Santiago, Chile.

A hectic city.. Much faster pace of life to New Zealand. Adeus fresh air... A slight culture shock walking around the city center. Maybe I should have lit a lightbulb under my face.. encourage a camoflage of sorts..hmm. Its good to taste something different.

Santiago, Chile.

Soaking in the views of the Andes in the background of Santiago city.

What a hectic city.. Talk about hitting a faster pace of life after New Zealand. Good luck to fresh air. The city appeared to be in a haze of smoke. It was a slight culture shock walking around the city center. I glowed like someone stuck a lightbulb under my skin! Everyone seems to be busy working in Santiago.. even if its only the pickpockets. The city has its own charm with parks and fountains at every corner. Further out in Providencia trees line the sidewalks, outdoor cafes to linger and watch the world go by are the menu del dia.

Chileans can party. The streets light up at night with locals and tourists alke. Music can be heard from every street corner. Jazz and Samba are always an option. Having a drink at a crowded local bar on the street under a red pilsen umbrella as the jukebox blares is an experience. Ask for a gin and expect a triple.

New Zealand.. The land of picnics!

After landing in New Zealand we stayed in Christchurch for a few days before starting the next leg of adventure. I was shocked at how 'English' the city was.. very civilised and 'cup of tea-esque'. Quaint with an influx of culture all the same. The 'International Busking festival' was lifting off at the time. The 'Japanese Duo' above were hilarious. They mimed their way through their act, politically incorrect and targeted a harmless fluffy teddybear miming absenities!

Some of the views we passed by en route to 'Arther's Pass' from Christchurch. The landscape changes so often in New Zealand. One minute you see rugged mountains, sheer cliff faces, deep valleys with caves to wander through at the bottom.. cows mooing in fields. At times you are driving through cloud.

'Franz Josef Glacier'. The valley walk (top photo) takes over an hour to get to the glacier. The temperature drops about 5 degrees and on with the studs for the ice boots.. A three hour climb on the ice, up slippery ice steps and over the glacier leaves me holding onto the rope for dear life.. (or until you see a ten and twelve year old embark on the adventure). The guide hacks away at the ice making it safer for us to walk on. Refreshing, cold and fun!

Not really sure what game I'm playing but you could actually walk into this tree.

One of the beaches near Te Anau. It looked like something from 'The Final Frontier' (Is there such a film??). 'Tree bones' scattered over the beach like corpses.

One of the many walks around possibly my favourite place of the trip so far.. Wanaka, New Zealand. Much less crowded than Queensland, more picturesque and not as touristic. You just breathe in the fresh air, mountains and lake in the centre of the town. Peace and calm. Diamond lake (the middle picture) leads to a mountain walk.. mental but a dream when you reach the top.

Lake Hayes on the outskirts of Queensland! Lovely hot day so I tore into the water and lapped about with the ducks. Chillly.

In Queensland ya have to get into the 'sporty' mood.. Jet boating is a good starter. Armed in a llifejacket and poncho we started our hour of bumping and splashing along the river. Our driver

seemed oblivious to the fact that a Chinese girl had hurled her lunch into the water and an American lady's face had turned white in the front seat.. The 360 degree spins at high speed were actually quite fun. I wondered at how nobody was catapulted out of the boat.. we all glued to the seat.

Sheep are everywhere. Plenty of sheep traffic jams. Honking your horn and driving slowly through seems to be the best trick. Lamb (I only tried it once) is scrumptuous.. hmm.

Milford Sounds is mystical. A windy mountain path lead to the Sounds, largely deserted with boats waiting to take people on a voyage of discovery. We arrived early to avoid hoards of tourists. Cascades ran down the mountains, waterfalls gushed. We spotted seals lazing on the rocks and dolphins lapping about in the distance. The atmosphere was dark, threatening and inviting.

Views from Lanarch castle over the Dunedin peninsula and city.

Dunedin, a 'Scottish' looking city on the East coast has an interesting coastline and peninsula to explore. Fishing boats and sheep depict the outskirts of the city. 'Nugget Point' reminded me of the '12 Apostles' in Australia, a headland with views down to large rocks scattered in the ocean. Penguins and sealions relaxed under the Summer sun.

The remains of a tree flattened into the ground and hardened with lava millions of years ago in 'A fossil forrest'.

'The Catlins', an area of native forest and coastline wilderness along the East coast had some distinctive features.. We stopped in 'Curio Bay' for the night where we met people from all ends of the earth. Middle ageed 'Guy' from Alaska (and looked like a grizzly bear himself) invited me to camp in his forest driveway (reccommending an army tent) during the Summer months. He gave me a tip 'wear a bell in the forest to scare the grizzles off'. Yeah, i'll be taking up his offer..

The 'Cathedral Caves'.

I couldn't contain my excitement when we were passing through Wanaka again (with a slight deviation from the planned route) on our way up North. I took the plunge and did a helicopter ride over the town stopping off on a mountain. My heart was in my gob as we were ascending ( I could see light through the sides of my supposedly closed door). It was the smoothest plane ride I have ever been on.. mad. No rumbles or bumps.. just straight up. Fun, fun fun!

Afterwards, being on a bit of an adrenaline rush we went quadbiking. I didn't really know what I was letting myself in for.. too late. I was on the big machine, roaring over the rocky land up and down terrains. Good crack when I got the hang of steering!

Views from the 'Church of the Good Shepherd' over Lake Tekapo. Mt. Cook is the snow-peaked mountain in the distance. I legged it into the lake to lap around. The water was like an icebath. Wow.. burrh.

Akaroa, 50km outside Christchurch, a French colonial town. We booked a trip to swim with the dolphins. Fantastic. At first I was sceptical about how close we would get to them. We could have touched them (not permitted due to their delicate skin) they were that close as they danced in and around us in the water, jumping up in the air at times.

A kayak along the calm waters of the 'Abel Tasman' National Park. Beautiful deserted beaches are nestled around ever corner. Our guide (also a pig hunter) told us a few interesting stories about the park and slapped us up a tasty lunch before our 3 hour walk back to base. We stayed in Nelson, a city on a large stretch of beach, with a few bars and cafes giving added character.

Some Maori aboriginal art. The face above is scarier than it looks..

Having left the South island (sniffle, sniffle..) we only had a few days to suss out the North. Plenty of beaches and hot springs! Rotorua, a city that smells of eggs due to volcanic activity and hot springs was our main stop. Stopping along the road at a sign for volcanic activity I was in awe at what we saw. You could hear bubbling noises from the carpark. Looking over a hedge I saw a huge area of mud water, bubbling and spurting up into the air. It was like a science fiction film.. bizarre. I was waiting for the gremlins or ET to appear.

'Champagne pools' at 'Wai-O-Tapu' National Park. Bubbling hot water over rock which changed colour due to sulphur and oxide.

Mountain-biking in Whakarewarewa (pronounced 'Fhakar..) Forest Park, Rotorua. To be honost this picture doesn't entirely reflect how scary most of the 2 hours were cycling in the bush. I thought mountain-biking was up and down a few hills.. This forest park had different grades of ability and boy did they expect you to know how to fly down slippery slopey mountain paths covered in rocks and tree roots to knock you off balance when you least expect it!

Our last couple of days were spent in Auckland, chilling out before hitting South America. Friday night 'on the town' was an unexpected suprise. We hit the nearest pub which was literally rocking its joints. The Kiwis were giving it socks to a mix of hiphop, dance and an odd 'ole swinger tune thrown in. Talk about being able to party. The barman made me down half my glass of wine as I ordered at the bar as he wanted to finish the bottle off.. Beefy rugby dudes flexing their muscles as they lifted their 'Speights' and girls 'getting down' on the dancefloor! Oooh my head.. (the following morning). Now for Chile.