Iguazu

Not much to write up today except to let ya all know we made it in one piece to Iguazu. We were up at 5am this morning and had a five hour bus ride to Sao Paolo and then a one and a half hour flight to Iguazu. We were staying on the Argentinean side for the next three nights before finishing up in Buenos Aires.

Tomorrow we have a helicopter flight over the falls and also a speed boat ride down near them. Think I need to find a poncho...

The last few days I have been talking to others who have done the Inca trail recently and from what I´ve heard it IS hard work but its not too bad... I´m still going for my jogs in the morning when I can coz its still a month before we get there so fingers crossed I dont have to have a porter carry me back down the hill... :)

Paraty

Today is Monday and we´re in Paraty or Parati depending on which map/sign etc you´re looking at... Its on the coast towards the Argentina border but its a tiny little town and is soooo completely different from Rio! All the buildings here are white with different coloured doors and windows and just like Venice the roads (which are more like cobbled streets) get flooded with water. We got in at sunset last night after a 4 hour drive from Rio. The drivers here in Brazil are just as crazy as the ones in Egypt and Turkey and swerve between the lanes and fang it round the corners like a rally driver even when hauling a trailer full of tourists luggage...

Our activity today was a boatride around the islands here and we had a chance to snorkle at one of the stops. Its not as great as say the Whitsundays but we still got to see a starfish and a sea urchin in amongst the all the fish - even if there was only two or three different types... We also stopped at Monkey Island but we only saw a pretty big blue butterfly, a big brown dog and something that looked like a ferret/beaver/otter thing...

Tomorrow we are off to Sao Paolo via bus so we can fly on to Iguaçu Falls... Can´t wait for that one - I FINALLY get to go in a helicopter!!! YAY!!!

My tandem hang glide flight on Friday was great but a little short coz there was not enough wind to keep us up... Turns out the guy who drove us up the hill knows the guys at Airborne and Moyes so we had a good chat!! It can really be a small world sometimes...

Christ the Redeemer

No... I haven´t gone all churchy on ya´s... Corcovado - also known as Christ the Redeemer - is where i went today with local gal and fellow Ireland tripper, Renate.

Luckily the weather had cleared up heaps overnight and instead of being hot, cloudy, humid and wet it was just hot and humid but it was still a great day and thanks to yesterdays heavy fog lifting, the ducks and I got some great pics of the statue and the city.

With the sun poking his head out, Copacabana Beach has really livened up today and as its Friday night now its starting to get busy on the main drag and the markets have also set up in the middle of the road...

Tomorrow I have booked in for a tandem hang glide and fingers crossed the wind picks up enough to give us more than the usual 15 minutes...

UPDATE 12/11 finally got some pics on... Below is Corxovado..

I go to Rio... De Janiero...

Oh boy... After 36 hours, one bus, four flights, three stopovers and a taxi, I finally made it to Rio in one piece and crawled into my hotel bed at 4am with earplugs in for some well needed, undisturbed sleep... Six hours later I was downstairs tackling breakfast with no knife or english translations so I stuck to the things I could easily identify like white bread and watermelon and resolved to be more adventurous tomorrow when was brain was functioning properly again... Well, as properly as it can anyways... :)

After brekky I took a walk along the famous Copacabana Beach and found some Cows on Parade amongst the stalls and palm trees. One side of the road is packed with all types of hotels with restaurants and pizzarias at their doors while the other side is km´s of sand and palm trees and beach soccer fields... If I´d ever been to California I guess I´d say it loooks a bit like that... Round the corner to one side is Inpanema where all the rich folks live and around the other side is Sugarloaf Mountain and Red Beach. Somewhere behind all these goodies is Corcovado (aka Christ the Redeemer hill and statue) and at around 700metres high, it has the pleasure of overlooking this picturesque city. Today unfortunately has been overcast, foggy, humid and rainy all day but you can just tell it was would be awesome on a sunny day!!

This afternoon I took a tour up to Sugarloaf Mountain after deciding tomorrow might be better weather for corcovado. Luckily the sky cleared up a little while we were there so the ducks and I got some choice photos.

On the way home we visited the Metropolitan Cathedral and then I had dinner and a beer at a pizzaria on Copacabana beach at sunset while i wrote in my diary.
I must say when i first got off the plane and was overwhelmed with the smell of pee, I was a little worried but as the day wore on and I warmed up to the people and the beauty surrounding me, I embraced the welcoming atmosphere and learnt to breathe through my mouth instead... :)

On my way to Rio...

Well, here I am at the airport in Santiago trying to amuse myself for a few hours before flying on to Rio. I think I´m going a little loco as I´ve been up for over 24 hours now and really need a nap. My flight to Rio takes five hours and I get in at 2am so I´m looking forward to a bit of piece and quiet (and the ability to sprawl out) when I get there...
Guess what? I went to Auckland, NZ today... apparently its the stopover on the way to Santiago but wasn´t listed on my flight itinery... How cool is that??? I got a pic of Bill and Ted meeting some of the locals so will upload when I´m able. And I tell ya what - if all the kiwi boys are are cute and friendly as the one i met at the airport, I´m moving back there!!! Noice!!!
Not much else to add yet. I pray I sit next to a nice person on the plane... The last one was a pompous pig who thought it was fun to squeeze my in as close to the window as possible... i think i had maybe an area of two foot square (maybe) to live in for about 10 hours... I understand claustrophobia now...

A tandem and a trip to Canungra

well... where to start... things have been pretty hectic the last couple weeks with trying to get fit, getting ready for Canungra and my next adventure overseas and soaking up the glorious sunshine but seeing as I fly off to Rio tomorrow morning, I'm staying up late tonight to write up some recent happenings...







Last fortnight Scott took me for a tandem flight at Merewether. I haven't been in the air since about February so it was great to get back up there again. I think I would like to start flying again when I get back from South America in January. By then it will be almost a year since I last flew and I'll be taking baby steps to get back up there... Thanks heaps for the flight Scott!!

From the 12th to the 21st Oct we have been living it up in sunny Canungra for a hang gliding comp. I drove up with Monica and Scott on the Thursday night and we arrived about 10 hours later on Friday morning. After setting up camp we drove up to the Mount Tamborine launch and found many pilots already setting up ready to fly. One of the Victorians had a camel on his glider so we couldnt resist getting a pic of it with the ducks...

As usual Tigger also made an appearance...

During a wander through Canungra on the weekend, Monica found a lovely pink sparkly riding crop and it was purchased with many a cheeky grin... Each day during the comp "the whip" could be found somewhere at the briefing or on launch... Stuie's love of it could only be described as disturbing...

Monica wasn't driving for anyone this year so we had some time to explore Canungra and surrounding areas... A Mt Tamborine hotel St Benards came highly recommended by Kylie so we checked it out and had lunch there. The food was awesome (I had scrumptious calamari) and the ducks got to meet the big dog who "guards" the door...

Another day Mon & I visited the Vodka distillery. This place was conveniently right next door to the cheese factory so the drive there was well worth it. The distillery makes about 40 different flavours of vodka and altho I was very impressed with the Jaffa flavour, I ended up getting a Bells of St Clements bottle (oranges, lemons, grapefruit). On our way back to the car we were confronted by this huge peacock.

On the second Saturday, Monica and I drove up the long, steep, windy road to O'Riellys to have a look at the treetop walk. I resisted the temptation to jump around on the bridge for Mon's sake but was tempted to go back for a second round by myself so I could but hunger won me over so we stopped for lunch before taking the long drive back down again...

All up it was a great week. The guys got in lots of flying and the red faces and presentation nights were a lot of laughs. I dont think I'll ever forget Speedys rendition of Ring of Fire... I hope someone got it on video coz it'd be a surefire youtube winner!!! The last couple of pics are just randoms I couldnt resist...

Tomorrow morning the ducks and I begin our next overseas adventure. first stop will be Brazil followed by Argentina, Equador, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico and Spain. I'll do my best to blog as often as I can however photo's may not be added until after I get back in January.

Cheerio!!!

the last few weeks...

Well, I've been lazy again and haven't written anything here for a while so here's an update of recent activities...

On 21st Sept Monica, Keiro, Stewie and I attended the Westpac Helicopter Ball in Newcastle... Keiro's better half Kylie was the organiser and did a fantastic job with decorations of an egyptian theme.






It was a great opportunity to get all dressed up and it was a fun filled night and even the ducks got into the action...







Since then the ducks and I have had some random adventures here and there...





I've also been doing lots of training for my trip to South America. I leave in a fortnight and will be trekking along the Inca Trail sometime in December... Fingers crossed I survive and come back in one piece!! I'll also be visiting Rio, Buenos Aires, the Galapagos Islands, Mexico and Spain to name a few. The ducks have also had their immunisations and visas cleared so they'll be coming along too for moral support!!




I'll be catching up with Renate in Rio and Luis in Mexico -both wonderful people I met on my Ireland tour and have stayed in touch with since. Luis and I plan to be drinking coronas and tequilas at Playa Del Carmen just before Christmas... Noice!!!






I'll put more infoamtion about my travel plans on here closer to my departure date of Oct 24... below is the view from Christians (above) apartment over newcastle... Choice!!!