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Well, fortunately the ads at the top of my blog have changed from weird stuff about D* At*ins, I don't think my site has ever mentioned him, or any other pointless diet come to think of it, but it has been replaced by Auckland accommodation deals, which seems a bit more appropriate. Sexy Michelle hits NZ on Tuesday (watch out NZ) so hopefully I'll get to meet up with her. I have spent today in Devonport, so had a little trip on the ferry, bought myself a ring I couldn't afford, but I did get her to knock $10 off due to my poverty, i.e. I hadn't brought enough money out with me in an attempt to curb the shopping impulse. Then I sat at the top of a small volcanic hill, took photos of a great big gun and discussed life and other important issues with a bloke called Piran from Dorset. I am also going to start feeding myself properly now...a person can't live on toast forever, so today I branched out into chicken sandwiches. And I have a banana. Oh the nutrition of it all! Tomorrow I might have cheese sandwiches. Come back and cook for me Liz! Went to see Kil Bill vol 2 last night....it gave my eye and neck squeamishness food for thought shall we say. Some grimness involved and a few laughs...think they were intentional. If you see it, I found the white beard stroking hilarious.

posted by Katie @ 4/30/2004 07:40:00 am 0 comments

I actually did have spaghetti on toast this morning! My good news though is that my cut is healing, my hostel is really nice, but smaller than the last one in Auckland, which is better. ACB is ridiculously large, sleeps about 600 people. Have just noticed that I always put an x on the end of my post when I have had a glass of wine or two. Off to brave the rain....looks likely to piss down all day.

posted by Katie @ 4/29/2004 01:12:00 am 0 comments

After a kind of nasty accident with a pair of scissors, I am typing very slowly. Yup, chopped into one of my fingers, the cut is scissor shaped and bleeds a lot. Serve me right for being cheap and giving myself a haircut.

posted by Katie @ 4/28/2004 02:59:00 am 0 comments

quick post

Back to being on my own tomorrow! Which means buying my own food and everything, which means I am back to spaghetti on toast. I'll also have to stay in hotels of a lower standard, where there is no concierge to attend to my floral needs. However, after the key losing incident at ACB I am not trusting myself with positions of responsibility. (OK, I was snogging an Aussie boy in the park, and got some very disapproving looks from the night porter bloke when I had to get another key, but I did find my keys the next day...in the park) Will be woken up very early tomorrow, as Liz is getting up at 5am or thereabouts, think she's leaning more towards getting up at 5.30. That half hour makes all the difference. So L has been practicing her navigation skills, handy for me, as I am a crap navigator and usually direct whoever is driving onto the nearest motorway. However, I'm not that fussed as to where I go over the next couple of months, so might just stop when I drive through somewhere nice. Caroline, did you buy a car over here? Having never bought a car before, I am concerned I will get sold a lemon, so am brushing up on knowledgeable sounding car words. Apparently I need to make sure I get a WOF. And that's it really, early night for me. x

posted by Katie @ 4/27/2004 10:06:00 am 0 comments

Coromandel

Been scooting around quickly with parents....and falling asleep every time I get in the car which must be a reaction to all the long distance buses...quick! moving vehicle, best fall asleep so I get there faster! Haven't really got time to post much... Last few days, been to Rotorua and am now on the Coromandel peninsular, at Pauanui.

posted by Katie @ 4/25/2004 06:45:00 am 0 comments

moving on...

OK, moving to the Stamford Plaza today to join parents....oh, and the New Zealand biting insects like me just as much as the South America ones!!!!

posted by Katie @ 4/21/2004 12:41:00 am 0 comments

Think I've had about 12 hours sleep...couldn't keep my eyes open past 8pm last night, yesterday was the longest day ever! Trying to think of something to do that everyone I meet up with tomorrow won't want to do in Auckland, I don't want to end up doing the same things twice now do I. Thought maybe the Arts museum, then maybe I can drag parents and sis to the Maritime museum and then the Aquarium. I keep looking at all the campervan and car adverts...I'd love one, means you can get to lots more places and not miss out on the hidden bits. Don't know what I'd do without a car on the Isle of Man (well, access to one anyway, thanks dad). By the way, my new comments system is up and running, and seems to work, I have posted one to myself already, and I think it's quite cool. Please write some. Also have new hit counter, and I'm looking for a guestbook next, getting quite handy with copied html!

posted by Katie @ 4/19/2004 10:41:00 pm 0 comments

Things...

I'll miss about South America! Or the alternative (short) Latin America guide.....
* The whole of Argentina. Next time I go anywhere (apart from still wanting to go to Russia) I'll be going back to Argentina, to go further South to Patagonia and do a bit more general wandering.
* Tango in the street
* Attempting to speak some Spanish and occasionally being understood.
* Any time you need anything in La Paz, Bolivia, there is usually someone walking past selling it (pens, water, scissors, sunglasses).
* Santiago has lots of pharmacies
* La Paz has lots of funeral parlours
* Buenos Aires has a large stray cat population
* Everywhere else has a large stray dog population
* Small, cosy little hostels (currently sitting in Auckland Central Backpackers, which is somewhat lacking the personal touch)
* Llamas on the road
* Getting chatted up at least twice between the dancefloor and the bar. Blondeness doesn't quite guarantee me the same novelty value in New Zealand.
* The occasional power cut
* Mad football fans
* Guides who don't a) speak any English b) don't speak Spanish slowly enough c) don't actually appear to know anything about the region or things you are looking at and d) are about 7 years old.
* Buses with 20 more people than should be on them, tipping over, breaking down and sitting at the mechanics or a service station for 5 hours. Oh wait, that's one I definitely won't miss. Along with San Pedro (damn that place).
* The lovely buses that are only 3 seats wide, serve you champagne and let you watch Friends in English. Couldn't even pay for that in Inglaterra.
* Being able to sit outside till late because it doesn't get cold. Except Cusco, La Paz, and Uyuni...freezing in the Andes and the desert.
Might have to add some more to this later, when it sinks in that I have actually moved continents!

posted by Katie @ 4/19/2004 04:26:00 am 0 comments

Arrival in NZ

:) :) :) :) :)
Arrived! And you'd be amazed how short a 13 hour flight is after the selection of 24 hour buses I took in South America. Less legroom, but hey you can't have everything, more films though, so I watched Matchstick Men cos mostly I like Nicholas Cage. Is pretty good, and is one of those where you try and look back over the whole film to see if you missed something obvious. Plane landed at 5am, (12 noon yesterday afternoon in South America...or something like that, brain's a little fuzzy on the details and I have no idea what time it is at home, so lucky I have nothing to phone anyone about yet). Parents and sis arrive on Wednesday afternoon, so I'm looking up all the things I want to do....trouble is I can't remember where they said they were going apart from Rotarua and Coromandel.

posted by Katie @ 4/18/2004 05:14:00 pm 0 comments

countdown

So, after the success of finding a contemporary artist that I liked at the Modern Art museum in Rio, I though I'd try out Santiago's modern art. This wasn't so much a mistake as a complete disaster! When I walked in I thought the display was under construction...it was that bad. And after being treated like a leper in a restaurant across the way (Atelier del Parque...had to practically chase a waitress down to give me a table, a menu, cutlery, my bill....don't bother with it) and being on the receiving end of a guilt trip from a suspiciously old looking "student" who wanted money to fund his education and tried to tell me that 10000 pesos was only $6 and therefore nothing to me because of my privileged background (!), I was a bit disappointed and kind of annoyed with Santiago. 10000 pesos is nearer $23, and there's nothing like a guilt trip to piss me off. Luckily the &%@!wit in question was moved on by the police whilst telling me to listen to my heart. Anyways, my afternoon was redeemed by the Museo de Bellas Artes, which is pretty impressive, and at present is filled with photography exhibition from ID mag, some of those old maps that get the shape of the continent completely wrong and therefore look cool, and a bit of modern weirdness that is considerably more impressive that the modern art museum next door. Had generally all round good afternoon on my own!!

posted by Katie @ 4/16/2004 11:50:00 pm 0 comments

Moved to Santiago Hostel, Tav should be on a bus to Mendoza by now. I have the rest of the day, plus tomorrow and Saturday to go and sample Santiago's attractions, as the flight is not till 11.35pm on Saturday night. Yesterday popped in one of the interesting cafes in the Central district that have waitresses in very skimpy skirts. They seem to get their tips from talking to the suits as much as serving the coffee. Apparently there's loads of them, the centre is also very full of banks, so no shortage of office bods to chat too over coffee.
tolerance running low. take this however you want.

posted by Katie @ 4/15/2004 07:31:00 pm 0 comments

so thought i better pop that in. And he cooked amazing dinner last night.

posted by Katie @ 4/14/2004 09:43:00 pm 0 comments

right then. Tavis has just pointed out that he is actually very cool.

posted by Katie @ 4/14/2004 09:43:00 pm 0 comments

Santiago

Flight is in 3 days..am ready to completely mess up all my body clocks etc and lose a day or so by flying to NZ. Am in Santiago, staying with Tavis who we met on the Salt Plains tour. Chile's a little more expensive than what I've been used to so this is very helpful. Really liked Buenos Aires....there's so much going on, and I found myself debating whether or not to live there, yeah I liked it that much. Although obviously have to go to New Zealand first as parents might not appreciate timing their trip to meet me there, and me not being there. I don't know....am thinking about it for next year. Got handed a flyer for a room in a flat, then an English school leaflet. Am tempted ;).

posted by Katie @ 4/14/2004 09:24:00 pm 0 comments

Seen my archive collection? It's getting quite big!

posted by Katie @ 4/12/2004 08:47:00 pm 0 comments

San Telmo

Spent yesterday in the antiques markets in San Telmo, and today in La Boca and Recoleta. So tired! Keep falling asleep in the evenings whilst trying to watch a video. I always wake up just as the end credits roll!

posted by Katie @ 4/12/2004 08:44:00 pm 0 comments

only 1 week left in South America.....:(

Arrived in Rio yesterday morning, feeling unusually refreshed after a journey...because we flew!! My last day in Rio was spent in Santa Tereza, an old colonial nighbourhood that you get the tram up to, with people hanging off the sides to avoid paying the fare! It looks a lot like Lisbon actually, slightly delapidated, with tiled buildings and elaborate churches. C and I spent most of our afternoon talking to an oldish Brazilian, who was a pianist, and possibly also quite a creepy old man. My bites that are only just going away leaving large bruises, as someone suggested the other day, were possibly spider bites...and as they were on my knee and the back of my legs, I don't really like the thought that they were probably hiding under a chair I sat on somewhere. Hostel in Buenos Aires is v nice, the Gardenhouse, I have my own key, and as it's a while since I stayed in a hotel, there is a real possibility of losing it. Went to a club caled Podesta last night, which played a lot of 80s music, some New Order and a lot of tuns that sounded like the start of Enola Gay, but were something else entirely. Today, me and a guy called Chris have taken ourselves off to the zoo. Highlights of this include the fruitbats, who have to turn themselves the right way up to have a wazz, the hippopotami (uses?) and feeding the sealions with sardines. Shame they don't sell you a handwipe along with the sardines! And as I think I have mentioned before, the herds of stray cats are quite cool...they are all hanging out in a park across th road from this internet cafe, and they all look pretty happy. The parks are closed at night, so they don't get disturbed by humans or dogs.

posted by Katie @ 4/10/2004 11:54:00 pm 0 comments

Happy Birthday Mum

posted by Katie @ 4/10/2004 11:09:00 pm 0 comments

damnit

I left my favourite hat on a bus. New red angry lump on ankle making it difficult to walk. I hobble, which makes me fit in beautifully with the beautiful people on Ipanema beach. I have at least shaved my legs which is a step in the right direction. I have also discovered a contemporary arttist whom I like. His name is Marco Lodola. And then I sat on the beach trying to ignore the fact that both legs now ache like hell and watched people. More posing and boob jobs. Off to put some insect repellent on. x

posted by Katie @ 4/08/2004 02:07:00 am 0 comments

early night

Today made huge trek across town to go to Corcovado. Oh, and I bought some tomatoes to go in my sandwich, and they turned out to be fruit, hee hee. My day has been full of slight mishaps...dropping things, getting in the queue for the elevator rather than the train back down the mountain, handing over Argentinian money which doesn´t seem to go down too well, losing stuff...the usual. Oh, and I have a steaming hot, bright red, angry looking, golf ball sized, lump on the side of my knee. I am in so much pain that walking after I have sat down for a while is a grand effort. Have no clue what type of nasty insect it was...they bite and run, and seem to be largely invisible. Was out till 5.30 this morning, managed to score free lift home, free pizza, couple of drinks and another phone number to add to the collection. Am very bored of techno. I find it insanely dull if they don´t mix it in with something that has words and the hint of a tune. Am I getting old??

posted by Katie @ 4/07/2004 12:49:00 am 0 comments

no more shopping for me....

Finally achieved the purchase of a flight to Buenos Aires. I can now no longer afford my present standard of living! Nearly cried when I handed over my credit card. Saturday night was an experiment in how not to look like a hooker, whilst in a club surrounded by them. We did actually intend to go there, but was not quite prepared for the large numbers of horrendous looking men, girls dressed like, er, tarts funnily enough, having my back `caressed`by a woman and scary suggestive comments in my ear, and nakedness in the toilets. Hmm. Managed to win some Mexican guy´s bet with his friend for him....he was getting all his drinks bought for him next weekend for having found one of the 5 or so ´normal´girls in there! Went to the football yesterday...Vasco, my adopted side, claimed a decisive victory. The fans are also hugely entertaining. Wish I could have understood what they were saying.....was possibly very insulting to Fluminense. Peeled self from bed very early this morning...well 9ish, it is boiling here so get chased out of bed by the heat every day! Got flight ticket, and generally sorted life out at the launderette etc. and then went on a Favela tour. They don´t look quite as temporary as they seemed in Geography lessons about 10 years ago, they´re a maze of concrete and pathways between and down under the houses (and sewers unfortunately). Rocinha, the largest one is about 40 years old and is based around an old Formula 1 racetrack. Bought a (petit)painting and took lots of pics........

posted by Katie @ 4/05/2004 11:54:00 pm 0 comments

Not too many people see in their 25th birthday getting groped by a prostitute in Rio I guess.

posted by Katie @ 4/04/2004 05:32:00 am 0 comments

Rio

Arrived in Rio from Iguazu yesterday morning. The bus was practically empty! We really did make it hard for ourselves though. We got on a bus to the border, went through exit stuff, got dumped off the bus at the Brazilian border, where we did not understand a word of the Portuguese spoken at us, and waited around for ages for another bus. Got chucked off that at the bus station, and had to get another bus to the long distance bus station. All rather precariously timed considering the potential for getting completely lost. Arrived in Rio at 11am yesterday morning, and by 1pm were sat on Ipanema beach watching the serious posing going on, and trying to avoid being sold stuff. Could have ended up with another couple of hammocks and a kilo of peanuts. Today I have only managed to o one of the 3 things I had planned. Failed on buying a plane ticket back to Buenos Aires. Things close on Saturdays! Also failed on going up the hill before it got cloudy. We did however make it to a market in the other side of town in Sao Cristavao....Watched the not-so-beautiful people dance, ate hot cheese on a stick and drank coco gelado (water inside a large nut type thing). Then ...we tried to get back to Ipanema..best laid plans hey! The bus we took there seemed not to exist in the opposite direction, which was fun, so we found ourselves standing by the side of the road at a turnpike, while numerous buses went past, all going to not the place we want. Tomorrow is birthday football day. 04/04/04. 25. Hmmmm.

posted by Katie @ 4/04/2004 02:12:00 am 0 comments

Rant

So I could be here for a while...I'm uploading photos onto ofoto with the supposedly "easy upload" programme. I'm failing miserably, i.e., it's not very easy. It's taking forever!!! But I am scared I am going to lose my disk or get it all scratched or something...so I have to sit here for another couple of hours!! Have been to Iguazu Faqlls today. We're missing out the Brazilian side, as frankly...I have now seen the falls. Two days of it might get a bit dull. And we have no time left at all!! Seriously, this ofofo thing has been going for 10 minutes and is still at 1%, and I have a barbecue to attend. Have bus to Rio in the morning, and as we have done things slightly arse about face, we are going to have to get a flight from Rio back to BA. At least this means I won't spend my 25th birthday on a bus. Miraculous news too...I found the keys to my locked padlock. They turned up in my bag, but I swear I didn't put them there! It's a miracle. Oh my god, the progress meter has just gone back to 0%. I will be here forever. Maybe I am being too ambitious. Have just noticed that upload times are estimates only, and depend on the speed of your internet connection. Hell. I will be here forever. Well, it keeps giving me false hopes by pretending to be efficient. I blame the computer and in about 2 minutes will give up completely. So...2 minutes later...it has just surprised me and actually uploaded one of my photos. I am overjoyed, but sceptical that it will let the rest on. maybe it is self censoring.

posted by Katie @ 4/01/2004 12:13:00 am 0 comments