Day 5 - Rio de Janeiro

Today we used a guide to get us around Rio. Our thanks to Leticia Levy for being such a great tour guide and a very informative day. It was only after we'd finished the day did we realise we would not have been able to do it on our own.

Incidentally Rio de Janeiro was named because the explorers though they'd found a river not a harbour, and they came across it in January.

First stop was the Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redemptor), and art deco statue erected in 1931. It sits on Corcovado, 800m above sea level.

Needless to say the view from there is fantastic with views of downtown, Sugarloaf, and the Lake. Sugarloaf is the high point in the photo below. Why it was named Sugarloaf is not certain.

I'm glad we arranged for the guide as we saw parts of Rio we wouldn't normally have seen. Its such a diverse city and the mountains that the city has built around make for outstanding backdrops. The reputation for crime and theft is largely unwarranted and possibly is simply warnings taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

The Downtown area [pictured right] boasts a bridge that is 14 kilometres long.

After Christo we travelled through the area of Santa Theresa and eventually then to Downtown where we saw 3 very different churches, the very modern Cathedral [pictured], Candelaria - the original church in Rio, and then the Monastry of Sao Bento.

Next stop was the purpose built strip used for Carnivale which is essentially a dance competition for all the samba schools in Rio. Because the government thought it a waste to have this area used only once a year, the designers planned it so it could be used  as a school for the remainder of the time. You can see the school windows (the slats) on the left of the picture.

After there we visited the western side of the city, Ipanema beach, then onto Sugarloaf which is 400m above sea level and reached only by cable car. The cable car was used in the Bond film Moonraker. From Sugarloaf you can see Copacabana Beach (the upper beach in the picture) as well.

Day 4 (NYE) - Santiago to Rio de Janeiro

We left Santiago (on time! Well done LAN Chile - you DO know what timetables are for) and headed north east over the Andes.

The route to Rio from the airport travels through some poorer parts and industrial areas but then goes through tunnels where you burst through into a more Miami-like environment of high-rise buildings with imposing sheer mountains. The Christ the Redeemer statue looks over all of Rio keeping watch.

Its New Years Eve and the taxi driver thinks there will be at least 2 million people on the beach by midnight. The weather is overcast and its rained a few times but I don't think that will stop the revellers. We've been given special wristbands so we can get to the rooftop to watch the fireworks but also to even enter the hotel if we were to venture outside. The picture below shows a large stage where there's 6 bands scheduled. The barges in the water hold the fireworks in readyness.

The official language of Brazil is Portugese which is quite different to Spanish. Add to this the fact that outside the tourist areas no-one speaks English and buying food becomes very difficult...so tonight we're just having room service. We've got a guide picking us up tomorrow morning and considering the language barrier, this should turn out to be a good idea.

The fireworks on NYE were awesome! The barges were set up about 150m off the beach and the booms from the detonations rocked your chest and assaulted your ears. The display went for about 15 minutes and in my opinion rivalled Sydney's although they didn't have a bridge to light up at the end.

The beach was packed with people and the noise when they cheered was indescribable. Copacabana beach is about 5km long and there was a mass of people along most of it. We were on the rooftop (pooldeck) of our hotel so we had an excellent view right on the railing. During the buildup, no less than 9 cruiseships lined up on the other side of the fireworks barges to watch the show. There was also a beach concert featuring Brazil's version of Kylie Minogue, Daniela Mercury.

We'd been up since 5am to catch flights from chile so were very tired and as the beach party rocked on into the night, we thought sleep would not be an option however fatigue won out in the end.

In the morning, an army of orange-overall workers were clearing Copacabana beach and Atlantic Avenue ready for the new day.

Day 3 - Santiago

Sadly, we didn't sleep very well due to a niteclub in the vicinity going until 4:30am. Even earplugs didn't drown out Doof! Doof! However, this just meant we slept in (yay!) until 8:00am. At breakfast we met a couple from California, Arlene & Alan Karpel, who are doing our trip...but in reverse. They've already been to Rio, Iguacu, and Buenos Aires - where we are yet to go. They gave us some good tips and even recommended a guide for Rio, which I've already contacted. As we've got limited time in Rio, someone organising things for us sounds like a great idea.

This morning we took the funicular up to the top of the mountain where the statue of the Virgin Mary (Cerro San Cristobal) is. Of course with Mary you get the bligatory statue of Jesus on the cross and a small chapel too.

From the top of the mountain you can really see the smog in the city - it even obscured the 4000 foot Andes mountains just behind Santiago. The photo doesn't really show it but you can smell it at 880m above sea level.

For lunch we got a taxi over to Alonso de Cordova, effectively Santiago's Rodeo Drive, or perhaps Double Bay. We didn't find it all that appealing so we caught another taxi to Parque Arauco again for lunch and to continue shopping where we left off yesterday (it really is quite a large mall).

Taxis have been 'fun'. Most drivers don't understand my flawless Spanish....NOT! so directions are a combination of frantic pointing at maps and me going through every spanish word I know until we get to one he recognises.

Tonight, dinner is at Patio Bellavista, a collection of small artesan shops and cafes in this suburb with live music and dancers. It's very popular and most places are full. Dinner in South America starts after 9 generally as they are drinking and talking spanish flamboyantly up til then.

Up early tomorrow to fly to Rio with LAN Chile (again).

Day 2 - Santiago

Santiago is a city blending modern buildings with it's Spanish heritage. The city is clean, safe, and we were impressed with the focus on public spaces and parks with lots of trees.

The picture to the right is The Aubrey Hotel,

where we are staying. It's situated in Bellavista, a fairly trendy part of town near the University of San Sebastian. 

First on the agenda today was the ubiquitous Hop-On-Hop-Off double decker bus tour that you find in most cities. This 2 hour trip gave us a chance to get our bearings and passes through all parts of the city so you get a good feel for the place. However, the seats on the bus were a bit hard and we got off after an hour because Michelle's bum couldn't stand anymore sitting, so we opted for shopping instead at Mall Parco Arauco. I know what you're probably thinking, but Michelle didn't buy anything - I was the only one who managed to spend $98,990. By the way thats in chilean pesos which have an exchange rate of about 413 pesos to AUD$1.

We had to laugh when we saw the signs of a city that's growing fast, embracing technology but not giving enough attention to their infrastructure. These congested clumps of wires were quite common through the city.

The pictures below are within Parco Arauco, a large park in the north of the city adjacent to Santiago's largest shopping mall.

Day 1 - Santiago

Phew! We finally made it to Santiago. The flight was 11 hours from Auckland ut only after LAN Chile made us stay another 50 minutes at the gate because they weren't quite ready yet. We're not sure why it was late but I did notice the pilots staggering out of the airport bar....

LAN Chile seems like a nice airline but their use of timetables seems to be as only a suggestion...or perhaps something to keep the other One World partner airlines happy. So, a couple of movies, and a bit of a sleep (I use the term 'bit' because as most of you know, its almost impossible to sleep on aircraft seats), and here we are.

Santiago at the moment is 26 degrees and clear. 7pm here is 9am there. After a quick shower we're off to dinner.

Day 0 - Sydney to Santiago

Well the trip didn't start as planned. Qantas called the night before to advise the LAN Chile flight had been delayed by a few hours which has resulted in a 4 hour stopover in Auckland Airport, which is where we are now. There's only so many times you can look through duty free shops so I thought I'd write entry #1 for the blog. To compensate LAN Chile gave us $24 in food vouchers which we promptly spent on coffee and chips.

Alice Springs

Waiting for the next flash flood

The view of the ranges from Anzac Hill

And it really is a long way...from everywhere

There's not much to say about Alice Springs except it's hot, and there doesn't seem to be much to see. At the moment it is exceptionally green though due to recent rains. The picture is of the old Stuart Town Gaol circa 1920 which coincidentally was also used as a schoolhouse at times (presumably there were no prisoners at the time). Also, where would the naughty kids do detention? They were already in the gaol!

Aboriginal Art