Start spreading the news..

Right so the last few attempts at updating my blog have ended in a fair whack of internet rage so apologies for my loooong absence.. yes we are still alive and kicking and having an amazing time!!

I am so hopelessly far behind with my blog that i dont even know where to begin. we bought a tent in buenos aires and a gas cooker and a little cooking set i dubbed the kitchen which has bowls and a kettle and a saucepan and since then we have been camping and trekking our way around this marvellous country with a few stop offs in hostels along the way..

up until this stage i thought australia topped the globe for the most beautiful scenery but argentina has me calling a draw, i ahve been blown away by the hikes we have done over the last month and this has proven to be one of the absolut hightlights of my trip, not to mention this is gaucho (cowboy) country and things are seriously horsey around here- love it! Ok will load up a few photos (at the grace of the computer gods..) and let them do the talking... we will be flying out on the 11th so until the endless slidfeshow nights and long dinners where we will endlessly be recounting our travellers tales (mwahahahahaha) take care and i will SEE YOU ALL SOON!!! XXXXXXX

A bit of a catch up..

Ok my last entry was a bit of a random drop of photos from Chile with little explanation, considering when i last left off we were travelling around Brazil.. Well A quick (!!!) 40 hour bus trip from Rio direct to Buenos Aires delivered us into the wonderful world of Argentina, at last a country where we can live like kings on the aussie dollar and afford to really live it up in this por supesto country! I cannot reccomend South America, in particular Argentina, enough to my fellow cringos. Where else in the world can you enjoy a bounty of everything the great outdoors has to offer, skiing, hiking, you name it, you can now actually afford to do it! as well as great city living, even the best restaurant meals with the biggest fattest steaks and most luscious wines will only set you back about 20 dollars. But what about the danger?? I hear you fret, the gun slinging gauchos (cowboys), the gangstas, the crazy crime ridden terrors awaiting to strip you of all worldy possesions and leave you beaten in a dusty ditch..?? Well so far our experience of this side of SA has been strictly listening to OTHER travellers tales (touch wood) ....

Pics from Torres del Paine

A mix of pics of the glacier Moreno and glacier at Torres del paine. the second from top pics was taken from the bus, gives you some idea of the incredible colours of the lake contrasted against barren landscape. the colours and scenery was stunningly beautiful and very cold! we survived the five day hike though and were actually pretty lucky with the weather, only one arvo of rain and one incident of extreme wind where we came back to find our little cheapie no frills tent blown own and full of dirt. Ok gotta fly, post more soon! love to all, xxx Corrina and James

Christmas and NYE, Rio style- Feliz Navidad and Novo ano!

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to everyone! I hope you are all settling back into work and normality again after the end of the silly season and NYE celebrations.. I am pictured here with our Brasilian family, from L-R Joseffa (Grandma), Fathima (family friend), Olga (Mum), Carolina (daughter, friend, great host..) and me, MariaSylvia is missing in action and James is the photographer..
NYE @Ipanema house party in rooftop apartment overlooking beach and Black Eyed Peas concert- awesome! from L-R, Victor, Arita, MariaSylvia, Isisi, Carolina and moi (apologies for name spelling!)
Christmas actio shot at the Silveira household..
Ipanema beach sideways.. check out the crowd!!
Our view of the stage from party

Some photos from Brasil..

James aka Crocodile Dundee holding a cayman in the Pantanal. These guys look like the real deal but they are totally harmless. I accidentally dropped one in our canoe and depsite being surrounded by the long legs of screaming giants it just scampered about and didnt bite. I particuarly like this photo as it looks like james is loading his gun, not holding a poor hapless and confused reptile.

James on Lopes Mendes beach, Ilha Grande (Big island) not far from Rio. Stunning pristine beach with nice baby learner waves for us L-plater surfers, plenty of the usual beach necessities to be found even at this more remote beach outpost: stalls selling cold beer, guarana, sandwiches, white sand, hot brazilian bodies..
James and I at Iguacu Falls, at the devils throat look out (on the Argentinian side) jaw dropping torrents of water bursting only inches away from the safety of our nice tourist viewing balcony.
At the falls still, this boat takes you under the actual falls- very exciting in a terrifying, drowning sort of way..
HIghlight of the Pantanal Jungle, our horseriding trek! they were half horse half donkeys but they were the best trail horses i have ever been on. The special technique of steering a horse with one reign by pulling it against the neck (ie if you want to go right push the reigns to against right side of neck) rather than pulling on the poor horses mouth meant they were very responsive to your wishes, unlike the usual jaded mounts you get on trailrides who are far more attentive to where the rear end of the horse in front is taking them rather than their ineffective passenger on board. we pretty much got to run the thing ourselves, going off for gallops at the end whenever we felt like it, sometimes to the dismay of our accompanying cowboy who got left a little behind..


OK thats all for now, more to come soon!

Merry Chirstmas to all and a happy new year!

bem vindo, Brasil!

James and I have safely arrived in Rio de janiero, after an overnight flight and a rather long bus ride through the city! We are staying with James friend Carolina and her family in the richest part of Rio in a very nice apartment, we have our own room and a live in chef/housekeeper!! Rio is beautiful, we are staying right between the famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana where they actually have designated areas for the beautiful people, gays, less glamorous locals etc. everyone is soccer mad of course and there are barefoot games of soccer being conducted everywhere as well as beach volleyball with buff girls in brasilian bikins doing their daily training. you can buy whole coconuts and drink the juice witha straw, pineapples, mangoes, banannas;; ahhh the tropical life- megusta megusta!! (i like i like!)


I can tell i am going to love and adore my time here, the shopping is great the people are laid back and beautiful, despite the very real threat of crime! I am very quickly trying to learn portuguese as her family speaks no english and we are having some pretty funny ´conversations´!! it has some similarities to spanish so i can pick up threads of what is being said but i have no way of responding which is very frustrating, so there is lots of laughing and smiling and tyring furiously to find the right page oin the phrase book!!

So is just a quick note to say i am very excited to be here, it is awesome having carolina and her sister Maria Sylvia to take us out, tonight we are going to a party at a bar that has a great view over the beaches for a friends birthday and then out to a small brazilian club and tomorrow night a live outdoor concert on top of sugar loaf mountain, we are coming back to have a proper brasilian christmas with her family after flying up north and may even be here for the new year. it all sounds amazing! Yes, bad things do happen here and it can be dangerous but we are going to be very careful and only take what we need out and about.

I bought my first pair of havayna thongs complete with brasilian flag so am very excited. we drank capriyanas (spelling??) in an outdoor bar last night whilst snacking on a delivious spread of local food in a setting that would have bankrupted us in europe but which is finally totally affordable here!

hope everyone is well, more photos soon!

photos!

James in St Marks Square Venice, quite proud of this more artistic shot hehe
James by the grand canal, Venice. Incredibly picturesque spot in Venice which was a truly magical city.. that isnt a giant anaconda around his neck it is the scarf i bought in Venice- it was freezing there!

me in the same spot..
me sideways in the same spot..
Me on the bridge we were facing in the previous shots, one of the prettiest views of venice from up here and a great spot to see the sun go down
the happy couple
St Marks basilica, pigeons and us!
lifestyles of the rich and famous! and here is one of the plebians posing as a member hehe Monaco was yet another stunning seaside town, totally immaculate. We visited an aquarium there which was fantastic
another plebian overlooking Monaco and furiously wishing one of those yachts was hers...
Me in Nice, a slightly goldcoast-ish beach city of France but very likeable nonethless and the placce we stayed had a KITCHEN so i got to cook lots of yummy dinners..
James in Nice
Me hitching a ride after our day of wine tasting out in rural provence, France. Luckily the bus did stop and save us from the long walk home

A fairly typical French lunch for us, produce from the incredible local markets- pate, cheese, bread, avocado..
Barcelona! Us right on the beach
Ahhhh tapas. me delighting in the goods of one of the many tapas bars we frequented in Sans Sebastian..
Amazingly we got to swim and sunbake this day, the water in Sans Sebastian was quite nippy but fine once you took the plunge. Red strapless top care of Sara, thank you Sara!!
James at the Louvre- yet another great collection housed in yet another architectural feat
Ahhhh, Paris! j'ADORE! the view from our window looking down at the Bastille. The just married sign was up the whole time we stayed, they had fashioned it out of socks and a bedsheet
Take a guess where this might be..