TravelStream™ news feed for member aussierach on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/aussierach en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 28 Dec 2008 06:02:30 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/4/1223978220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/4/1223978220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/4/1223978220/tpod.html Sun, 28 Dec 2008 06:02:30 -0500 Cook Islands, a paradise found

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Rarotonga, Southern Cook Islands, Cook Islands

I had a few weeks off during October. First we headed up to a suprise wedding in Echuca and off to Mudgee in New South Wales. We brought the bicycles and cycled around some of the wineries, before heading off to Bateman's bay and then making our way back to melbourne via the coast road, stopping in Mallacoota on the way.

Following this we travelled to the Cook islands for some warmth and relaxation. From Melbourne we headed via New Zealand to Rarotonga. I was a newcomer but Nick has been here several times before. After some disputes with the date line, we settled in at the Rarotogan, enjoying swimming, kayaking and cycling around the island, before heading off to the smaller island of Aitutaki
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1156954860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1156954860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1156954860/tpod.html Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:03:54 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

I arrived in Buenos Aires a bit apprahensive, not knowing any Spanish,without any sort of itinerary, and with a job interview to do over the telephone without having slept for about 24 hours.
With the job interview out of the way though, I got to exploring the city (it´s great!), and have signed up for some Spanish classes, which I started yesterday. Even after 1 day of classes I feel so much more confident, as the language is not very difficult, especially after having studied Italian.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1141769160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1141769160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1141769160/tpod.html Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:09:04 -0400 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Melbourne, Australia


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165910100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165910100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165910100/tpod.html Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:56:27 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Melbourne, Australia

aah
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165737240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165737240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165737240/tpod.html Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:55:12 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Santiago, Chile

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165264980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165264980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165264980/tpod.html Sat, 09 Dec 2006 14:59:06 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Puerto Natales, Chile

From Chalten I caught the bus back to Calafate, then across the border to Puerto Natales in Chile. I hired some trekking gear and set off for 4 days a¨long the W track (half of the Torres circuit). I had been a bit apprehensive about trekking on my own, but found the trail to be quite crowded. I hiked with some people I had met at my hostel in Natales. The weather wasn{t fantastic, but the park was nice, and quite different from Los Glacieres national park. the first day is was a slimy scramble uphill in the rain to refugio Chileno, where we left our backpacks and then headed up to see the famous Torres del Paine. It was snowing a little by the time we reached the top, but the views were still nice. I was pretty keen to see the towers changing colours at sunrise, so got up at a quarter to three in the morning to hike up again for the 5am sunrise, but unfortunately the weather was cloudy so I didn{t go. This was probably a good thing as I spoke to a couple later who had a miserable 5 hour ordeal over the slippery boulders in the dark only to arrive to poor views of the towers.
The next day we hiked through varied terrain along blue glacial lakes to refugio Los Cuernos.
The third day we hiked part of the way up French valley for views of the glacier, and witnessed an avalanche like I've never seen before. We then had an easy hike to lake Pehoe, walking through the beautiful red firebushes.
On the fourth day I walked part of the way to glacier Grey, before returning to Pehoe for the ferry and bus back to Puerto Natales.
From here it will be a long trip back to Australia- two bus rides, and 4 plane trips!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165007340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165007340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165007340/tpod.html Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:58:30 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Chalten, Parque National Los Glaciers, Argentina

I{ll update my entry properly when I get a faster internet connection. From Calafate I took the bus to Chalten, the gateway to the northern part of the Parque National Los Glacieres. I spent a few days hiking around the various trails, including a magnificent trip up to Mount Fitz Roy. The day was perfect, with views of the mountain that stopped me in my tracks so I had to keep on reminding myself to walk. It was a long day, 9 hours in total, and the last part up to the base of the mountain was very steep, but the view was spectacular, looking out over one frozen lake and one very blue lake to the peak of Mount Fitzroy, which is so steep it is never covered in snow. This was definitely one fo the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life, and I felt very priveliged to have seen it, especially on such a clear day.
The next day I joined an ice trekking trip. This was also a very long day (13 hours in total) to walk to the glacier, rappel accross the river and up to the glacier where we walked with crampons and tried ice clibing. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and it was so windy as to be dangerous, and I got blown over several times. It was so windy that we cut short the rest of the ice hiking, which I was quite glad for. Overall, it was quite a gruelling day, but it was a good experience.
I would have liked to stay a bit longer and do some of the other hikes, but am running out of time. So tomorrow I{m heading down to Parque National Torres del Paine in Chile for a few days before flying back to Australia.
PS I have lots more photos that I{ll put up soon.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165009680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165009680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1165009680/tpod.html Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:05:50 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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El Calafate, Argentina

Unfortunately I am horribly behind and internet down here in Patagonia is too slow and expensive to update. After Nick left I flew down to Calafate in patagonia, and visited the Perito Moreno glacier yesterday. Today I took the bus to Chalten and will spend the next few days hiking around the Mount Fitzroy and Torres del paine, as well as a spot of ice climbing! I might have to wait for a faster connection though before I can upload my pics.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1163701560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1163701560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1163701560/tpod.html Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:40:36 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Cafayate, Argentina

The next morning we visited a couple of the local wineries, Bodega Etchart, and Bodega la Banda.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1163612940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1163612940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aussierach/year-off-2006/1163612940/tpod.html Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:37:15 -0500 Rachael's travelblog 2006

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Cachi, Argentina

Our first day of driving! The madness of the traffic in Salta had us a bit apprahensive about what we had got ourselves into. Luckily Nick did most of the driving (not so easy if you{re used to driving on the left) and I had the easy enough job of navigating. It was nice to get out of the city, and pass through farmland. After several weeks in Argentina I saw my first cow (They{re all over the menu here but had so far been elusive). We started on a beautiful, newly paved road, turning up into a lush jungly looking forrest in the hills. After fording a deep river in our poor little rental Golf (or Gol as they are known here), the road abruptly deteriorated. The scenery quickly changed, and we passed through hills of many different colours, red, white, green, purple, tilting at strange angles. Some were covered in giant cacti, and there were goats, and guanacos running wild. When we stopped for lunch in Cachi we felt like we were finally off the beaten track, and we didn{t really meet any other English speaking travellers until we arrived in Mendoza. After 8 hours of drving on the bumpy gravel road to cover about 180km we arrived in the friendly little town of Cafayate. The evening was warm, so we sat at a cafe on the town square and watched the world go by. Nick was convinced that the local dogs had a racket going where they would limp around, doing the rounds of the restaurants in order to gain sympathy and food.
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