In 1599 the Jesuits arrived in Cordoba. They came south from Alto Peru, present day Bolivia, in a wave of proselytising, empire-building and farming. Their reign lasted until 1767 when they were expelled from all the Americas during a world-wide suppression of the order. The Argentinian Jesuits have their revenge now though with one of their own on the Papal Throne.
Cordoba - things always look better in the morning.
We head out from the hotel on foot. We know better than to tangle with the problem of parking in the inner-city and we have discovered that the spare tyre in our rental car is flat. The car company has promised to come to the hotel and change it.
Welcome to Cordoba - we have lost your bags.
It is not that I have anything against the back row of aeroplanes. We have spent a lot of time in them. Up the back, on bumpy flights, I tend to get airsick. I've only actually thrown-up a couple of times - usually over David - but I can get pretty distressed and that tends to make the people around me nervous. I accept that everyone should take their turn in the cheap seats. The problem is; David and I have had far too many turns. We have done our time and paid our dues. Let somebody else sit in the crappy seats for a while.
10 am Wednesday morning - I think - somewhere in the world at least!
We are on QF28 approaching Santiago, Chile. At 1:15 pm this afternoon we left Sydney. We flew for more than 12 hours and arrived half way across the world three hours before we left home.
We have a five hour layover before we connect to Córdoba, Argentina - what a waste of those extra hours. AND there is trouble brewing over our bags. In Sydney, the QANTAS check-in lady would not check them through to Cordoba, notwithstanding that our flight to Cordoba is with LAN, a partner airline to QANTAS - something about the bookings not being together in her system. Is it just us or does anyone else get the feeling these rules are made up on the spot. She was polite but adamant - we should collect our bags in Santiago and re-check them with LAN ourselves.
Buenos Aires - my favourite city.
Buenos Aires is like an old friend - but it wasn't always that way. The first time I visited Buenos Aires I was jet-lagged and groggy from trans-Pacific flying. Bursting at the seams, BA was brash and arrogant. The road from the airport was jammed with cars, trucks, buses and taxis, all of them blasting their horns in a deafening, demented, symphony; none of them constrained by the rules of the road. In the back of the cab I clung to the seat belt wishing I'd never left home.
Queenstown, New Zealand - not just for adrenaline junkies
Queenstown, New Zealand is adrenaline junkie heaven. Parachuting, bungy-jumping, jet-boating, mountain-biking, ballooning, heli-skiing, canyoning, rafting and dozens of other fast-paced thrills are on offer year-round. Fit, athletic, twenty-somethings are drawn here, like fans to a rock concert, from all over the world.
David and I are neither athletic, twenty-something nor especially fit, but Queenstown draws us back year after year. Almost drowned out by its public face as one of the great adventure capitals of the world, this is a place of stunning scenery - nestled on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by the magnificent Remarkables Mountain Range. Best of all we don't have to jump out of aeroplanes, climb mountains or swing from bungy ropes to appreciate it. It is possible to come here and do nothing more energetic than wander down for coffee by the shores of the lake each morning.
David and I are neither athletic, twenty-something nor especially fit, but Queenstown draws us back year after year. Almost drowned out by its public face as one of the great adventure capitals of the world, this is a place of stunning scenery - nestled on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by the magnificent Remarkables Mountain Range. Best of all we don't have to jump out of aeroplanes, climb mountains or swing from bungy ropes to appreciate it. It is possible to come here and do nothing more energetic than wander down for coffee by the shores of the lake each morning.
The Otago Rail Trail and A Universal Truth.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a rail trail should be cycled in one direction - or the other - only the truly psychotic cycle both.
The Central Otago Rail Trail runs for 150 kilometres from Clyde to Middlemarch in the South Island of New Zealand. It takes about four days to cycle. Lots of discussion can be found on the internet about whether it is best to ride the trail west to east or east to west. With the highest point roughly in the middle, neither direction has more downhill sections - the disagreement is all about the quality of the views. Whether you begin from Clyde or Middlemarch however the generally accepted plan of attack is to cycle the trail one way. There are a plethora of package tours available which enable you to do this by providing bikes, accommodation, luggage transfer, back-up and return transport.
The Central Otago Rail Trail runs for 150 kilometres from Clyde to Middlemarch in the South Island of New Zealand. It takes about four days to cycle. Lots of discussion can be found on the internet about whether it is best to ride the trail west to east or east to west. With the highest point roughly in the middle, neither direction has more downhill sections - the disagreement is all about the quality of the views. Whether you begin from Clyde or Middlemarch however the generally accepted plan of attack is to cycle the trail one way. There are a plethora of package tours available which enable you to do this by providing bikes, accommodation, luggage transfer, back-up and return transport.
Would you ignore this sign?
One of my greatest failings as a world traveller is a serious and persistent law-abiding streak.
This is our fourth trip to Queenstown. On each occasion we have driven out to the remote Kinloch Lodge, past Glenorchy at the far end of Lake Wakatipu. This is serious Lord of the Rings Country - empty, isolated and with beautiful scenery. The tarmac turns to gravel just after Glenorchy. At Kinloch there is a sign and the sign says -
This is our fourth trip to Queenstown. On each occasion we have driven out to the remote Kinloch Lodge, past Glenorchy at the far end of Lake Wakatipu. This is serious Lord of the Rings Country - empty, isolated and with beautiful scenery. The tarmac turns to gravel just after Glenorchy. At Kinloch there is a sign and the sign says -
Penguins, dolphins and a petrified forest.
We are on the south coast of the South Island of New Zealand, about three hours drive from Queenstown. This is about as close to Antarctica as NZ gets. Only sparsely populated Stewart Island is closer. Our holiday cabin, one of an isolated group strung out along the beach at Porpoise Bay, just around the headland from Curio Bay, has 180 degree views of the Southern Ocean. We have no internet, mobile phone coverage or television. What we do have is penguins, dolphins, seals, a petrified forest and, much to David’s irritation, sand flies.
Queenstown and the flying bicycles.
Turning up to an airline check-in counter with a couple of bicycles is one of those experiences which seemed like a good idea when we planned it, but really fell apart in the execution - what a hassle!
Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't had far too much luggage to begin with, but David is incapable of travelling light. We once went half way round the world with a kiddies ride-on-tractor, complete with separate trailer section, purchased on a whim from a roadside stall in Holland for our then 3 year old son. He would ride it up to airline check-in counters much to the amusement of other travellers.
Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't had far too much luggage to begin with, but David is incapable of travelling light. We once went half way round the world with a kiddies ride-on-tractor, complete with separate trailer section, purchased on a whim from a roadside stall in Holland for our then 3 year old son. He would ride it up to airline check-in counters much to the amusement of other travellers.
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