TravelStream™ news feed for member ruggersinbrazil on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ruggersinbrazil en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 07 May 2008 05:49:58 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205983500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205983500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205983500/tpod.html Wed, 07 May 2008 05:49:58 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Since we are playing catch up....I am going to sum up our time in Queenstown pretty quick.  First of all, Queenstown has a population of around 9,000 residents but is a MAJOR tourist, backpacker location, etc. so there are always more tourists there than residents.  On holidays there have been 1 million people all staying in this small town that rests along a large beautiful lake (cannot remember the name of it right now...actually I think it's Wanaka...?) with the Remarkables Mtn Range on the east side of the lake and mtns in the west as well.  Queenstown is known as the adventure capitol of the world and is within driving distance to some of the countries most famous tramps and national parks.  Queenstown is where the first bungee jump was ever made and the first and I believe only place that does jet boating down rivers.  As soon a you enter the town you can look to the sky to see skydivers coming down and landing on the local rugby pitch, people out hang gliding, Para sailing,  trying out the crazy canyon swing,  whitewater  rafting, mtn biking,  taking a ride up the gondola....and one of my personal favorites.... the only disc golf course in NZ. It is an amazing place where youngsters from across the globe come to live a season or two to work their dream job as a guide on one of these adventures.  ...and it is that awesome of a place that we did indeed consider not leaving and heading back to Auckland as planned.  In fact the only reason we left was because I had made a commitment to playing rugby and did not want to miss the chance.  Carolyn did try a lot of persuading but we did end up traveling back to Queenstown for a couple more days before we did have to leave for the north. Upon arrival we decided to stay in a hotel for a change since we had been roughing it in the tent for many a night.  We enjoyed a dinner out at one of the MANY local bars/restaurants and did a bit a tourist shopping...which is basically the only type of shopping they have with exception to outdoor equipment/gear etc. I found out at this point that Carolyn literally HATES tourist shopping.  Not only do I enjoy going into each and every store that may sell the same thing....but how will you know if you never go in!!??  I was aware before she was not a huge fan of shopping but this was extreme!  The first night we did go into many shops...but also DID find some good bargains on gloves and hats.  After the first night she set a pre-determined shop limit on how many stores she would go in.  I was not a fan of that so I did have to leave her behind a few times. We made reservations that night to do a few excursions the next day.  Jet boating was the first.  Basically this consists of super expensive boats that only need 8 cm of water to float and drive down the river canyon reaching speeds of 60 mph, aiming for every rock and wall and then turning at the last split second and then adding in a few 360's for good measure.  The day we went it was a bit chilly but the sun was shining bright.  I had the pleasure of sitting in the back left corner of the boat with Carolyn on the inside.  We had on our rain jackets they provided that only button in the front on like 3 holes.  As we started I could not stop screaming because the driver really was heading straight at canyon walls and then at the last second would turn away.  It was to the point where each time I would close my eyes and hope that we did not hit the wall and fly out and die!  Not to mention every time the driver did a 360's the boat turned my way spraying the cold water all over me and pretty much only me....and then he would drive 60 mph to the point where my ears and face were FREEZING!    It was really fun and scary at the same time.  Pretty crazy to know that it was not a Disney World ride on tracks that it safe....in fact we read in the paper the next day that a jet boat driver was finally getting fired after having crashed a boat twice with passengers!  YIKES! Once we got done with that ride we headed for our next adventure of whitewater rafting!  I have always wanted to do this and signed us up for the beginner rapids and then changed last minute because I thought it may have been boring for Carolyn since she has done it before.  I thought the change did not actually go through so I was a little relieved but found when we went to check in that we were on the harder rapids which were a 3-5 I believe.  I have to say the scariest part of the trip was the bus ride to the drop point.  We had already suited up in wet suits, helmets, etc. and everyone piled into the company bus.  They informed us that we had quite a scary journey ahead of us and I was not so sure what they meant.....I soon found out.  The road we had to take to the drop point is along a 500 meter or so tall cliff that curves around hair pin turns and only has room for 1 car at a time let alone a bus.  There is actually a sign when you enter the road that says "Road Unsafe, One Lane, Unstable Ridge, etc, No buses, trucks allowed".  We happened to be sitting on the right side of the bus and got to look out and down into the drop off below the whole way.  I was so nervous!  Not to mention that we were pulling a trailer with rafts on top of it!  The ride was about 20 minutes on the cliff and a few times cars had to pull over to let us through in what little space there was available every 500 meters or so.  I was so relived when we made it...I was actually sweating from nerves! We split up into our raft groups and did brief training before we hit the water.  The first 2 people on the raft were mechanical engineers too which was rather funny since Carolyn is one....and the two people in the middle did not know their left from their right and were about as uncoordinated as it gets.  Carolyn and I sat in the back with our guide behind us.  Our guide was actually pretty cool and a girl from Canada who works here half the year as a guide and in California the rest.  We had a blast going down the river and the rapids were not even bad at all.  Now I'm not even sure why I was nervous.  We did have some trouble with the middle two people who could not follow the guide's directions and paddled way to slow or off mark.  Carolyn and I placed bets who would fall out first but to our disappointment none of them did.  We finished the trip having a great time but have no photos to show since the usual tourist price for photos is like $20 a pop. After we got done with our trip we relaxed a bit and headed to the hostel which we were going to camp at for the second night since we already splurged the night before. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205550600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205550600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205550600/tpod.html Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:13:08 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Fox Glacier, New Zealand

We arrived in Fox Glacier on Tuesday night after a full day on the bus.  The rain was pouring down the entire trip, but we were just thankful that it was a travel day and not a camping or hiking day.  We took hot showers as soon as we arrived, which once again, felt wonderful after 3 days in the "bush" as they call it here.  After showering, we set up the tent in record time to get the rain fly on before the tent got soaked, and 20 minutes after we finished, the sun came out!  Fox Glacier is in a valley and has beautiful views of mountains all around, which we were finally able to see once the rain stopped.  The holiday park we stayed at also had a nice big kitchen/living area, so we relaxed for a bit after laundry and dinner, watching TV and catching up on the news. Wednesday morning, Erin was all excited about spending the day ice climbing, but it was all booked, so we did a glacier walk instead.  I thought it was still pretty cool.  We took a short bus ride to the base of the glacier (at about which point I realized that I had forgotten my camera), then took a trail along side of it to get past the wall of ice at it's face.  A cloudy gray river was raging out of the glacier from all of the melt water and rock "flour" created by the pressure and friction of the moving glacier on the rocks below.  When we arrived at a point that we could actually get on the glacier, our guides gave us crampons to strap onto our boots and a walking stick to keep us steady on the ice.  It took a bit of slipping and sliding to get used to digging in and walking normally with the crampons.  We spent most of the afternoon walking to the ice falls, at which point we couldn't get any further without ice climbing gear.  We also had lunch out there.  Everybody else in our group had brought sandwiches, and was surprised to watch Erin and I whip out the old camping stove right on the ice and boil up some Ramen noodles, as we have gotten used to doing for lunch.  I think they were just jealous that we got a nice hot meal (that cooled off a bit quicker than normally).  It was really a once in a life time experience, walking around on the ice, surrounded by ice, waiting for our guides to carve ice steps using ice axes for us to get up and down the steeper slopes.  The ice caves, holes, and pools where water ran down to the river all glowed in an incandescent blue.  It was really beautiful. And luckily, there were some nice people on our group that took some pictures of us with their camera, and will be sending the pictures to us shortly.  We ended up going to happy hour at a local bar with them.  A really friendly group of 2 American couples from New York. After another restful night at the holiday park, we woke up early on Thursday to catch the bus to Queenstown. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205283780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205283780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1205283780/tpod.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:40:34 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Arthurs Pass, New Zealand

After being rescued by the Alaskans and taking the bus back to Nelson, we set up our tent at the same hostel we had stayed in last time.  You can't value a good hot shower until you go 4 days of hiking without one... it was really nice to shed our packs and enjoy the marvels of modern plumbing.  After freshening up, we decided to explore a bit more of Nelson, and ended up having a late afternoon picnic at the park on which the first game of rugby was played in New Zealand.  We enjoyed the beautiful weather and the sun setting, watching youngsters playing pick up games of rugby, soccer, and cricket (which is huge here!).  We headed back to the hostel afterwards to cook up some steaks and to make salad for dinner... 2 food groups that really aren't very well represented in our freeze-dried cuisine. The next morning, we were up bright and early to pack up and catch the 7:30 bus to Greymouth.   It was a nice trip down the coast line, and we even stopped for an early lunch at the pancake rocks in the Paparoa National Park.   After a 5-6 hour bus ride, we arrived in Greymouth, and hopped onto the TransScenic... a train that crosses from Greymouth (west coast of the south island) all the way to Christchurch (east coast of the south island).  It was almost double the price of a bus, but it was also the only way to get into Arthur's Pass that same day.  And it was pretty nice to get on a train and off a bus where I was getting a wee bit motion sick from the switchbacks.  And two hours of beautiful mountain scenery later, we arrived in Arthur's Pass.   As we were pulling up to the station, the conductor announced that we were arriving in Arthur's Pass, population 50.  I thought that I had misunderstood his Kiwi accent, as often occurred when listening to train conductors/ bus drivers/ tour guides, especially through a terrible microphone and sound system.  It was a bit colder than we had expected in the mountains, and there was light mist falling when we walked to the Visitor's Center to get some information about campsites and trails to do in the area.  The cheapest campsite was the public shelter (only $5/person/night!), so we headed over there after learning that the winds were too high to conquer Avalanche peak the following day and after confirming that the actual population of Arthur's Pass was 52, not 50!  The rain began to pour as we set up camp, but thankfully, there was a nice shelter with running water where we could eat our meals, and a nice restaurant/café (the Wobbly Kea) down the road where we could warm up and sip hot chocolate and eat the most delicious garlic bread I've ever had.  We even got a chance to explore some short trails and waterfalls before night time.  When we got back to our tent, we were worried when puddles 1-2 inches deep had formed around our tent.  Luckily, we were on a high spot, so we got through the night without getting wet. The next day was in fact too windy to climb Avalanche Peak, but at least the rain had cleared up, so we were able to spend the day hiking up to a false glacier, past multiple avalanche sites.  Glad we were there in the summer time...  It took a while to get up there, as we had to cross the stream several times to make are way up the stream bed to the start of the river and false glacier.  We made it there with dry feet, and were trying to get as close as possible, when a rock the size of a cantaloupe fell from the top of the false glacier and made a boom the size of a cannon.  So we only got within about 30 ft from it, but it was a sweet looking ice-tunnel, long enough that we couldn't see any light through it, with the river flowing through it.   The clearest, bluest water I've ever seen.  Anyway, we made it down it time for a late lunch  and more killing time at the Wobbly Kea, named after the only alpine parrot species, reading and eating more garlic bread. The next day, we were finally cleared to climb Avalanche Peak.  Since it was only a day hike, we only brought the essentials in one light pack.   We climbed and climbed past the bushline, and up the alpine trail for a good 3-3.5 hours.  The views were beautiful, and we were blessed with a cool, crisp, clear day to enjoy it.  We took the Scott's track both up and down, as the Avalanche Peak track was supposedly even steeper.  We were climbing up the ridgeline, and saw at least 30-40 other hikers on their way up or down.  Seemed like everybody had been waiting around for good enough weather to climb.   There were some scary bits... especially the end, when we walked up a thin path on the ridgeline of crumbling slate to the summit.  I was desperately trying to hang on to the sharp rock, slowly making my way up after Erin had practically sprinted the last 50 yards to the summit (1833 m).  Anyway, we were both happy to make it to the top and took some time to have a snack and enjoy the view before coming down.  And it was a long way down... over 900 m of downhill was pretty tough on our knees.  But we did finally make it down in 2-2.5 hours.  We celebrated our victory by splurging on a meat-lovers' pizza at the second restaurant in town at the Middlesouth Alpine Hotel.  The thing is that meat lovers don't love the same meat in NZ as they do in the states.  So instead of having a delicious pepperoni/Italian sausage/ham pizza, we ate a not-so-delicious lamb sausage/mystery meat/ham pizza.   Exhausted after a full day, we slept well that night, and even slept in the next morning, as our bus wasn't leaving until 10:30.  When I went to the visitor's center at 10am to see about getting the bus tickets back to Greymouth, I was informed that the bus actually left at 10:05 and that I could by the ticket from the driver.  So I sprinted out of the visitor's center to our campsite where Erin was still laying down in the tent.  I told her about the change in plan, and we literally took down camp in 3 minutes.  It must have been some sort of record, and I sprinted (with my pack on) towards the bus stop at 10:06 as Erin was stuffing the tent in the tent bag.  The bus was there as I breathlessly asked if there were any spots left, and the driver told me that he thought there were, but he had to load up all of the reserved passengers first.  Erin ran up just as he was asking if there were any more passengers with reservations to Christchurch, at which point I realized that I was waiting for the wrong bus, on the wrong side of the road.  I looked across the street to see a handful of backpackers waiting for another bus, so Erin and I hustled over and confirmed that they were headed for Greymouth.  After our fright, we actually got a chance to eat a leisurely breakfast of banana, granola bar, trail mix, and apples with peanut butter, waiting for the bus that was actually 30 minutes late.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1206512760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1206512760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1206512760/tpod.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:58:46 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Marahau, New Zealand

We left Nelson at 8 AM and took a bus to the trail head.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to get on the trail around 10 AM. The first day was a steady climb along the Tasman Coast with breathtaking views of the sea. We were able to stop at beaches along the way for rest and snacks.  Our first night at camp was at a large campground along the beach.  Lots of kayakers and trampers were enjoying the nice day.  We were a bit tired when we arrived so we set up our tent, changed out of our sweaty clothes and then relaxed in the hammocks we had packed.  After a couple hours we took an hour side trip along the coast to take in the new views. Upon return we had a yummy freeze dried meal and ate it on the beach. The sand flys were a bit bothersome so we did not hang out to long.The next morning we set off for another day on the trail. As we walked around the curvy coast we once agian had viwes of the sea and when away from the waters edge walked inside thick rainforest.  It was amazing how quickly the scenery changed.    In order to reach our next camp site we had to walk a long way on the beach which was not easy considering we had on 50 lb packs and boots.  We finally made it to our next camp and set up and had a meal.  Although the water was a little chilly we went for a swim and read books ont he beach until sundown.  The next morning we had to take the high -tide trail so we did not have for the water to go out and continued through the rainforest.  This added an extra hour on our journey but at least we did not have to wait.  One section of the trail was really muddy and I had a little fall but luckly I landed on my pack instead of my butt!  We had another water crossing after passing through a randon air plane landing strip and had to take off our boots and roll up our pants again.  We finally made it to our luch destination and then had to cross another water area!  As we were eating lunch we were able to watch people try and cross this huge water area and a couple got stuck because they tried to go when the water was too high still.  They ended up just standing waiting until the tide went out because they could not go any farther. We had a long luch while waiting for the tide to go out and chatted with people who made the crossing from the other side and others who were about to cross.  One guy who came across walked past a 3 foot sting ray!  I certainly would not have expected that!  We waited until the ground was nothing but mud and muck and walked across.  Huge areas of the seas floor were covered with great piles of mussels and one man was out collecting them to eat. After naking it to the other side we tried to wipe our feet off without getting eaten by sandflies and the made our way to camp.  This area actually has drving access and a boat launch.  It was a HUGE campground and we set up our tent in a open clearing and then enjoyed another dinner on the beach and read more.  We planned our route for the next morning in order to make it to the end of the trail on time where a bus was suppoed to be picking us up.  We would have to leave at 6 AM in order to get their on time so we wen to bed early with nothing but clear skies.The next morning we got up to leave but found ourselves confused because the trail was not marked exactly with the trail name were looking for.  After we dropped our packs..Carolyn ran one way down a trail and I ran down the other in hopes of a sign.  We met back up with no sign to be found and took our best guess.  It turns out we were right and continued inland up to Gibbs Hill.  It was a NON-STOP Incline!  Just when we would get around a corner and hope to be at the top it would keep going.  I think we went straight uo hill for 2 hours!     Finally we got to another fork in the road and took what we thought was the right way.....sure enough after 2 hours of walking we came to a road and realized we had completly gone the wrong way.  We walked each way downt he road for a bit trying to see where we should go and then a car came by with a young Alaskan couple and they tried to help us but did not know where the car park was either.  They went on their way and we decided to stay on the road in hopes that it would run into the carpark or that we may run into someone who could give us a ride.  After about 20 minutes of walking a car came up the road and it was the Alaskan girl!  She found out where the car park was and left her husband on the side of the road so she would have enough room in the car for us and our packs!  She drove us all the way to the car park and we ended up being there an hour before the bus!!!  What a savior!!!  Once we looked on a better map we were able to see where we made a wrong turn and we had actually gone totally out of the way!   Our bus then took us back to Nelson where we spent the night again in order to prepare for our next adventure!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204528500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204528500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204528500/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:25:47 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Nelson, New Zealand

Monday morning, we called Bivouac to schedule a same-day interview before traveling to the South Island.  We met with Nick, the manager, and each had a 30-minute interview that went pretty well.  Then we rushed back home to pack our backpacks for our 3-week "tramp" (what kiwis call hikes).After researching buses and ferries to Nelson, we decided to just fly instead as it would be cheaper.  Lydia, our selfless driver, took us back to the airport for our 3 pm flight.We arrived safely in Nelson, but there was no free wine from Air NZ on domestic flights :(.  While waiting for a shuttle to get to our hostel, we met our first backpacker, a girl from Grand Haven, MI... small world.  The shuttle was full, so one of us had to ride shotgun.  I volunteered, and as I walked around the van to get into the passenger seat and opened the door, the driver (who was loading packs) shouted, "No, no, you won't be driving today!"  Everybody got a good laugh in because the American got in the wrong side of the car.After arriving at our hostel (where we set up a tent in the back), we went to the grocery store to buy our food for the 5-day tramp on the Abel Tasman trail, made dinner and went to sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204269180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204269180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204269180/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:14:29 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Sydney, Australia

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204440900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204440900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204440900/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:11:07 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Auckland, New Zealand

We were greeted at the airport by our friend Lydia, who played Ann Arbor rugby 2 seasons ago. We were quickly reminded that we have to look right before left when crossing the road when we almost got runover walking to the airport parking lot.   That'll take some getting used to.After each of us took a long shower, we went out to eat at a nice Asian restaurant with Lydia and one of her roommates, Emma (who also happens to be a Black Fern).  After our meal, we walked down to a local pub just a block away to meet up with some more flatmates and friends to watch a Super 14 Rugby match and to get a beer.  We were getting tired, but to our surprise, we were treated to a tasting wheel before we were able to get home.  We were exhausted and crashed by 10 pm (4 am US time), but staying up late and no naps helped us get adjusted to the NZ time zone.  We were up bright and early on Sunday at 8 am (2 pm US time).  Lydia gave us a driving tour of downtown Auckland to get some travel information from the Sky Tower (where you can also bungee jump).  We walked around Queen St for a bit (the main drag downtown), then we got dropped off on Broadway in Newmarket, which is the Rodeo Dr of Auckland, or Michigan Ave of Chicago for us Midwesterners.As we were browsing store to store, and were amazed by all of the outdoor and sports store, we came across Bivouac Outdoors, which had a help wanted sign out front.  Before we new it, we were chatting it up with Gareth the weekend manager and filling out applications for a job.When we arrived home, excited about the new job prospect, Lydia and Emma treated us to a NZ style bbq.  Lamb steaks, fresh salad, and cheesy cauliflower... delicious!  Kiwis are really into bbqs any time the weather is nice, so we'll fit in just fine.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204181100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204181100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/2/1204181100/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:54:31 -0400 Living it up with the Kiwis...

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Los Angeles, California, United States

After a short 2 weeks at home (I like to call it a vacation from our vacation), filled with visiting friends, family, and old stomping grounds, Erin and I headed off for our next S. Hemisphere adventure.We were anxious to get back on the road again, and rendezvoused in LA to catch our flight to Auckland.  Erin flew in from Phoenix where she had been visiting her grandparents and aunt, and I took the train in from San Diego, where I was visiting my good friend Holly.A short, 14-hour flight to Sydney, followed by a 3-hour layover at the airport, followed by a 2-hour flight to Auckland, and we ARRIVED!Trip summary: United Airlines has very limited leg space, sticky pee floors on airplanes are disgusting, Sydney airport shows rugby (instead of boring CNN) on TV, Sydney airport sells cheap Ugg Boots, Air NZ flight - AWESOME!  Complimentary NZ wines, and I don't remember any more (just kidding!!), Erin forgot to declare her tent coming into Auckland, she didn't have to pay a fine, but we did have to wait while they washed her stakes.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/brazil2007/1202075580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/brazil2007/1202075580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/brazil2007/1202075580/tpod.html Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:11:02 -0500 Two ruggers exploring Brazil...

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Cabo Frio, Brazil

  We arrived in Cabo Frio after 11 pm, nearly 2 hours late due to the influx of traffic from Rio to the smaller coastal cities for Carnaval. Although tired, my dear aunt and uncle (technically great aunt and great uncle but my great uncle is only 2 years older than my mother) were up and awaiting us with drinks and delicious home made pizza. After catching up for a bit, we all went to bed. The next morning, we slept in a bit and were treated to a wonderful breakfast before hitting the beach. My uncle knowingly warned us about the hot sun, but we cheerfully put on our 30 SPF sun screen and hit the waves. The waves were perfect, the water was a clear aqua blue and the sun was shining brightly on the fluffy white sand. But man oh man, was the beach packed. After all this time body boarding, Erin and I have gotten pretty good and can maneuver around people and obstacles with relative ease. The water was so full of people though! I picked what looked to be a great wave, and the perfect timing for me to ride it. As soon as I caught the wave (for those body boarders out there, as soon as the wave breaks, you get a huge accelerated rush forward), I saw 4 new swimmers that were not there 30 seconds earlier. Anyway, it was during that surge that you don't have much control and can only move forward as the powerful wave is breaking. I'm sure I looked panicked as I headed for them, but they looked down right scared as they dove left and right out of my way. I ended up bumping a couple of them, but it was by far the most embarrassing body boarding experience to date. Four hours later, feeling a bit hungry, we headed back to their apartment (only 2 blocks from the beach) and ate a wonderful chicken dish. Lizz was unknowingly taunting my aunt by saying that she really enjoyed the first pepper sauce that she brought out and dousing her food with it. My aunt took this as a challenge, and brought out the "medium" sauce (apparently she thought the gringoes could only handle mild). Both Lizz and Erin handled the medium well, although they admitted it was a little strong. My aunt, still not satisfied, asked the maid to pick a pepper from the bush in the varanda, and warned Lizz to slice only a tiny sliver of it. Lizz politely refused, as she was wary of the fresh pepper, and my aunt gleefully declared herself the winner of the pepper challange :) After a nice nap, we woke up to find Lizz different shades of pink and red from the hasty sunblock re-application on the beach. The poor girl was fried. But, like a trooper, she came out to her first Carnaval "block". Different samba schools gather at different parts of the city with their percussion section and the huge truck with huge speakers and a huge stage (the same one Erin and I had seen in Lençois, called a trio eletrico) that crawls at 1 mph as people dance in front of it, behind it, and all around it as it goes around the block. We partied with my uncle from 7 until after midnight, when we came home exhausted after a long day. The next morning, we headed for the beach again, where we had our first event of the day's Olympic Challenge. We set up body boarding races where 2 of us would race and the 3rd would referee. The first racer with 5 wins won the challenge. Lizz beat Erin (I was a little embarrassed after all of the training we had done together), I beat Lizz, then I beat Erin.1st Place: Carolyn2nd Place: Lizz3rd Place: ErinThat evening, we all went out to the Canal where most of Cabo Frio's bars and nightclubs can be found. We found a second story bar with a nice view, pool tables, foozball, and dominoes... the perfect way to cap off the day's Olympics.After a game of Mexican Train Dominoes, the event's rankings were:1st Place: Lizz2nd Place: Erin3rd Place: CarolynFor the 3rd event, Lizz proposed Foozball. I should have known better when she offered to go up against both me and Erin at once. But in the spirit of the Olympics, we chose to do the same round robin that we had done on the body boarding races. Lizz beat Erin, then she spanked me, then Erin beat me, event rankings:1st Place: Lizz2nd Place: Erin3rd Place: CarolynFor the final Olympic rankings of:1st Place: Lizz2nd Place (tie): Erin and CarolynWe actually let her win because she was a guest, but we'll let that slide.Sunday we did a little shopping, which was difficult since everything was closed due to Carnaval, then hit the beach one last time. We rushed home at 4 to shower, pack, and catch our 6 pm bus back to Rio. After our showers, my cousin Simone's family (who had arrived the previous night) had made a delicious barbecue with Erin and Lizz's favorite... vinegrette. We couldn't resist but eat a bit before our trip. At 5:30, we panicked due to all of the traffic outside (Cabo Frio, a city of 150,000 triples in size during Carnaval). My aunt was able to steer us away from all of the traffic, as the wise woman magically knew where everybody was headed and how to do a giant loop around it all. Anyway, we got to the station just in time to blow kisses and wave goodbye from the bus to Rio.Lizz!  Send us your pictures to upload too!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/brazil2007/1202253660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/brazil2007/1202253660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruggersinbrazil/brazil2007/1202253660/tpod.html Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:59:05 -0500 Two ruggers exploring Brazil...

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After rushing to the bus station in Cabo Frio, we had a relatively uneventful bus ride to Rio. We decided to stay in the Copacabana area near our last hotel, but had to pay quite a lot for our hotel room for 2 nights, because all of the hotels close "package deals" for all of Carnaval, similar to Memorial Weekend. We ended up getting a pretty nice hotel 3 blocks from the beach.Thankfully, Carolyn's cousin Rodrigo was able to get us some great tickets to the Sambodramo with little notice, so we were able to see the Samba Schools. Much like a big Mardi Gras parade, Samba is huge here in Brazil, so every year for Carnaval, schools practice and build floats year round to participate. Each school has 2000 to 4000 participants and dancers, including 400+ drummers. The only cities that have the Sambadramos are Rio and Sao Paulo. In Rio, they have 14 schools participating (7 on each night). We went on the first night, arriving after 10 and staying until nearly 5 in the morning. Then entire show goes from 8 pm to around 8 in the morning of the following day. The Sambodramo is like being at a football stadium that's a half mile long. Each school has 80 minutes to perform, and they are judged on theme, continuity, floats, costume, song, dancers, etc... Lizz took lots of great photos, and we'll upload them as soon as she gets them to us, but to give you an idea, these floats are way more elaborate than Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Some of them are 3 stories high, and some of the dancers stand on the highest podiums that are shaking from all of the dancing (we saw some get placed on the podiums with cranes!). One of the floats was a short ski hill, where 30+ snowboarders and skiers were going down continuously for the 80 minutes. Another float had huge water fountains that the dancers were dancing in. It was a much better show than we had expected. The costumes are huge and elaborate. Each school has 30+ "alas" or groups and each group has a different costume, related to the overall theme. Our favorite school was Portela, and their theme was our environment and how we need to protect it.We slept in late the next morning and attempted to go to the mall  to do some souviner shopping for Lizz. Being a national holiday, the mall was open but all of the stores were closed. Weird. So we hopped on a bus that was also empty, in search of a Japanese restaurant.  After lunch, we got a cab ride to the Christ the Redeemer statue. There are 2 ways to get up, taking a car up most of the hill and a van to the top, or taking a train from the bottom. While we were at the train station, deciding whether or not to go up because of the clouds, I eavesdropped in on a Portuguese conversation between workers, and found out that Lucy Liu (famous actress) was coming down on the next train (we had seen in the papers that she was in town for Carnaval)... so, we decided not to take a ride to the top and to meet Lucy Liu instead. Carolyn spotted her first as she got off the train, but was too shy to talk to her or to get her attention, so I inconspicuously yelled, "Lucy Liu we love you!" and snapped a picture before yelling, "Charlie's Angels Rocks!"  Meanwhile, Lizz was in the gift shop missing the whole thing. As Lucy was walking away, I said, "Have a great Carnaval!" and she smiled back and nodded at me. Woohoo! Celebrity encounter in Brazil... random!On our bus ride back from the train station, we noticed a lot of traffic and a lot of people on the street, and realized we were driving past a block party, and we decided to get off and join in the fun.  It was a really good time... we danced and followed the parade for a while. When it stopped, we talked to some of the drummers and got to play some of their instruments.  After staying for a few hours, we went back to our hotel to freshen up and go to a bar. We wanted to go to the Copa (a famous bar), and walked for quite some time trying to find it, until we decided to get some better directions from the hotel. Carolyn ended up going to sleep, but Lizz and I were determined to find it and went out again. We found the street it was on, and walked up and down the entire street before giving up and going to another bar. Apparently, there are 30+ bars called the Copa in Copacabana.The next day, we slept in again, and took a cab to Sugar Loaf for some more sightseeing. As we got out of the taxi, a woman told us that the line was too long here but that she would take us to Christ the Redeemer for a fee and back to our hotel. After checking her guide credentials, we decided to go with her, and got some great pictures before the clouds completely set in. The Christ statue looks out over the entire city of Rio.   Afterwards, she took us to the same churrascaria that we had been to days before so that Lizz could get a sample of the famous Brazilian style restaurant. After stuffing ourselves, we walked to Carolyn's 93-yr old great uncle's house that was just a few blocks away for some ice cream before Lizz had to go to the airport.  On our way back to the hotel, we witnessed our first crime in Brazil. A mugger had just taken a small package from a woman and taken off running toward us at 5 pm, in the daylight, on a crowded street 2 blocks from the beach. She started yelling and took off after him with a couple of other Good Samaratins. Crazy. It happened so fast, we couldn't react, but the mugger almost bowled Lizz over as he was running past.Anyway, we got Lizz on a cab to the airport safely, and made our way to the bus station for our next adventure....
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