World Trip

All Argentina

grainne — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:00 GMT

Right...so Argentina was absolutely awesome. It really is one of the best places I´ve been (which I´ll probably say about everywhere). I´ll summarise but don´t be alarmed if this goes on forever!
When we intitially got to Buenos Aires the thoughts were kinda ..so what´s everyone talking about? Seemed like another big city. But as time went on we started to see it´s charm....and eat it´s steaks ...and drink it´s wine and lordy it was good. The steaks are unbelievable. We met some cool people and had a few great nights out. Also fit in a tango show. Included play, singing and dancing in the cellar of this old cafe... gorgeous. The people were patient with our lack of Spanish which was most highlighted when we went to post clothes home. Guide books tell you its a nightmare but it all went smoothly.. though i won´t be surprised if i see someone strolling around with a Dublin jersey one of these days. Anyway, great intro to Argentina (oh aside from nearly being robbed at the bus station. Luckily I´d heard enough horror stories to realise what these 2 lads were trying when they saw me on my own. No harm done. I clung to valuables & they lost interest..scary though).
Puerto Madryn was our next stop. We got our first taste of the fantastic overnight buses. I swear, I don´t think I´ve ever slept as well. They kept feeding us too...comfier than any airline I´ve been on. We did a day trip around Peninsula Valdes where we saw hundreds of penguins looking after their chicks, giant elephant seals on the shore, armadillo (needless to say, a highlight of the trip) but the best of the best was snorkelling with a very curious (and very big) male seal lion. It was just amazing. Aside from the wildlife the scenery also made the trip so good. It went from desert to the deepest blue sea you could imagine. The following day we went for a 30km gravel road cycle along the coast. A guanaco (kinda like a small lama) came over for a few photos and then seemed to think we were his family coz we couldn´t bleedin shake him. He started looking a bit frisky jumping behind me bambi style. I can´t recall ever having cycled so fast in my life.
Bariloche was our next stop, another bus...brilliant! 22hrs in total. This ended up to be about 30 hours as farmers decided a strike was on the cards so they blocked all the roads near the bus station where were gonna be getting our connection. Was slightly stressful walking after a group of people with the bags on our back not having a clue what was going on. Made it though. The scenery here was just outstanding. Very close second to New Zealand. Our hostel was the highest one in town so we had a panoramic view of the lakes & mountains. We took it upon ourselves to climb Cerro Otto. A 5hr return walk up a fairly steep mountain. It destroyed me for the first km or so but then started to level out & was really enjoyable and looked great from the top. Malte was keen to fit in some Fly Fishing. It was the same price if one person or 2 people go so obviously I jumped on board not knowing what to expect. It was the most gorgeous and clear river I´ve ever been on. So much so we could see the trout 5 feet below smiling up at us. As you can imagine it didn´t go down too well when I caught 3 with a spinner within the space of a couple of hours. ´Course the macho guide comforted Malte by telling him spinner is way easier. Malte caught 2 with fly and after a whole lot of practise I managed to get one as well. It was quite tough to learn but so worth it to feel the tug and pull out a rainbow trout. Had lunch & wine on the riverside before heading back. A great day all in all. Would love to do it again.

While in Bariloche we decided after much turmoil to brave the 36 hr bus journey down south to El Calefate. I slept a whole lot on the way & was surprisingly refreshed when we got there (feet very swollen, bit like Homer´s feet). We missed our last connection because they ¨couldn´t find¨ our reservation. hmmmm. Not to worry, still got to the town the following day. Was very very touristy & expensive but we signed up for the tour we made the long trip for - Perito Moreno Glacier. It was well worth all the hassle. This massive thing reduces in size by 2 metres a day (but also increases 2 meters a day from another angle). So basically, with hundreds of other tourists we stood facing this mass of ice just waiting. Wasn´t long before huge lumps of ice began falling from it into the water. The thunderous noise would give anyone the shivers. It went on intermittantly for the 4 hours we stood staring & it never got boring. We even took a boat trip & experienced the big waves it created as each part fell into the lake. Altogether quite breath-taking. Not a whole lot more to do in this place so following day we went to a bird sancuary around a lagoon. Really wasn´t expecting much but once we spotted the birds of prey, we headed that way. They swooped around us about an arms reach away, fighting each other & looking for food. Pretty impressive!

We went to get our flight back up to Buenos Aires & were shoved onto a later flight (hmm, really should have learnt Spanish) which detoured to Ushuiah (the end of the earth). Nice of Argentinian Airlines to give us the additional sightseeing.

We finally got to BA & went from there onto another bus to Mendoza, the wine region here. Was much more wary of thievery in the bus station this time! Mendoza was one of my favourite stops. Not just because of the fantastic wine tasting (which we incidentally did on a tandem bike...every couple should try this before planning a future together - talk about trust exercise), but the town itself was just so comfortable. It was the only place I´ve been here that I thought I could stay long-term. It felt safe and big enough that we didn´t stand out too much. It helped also that we had a gorgeous hostel (spotted my first humming bird in the garden - brilliant) with really nice people. Was a good laugh. In fact just as we thought things were going too well in Mendoza the heavens opened. Just as we were due to grab a cab to the bus terminal, rivers of water covered the town. We couldn´t get a taxi so we had to cut our losses. We started out on a 30 minute walk to the bus knee deep in god knows what kinda water (it wasn´t clear, put it that way). There are drains about 3 feet deep on the edge of some roads that we couldn´t see. We had to feel our way around or we´d have ended up being washed down...with 15kgs on our backs. Anyway, we thought we saw our bus roll away & a nice Aussie girl who´d just been through the same comforted us by letting us know there was still 5 mins to go. Thank god we booked with a great bus company. I changed into my pyjamas, was given a blanket, food and entertainment in the form of Bus Bingo and films. Was so happy. We went through some pretty impressive scenery including being out in the desert with the sky black from rain clouds & fork lightening ahead of us. Was stunning.

Unfortunately the weather followed us to Salta so was a bit frustrating not being able to do much. When there was a break in the rain we headed up St Bernard hill which overlooks the town. Was so humid, we were sweating by the time we got there. Fab views though. We met up with Rebel the Aussie girl we´d met earlier & went out with her & other people from the hostels. Bars had a lot to offer including 50c tequillas which didn´t bode well for Grainne who hadn´t been properly on the p1ss in a few weeks. Next day we walked around the markets. Very relaxing, not pushy at all. All the locals up for a chat (or charades in our case). We then went to a recommended Empanadas (bit like small cornish pasties) place on the square. Grease & salt was very welcome. After siesta (which incidentally I´m fully embracing) we went to a traditional place for food. Was really good comfort food. Humita (melted cheese in corn mash wrapped in corn leaves) - yum followed by Locra (best soup I´ve had in a long time - like a thick stew with huge lumps of meat).

Next morning, me, Malte & Rebel got the bus to border town La Quica, where we met another lad, Phil from Cork. Was generally decided foursome is a perfect number for travelling in Bolivia. We were all a tad aprehensive about the border crossing and what was to come after that. Fortunately it all went very smoothly. I even got the opportunity to hop from foot to foot saying ¨I´m in Argentina, I´m in Bolivia, Argentina, Bolivia...etc¨. The first time I´ve crossed a border by foot, was kinda cool.

Villizon on the Bolivia side was already dramatically different to La Quica in Argentina. Was so bizzare that two towns seperated by an imaginary line could differ so much. All of a sudden I felt...Argentina travel is p1ss easy compared to what we were going to experience in Bolivia. The standard of living was so much lower. Having said that, carnival was fully under way, the people were in high spirits & we were happy to be there. Me & Malte looked for accommodation while the others minded the bags (so great to be travelling in a group). All happy out to settle into our (not too shabby) hotel room having been sprayed with water guns, balloons & foam by the kids. Watched local league football game in the lobby with the locals & headed to bed looking forward to the Bolivia experience.

Already I have so much news about Bolivia, but I´ll give yez a breather. We´re having a great time & are meeting people all over the place. Love it!

SF - Boston - NY

grainne — Wed, 9 Jan 2008 05:15:00 GMT

First time in the States and it's been a blast. Have sneaking suspicion this won't be the last time!

San Francisco was so gorgeous. We spent a lot of the time there strolling up & down the hilly streets & down around the pier. Headed out to Alcatraz for tour of the prison. The recorded tour was given by former wardens and prisoners. Has won awards, with good reason. Could really get a feel for what it must have been like. Another day we rented a car & went out to Muir Woods where walked through a forest of Redwoods. These enourmous ancient trees. Oh yes, everything is big in the States!

We got to Boston morning of Christmas eve. We were welcomed into Malte's friends' house, the Kellys. Dan, Selina, their 3yr old Caitlin & Guinness the dog. The Irish coffees were introduced early on & kept coming. A drink by the name of Bacardi 151 was also invited along. 75% proof. It´s what I imagine turps to taste like. All the neighbours called in, we played some Wii bowling & maybe took it more serious than drunk people should. Christmas morning was great. We got to see the surprise on Cailin´s face when she came down the stairs to see her princess castle and 2 hungover Irish backpackers on the couch. Seriously, it was cool to watch her rifle through all her pressies. We had a really relaxing day of lounging around & eating. Had a very quick & frantic snowball fight outside and did some boxing on Wii. That´s about the extent of our exercise. For the rest of the time in Boston we mostly chilled out, walked around the city & met Malte´s other friend, Rich. Was a memorable Christmas, very happy we were there for it.

With heavy hearts we headed to airport on 30th. Though I perked up once we landed in New York (very early). After a few complications (my fault, doh!) we made it to our hotel. We headed to Times Square for New Years eve. It was crowded so we were nowhere near the ball. After a while we made the decision to head to a bar where we drank far too much. As New Years should be eh? Was good fun and have memories of practising salsa dancing while no one else was on the dance floor...or was that even a dance floor??? hmmm. Mainly did the usual touristy things in New York. Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, Ice skating in Bryant Park, Central Park, Natural History Museum. I think this is quite commendable considering the weather hit lows of -7C. I can´t remember ever being as cold! Also saw a couple of Knicks games in Madison Square Garden... experience was great...Knicks were awful! Got quite star-struck & was very taken aback by the size of the players! Our friend Ange took us out in Brooklyn a couple of nights. So much fun, great to catch up, but also good to move away from the tourist check list. It was my first time in New York & the funny thing was how familiar it all was coz I´ve seen so much of it on TV or Films in the past. It´s a fab city though & I know I´ll go back as we only scratched the surface.

So now we´re in 40C heat in Buenos Aires. Seriously!! Can´t even go outside! We´re taking a few days to relax in front of a fan as it´s been pretty hectic over the last week or so. Have met a few people from the hostel we´re in so heading out for Argentina steak No 1 tonight. I imagine there´ll be quite a few more over the coming weeks.

Las Vegas

grainne — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:17:00 GMT

Well we had a ball and were so sad to leave.

It started with the Go! room in the Flamingo hotel that we had booked. One of the few rooms in the hotel that has a view of the strip, looking right out onto the Belagio fountain. It also had it's share of completely unnecessary features such as the flat screen in the bathroom mirror and an alarm clock that wakes you up to the sound of waves crashing.

Having settled in, I partook in my first American buffet and found myself on my third trip to the food thinking "what's the catch?" Sooo much food, think I got through a bucket of prawns and a kilo of different cheeses. And this was all really good quality stuff!

We walked around the strip but tiredness got the better of me, was all very overwhelming. Had an early night in preparation for Grand Canyon trip the following morning.

The Grand Canyon was stunning and made me feel very small. We started with a flight on a plane that holds about 10 people. Then when we got to the rim we were taken down into the canyon in a helicopter...just as well for the buffet the night before as my weight was perfect to ride shotgun. Brilliant! Was unreal plummeting down towards the Colorado river. Once we got down there, we had a short boat cruise. Back on the helicopter...to the buffet lunch...obviously. The sights were amazing. Made the most of feeling petite I can tell you! Really was a highlight of our trip so far (apologies in advance for the many photos that will go up on facebook).

Following a Go Room power nap, we hit the strip equipped with drinking boots. Starting with a buffet in Ceaser's Palace. Then onto Belagio fountain (you'll remember it from ending of Oceans 11) where we watched the water raise & fall to the sound of 'Sleighride together' (or whatever that Christmas song is - dillalingaling dingaling etc :o). I don't know if it was the delerium of overfeeding myself, the bottle of wine with dinner, Christmas, or just that the Vegas thing hit me, but I can't lie, a tear came to my eye. It was just so nice! We then went for a drink in the Belagio and won a couple of rounds of roulette. So clearly we thought we were destined to walk away from Vegas having doubled our money. Incidentally, the Belagion seems to go against all the tackiness of Vegas. It's pure class, even it's Christmas decorations were somewhat charming. We bought bubbly & vodka & went back to our room (just so we wouldn't spend our potential winnings on alcohol!) feeling confident about the night ahead. Nicely glowing, headed for a tour of the casino (later to be known as 'the losing streak tour' - we were awful!). We managed to keep going til the early hours just winning & losing evenly. Luckily our cash ran out just at the same time as our energy. Woke up the following morning halfway between disgusted and really pleased with ourselves for not doing things by half. To ponder on this, we had a buffet lunch. Decided to have a quiet enough night having spent so much & feeling really hungover. Bought tickets to 'Legends in Concert' and had a go on the rollercoaster... which woke us up a bit. I screamed....a lot...I can't say Malte didn't incidentally.

For Legends in Concert we sat in Imperial hotel with a booth to ourselves. The show started with Ray Charles (unbelievabley like the man himself), through to Supremes & Tom Jones....all really good. But then the moment I'd been waiting for (2 bottles of bubbly later)...out came the King. This guy won prizes for his impersonations & rightly so! I was blown away (Vegas teary moment number 2 :o). Afterwards got a picture with him & decided I had enough energy to lose more money. So that's what we did :o) Starting in Imperial where Barbara Streisland, Stevie Wonder, Whitney, Garth Brookes (and many more) dealt the cards. Fortunately we contained ourselves a little better though I do recall sitting at a bar talking to Bill the barman & then calling every barman in the place Bill (they looked similar and answered to the name?!). We went to a piano bar where a girl & fella were on 2 pianos playing any request given. The place was going mad, was great!!! Don't remember much about coming back to hotel, but the camera shows I took way too many fuzzy photos of the strip.

Anyway, you're probably sick of my rant. All I can say is, I loved it all!! So much fun to be had in that place.

I probably won't get an opportunity to say it to you all as my phone doesn't work here, but hope you have an absolutely fantastic Christmas or 'Happy Holiday' as they say here,

Bye Bye New Zealand

grainne — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:16:00 GMT

Well after 3 weeks of fun, giggles, relaxation and adrenaline...it's time to leave New Zealand. Quick summary of the highs...

Nelson - Abel Tasmin Trek and Kayaking. The scenary was astounding. Couldn't believe New Zealand could look so tropical. Blue skies, crystal waters & almost white sands. The whole experience was amazing. Nothing like jumping in the cool (and cool it was!!) water after a 3 hour hike. Then to follow up with a kayak trip along the coast was just amazing. Only wish we'd been there longer than a day.

Greymouth - Not a whole lot to see here, however, if ever anyone decides to jump on a Magic Bus, the tour of Montieth's brewery is essential. It was on this 'all you can drink' tour that we got to know our travelling companions a little better. Ella & Holly, the young 'uns from England, Fahed from Canada & Neal from US (who provided most laughter on our journey), gorgeous Mae & Vanessa - 2 cool girls. The bond was set over a few tasty beers.

Franz Josef - The glacier. The plan was to do the Heli-hike but unfortunately the weather wasn't with us. I'd walked up this glacier the last time I was here. So I left Malte to head up with the boys while me & the girls got us some Quad Bikes & raced around the base. Took turns with driving \ being passengers. Vanessa had us off our seats more than once. Our arms were killing us for days, just from hanging on. Later that evening we hit the Blue Ice Cafe with our driver Lefty (called this coz he took the left side off his own bus while going over a narrow bridge). Lots of drinks later there was dancing around poles...I believe there are photos of this and general more getting to know everyone "you're great..no you're great" etc..

Queenstown - Could harp on for hours about this place as I'm sure anyone who's been here can relate to. It's the highlight of New Zealand for most visitors I reckon. We spent a few nights here. Went on a day trip to Milford Sounds. The journey there was just as spectaclar as the Sound itself. Snow capped mountains & generally gorgeousness everywhere. Lots of entertainment on the bus as the whole lot of 'the gang' went. We haaad to go out that night coz Fahed & Neal were leaving us. Rounds of Tequilla were involved. Things got messy..but in a good way :o) Unfortunately missed out on the Canyon swing as it was booked out so we did a swing over Queenstown instead. The video is really embarrassing as I screamed every vulgarity that came to mind. Was fantastic though. The main difference from the bungy is that it's your job to pull the pin that makes you plummet 43metres. Another highlight of this place...the Ferg Burger. You can get a burger with Blue cheese or Brie...it was the tastiest burger we've ever had. Agreed by all. Aside from the activities & events...Queenstown is spectacular in itself. A small town surrounded by the aptly named mountains 'The Remarkables'. Very sad to leave Queenstown as we were leaving without Vanessa, Mae, Fahed & Neal.

Lake Tekapo - Just had a BBQ here at the hostel...the hostel that faces an absolutely beautiful lake. On the way here we passed some lakes so blue, it looked like someone had dyed it. Stunning! A great night was had by all, ended with some star gazing.

Blenhiem - Me & Malte parted with the girls (only for a brief couple of days) to head to Marlborough. The hostel we stayed in (crazy as it was) made everything very easy for us, giving us free hire of bikes. We headed off for the day. Hit our first winery around 10.30 and drank our way through about 10 different winerys throughout the day. Even stopped for Lunch in a gorgeous place Whaiya River. Was a rough ride home against very strong breeze (which wasn't the only reason the bikes were wobbling). Great fun though...best was to do it!

Wellington - Met back up with the girls to get the ferry across to Welly. Pete was waiting for us at the port. Great to see a familiar face. Stayed with him for the few days. Absolutely luxurious pad! Fahed & Neal had decided to stick around so met up with them again - Yey!! Had a great night out the night we arrived which ended in Pete calling in sick the following day. Wellington is a lovely city. Really easy to get around & nice to waste a few hours just walking around. Stuck around for Pete's birthday & we were sad to leave him & Ella & Holly. Great though, that the boys decided to come with us.

Napier - Driver made mistake of giving us cheap beer in Tui Brewery far too eary in the day...thirst was on. Drank for the rest of the day & right through to the evening. Yes, we were those annoying people down the back of the bus telling each other our life stories.

Taupo - Main thing we did here was the Jet-Boating. So much fun. All decided we were buying one between us by the time we left.

Rotorua - Did the white water rafting on arrival. Highlight was the biggest commercial drop in New Zealand. We all managed to stay in the boat for the 7 metre drop. Laughed throughout the whole experience. Was loadsa fun. That evening went to Maori cultural experience. Malte was chief of our bus & did a great job. Was a lovely night with very tasty food!!

Taranga - Noooothing to do here. So obviously got beers in & played cards til early hours of the morning. Interesting to meet some 18yr old girls in the hostel who kept refering to me as 'that lady'. I felt veeerrrry old. Their night ended with one of them in hospital getting her stomach pumped...oh to be young again!

Auckland - Went out for meal last night to say goodbye to the boys. Really sad leaving them. Weird how close ye get so quickly. Definitely instend on meeting up again in Brisbane. Now we're just about to head to airport.

This has been my second time to travel round New Zealand. I think maybe this time I appreciated the country itself a bit more than the last time. It really is stunning. Every time the bus turned a corner we wanted to hop out for photos. We were spoilt really by the Magic Bus, not having to think about anything & getting the opportunity to meet some like-minded & hilarious people. I'll be sad to leave and intend to come back...even just to get that canyon swing done!!!

Vegas here we come!!!