The Amazing Race

where was Phil Keogan when we needed him...

7 days, 4 countries, almost 10,000 kilometres; all in buses and for less than NZ$300 per person. It sounded impossible, many believe it was a crazy proposition - more trouble then it would be worth. But we did it, and what an experience it proved to be.

It all started on the Sunday I arrived back in Mar del Plata with Dad. Ryan gave me some great news: the following week we were to have off as the security imposed for the Summit of the Americas was going to make work and home life impossible. The idea of touring the North of Argentina was floated over the following days and we got out the tourist map once to find the lay of the land. Our good mate Roberto joked about Lake Titicaca, everyone thought he'd just had a bit too much vino tinto. I left with Dad for Buenos Aires on the Tuesday morning, leaving Kerbs to sort out a bus ticket to somewhere in the North for Friday night. I figured I'd find time to do some internet research about places to see before we left.

I arrived home from Buenos Aires at 3.30am Friday morning. Ryan woke me up at 7am - what are we doing about travelling? I was feeling a bit drowsy but explained my ideas and asked if he'd bought the tickets. "Ahh, I think they only run on Saturdays and I wasn't sure where you wanted to go..." I wasn't all that surprised, got up at 11am and went down to the bus station with a wad of cash to do business. The buses did run to the North on Fridays, but they left at 1am so I got two tickets for the next one which was 8am the following day.

Seeing as I had a bit of time up my sleeve (I decided going back to work the afternoon was off the cards) I had a quick look at an internet cafe for some more info. I got a bit sidetracked dreaming about taking a cruise in the Galapagos but tracked down a few leads before my time ran out; basicall a few hostels and tourism websites. Bus tickets bought, links saved to gmail, TRIP OFFICIALLY PLANNED.

The voyage didn't start well. We hadn't even left the city limits before the bus broke down. We were both reading our books so we take much notice, but after an hour of not moving we figured something really was up. Another bus pulled up, things were transferred and we were back on our way within 2 hours.

We got to BsAs, made the transfer to the bus to Tucuman and finally felt like we were making progress. We were a little concerned that we couldn't take our assigned seats. When we got on an old woman had set up camp in Ryan's seat so thinking that the buses are never full we just found a few free seats near the front. About two hours later a couple got on and approached our seats with argentine protest mania burning in their eyes. We retired peacefully and kindly asked the woman in our places to pack up and ship on back to the seat next to her husband.

The rest of this leg was fairly commonplace, reading, eating chocolate and trying to sleep. We arrived in Tucuman more or less on schedule. The weather was rainy and grey, hardly the diaphonous forty degree heat we had been told to expect. My first response was 'lets try and keep moving north, it's a lazy Sunday and there'll be nothing to do.' We asked all the bus companies if they had anything that ran to Bolivia, not exactly sure exactly the city or town we were shooting for. They all said no, or that their buses had already gone. After a minimum of procrastination we bought the only ticket available to the border with Bolivia that left at five the following morning.

Tucuman turned out to be about as exciting as trying to get a drivers licence in Buenos Aires. The streets were home to more dogs than humans and even they were sleeping. All the tours from the hostel had already gone so we were left to enjoy the city for the next twelve hours. Highlights were a bird that had a plastic bag attached to its legs like a sail and the Kerby sing-along to a BeeGees live DVD in the local pub. Admittedly the beer went down a treat and after finding twenty pesos in the pool hall (actually more like a rundown Time Zone with two small, uneven pool tables) we were able to splash out on some icecream and two entries to the town's most exciting attraction - the room where the independence from Spain was signed.

That night during the two hours when the power went out at the hostel we asked one of the staff about the best route to Lake Titicaca. He gave us a rundown from the little he knew of the trip then casually enquired how long we were planning to do it in. After recommending three weeks minimum, better two months, he was shocked that we put aside four days! It was even questionable considering the state the the roads and politics whether we could make it. Unphased I persuaded Kerbs it was worth a crack and we made it to bed by midnight to get four hours kip before the next leg.

Walking to the bus at 4am through the backstreets was a little concerning. Despite the fact that it was a Sunday night - Monday morning there was a remarkable number of people pouring out of nightclubs. We arrived at the bus stop without being mugged and waited. And waited. Nervously. The bus arrived half an hour late but how relieved we were to get on it. Passing Salta, Jujuy, the houses were getting smaller, more sparse and the traffic disappearing. The scenery for the whole morning was typical of the Argentine interior. Flat, brown and covered in soy - YAWN. As we approached Bolivia though things began to change. It was as if Argentina ended and a great Bolivian wilderness began as the hills ascended into a blank misty sky.

Mid-afternoon and we arrived in Salvador Massa - la frontera. Everyone seemed to be saying that we just walk towards the forest and cross the border on foot. Definitely a new experience. With no 'Welcome to Bolivia' signs, main roads or barbed wire in sight we jumped in a cab and told us just to get us there. The border crossing turned out to be quite a way, and despite our light luggage and relative abundance of time we were happy to pay a few pesos instead of trying to weave through the dirty streets. At the border, the Argentine officials looked long and hard at my passport which had recently been stamped in Ezeiza by the official I paid the overstaying fine to. Eventually they decided I wasn't any trouble and moved us on. While waiting in line we watched Bolivian after Bolivian turn up without the correct documentation and plead to be allowed to pass back in their own country.

The biggest surprise came when we actually crossed the border. We looked left, right, ahead, behind - no immigration office, no military police, no lines. Just hoardes of people selling pirated goods. Feeling a little uneasy about not having a stamp, we asked the Argentine officials what we were supposed to do. The response 'no pasa nada, just go!' The prospect of searching for more bureaucracy didn't exactly excite us so we just took off towards the bus station. The buses companies were seeking us rather than the other way round and we happily parted with a bit of our tinny aluminium Bolivian currency in return for the next ticket. Thirteen Argentine pesos (seven NZ dollars) for an overnight passage - we're thinking Bolivia's going to be fun. We took a seat and ordered a hamburger with plenty of vegetables and some juices to eat during the wait. When we heard the price the hamburger turned into two, plus a pack of cream crackers, a bottle of watter, more batteries, Coca-Cola playing cards, a luggage padlock and some new headphones. Unaware of the time difference we jumped on the bus at the assigned time. Thankfully we were comfortable as it was we waited almost an hour and a half until we disembarked.

Oh my God I like it a lot!

Ryan's impression of Igazu

Day 1:
started at 1am Sunday 18th of September. I was ready, packed with all the summer clothes and also home-baked cookies (thanks Elliott!). I was put in charge of control order if things got out of hand at the back of the bus, a role which I had previous done on the Uruguay trip. The children were so amped; I didn’t get to sleep until 3am, after a silent version of ‘Meet the Fockers’ (technical fault). Before I crashed, I did play part in the kids being excited as it did bring out the big kid in me. I was smiling until the point where I crashed. I had no idea what was in store, to me I was going to the Iguaçu Falls, but I found out our first stop was Temaiken, a wildlife park/zoo situated on the out-skirts of Buenos Aires. But first BREAKFAST!!! We stopped somewhere in Buenos Aires (trust me its big) at a McDonalds for coffee, toasted sandwiches and juice, courtesy of the school. Finally arriving to Temaiken, after 5 hours of sleep and a shot of caffeine, the children seemed like they had a full nights sleep and eager to tackle the day, on the other hand I felt like I was hit by a train, mainly due to tiredness. But ‘wrapping on some sunnies’, a few slaps in the face to wake myself up couldn’t fix, but it was worth it. Temaiken would have to be the best zoo that I have visited, everything kept to a wildlife theme, right down to the rubbish bins. Tigers, Meekats, Flamingos, Monkeys, Bats, Hippos, and an Aquarium were all available to see, followed at the end by a Cine 360°, a 340 person capacity dome where the video is seen from all sides, giving different angles and not missing any action. We had our lunch there as well, and just like every park the food is expensive. But I didn’t need to panic, as the school fitted the bill and I had 2 hamburgers and salad. There had been a lot of walking and I noticed the kids were tiring. Ryan sensed relief. So we ended our day at Temaiken after quickly purchasing merchandise, and gathering back at the bus. Our first overnight stop was Concordia, in the province of Entre Rios. The hotel name is still very vague in the mind, so vague now I’ve forgotten. We made it at a reasonable hour of 8:30pm and dining at the hotel, which was pretty average but hey it’s a feed. We were dining by 9:30pm. At this point I was looking forward to a early night for our big traveling day tomorrow, but the ‘nightmares’ had other plans, so I didn’t get to bed until 1:30 am, and we were up by 7:30. If this was going to be the case every night, I was going to turn into Mr. Nasty. I managed to catch 5 victims, with 2 facing the worse kind of punishment…sleeping in the same room as the teachers. But the worst is Yeti, keep reading…

Day 2:
An early rise of 7:00 am for breakfast and I thought it was very average, little toasted bread, coffee and juice. I miss those big NZ brekkies! Still haven’t adjusted to the Argentine breakfast. We checked out by 8:30 for a tour of Concordia, but since I thought I was a teacher on this trip, but not a history teacher, I didn’t take much notice of the tour guide. But what she said was a little history how the town of Concordia was set up…blah blah blah the usual stuff. Then we went to visit Castillo San Carlos (St Carlos’s castle), which were the ruins of a French-style castle. It was the home of a French name (not sure why he came) built in 1888. It looks across the Uruguay River and into Uruguay. A lot of the guts of the castle has been taken out or destroyed and a few holes here and there, but just a nice little piece of history. Then we took a drive north for an hour to the Salta Grande dam, in-between Argentina and Uruguay. We firs had a video presentation on dams and electricity which looked very similar from the one I had seen in Karapiro. And then we took a trip across the dam to Uruguay. I was in Uruguay again, but this time for only 5 minutes, and then we turned back. I believe it was the widest dam, from memory, in South America. Itaipu is the biggest dam. So once we dropped the tour guide off, it was time to do a lot more traveling as our next stop was 7-8 hours away. By this time, it was well past lunchtime and we hadn’t stopped for lunch yet. We found a reasonable place as we were basically in the middle of nowhere, but the time was 3 o’clock. Ryan was not impressed but hey this is the outback of Argentina. So we chowed down and once began our trip. We arrived in the town of Yapeyu by 5, to the birth home of the Liberator of South America, Jose de San Martin. Well the ruins of his birth home. They now have built a large building enclosing it, so no more damage can occur. In the museum there are also the ashes of his parents. Jose de San Martin left Yapeyu to study in Spain, where his parents originally came from. Once completing his studies, he went back to his adopted home land. Since his father was involved in helping the natives, Jose wanted to help Argentina. He held ranks in the national army, all the way to the top. He helped the liberation of Argentina, Chile and Peru. He later left to live in France and eventually died there in 1828?? His body now remains in Buenos Aires. Then after that display we went to the Yapeyu regiment, which also holds the regional army museum. It surprised me how much the kids were playing and touching the equipment, like they were toys. Most of it was as old as NZ! And they were playing with it like toys, couldn’t believe it. They then had a demonstration on how they dressed their horses before battle, how the soldiers dressed for battle and then allowed the kids to jump on a horse. Some of the girls screamed when the horse only moved its leg to scratch itself. To the show they put on a video featuring the freedom of Argentina, the battles and how they celebrate San Martin’s success. Even by Monday night, I have already got a lot out of this trip, and we hadn’t reached the falls yet!! By now it was 6:00pm, another 6 hours and we arrived in Posadas, just in the province of ‘Los Misiones’. We dined in the hotel at 12:30, with a chicken ‘n’ cream meal followed by ice-cream. Again we had some naughty kids and I didn’t get to sleep until 3 am. Only 6 hours the 1st night, Ryan was demanding more sleep, not to sure I could carry on this way.

Day 3:
We got the breakfast call at 7:30 so only after 4 and a half hour sleep, you could imagine how excited I was to receive it. But I had to pack quickly again, ate a bit of brekky and off again as we had another busy day of sights and traveling. Our first stop for this day was at San Ignacio, at the ruins of a Jesuit town. Just a little bit of history – As the Spanish wanted to conquer South America, priests of the Jesus Company set up 30 towns/settlements in Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay with the aim to protect the natives. We only visited one town, which is named ‘San Ignacio Mini’. This town was one of the lucky ones to resist siege in the 17th Century, but most of the town was destroyed by the Paraguayans in 1817. It’s amazing how these people lived; the town in San Ignacio held 40,000 people until the Jesuits left. We were shown through an average museum first, including a layout of the whole town as if it was complete. Then we went to the real deal, of what was left of it today. Earlier that day it was decided I would be the trip photographer, as I was the only ‘teacher’ that had a digital camera. But Stella kept me informed in English… God bless her! We spent most of the morning there and had lunch in a local restaurant. One thing I loved about traveling with these kids was they didn’t eat a lot, so there were plenty of left-overs on their plates and I finished them off, I think I ate a solid kilo of bread-crumbed weiner schnitzel, it was so good. After we then hit the road, and had time for a nap. But basically in the middle of nowhere we stopped on the side of the road about 2 hours away from the border. I was unsure what was going on and had no idea what we were about to do. We started walking up this dirt track and I later found out that we were going to a Guarani village. The Guaranis are one of the native people of Argentina. When I arrived there, it was like one of those World Vision ads. The kids played games with the locals … well some of them, they kept complaining ‘It’s too hot’, excuses excuses. But by now, the Earth had turned into a reddish colour and everything is stained with this colour, it’s incredible! We were there for 2 hours, looking around the school and dining hall, and we had a little ceremony raising the Argentinean flag. It was nice! Then we headed north towards the frontier to Foz du Iguaçu, on the Brazil side. We finally reached the border, but spent 3 hours in migrations, it felt more like 5 minutes I was that destroyed. But luckily our hotel was 10 minutes away; I was relieved to get there. So after we settled in, again rooming with my good friend Yeti and all you can eat dinner, we hit the sack as we had 2 days of national parks around the falls tomorrow. Can’t wait, and luckily I was able to get an early night, needed to catch up on a few Z’s.

Day 4:
After another early wake-up call, by now I was used to it; I felt I got hardly any sleep. Yeti’s snoring is unbelievable, it compares to the snoring of Pa except in the same room not down the passage way. It’s incredible, even so I also had earplugs in but I could still hear him. Breakfast was just like dinner, help yourself, and we were off by 9:00am, back to the native lands of Argentina, where we started by a tour of a Guarani village, but this was one that was made based on tourism, but the people were real and did live there. These people speak Guarani before Spanish and they are not very confident people, so as you could imagine this little Guarani guy was all nervous, saying ‘tambien’ every second word (means ‘also’). Also it didn’t help that the kids were laughing at him all the time, poor bugger! As we walked through the jungle, we tried some bread and mate that were prepared for us, demonstrations of the traps built by the Guarani and at the end we were able to buy items from them. The kids loved the weapons that were made and thought it was a good idea to shot everyone, what a pain in the ass. Then we headed to our first national park visit, the Argentinean side! It was quite funny as we walked in there were people from off the side of the street let in to selling things similar to what I had seen at the Guarani village. We then had to get on a train to take us to the walks of the park. And of course kids being kids in closed areas they become more uncontrollable so it was a good mission to get on board. We finally got off and you could tell all the trouble of fundraising and saving, they were getting anxious. But we still had 600 metres of footpath built on the river! The tour guide told us that the river was only 1m deep, so don’t think about jumping in. We finally reach it! The Devils Throat! And then the cameras came out from everywhere, everyone taking photos, and I went a little crazy. It was amazing at the top of the falls, the water coming back up and spraying us. Luckily we didn’t get to wet. We stayed there for about 1 hour and then we headed to the food court for lunch, and to hear the words ‘tenedor libre’ which is all you can eat, I can’t complain how I was eating now. Once everyone had eaten and were waiting for me to finish, the tour guide took us on the great picture taking walks that look into the falls, great opportunity to take some photos again. The walk ended with a platform basically right under the waterfall, you should have seen all the kids. They just bolted once they were in the clear and got absolutely wet, I wasn’t so keen to hope back on the bus all wet. But me being the big kid I am, I went there for a photo, as you do! We headed off to walk a few more tracks so we could hope on the last train that left at 5:45pm and the children were shattered (YES!). So by 6 we were on the bus ready to cross back into Argentina and spent the last little bit of the day relaxing in the hotel. The hotel recreational programme had organized a video for the children, which occupied most of them. I used that time to sit down and watch some T.V on the only English Channel, which they ran a whole lot of mini-series programmes, I didn’t care. We dined again in the hotel as restaurants were a distance away and I got to taste my first caiperina, most common Brazilian drink, bloody nice as well. This was at 12:30am, so it put me to sleep just nicely.

Day 5:
It was a good start to the day; we got a wake up call at 8:30am, what a difference an hour and a half makes. But there was a lot of anticipation leading up to this day since the fundraising began. It was the day we headed under the falls!!! Well near the bottom anyway. We left the hotel at 9am en route to the Iguaçu National Park, in Brazil this time. We made our way to the park, again with a tour guide with a brief explanation of what we were going to do for the day. Then she put on the recorded version afterwards and it had in English!! God bless. It made life a lot easier. So after all 3 explanations (Spanish and Portuguese) we arrived at the first bus stop. It was just 2 buildings that seemed in the middle of nowhere. Thought this was a bit strange! But I found out this was where the ‘safari’ starts, meh no problem. So we jumped on the buggy cars with trailers with the park staff and gave us an explanation, in Portuguese, all about the jungle, native people and the protected trees. I don’t think the kids paid attention, I mean in another language. But Portuguese is not too hard to listen too, sounds funny though. When they had subtitles in Portuguese on the telly I found it not to hard to read and understand. Then we got off to this wooden track leading in towards the jungle, good memory of New Zealand forests. This track lead us to a waterfall, where some kids and Yeti, thought it would be a good idea to wash up before the boat ride. But we could stay for long, although the students wanted to, we had an appointment! We make it to this barge with 1000’s of lifejackets and boats, we were here. We were spilt into 2 boats, Yeti in one boat and Guillermo, Stella and myself in the other boat (Stella=headmistress; Guillermo = head of sports). The safari was s ride up the river towards the waterfall, and the rapids were great, throwing the ones up front from our seats, loved it. The kids, you could only imagine, some have never experienced something like this, some were nearly crying! And ther it was the foot of the falls, a set of falls closer to the Devil’s Throat. The amount of water was unbelievable, and then the view from the front of the boat all you could see up 20 metres was a shit load of water and then blue sky. Something I will never forget. That was the best 40 minutes, the highlight of the trip. So we left the safari buzzing as we took off in the same carts that bought us there. We then had to wait for the park bus to take us just down the road. We stopped with the huge big pink house on one side and the beginning on tracks on the other. I was disappointed when I found out we weren’t stopping for lunch there, I was bloody hungry. But the tracks gave us a good opportunity for some more photos. There was platforms set-up to go out into the open, and get absolutely wet, which again I did, how couldn’t I?? I tried to take photos there but it was a waste of time. Also looking over the platforms and just seeing white was truly amazing. We also had another platform and I thought it would be a great photo opportunity but so did all the boys and we got drenched from top to toe. We then took the elevator to the top as we had descended a fair way. After hopping off the elevator, we were greeted up the top by the furry little creatures that we saw in the Argentinean national park. The main problem with them is they can smell the food that was bought and were trying to bother the children for some food. Girls were screaming throwing their bags of chips at them, and the boys wanted to kick them. We then walked to the middle of the park where there was a main bus stop that took us back to the entrance of the park. We meet the original bus there and finally went to our restaurant where we were booked, and again it was all you can eat, except this time the meat was bought to you, now that’s what I call service. The kids once again were interested in something else. This time what the people on the streets were selling like watches, sunglasses, socks and jewelry. By this time it was 3pm Thursday and only had 1 more day left of the trip. So this afternoon was a lazy afternoon that had been planned, so we took it into our best interests to go for a swim. I started up the shoulder-ride war where Matias and I won everything, basically throwing these poor little kids. So that tired me out and needed a caiperiña to refresh and there’s nothing like a caiperiña beside the pool, awesome. The hotel happened to have a bingo night, so the kids quickly after dinner rushed over there while we teachers decided to dine. But the students were useless didn’t win anything. I actually went to bed earlier again exhausted from the lack of sleep again and with the hope of getting some sleep before Yeti came in, unfortunately I didn’t!

Day 6:
We woke up again at 8:30am, moving my zombie body to the breakfast table for our 1st and only adventure for the day, the Itaipu Lake, that I had mentioned before. It supplies electricity to 98% of Paraguay’s population and 25 % to Brazil’s. This thing was enormous, put Karapiro to shame. The tour guide for this trip basically put a video on and then asked if there were questions, pretty average. We could only get one view from the lookout building built for tourists. But by now we had crossed the Paraguayan border so we had crossed 3 borders in 1 week. So after a few photos, dropping off the tour guide and getting back into Brazil, we headed of to lunch at another tenedor libre, so you could imagine how well I ate on this trip, and you can tell why its not too bad to travel with the school. But I found Chinese food, I couldn’t believe it so I had a whole plate of that to chow down. Again the teachers were discussing what we should do and we decided that it was best if we just have another lazy afternoon as there were many tired people. So we relaxed in the hotel played a bit of mini-golf, swam and some tennis. For the night the hotel had organized a party which I must say was poorly attended with the majority hiding in each others rooms and causing trouble. I eventually got to sleep at 11:00 as we had to get up early in the morning to check out and be on the road.

Day 7:
An early rise for a long long trip back home no stops this time unlike our trip up where we had 2 stops. We had to wake at 6:30 am shower, brekky, packed our bags and checked out. The foyer of the hotel was just a cluster of luggage where the old people were nearly tripping over. I think some of them would be glad that we were leaving, there were a few old people I think that were probably looking for a bit of peace and quiet. We had to be on the road by 8:00 and I couldn’t believe that we did it, even when it was rainy. But the biggest worry was would I be able to get back into the country as my visa had expired on the 1st of September. There was luck in my favor as when I re-entered the country on the 11th of July I was given another 6 months by accident so I have a visa until the 11th of January. So celebrations all around, Ryan didn’t have to stay in Brazil he could return to Argentina. Now that obstacle was over, the next was a full 24 hour bus ride back to Mar del Plata. We watched Final Destiny 2, Shrek 2 and a photo cd of the hockey girls. This chapter will also include Day 8 as both days contain the same thing… TRAVELING! And it was one of the worst nights sleeping ever. I think I got 3 hours sleep max. We made it back to Mar del Plata at 10am to nervous and worrying parents to see how their kids survived and all I wanted to do was get home and sleep. And when I retold this story to Elliott, there was only 1 phrase that summed it up: OH MY GOD I LIKE IT A LOT!

Meet the Interns

Ryan Paul Kerby

Known simply as Kerby, he's a Te Aroha boy at heart (go the Valley!) but looks forward to returning to the new home in Somerset Heights, Htown. Would feel lost without rugby news, and NFL on PS2. Known for dishing out liberal amounts of abuse and throwing a mean lineout. Ambitions for the future include finding a (high income earning) wife and settling down as a personal trainer.

Alejandro Ahmed Selin

Otherwise know as Jandro, he hails from from Miami, Florida. Lived with Ryan and I from June until August. A lover of Honey Graham cereal (scandalously consuming whole boxes at a time), his superpower is playing pool...ambidextrously. Doesn't eat meat on Fridays and plans to re-conquer ancestral lands in Lebanon after completing a Math Major at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginina.

Elliott Willliam O'Brien

Nicknames have failed to stick to the author of this blog, but the following are some attempts: little animal, adrian, bucketass, little oranges (long story). Since arriving in Argentina the hair growth has been largely unchecked resulting in the 'Che'-like aspect featured above (some refer to it as a 'dirty ginga beard'). Fighting from afar for NZ's political future, was instrumental in Labour's victory over National in the tighting fought election battle of 2005.

Uruguay
land of the plastic nosed elephant...

first (and only sunny) impressions of Uruguay

the tomb that houses the remains of Artigas, amazing atmopshere

Yeti busted...

lovely beaches - would be nice when dry, hot and inhabited

As promised there was a big hand

marmota...

this may seem like national pride; it's in fact disrespectful Argentine flag protocol

A fourth and fifth form school trip to Uruguay in June gave Ryan and I the perfect chance to see a bit the bordering country, at basically no expense. We stayed in the top hotel in the capital, Montevideo, had plenty of nice meals (and beer courtesy of Yeti), and saw plenty of interesting sites. There were only two drawbacks: supervising the students and trying to sleep in the same room as Yeti.

The trip started on a Wednesday night at Holy Trinity. The bus had trouble leaving, as most of Mar del Plata had come out to see us off. We then proceeded to drive 17 hours non-stop to Montevideo. To be honest, there was a fairly big stop at the border as they processed the 100-odd passports we had. We made it to the British School (not actually aligned with the United Kingdom in any other way than design and having subjects in English but whatever) at about 4.30pm the following day. The students had to play soccer, rugby and netball despite not having had lunch, or a shower and many having slept very little during the bus trip. Rather them than I - I managed to find a seat in the bottom of the bus and sleep almost the whole way. I had a quiet game of tennis at the school and scored myself a hot lunch beforehand.

That day was really the only fine one we had the whole time in Uruguay. It may be a country known for its sun and beaches that attract the world's rich and famous but obviously we didn't make the cut as I felt sand under my feet only once, and even then it was wet! The following day we did a city tour battling the heavy rain. We saw the football stadium that hosted the Soccer World Cup one year in the seventies, the monument to Artigas the national hero and the Cathedral. Lunch was at a local shopping centre - the students found a novelty shop and all hell broke loose... There was silly string, foam spray, exploding matches, hair dyes, whoopy cushions and all of it put immediately to use. We got our good mate Yeti some fake breasts as a bit of a laugh (see photo above). The airhorn we bought is still hanging around the house. You can imagine how much I loved Ryan waking me up with it when I was in the middle of battling bronchitis later that month.

The business side of the day came when we went to another school in Montevideo - this time the rain made swimming and indoor soccer the only possiblities but obviously this didn't draw many complaints. Ryan and I even got to have a kick around, and laze about in the TEACHERS ONLY spa. After a nice wee dinner we returned to the hotel. I was thinking maybe it would be an hour before the students would be all settled down, asleep in thier rooms. When 4am rolled around and I was still chasing kids around the hotel and dragging fourth formerd out of other people's rooms it was clear that I had grossly underestimated the resolve of the group to make trouble. Just when everything had returned to an acceptable state I got a second shock. The fifth form girls started rolling up the stairs (it is possible...) drunk from a little expedition to a local pub with the fifth form boys that all the teachers - except Yeti and I - had taken them to. They obviously went to sleep much quicker than the fourth formers so I made it to my room by 4.30am.

There was no consolation there however. Yeti broke his nose numerous times as a young rugby player and recently had an operation to repair it. He now has three plastic brackets inside his nasal passage that seem to amplify his snoring. It really is impressive, possibly even rivaling an elephant. I could honestly hear it half way across the hotel. Needless to say I didn't sleep that well for the three hours before we got up for breakfast. That day I earned my reputation for being a 'marmota' as I slept all the way to Punta del Este.

We visited another school called St Clares in Punta, run by an interesting Canadian guy. We watched the soccer, this time on half size indoor turfs. It looked like fun. The boys got trodden on by the uruguayos however, taking a few showy goals as consolation. I have a video of one of them but it would make the site too slow - let me know if you want to see it.

That night we took to the streets of Punta. It was incredibly quiet - so Yeti and Victor decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to take the male students to the pokies. It was rather funny to see the fourth and fifth formers having a crack at the roulette machines. Following that we spent 4 fairly slow hours supervising the party organised by St Clares for our students at a local football club. We returned to sleep the night in hostels. I didn't even bother with the showers as the hot water was non-existent - Yeti's screams were rather comical.

The following day we drove around Punta del Este in the bus...I guess we were supposed to be seeing the sites. The beaches are nice, there's a mad curvy bridge, and a big hand but it was obvious it's the kind of place that is defined by throngs of people. The summer houses put Mt Maunganui to shame, ridiculous in there size and facilities. The fog set in by 3pm and so we didn't get to do the second half of the tour. We had a nice parrilla, bought some lollies and embarked on another 17 hour bus trip (that I slept through) arriving back in Mar del Plata feeling dirty and with a little bit of a cold, but otherwise content, ready for lunch on Monday afternoon.

Ryan's Historic Start for Mar del Plata

Ryan, preparing to throw a lineout during an Universitario club match

Ante la Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires, se produjo un hecho inédito en el rugby local, ya que un jugador neocelandés formó parte del equipo de Menores de 20 años. Se trata de Ryan Kerby, quien se encuentra en el país realizando un intercambio cultural propiciado por el Holly Trinity College y a la vez, como buen amante del rugby, practica este deporte representando a Universitario. Por primera vez, un originario de esas islas se colocó la casaca del trébol en un partido, que si bien era amistoso, quedará en la historia.

Before playing against URBA (Buenos Aires Rugby Union), there was an unusual happening in local rugby; a New Zealander formed part of the Mar del Plata Under 20 team. They trialed Ryan Kerby, who was found in the country involved in a cultural exchange sponsored by Holy Trinity College and at the time, as a keen rugby follower, was playing for Club Universitario. For the first time, a native from these islands donned a 'clover jersey' in a match. Even though it was friendly, it will go down in history.

Source: http://www.desdeeltouch.com.ar/

Things that New Zealanders Should Appreciate

1. A virtual absence of strikes in our schooling system.
In Argentina's public education system, strikes have reached almost unprecedented levels this year. In the last year there have been 173 teacher strikes according to information gathered by the Centro de Estudios Nueva Mayoría. In some provinces the schools failed remain open for the 180 days required by law. Our English friend Camilla who worked in a public school was frustrated by the fact that over a period of three months she failed to work a single five day school week.


2. Nuts.
It is unbelievable the lack of nuts in this country (even in the courage sense - 'to have nuts' is literally 'tener huevos' or eggs). The typical supermarket shelf here contains walnuts (still in their shells), almonds (in no way blanched, let alone roasted or salted), maybe a hazelnut or two and a bag of salted peanuts. With the exception of peanuts these will all set you back about 10 pesos a tiny bag (remember - 1 kg of eye fillet costs 9 pesos). What ever happened to honey roasted peanuts, pine nuts, chopped or walnut pieces, pistachio nuts, chestnuts, cashew nuts or even just the humble Brasil nut - I mean we are just across the border! I could understand the chefs going on strike here because already I've had enough of smashing walnuts with the knife handle...

3. Traffic Laws.
Despite any claims of greater efficiency or tradition I believe there is a place for traffic laws. In Argentina, as in many developing countries, chaos reigns in the side streets and motorways, roundabouts and alley ways. It is all to common to be hurtling along in a taxi, pulling out in front of tour buses or trucks or over-passed on the motorway at night while doing 150km/h by a road bike doing 250km/h as you are passing a combine harvester in the wet...They say that accidents aren't that common, but you only have to look as far as the state of the cars (and not just cheap old ones) to see that this is a lie. We may say our left hand rule is a bad one but hey, at least we have rules!



4. Modern Electrical Appliances.
This has been more of a challenge for Ryan than it has been for me, I think. He drolls over the prospect of a 42' plasma screen TV, Playstation II, ccmputer, surround sound system, dvd and video player, microwave, vacuum cleaner, toaster, toasted sandwich maker, a thermostatically controlled electric oven, electric heaters with more than one bar that don't shock you every time you turn them on, an electric blanket, underfloor heating, reliable pressurised electric water heating, washing machine, clothes drier, even maybe a hair drier to maintain his new look. Needless to say, we have none of that and for the most part survive by reading books, wrapping up in blankets and using unpredictable gas appliances. At least they are reasonable well ventilated so we haven't been gassed in our sleep. There is little consolation in knowing that with the high price of electricity we could never afford to run these things even if we had them.

5. Exposure to other cultures.
Already I've had a bit of a rant about food. All manner of Mexican, Greek, Asian food is extremely difficult to prepare due to the availability of necessary ingredients, or if not, they sell for exboritant prices in shops on the other side of town. Forget about Indian or Middle Eastern options. In general, outside of Mar del Plata there is little ethnic diversity other than in the European sense. Chinese restaurants are beginning to infiltrate, but the case of MacDonalds (worms used in preparing hamburger patties caused national horror) shows how tenuous their hold is on the nation's diet.

6. Clean Streets
It was interesting to read an Act letter care of Trent the other day that criticised the Labour government's instigation of increased dog control measures. After spending the last six months dodging dog turds (of all colours, consistencies and volumes) while walking the streets of Mar del Plata I pleased to say you can never have enough. If any more evidence is required, take the case of our good friend Fausto, he went running along the coast one lovely Saturday morning and came back followed by 10 dogs - an that's not unusual. However the cleaniness of the streets is not only an issue of canine anarchy. It is commonplace to leave any amount (and I mean ANY amount) of garden waste in the street; to the point that it may divide the way for over a weekbefore someone gets rid of it. One final note, flat concrete footpaths are a dream for runners. Try the uneven stone type here and you'll soon understand why.

7. A Low Crime Rate

In New Zealand, many people gripe that as little as 10 years ago they could go out leave their front doors open, and now they can't. In Mar del Plata the residents have a little more to worry about than an opportunist pinching the TV or maybe the video. Despite the 2.5m high gates and fences, and the three locked doors between the thief and the home, they still manage to get through. Both the directors of the lower and middle school have had to face people robbing their houses in the last few months. The gardener had his horse stolen from his farm one night about a month ago. The Australian sixth form student we have befriended was mugged at gunpoint at 10pm, one block from his house a week after the July holidays. Other students tell of being mugged on the way to their homes for their shoes - over 3 times in 6 months. During a trip to Buenos Aires, a husband of one of the teachers was ambushed at the door to his apartment, gagged and tied to a chair while they made off with all the contents of the place. A friend from the gym left his car outside a friend's place, locked with a steering wheel lock and when he came back literally 3 minutes later it was gone! My experience with my mountain bike brought it all home - give me a country where a decent lock is a guarantee of security any day!

8. Reliable Air Travel

While air travel would appear to be the quickest and most efficient way to get across a country the size of Argentina, our experience has shown otherwise. During the course of the winter holidays we made an number of domestic and short international flights on LAN. In every flight we suffered at least one problem. Firstly, we were put on a later flight to Santiago despite there being no problem with the original and having booked 3 months in advance. This made us two hours late to meet the Kerbys. The return trip was relatively uneventful, however Ryan was about 8 kgs over the baggage limit. A bit of juggling between my bags and hand luggage and we were fine. The flight to Bariloche almost didn't happen for Ryan's grandmother as the security got spooked by her wine kit, then was delayed about an hour and a half because 'they had to clean the plane.' The return flight was the killer however, as the plane left 2 and a half hourse early without notifying us. We were stranded in Bariloche for the night and while LAN did the right thing and paid for food and accomodation, Ryan missed training for his rep rugby team and the Kerbys missed a day in Mar del Plata. However, flying LAN we were insulated from major problems apparently - the day we left for Santiago, all the Aerolineas Argentinas flights out of Ezeiza were cancelled due to striking. Even when the staff are working, they protest their pay at times by assigning everybody to random seats on the plane - parents and children, couples, sports groups, all scattered throughout. Air New Zealand Express Check-in - gotta love it!

Mendoza

Carinae Vineyard – very dry with delicious wine

Taking a nice warming shot of…olive oil!

Unsatisfied by mere tasting, Ryan took matters into his own hands…

Approaching Estadio de Las Malvinas (note Jandro wearing the blue Huffer NZ Map hoody in the bottom right – respect!)

Holes in the footpath were a potential hazard after big nights on the town…

‘La Cordillera del Los Andes,’ enigmatic as if it was a mirage

Mendoza is a beautiful city, situated at the foot of the Andes near the border to Chile. It is a very old city, and the region is renowned for its wine and produce. Almost any gourmet product you can find here will have Made in Mendoza marked somewhere. While Ryan and I were in the area we thought it should be a priority to do a wine tour. It was very informative: apparently the unique grape of the region is Malbec and the best climatic conditions are found in a valley called Maipu (the guide was obsessed with finding a way to say it so it didn't like 'my pooh'). The two vineyards we visited were called Lopez and Carinae. The first was a traditional winery, one of the largest and most popular in Argentina. The Lopez guide taking the tour gave a very good explanation in Spanish but I felt sorry for the Israeli in our company as her English explanation was basically limited to statements such as "the wine is left is the barrels for 3 years." The second was a very small boutique winery owned by a French man with a great sense of humour. As the guide provided by our hostel worked there she organised us a tasting with him and there was a bit of pre-match banter considering the NZ under 21 rugby team was playing France for 3rd place the following day. The day was capped off by a visit to an olive oil factory where a very strange guy gave us a slightly comical explanation of the simple process of production. The guy had this cheeky smile and tone of voice that suggested he was always on the verge of making a big joke and was chatting up the guide the whole time! That night the pasta dinner that was supposed to turn up at 10pm was served at 12.30pm, consisting of noquis - probably our least favourite type - and the wine was called Viejo Tomba ('old tomb') and Nuestra Viña ('our vine'). Our guess was that they weighed in at about a peso each and the consensus was "worst wines ever tasted." However, they succeed in lifting our spirits to the point where pool was played -eventually for money- and we checked out a mad club that had non-stop strobe lights from 2am until after 7am (when I left).

The next day, the effects of the bad wine were felt a little by all and it was fairly lazy times before the match in the avo. We took a taxi to the game and managed to make it in reasonable time despite the traffic. The Mendozans really got behind the championship and there was a really good turnout - even though in true Argentine fashion most of them turned up at half time. They were not so impressed by the blatant NZ flag waving and shouting for the team with calls of ''¡ya basta!" (enough already) by the second match. The haka duely silenced the crowd however - the only moment I have ever been in a full stadium where absolute silence was observed without a national tragedy. Moment of the match was definitely when Jandro, short on pesos shouted 'bonbon helados' (ice-creams) at the shouting ice-cream man confusing him completely. The scores were the best we could have asked for - a win to NZ and a loss to Australia. We certainly got a lot of satisfaction in reminding our new Aussie friend from the hostel who remarked before we left for the game "I only support the winning team!" The stadium is a long way out from the city and we overlooked organising a taxi back. As is to be expected, there were none anywhere so we had to walk almost all the way back to the hostel hungry, thirsty, with the urge to use a real bathroom but otherwise in good spirits.

That night we had the pleasure of joining the NZ team for their end of tour party. The NZRFU had footed the bill for a bar for the night and thanks to Paul 'Topless' Swenney we managed to get into the invitation only affair. As the free drinks were downed ever faster by the huge players and team officials, many took a turn for the worst on the slippery floor falling on bottles and even one poor local girl! Ryan and I made ourselves useful in ordering the drinks and helping the boys with Spanish phrases to use with the ladies. A highlight was definitely hanging out with Hose Gear - winger for the Hurricanes, really cool, down to earth guy (shame he was just too drunk for me to manage to hook him up). The night ended at the hostel as I managed to mediate a wee dispute between our Aussie friend and one of the hostel staff as he tried to bring half of Mendoza into the rec. room. After that I played a little table tennis with the staff, practicing a wee bit of Spanish and winning every game - got to bed around 8.30am

By 1pm that day we were back in the bus to Mar del Plata and ready for sleep. The day was nice and clear with great views to the mountains and seemingly never-ending tundra. All in all, a great trip and I look forward to returning and exploring the mountains in October.

Llamas

Llamas in Santiago - am yet to see any in the wild...

This post is for Aunty Mick, who rang me up before I left purely to wish me luck and recite a delightful poem she had found about llamas. I don't think she has internet access but it would be great if someone could contact her or pass on her phone number so I could post it here. Hopefully in October, in Peru I'll see some wild llamas but for now this is as close as I have got. Such graceful animals...

Chile

The founder of the city of Valparaiso - General O'Brien, nice chops

Sunset over Viña del Mar - was featured in the film 'Motorcycle Diaries'

Relaxing with the Kerbys over lunch in Santiago

The South Americans love their statues (and their heroes)...

Santiago, air pollution, and a run that soaked it all up

Where to start...it truly is a great country. Amazing landscape, ever developing government, humble friendly people, and after months of hardly getting 3+ a day in Argentina, the hoardes of fresh produce. Much like NZ in many ways. To the amazement of Argentinians I found some great buys in Chile. While figuring out the actual price was difficult (1 NZ dollar buys 200 Chilean pesos) I managed to find two great pairs of jeans for NZ$25 each and a snowboarding jacket for NZ$50! Fast food with avocado was a nice change and the local beer proved more than tolerable. Ryan ensured we have a pisco supply in the flat, purchasing a bottle for me as a belated birthday present.

The major excursion we took was to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso. After a brief stop in the country side to try some chicha (corn wine) and huge local empanadas (a bit like pies) we made it to the coast. The mayor's former mansion was the first stop. It's situated amidst a garden that could be a botanical gardens from any major city in the world, and the guide said it contains a whole lot of art of national and international interest. However, there was a fee to enter - gutted for you Dad but he wanted to move on so I didn't get to see even one piece! The site was also home to the amphitheatre that gave birth to such stars as Shakira - it was a sweet set-up, state of the art and right in the middle of the gardens. We then passed by an Easter Island museum that also contained the Chilean mummies and a cool collection of butterflies. The view at the beach was rocky and reasonable - nothing to rave about. We have sealions in Mar del Plata too...However at the markets there was this amazing fur hat (similar to a pasa montaña - traditional mountain hat). It was huge, well made and really warm but at US$60 with no guarantee it would make it back into NZ I gave it a miss.

The following day I went for an early run to do a bit of reconnoissance and after jogging up a steep hill of 600m elevation I decided I don't care much for the air pollution. The view was amazing however (the photo above is one of a panoramic series of about 8) and all of Santiago and the surrounding mountains. At the top of the hill is a huge white statue of the Virgin Mary and as I stretched by it old men would run up (it was a sunday) breathing heavily, imitating condors as they ran back and forth then kneeled to pray that next sunday they would be able to do the same. A very tranquil, affirming site - I hope I can return to do the same when I am 65! Later in the I returned to the spot with the Kerbys (this time via funicular) and it was swarming with mountain bikers - an equally heartwarming sight. The street filled with people, markets and street performers that night and in the dusk and early evening it was hard not to soak up the atmosphere. I found everything from celtic runes (for budding celt Jandro) to finger puppets (they just appeal to me, don't ask me why).

I left Chile feeling great, to me it provided everything (except a night on the town - Ryan, fea actitud mi amigo, que pecho frio tenes) adventure, good food, some hills for a change and a reprieve from corruption

Buenos Aires
'sniffing the air of greatness...'

The famous obelisc marking the centre of Buenos Aires

The Casa Rosada or 'Pink House,' home of the Argentine President Nestor Kirchner

The Plaza de Congreso, a beautiful park often the scence of protests

El Caminito de Boca is a neighbourhood known around the world for its vibrant colours

The cemetery in Recoleta is home to many famous Argentines including Evita Peron

After a number of trips with the students and a few days while on holiday, I'm becoming fairly well acquainted with the capital of Argentina - Buenos Aires. The city is huge, extending over 50km from the obelisc in every direction. Quaint 'village' suburbs such as Pilar are interspersed with villas or slums. Due to its size and importance politically and economically Argentine people consider there to be only two main parts of the country - Buenos Aires, and everywhere else.

The buzz in BsAs is leather and parrilla. The leather is some of the best, and cheapest in the world - they have to do something with all the hides of the millions of cows slaughtered every year - and the streets are filled with hawkers trying to lure you into their leather factories. The traditional parrillada or barbecue of the Pampas is know by many New Zealanders by The Amazing Race challenge that defeated a number of competitors. The meal includes brains, intestines, kidneys, liver, tongue, morsilla (sausage made of blood) and chorizo (spiced pork sausage). With the Kerby's at a traditional place called La Estancia ('the station') we managed to completely finish one, a feat that impressed the waiter who wondered if we might prefer the tamed tourist version when we asked for it.

Recoleta is a beautiful suburb full of parks, museums and huge old trees. There are plenty of delicious, relatively cheap restaurants covering all tastes - the only drawback for the kiwi being that dinner is served from 10pm until 2am. Even better, the combination of Argentina and Italian heritage of the place has provided plenty of icecream shops selling icecream by the quarter litre with more than 40 flavours in all including 15 different types of caramel or dulce de leche.

Boca is a word that no Argentine takes lightly. The poor suburb is home of CABJ - Boca Junior Football Club, one of the two major clubs in the country. Either you support Boca, or you support River Plate - out of interest, we support River. The stadium is known for its atmopshere, for better and for worse - a loss by Boca often results in riots and thus injury or even death. Going to a match there was named in Time Magazine as one of the ten things to do before you die. We tried to get tickets earlier in the year, however they were fully booked months in advance and we missed out. In November the traditional matchup is at River Plate Stadium (often used to host the All Blacks) and we are making the necessary preparations so as not to miss this one. Another attraction in Boca is the Caminito - brightly coloured neighbourhood full of history. When I visited it with Alejandro we were mobbed by all manner of people soliciting tango shows, food, and donations for volunteer firefighters. The decrepid state of the firetruck of the volunteers and the cool cap they were offering eventually swayed me into parting with 30 pesos. We almost need the help of the crew a couple of weeks later when Jandro threw his pillow into the heater in his sleep, filling his room with thick smoke - waking just in time to prevent the place from burning down!

The city is often disrupted by protests. Everybody is underpaid or over-worked, and with such high unemployment this state is easy to sustain. The main roads are frequently blocked by protest action and on the walk to Boca, Jandro and I witnessed two demonstrations. From memory they concerned angry drum beating bus drivers and placard wielding university staff. Flying into the domestic airport after the trip to Bariloche to engineers and baggage handlers were conducting a loud, disruptive protest outside the airport. They had airhorns and little explosive flares and there were about 12 riot police by our departure gate!

Puerto Madero is one of the best places to visit by night. It is the place where cruise ships dock and a casinos and top hotels are centered. The area is bounded by a great big wooden boardwalk, and is full of restaurants, many specialising in fresh seafood and parrilla. They are lit up as is a new white sculptural bridge designed like a mast. I apologise for the lack of photos to show you this.

(by the way, if you want to have the photos the right way up, rightclick on them, save then view in Windows Fax and Image viewer where you can rotate them)

Haro Escape 8.2

Nov 2003 - Aug 2005
R.I.P.

Ready for some villero bashing

Those were the days...

After a year and a half of adventures, races, crazy downhills and correspondingly ridiculous crashes my mountain bike is gone. It will be sorely missed. Stolen in broad daylight, in the centre of Mar del Plata despite being locked to a lamp-post. The only one of its kind in the city, maybe the country, I hope the thief appreciates the ride or at least eats well off the profits. To the insurance company - in the words of Reg Reagan: I fed that , gave it me all, it's given me nothing, get stuffed! As a memorial, I have posted the photo of my last great ride and the reaction to the theft.

Snowboarding in the Andes

Looking quite steep up there

Sea of clouds - 'mar de nubes'

Always wanted to go snowboarding in the trees...

Nothing like the view from the top!

Nerves before the big ride down

These are photos from the two days snowboarding I had during July holidays. The skifield is called Cerro Bayo and located just outside the cosy village of Villa la Angostura, near the border with Chile in the south of Argentina (just beyond the mountains in the view from the top pic is Chile) . The snow and weather were perfect, as is evident from the images. What is not so obvious is the state of the chairlifts. Two days later they fell injuring over 50 (otherwise happy) skiers and snowboarders. Discounting all of that it was a great experience and worth every centavo of the 200 pesos per day it cost me (just over NZ$100 in real currency).