Hola South America

Gallery: Mendoza

susegemfi — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Gallery: Santiago

susegemfi — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Picturesque Mendoza

susegemfi — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

So we made a move to our next destination, crossing the boarder of Chile into Argentina by bus. This gets a mention of its very own because it was an adventure in itself. The buses in Argentina are really good and the seats recline so that you are basically lying down. We left Chile at 8am and after a bit of a nap on the bus we woke up to the ridiculously beautiful mountainous backdrop. It was a awesome, if not a little bit scary winding up and down through the mountains of Chile and Argentina.

We arrived in Mendoza, Argentina which is wine country and produces 70% of the country’s wine. The city is stunning, really clean with wide tree lined streets and loads of parks and plazas.

We only had 3 nights in there as we had to be in Buenos Aires by the 30^th so we crammed as much as we could into the days we had.

One really popular thing to do in Mendoza is to do a bike tour of the vineyards in Maipu, about an hour outside of Mendoza. On recommendation, we took the bus out there and hired bicycles from a lovely family run business called Mr. Hugo’s. After a wobbly start we cycled off with our maps to spend the day tasting some of the best wine in the country. It was an amazing day and we were totally pooped and more than a bit tipsy by the time we got home.

Had many a conversation about who from home would enjoy stunning Mendoza the most, and had many a vino for everyone at home!

Highlights

Our first Argentinean steak experience. We had heard many good things about the meat in Argentina being some of the best in the world, but it is actually just ridiculous. We had a massive steak lunch for AUS$11 and the steak was sooo big it nearly took up the whole plate!

Lowlights

The lack of coins and change in Argentina! Coins are a real rarity because of the economic crash in Argentina and it’s an odd situation because the buses only take coins. So we had to stop at more than 5 shops on our way to the bus buying lollies just so we would have enough change.

Gallery: Valpariso

susegemfi — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:06:00 GMT

Feliz Navidad in Valpariso

susegemfi — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:01:00 GMT

After a sad farewell to our friends at Ritoque, we headed south to the portside city of Valparaiso. Previously a merchant port, the city is built back on to a hill in an amazing, rickety sort of way.

So we set ourselves up for a few days of chilling in Chile for our xmas away from home.

Highlights

- Xmas eve dinner with our adopted family at our hostel. Everyone made a dish from their country and we had feasted for hours. There was a slight hiccup with ours though when we were making gem´s mums signature potato bake and realized gem had bought apricot yoghurt instead of cream! As if the picture of fruit on the front didn´t give it away but luckily we were saved by our amigos at the hostel.

- Our very own Chilean history lesson from our new Chilean friend Hoarhe

Lowlights

- Evil delicious snack dulce de leche. This is a mixture between condensed milk and caramel and belongs in lowlights as it is sooo good that it is going to be our downfall as we cannot stop eating it

Gallery: Ritoque

susegemfi — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:01:00 GMT

Paradise in Chile

susegemfi — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

After a bus ride via through the beach town of Vina Del Mar an hour north of Santiago and a slightly more bumpy bus ride and a confusing cab ride we arrived at our own little paradise, a stunning beach town called Ritoque.

It was like a movie set, a gorgeous secluded beach complete with its own beach bar. Funnily enough there was actually a Chilian movie being filmed the day we arrived and the locals told us there this happens quite a bit that´s how gorgeous it is.

We were in total awe and spent the day discussing how we should move to Chile immediately and embrace the laid back beach lifestyle. Needless to say we ended up extending our stay for as long as possible and only moved on because the cosy little hostel we stayed at was overflowing!

Highlights

- Stunning sunset everyday from the Cliffs that were a 2 minute walk away. Being on the other side of the world means the sun sets over the water... amazinggg

- Beach front accommadation for less than $15US a night! coupled with the gorgeous people we met, both locals and other travellers.

Lowlights

- Arriving the first day with no food, not realising secluded literally means everything is a drive away. So wine and food donations from others who had made the same mistake was dinner for us

- Not realising the extremeness of the Chilean sun. It was soo powerful that we were all a bit sore for the next few days after (and yes mums at home we all were wearing 50+ sunscreen we promise). Apparently there is a hole in the ozone layer above Chile, but at least we learnt our lesson early!

Hellooo spanish translator book

susegemfi — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

We arrived in Santiago to find that the teensy bit of Spanish we have managed to learn doesn‘t mean much when you can‘t understand the response! So our little translator book has been awesome.

Bellavista hostel where we are staying is central to yum resturants with a cute a little rooftop terrace where we spent the afternoons lazing about drinking wine.

Also our South America lonely planet is the bomb, courtesy of our darling friend Renee, it has become our new best friend. It has so much useful information although it‘s hard not to look like a tourist carrying it around!

Gem has really established herself as leader of the pack with her high energy levels and uncanny sense of direction. Both of which are seriously quite amazing and very useful.

Highlights

- A kilo of cherries for $1US, so cheap and sooo good

- Taking the finicular up to see Santiago from above. The city is absolutely sprawling and you can´t help but feel a tad insignificant looking out

Lowlights

- The stray dogs that are all around, sort of wishing we had gotten our rabies shots hmmm

- The staring! It was a bit of a shock at first but now we are sort of getting used to the harrassfulness. It´s pretty harmless but still a bit odd

Gallery: Vancouver

susegemfi — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Falling in love with Vancouver

susegemfi — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

So what was meant to be a pitstop in Vancouver to drop off some of our things, turned out to be a non-stop party and an excellent addition to our trip! We spent 10 awesome days exploring the city and making new friends, eating yummy food and just sampling in general what Vancouver has to offer.

Vancouver is such a beautiful city, surrounded by snow covered mountains that you can see from all different places - we can‘t wait to make it our new home when we come back in March.

Highlights

- The Canadians! They are the most lovely and hospitable people that went out of their way to make our trip awesome.

- Being lucky enough to be there for a solid snowfall. We probably shouldn‘t have ventured out when it was snowing though, aka getting stuck lining up for a bar in the snow with no cabs and having to walk/run 20 minutes back to the hostel. Learning the hard way that our australian clothes aren‘t exactly built for artic conditions. But it was worth it to see everything covered in frosting the next day.

- Granville Island Markets - gorgeous food markets with everything from organic fruit and veges, huge atlantic salmon and all the cheese you could ever eat.

Lowlights

- The sunset at 430pm - There is not enough time in the day!