Week 28 - 17/02/10 Chile

Week 28 – 17/02/10 Chile















Our flight from Auckland was really good, amazing food (yes I had to have NZ lamb) and Malbec wine, not to mention a zillion movies to choose from. It was 13 hours, but I seriously would have ignored my deep vein thrombosis to watch a few more movies and sample the delights of the Argentine grapes a little more.















We were a bit nervous about South America since we had only heard bad stories, but the truth is, if you have a little street smart sense it is no different from any other country. We took a bus in Santiago and headed for the centre but had no idea where to get off the bus. It arrived at Universidad De Chile which was the main bus terminal so we took the subway the remaining journey to Barrio De Londres (London Neighbourhood). Took a room in a grand hostel called Londres and went for a wonder in the city. Many people in Santiago and all seemed to be eating or drinking. There are cake shops and ice cream parlours everywhere, which we had to sample of course. Then there were these strange coffee bars, where men stood drinking expresso to girls wearing very short skirts in broad daylight, very strange indeed.















The following day we did the tourist thing and went on a long walk. Had lunch at a veggie restaurant which was very expensive but I think they may have cornered the market for the whole of Chile since vegetarian food is nt so [popular in this part of the world.














In the evening we headed to the bus station to book our tickets for Pichilemo for the weekend before heading to Barrio Buena Vista, a student part of town with great bars and nightlife. Took a giant beer and some empanandas outside a bar whilst watching the local drug addicts beg for cigarettes whilst exposing themselves (not intentionally I might add) before getting booted away by the owners.




















We left very early in the morning, 5.30am to catch our bus to the coast. The bus finally left at 6.45am and by 10am we were in Pichilemo, a small surfers village on the Pacific coast. We jumped off the bus just on the outskirts of town, only to realise we had left the camera on the seats. Panic set in since we watched the bus speed off into the distance having no idea where the bus station was. Mariana attempted to ask for directions and all we understood was that it was 30 minutes walk so we opted for a taxi. We had the luck of the irish. Our bus was parked up and Mariana found the camera between the seats, such a relief to say the least.
















We headed back to town and found a room in a quiet, but central guesthouse. The rest of the day was spent strolling along the beach watch the enormous waves crashing down on the little rubber people also known as surfers. We hadn’t been surfing since Indonesia and these waves were a lot bigger that anything we had experienced before. Also, the water was bearing above freezing, not to mention the outcrops of scattered rocks which did not give us good vibes about surfing here so we decided to give it a miss.
















In the evening we discovered real empanadas, cheese and a filling deep fried in pastry, delicious and only about 3000 calories each. For the next 3 days we lived on this local delight whilst chilling, running, walking and sleeping loads. After 3 days it was time to head back to Santiago, so we took a bus.














Our second visit to Santiago was more of a stop over since our bus for Argentina was leaving at 7am. We just took some food and chilled out in an internet café. I decided to back up all the photos following the scare of almost losing the camera.















Chile has been expensive, lets just hope the rest of South America is not as costly since we may be returning home early.

Week 26 + 27 - 02/02/10 New Zealand

Week 26 + 27 – 02/02/10 New Zealand

We landed in Auckland and then went through the same procedure as Oz, gave them our trekking shoes to be re-washed again. The thing was they were still in the Australian Quarantine bags from 3 days ago, but still they insisted on cleaning them. After about 2 hours we finally managed to get out of the airport and get to the car rentals and it was there that we picked up our limousine in the shape of a 1990 Nissan Sunny, cool.

The car had done about 3 million miles and the tracking was shot to bits, but it had character and we liked it. We headed off through Auckland to Remuera, a leafy suburb of the city and after just 5 minutes the rage started to return to me. Seriously I do not like driving one bit and we were about to start a 5000 km round trip.

Stayed the night at Sonia and John’s place, they are Mariana’s friend from University and made us most welcome. In fact they loaned us a complete set of camping gear which was a great help to us. Auckland seems so nice and we can see why so many people jump ship from the UK and head out here.

The next 3 days we travelled the North Island heading south towards Wellington. We stopped off at Lake Taupo and stayed in the most amazing camp site. Quiet, full of enormous trees set beside a fast flowing river towards waferfalls, whats more, it was free! Visited the craters of the moon and then set off for Palmerston North on our way to Wellington. Stayed in a Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite about 50km south of Palmerston to find that one of the tent poles had split in the trunk of the car, bugger. Made a temporary repair and camped in a strange little place with about just 3 or 4 other people. Early morning we packed up camp and headed off for Wellington. By 9am we were there a mere 4 ½ hours before our ferry left for Picton. It was Mariana’s 30th Birthday and we intended to take a sky dive in Taupo but were unsure of the costs so would wait until Christchurch. We wondered around town, got a new pole for the tent and had a terrible lunch since there did not seem to be anywhere that seriously catered for vegetarians. Wellington is a cool city, full of things to do but we had limited time so headed for the boat shortly after. We crossing was slow and Mariana was not in the best of moods and scoring just 7.8 on her floor exercises. Arrived in Picton then headed off towards White Sands Bay and camped for the night. Wonderful place on a secluded beach surrounded by cliffs. In the morning we went running before breakfast which was so nice since we hadn’t seriously exercised for some time now. I was half dead by the time we returned to the tent, but in good spirits.

We took an age to pack up and by 1pm we were off to Kaikoura, a small surfers village about 200km south. Didn’t stay there for long since it seemed a bit of a tourist trap so we headed a little further and camped at Omihi beach, where you could see seals lying below in the sun. It was quite noisey with the road beside you, but the background noise of the waves crashing outside the tent sent us to sleep, what a great place.

The following day we headed for Peel Forest via Christchurch. After panicking for the last 30km since we were running on fumes and not petrol we finally made it. Not sure why they called it Christhurch, maybe it’s an anagram for Let’s Copy Oxford!

Christchurch was really nice and we had plenty of time to chill and drink gallons of coffee. We reached Peel forest around 6pm so managed to set up camp in daylight. This campsite was like a palace with regards to it’s facilities, hot showers, Laundry room, kitchens the works. Had a lovely time getting clean and went running in the morning on one of the many tracks in the area. This campsite was expensive, a whole NZ$18 per night….

The following day was Queenstown via Lake Tekapo, where we had lunch. The drive as so boring since we were now inland with no sea in sight. Camped up in Lake Wakatipu about 12km south of town, had some food, got attacked (the first of many) by sand flies and crashed for the evening.

In the morning we started the epic journey to Milford Sound. Most normal people allow 2-3 days for this, but we did it in 6 hours via Te Anan for lunch. Found a campsite around 100km from Milford Sound and there we met some sand flies. The most enjoyable part of having dinner with sand flies is watching them go swimming in the pasta sauce, they must think it is their birthday and somebody has boiled up a large pan of fresh blood just so they don’t have cut through your skin. Our campsite was nice but too many people and we are glad in a way that we are camping in a tent and not in a camper van since life would be so simple and sand fly free!

The following morning we headed off to Milford Sound, stopping off at a view point and greated by 3 cheeky Alpine Parrots. Strange birds, beautiful colours and not shy at all. We gave them some nice oatmeal bread before continuing on the Sound to catch our boat. The boat trip was amazing, really empty since the main truck loads of Japonese do not arrive till 10am, so only about 20 on our boat. The views are quite something special with mist / fog everywhere and waterfalls, seals, etc. This was our first main activity of NZ since we were trying to stick to a reasonable budget, but it was worth every penny. We realised that they were serving free coffee on the boat, so I managed to chug away about 1 ½ litres before we pulled into the Quayside.

From Milford Sound we headed to Wanaka Lakes via Te Anan and Queenstown. We were meant to stay close to town but the campsite was full of gypsies so we moved on another 100km. Our campsite had many sand flies and Mariana decided to throw our lentil casserole dinner over the neighbouring campers (or very close to them) since she had not experienced the full force of the dark side to date. One thing to say about the south island is that it is beautiful, but the sand fly situation is bad, so I suggest a full chain mail suit if you visit in the near future.

Our penultimate day in the South Island, we drove 1000km in a day. We left camp really early to avoid paying the fees, this was obviously Mariana’s idea since I am so honest and wanted to pay, but she insisted we drive off into the distance and spend the cash on cakes and coffee instead. We stopped for breakfast about 200km down the road and I was attacked (with what seemed like planned logistics of a full army) by sand flies. This was the final straw for me and I wanted out! Did intend to stay at Fox Glacier, but again this was a tourist trap and we wanted to save the cash so continued on after a coffee break. We headed for Lake Rotitti via Reefton Junction. Reefton Junction has one shop which happened to be a café and sold the best Chocolate Rough cake in the world. Seriously, the best slab of cake we have ever had. Similar to a chocolate brownie but with coconut and a biscuit base. To die for! Arrived at Lake Rotitti late and after setting up the tent went running. Cooked dinner in a little kitchen enclosure which gave us some much needed shelter from the sand flies, then went to bed quite early.

The ferry was leaving at 10am, so we had to be in Picton by 9am which was a squeeze. We drove endlessly down country roads, and watched a few hundred sheep being driven by 2 remarkable farm dogs. The farmer normally has 4 dogs, and alternates them since the drive is typically a few miles and dogs need rest periods. The dogs absolutely love it, really nice watching them in action.

The ferry back was really nice but the weather in Wellington was terrible, full rain. We headed off to Napier in the Hawkes Bay area (East Coast) and stopped off for numerous Wild Bean Café refills. Napier is an art deco town rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake which more or less completely destroyed the town. The town is gorgeous but we could find anywhere to stay since there was a motown concert that weekend, so we headed about 40km north and stayed in an awful place for the night. We set up camp in the dark and had dinner at 10pm, not nice at all. In the morning we headed back to Napier for the day. Went swimming, had a fantastic lunch, visited the museum and had ice cream, really nice day. Around 5pm we headed towards Lake Taupo and stopped off at a campsite on a river. Cracked open a bottle of Hawkes Bay wine and ate grapes, cheese and crackers, chilled out for the evening.

The next day we were back in Lake Taupo, and headed straight for Reeds Farm campsite. Pitched right next to the river with our duck family. Headed into town and sat beside the lake for the afternoon. We were still unsure about the skydive since Mariana is both scared of flying and heights, so not sure if it was going ahead. I called a skydive com[any the following morning and they said the weather was looking doubtful and I should call back around 1pm. Mariana was not in the best of moods since I had put her under pressure telling people that we were going to do it. Called back at 2pm and it was on so we had to quickly jump in the car and speed off to the airport. Within 25 minutes we wear in jumpsuits heading for the plane having signed our lives away on the disclaimer forms. Mariana was a touch nervous and I was very excited having signed up for a 15,000 feet jump. Mariana was going to 12,000 with a film crew. We all ended up jumping at 12,000 feet as the weather was bad and wind speed at 55 knots so could not go any higher. The jump was awesome, one of the best things we have ever done. Mariana was ecstatic and so happy she had overcome her fears top do it. If we had the money, we would continue this crazy hobby, but for now it was more than enough adrenaline for one day. The rest of the day just drifted past without notice as we could not stop talking about the dive.

Our final day on the road we headed off towards Auckland hoping to catch a glimpse of Lady Knox Geyser en route. We somehow manage to take the wrong highway and ended up almost 100km away, but it was for the best since they wanted NZ$55 per person to watch a bit of steam, no chance as it was only NZ$245 for a skydive. Arrived in Auckland at 2pm and walked around the city before meeting Neil for a coffee. Neil shared a flat with Mariana in Dollis Hill before packing up and heading off to NZ for a break. It was good to catch up and learn a bit about his travels before we headed off back to Remuera to see Sonia and John.

Sonia had personally baked Mariana a birthday cake which was a really nice surprise and we chatted for hours about our trip.

The next day we repacked our things, and headed back to Auckland airport for our flight to Santiago, the last 5 month leg of our journey.

Week 25 - 30/01/10 Australia (Bris-vegas)

Week 25 – 30/01/10 Australia
















Our flight to Australia was amazing. Booked a cheap ticket with Air Asia in the 1970’s with the extra leg room and to our surprise they had just recently changes their planes to have a sort of business class section. Our seats were cool, fully reclinable into beds which made the trip so amazing. The food was terrible as per Air Asia standards, and we have promised never to eat a vegetarian meal again on Air Asia. Think of rubber, then pour soya oil over it and heat it up in a microwave for 10 minutes, that’s what they serve you.

















During our 3 whole days in Queensland we ate many pies, saw koala bears and kangeroos, dingbats and tazmanian devils. The sunshine coast of QLD is very beautiful but there seems to be a shortage of shoes in the country as everyone seems to walk barefoot? It was sunny with rainy spells during our visit which is typical for QLD, and hence it has a beautiful countryside.

















We didn’t see anyone wearing hats with pieces of cork on string, but I put that down to the fact that there were not many flies. Phil and Anne (our friends from London) made us most welcome in their apartment which is the size of the large family home in the UK. Also met up with my old boss from Skanska, Keith. He has been out their now for 2 years and loving it. Damian and Marcus have also made the jump but sadly I didn’t get a chance to meet them during my limited 3 day trip.

















I cannot really make a fair judgement on Oz after only 3 days, but I will summarise as follows. It is big, expensive and full of 4-bangers, utes, sunnies, thongs and really silly rules at immigration, but we did get our trekking shoes cleaned for free.

Week 22 to 24 - 04/01/10 Gibbon Project Thailand

Week 22, 23 & 24 – 04/01/10 Bangkok + Gibbon Rehabilitation Project

We spent just a few days in Bangkok to get thorough proper medical attention since the healthcare in India isn’t worth shit, you may as well go to McDonalds and ask for an operation, at least their prices do not change on an hourly basis. It was good to be back in Thailand at least now we could eat food without fear of bacteria infections.

Decided to fly down to Phuket and avoid the gruelling 10 hour bus journey from hell that we experienced early November. We have been doing so well to avoid flying everywhere, but there is a point that you say no more buses, and in Thailand, this has to be said. Flight was fine and we were picked up at the airport by Song, one of the staff at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP). The staff are so friendly and made us feel right at home.

Over the next 5-6 days we were trained at the quarantine section, rehabilitation and education centre. The work is really interesting, caring for the gibbons that have been treated badly by humans in their early years.

The GRP centre is typically receives gibbons when they are about 5 or 6 years of age from people that try and keep these wild animals as pets or the organised syndicates that use gibbons as tourist attractions in bars restaurants or as photo opportunities along the street. Gibbons are very cute and tame when they are young, but soon become aggressive when they reach their sexual maturity around the age of 5 or 6 years. It is at this point their illegal owners can no longer control them and they are given to the centre. However, more than often the gibbons are badly treated by humans that do not understand their sudden change in behaviour.

When the gibbons first arrive, they are kept in the quarantine section for around 6 months. This time is taken to monitor behaviour patterns in the presence of other gibbons, dietary needs and to test for diseases such as Hep A & B. These diseases are not typically found in wild gibbons, but the street peddlers inject their pet gibbons with amphetamines to keep them awake in the evening for human entertain in bars and restaurants. Gibbons normally go to sleep in the late afternoon till dawn, but this is no use for the individuals that continue to make a living from keeping gibbons as tourist attractions, hence the injection of drugs using used needles. There are 16 gibbons in quarantine, two of which are Hep B positive and will sadly go no further in the rehabilitation project, but all is said, their life now is much more comfortable and they are well looked after.

Once a gibbon has the all clear, they can be moved to the rehabilitation centre which is location in the Bang Pae Waterfall national park, close to the muslin village of Khao Pra Thaew on Phuket. This is a protected forest, one of the last in Thailand, and the GRP was given a piece of land in 1992 to set up the programme. In rehab, the gibbons are kept in cages and over a period of years are paired off to start families. If successful, the families are slowly moved up higher into the forest away from human visitors to the education centre. This process is used to teach the gibbons how to be gibbons again and not really on human contact. Typically, it will take between 6-7 years to successfully pair gibbons and start a family. Once this have been completely, the family will be released into the forest, but feed from an open cage for a further 12 months. Slowly, the gibbons food ration is decreased to ensure the gibbons forage for themselves and eventually move away from the cage to claim territory of their own. To date four families with 16 gibbons have been successfully released into the wild with a further two new born babies in December 2009. When you see these gibbons high up in the tree canopies, knowing what they have been through and the time it has taken to rehabilitate them, you get a real sense of happiness in the work you do at the gibbon rehabilitation centre.

Our month at the gibbon project went so quickly as it was one of the most enjoyable times we had so far on our trip. The month was rounded off in a strange way as our last day we were documented by the discovery channel for a show called Animal Asia or something similar. Mariana declined the offer to star in this programme and nominated me for the task, so for about 4 hours I took the crew around the rehab centre and into the forest to show them all the good work the centre does. At one point that did film Mariana with the ‘poo’ stick, but we will wait and see how this comes out on the dvd.

We are seriously considering going back to the project in the near future as they made us so welcome and we felt like one big family. All the other volunteers were similar minded people who are sick of being told what they should do, so instead pack their bags and enjoy the freedom of travelling.