What's around the corner?

I'm on my twelve hour flight home from Bangkok and what I've done in the past four months has really hit me.

• I've climbed the treacherous four day hike (sans clean clothes and washing facilities) to one of the wonders of the world, Machu Picchu, Peru.

• I've devoured a whole cow (with some help, of course).

• I've cooked traditional dishes with a Peruvian chef.

• I've eaten guinea pig, giant sweetcorn, llama and alpaca and drunk a variety of pisco sours.

• I've taken a boat ride to stay in a lodge in the heart of the amazon jungle among the birds, insects and monkeys.

• I've paddled my feet in the Tambopata river, Amazon, at sunset.

• I've sailed around the Galapagos Islands and been in touching distance of hundreds of seals, iguanas, boobies and other exotic birds and wildlife.

• I've partied until the sun came up in Rio and walked along Ipanema beach at sunrise.

• I've walked through a drug run favela and drunk way too many Caiprainhas.

• I've toured my way from Rio to Buenos Aires with a group of fantastic people who all clicked and will share many funny memories with.

• I've gawped at the size of Christ the Redemeer

• I've visited the idyllic island of Ilha Grande and wandered it's sandy street by moonlight with my perfect guy.

• I've made my way through quaint Brazilian villages to see one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Iguassu Falls.

• I've soaked myself taking a boat into the powerful spray of the falls.

• I've border hopped between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay all in twenty four hours.

• I've trawled the balck markets of Uruguay.

• I've loved the coastal european style towns of Paraguay.

• I've danced tango, eaten the world's best steak and drank far too much red wine and cheap cubre libres in Argentina.

• I've met the best Argentinian lanuguage advisor.

• I've screamed with the crazy fans of Boca Juniors at an exciting soccer match.

• I've bored myself with Santiago, Chile.

• I've said goodbye to friends and picked up more along the way.

• I've bused both the north and south islands of New Zealand.

• I've jumped out of a plane - twice.

• I've dressed up as a bible.

• I've lived with friends and family who have been so kind to take me in and treat me with luxury.

• I've rafted grade five rapids.

• I've seen two oceans meet and ate pipi's straight from the ocean.

• I've sandboarded down massive dunes into a trickling river.

• I've swum in a pod of three hundred dusky dolphins.

• I've tucked into a traditional Maori dinner

• I've hiked a disappearing glacier.

• I've pigged out on some of the best pies in NZ and Australia.

• I've snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef.

• I've gooned myself out camping on the worlds largest sand island, Fraser Island.

• I've sunned myself on the famous Bondi Beach.

• I've joined adopted family to eat an Aussie Christmas dinner in the sun.

• I've celebrated New Years Eve overlooking the infamous Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

• I've caught up with old friends on the other side of the world.

• I've photographed wild kangaroos, koalas, emus and various other wildlife.

• I've enjoyed the company of penguins and a Swiss with good music taste on the beach at night.

• I've made the most of one day in a lovely hotel in Bangkok eating Pad Thai.

• Ive stayed at twenty seven hostels, eleven hotels, four houses, three lodges, two tents and one boat.

Most of all I've had the luckly pleasure of spending time with some fantastic people. They have taught me patience, love, loyalty and much to my mum's request, compassion. I have missed my family and friends at home beyond imagination but that has also taught me who my real friends are, how to cope with pain and how much those cloest to my heart mean to me.

This isn't the end of my journey forever I'm just taking a break to work out what and where I want to go from here. I have no regrets about cutting my trip short and although I wasn't on a mission to find anything inparticualr, I did fulfill the title of my blog - I definitely found something more than London.

A dodgy pasta dish, the Hangover II, One Day and I've got you're number demollished, I arrived in a humid Bangkok. My body clock was a bit skew wiff but when I arrived in my room at the hotel (not hotel not hoStel!) I was suddenly awake with happiness.
Bear in mind I've spent my time in tiny boxes with no windows and too many bunk beds crammed in having to endure sleepless nights hearing people drunkenly attempting sex (in the bunk adjacent to my head I will add... Squelches that I never wanted to hear from anyone else) or just think I was going to die of suffocation from no fresh air (not an exaggeration - Danielle can verify that!) that the idea of a room just to myself brought on sweats of excitement!
If you'd have seen me you'd be forgiven for thinking I'd never seen a double bed in my life as I hugged and jumped up and down on it, switching the air con from full blast to nothing just to prove it actually worked! Proper white fluffy towels ( my tiny travel towel is about two months past its acceptable use by date), a mini bar and free wifi! After the extortionate price of internet I'd incurredf in Australia, free wifi that actually worked at high spped was a luxury. I don't think I've put my phone down since!
I had the most divine sleep and awoke to my alarm at 9:30 only to have a lazy (free) american breakfast - well as american as a thai breakfast is ever gona get with frankfurters, toast, potaoes and noodles is going to get - and went straight back to my delicious bed.
I've spent the day slowly getting ready to leave (no mean feat with the size of my suitcase), enjoying a relaxing bath and indulging in the hotels creams and lotions
My excitment at being home is really building up and knowing I get to finish watching Kinky Boots on the plane (I fell asleep half way through on the way over) makes it even better! Coupled with this knowing I'll be seeing Emma at the Railway in about 24 hours is killing me! Who knew I'd ever look forward to somewhere as mundane as the Railway so much! I also really miss my friends from work and can't wait to see them for a standard CW piss up Also Hannah you better be prepared for a Sunday wino sesh and Lou to a pizza and salad night!
So, while I sit here listening to 90's pop music in the hotel lobby and the slightly annoying high pitched "sa wat dee kah"'s coming from every direction, I have a massive smile on my face and an even bigger smile in my heart.

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you"... Luckily I have lots of different songs going on in my heart and lots of friends with questionably beautiful voices

They say Melbourne can have four seasons in a day and unfortunately for us this has been the case the whole time I've been here. Mostly it's been a drizzly cloudy autumn but occasionally a spring turns into a summer for an hour a day followed by a winter night of torrential rains. This coupled by the lack of free touristy things to do (money is seriously lacking) I've spent a lot of time sleeping... If only beauty sleep actually had an effect! Don't get me wrong, I love to sleep and usually I'd feel like I was wasting time not exploring an undiscovered city but to me Melbourne is missing the exctiement of Sydney. A nice lunch in the Italian quarter and an impromptu night out til 5am gave it some life but I think that's to do with the people not the city. After getting home at silly o'clock spending the night chatting to a long awaited friend I was woken by a phone call from my mum three hours later giving me the sad news my nan had passed away. I had been told just a week previously that she had been taken ill before christmas but being typical her hadn't wanted it to ruin my christmas and nye and promised my mum not to tell me. My friends, new and old, have done an excellent job of keeping my spirits up but now I'm just looking forward to getting home... On Monday. Oh, I didn't mention? I've decided to cut my trip short. Money funds being the main reason but now it just seems the right time for me to come home. I was starting not to appreciate the amazing things I was seein and need a break beack to reality. Plus, now I get to be with my family and a time when I really need them and they need me... Not to mention one of my best friends going insane without me hehe
I'll be stopping in Bangkok for one night before making my descent in good 'ol London. I hope there's a big banner spread across the entire roof of Heathrow welcoming me back or I'm going to be devastated!
So, forgive me if my last couple of blogs of my trip don't have the previous enthusiasm as I previously had but as my trip as a a traveller comes to a close I have mixed emotions.
Who knows what the future will bring - perhaps I'll continue this blog from another country sometime in the near future...

It's funny how three days with a group of people that click can take your mind off of things. I had such a ball on our trip to Melbourne - singing Australin songs on the tour bus (I will never forget - or let anyone else forget - "Woodchip, Woodchip", "We are Australian" or my personal favourite "House among the gumtrees"! Giggles with Katja and Danielle, listengin to msuic, chatting and having fun wth Kym made what could have been a very boring trip really great fun. Plus now I get to se a bit of Switzerland
We visited Parliement House, played shotski in a ski village (minus the snow), drank awful tobasco shots, sang way too loud, saw the non exisitent Pakistani embassy, hiked to a beach at Wilson Prom, saw wild kangaroos, emus and koalas finished off with a night on the beach at St Kilda drinking goon straight from the bag, scaring penguins with flash photography and spending most of it in the arms of a lovely Swiss with a smile to turn anyones frown upside down
A perfect end to the trip and I left for Melbourne CBD with a big smile on my face :D

My first day in Sydney I had a couple of nice, ice cold ciders (I'll quickly add I haven't had a cold drink in aprox 3 weeks now) overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge to my left and the Opera House to my right with a friend from home I hadn't seen since he left the UK. What a perfect way to welcome me here to this beautiful city. Already I could tell that "something" I was expecting from Australia was here. This is what I had been longing for the past two weeks. I felt at home here immediately and I know the next couple of weeks here were going to be just hat I needed after my previous disappointment. Looking back, I wonder if I was just missing home and Sydney was the closest I'd felt to home since leaving.
Firstly, I must say, Australian summer my arse. It's been a constant mix of humidity with showers to torrential thunderstorms to the odd scorcher. Sydney was no exception - dreamas of laying on Bondi beach for days on end was totally eliminated - not that you would want to spend any time at Bondi. On that note, perhaps I'm missing something, but to me Bondi is awful. Full of scummy teenagers, overpacked tourists and a dirty beach... you can go to Tenerife to experience that! On the few sunny days, I spent my time relaxing in the beautifully serene botanical gardens reading books quicker than I'd gobble up a Big Mac when drunk and people watching galore.
The people. Australia is full of many nationalities and I feel that Sydney epitomises this (well the professional immigrants with good well paid jobs I met). I dno't know if it's the feeling of everyone uniting in a foreign country far from their original home but generosity, kindness and friendliness prevails trhough every street. The thing is, it's not only the foreigners, it's also the Aussies themselves - perhaps because they've had to get used to everyone coming into their country, I'm not sure but I am sure I like the atmosphere it gives the city. My first encounter was a Dutch couple with three beautiful children who started chatting to me at the Opera bar, the first day I arrived after meeting my friend. why did they care to talk to me, a random stranger with a dodgy tan, I didn't know, but now I realise, this is the vibe Sydney gives off - you speak to everyone and anyone - who knows what will come of it. I left them holding a picture one of the children had drawn of the Harbour Bridge (complete load of scribbles - but still, even I thought that was quite cute).
New Years day and I was nursing a hangover, again at the Opera bar, minding my own business while having a glass of wine and reading my kindle when a group of people asked if they could join the end of my table. Of course I said yes (especially consdering the guy who asked me was a really hot Aussie). See, in London if this had happened, usually that would be the end of the conversation and the evening would go on as if the other group were never there. However, in Sydney that just doesn't happen - they started chatting to me, involving me in their conversation, then inviting me to have drinks with them... Five hours later and much alochol consumed they asked me to join them for dinner, I declined as my backpacker budget didn't stretch to lovely dinners in expensive company however they absolutely insisited I join them and that they would cover it. I was overwhelmed with their generosity but said I couldn't take advantage - they insisited and I eventually gave in with the deal that when I returned to Sydney with a job I would pay them back. Perhaps this happens to everyone but it definitely doesn't happen to me often and I was so taken aback with their kindness.
I was also lucky enough to be able to live part of my time at Danielle's aunties house in the suburbs of Sydney - Alexis and Phil were so lovely and couldn't do enough for us not complaining once about the mess of our bedroom and suddenly having two twenty something girls living with them when they were just used to their three and five year old sons, Kane and Ben. Secretly I think Alexis liked having some girly company in the house and if anyone wants someone to blame for me moving to Sydney in the future - she's your lady
I spent NYE at Mrs Macquaries Point overlooking the Opera House and the Harbour bridge with 19,999 other people - the atmosphere was electric (after queing for three hours at 9am in the morning) - the fireworks were spectauclat and we had a fantastic day eating and drinking with new friends. As the bridge countdown struck midnight I felt smoething insdie me move. Probably it was the echoing vibration of the fireworks! But deep down the feeling that, this year had been amazing, but the new year was going to bring big changes that gave me butterflies. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to kiss at midnight so no perfect fairytale I'm afraid but I knew what I wanted for the year ahead.
We left Sydney for a three day trip to Melbourne. I had hardly any money left and really wasn't optimistic for this next trip as it didn't really stop anywhere of much interest (the amount of times I've been told Canberra just isn't worth seeing and I'd be a millionaire). Sydney had what I'd been lookng for - thank god I'd found "it"!

"I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of" ~Michel de Montaigne

Nowhere in Australia, so far, have I been somewhere inside that was hotter than being outside but Byron Bay managed to deliver that in the form of a teepee. No aircon or even a fan to blow around the warm air. This was supposed to be our "alternative" accomodation for the night... excuse my language but f*** that. Now I know everything is meant to be an experience but feeling that I might suffocate and die in my sleep is not an experience I'd like to undertake any time soon so with the general underwhelment with Australia so far we moved to another tiny bunked room with a semi working fan.
Three days whiled away reading either on the beach or in the rain surrounded by a haze of weed at the hostel. Really all I wanted was to get to Sydney in the hope it brought whatever I was looking for. The final overnight bus journey and we finally arrived in the buzz of Oz. If this doesn't live up to my expectations I'm writing off Australia altogether and getting the soonest flight to Bangkok.

We got off at Surfers Paradise, a nine hour bus journey from Rainbow Beach, tired and laden down with all our heavy unnecessary baggage, only to find out we have no idea where our hostel is. There should have been a bus transfer but of course, that doesn't turn up because we arrive after 8pm (why you wouldn't advise people of this before hand is beyond me). IT isn't like everywhere else we've been that's a small town with all the hostels with a two minute walk from the bus station. It was dark, the information centre was shut and at 9pm on a Saturday night full of drunk revellers (that should have been me!!!) looking to take the piss out of two lost looking turtles, I put my sensible head on and went into a bottle shop and asked the friendly looking owner where our hostel was. After laughing (a bit too hysterically) at the amount of luggage surrounding us, he sent us on our way... fifteen minutes in the wrong direction!
Luckily we were saved by a group of people walking along the street who we stopped o ask directions again as instinct (around the lack of hostels around) told us were not in the right place. They were unbelievably kind, brought up directions on their phone and offered to carry our bags - we politely decline thanking them for their helpfulness already. They hostel was a twenty three minute walk away Victor then told us... so we took their kind offer immediately and chatted all the way to the hostel with them now also laden with our luggage. At one point Victor said to me in his lovely Canadian accent, "Brooke, what is actually in this heavy bag?" to which I replied, "a lot of vodka and a bit of food" with what I hope was a somewhat cheeky smile - he laughed back and rolled his eyes and muttered "British" under his breath.
If it wasn't for this group of overly kind strangers we would have been lost, miserable and damn pissed off but instead they made it feel like an adventure. I thank them a million times of their generosity, kindness and unselfishness (I'm not sure I would have offered to carry a strangers heavy bag for half an hour). Luckily there are still people in this world with a heart for humanity.

During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. ~Joann C. Jones

Screw resolutions. I haven't written in my journal at all and as usual am catching up...
Oz so far, I have to be honest, has been somewhat disappointing. As with all the countries I've visited I have all and no expectations, however for some unknown reason I expected Australia to be full of... well something. My problem is I don't know what that something is - just something that it doesn't apparently have. To be fair, I have only visited part of the east coast so far so no full judgement can be made but I hope this something pops its head up soon or I'm going to be fast tracking a ticket to Bangkok! There have been some highlights though from my trip from Cairns to Fraser Island so I'll share the bits that have been memorable to me.
The Great Barrier Reef promises to be outstanding, breathtaking and whatever other adjectives can be conjured up but seriously how it is one of the seven wonders of the natural world I really struggle with. I put it down to it's shear size (it is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space) because quite honestly I've seen just as beautiful marine life in the Red Sea, Egypt and I even got a little bored. Perhaps my enthusiasm was lacking because I had first tried scuba diving and really disliked it. The feeling of the weight of the sea on top of you, your life dependent on a canister of air attached to your back and you breathing correctly and well just no. It wasn't for me. I will try it again another time but I settled for snorkeling. It was colourful, as everyone says it is. We saw a varying shapes, sizes and types of fish, as everyone says you will. The wow factor, everyone says you have - that didn't come. Perhaps I have just been too spoilt by the underworld already. There was a particular highlight of the day for me that came in the form of the gorgeous JD, from the US who had just come back from Afghanistan and was taking a few weeks holiday. This infinitely improved my trip to the GBR - somehow while we all looked absolutely ridiculous in racer blue full body sting suits (hood and mittens included) he still managed to pull if off - bastard
We continued further south and hit Airlie Beach - it rained and rained and stormed and quite frankly the only good thing to come out of it was the treat of a Big Mac... two days in a row!
Rainbow Beach has, in my opinion, only got two good things going for it: you can easily get to Fraser Island and (most importantly) pies. These aren't just bog standard yup that was nice pies, these are absoutelyfuckingamazing ohmygodineedanotheronerightnow pies. I had a chicken and corn pie in a creamy white sauce, the pastry buttery but crisp and all for just $4.60. If I could import these pies to the UK I'd be a millionaire.
So then it was Fraser Island. Again, unfortunately, nothing here that wowed me - yes, the champagne pools are cool, Lake Mackenzie is fun to hang out at and no, the dingos aren't cute, they're nothing but glorified thieving foxes - but it was all just... nice. I know I sound like a spoilt bitch and I probably am (I've seen sights that some people can only dream of seeing) but unless it really is something spectacular it doesn't seem to evoke any emotion or feeling.

Goon.
The "indigenous drink of Oz" as one of my friends described it is the devil. Drink it once and you will vow never to do so again (although you will of course). I don't remember a thing from our first night camping but the one video that will never be showing to anyone outside of our tent confirm 100% I will not be drinking goon ever again... well until NYE anyway!

Yee ha and cheers guys!
P.s. Thank you to the lovely Shaun and Jen for teaching us Yee Ha - my favourite drinking game so far for sure!

“I am sometimes disappointed, but I love my life ... and I must believe that the disappointments contribute something to what I love.” - Jan Denise

My last couple of weeks travelling the south island of New Zealand was pretty packed so I'm going to do an abbreviated version as most of my time was spent blindly drunk on fun with great people or just drunk on the cheapest drink being served that night!
A three legged pub crawl in the inbred town of Westport attached to lovely Irish Stephen who I managed to stay attached to the whole night - including toilet breaks, to the disgust of the locals we met in the gents!
A Christmas themed fancy dress party (in November) at the deserted Puh Pub where I may have ripped some pages out of a paper document, stuck them to me, and attended as the Bible, accompanied by a wish list, band aid, two full suited snowmen and Santa with his elves. Way too many shots were had (one consisting of tequila, vodka, gin and topped off with tabasco) and jugs of snakebite.
A day hike on Franz Josef which left me walking like I'd spent the day horizontal with something up my backside and blisters that will still be there after the glacier itself has disappeared! Oh, and I wont 1st prize for the fancy dress and won a canyon swing.
I did a second sky dive in Wanaka and failed another Sunday quiz night.
Queenstown consisted of a lot of alcohol consumed (even out of teapots), a deliciously massive Fergberger, a bottled canyon swing, a beautiful sunset at the lake with a trip to Milford Sound to top it all off. We said our goodbyes to all the fab friends we had made touring NZ before heading to Kaikoura to go wild dusky dolphin swimming (beyond ah-mah-zing!), a 7.5 earthquake in Wellington and back to Auckland for our flight to Oz.
Goodbye NZ... G'day Australia!
New country resolution... to write in my journal every day not weeks after when I can hardly remember any details just the feeling of fun!

" The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. " - Helen Keller

" Te Kaha - to stand firm" due to seizes by invading tribes the area withstood.

Heading East AS for four days to take a break from the big bus and chill out in the remote East Cape. First stop was Tatapouri which is the first place in the world to see the sun. Apparently it is beautiful but after the constant partying the previous nights there was no sunrise that I was going to get up at 5am for! Plus, we can always see it tomorrow in another town just around the corner! It is populated by Maori's who have been there for over one thousand years. Captain James Cook made his first steps there in 1769... facts, check! It was quite a long journey, that took us past White Island - NZ's most active volcano - so it gave us a chance to get to know our new group. There were eight of us in total - Dr Nick, Welsh Rhys from the valleys, late Sarah, miserable Isa, competitive Matt and annoying French Marie. I already knew by this point who I was going to get along with and who I would be avoiding in my new attempt to be nice to everyone... I'm trying. By the time we got to the lodge we were quite tired so we had our first meal together of bolognese, watched whale rider and went to bed. It was a beautiful place to stay, on the beach with lovely views of the hills to the back and the crashing waves to the front. It was a shame we couldn't stay longer and with better weather but off we headed the next morning to Rangitukia. We stopped at Whangara where the Whale Rider was filmed and we just had to get some pictures riding the fake whales left over from the set! Tolaga Bay has the southern hemispheres longest wharf and after a long walk up and down (600m is deceivingly long!). Rangitukia was slightly in land and we stayed on a horse ranch owned by Reggie with a hook for a hand. Curry for dinner mmmm, we awoke to find two fisherman had washed up on the nearest beach due to their boat coming in too close to the shore. Five tonnes of fish was wasting away, them losing their livelihood by the second. They looked defeated as we tried to chat to them to keep their morale up but it was a sad story to hear... that was until we later found out that the captain fell asleep, hence them crashing... bloody lazy bastard, I didn't feel so sorry for him after that! That night we stayed at Te Kaha homestead, home of Chay and his O'Brien whanau. Chay's two grandchildren were staying and funnily enough they took a liking to me... why do kids always like me?! Set on the beach it was idyllic and so picturesque, we played on the isolated beach for a while, drank cold pear cider in the sun and just chilled with no worries in the world. I didn't want to go for dinner (first time ever?!) but we had a delicious sunset fish and chips at the local, played pool (Danielle and Matt lost with all seven balls still on the table but wouldn't uphold the tradition of running around the table starkers... everyone has that tradition - right?) After a few evening drinks back at the homestead under a starry sky we went to bed relaxed and content.
Our final day took us into Taupo and although my writing of our four days in the East Cape don't amount to much or any detail, the photos and memories of the scenery are what made it a great break.
Oh, and I didn't make that second sunrise... or the third...

" Like all great travllers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen." - Benjamin Disraeli

"Take time every day to do something silly" - Philips Walker

Day 10 and we arrived in Auckland about 6:30, got a BK, skyped Mum and went to bed - we were very boring tonight.
Day 11 - I write, once again, about a week after what happened so my memory is hazy, especially after what happened in Hot Water Beach. We arrived in the afternoon ad chilled at the campsite where we had dorm lodges that separated us deom the rest of the campsite - great idea as a lot of cheap cider was consumed along with bags of cheap wine that quite honestly looked more at home attached to an 80+ year old in a hospital bed! Card games were played and lots of fun had so needless to say there were some heavy heads the next day and some shameful looks on some peoples faces... let's just say, what happens in the lodges at Hot Water Beach campsite stays there and those that know well... they know. Off to Waitomo to go caving and see glow worms, except I didn't as my tiny bit of claustrophobia kicked in and I couldn't face the though of spending 3-5 hours in a cave with no way out, no oxygen, many ways of injuring yourself with no access to help.. just no - so I passed and slept off the night before! Then, as is due on a Saturday night, we hit the local pub - the barman was so friendly and after enquiring about his shooter menu he proceeded to give us 80% of our drinks for free! They also had a free jukebox so we took advantage of singing to our favourite songs while drinking mini guinnesses and brain hemorrhages! Another great night was had but the next night had to be a quiet one as my I don't think my liver could handle another messy night.
Day 12 found us in Rotorua and it just so happened to be quiz night at the hostel soooo it would have been rude not to especially as I was missing the Railway so much! (I hate to admit this...) However, before I divulge the antics of the night I must tell about our day ludging. Ludging is basically chucking yourself down a concrete run in a small sledge on three miniscule wheels - I bought three runs down the circuit and did the beginners secnic route, intermediate followed by the advance, after being egged on by one of the guys (you can't lose face as a girl on racing cars down a hill as fast as possible when you're the only one!) The first couple of runs down absolutely killed my hands and they were red raw (oi ;P) so I wasn't exactly enthuisastic about doing the advanced run, but boy yea am I glad I did it! (yes, I did just say boy yea :S) It was awesome! The incline was far steeper which meant you flew round the course at super speed and the bends were so sharp and banked you went jumping around them! I was buzzing and really wanted another go but my runs were hey ho, I relaxed in the sun overlooking the beautiful town of Rotoura and it's magnificant lake. So, back to the interesting part of the night, the quiz. Oh wait, before the quiz we went to a Maori evening where they showed us how the Maori's used to live, taught us the Haka, ate a hangi (meal cooked underground and smoked) and sang "the wheels on the bus" while going round and round a roundabout! The quiz - there were four teams of four and after having met some new friends whilst getting drinks at the bar, Danielle and I teamed up with an American guy who had extra'ed in US tv shows such as Glee and Greys and a builder/decorator from Peckham. We were named Wolverines. There is no rhyme or reason that is logical to this and every time it was called out I cringed. Anyway, first game up was a drinking game - as long as it wasn't downing a pint I know I'd be good... It was a cup of beer, downed, then you had to flip the dup upside down, next person to go relay until all four were done... I was third and on par with another team but luckily our loud American friend gulped it in one flipped and we won woooo!!! I felt very please with myself when they announced "Wolverines (cringe) win"! Only four more games to go and we were in the lead. Game two consisted of me running around our rather large new American friend (I call him American friend as I have no idea what his name is after the amount of alochol consumed) wrapping him in toilet paper to look like a mummy - needless to say, we didn't win that one. Now, game number three was another embarassing low point of the trip. All four team members had to get a balloon and thurst into the backside of the team player in front of youso the ballooon popped - flaw with this was my balloon wouldn't bloody pop, so I spent a whole minute (timed and with the whole pub watching) thrusting Danielle from behind with my hands on her shoulder pulling myself back and forth! Eventually I took so long in fits of laughter that one of the guys just came and popped me from behind while I remained a hysterical mess on the floor. Things could only get better... right?! Game four didn't involved me (probably the best idea by this point) and Danielle and Gav from Peckham had to get into sex position in sequences in a certain amount of time - they were nearly as rubbish as my balloon popping attempt - we were not doing well. It was all to play for in the final game. Now, I will add, that inbetween the games we had been doing mini guinness shots and drinking doubles of many different drinks so we were not on best form. It was a boat race where I ended up with the majority down my top and in my hair (my rugby days failed me ) We came joing third - not my highest achiemevent ever but not last and at least we had lots of fun and giggles whilst doing so! An early start to go to the East Cape the next day so we retired to bed. We really hoped the East Cape was as remote and quite as everyone had told us!

“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.” - Anthony Robbins

I was picked up at Auckland airport by Danielle and her Aunty Shenna - we would be staying with her family for the next few days in Gulf Harbour, Whangaparoa just outside out Auckland. It is a beautiful small town with amazing huge houses and stunning architecture - the riviera of Auckland as our tour guide says... Think of the show Neighbours but with money and in NZ not Oz! We had a lovely few days there and were spoilt with home made meals and proper beds with big, soft, fluffy duvets! We visited a local honey factory, had a butter chicken pie and a vanilla thickshake - what more can a girl ask for after pie and a thickshake.. actually don't answer that! We booked ourselves onto the Kiwi Experience bus that was going to take us around NZ and Tuesday morning saw us at a petrol stationo off the motorway awaiting a big green bus. Nervously we waited, what was itgoing to be like joining a big group of people on what was known as the "Big Green F*ck Bus"?! I honestly only found this out after I booked it! To those of you saying "yea, yea whatever".... eff off! ;P Anyway, we boarded and everyone, in a sleepy state, stared at us... a few half smiles emerging from the clingy losers who have no friends (there's always a few on a bus tour like this). Soon we were made to feel at ease by our friendly driver Jarred and we were on our way to the Bay of Islands at the north of the South Isalnd. I write now on our bus back to Auckland and wow what a great couple of days!
We went to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It is a very sacred place to the Maori's and you could feel the peacefullness and serenity surrounding the beatuiful landscape (I'm going to google some synonms to add to my vocab to keep the adjectives interesting!) Then we hit 90 mile beach - we're in a bus which is actually a truck with massive wheels that has been made to look like a bus so it can take passengers along the beach and go off road. It brought me such a good day that I'm in love with it. 90 Mile Beach is actually 60 miles long - that's Kiwi's for you. So, going head first down a steep sand dune on a boogie board may sound like a very stupid idea and while it was really scary it was so awesome (god, I'm even starting to talk like a Kiwi- at least I'm not saying sweet as... yet!) My aim was to stay on the board and not having the embarassment of a load of strangers seeing me thrown off and plunging head first into the sand however all the adrenelin junkies were up for full speed and aiming of crossing the small trickling warm water river that was at the bottom of the dune. I managed to hold on tightly and slide straight into a puddle, face full of water, white tshirt soaked and sand everywhere! I did however stay on the board plus got half way across the river - I was very pleased with myself!... But once was enough for me! We then drove further down the beach and after a photo stop for the "Hole in the Rock" (no idea what it was about or why I was taking a photo of it - for the second time on my trip (the big stick thing in BA is way less interesting than Hotel Colon, ha!) we went digging for Pipi's. Pipi's are like mussels and are caught by digging your toes into the sand of the shallow water, about 2 inches down and when you feel something hard you do down and grab it (no jokes please!) from the sea bed. It was great fun and despite getting totally soaked after a practical joke backfired on me, we walked back to the bus laughing and with a bucket full of Pipi's. I forgot to mention we got to eat the Pipi's fresh from catching them!You catch it, squeeze and slide the shell to kill it, then open it up, wash it out and suck it straight out from the shell! I loved it but Danielle said it was too salty and I'm sure I saw her spit it back into the sea... A whole new meaning to spit or swallow! After being up since 6am, we were pretty sleepy so after some "best in NZ" fish and chips at Mairangi Bay Fisheries we headed back to our aptly named Pipi Patch hostel. We savoured a nice pint of cold cider at $4.50 (a steal in NZ and I hadn't had a cider since leaving the UK) and had an early night. That brings me to today where we had a lazy day doing things around town (including having a mahousive giant ice cream!) basking in the sunlight before joining the bus. I can only hope the rest of NZ is as great as the Northern tip!

"Get dirty, messy and have fun! there's plenty of time to be clean and boring when you get home!" - Dice, Awesome bus driver

We arrived in Santiago, Chile shattered and ready to sleep so once we arrived we just chilled, had some food (even indulged in a BK) and took an early night. The next day we did a city tour - my opinion of Santiago is it's pretty boring with not much to do or see. It was a hot day which made it bearable but my departure the next day couldn't come sooner. I was excited to start my new adventure on a different continent and although Santiago wasn't the best place to leave great memories of South America, it had provided a good few days of much needed rest and relaxation!

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it" ~Confucius

One day I will return to Buenos Aires - whether it be to live or learn Spanish (especially if my lovely Argentinian Spanish advisor lets me crash with them hehe ) BA is like a European city and is known as the Paris of South America, despite it`s large Italian descent influences, yet it still holds its Latin roots and culture even though many of the old timers still hate the Brits after the Falklands (you won`t find a British flag anywhere in BA!) I found the people to be really friendly and fun. It is definitely a night city, during the day once you`ve looked around Recoleta with its outstanding cemetry, walked through the beautiful and wealthy people area of Palermo and risked your life crossing 9 de Julio Avenue (the widest avenue in the world at over 300 ft wide) there are few touristy things to do. However, once it hits 10pm every bar, restaurant and club is playing loud music (a mix of latin, international and a lot of rock) and whatever your mood there is somewhere to suit it. We ate lots of great steak, drank way too much Malbec however due to many reasons didnt dance too much (although as I`m writing this one of my friends is telling me we went to a nightclub and danced for hours - shit, I really don`t remember that!) So anyway... there are four main highlights of my trip to BA, firstly, our Argentine Experience. Our last night as a group and the majority of us embarked on waht turned out to be a very amusing night. First our English/Aussie/everywhere accented guide for the night, Leon, taught us how to make the famous Argentinian empanada (not empañada which means broken or cracked - another mistake like my estoy caliente!) We first made a tradtional one, then we were told to make a creative novelty one - this is a bad idea after a glass of champagne, a couple of glasses of wine and sitting next to Maria - needless to say I made a pair of tits... which were big and hot (how ironic ha!) Then, while they were cooking, we had some delicious chorizo (chorizo is red didn`t you know Maria?) and provelone cheese, quickly accompained by our empanadas which were at least somewhat edible despite the amount of chilli I had put in my tits!
Now, everyone knows Argentina is known for its steak but oh my, this was beyond any of the adjectives I love to use to describe food - it cut like butter, waqs bright pink in the middle and tasted like it was meant for my mouth only (no jokes please!) Massive compliments to Chris Bobo, the chef! We then retreated to the roof terrace and after numerous glasses of delicious Argentinian red wine, Maria and I were once again in fits of giggles and doing ridiculous photo poses! I miss those nights already Alfajores were next on the menu and after more wine, a game of giant jenga and a stupid cow puzzle game, we headed to a club. Not sure what really happened after that as I looked at photos the next day and didn`t remember where any of the photos were taken! Anyway, if anyone is ever in BA check out the Argentine Experience on www.theargentineexperience.com and you definitely won`t be disappointed!


Secondly, the tango dinner and show. The dinner was average and the show entertaining yet amature, however what was hilarious was the sight of us attempting to dance the tango! A very beautiful and patient tango dancer taught us the steps while we completely abolished any romance the dance may have had! If the sight of Jeremy and I "performing" (Steinar, if that video ever end up online, you are dead.. and I will come to Norway to do make sure it happens!) then "sexy Irish Kev" was just eye wateringly embarrassing!)
Thirdly, watching the world renowned football team Boca. Excuse my language but fuck me I have never been to any football game so exciting! The football itself was good but nothing special but the fans... any English football fan should be ashamed of their support after seeing these guys. The whole game was spent singing, shouting and dancing - there wasnt a moment of silence and their love and support was beyond anything I have ever seen! It was an experience to say the least and the only thing that could have made it better was it my Dad could have been there. It makes me a little bit sad that I could only text him while I was there but I know one day when I go back I`ll take him with me so he can go too!
Fourth, meeting my gorgeous Argentinian language advisor who I had a great time drinking, chatting and driving with. No more will be said but he`s looking forward to meeting his in laws in Kent haha! We got back to the hostel at 5:30am and I was in a taxi, full face of make up from that night (including a thick layer of gold glittery eyeshadow!) and off to the airport by 6am!
I was very sad to leave my friends from the tour group and the friends I had made in BA but life carries on and with Danielle in tow we head to Santiago. I will always remeber the giggles and fun I had with those special people and I hope soon in the future I get to see them again, wherever it be in the world!

"The hardest part of any friendship is when it's time to say goodbye. As much as we might like things to stay the same, change is an inevitable part of life. The universe may seem huge and the rift between friends on opposite side of the world may seem a great distance. There are many tools available with which we can communicate, but even without these tools there is a secret that only real friends know, and it is this. All the mountains and valleys in the world cannot separate friends whose hearts are as one."

My new group are really cool, made up of mainly English and Germans plus a couple of Norwegians, a Scot and a Swiss. We´ve just left the island of Ilha Grande where it rained for the whole two days - as we Brits do, we sat it out shivering on the beautiful Lopes Mendes beach and body surfed through gigantic waves that took your feet from beneath you! Many a bikini went awry! Also and kind of most importantly - I ate the biggest seafood platter I`ve seen! I really try to refrain from talking about food too much as I know I can bore people for hours on the subject (sorry Dan!) but this was simply delicious - big shrimps, prawns, mussels all sitting on top of an unkown Brazilian fish mmmmm Ilha Grande also has a beautiful beach and at night, accompained by a big bottle of Brahma and a hot kiwi, made me a very happy semi tanned girl!
We said our goodbyes to the other GAP group we had partied with the night before and made our way to Paraty, a small village where the locals like the fact that whenever it rains the town floods... it rained constantly for the whole two days so unfortunately we didn`t see it in it`s best light and therefore I didn`t particuarly like being here. However, one highlight was a big natural waterfall slide where a crazy Brazilian with bleached white hair slid down doing tricks (google waterfall slide in Paraty, it`s amazing!) I was somehow actually looking forward to our 14 hour night bus transfer to Foz de Iguassu by the time we left though!
Night buses are shit - period. But, as night buses go, it was ok and on arrival to Foz, the sun was shining and everyone had high spirits. The Iguassu falls are one of the most spectacular and powerful sights I have ever seen. (see this link for more details - definitely worth checking out! http://gosouthamerica.about.com/cs/southamerica/a/IguazuFalls.htm) We visited the Brazilian side first which gave us a great overview of the falls. At the end of the walk through the forest looking at the falls, there is a walkway taht takes you trhough the spray of one of the waterfalls and wow, what an experience! The spray was so powerful we got totally drenched! 450,000 cubic feet per second falls in Igassu in the rainy season and that itself totally blows my mind. The next day we visited the Argentinian side where we got to see the falls close up. The highlight for me was a boat ride that literally drove staight into the waterfalls - you couldn`t see your hand in front of your face for the volume of water soaking us and the power of it as it hit your side even semi hurt! I would highly reccommend visiting Iguassu and I would put money on never finding someone who could not find the serenity, power and mystical charm just breath taking. You can see why Iguassu is up for being voted one of the seven natural wonders of the world. That night we had a bbq with another GAP group at a house with a swimming pool - all I will say is, just because you don`t have a bikini, once you`ve had a few too many caipirinhas, doesn`t mean jumping in the pool in just your black lace underwear, in front of complete strangers, isn`t socially unacceptable!

So, with heavy heads, the next day we took a quick ride over the "friendship bridge" into Paraguay and looked around their black market (kind of like a cheap knockoff market akin to teh dodgy types in Brixton, coupled with an old age pensioners boot sale)! Our second overnight bus journet that night and with sad faces but funny memories we left Foz behind.
We crossed the Argentinian border, then the Uruguyain and hit our first stop, Salto. Four countries in one day - now that is travelling! Salto can be summed up in the following and no more needs to be said: everyone wears dressing gowns when walking around the town beacuase of the hot springs - the hot springs where 90% of the people are over 80, dead skin floats in the water and it highly resembles the film Cocoon. Maria got a mans hard crotch rubbed against her arm while on the bus and we spent the day in the only fun attraction - a waterpark. I don`t do waterparks in the UK let alone in some dodgy makeshift town in the middle of the Uruguyian countryside! After a lot of volleyball and water rugby (many bruises and scratches received!) we had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant where Maria and I had the giggles all night (much to the annoyance of the rest of the group) and we taught the Germans the meaning of the word boner after explaining the bus story. They in turn added another word to our German vocab - schtifen.. I`m sure you can work out what that means! We knew we had a bus to catch the following morning to take us to Montevideo so inside of doing the sensible thing of getting an early night like the rest of the group, myself, Maria, Steinar the deadpan Norwegian and our tour guide Jose, decided to get a load of litre bottles of bear and play cards until the bus at 6am in the morning - needless to say by 4am and much crap chatted, we were dead and retired for a couple of hours.
That brings me to the horrible early bus, a tour around the legal palace in Montevideo and anice long sleep before heading out for a good Saturday night out on the town. I write the day after where we woek at 10am, ate and slept again til 4pm. Montevideo, I can`t tell you much about, but I can tell you it has at leasy one good bar, one good club and a lot of good males dancers doing Regatton! By 2am, we were dancing on the bar thinking we could shake our hips like Shakira (photos prove we can`t!) and Steinar, to everyones surprise, was first up for getting Johnnie Walker poured down his trhoguh from an exhibitionist gay bar dancer! The same four lasted the night but by 5am we were good to go and after the others getting disgusting hotdogs served by a man who hadn`t been near a shower in a month (barf) we headed home. Next stop is Colonia for one day then we hit the big city of BA. I hope it lives up to the big hype!

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." -
Miriam Beard