Oh yeah, it's now the 3rd of February but we didn't even get to see and of the 2nd. Not too sure where it went but all I can say is it had nothing to do with excess alcohol intake. The flight went pretty smoothly once the pilot announced they had a couple of final checks to make sure everything was 100%.

On arriving in Auckland at 4.30 am we had our tent checked for "illegal soil" and we were home free. Sarah's Uncle (Frank) had kindly offered to pick us up and when we got through to the main exit, at just gone 5am, there he was hugging his coffee. What a star!
Depsite not having much sleep the night before Frank also managed to take us round a couple of the nearby attractions being:

• an extinct volcano, the One Tree Hill domain, which had the loudist insects in the world and was only 30mins walk from Sarah's uncles house.

• The trendy and modern harbour, station and streets of Auckland city

• Mt. Eden with even closer views of the Sky tower and the moutain ranges in the distance.

Arriving in New Zealand remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On the first day we took the rather expensive tourist boat trip acoss the Lago Lacar to Quila Quina, a tiny lake side village/resort. Having bought a map of Park Lanin, which included our route, we set off in search of the trailhead. All I can say is that navigating with a 1:200,000 scale map on a trail with no markings isn´t the easiest thing in the world. Thanks to the help from an Argentine couple we found the trail, an unmarked cart track starting next to a sign in Spainish saying something along the lines of "Private property do not enter" Another 4 hours and a few strip to shorts and sandles river crossings we made it to the hidden lake. It was more than worth the effort. We found the wild campsite, dumped our packs and headed down the the waters edge. We were truly blinded by the sun as the waters surface turned into a huge golden mirror. As the sun sunk behind the mountains in the distance the temperature plummeted making soup and pasta followed by hot chocolate the tastiest meal in the wolrd.

Waking up to freezing conditions when you´re wrapped up in a cozy sleeping bag is never nice but we had a long day ahead so only had 1/2hr lie-in. Come on, we deserved it. A huge bowl of yummy porridge and some chocolate later and we were off before any one else had even appeared from their tents. The mornings´ trail led us through the tallest bamboo and up and over to the next valley. With plastic ticker tape sporatdiclly placed along the trail we manged fine up until lunch which we had in a little clearing. Not too sure if it was the sugar rush from lunch but we lost the the trail and had to struggle through bracken, bamboo, brambles down hill. We managed to find the trail once more and crossed paths with a bunch of Argentine lads walking the other way. They said the next camp was 5hrs off but had brilliant lakeside beach access! From this point onwards the going was easier and followed pretty close to the lake edge. The lads description was spot on as we approached the camping area the lake`s edge was little more than 10 metres away; brilliant for skimming stones (only managed 13 bounces)

Our previous relaxing night definitely didn`t make our 5am start any easier. We had to make the 11.30 bus to nearby Hua Hum, only 9km away but it was either that or wait until the 8pm bus. The walk to Hua Hum was pretty easy and just followed along a 4x4 track `til it met the main(?) dust road. We asked at the Argentinian border control about the bus and they said we could wait anywhere and it`d pick us up. After a bit of a wait by the side of the road a cloud appeared in the distance. We were both glad to find the cloud was our bus and jumped on board whilst trying not to inhale too much dust. We were soon back in SMA were the cosy ensuite was waiting for us along with the local and much needed laundrette.

San Martin de Los Andes... remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We got up before dawn and make porridge in the moonlight. Just to make sure we were heading the right way the farms dog decided to follow us along the cow track. We thought he`d stop once we got back into the park but 8hrs later the dog "Mut-mund" as we named him was still by our sides. We let the park rangers know about Mut-mund`s wandering antics to which they just nodded and said he`d been seen around before.

Parque Huerquehue remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Bad weather sit out
Calling the next day a right-off, due to the weather ,we managed to find two beds in a cosy but outdoor adventure orientated hostel. The perfect place to sit out the bad weather. After a look on the internet for the local forecast we decided to make our way to the mountains the following day.

Nahuel Haupi Traverse: Day 1
We woke early to find the rain had eventually stopped and made our way to the bus stop. After asking a bus driver and a helpful Dutch couple we rushed to the right stop, chucked our bags in the boot and jumped onboard along with 20 other trekkers with standing room only. The coach was so heavily laden that it scrapped the road as we swung round corners up hill.

After our human sardine tin of a bus journey it was a joy to be making the most of the suns rays and taking in the scenery of the surrounding lakes and mountians. After 4 1/2hrs of passing through dense green forest and scrub our nights stop over come into sight. After our fist experience of walking over snow and crossing a fast flowing river we managed to find a great spot for our tent at the edge of the nearby lake. An interesting dinner of ham and pea soup, pasta and instant potato flakes was soon followed by a well deserved nights kip.

Nahuel Haupi Traverse: Day 2
Early to bed early to rise and all that. Yet again the weather had the upper hand and we spent the day:

• diverting mini rivers away from our tent

• listening to thunder rumble around the valley we were in

• keeping warm in our sleeping bags

• eatting crackers, salami, chocolate and rasins plus - anything but leave the tent in the biblical downpour

• making runs down the side of the lake and over the river for the essential loo stops at the refugio

Nahuel Haupi Traverse: Day 3
As the weather settled it gave us the window to make a break for it. The only thing to left to decide was whether to return back down the path we had come up on day 1 or push on up out of the snow covered valley slopes and down and out of the next valley. The snow was all too inviting and were soon walking up the snowy and rocky slopes, following the all important trail "red dot" markers. 2 hours and some scrabling up rocks later we were on top of the 2000m high exposed ridge looking down across scree slopes, meandeering rivers and our next set of snow dusted slopes to climbed in the distance. It took us another two 1/2 hrs of forest trails, boggy areas and a few river crossings to reach the mountain slopes we had viewed earlier. For our efforts we were rewarded with the largest rainbow I`ve ever seen, spanning the entire valley now below us.

As we climbed higher the weather closed in, turning the sky a grey/purple colour and eventually giving way to the expect down pour. From this point we could see refugio Jakob far away down in the valley. Having our end point in sight made the evil scree slopes easier to negotiate but with thickly packed scrub and worsening conditions we lost the trail. Not hard when the trail is through a huge boggy area. We pushed on, following rivers down slope, until we reached the main river next to the refugio. Now that light was fading fast there was no point in trying to pick the trail up again so waded across the river and soon found the refugio, our lifeline for the night.

After a hearty meal of pasta, instant veggie soup and potato flakes we put our heads down for the night with the rain pelting it down on our poor tent.

Nahuel Haupi Traverse: Day 4

We packed our soggy selves up and headed out from the refugio down into the adjoining valley before coming to the crossing point just after a huge waterfall. We presumed there would be a simple bridge of sorts but we presumed wrong. What we were confronted with was steel cable spanning width of the river. Yet agin there was no choice. We had to wade through the torrent of water and hang on for, litterally, dear life until we reached the other side. Sarah`s bag got a little wet but apart from that we survived unscathed.

Cerro Cathedral... remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Not all days were spent looking round tacky tourist shops, enjoying the best hot chocolate in the world or buying even more handmade chocolate, honest.

Christmas was a bit of a let down with regard to the festiveness of the whole town. They didn`t even have a Christmas tree in the main square or any lights. I made up for it in our little dorm by buying Sarah some decorations for one of her christmas presents.

For Boxin day we went with a brilliant dutch couple to the nearby Moreno glacier, the most active glacial region in the world. We hired a car and spent the whole day gazing at the glacier. With the face being 50m high and almost 5km wide the chunks that fell off into the lake made one hell of a crash.

We saved the best local attraction til last. The local bird reserve was a bit of a joke with huge fallen down concrete telegraph poles and bashed up bird hides. We did get up close with swooping hawks protecting their territory though.

Christmas and New Years in El Calafate remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We picked up a map, some previsions and booked our early morning coach journey to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Whilst waiting outside our campsite in the cold for the coach we had chat with an English couple, Mark and Maria, (the M&S bag giving their nationality away). They were heading to Torres to do the "W" a large route that covers most of the valleys and look outs in the park. Being a bit doubtful of our walking abilities we chose to only do a small section of the main route but still get the chance to camp near to Glacier Grey and it`s blue lake.

After a bumpy and dust bus ride winding round hairpins at speed we arrived at the park administration and set off on the first leg. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery even better; snow capped mountians and milky blue lakes. The head-wind picked up slightly but we made it to refugio grand paine for mid-afternoon.The refugio was more like resort with hot showers,a grocery store and a windproof communal kitchen. A friendly french trekker who was leaving that day gave us first dibs on her lovely sheltered and flat spot so we were sorted.

The next day clouds had smoothered the mountains in the distance but we set off along the sometimes steep and craggy trail towards glacier grey. We certainly go enough decent views of the glacier during the day and were amazed by the amount of icebergs floating in the lake. We bumped into Mark and Maria halfway along the trail and were pleased to see they`d made it despite their heavy load. Refugio Grey provided an opportune stop for lunch as we took in even more white and blue (a weird toilet cleaner blue) icebergs sailing by driven by the strong winds. Refueled we pushed on and made it to refugio Los Guardas, a campsite with a basic facilities but only 200 metres from glacier Grey. Sarah and I made camp then went for a wander to sit back and marvel at the glacier close up.

After a night of keeping annoying little midgies out of our tent we dead chuffed to be on our final days walking. With perfect weather, bit of a breeze and not too hot, the kilometers rattled by. By early afternoon we`d made it through the nasty long climbs and we back for a we deserved shower. To top it off the sheltered spot we`d left was still free.

A quick trip over to Chile remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The next day we crammed Necochea living into 12hours - spending time realxing near the beach, watching a crazy dog show, riding bikes through parks, forests and sand dunes, enjoying a walk down by the river with it`s huge shipwreck and enjoying homecooked grub with a carton of wine. We had a chat with Carlos, the nightporter chap, he told us that Sammy had been guarding over our tent the whole of the previous night.

Bahia Blanca
Having to wait until 2pm for our coach to Bahia Blanca it was another late night arrival for our quick stopover in a new city. We managed to find a cosy and cheap hotel near to the bus station with a video and pizza place just around the corner. Whilst we waited for our pizza we had a laugh at the list of dodgey/classic titles they had to rent: Father of the Bride, Ghostbusters, Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

The next day we booked our tickets to Peurto Madryn and put our "killing time" skills to the test as the coach didn`t leave until just before midnight. Thank god for left luggage! We had fun people wacthing in the central plaza, the main park and whilst enjoying a couple of beers along the main high street.

With the likelyhood of being fed on the coach we only needed a small snack to keep us going `til boarding the coach. Having looked around most of the empty restaurants, people don`t head out until gone 10pm, we chose a tendre libre (all you can eat). The waiter chappy explained how things worked and said we had the choice of anything on the buffet carts. We dutifully tucked into the range of pasta, salads anf hot meats. On return from our second mini plateful we were in for a bit of a surprise. The largest hot platter of chicken breast, beef chops and beef steaks. We soon slimmed down the portions from the buffet cart.

Peurto Madryn

Well the weather certainly got colder the further south we got. No wonder that the Welsh decided to settle there with all their crazy sheep farming antics. It also meant that there were plenty of authentic welsh tea rooms to keep warm in. For the price of a cup of tea back home we were spoilt for choice with plate full of 8 different cakes, a plate of scones and cheese and the biggest pot of tea with woolen tea cosy, goes without saying.

Having our fill of cakes and tea the next day we went on a day long wildlife adventure on Penninsula Valdez. It was brilliant to get so close to elephant seals, sea lions, pengiuins with their fluffy little chicks, llamas, birds or prey and other native species. Sarah and I were like little kids running along the coast trying to see more and more.

Whizzin` down through Argentina remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Arriving after the best nights sleep to the heat of a green house as the morning sun broke through the window of the boat and reflecting off the huge mirror clad skyscrapers.

We found our way round and manged to get some tasty braekfast of fresh orange, coffee and croissants for little more than 1.20 (pounds) for the two of us.

A short while later we made it to our accommodation for the next 3 nights.hostel sol A large 3 storey building with the most friendly family in the world, including the pet kitten "Soli" who loved chasing screwed up paper balls.

Our bid to find a new tent was soon successful as we came across more outdoor equipment shops than you can shake a stick (or a large branch) at.

The choice of food was amazing: tasty pasta along busy streets ideal for people watching, huge pizzas in a cosy local restaurant, fresh salads with cheery waiters. The best meal being an amazing vegetarian all you can eat buffet with unlimited drinks and a scrummy selection of puddings. We bumped into a fellow Londoner and had a chat about weird parents, travelling and dodgey hoteliers; all in all a great afternoon.

Beunos Aires remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We eventually arrived at the campsite, sgned in and set up home for the next few days. With the choice of sleeping under trees or even more trees we settled with the trees, easy choice really. The toilets were a bit manky but apart from that you couldn`t really argue with what we were getting for 1.20p each a night.

Once "Tad" ,our tent, was up we went for a wander and eventually found a minimercado to stock up on pasta, water and beer. It`s not been gourmet cuisine all the way you understand.

5th December 2005
The sun woke us up with our rosy cheeks and as there was a nice ocean breeze, and the fact our clothes were a little crusty, we did our favourite chore - WASHING. With our clothes drying in the wind we tucked into fresh bread with dulche de leche (wickedly sweet caramel stuff)and juice then set out for town.

The day was spent enjoying hand made sarnies by the town fountain, looking around the old town with it`s historic gates, cobbled streets and numerous citroen mehari and ami (They even have the hard top meharis Pa!)

In the old town there were numerous shops of local artists and their work. On shop had some brilliant skecthes and we thought we`d get one that`d caught our eye. We should have thought about the price a little more, being $25. We got to the till and the owner carefully wrapped it up, put it in a bag, stappled a paper flower to the bag then said asked us how we`d be paying. After she`d converted it from American dollars it ended up being $230 Uruguayan(pesos), we only had $232 and some small change, phew!

After the excitement of buying local art we made our way home and enjoyed tasty pasta whilst watching the sky turn pink and the wind pick up a far bit. The other reason for sitting by the beach was to evade the a manic dog that had been pestering us for food since we arrived. As we were going to have to do an all-nighter in order to get the ferry to Buenos Aires we made an early night of things.

As it turned out our night was more nightmare than 40 winks. At 1am a loud bang and ripping sound made me jump out of my skin. I awoke to find a large branch had pierced our tent through not only the fly sheet but the mesh inner door, our only way of keeping flying insects at bay.

6th December 2005

After explaining our situation about the tent to the old lady owner she reluctantly gave us a refund of a days camping and off we went one of the longest days so far. All I can say is thank god for bus stations and their cheap as chips lockers. We spent the day enjoying ice cream, the fountain in the town centre, the local beaches, a late night pizza and finally the most uncomfortable bench before heading to the ferry terminal at about 4am

Colonia remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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3rd December 2005
With the appealing view of Pan de Azucar (sugar loaf), Urugauy´s 3rd highest point, from the coast we were excited about getting awy from tarmac and cement for once. Our enthusiasm was soon dampened when we were told that no buses ran to it but absolutely dreanched after a trip to the trusty tourist information finding out the nature reserve is closed for the summer. Not to be set back too much we had a wander along the coast and within 1/2 and hour we´d had the best ice cream baskets and a fun ski lift ride up to a point overlooking the whole coastline. What little kids we are,ehh? being so easily pleased with sugar and fayre ground ride attractions.

Moving on from Montevideo remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Started out with a meal in an old market where we enjoyed table side late night tango dancing. Was amazing to see so many people up there and making it look so easy.

If that wasn´t enough then the meal and drinks certainly brought a smile to your face. For little more than 5 pounds a head we each got through a plate of quality meat and chips, two glasses of decent red wine, two glasses of pilsen and two grappa con meils (grappa with honey) The grappa certainly took affect!

From there on it all went a bit down hill. Off to the old town and we enjoyed a jug of turbo bucks fizz with vodka and a jug of sangria. After ending up in a local club we stumbled home, i´m assured, at some time around 5am.

Atfer waking a little after midday we somehow managed to get breakfast and spent the rest of the day topping up the fluids and making the most of the roof top hammocks in the sun. We only ventured out of the hostel to stock up on quiche, coke and chocolate. The essential food groups.

Sarah´s Birthday in Montevideo remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After the hectic life that was Brazil we´ve now made it to Uraguay and we´re staying in Montevideo for Sarah´s 23rd - Nov 30th.

Blinkin´ heck the last few days have been interesting. After Porte Alegre we took a rather plush overnight bus across the border into Uraguay. The leather reclining seats, comfy pillows weren´t the best bits. Just as Sarah was nodding off one of the coach crew came around with mini dinners of club sanries, mini quiches, swiss roll and either pepsi and wine. Plus there was a DVD in English to watch. All was going smoothly until we had to wake up at 4.30am to get off the bus.

Assumming there´d be a cambio "exchange" at the border we had to wrangle with the night security to swap our us dollars for Pesos. They offered what they thought was half the exchange rate but ended up only being a 2 pounds off the right amount. As the sun was rising we caught a coach down to a tiny half dead seaside village called Punte Diablo.As the tourist season hadn´t really started yet we tried the only place that was open at 7.30am, the International Hostel cum tourist information. Unfortunately they were fully booked as a group of 90 poeple were coming for the weekend. Luckily the bloke at the tourist info had his own hostel down the road that he opened up for us. So all was sorted in the end.

The next day we shook the sand from our feet and headed back to the border to get some more money and then the coach further down the coast to La Paloma. After a bit of a wander in La Paloma we stumbled across the campsite we were looking for as it had rave reviews in the Bible *SA lonely planet guide* We were seriously impressed with the our new home for the next few days - brilliant hot showers, 3mins to the beach and an outside kitchen with sink and BBQ area. We certainly made the most of the BBQ as some Americans, who left after the first day, gave us some lighter fluid,charcoal and a grill. The local supermarket didn´t dissappoint either with gorgeous beef cutlets, 50p for 3, and 5 chunky chorizo sausages for less than a pound. The weather was brilliant too and morning walks on the beach seeing cowboys training horses was amazing.

We left La Paloma this morning and within a couple of hours we arrived in the Capital of Uraguay - montevideo. From what we´ve seen so far it´s a cracking city, Sarah´s been round most of the arts and crafts markets already and the food is cheap and dead tasty. I´m sure we´ll get the chance to induldge ourselves tomorrow for a celebratory meal followed by a drink or too. Tonight we´re off to the irish pub for some live music. It starts off at 23.00 so looks like a late one¡

take care and keep warm - is a chilly 22 degrees

Lucas and Sarah

PS sorry for any problems with the photos. Am going to upload them to an online gallery soon so will keep you all updated.

PPS feel free to drop us an e-mail as internet access is free in the hostel we´re staying in red hostel

Down to Uruguay remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Another port of call another mini update from our world adventure, another level of heat. Is currently 42 degrees outside!

Since I last wrote we've certainly being moving around a bit. From sleepy Saquarema we headed into Rio then further south to the small port of Angra dos Reis with the intention of going to Ilha Grande, a gorgeous island an hour and half of the coast. We weren't too sure we would make the official ferry over and were prepared to stay on the mainland before heading over the next day. We were lucky to have a chat with a young uraguan bloke on the bus who spkoe portugese and english. We managed to wrangle a deal with a local family who were heading to a near by beach to take us. We boarded the 70foot boat and set off as light was fading fast. As the rain got heavier and wind stronger we pulled into the beach where they lived. All seemed well until they had to go and inspect the smoke billowing out from the engine. After a bit of banging whilst drifting further away from the jetty everything was sorted. 25mins more heavy rain and wind later and we made our grand entrance into the main port.

The next few days were a mix of hding from the continous rain, going hiking on the small trails to beautiful beaches (lopez mendez is apparently one of the best in Brazil and was certainly worth the 6hour round trek) and enjoying local muscians with a few beers.

We left sun drenched Ilha Grande on the Friday (yes, i can just about remember what day it is) and continued south the historic town of Paraty. We managed to find a brilliant little camp site only 30second walk from the beach and the small bars which sold the best pasties, think 30cm samosas filled with shellfish, tomato and onion with lemon juice - well tasty with a chilled glass of Skol. We did a bit of site seeing around the old town and managed to come out without any bo\roken ankles, the cobbles were a nightmare in the afternoon heat. Nights were hot and often rainy but the atmosphere created with lots of families and more than a few guitarist made things really relaxing - a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of Rio.

Am currently in Foz do Iguazu,home of one of the best waterfalls in the world, close to the borders of Argentina and Paraguay. We've arrived this morning after comfortable 6hr journey from Paraty to Sao Paulo, and out first chance to head inland then another 16hr overnight bus to Foz. We've found ourselves a nice little hotel and are venturing over to Argentina tomorrow for a tour of the falls.

hope all is well and will be in touch soon

Lucas and Sarah

PS - cheers for the replies, nice to know people follow our progress

Saquarema - Foz do Iguazu remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Dear All,

Just sitting in a little internet cafe while we wait for the bus to take us back to Rio then further south to the green island of Ilha Grande. We spent the first three days in Rio staying a hostel with the most helpful owner called Jorge from Argentina who married a local.

The weather was a little overcast, not the 33 degrees and sunny we were expecting but made it a hell of a lot easier to get around without dying of heat exhaution. Our room had its own little rain forest just outisde the door. We could lie in bed and watch the bananas grow and the humming birds fly about. Took trip up sugar loaf mountain by cable car which was well worth it as the weather cleared up and Christ the Redeemer popped out for a quick photo opportunity.

After 3 days of hectic city living we headed north about 100km to a sleepy surf spot called Saquarema. Unfortunaely we couldn´t find the campsite we looking for but treated ourselves to a lovely pousada with beachside access, ensuite, TV and a swimming pool, for about seven pounds fifty a night. What a shame!! We even managed to get a full days sun shine but ended up a little more red than expected. The locals took pity on us and bought us a few drinks while we hid in the shade.

Today we off to a small island called Ihla Grande south of Rio, and then down to a small place called Parati.

Hope all is well at home. Be in touch soon. (Mum and Dad will try calling later this week).

Love to you all,Sarah and Lucas

Rio and Saquarema remains copyright of the author makizmo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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