Happy 2015

 Happy New Year! 

The end of 2014 brought a new job for me- full time in a small Pharmacy in Adelaide 

and a relaxing holiday away in Tumby Bay. 

Ryan and I set off for the 10 hour drive with our boat in tow and hopes for good weather!! 

 When we weren't on the boat fishing we were on the beach finishing! 

The beaches there are beautiful... 

 

                                      

 We didn't catch a load of fish but got enough for a feed! 

We managed to drive the boat 22k's off shore out to a group of Islands and put out rods in... only to get an extreme weather warning about half an hour later saying that we needed to head back! The storm followed us back in... 

 What followed was a CRAZY lightning storm that left us with a soggy boat and no power for the next day! Luckily we made it in safely! 

Holy Moly.... Did I do that?!

After our final dinner and night in La Paz Eliza and I jumped on a flight to Santiago, but not before watching the world cup final in the airport with our fellow supporters!! We managed to see most of the game until it was time to board the plane. The pilot announced that Germany had won and one guy with a German flag painted on his cheek got cheers as he had the biggest smile on his face and walked down the isle of the plane to find his seat. What a good day for him!! 

We spent a night in Santiago at the airport hotel before flying back to and landing on good ol' Aussie soil. The flight home was thankfully so much better than the flight over! 

  I am home sweet home in Adelaide and already feel like I must've dreamed the past two weeks!! 

Out of my 500 odd photos I have narrowed my favorites down to 84 :/ 

Oh dear! 

Don't worry folks, I wont put you through looking through THAT many!

 (that excludes you both Mum, John, Dad and Julie... I will put together a slide show, project it onto you living room walls and make you sit through all 500!!) 

SO hard to pick just a few. But here goes. 

The top photo I took when Piero took us to the temple of the hummingbird. Its maybe not the photo I love so much, but the memory of being there. It was super early in the morning and pretty misty, but absolutely beautiful. 

One of my favorite moments of the trip. 

Below is Eliza struggling up the hill (as we all were)... telling herself just one foot in front of the other... then breathe! Such a trooper! 

 Her face says it all...

I took this one really quickly while we were traveling in the truck.

 And I like this one just because I look happy! 

(that is not shit on the ground next to me by the way... 

they are potatoes. I think.)

 Just chillin' at the Machu Picchu ruins...

 And on a boat on Lake Titicaca

 I met some amazing people... In and out of our tour group. 

Shout out to Carly in particular. Mostly for being honest and telling me that ''it's not good''

 the morning I woke up with a puffy face!!

And as many of you might know I love a good 'old person' pic. 

This is my favorite. 

Machu Picchu was everything that I had hoped for and so much more. 

I'm thrilled I had the time and support to do it, and was so lucky to be able to do it with my sisters! What a trip!! 

Day 12

Today we jumped back on the truck for the final time and made our way to La Paz.
The ride was pretty smooth going, although we did hit some crazy traffic at one point...
We also had to make a 'ferry' crossing.
I couldn't believe that our truck was going to board one of these wooden structures and attempt to cross!
We all jumped on a boat and made our way over while we watched our truck (and our passports!) make the daring journey!!

Upon arriving to la paz the view was amazing! So many buildings!!
We took a few snaps and then made our way into the city to our hotel.
After watching the football and enjoying a beer we were treated to a buffet dinner and some delicious wine before I piked out and went to bed!

Day 11

Today we took another boat on lake titicaca out to the isle del sol. 
The boat ride which was supposed to be 45 minutes, took an hour and a half. 
I could have doggy paddled faster!! 

We finally reached the island and our tour guide for the day Leo, took us to some ruins. 
After lunch we got the option of a 3 hour hike or an hour hike back to the boat. I opted for the shorter one which took us along a beach. It was beautiful :)

After another hour and a half on the boat back the Copacabana, everyone looking a little frazzled, we all went for dinner and then crashed out pretty early. 
The boat ride took it out of us! 

Day 10...

This morning we started our day by taking 'taxis' to the shore, where we caught a boat that took us to the floating islands of lake titicaca. 

The lake is the tallest in the world and has depths of 150 meters. 

The floating islands were crazy! People living on them build them with reeds and have to rebuild on existing reeds every two weeks to keep everything afloat! 
We were invited onto an island and into their houses and it was certainly interesting. Such a different way of life.

We made our way back to shore for lunch and then after we jumped on the truck again, bound for the boarder between Peru and Bolivia. 

Our tour guide Neil promised us a surprise on the way! 
He took us to one of his favorite rock formations. Devils gate. 
It is said that when the Spanish invaded the Incas gave all of their valuables to a shaman who then crossed through the stone gate, never to be seen again. 
Later, a man living in the area and studying the ruins, was visiting the rock with his wife and is said to have disappeared through the gate for several minutes, but what he said felt like hours (leaving his wife on the outside).

There are particular sounds and positions to get through the gate, and although I only sat in it, the way Neil talked about it does make it feel a little eerie!

Weird.

After the ruins we crossed the boarder and made our way into Copacabana. 
We had burgers and a couple very strong cocktails for dinner and then had another relatively early night. 
Copacabana is a sweet little place with a beautiful view of lake titicaca. Tomorrow we will take another boat ride to the isle del sol and hopefully catch some sunshine :) 

Day 8...

Today I did almost nothing due to deathly hang over!!

After returning to Cusco after machu picchu we all went out for a drink, which turned into everyone dancing in a nearby bar until 3am! 

What happens in the bar stays in the bar, but lets just say it was a very fun night for all!!

Waking up the next morning wasn't as fun! Eliza, Mel, our new friend Carly and I found our way to a massage parlour and paid about 10 Aussie dollars for an hour massage each!! The girls weren't very experienced in massage and there was a lot of giggling about their 'techniques' but it was so cheap I thought it was worth it!

After the massage we bumped to our new friend Jose on the street. 

Jose accompanied us on our trek and is also the owner of Andina travels. 
We have developed a soft spot for Jose and he for us, so he invited us to join him for dinner that evening. 

Hoping that our stomachs would be more than recovered from the night before, we accepted his invitation. 

Along the trek we had spent a lot of time chatting (when we could muster the breath) and I had mentioned to Jose that I love to cook. He insisted that I try out for masterchef and also that I try a particular restaurant in cusco. 

Masterchef is not on the cards, but seeing an opportunity, he treated us girls dinner at what seemed to be the finest restaurant in Cusco... He said I could not leave with out eating there!

Boy were we spoiled! I ordered Lomo Saltado which is a beef and vegetable dish with rice and it was amazing. I don't know what they are feeding their cows over here but it was probably the most delicious beef I've ever eaten.
Coupled with Pisco cocktails and 3 desserts (chocolate brownie, raspberry mousse atop of a chocolate sponge and a deconstructed pineapple and toffee pie) the meal was up there in the best I've had. Even with a hang over ;)

A special mention to Jose and his company Andina travel. They organized everything to do with the trek, they are so attentive to everyone along the way...
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. (And not just because he bought us an amazing dinner!!) 

Day 9...

Today we had an early start as we all jumped on the truck for our 9 hour drive to Puno.

The drive was a little rough and we passed through some interesting little places. Carly and I sat up the back of the bus and along the way Nick our driver hit a massive pothole, sending us so high in our seats that we nearly hit pur heads on the roof! Everyone got such a shock they screamed and I did jar my back a little bit so Carly and I have decided tomorrow we won't sit up the very back!

We did stop at some hot springs along the way for a quick dip.

The springs were like big pools that smelt like bad eggs and upon walking in we spotted a very old Peruvian woman, naked and washing herself. 

About half of the group just went for it whilst the other half (including us girls) discussed how unhygenic it would be and what weird diseases we might walk away with! After a bit I decided we were there, we must do it!!

The pools were hot and if you didn't think of the scum you were standing on they werent that bad. 

Definitely a one time thing!...never again!

Arriving in Puno we were starving so went out for a pizza and a cocktail and then jumped into bed early ready for another day of driving in the morning.