Melbourne, Australia

This time last year I would have felt sick at the thought of a 17 hour flight from Santiago to Melbourne, but these days I have been on buses for longer. We flew with Quantas who plied us with food and drink and I watched Forest Gump for the first time. At one stage they gave us choc-ices. Best. Flight. Ever.

We decided to have an extended layover in Melbourne on our way to South East Asia, where the lovely Jenni put us up for a week and looked after us like royalty. We did not realise how badly we were in for it with jetlag, but we were so happy to be in a friend's home with our own room and fluffy towels...and Barry's teabags! 

Jenni has lots planned for us including a trip to see the city lights and some home comforts for our first day.

The next morning we blew off the cobwebs with a walk down the beach in St. Kilda, and it was so cool to see Luna Park because I remember my brother sending us pictures of it when he lived there years ago and now there I was standing in the same spot.

After being spoiled rotten by Jenny's family in their beautiful home, the next few days were spend cruising The Great Ocean Road. 

We used a company called Ride Tours and our guide Todd was the best. We had so much fun with Todd and his inappropriate jokes and his feckin fantastic playlist, but he was also so knowledgeable about the road and the best places to stop along the way. He also knew just where to go to find koalas and kangaroos in the wild which was so cool to see.

The highlight was definitely waiting for the penguins come onto the beach as we watched the sunset at The 12 Apostles, drinking wine and eating cheese (which we'd bought earlier from a magical place called Cheeseworld!). 

And here's one for Irish people of a certain age, we even saw the light house from the kid's TV show Round The Twist - the theme tune came flooding back when we saw it!

The whole tour took 2 days and included a hostel and a BBQ, would definitely recommend Ride Tours. 

Now, I'm slightly concerned that this blog is making me sound like a wino, but nevertheless we spent our last day in Melbourne doing what we do best - wine tasting! 

Jenni had arranged a surprise winery tour for a friend's 30th birthday, so we set off on a bus with 20 Irish girls (the most Irish accents we have heard in a long while!) and we were blessed with a glorious sunny day at three drop dead gorgeous vineyards. Very different to the vineyards in Argentina where the focus is on how the wines are made, in Yarra Valley it's all about the magnificent surroundings and socialising with a glass of your choice (Pinot Noir for moi, incase you were wondering!). It was such a perfect day with a lovely bunch of girls.

We can't thank Jenni and her family enough for how they looked after us for the week, it was like a home away from home and just what we needed before starting the next leg of the trip in South East Asia. Bring on the sunshine!! 

Next Stop: Bali, Indonesia

Santiago, Chile

The flight from Sao Paolo to Santiago was smooth and uneventful... arriving to Chile was not! Before we knew what was happening Karen was carted off by customs and questioned for over an hour (in Spanish!) about 3 rogue Brazilian oranges that were still in her bag and undeclared. Thankfully there were no fines and I got to take a sneaky picture that I knew would be funny eventually!

We arrived at The Magic House Hostel a little bit later than expected but we were still met by 2 of the nicest people in Chile, Tanya and Vincent, who made us feel right at home in their home for our few days in Santiago. 

Our first order of business was to do our ice bucket challenge which we had been trying to get out of for a while, but decided the pun "chilly in Chile" made it worth it. 

Once we were warmed up we went on a search to find Wally. Wally Tours do a fantastic free walking tour around the city (their guides wear red and white striped tops so it's easy to spot them). I really love doing walking tours in South America. They are the best way to get your bearings in a new city and you learn so much from local guides who really know their city inside out. One of our first stops was at these huge street art paintings by an artist named INTI (close to Metro Bellas Artes). The murals depict what really matters to Chileans, with a mix of Latin American folklore and modern images. I can't remember the names of the dolls in the pictures, but it is superstition to have dolls like these in homes and to give them gifts to keep luck on your side. 

We sat for ages outside the presidential palace learning about Santiago's rocky political past and Salvador Allende's grizzly end. He was apparently a great orator and he even called a radio station while he waited to be captured and killed, to tell his people to hold on to hope. The speech is translated into English on youtube.  

Some of Santiago's streets were built to replicate other cities from around the world, so we visited Paris Street, London Street and New York Street with its very own flat iron building. We also visited 

"PDA Park" and finally found out why teenagers are kissing everywhere you look in South America (the answer was pretty simple in the end; they have nowhere else to do it!). 

Another stop on the tour took us to one of the "Most Beautiful Subway Stations in the World". I'm not sure which number it ranks at, but it's pretty damn cool with the entire walls painted to represent an old folklore story. 

A crazy phenomenon in Santiago are the Cafes on Legs. They started as a way to convince men to drink coffee instead of tea, so waitresses wore short skirts and paid their male-only customers plenty of attention while they enjoyed their coffee, maybe even a peck on the cheek if they were lucky. But has time has gone on the Cafes on Legs have been getting increasingly x-rated - so you can get a lot more with your coffee these days.

We saw loads more on the tour and learned so much from our guide, it's an absolute must if you are in the city: www.tours4tips.com. The rest of our time in Santiago was spent eating more than we should and shopping more than we could afford. And alas it was time to say adios to Johnny for a while at least, as me and Karen become a twosome once again. 

It's so hard to believe that it's a wrap for South America. Three months have flown by and we have seen more than we'd ever imagined. And while we do remember where home is, we are going to take a slight detour before we head back...

Next Stop: South East Asia BABY!!

Sao Paolo, Brazil

I'm not going to lie, I did feck all in Sao Paolo. Mostly because our hostel was ah-may-zing and I didn't want to leave. It's called Hostel Brazil Boutique and is not even a year old so it's all white and shiny and comfy. I had a room to myself, an English speaking television and the guy who worked on reception made cakes in the evenings, I wanted to move in there! 

When I finally did venture outside into the huge city the sun was burning in the sky and there was a street festival taking place. Salsa music was blaring from speakers and there were hundreds of stalls lining the streets. 

We also figured out the metro maze and made our way to Sao Bento to see Sao Paolo's answer to The Empire State Building, The Altino Arantes Building, also known as the Banespa Building. It takes about an hour to queue and get to the top and they close the viewing box at 3pm but it's worth a look if you have the time. 

 The view from the top shows just how crazy big the city actually is. It's the biggest city in the Southern Hemisphere, probably a good place to go if you don't want to be found! 

Street art is a huge part of the city and you can see really impressive graffiti almost everywhere you look. 

We also visited the Japanese part of town, the district of Liberdade. Sao Paolo has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. It's so strange stepping off the metro into a completely different culture. The street lights and buildings have an oriental feel and the shops sell Japanese food and souvenirs. While we were there we went for a shiatsu massage and worked out some backpacking kinks! 

The plan was to spend only one night in Sao Paolo and then fly to Santiago in Chile, but when a 8.5 earthquake hit Santiago that day we decided to move our flight. Didn't do a whole lot, but definitely regarded the batteries as the end of our time in South America gets ever closer.

And thanks to Karen for all of these pics!

Next Stop: Santiago 

Paraty, Brazil

It's was a 2 hour ferry back from Ilha Grande to Angra dos Reis where we rejoiced at the sight of an ATM! From there we got a public bus to Paraty which took about 2 hours. 

We had planned on staying for 3 nights in Paraty but because of a festival taking place in the town the hostel prices were too expensive. Waaay too expensive. 

When we arrived there was a huge marquee, a stage and hundreds of stalls set up for the Cachaça Festival. Cachaça, as it turns out, is the main ingredient of Caipirinhas - to which we have grown very partial!

Our hostel, Geko, was ridiculously overpriced for the weekend but so was everywhere else, even the campsites were full (who would have guessed an alcohol festival would be so popular?!), but Geko could not have been closer to the beach without getting wet and our breakfast was served right out on the sand. 

Paraty is so gorgeous, all white buildings and cobbled streets, it was like something out of a movie. 

Unfortunately, no matter what flavour we tried, cachaça did not float our boat unless it was inside a caipirinha! So instead of sampling its million flavour variations we opted to spend the day on something that was loosely named a Catamaran, but we chose to call The Love Boat! 

 Whatever it was it served us well with a multi-tasking skipper/barman who brought us beach-hopping and swimming in perfect turquoise water, all the while mixing cocktails in his makeshift bar! What a life! 

Paraty was buzzing that evening with live music streaming through the tiny streets and lots of cachaça happy people (can you see them in the background?!), I felt like I was on holiday on my holiday! 

But after just 2 days it was time to leave Paraty, all too soon. 

We have only a few days left in South America as our flight from Santiago to Melbourne is edging ever closer!  

Next stop: Sao Paolo 

Ilha Grande, Brazil

It was an early start as we left our hostel in Rio and drove 2 hours to the port of Angra Dos Reis to catch a 1 hour ferry to Ilha Grande. 

Ilha Grande is an incredible island surrounded by paradise beaches, waterfalls hidden away in the cover of the rainforest and a sleepy fishing village with boats bobbing around on perfect turquoise water. It's hard to image that the island was once a leper colony (hope they rinsed it down since then) and then a penitentiary where political prisoners were held alongside some of Brazil’s most violent criminals. There's no sign of the island's unsavory history to be seen however, just beautiful tropical beaches and virgin Atlantic rainforest. The only transport around the island is on foot or by boat - and we did plenty of both.

We arrived early and the sun was shining so we decided there was no time like the present to visit one of the island's main attractions Lopez Mendez beach (currently voted the 7th most beautiful beach in the world). 

The water was a lot choppier than expected and we were bounced around on the boat to the island but it didn't take too long to arrive at a tiny beach. It was pretty but we were a bit disappointed... Until we realised we had to trek to the other side of the hill to find the actual Lopez Mendes, phew! After a short hike (in which we somehow managed to genuinely lose Johnny for a while in the woods), there was no doubting that we had found the right place. Lopes Mendez was stunning. 

A million miles from any beach I have ever seen before, no deck chairs or umbrellas, just wide open sand and crystal clear water crashing in every direction. 

I actually "frolicked". 

I would have spent a week on that beach but as the clouds rolled in a few hours later it was time to head back. The next hour and a half was spend on a tiny fishing boat being absolutely battered by the biggest waves I have ever seen. As the driver resigned to turning the engine off and letting the waves crash us around, there was an eerie silence on-board as nobody wanted to admit that we were all equally terrified. When we finally reached dry land with shaky legs and green faces we were told they what we experienced was not the norm and that there was a storm rolling in. We were on other boats in the days following and they were a lot more tranquil, we were just very unlucky that day. But sure look at me, here to tell the tale! 

The next day we decided to skip the boat and hike through the rainforest in search of Feiticeira Waterfall. The trek was 2 hours but didn't feel that long as we walked through bamboo forests, stopped at small lagoons and spotted monkeys playing in the trees. 

 

It was (as one may expect of a tropical forest) feckin' ROASTING though and we were glad of a dip when we arrived at the waterfall. Iguazu Falls it was not, but very pretty all the same!

Johnny spent some time channeling Peter Andre in the Mysterious Girl video (which has since become our Ilha Grande soundtrack!) and then we walked a further 20 minutes to Feiticeira Beach. This one was much smaller than Lopez Mendes but just as gorgeous. 

Later on we ended up at a bonfire on the beach until 3am. When we realised that the fire-starter guy was throwing wooden chairs from a restaurant onto the fire, we chose to believe him when he said they were broken. We also made friends with some street dogs.

The next few days were cloudy so we spent them chilling out at the hostel willing the sun to come back. One afternoon Karen and I rented a kayak from an absolute lunatic with a whistle and the most fabulous head of hair, but it was a little much like hard work in the end! 

The little town itself in Ilha Grande is teeny tiny but there are lots of fab restaurants there, infact some of the best food we have had in Brazil (we visited the crepe restaurant in particular more than was necessary!). There is NO ATM however which was a pain in the butt. 

We stayed in El Misti Hostel again. It was a great place to meet people and very chilled out and they give you cake for breakfast - winner! But I did go to a party in Che Legarto one night and had definite hostel envy as it looked much more modern. But nevertheless we extended our stay in El Misti hoping to chase the sun for a little longer. We left after 4 nights a little browner and very relaxed. If you get the weather, Ilha Grande is absolutely a little slice of paradise. 

Next Stop: Paraty 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

As we boarded a massive plane in Iguazu to fly to Rio it began to sink in just how mental that tiny tin-foil plane we got from the Pampas was in comparison. Even now when I look back at pictures of the stuff we have done and the places we have been it feels like a dream! 

We were picked up on the other side in Rio de Janeiro by a guy from our hostel (El Misti) and it was so cool to spot Christ the Redeemer looking over the city as soon as we drove in. We didn't even care how bad the traffic was, we were so excited to be surrounded by sights that somehow felt familiar, probably from seeing them on TV with the World Cup. 

As we arrived on a Friday we were persuaded to head to Lapa for a night out (because it's a sin to miss a Friday night in Lapa!) but we made a pact to be home by 2am because Karen's boyfriend Johnny was flying in the next day. We got the metro with a gang from the hostel and soon realised that Lapa is absolutely nuts! The streets are lined with vendors selling drinks and crowds of people drinking caipirinhas on the pavements and outside petrol stations (classy!).

Once everyone is sufficiently merry on cheap street drinks, the crowds move to the nightclubs where girls get in free and guys have to pay. We went to a salsa club called Lapa Loca which played really cool dance tunes before a live salsa band started. Let's just say we missed our 2am deadline!

The following day we went to the airport to pick up Johnny. Karen hasn't seen him in almost 10 weeks so when he finally came through the gate I felt like I was in Love Actually, how cute is this?! 

On Sunday we went to see Christ the Redeemer. We weren't very organised and didn't realise that going at 2pm meant that we would have to queue for hours. It's definitely worth getting up early to skip the crowds, a lesson learned. 

When you finally get to the top, Christ the Redeemer seems so huge after seeing it from afar so often throughout the city.

It's hard to get a good photo with hundreds of people standing around with their arms outstretched but we did our best and  took a million selfies.

The whole time I was there I kept thinking of Karl Pilkington in An Idiot Abroad who thought that Jesus had a really big chin and then felt like a plonker when he realised it was a beard! 

The view from the top is incredible too. 

The next 2 days were spent soaking up the sun (finally!) on Copacabana Beach. Yet again I almost felt like I had been to the beach before because the view is so recognisable. But what I wasn't prepared for was the amount of women with massive bums and men with tiny underpants, as well as the sellers who walk up and down the beach screaming all day! It was a cool place to be but not your usual beach experience as you spend most of the time people watching. 

One of the best things we did in Rio was a tour of one of Rio's 1,000 favelas. A few years ago it would have been completely unheard of for a tourist to risk entering a favela, but since the announcement that Rio would host both the World Cup and the Olympic Games a project was set up to pacify at least some of Rio's favelas by driving out the gangs and replacing them with armed police. Santa Marta is one such favela which is now deemed safe, but it still felt quite edgy walking around. I couldn't believe that this is normal life for millions of people who live in mazes of tiny brick houses on steep hills with thousands of steps and narrow alleyways. Our guide explained that the minimum wage in Rio is about half of what a month's rent is, so for the majority of people a home in a favela is their only option.

Football is such a huge way of life for people in Brazil, kids especially. We even heard that schools were closed for the World Cup because they knew nobody would show up. There was one area of the favela which was really cool and colourful. A paint company had sponsored a project for the World Cup to paint the houses and it had been going really well, but apparently when Brazil were knocked out people were so distraught the project went by the wayside!

Santa Marta is also the favela where Michael Jackson shot his video for "they don't really care about us". The locals are very proud of the fact and have a life-size MJ statue and a little gift shop where you can watch the video. At the time, Santa Marta was completely under the control of a Ganglord and the police wouldn't even attempt to enter. So instead of asking the authorities Michael Jackson's producers got permission from the gang to shoot the video there, and the gang even provided his security! 

 I have since watched Ross Kemp's documentary on drugs in the favelas and read a lot about it and realise just how sheltered tourists are from the problems of the city. I felt safe the entire time, but so much happens there that we don't even comprehend. 

On Wednesday night we went to the Maracanã Stadium to watch a match where the World Cup final was held. Even with 4,000 people there the stadium looked empty (it can hold almost 75,000), but my god did those 4,000 fans create an atmosphere! There was drums and chants and huge flags, and there was devastation when Fluminense lost. I can't claim to be a football fan but here I am doing my best! 

The weather wasn't on our side for the rest of our days in Rio. We couldn't do the sunset on the Sugarloaf because it was so cloudy we wouldn't see anything, and it was lashing on the day we had planned a walking tour of the city. We did go to Ipanema beach even though it was quite blustery, and it was actually very cool because there were loads of surfers taking advantage of the waves, and Karen taking advantage of the pingpong!

It was a pity the weather wasn't on our side more as I would have liked to explore more of the city, but nevertheless we left with a salsa beat in our ears and caipirinhas in our veins! 

Next Stop: Ilha Grande