:00.000Z

The view from the Crow's Nest bar is breathtaking - nearly 360 degrees of grey seas stretching out to the horizon where they meet the magnificent cloud formations in the sky.

It's Saturday or so the carpets in the lifts tell me! (Ok, so this photo was taken on Wed, but you get the idea).

We're on our second full sea day. You'd think the sea days would be all about snoozing on a deck chair only rousing for a cocktail, right? Not so, they start with a 9am Aqua Aerobics class, which is much more challenging than the one back home because the water is vigorously sloshing from one side of the pool to the other. Perhaps the name Surf Aerobics is more apt.

With the body energised and a quick breakfast, it's off to lessons with the ship's naturalist. The first session was Pelagic Birds and Penguins, where I learnt that Pelagic means the birds spend almost all their time at sea apart from breeding season. It is supposed that these birds are like whales, in that they can switch off parts of their brains at a time, so they can fly and sleep simultaneously. I know some people like that ;)

This morning's session was Fins, Flukes and Flippers, which has inspired me to be up in the Crow's Nest on the lookout for dolphins and whales.

Next up on the sea day schedule is Team Trivia, Astronomy, a Scavenger Hunt, Pilates for Phil while I'm at Tai Chi, dinner and a finally a show. Last night the show was Devlin, the magician. The highlight was seeing my dad dragged up on stage to be involved in a couple of tricks. Now when I say I'm from Perth, people on the ship want to know if I know the "Don from Perth"! Who knew you could gain celebrity status on a cruise?!

I know - the photo is terrible, but we were laughing too hard to take a good one!

Before I sign off, I have to mention the fantastic tour we did from Puerto Madryn to Punta Tombo yesterday. We decided to forgo the expensive cruise tour for a local company, Whales Patagonia (~510USD for 6 people). Three warm, friendly faces met us at the dock - Carlos, the driver, Grascilla, the tour guide and Isis, the interpreter. We bundled into a comfy van for the two hour drive to Punto Tombo, a beautiful nature reserve where we were lucky to see guanacos (like llamas), Magellan penguins, nyandu (like emus), kara (like rabbits on steriods), cuiss (like rats) and my absolute favourite, the hairy armadillo!

The national park people had build up little bridges, so the tourists could walk across certain areas without disturbing the penguins. I wonder if they anticipated that these bridges would become the perfect penguin wind protection, bringing the penguins even closer to the tourists? I think this little fellow was peckish for a bit of tourist leg as they came down the stairs.

Now excuse me while I sink back into this comfy sofa and sip my Ginger Mango Splash...

Surprise visit to Montevideo

2013-03-06T17:42:00.000Z

Ahhhh! A moment to relax!

We're back in our cabin soaking up some sunshine and quiet after a fabulous day in Montevideo, Uruguay. For those who didn't know we were going to Uruguay - SURPRISE - I didn't tell you because I didn't realise!

According to our lovely tour guide, Nancy, Montevideo was named by a Portuguese man who sailed past and saw a hill with lots of trees, so he called it "I saw a hill with lots of trees". These days he would have called it Casafria or "I saw buildings with lots of air conditioners"!

We had a 2 hour tour, during which we saw a small version of the Horny Pig from Florence, Italy, whose snout you are supposed to rub if you wish to return to the city in the future; two horse drawn carts - not tourist ones - powering along the main street with all the other cars; and a juggler who popped out in front of the traffic at the lights to entertain the drivers.

(Yes, we know it is technically a boar, but horny pig is so much more fun!)

I was tempted by some comical wooden wind chimes and the dragons from the fountain in one of the squares. I also loved the Uruguayan flag - white for purity, blue for the sky (which is a wonderful sight after the English winter!) and a sun to ensure the sun shines on the country forever.

We had a meat bonanza for lunch overlooking a delightful market square. (I don't think there are many vegetarians in this part of the world.) The meat was accompanied by some delicious sauces - chimmichurri and fresh pesto. Shame about the post-lunch garlic breath!

The 7am stretching class made me truly appreciate how inflexible I am, so I'm off to Sunset Tai Chi shortly. Then it's a toss up between drinks on deck, Pub Trivia or board games in the lounge. Phew! I'm going to need a holiday! Lucky tomorrow is an at sea day, so fingers crossed I get a moment to read my book.

Highlight of our stay - Ariel, the theatre aficionado

2013-03-05T03:43:00.001Z

I intended for this to be a travel blog, but it seems to be turning into turning into more of a foodie blog. Hopefully that trend should reverse a bit from tomorrow when we set off on our cruise, otherwise I'm going to need bigger trousers!

There was much excitement at the breakfast table this morning when everyone discovered the buffet special today was fresh baked brownies!

To wear off the brownies, we took off on foot for some more sight seeing. On the way we detoured past the amazing bakery we've been using for lunch each day. I still can't believe how many different foods they have. Our favourites are the chicken empanadas, but the massive crust-free sandwiches are pretty tasty too.

The highlight of the day, and possibly of our whole stay here, was the guided tour of the Teatre Colon. This magnificent eclectic opera house is quite austere outside, but inside it drips with 24 carat gold leaf paint and magnificent decorations. I was disappointed that id left my proper camera back at the apartment because my little point and shoot doesn't do it justice.

The best part of the tour was Ariel, our guide (he assured us he's not a mermaid, although it did make his childhood difficult!). He fluently switched between numerous languages and spoke about the history, politics and music of the theatre with humour and infectious passion.

To all my Rock Choir friends - once we've done Abbey Rd, perhaps this place should be next on the list?! However, it is world number one for its acoustics - apparently Pavarotti said it was too perfect because there was no hiding any mistakes, and as it is renowned for its very critical audience, we'd probably need a few more torture sessions to prepare!

On the way home after the tour, I paused to snap a shot of some beautiful copper plates on a gate outside a Jewish Synagogue. Some random fellow proceeded to tell me off saying photos weren't allowed and I needed to delete them from my camera. Does anyone know what that's about?

This evening we had dinner with my aunt and uncle, who just happened to be passing through Buenos Aires on their own South American adventure. It seems funny that we haven't seen each other for over 10 years and this is where we meet up.

My uncle, Graeme, booked us a balcony table at Cabana las Lilas - a fabulous steak restaurant overlooking the harbour. The baby beef (weighing in at 800g!) accompanied by pureed butternut squash and sautéed veggies was delicious, as were the beautifully presented dessert platters that we all shared.

Tomorrow we board the MS Veendam for our 13-night cruise to Santiago in Chile. Phil says internet on the ship is 100 USD for 4 hours (argh!), so I may have to store up my next set of posts for publishing once we arrive in San Francisco. See you on the other side...

Location:Buenos Aires

Market Day in Buenos Aires

2013-03-04T01:56:00.001Z

We declared today to be Market Day. First stop was La Feria de Matadores. We managed to organise two taxis to take us all to the market. It felt a bit like being in a motorcade as we weaved through the traffic with our drivers trying to keep together. After 45mins we pulled up in what appeared to be a chop shop - there were smashed up vehicles including taxis and police cars everywhere. It was tempting to get straight back in the car, but we're here for adventure, so we manned up and headed to where the driver indicated we should find the market.

Unfortunately, the all singing, all dancing fair we were expecting was more like a mini car boot sale. We understand there had been another fair there the night before and I think everyone was just recovering today. We spent a little while moseying around, then headed for the bus back to the city centre.

The buses here require coins - notes not accepted. This has proven difficult as there are very few places which give coin change. We all had to barter with the stall holders to scrounge up enough change to get on the bus, but it felt like quite an achievement once we were successful hence the big smiles.

Next stop was the Feria De San Telmo - possibly the longest street of market stalls I've ever seen. It was fantastic!

I bought a tree necklace that the very talented lady created using a fretsaw to carve out the detail. It's actually silver, but it picks up the colours from the light around it.

We were mesmerised by a couple dancing the tango accompanied by a pair of competent guitarists.

And we were both tempted by the smell of freshly squeezed orange juice which revived our flagging energy for the trek back to the hotel.

I'm already struggling to remember which day of the week it is - the bliss of being on holidays.

Location:Buenos Aires

Breakfast at 10am - what a luxury!

2013-03-03T01:06:00.001Z

We had a slow start this morning. Breakfast at 10am - what a luxury! The hotel breakfast room has a lovely view out over lush gardens complete with birds building their nests. We munched leisurely on cereal, fruit and mini croissants called medialunas (half moons). The only disruption was a dispute over banana ownership which is likely to become one of those comic stories that goes down in family history for all time.

I discovered the caramel stuff we had in our mega merengue yesterday is called dulce de leche (sweetness of milk) and its very popular here.

Our goal for the day was to wander down to Puerto Madero, a revitalised port area, to stroll along the promenade. Turns out it was quite a distance from the hotel, so when we eventually found it we were glad to put our feet up at one of the cafes and enjoy a cool drink.

My favourite features of the area were the mini drawbridges on the windows in the warehouses that had been converted to apartments and the highly reflective glass along the buildings that made them look like they were floating in the clouds.

I was also taken with the fancy bridge meant to represent a couple tangoing, although I was more interested in the mechanics of how it pivoted on its massive pillar to allow ships through.

We trekked nearly non-stop for almost 5 hours, so I can definitely feel my feet this evening! They're more used to sitting at a desk all day and are out of sight seeing practice.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that when we walked down one of the main tourist shopping streets even though lots of people asked us if we wanted change or food, a simple "No, gracias" was all that was required and they'd leave me alone.

My parents flew in this evening, so we're all ready for a couple more days enjoying the warm Buenos Aires weather before we board our cruise. (For my friends at work to whom I promised only to write about the bad stuff - it's hot and humid and I got a bit sunburnt today which is now itchy! Does that qualify?!)

Location:Buenos Aires

Finally got that holiday feeling

2013-03-02T01:23:00.001Z

After an epic week of packing, moving, more packing, a five hour road trip and 24 hours of trains, airports and planes, we've finally reached our first destination - Buenos Aires.

Phil and I are wondering if there is something special or difficult about landing at the airport here. From nose-cam it all looked like a fairly easy operation - a slight breeze, but you can see the runway for miles - unlike the UK where often the runway only appears out of the clouds and fog very shortly before touchdown. However, many passengers were clapping before the plane even landed and the rest joined in once the plane was safely on the ground.

The celebrations gave a cheery, festive atmosphere to our arrival in Buenos Aires, which has been carried along by all the lovely, welcoming people we've met. They even had a full on parade for us that caused chaos for traffic in the city (ok, it was really a protest march, but there as music and flag waving and costumes just like a parade)!

I always struggle with new-country nerves on my first day of holidays, but everyone here is so eager to help us that I'm really enjoying myself. For weeks, people have asked me if I'm excited about my trip, and it wasn't until we left the airport here that the busyness, weariness and daunting fear of the unknown dropped away and I finally felt excited and ready.

We're staying in an apartment called Trianon Residence in the Recoleta area. It's fabulous! The warm weather and spaciousness here reminds me of Perth and summer fruit smoothies, so I was wishing I'd brought my smoothie maker. When we got to the apartment we found one in the kitchen! Brilliant!

For lunch we shared empanadas (think mini-pasties, but lighter in texture) followed by a massive merengue filled with caramelised condensed milk.

My favourite find of the day so far - dried alphabet spaghetti in the supermarket. I've never seen it dried before!

Location:Buenos Aires

What a month it has been!

2010-03-27T07:52:00.004Z

I've been working practically 24/7 for the past 6 weeks or so, which is why things have been pretty quiet around here. Now I've got to catch you up on all the goings on, so I recommend getting a cuppa and getting comfortable - this could be a long one!

Top of the billings is three cheers for Phil and Duncan for completing their first half marathon together. The guys did a 10km last year and decided that 2010 was the year to step things up and go for the half marathon, so last Sunday Leanne, her parents and I lined up on the roadside in Fleet and cheered as our intrepid lads pounded the pavements for 13 miles.

It was a glorious spring day and a wonderful change to be out in the fresh air after such long hours in the office lately.

Our champions finished in a very respectable 2 hours 14 mins (ish) - but Leanne and I, being non-runners, were just super impressed that they finished at all!

We've put in a request for the next race to be somewhere exciting - the words "New York marathon" were bandied around, although we'd even settle for a 10km in Italy around Christmas market season.

The second bit of excitement for this month was my London theatre debut! I joined a community choir called the Bishopsgate Singers at the start of the year. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, but I was the kid in school choir who was told "just mouth the words dear", so it took me a while to get up the courage to sign up. I've since discovered that lots of people feel the same way but everyone LOVES it when they do finally go along, so more power to "JUST DO IT" as Nike says!

Last Saturday night the choir performed at the New Players Theatre in central London at a charity fundraising event called the City of Joy Gala. It was all about raising money for women in the Congo who have suffered violence. We sang a collection of African songs accompanied in part by a fantastic Congolese band. A great night was had by all and I can't wait for the next performance which is to be a flash mob style event at the National Portrait Gallery next to Leicester Square in May.

Over the next month my free time will be split in two directions - house hunting and finishing my jigsaw so I don't have to relocate over 18000 pieces without breaking anything! Due to some slightly complicated circumstances our lease comes to an end at the beginning of May, so we are now urgently looking for another place to rent in Wimbledon. We've seen some nice apartments, but nothing that hits the spot just yet. If we don't find something soon, you should address letters to the Self Storage sheds in Wimbledon because that's where we'll be living!

I hope everyone is okay after the recent crazy weather in Australia. One weekend my parents are ringing up saying that they have nearly been engulfed in bush fires and the next my friends are telling me their houses and workplaces have been flooded. It seems so far removed from over here where the trees are just gently blossoming into spring and the daffodils are brightening the verges with their pretty yellow bonnets. For once I can urge you all to come and enjoy the English weather!

This jigsaw puzzle isn't going to do itself and we've got to view a flat at 11am, so I'd best get moving. Have a great week everyone :)

Too quick for you chicken!

2010-02-07T22:53:00.004Z

I accidentally pressed publish on my last post before I added the text, so if you received an email or feed of random pictures of Phil without any explanation you might like to go direct to the source for the updated version:

http://www.backin2weeks.com/2010/02/wimbledon-5km-run.html

Note: The title for this post is one of our favourite lines from the TV series Red Dwarf.

Wimbledon 5km Run

2010-02-07T18:55:00.005Z

What's the best thing to do early on a freezing February morning in Wimbledon?

Participate in a Wimbledon 5km race of course!

Yesterday Phil and his friend Duncan rocked up to the Wimbledon Common windmill so they could run 5km through icy mud puddles with 160 other crazies. Of course they wouldn't have made it without their avid supporters, myself and Leanne - who get extra brownie points for our dedication!

Sorry for the blurry photos - apparently I'm out of practice.

The lads modelling this years latest fashion - knee high mud stains!

See the little kid in the middle of this shot? He came in just behind our champions! Future Olympian?

Here's the results for anyone who's interested: Wimbledon Common Park Run No. 162

One of my New Year's resolutions was to get out of the office earlier and not just to go home and watch TV, so I've signed up for Sketch in the City - a six week drawing course. Each week is held at a different London art gallery or museum. It's really interesting because we're not only learning about art, but also the history of various areas of London.

Last week we took our pens and paper to the V&A Museum of Childhood. It's a strange space - the original building was split into three parts and sent to East, North and South London. Although they have hands-on activities for kids, it is really more for nostalgic trips down memory lane for adults since most of the toys are in glass cases.

Here were my two favourites - a dolls house I still have in storage at my parent's place, and a fabulous dragon puppet that I wanted to take home with me!

When I get some time, I'll post some pictures of my drawings. I think I should definitely stick to my day job, but it is super fun!

Snow!!

2010-01-06T15:33:00.000Z

5.5 years in and I still feel like a kid when it snows :)

Third quarter glory!!

2010-01-03T14:13:00.000Z

I've finally completed the third quarter of my jigsaw. It's 3 months
late, but slow and steady wins the race, right?! One more quarter to
go and I'll be able to post a photo of the jigsaw in all it's glory.
Although I had to stand in the corner to take this one, so I might
need a fish eye lens to get the full kaboose :)

Thanks to my parents and Phil who all contributed some time to this.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2009-12-29T15:30:00.004Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

I'd like to say it's been a hectic Christmas period which is why I've only just posted my Merry Christmas wishes. The truth is that Phil and I have been at home enjoying a complete holiday vege-out. It has been absolute bliss!

This is the first Christmas we've spent in London, so we bought a mini-tree and added some candy canes (which were a little oversized). As you can see in the picture - all the brown boxes are our part of saving the planet - no wasted wrapping paper!

For the big day, Phil cooked roast duck and veges (so good!!), and we finished it off with sticky toffee pudding and icecream. Not your traditional fayre, but a bit more to our tastes than turkey and Christmas cake. The only thing missing was our families, although we spent some time sharing our celebrations via Skype.

Despite snow the week before and after Christmas day, we didn't get a white Christmas, but I'm sure there will be more snowfall before the end of winter. I'm just hoping for a couple of magical snow days like last February!

I wish you all a happy, fun and safe 2010. Take care and have a...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

PAD Day 25 & 26 - Exquisite Exmoor & Lands End

2009-12-29T14:55:00.005Z

Exquisite Exmoor

Lands End

Somewhere amongst the farewells, shipping Phil off to Vancouver for a month, the end of year Christmas parties and the festive frenzy, I missed posting my final entries for my Photo A Day project. So here are the final two entries. I didn't make it all the way to the end of the month - not for lack of inspiration, but because I left my camera battery in it's charger in the Rainbow Lodge in Plymouth!

We had a wonderful time in Cornwall and Devon. During our hearty breakfast in Porlock (our first stop for the week) we were joined by the most exuberant B&B dog we've ever met - a large black Labrador who would have knocked over the dining table with his excitement if it weren't made of such solid wood.

Leaving behind a little bacon treat for our new friend, we meandered through the Exmoor National Park taking the small back roads where the glorious trees in full colour brushed up against the sides of the car and occasionally opened out to display the vast open moorland. This was my second trip to this area in autumn and it now firmly ranks as my favourite English destination - particularly at that time of year when you have the area all to yourself except for sharing some local hospitality at the cosy pubs.

We followed the coastline all the way down to Penzance - alas no pirates to be found! We even checked the seas off Lands End, but the Captain and his parrot must have been hiding out in a cove of treasures out of sight. We did pick up some delicious Cornish ginger biscuits at the touristy shops there though - highly recommended!

Phil had to work the first half of the week, but was able to train down and join us on the Wednesday night in Plymouth. Despite the grumblings about train delays and overcrowding, the rail system in the UK is pretty amazing.

Our final couple of days were spent investigating the small towns and magnificent vistas of Dartmoor National Park. We did venture out to see the castle at Dartmouth, where we braved the car ferry crossing on a wet and windy afternoon - very exciting! However, the highlight of the whole trip was a visit to the Buckfastleigh Butterfly and Otter Sancturary. Mum was really keen to see otters, but we were travelling just outside the tourist season, so we were lucky to find this one place still open. Phil and I had visited before, so it was great to say hello to some old friends.

It wasn't long before we were back in London and it was time to say goodbye. Phil left on the Sunday for a month's work in Vancouver. Then I waved farewell to my parents on the Monday morning as they set off for the long journey back to Oz. We had a wonderful time together and we've already started planning the next adventure.

PAD Day 24 - All the luxuries

2009-11-09T20:20:00.001Z

Today my parents and I set off for our Cornwall adventure. We hired a car in London, and after only a couple of wrong turns we were onto the motorway zooming towards the south west corner of England.

We've just rolled ourselves back from the Ship's Inn after a FANTASTIC meal. I had scrumptious roasted pork belly, Mum had perfectly cooked Atlantic salmon and Dad had the great British classic Bangers and Mash.

My photo of the day is from my parents room in the B&B. Despite the bright orange walls, it has all the luxuries including... drumroll please... a fridge in the cupboard!!! This brings a whole new meaning to the term "mini-bar". Mum thought it was a toaster :)