Mar 24, 2013 - 24th Santiago-Sydney-Armidale (26th)

Finally in Santiago. Flying out at 11.20pm, 24th arriving Armidale 1.20pm Tues 26th. No pillow for too long! That says it all! Looking forward to being still for a long time. Thanks for being a follower. Adele wins the prize for best comments ......and she will enjoy the prize! ************************************************************************************************************************ Had walk to coast from hotel (about 2 km) to view the Pacific. Next landfall to W would be Coffs Harbour! Grey cool morning. Raul took us to the...

Mar 10, 2013 - Valpariso and Santiago Chile

March 9, 2013 At sea. We spent a relaxing day at sea. Early tomorrow morning we arrive in Valpariso, Chile. March 10, 2013 Valpariso, Chile Valpariso is the main shipping (very busy) port of Chile. As in Buenos Aires, we docked next to the container loading and unloading area and have to take a bus from the ship to the terminal, about 2 miles away. Valpariso is also the terminus of the first segment of our cruise. Some of the passengers that booked just the first segment and boarded in Buenos Aires will disembark here and we will take on...

Mar 2, 2013 - Back to Santiago and onword to Peru

We took a night bus back from Pucon to Santiago just in time to make the wine tour to Concha y Toro winery. Chile is a huge wine producing country. They are #9 of the wine producing countries in the world in volume with more than 900000 tons of wine per year just ahead of Germany producing over 700000 tons per year. They produce 85% Red and 15% White wines. On our tour they were telling us about the $300 bottle of specialty wine, and something similar that we are able to get for only $40. Needless to say they didn't know that we usually...

Feb 26, 2013 - Day with Equus Minera, near Santiago

Today we went into the field to look at a copper project with Equus Ltd a small Aust company working here. A beaut fine day and good to get into the local bush and meet with people, including locals. They could vaguely understand our few words of Spanish but not vice-versa! We were treated like royalty back at their field hacienda, with delicious lunch. Great views from top of mountain across to the snow-capped Andes to the east. Rather hot back in Santiago tonight, but going to have a few pisco's...

Feb 25, 2013 - Santiago

Despite the fact that there was no gluten free meal for me ( Graham inadvertently ate it) we had a very peaceful trip. We are feeling at home here as we were given the same room as last time. About to descend to the bar for our first pisco, then off to a Peruvian restaurant. ************************************************************************************************************************ Long birthday. Travel early to SYD airport and leave on LA800 to Santiago via AKL. Uneventful flight, watched a couple of movies, had a small amount...

Feb 22, 2013 - To the Atacama

Hola. To-day we are in Antofagasta, Northern Chili. We left Santiago last Sunday and drove to Valparaiso, Villa de Vino and on to Pudapa. We had hoped to stay around Villa de Vino but that was not to be. Both are one big city. At this time of year and on a week-end they are full of tourists--Chilenos and others. The beaches were crowded, the traffic horrendous so we left. We made the mistake of driving north along the beach and ran into bumper to bumper traffic that was very stop and go through two little seaside villages. Again the beaches...

Feb 16, 2013 - Back to Lima and then we sail off

A leisurely breakfast this am and then most of the gals go out to buy something from Kevin Costner, as once again he has followed us and today is our last day. He is such a cutie and seems genuinely grateful for all the business. We wander across the street to visit the most important temple of the Incans – Qori Kancha – the gold temple. When the Spanish arrived they abolished the Incan religion and destroyed the temples. 90% of this temple was destroyed and the Spanish built a convent over top. During an earthquake most of the convent...

Feb 16, 2013 - Central Chili

Hola. We were in Bariloche, Argentina when last we wrote. We had the rear shocks on the fiorino changed without problems. Finding a shop--YPF gas station was easy and getting them changed--no probleme. We then took a drive west of town along the lake. As the weather can be rainy, it chose to rain--still there was lots to see even if the mountains chose to hide. The next day was gorgeous with all the mountains showing off. We headed north to San Martin, a smaller prettier town also surrounded by mountains and on a smaller lake (Seven lake...

Feb 14, 2013 - Hiking the Andes & Stray dogs in Chile

Following two days in Santiago we had to get out of the city and went for a hike in the Andes. To get there took about a 1 hour driving. I wish I could convey how impressed I was, however the weather was such that we didn't get to see much of the mountains. We did get our hike in, which felt really good, however once we got to the top of the mountains fog moved in and we barely got to see the snow covered peaks of the mountain range. We did take pictures just to prove we were there. In the picture you see me with a stray dog, who actually...

Feb 10, 2013 - Santiago cont.

Well, Santiago looked a lot better the second day we were there. We spend some time in the center sightseeing. The city is the country's capital and the cultural and economic centre of Chile. It has many museums, theaters, restaurants, bars AND it has about 6.7 mill or so... inhabitants, or 40% of its population. Even though there is still a lot of history present in downtown, you can also see a lot of new buildings and skyscraper. One modern section of town is called Sanhatten, after Manhatten. One of the fun places we visited was Santa...

Feb 7, 2013 - Santiago, Chile

Arrived in Santiago, Chile today. Only had to fly 11 hours from Auckland New Zealand to get here. I am sending you my first impressions , which are not necessarily very favorable in picture form. We "took to the streets", meaning that we completed our first walking tour through town. We saw a lot of graffiti and dirt. Our outlook improved considerably with dinnerr however. The total bill for two nice dinners with wine came to about $20 USD.

Jan 23, 2013 - Memories

“What was your favorite part”? “What did you enjoy most”? These are the questions I’m often asked after nearly 18 months of travel. Stretching from the Himalaya to Patagonia and on to the Serengeti I’ve seen some stunningly beautiful places. I hope, though, that what I remember most is something completely different. I hope I always remember just how similar people are the world over. To confirm this I need only to glance out the window of my bus traveling through a small Argentinian town. I see local men “smoking and joking” as they do...