New Zealand at last

Well, this is what I came for and those three boys will keep me busy for the next 6 months or so. This will be my last blog posting. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I still have to pinch myself to believe that it all really happened. I only have to look at my photos to see that it's true, and what an adventure we have had.

I am sitting now, listening to the cicada bugs in the trees outside and waiting for Fin to wake up from his morning nap. Sarah has gone to work for her second day of leaving him with me and we are adjusting to different routines. Fin and I had a bit of a discussion yesterday about his cup of milk - my point being that it's the same milk that he is used to, his being that the container isn't at all what he expects. It will be hard for them both for a while, but then that's the world of the modern family.

Jon and I are discovering the benefits of skype and chatting each morning like we were in the room together. Hopefully we will settle down to the months apart, and Jon plans to join me in July.

Find me on facebook if you want to keep in touch. Have to go now - the master is calling .........

Santiago last stop

We have been in Santiago for a week having arrived last Friday on the bus from Serena. Chile is very expensive compared to Peru, but we decided to check in to a slightly more upmarket hostel and enjoy some comfort for a change. So here we are at the Happy House Hostal right near the centre of town. It has a swimming pool and tv lounge, plus a kitchen so that we have been able to cook our own meals.

The week has mainly been enjoyable, but we did have one disastrous day in Valpariso on Valentines Day. Sitting in a restaurant enjoying a local chilean dish, (basically muscle soup), we were seranaded by some charming street minstrals who distracted our attention long enough for someone to snatch Jon's backpack from under the table. It was done so quickly that he was not even aware that it had gone until he reached to pick it up. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the police station, desperately trying to remember what had been inside for the police report, and trying to find enough spanish so that they didn't record something like "priceless Inca artifacts" instead of "sunglasses". We did pretty well, ending up a bit like Generation Game trying to remember things going by on a conveyor belt. What we didn't remember was Jon's false teeth, having fallen out he had stuck the plate in his pack, (I don't know the spanish for that anyway).

The week has been bitter-sweet for us because today we are parting for a while. I leave for Auckland tonight and Jon flys back to UK tomorrow. We have got to know each other very well, warts and all, and sometimes we have treated each other badly. Sometimes the stress of a situation has brought out the worst in us. But Jon, if you read this, I have to say that no-one could have looked after me better, and you have often been stong for both of us. You have been beside me during the worst of times and the best of times. We have done an amazing thing and will still be talking about it together until we are very old (well even older). Thank you for helping me fulfil a dream.

I am looking forward to NZ more than I can express in words, (I am sure you can imagine). I have been looking forward to seeing my family again for the whole six months and, of course, I will be meeting baby Fin for the first time. I will post some pictures on the blog when I get there.

Atacama Desert

Stayed in a zany hostal in San Pedro de Atacama. The desert is basically made of salt and sand with a bit of quartz here and there. Nothing lives there except where there is an oasis and the water bubbles up from the ground.

It's huge!

Into Chile

Well, it was all a bit sudden. One day we were in Arequipa, Peru, enjoying the ancient city and surrounds, the next we had hopped onto a bus and then a taxi through the border to Chile.

We had a day of, frankly disappointing, expeditions. We took a tour to the Colca canyon; up at 2.30 a.m. and driving in a cramped mini-bus. We had hoped to see condors flying below in the Cruz Condor site, but we just saw one flying high above us. The canyon was never quite visible because it was full of mist, and then it started to rain. Nevermind, we would see vicuñas, the flamingos in the lagoons and the volcano on our way back. No we wouldn't; the tour-guide went to sleep and we had to guess when got to the famous Chivay plateau (4,800 metres above sea level).

That night as we listened to the rain dripping on the roof of our hostal room, we decided; that's enough of Ariquipa. After all what is the point of travelling light if you can't hitch your skirts and head for the sun. We left the next day for Tacna, then took a taxi through the border to Arica, which is on the coast.

Arica is nice, but not nice enough. Tomorrow we are off to Iquique where we have booked a hostal near the beach. We will stay there a couple of days, but Chile is very long and we only have another 20 days left to get to Santiago. Our stops will be short ones from now on.

Lake Titicaca

When I was at school we had a teacher who would say Titicaca" like a sort of joke name of some place that no-one really seriously went to. Well, Mr Evans, (if you´re still alive) it is a real place, and I am here.

Jon and I left Cusco yesterday on the bus and arrived in Puno yesterday. It is the highest lake in the world and stands at 13000 feet above sea level. We are getting used to high altitude now, and don't find ourselves quite so breathless and dizzy.

This morning we went out on a boat and visited some floating villages where the Quecha indians have adapted to living on rafts in the lake.

Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Arequipa.

Machu Picchu Lost city of the Incas

The wonderful city at 8800 feet above sea level. Sits in the clouds and rain frequently floods the ruins and, unfortunately, also the tourists who are walking around! We got pretty soaked, but it was definitely worth it.

Cusco Inca City

Sights in Cusco town and around the Sacred Valley of the Incas