Week 1 in NZ!

It’s been a bit of an adjustment to switch gears from South America to New Zealand.  To begin with there is a 16 hour time difference, but also, the pace is different, the language is different (it’s really nice to speak English again, but for the first few days,  I still answered questions with “Si!”) and we had to remember that most of the world actually eats dinner before midnight! We arrived in Auckland at 4 am on a Tuesday (actually completely lost the Monday following Easter due to time change and travel) and picked up our rental car around sunrise.  Our “Silver Surfer” is a Subaru Outback 4WD with plenty of room for our bags but with one tiny problem – the driver’s side is on the right and they drive on the wrong side of the road! Ha! Okay, it was only a problem for the first few minutes each of drove. Raj adjusted faster than I did of course since he learned that way, but it was a first for me.  Not as hard as I expected but it took me a few days to get comfortable with roundabouts and to stop squealing every time we approached one. 

Instead of staying in Auckland, we decided to save it for the end of our month, so we began driving southwest so that we could get to the coast before we ran out of steam and find a place to stay.  After several hours of challenging the 4WD capacity of our Silver Surfer on windy, gravel roads, seeing our first NZ waterfall and exploring the beautiful coast, we made it to a town called Waitomo which is famous for its extensive network of caves.  We decided to stay at a nice B & B for our first night because I had a horrible cold (not pig flu) and combined with jetlag, was feeling simply awful. So we checked in around 3, showered and fell asleep around 4. We didn’t wake up again until 6 the next morning! Considering we had been partying in BA until 6 in the morning, I suppose our bodies needed a bit more rest!  So, we checked out and headed to our first NZ adventure – The Glowworm Cave and another cave with a Maori name meaning Two Dogs.

We continued south quickly, stopping often to take in the crashing waves on the coast or the autumn colors, because we wanted to get travel the south island first as winter is approaching rapidly here. We only stayed a night in each place, but we have seen quite a lot. In an effort not to bore you, here is a condensed version of what we did and saw:

Wellington – on the south end of the north island. It is a big city by NZ standards but very pedestrian friendly. We didn’t do much besides go for walks, have a few drinks and check out the marina. The next morning we to the ferry across the strait to the south island.

Nelson – we arrived after dark and got lucky with great place to stay. In the morning we walked around the cute downtown area and strolled through their weekend market that had a very bohemian feel. Then we drove to Abel Tasman, a National Park and explored for a few hours.  We could have spent more time there but were feeling pressure to cut over to the west side of the south island to begin working our way down to Queenstown.

Cape Foulwind was fantastic. It is barely on the map but such an amazing find.  We checked into one of the two motels about 10 minutes before sundown and ran down the one block to the beach. Once there we found a fantastic blowhole and we had a blast timing the surf so we could play on the rocks.  It was absolutely stunning. Then we went to the only tavern and made friends with Derek, the bartender, who in turn introduced to us the rest of the patrons.  We had a great time closing the place down chatting with Derek and a couple of his close friends.  In the morning we went for a long walk by the lighthouse and down to a secluded and fantastic surf.   We could have spent days exploring, watching seals, or simply gazing at the waves break on the rocks.

Franz Josef Glacier – we had a good time in Franz Josef, although it has become a touristy little town. In an effort to get away from the biggest crowds and to get our adrenaline pumping, we chose the heli-hike and had good fun on a short helicopter ride that landed high up on the glacier.  We then locked on crampons and spent about 2 hours with a guide and several other tourists exploring the glacier and ice-caves! Sometimes we could walk through a cave, sometimes we had to crouch way down, and other times we had to climb our way back out!  It wasn’t nearly as cold as you would expect and the crampons help you feel secure as you walk on ice.

Wanaka – on our way to Queenstown we stopped in this picturesque town on Lake Wanaka and overlooking the Eyre Mountains. Though a bustling ski village in the winter, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the beautiful autumn.

It’s been absolutely beautiful to simply drive through this country.  The roads are incredibly windy and often take you through mountain passes and close to the coast.  In a single day we pass , forests, spectacular coastlines, wineries, single-lane bridges, horse pastures, tiny towns and thousands of sheep. There is no better way to see this place, but we still feel that there is so much more to see and we wish we could stay in each place longer.

Sorry we are bit behind on our blogs!  Will post another soon to let you know how Queenstown, Milford Sound, Dunedin and The Catlins were!  Miss you all!

Looking back on South America

As we head off to New Zealand, I am reflecting on the past month in South America. I have been thinking about the highlights of the trip, what I’ve learned about the cultures, about myself and about travelling.  In an effort to keep this short and to the point, I’ve narrowed down my thoughts to “the top 5 things…”

I Love About South America:

1. Wide open spaces! – indeed, the Dixie Chick’s song was in my head a good part of the time. Chile, in particular allows you the opportunity to truly feel in the middle of nowhere and witness nature’s majesty
2. In Chile they serve this salsa stuff called Chancho en Piedra with nearly every meal and each place seemed to have their own unique spin – sometimes like salsa, sometimes more like bruschetta – served with bread – so yummy!
3. Gaucho culture- complete with matte and horseback riding- is everywhere
4. The Chilean people – so friendly and welcoming
5. Buenos Aires – perhaps my favorite city of all time… so far :)

I miss about home:

1. Family and friends – seriously, I really miss you guys
2. Dogs  - sadly, Raj and I have taken to impersonating our dogs. it’s really frightening…
3. Cooking for myself – the food has been great, but sometimes you just want to do it yourself
4. Big salads for meals – there is only so much meat a newly converted vegetarian can handle – why don’t other countries (exception Greece) have this as an option?
5. Easy access to the things we take for granted and knowing where I’m sleeping at night

I’ve been inspired to do:

1. Plant a BIG vegetable garden
2. Own horses and land to gallop through – seriously, I may have to move OTP now
3. Learn Spanish fluently (would have been helpful before this trip, but better late than never)
4. Make furniture – weird because I NEVER considered it before, but ever since we passed that property on horseback and i saw those trees that looked like driftwood, I can’t stop thinking about how I’d like to make something from it
5. Come back to Chile and Argentine with friends and family. there is nothing that i have seen or done that I wouldn’t want to do again and there is still so much more to do. Plus, I have to make good use of #3

I’m glad I packed (for those of you who read my first blog posting):

1. Burt’s Bees Res-Q Ointment (thank you Auntie Nancy!) and the miracle stuff we bought in India – since we spent quite a lot of time on horses, we both experienced the joys of saddle sores at one point or another – lovely things…not
2. Netbook and converter/adapter set – although we contemplated “getting away from it all” in a more complete way, it has been absolutely terrific to be able to stay more connected and to be able to Skype and write the blog and do research as we go. In actuality, we feel more free having it than we would have felt if we left it behind.
3. The hair thingy mom gave me – very versatile – works when it’s cold as an ear protector or when I just need to cover up my hair
4. Horseback riding boots, cold weather boots and hiking boots - i debated and debated about bringing all three – seemed excessive and heavy. but all three have been essential
5. 3-in-1 Clinique products – it downsizes packing and makes everything faster

There are several things I have that I haven’t needed too and other things I wish I had (especially when we were in BA and everyone else had snazzy clothes). Ultimately, we both seem to have packed really well. 

All in all, our first continent could not have been any better: we had great weather, fantastic experiences and met new friends. 

Buenos Aires – The city that never sleeps.

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 3pm and without a hotel booking. We’d talked to a few travelers and read that the Palermo neighborhood was one of the cool spots to stay in, so we jumped in a cab and gave the address of a hotel we’d read about on Trip Advisor. When we got to the hotel, we didn’t expect it to be fully booked; in fact it never really crossed our minds that any of the hotels would be fully booked, but this quickly become the reality after the 3rd hotel was also booked up completely. Our nice cab driver took us to another hotel which only had a suite available, but we figured we’d take it and figure something else later on.

We’d already underestimated two things about Buenos Aires (a.k.a. BA). Hotel availability and the size of the city (huge- top 20 in the world). Throughout the week we discovered more things we’d underestimated, but you’ll have to read on for that.

We decided to walk around Palermo and the streets, restaurants and shops all looked amazing and unlike Santiago, we hardly saw any stray dogs. In fact, most dogs are well looked after pets and the only strays we saw were a poodle and sheep dog (go figure). We had read about the Argentinean culture and specifically the late dinners and vibrant social life. I have to say until you experience it you can never truly appreciate these people. They seem to play hard, enjoy life, and somehow work in-between. My only theory on how this is achieved is the Stella Artois we noticed everyone drinking and soon starting drinking as well. They serve it in one liter bottles for less than US $5 and the beer tastes so damn good, even Tovah couldn’t get enough of the beer. Devin Ramga would have been in complete heaven, so Devin, the beer on the right was for you! We spent several days in a row simply wandering around, stopping at cafes with patios, and drinking Stellas in the sun, leaving only to find yet another cafe to sample or a Parilla for dinner (which serve the famous Argentine steaks that we were actually a bit disappointed with).

We found BA to be an incredibly stylish city too (which led me to finally shave my beard and for Tovah to regret her packing decisions) and everyone seems to constantly be outside socializing.  Although Tovah’s Spanish was getting pretty good, many more people spoke English and when they didn’t, were amazingly friendly.  We posted a request on A Small World (a.k.a. ASW - social network website) to meet up with locals to check out some of the hot-spots. We only got one response, but undoubtedly, it was the right response. Our hostess, beginning on Thursday was a wonderful lady called Romi, whom we got along so well with that we saw her everyday after right up until she literally put us in a taxi to the airport (and negotiated a rate for us and insisted the driver put on the A/C for us) She took us to all the best places, including several that were invite-only, and hooked us up with VIP service absolutely everywhere.

We also decided to rent a condo for the remaining week rather than staying at a hotel. We found this really cool place in Palermo that gave us a lot more space at a cheaper price. Originally we’d planned on going to Iguazu Falls during the week but it didn’t seem worth it anymore given the cost and time it would take. Apart from that we were enjoying BA so much and knew we’d be back one day and could go there then.

We visited the Evita Museum which was OK, and discovered that cats own the parks and gardens in the city. I’ve never seen so many cats hanging out in a park, and people coming into the park to feed them, much like birds.

One thing everyone had told us to do in BA was to checkout a Tango show. We found a few online, but Romi  recommended what she believed was the best Tango show in BA.  We tried to buy tickets, but they were fully booked so we started looking for alternatives. As soon as we told Romi this, she went on a mission to get us into the sold out show. What we realized about Romi was she knew absolutely everyone in BA. She called the owner of the Theatre and got us a VIP table, picked us up from our Condo and took us to the show. The show was amazing, I only hope the video reflects that.

Romi truly made our BA experience incredible and Tovah and I couldn’t thank her enough for her hospitality and friendship. We met various friends of hers and other ASW travelers from France, Columbia, USA, etc. Went clubbing until 6am (Club was still going very strong when we left), drank Champagne, and explored the city in a way most travelers can’t. BA is definitely on my top 5 cities in the world, and certainly number 1 for it’s social life. BA put the icing on the cake for South America and our desire to return some day with friends and family.

Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn Cruise

The hotel in Torres del Paine transferred us back to Punta Arenas by van along with 2 other couples who were going on the same cruise. We spent about 7 hours with them between the journey and waiting to be able to board so we learned quite a lot about each other and began the cruise with new friends. One couple, Hans and Rena, were in their 70s (actually Hans was 80) and had travelled absolutely everywhere! They amazed us with their endless energy and fabulous stores from their 50 years of travelling.  The other couple, Jeff and Midge, were celebrating their 30th anniversary and on holiday from their teaching positions.  We finally boarded the ship around 6pm. It accommodated about 125 passengers normally but only 88 (representing 15 different countries with very few Americans) for our voyage and was nice with 2 lounges and a dining room. It was very simple but cozy. 

On the morning of April 1, a dream woke me up. I opened my eyes and there was a dim reddish glow in the room. I quickly realized that the glow was from the beginning of a glorious sunrise. As I watched from our cabin window, I heard a splash outside and thought at first it was fish jumping. then I realized it was a seal playing and the little guy played there right by our window all morning! I was so excited that Raj even woke up and we went to the top deck to watch the sunrise (and the seal)! Our first stop was Ainsworth Bay and it was our first experience with the zodiac boats that took us to shore each time reached our destination (each place we went was too remote to have a port or even a dock). 

We went on a guided hike that was actually really boring, as our guide was a fungus freak and kept stopping to take pictures of mushrooms and to tell us ALL about them… To each their own, but we were falling asleep standing up. That is, until, we nearly tripped over an enormous Elephant Seal!  Although he only lay there, he entertained us well and we were SO close (which was great except for the rather vile smell).  When we finally tore ourselves away to return to the ship, we were greeted on the shore with our choice of whisky or hot chocolate. Not a bad morning, huh?  That afternoon, we stopped at Tucker Island and took a zodiac ride for about an hour around the island and saw dozens and dozens of penguins!  They were so cute and again, very close to us. When we returned back to ship, very satisfied to have seen so much on the first day, we were again greeted by seals playing outside our window. We must have watched them for an hour – there were several of them having a fabulous time playing and jumping and diving – it was absolutely fantastic!  That night we also met some other travelers from Paris.  They were great to talk with and 2 of them had us beat for sure – they were 6 months into a 1 year sabbatical (which, btw, is mandatory for companies to allow in France after only 3 years of working for the same place and after 6 years they will actually pay 20% of your salary while you are away!!!).

The next day we went to Pia Glacier which was nice, but didn’t compare to the Grey Glacier we had just seen the week before.  Then we began our voyage toward Cape Horn (the most southern place before Antarctica – a mere 500 miles) The water became very very rough and although we are both usually okay with a bit of rocking, we were relieved that the ship was giving out motion-sickness pills – especially when we saw other passengers leaning over the side of the boat the next morning). Unfortunately, when we did arrive at Cape Horn, the waters were still ridiculous and therefore, we were unable to disembark on the zodiacs to go to the island. Instead, we sailed around the south end into the Drake Passage (where the Pacific and Atlantic meet) and officially crossed the 56th parallel :)  Amazingly, a few hours later we found ourselves in the most calm waters imaginable (much calmer than lake Lanier!) and had one final night on board where we took it upon ourselves to educate the bartender how to make a proper dirty martini; a few of the other passengers were very pleased to benefit from this!  The following morning, we awoke at port in Ushuaia, a very cute town and the southern most city in South America, where we caught our flight to Buenos Aires.

Torres del Paine

The day before we left the Lake District (in Northern Patagonia) to fly to Punta Arenas (Southern Patagonia) we realized that we should look into where we were going to stay.  The main attraction on the Chilean side of Southern Patagonia is the enormous National Park, Torres del Paine.  It is about 4-5 hours drive away from Punta Arenas and the roads, we had heard, are not that great. (travelers note:  other than being mostly gravel and no gas stations for hours, the roads were fine… just lots and lots of flat nothing, like driving through Texas).  We had also heard that unless  you are camping/trekking, accommodations are tricky b/c you have to stay in Puerto Natales outside the park and then find a guide to take you the parts of the park you want to see.  Not terribly complicated, but definitely a bit of a hassle.  During our trip advisor hotel search, we came across a place that got the most amazing reviews I’ve ever seen; everyone said it was worth the cost because it was inside the park with spectacular views and offered guided hiking and horseback riding throughout the park, as well as all inclusive food and booze and 5 hour transfer.  Although we were sold on the pictures and reviews, we were a bit dumbfounded when we checked out the website and saw the costs. We ruled it out as an option and continued looking for other options. In comparison though, nothing appealed to us, so we decided to take a chance and contact the hotel to see if they had availability and would offer a discount – we figured if they still had a room the day before, it wouldn’t hurt to ask (and this is NOT a location where someone is going to show up last minute – in fact, they don’t allow it).  The hotel responded quickly and ended up giving us a fabulous deal that included an upgraded room, 6 nights when they only offer 4 or 8 night packages, and one free night – i must admit, we still paid more than we ever have before and never would have expected to do something like this on an extended trip that is more conducive to hostels and B&Bs, but after 3 weeks of jumping around, I jumped at the chance to unpack for 6 nights in an absolutely lovely place! 

We didn’t have the most wonderful weather (although there really isn’t such a concept as great weather in Southern Patagonia), and the hotel sometimes reminded us of a cruise ship, but ultimately, it was totally worth it. The view from our room was unbelievable (see picture above) and sometimes made it hard to leave.  The hotel was geared toward physical activities in the park and we wanted to take advantage.  The hikes were either half day or full day and there were many options including a full day hike we did to Grey’s Glacier (see picture).  We left before sunrise and took the hotel’s boat across the river to the valley.  Then hiked along the Grey Lake toward the eastern tongue of the glacier.  There were mostly mild hills with a few tough ones mixed in, and a mix of forests, streams, and very rocky terrain.  Ultimately we were very lucky with the weather and only got rained on for about 15 long minutes of being pelted with what felt like sleet, but we had much less wind than is usual for the area and even saw sun temporarily with a lovely rainbow.  We walked at a steady pace for about 12 km and it was a great time to get to know a few of the other travelers that had opted for this more challenging hike.  When we reached the glacier, we were at once struck by two things – incredible wind, and the fascinating color of the ice. The wind was strong enough that we could lean into it without falling over! And the blue color is caused by less oxygen in the ice; essentially the older the glacier, the longer it is compacted and forces out the air, creating an optical illusion to the human eye.  Instead of hiking back, we were picked up by a boat that took us even closer to the glacier (and served whisky and pisco sours with glacier ice, which freaked out Raj b/c who knows what is in 500+ year old ice!) and then took us back toward the hotel.  It was definitely the best hike we did but the other couple of half day hikes were great for seeing other (less icy) parts of the park, including Sarmiento Lake with it’s brilliant blue water that reminded us of the color of the Mediterranean, and also Condor Lookout with offered a 360 degree view of the side of the park by our hotel.

The horseback riding was also half day or full day but we ended up opting for several half days rather than full days.  The scenery we saw by horseback was very different than hiking and was fantastic too! They offered riding from two different locations – an estancia on the NE edge of the park (which has nicer weather for geographical reasons) and the hotel’s personal stables, which was the fanciest environment I could ever imagine for horses, complete with personalized saddles for each of the 30 or so beautifully groomed horses.  The rides were not as strenuous as in Futaleufu and they had silly rules like no galloping and we had to stay behind the gaucho (both of which I got “in trouble” for not following on the first day :P)  But, we also got to do a few things we hadn’t had the chance to do before, such as cross rivers where the water came up to our stirrups, and get up close to some wildlife (specifically guanacos). 

At the estancia, where the horses were a bit less pampered, we also witnessed the most hilarious scene at the end of the day – as the gauchos took the saddles off each off the horses and set them free to pasture, each one of them immediately laid down in the mud and rolled around for a few minutes before running off! You have to watch the attached video – it is brilliant!

Although disappointed to leave such beautiful scenery and the available activities, our next adventure on a cruise to the southern most tip of South America, Cape Horn, and the opportunity to see penguins, seals, and other cold-loving animals awaited us.