Chile again

We crossed the border into Chile again with more beautiful scenery. Lakes, mountains, volcanoes and waterfalls.

Ruta 40 to the Lake District

Leaving the glacier we made a mammoth two day journey up Ruta 40 in Argentina. The roads were bumpy and dusty and then it started lamping it down making the roads turn to sludge. At one point we had to get out and push the bus as it was stuck in the mud. We arrived at our destination around midnight, saw a comet blazing across the most spectacular night sky then jumped back on the bus at 7:30 the next day for another 14 hour trip! We were rewarded for our efforts by the beautful town of Bariloche in the Lake District. We went mountainbiking, walking in the woods (and got a bit lost) and generally relaxing. the food was class too. Here's more photos...

Perito Moreno Glacier

Here we are at the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina. A monster of a glacier as you can see. The sound of the ice cracking was amazing and we patiently waited for huge chunks to crash into the water. A little boat trip and then hiking on the glacier, crampons and everything and a glass of whiskey and ice to finish. (You´ll have to twist that last one around yourself)

Fin del mundo

We took the plane down to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world apparently. Refreshingly cold after Buenos Aires and that end of the world feeling to it. We took a boat trip on the Beagle Channel to the lighthouse at the end of the world. We´ve had a few long dusty and quite bumpy bus rides down here. the roads aren´t the best but the views have been amazing. We crossed the straits of Magellen and the Chilean border to the Torres del Paine national park in with snow capped mountains, glaciers and lakes of ice.

Don´t cry for me...

After two months we had to say farewell to Buenos Aires and it was a little sad to leave. It´s been a very hospitable home for us and an oasis of stability between the travelling. We spent four days showing Julie´s dad all the sites, here is the Casa Rosada which was unfortunately covered in scaffolding for our two months but you can just about make out the balcony where Evita performed her greatest hits from.


The cemetery at Recoleta was amazing with elaborate and expensive tombs housing the rich and famous, former presidents and Evita and it was just round the corner from our flat.

Congreso building just up from where we went to school.

And a goodbye to Mariano our fabulous Spanish teacher. Here we are in the classroom comparing tans. Keep in touch!

Julie´s Dad arrives in Buenos Aires

Special Guest Star

We have a new member of our entourage, my Dad! He arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday, and we`ve spent four days doing the sights, taking in a parilla (Argentinian meat feast) and a Tango show. On Tuesday we flew south to Ushuaia the southern most city in the world. It`s surrounded by snow topped mountains and was only five degrees when we arrived, a bit of a change from the 30 degree heat in Buenos Aires! We took a trip on the Beagle Channel, and are now scooting our way up the Magellen strait to Chile, towards the glaciars! Dad is coping with the hostels so far, and survived a 12 hour bus trip, let`s see how he copes with a full day trek of Torres del Paine national park! Photos to follow.

Lazy Days

Here´s some more photos just to show how little we´re doing right now. Conserving energy for the arrival of Julie´s dad on Friday when we´ll switch back to tourist mode for four days sightseeing in Buenos Aires before flying to Ushuaia in Patagonia on the 16th. We´ve been applying for jobs in Japan too which seems to be going OK with a few interviews lined up for when we reach Sydney.

Daily life in Buenos Aires

Apologies for not putting many postings on recently but we really have slowed things down in Buenos Aires. We´re making the most of having our own space, cooking our own food and watching our own TV before we head off into part two of the backpacking saga. Christmas and New Year were very peaceful here, the city seemed very quiet and the streets were almost empty. New Year´s eve we headed into the centre with a rucksack of champagne for a fireworks display which turned out to be very low-key, homemade and quiet dangerous with kids setting off fireworks randomly. It was a really nice atmosphere though and 28 degrees at midnight! There were people of all ages and big families with bottles of champagne too. We somehow got talking to a drunk bloke who insisted on talking about the falklands but we escaped without causing any offence I think. Thanks for all the calls around Christmas and New Year, it was really nice to hear from you all. We´re in the flat til the 15th then phoneless again. The spanish lessons are going really well but we only have two remaining and are far from fluent but it has been worthwhile. Here´s some random photos of Buenos Aires.






Happy New Year everybody! love from Kieran & Julie x