Personal

Merry things to you all. Hope everyone had a festive festive season. My best wishes for you all in 2007! And I will hopefully be catching up with as many of you guys as possible.

I've been on road trip with Curly, Longy, Scooter and Smooshie. Just a little run up to Sydney for new years eve via the coast.

This year, for the Brothers Hart put together a bit of a label for their Christmas wine........... It looked a little like this.

{insert imahge}

Hello all

A month since my last post! Sorry, but I promise you it's only 'cause I haven't stopped once in the whole time. I'm now back in Aus. The rest of my time in Argentina went a little like this.........
comodoro rividaria
moreno glacier
fin del mundo
last days

After Argentina I had whirlwind tour of NZ. A week up north visiting my relos. Great week. Spent a few days on my Granny's farm. She is most amazing/mad person I know. 87 years old and still runs 200 acres of farm with beef cattle and sheep.

Flew up from Ushuaia, there was NO WAY I was going to get the 3 day bus up!

Little bit weird to be back in the massive city after a couple of weeks in the wilderness. Got together with the guys from school to re-enact my farewell drinks. Dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant with massive margaritas. Then across to revisit a cool bar. Big night with plenty of laughs.

You can't get any more south, Antarctica is just 1000km further south via boat. I'm glad I made the effort to get down here, and it was an effort. Very long bus ride, around the 30hr mark I think. I must admit I found the place very exhilarating. This is it, the end of the world! Having bused all the way down here, all the way through Patagonia, thousands of kilometers of nothingness, the absolute remoteness, it really did feel like the end of the world.

Moreno Glacier, the world's largest advancing glacier. Just spectacular. The face is 55 meters high, 5km wide and advances 5 meters a day. Jumped on a boat to have a closer look. After, walked out to the viewing platform and just spend hours, spellbound, watching (and listening to) giant pieces of glacier break off and crash into the lake. photos

Faced with a 36hr bus journey to Rio Gallegos, Gerard and I had a day stop over here. Not much to it, but headed to a nearby beach covered in millions of fossilized shells and were able to find a seal lion colony.

photos

Beautiful place on a massive lake surrounded my mountains and is one of Argentina’s main ski resorts. Put the backpack on and headed into the mountains. After four hours I found myself at a small hut at the base of a massive valley, well above the snow line. Again, an amazing feeling of remoteness. Very beautiful place with a very charming mountain hut with two very intimate dorm rooms. The rooms basically consist of one large bunk bed that sleeps 12 people. With the arrival of a group of 10 and other resident skiers meant we were in for a full house that night.

After Mendoza, I got a 2hr bus up to Uspallata, near Montana Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. Originally wanted to climb it, but was 12 day trek so spent the day in the desert, trekking through a military zone instead.

Good fun setting out into the desert, and soon being the only person around for miles. The whole, last person on the earth after nuclear war feeling is always fun. Even found a cave I could live in. But it didn’t have broadband, so I wouldn’t have survived 24hrs.

photos

Hello all

Sorry, but this is a a quick post to let you all know I´m still alive, but nursing a bit of a hangover. I won too much beer last night, beating the locals a foos ball. Local customs pertain that it´s considered rude not to finish a beer that has been bought for you. even if they are litre bottles. hahhahah.

Haven´t posted becuase I have been in the desert and in the mountains and in the desert mountains.

Every now and then during your travels, you might do something that isn't actually culturally right. You know, fly to the other side of the world, and end up in an Irish bar. Which is fine if the other side of the world is Dublin, but you know what I mean. So the guys I was with decided that we should go to the casino. Now the casino can be the backpackers best friend (if he can find his shoes to be allowed in). If everything goes right, you can quickly fix your financial position now that you've realised the ridiculous 25 peso a day budget that you