Poppy Ted and Lil Chocki at Machu Pichu

We just couldn't leave Poppy Ted and Chocki out of the journey so they came snuggled in our backpacks until a photo opportunity. Trouble was, as soon as they saw how awesome the view was, the teds didnt want to go back in their dry warm little place. So, as strange Aussie tourists we are, their little faces looked around at international tourists and waved their little arms to say hello to a few people.

They received mixed reactions - smiles, waves but also some strange worried faces to the humans who were carrying them. We didn't care cos they represented our beautiful kids and grandchild who weren't with us.

Machu Pichu was a very spiritual place. Ross and I sat on a rock and contemplated life after our tour guide left us with the explanations of the works of the Inka tribes - the people who had painstakingly put this monumental site together. We didn't feel cheated by the weather as most of the photos we had seen provided a shot of perfect blue sky. On the contrary, we thought we were lucky to have been there when a shroud of cloud flew over giving a white protective coat of the view, then magically evaporate to boldly display the treasures of the Inka's engineering skills.

Machu Pichu

One of the highlights of our trip was to travel from Cusco city by train for 3 hours to the place on the Inka tribes most spectacular engineering feat - Machu Pichu. You can always open a travel book or an edition of a travel page in the Sunday papers and pretty much find a picture of this amazing place.

We weren't sure what to expect about the climb to Machu. We had visited several Inka ruins close to the city of Cusco with a fair hike of about 300 steps in places. We thought this was our training for the big event. However, we were taken by mini bus from the small township where we were staying for a 15 minute bus ride to the top of the mountain to explore the spiritual place where thousands of years ago approx 300 people lived on a hillside, built with stone including water distribution systems and strategically placed buildings.

It was cloud covered and raining when we arrived, so with our wet weather gear and rain ponchos over the top(which make you look the side of a house, if you are a size larger than the average three bedroom home like I am, we braved the weather to commence the trek of walking over, around, up and down to explore with our guide the interpretations of modern archeologists' viewpoints.

Cusco City in Peru

Hi family and friends back home

We are a few weeks into our adventure and after saying goodbye to the Amazon River, the villages and our peaceful Lodge we fly from Lima to Cusco which is about 3500 metres or 10,000 feet above sea level. Travellers sometimes have trouble with altitude sickness when they arrive which might come in the form of dizziness, vomitting, tiredness, headaches etc.

We made sure our itinerary didnt help the risk of us getting sick by having a rest period when we first got here. However, as soon as we got off the plane at the airport and walked up the ramp to get our bags, we both felt very strange. Our legs wanted to go faster than our lungs would allow and we had to keep having little rests to catch our breath.

Perhaps our breath was taken away by the awesome town we had landed in. 1500 century cathedrals, stone houses and narrow stone village roads made by the Inka tribes many years ago. South America certainly has some rich history that our beautiful land down under cannot boast with its 200 year young age.

We have visited many cathedrals which are spectacular with their silver and gold statues, saints and arches. There is a strong catholic following here and we have been truly amazed at the size and design of buildings - both their external and internal features.

The Amazon .... continued

Hello from the Amazing Amazon Region of Peru

Hola and greetings from a beautiful part of the world which needs to remain beautiful. We have spent two and a half days in the Amazon flying from Brazil to Peru and staying briefly in Lima before flying to Iquitos.

Taking a small boat ride and changing transport in several parts of the river, we have lunch at a Lodge in the jungle before travelling deeper into the jungle area and coming to our own private (the four of us in our tour) jungle lodge. A mixture of Nichols Rivulet, Petcheys Bay and the sounds of owls, crickets, 500 varieties of birds to complement the natural scenery.

It's all too much to try to convey here in this blog what we experienced - natural beauty and I must add a deep disappointment on our travels at the amount of discarded rubbish which local families and some unethical tourists seem to be guilty of.

We have early starts and are greeted in a large dome airy community hut of chairs and tables, wooden surroundings, thatched roof and a long table which demands our tummy's attention to stock up on scrambled egg, fresh bread, jams made from local fruits, cheese and thinly sliced ham complemented by fresh juice and coffee.

We are indeed honoured to be some of the lucky few who are able to visit these parts and make friends with knowledgeable tour guides who provide us with information to stimulate our minds on the local habitat including birds, trees, snakes and the daily life of villagers who reside downstream.

We partake in a jungle walk through both day and night. At night (the first jungle walk) we take torches, wear long trousers and long sleeves and gumboots (which are supplied by our tour company). These, we find come in very handy to push away the mud and ward off any little bites, including the two anaconda snakes our leader finds and points out to us.

Up two stately white trees we are asked to take a closer look - and we come across a spider the size of a giant's hand - yes a big black hairy triantular x 2 (if that's how it's spelt, I'm not sure).

Yep, both Rossco and I are really enjoying pretending to be brave but we have every faith in our 30 year old tour guide names Juan or John who has a lot of knowledge and skill of the area.

Christ the Redeemer - a famous landmark of Rio de Janeiro

Hello again

Our tour day started with a mountain ride to Corcovado Hill to witness the statue which overlooks and takes care of the city below. 360 degree views at the top, a crowd of snapping cameras yet, a still tranquility and aura which makes you feel quite close to heaven. There is a small chapel at the base of the statue of Christ where people can leave a donation after saying a prayer or taking a photo from the door.

Outside, the sun was hot, even at 8.30in the morning where the temperature was reaching 31 already. If you went on tippy toes, you could touch the clouds and thank heavens we had a small bit of cloud cover to keep the sun burning down on our heads.

After we left the mountain we headed for the nearby townships nested into the valleys with cobblestone streets, concrete walls and decorated windows with wrought iron spanish flavoured villa fronts.

It was nice to travel down through the streets and capture some photos.

We drove through the Centro area which is the home of museums, council chambers, monuments and an awesome cathedral which looks like a concrete honeycomb outside, but inside a cool, spacious, stain glassed cocoon for worshiping.

We also visited the other famous landmark, The Sugarloaf where a cable car actually took us to what felt like being in heaven. As we travelled up through the car the clouds met us, came wafting through the open window and touched our cheeks when we stepped out into the open air. So much to tell, so little time to type here.

When my baby.. when my baby smiles at me I go to RIO

Hi family and friends

Obligardo from Rio where the people speak Portuguese, the women wear thongs and not on your feet and the men are ooh la la with their European styled bather shorts.

Ross and I have (and Poppy Ted and Lil Chockie) have enjoyed spending the last two days in Rio. After arriving at the airport from Iguazu and being met by our tour guide Claudio we checked into the hotel and received our tour induction for what the next day would bring.

I must add, apart from the beautiful rock formation scenes, blue skies and sparkling waters, I am in Kombi heaven. Yes, that's right, Rio seems to be the home of the kombi from touchdown at the airport, a lot of the maintenance vehicles, are you guessed it, kombis. So, can you imaging me sitting in the taxi bus with my eyes wide open when we travel to our destination that there were a million kombi vans passing by. I started taking photos and tapping Ross's arm but found I had to quickly calm down. The kombi sight would last the whole time we were here.

We had an early start the next morning to beat the heat and the bus loads of tourists. It's quite advantageous to be in a group of four plus your guide. Less standing and queueing. I'll be back, just want to post these photos