Jan 2009

Our journey between Santiago and Wellington didn't exactly go as planned. We turned up at the airport in plenty of time for our flight to Auckland only to find that it had been delayed for a number of hours. It should have left at 11pm but we didn't end up taking off until about 5am. The knock on effect of this for us was that we missed the bus we had booked to take us from Auckland to Wellington. Talk of a free flight for us among the Lan Chile staff disappeared when we landed and we ended up getting a night bus to Wellington on the evening of the day we arrived. This meant that we had a day of exploring New Zealand's largest city which was quite enjoyable.

When we arrived in Wellington early the next morning we locked our bags up in a hostel then caught a bus to Roura which is the starting point of the Northern Walkway. The Northern Walkway is a series of paths that meander up hills, through forests, clearings and parks before finishing in the centre of town. Along the way we saw some excellent views of the city and surrounding countryside. We even went for a dip in an outdoor public swimming pool that is free to use. In the afternoon we met Siona, one of Ellie's friends, who we were going to stay with for a couple of nights. When we arrived at his house on Tuesday afternoon our journey which started in Santiago on Saturday afternoon was finally over (we did essentially miss a day though from crossing time zones).

We were very grateful to have showers and then some cold beer in the garden with Siona. That evening we went for a walk on the nearby beach then Siona and his wife, Mel, treated us to a curry which was a welcome change to the food of South America.

The next day we headed into the city to have more of a look around. We ended up going to the Te Papa museum which had a number of interesting and interactive exhibits. The most impressive of which was a colossal squid; the largest of its species on display at any museum in the world. Later that day we met up with Greg, a kiwi guy we know from Panama, and had a few beers with him on an outdoor table at a pub on bohemian Cuba Street where we amused ourselves watching various pretentiously dressed people walk past. That evening we had some more drinks and food with Siona and Mel at their house.

Greg came round to Mel and Siona's the following morning in his car and gave us a lift to our next destination, Rotorua. We had in fact already paid for the bus as we only found out the previous day that Greg was going that way. No doubt the bus companies were happier than we were about the number of unused tickets we were accumulating! It was much better in the car with Greg and his mate Hamish than it would have been on the bus though. There was a lot of beautiful scenery to take in along the way and we stopped off at Lake Taupo for a spot of cliff jumping and also visited Huka Falls. We passed through a place called Cheltenham that we didn't know existed so Ellie put on her Cheltenham Town shirt and posed for a few photos by the sign. Late in the afternoon Greg dropped us off at our hostel in Rotorua before him and Hamish continued their mission to Auckland for the Big Day Out music event.

We stayed for two nights in Rotorua which is a pleasant little town, if a little touristy. We didn't do a huge amount when we were there but we did manage a walk along the banks of Lake Rotorua which the town is built around. It is an enjoyable place for a stroll despite the smell of sulphur emanating from the lake. There is a lot of geothermal activity in the area which has resulted in a number of bubbling mud pools being scattered around.

From Rotorua we finally managed to catch a bus that we had booked. It took us to Waihi Beach where we were met at the bus stop by Ellie's friend Tissy who gave us a lift the short distance to the beach front house which she shares with her boyfriend, Bree. We had a couple of beers with them on their balcony before going out in their car for a guided tour of their town. We picked up some booze on the way back and had an enjoyable evening drinking at their house. We also went out for some kiwi fish and chips that night which we ate at a lookout point not too far from their house. We could only see silhouettes of the landscape but the stars were out in force.

The following day we went to the beach where we did some body boarding and swimming as well as taking some time to relax on the sand. We then cooked a tasty BBQ at their house before Tissy had to go to work. Bree took us back up to the look out point where we had eaten our dinner the previous night so that we could see it in all its glory. We had time for a quick drink at Tissy's work before catching a bus to Auckland in preparation for our flight to Sydney the next day.

From Buenos Aires we got a night bus to Mendoza, the area where most of Argentina's wine is produced. Mendoza itself is a pleasant and quite laid back town so is an easy place to spend time. There is a huge park to the north of the town that has a lake and some nice gardens which are perfect for chilling out and wandering around.

We met up with Stewart and Beth on our second day there and spent the afternoon hanging around their hostel by the pool with the two of them and Rob and Molly who they were traveling with. That evening we took our turn to use the BBQ at their hostel and cooked 3kg of steak. The six of us and an American guy called James had no trouble eating all of it. Incidentally, James also had no trouble in helping himself to our beer!

The following day the six of us went to nearby Maipú so that we could hire bikes from the legendary Mr Hugo and cycle around the bodegas (wineries). Our first stop of the day was the wine museum where we looked at various paraphernalia relating to the wine making process and, more importantly, drank some of the produce. We then went to the Chocolate and Liquor factory where, after a short tour, we enjoyed some excellent samples. These included a variety of top notch condiments and, obviously, some chocolates and liquors.

The next stage of the 'Tour de Mendoza' was longer than the first two and took us to Bodega Familia Di Tomaso which we'd heard through the grape vine had the best tour. Stewart took the stage victory and the two of us secured podium finishes. Our breakaway had in fact opened up a sufficient gap on the peloton to mean that we went on an earlier tour of the winery than the others.

After learning more about how wine is made and about the particular varieties produced at this bodega we sampled four different wines. Whilst the others were on their tour the three of us ordered a bottle of cider, produced at the winery, which we drank in the sunshine. This was no ordinary cider. It came in a champagne style bottle and was served in champagne flutes. They were so particular about how their cider should be drank that the waitress insisted on putting the bottle back in the fridge between refills to ensure it was consumed at the correct temperature.

The next stage of the tour, won by Rob, took us to an olive oil factory. We sampled the olive oil with bread and sun dried tomatoes. With lunch taken care of we went to a nearby bodega and picked up three bottles of wine. This proved to be much more cost effective than all paying for a tour and receiving small samples. We then cycled to a cheese factory and bought some of their produce.

By this stage in the day, time had got the better of us and we weren't able to go to a nearby river to swim and drink our wine and eat our cheese as we had planned. Instead we took a quick dip in an irrigation channel that flowed through the fields and had a sufficiently strong current to act as a water slide. This was lots of fun. After that we cycled back to Mr Hugo's to return the bikes and take advantage of the free wine that he has a reputation for giving his customers. We ate our cheese with some bread and salami but didn't have to open our wine thanks to the regular top ups.

The following day we left Mendoza on a bus that took us to Valparaiso in Chile. Or it would have done had we not got off a stop early at Viña del Mar, a neighboring town. We didn't realise our mistake until after a taxi driver had taken us to the address of our hostel. The building we were standing outside clearly wasn't a hostel so we pulled out a map to show the taxi driver where we thought we should be. He pointed out that our map showed a different town to the one we were in (Avenida Ecuador 355 also exists in Viña del Mar)! Fortunately the two towns are close together so the driver took us to the correct place for a small fee. In our defense the bus we were on had Viña del Mar displayed on a large sign in its windscreen making it look like that was the final destination (therefore making Valparaiso the penultimate stop).

We spent two days in Valparaiso, occupying ourselves by wandering around its centre, going to the beach in Viña del Mar (intentionally - we took the metro!) and drinking with some others at the hostel in the evenings. One night the hostel held a BBQ which inevitably involved eating steak and drinking lots of wine and beer.

From Valparaiso we got a bus the short distance to Santiago. It was our last bus trip in South America and, appropriately, there was skulduggery afoot. A local guy tried to pick pocket Mike's wallet as he was stepping onto the bus but fortunately Mike caught him in the act and knocked the deviant hand away from his pocket. The would be thief politely smiled and apologised before calmly walking away.

Once we had dropped off our bags at our hostel in Santiago we set off to explore the city. We went to a couple of parks, a few squares (including Plaza de Armas) and then negotiated our way back to the hostel through the busy streets. We then went for our last evening meal in South America. We chose to go to Bellavista, an area in the centre of the city that is brimming with restaurants, bars and clubs. We got a table on the street so we could soak up the Friday night atmosphere whilst we ate our meal. Needless to say we both had steak.

The next morning we went out for empanadas which have more or less been our staple diet throughout South America. They are one of the few types of food that we will genuinely miss when we are out of the continent. After this we went to a large park where we got a funicular (a series of small carriages that get pulled up a hill on train tracks) to the zoo. After looking at the various animals we got back on the funicular until it reached the top of the hill where there are spectacular views of the sprawling city. We then rode the teleférico (cable car) that soars high above the city and enjoyed more amazing views. When we returned to street level we had time for one more steak before getting our bags and heading to the airport to start the next leg of our trip.

After returning to Buenos Aires on a ferry from Uruguay on the evening of the 23rd we took a taxi to Milhouse hostel and met up with Kate and some of the others that we planned on spending Christmas with. A group of us drank in the bar that night and got into the festive spirit by putting some Christmas songs on the sound system at the hostel.

An English guy called Jon who was staying at the hostel put up a sign which asked people who wanted to be involved in preparing a Christmas dinner to come to a meeting at midday on Christmas eve. It was decided at this hungover gathering that Jon, Carlos and Mike would be in charge of cooking various elements of the meal for what turned out to be sixty people. We pretty much stuck to what we decided with the exception of Damien being in charge of cooking the chickens. That afternoon a group of seven of us went to a supermarket to get the ingredients. In what closely resembled a task from The Apprentice we managed to track down every item on our list. Sir Alan would have been proud.

Carlos, Mike and Jon

The two of us went for our own Christmas dinner in the early evening of Christmas Eve. We had a parrilla (grill) and a couple of bottles of wine. Parrillas are almost as popular as Maradonna in Argentina and involve steaks, black pudding, chorizo sausage and various offal, including intestines, kidneys and even testicles (we haven't eaten testicles!). The standard of parrillas is variable to say the least and the one we had that night wasn't great but it was still an enjoyable meal.

The Milhouse were hosting a big party on Christmas Eve and about 300 people came. It was a really fun night, spirits were high and a large amount of alcohol was consumed. Later in the night a lot of people went to Pacha but we decided that we couldn't afford the A$130 (£26) entrance and instead we carried on drinking at the hostel with some others.

It had been a late night so most people didn't rise on Christmas Day until the late morning and early afternoon. This meant that the cooking didn't get started until later than planned. By this point Ellie had already been out for chip butties and wine with Maria.

When the cooking was eventually underway there was a flurry of activity in the kitchen with a number of people helping to wash, peel, chop, grate and do whatever else was required. Mike, Jon, Damien and Carlos took control of their respective parts of the meal, making use of the relatively small amount of oven space.

As the day went on the drink was flowing and everyone was in a good mood. In typical Argentine style the food wasn't served until about 11pm but most people seemed to agree that it was worth the wait. The ingredients included 12kg of beef, 5 chickens, 17kg of potatoes, 7 broccoli, 7 cauliflower and 5kg of cheese.

We had a very lazy day on Boxing Day and then on the 27th we headed to Tigre to spend a few days relaxing before returning to the city for New Years Eve.

Tigre is a town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires with a picturesque centre that has the Rio Tigre running through it. It is a popular weekend retreat with porteños (people from Buenos Aires) and so was very busy for the first two days that we were there. It was an enjoyable place though and we spent our time chilling out on the banks of the river or the garden at our hostel, going for walks and on one of the days we went to the large craft and fruit market.

We were back in Buenos Aires, for the third time in as many weeks, on the 30th and had plans for an early night at our new hostel. Inevitably these good intentions went out the window when we visited the Milhouse and we ended up having another drunken night with the others.

We didn't do anything productive on the 31st, unless you count going to an eat all you want Chinese buffet. In the evening we met up with Diego, who is the boyfriend of one of Ellie's friends, and he gave us a tour of part of the city that we were yet to see.

Later that night we were back at the Milhouse once again for their New Year party. The DJ was playing quite a lot of electro tunes, most of which lacked basslines, until about 15 minutes before midnight when he decided to turn things up a notch. There was a good countdown to 2009 and after that the DJ played party tunes until about 2am at which point most people went to Pacha again. We went to a place where there was a night on called Fiesta Internacional, a cheaper alternative, which wasn't very good but we still had a decent night on the whole.

On New Years Day we walked around the city in the early afternoon which was quite surreal as the streets were deserted and none of the shops were open. Things got a bit more lively later in the day and we went out for a meal with 15 others in Palermo which is a trendy barrio of the city. After the meal, or steaks as was everyones choice, we went to a bar which turned into a club as the night wore on.

On our very last day in Buenos Aires we had more steak at lunch time then walked around the touristy areas taking photos.