Santiago

Arrived in Santiago nearly four hours before we left Auckland. No wonder we've been shattered. Not helped by the macho guys who held an all-night party down the hotel hall on our first night here. I was about to confront them at about 4am when fortunately the night porter got there first. Unfortunately, the night porter decided we needed an early morning alarm call today - maybe the fiesta guys were getting their own back.

Pleasantly surprised by Santiago thus far. It's a good city to walk, and with the snow-capped Andes in the background it's far more handsome than I suspected. Our room - on the 20th floor gives great views across the city as does the pool on the roof (as you can see).



We've decided to base ourselves here for the week with day trips to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar - and maybe the wine country.

Plenty to do in Santiago - walk the parks, stroll through the modern art galleries - and quite a bit of politics too with a fair amount of grafart around the city, the Salvador Allende solidarity art collections and the national museum. The Palacio de la Moneda - the site of the bloody 1973 coup - is also housing an exhibition of Frida and Diego; so too birds with one stone. On top of that Madonna's here. Flew in the day before us - and doing a couple of nights at the National Stadium.

Strange then that we walked about half an hour last night before we could find a decent bar to drink in. City centre streets crammed with night strollers, but nobody going anywhere apparently. Eventually found a place quite close to the hotel - and discovered that a large whisky means half a pint. Probably explains why J is still sleeping at 3pm.

Big thanks

We're now at Auckland airport waiting for the flight to Santiago and just enough time to write a huge thanks to all those who made our stay in NZ so special:
Paula, Stevie and the little athlete Josie (Hel - she's taking after you) and the smile muffin or chorizo del amore: marvellous to see Kay and Tom there too before we left.Big thanks to Rita and Gareth in Christchurch - you made us so welcome and not to mention fab dinners; Rebecca&Tony and children,Matthew and Meredith - great to meet you.

And big thanks to Darrin and Andrea - who made time somehow - for looking after us so well.

Six weeks flew by in NZ much too quickly - thanks and love to you all.

M&J

The beautiful South

We leave NZ today - time flew here too fast. Here's just a few images of the south island. For me it was magical. Lynda told us that after her round the world trip including Latin America, Asia and China - NZ was here favourite place. I can see why.

Mount Cook - the day we drove from Queenstown to Christchurch. Lucky in the wet west to have such a clear day. Only that morning a rescue helicopter saved a Japanese mountaineer trapped for six days in atrocious weather near the top. His climbing companion died - the 69th victim of this beautiful mountain.




Images from the fjord at Milford Sound









Queenstown: the adventure capital of the adventure playground of the world. I loved it - maybe not forever, but I could live there. First pic shows an image of Queenstown from the spot where I chickened out of bungy jumping...



Queenstown: the 'Remarkable' mountain as seen from the park


Walter Peak, Queenstown - midway through the journey on the Twin Screw Steamer Earnslaw.


Sailing on the huge glacial lake at queenstown - Amanda if you read this, NZ south island is a paradise for you.



Akaro - near Christchurch - where we went swimming with dolphins. Little ones - Hector dolphins that live only in NZ. Spent about 40 mins in the water with them. We were told to sing through our snorkels to attract their attention. Fields of Anfield Road worked a treat. J tried 'My Hen laid a Haddock' (aka Welsh Nat anthem) but found that flower of Scotland worked better.

Reader, I nearly died...

The Helihike, Franz Joseph Glacier, Nov 28

The way J tells it, I tried to kill her. I forced her to walk two hours over blue ice half way up the glacier. The problem, J reckons, is that her legs are too short, and the deep crevasses in the perfect blue ice a tad too wide.

You see the picture unfolding.

Most of the day was perfect. It rains about 6 metres a year here - but this day was glorious powder blue cloudless sky. True,health and safety reminded me of Asia, as the blonde YOP's pre-flight safety talk was obliterated by the whirring of the helicopter blades. True, our guide on the ice was Pearl, a 20-something Kiwi, kitted out in shorts and T-shirt, springing across the ice like a mountain goat.

It started well. We got used to the crampons. We slithered on our backs down ice slides and posed with our picks in ice caves.


Up we went, higher and higher. The great ice blocks around us became mountainous, the crevasses deeper and wider. The ice is 30-50 metres deep in places; the blue ice the most dense compacted over the years, sucking in all light except blue.



The moment came when our guide Pearl tried to squeeze us through a tiny gap in an ice wall to a descent of some 2/3 metres. The ice was too hard to carve out steps with her axe and she screwed in a rope to the ice wall. I was right behind and slithered into a tiny ice crack, just managing to haul myself down the rope.

Behind me I heard a noise, and as I turned there was J hurtling towards us. she managed in mid air to throw away her ice pick and somehow pivot so that she landed with a sickening thud on her side. For a heart-stopping moment she said nothing - telling me later she was running through the check-list of limbs for breakages. Amazingly nothing was broken. J's years of hockey goalkeeping saved her. As she felt herself falling towards Pearl and me she had the presence of mind to chuck the icepick away from us and twist in the air so that she did not hit the ice arms and face first.




Shaken and bruised, but somehow nothing worse.


Although that has not stopped her telling all & sundry that I tried to kill her...again.

A bit of chocolate, a nothing-else-for-it mentality and she was back on her feet, as unbelievably Pearl tried to hack her way still higher up the ice mountain.

In total the ice walk was just over two hours but from that point on it felt like an age before we finally made it back to the ice helipad. To all mountaineers and ice climbers, even bigger respect. As J put it - it's very real out there. It's not Disney.
Pic: still smiling at the end of the glacier walk...



PS: anonymous commented on one of our recent blogs:
'your public is impressed'
A little later anonymous posted again:
'sorry that should read 'unimpressed'...

Whoever you are, keep posting