Trip Summary July 21st-Aug 26th

Travel Summary - Toronto to Sydney (July 21st - Aug 26th)

We have been on 10 flights, flown for over 47 hours, and have travelled over 20,000 miles by airplane.

We have flown:
1) Toronto to Lima, Peru (9 hours)
2) Lima to Cuzco, Peru (1.5 hours)
3) Cuzco to Lima (1.5 hours)
4) Lima to Sao Paulo, Brazil (5 hours)
5) Sao Paulo to Santiago, Chile (4.5 hours)
6) Santiago to Easter Island, Chile (5.5 hours)
7) Easter Island to Santiago (4.5 hours)
8) Santiago to Auckland, New Zealand (13 hours)
9) Auckland to Sydney, Australia (3 hours)

Other Highlights and funny tidbits:

1) Crazy cab ride from Cuzco to Ollyaytantambo. We had 6 people in the cab (the four of us, our guide and driver). We drove at high speeds on winding mountain roads. Jeff and Sam slept through the entire drive on Elaine’s lap due to the fact that Elaine gave each of them an Adult dose of Gravol.

2) The only time we actually have carried our knapsacks on our back was from the town centre to our lodgings in Ollyantaytambo (which was about a tenth of a mile.....and we were all exhausted). We’re not backpackers.

3) Stayed in a wonderful place with a native family. In Ollantaytambo we went; river rafting in a Technical Level 3 rapids, went on a terrifying horseback ride through the Andes, foot trek up a mountain through ancient ruins, ate street meet, took a cab into the high mountains to experience village life, discovered and drank copious amounts of Cocoa Tea, fed the Lamas at our lodgings, ate traditional Peruvian breakfasts and dinners, and overall had an amazing time.

4) We took a dome train from Ollyantaytambo to Aqua Calientes (the closest town to Machu Pichu). The train was fun and comfortable. We took a luxury bus to Machu Pichu which was quite scary as it traversed the cutbacks up the mountain to Machu Pichu. We hired an English speaking guide to take us through Machu Pichu where we learned all about the ancient Inca civilization. Elaine and Sammy took a 3 hour hike along the Inca trail to the Sunshine Pass while Jeff and Kevin relaxed in the shade and talked with two women from California who provided ideas for Australia. We had our nicest and most expensive dinner to date in a French restaurant that was recommended in one of our travel books. If you ever go, look for the Misner Trip business card on the wall!! Jeff became obsessed with buying soccer shirts everywhere we went while Samantha was persuaded (with 100 Sols) to learn to play Euchre. We flew back to Cuzco in business class (had wished it was a longer flight) and spent 4 nights in a really interesting room overlooking a beautiful plaza. The prices were cheap, the food was good, and the markets were fun to shop at. After a quick stop in Lima we were off to Sao Paulo, Brazil. We stayed at the Maksoud Plaza, a lovely hotel in central Sao Paulo. The service was great, the pool was very warm, and the view of the city was magnificent. We went to the Japanese Sunday market in Liberdade via the Metro, Jeff and Kevin went off to see a Brazilian soccer match. The goalie scored the majority of the goals on free kicks. We went to central park (very similar to New York’s central park except Sao Paulo has 22 million inhabitants). Jeff, Sam and Kevin went to a late night electronics mall to buy some cheap movies and video games.

5) We arrived in Santiago in the evening; fortunately we had made arrangements to be picked up from the airport (found on Craigslist). The next day, Elaine became the navigator and took us on the Metro to the central Fish Market (similar to St. Lawrence market) where we had a great Chilean seafood lunch with wine. The next day we went by Metro again to Cristal Hill where we had a terrific view of the city from the Gondola. If it wasn’t for the smog then Santiago might be considered one of the prettiest capitals of the world. We all thought it was neat to be standing beside a palm tree while looking at snow covered mountains. We went to the Santiago zoo on the same hill which was better than expected.

6) We left for Portillio the next morning where we had a terrific time skiing. Everyone was friendly and spoke English. We met other people from Toronto and the US as well as the members of the Men‘s Canadian ski team. We stayed in a backpacker dorm (two sets of bunk beds) to save $$ but were allowed to use all the facilities of the hotel which was about 20 feet away from where we slept. The kids loved the bunks and Elaine hated the communal bathrooms. We ate like pigs (4 meals a day....breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner)....no weight loss here! We left two days early because of a storm that was expected to leave everyone stranded for several days. Portillio eventually saw 200cm of fresh powder fall.....too bad we had to leave early!!

7) Kevin negotiated transportation to Portillio and a tour of the coast north of Santiago with a Chilean named Hector (same guy we found on Craigslist). Hector soon became like a member of our family. He spent 10 to 12 hours a day taking us on custom made tours. We stopped at Erruzziz winery on the way from Portillio to Valpariso which was the highlight of the day. Sam and Jeff enjoyed the winery as much as the adults. We drank an award winning Shraz, ate lovely cheese, and had a delightful conversation with a gentleman from the winery while we sat out on the terrace overlooking the vineyard. Hector arranged accommodation with a lovely couple who had just started a B&B in Valpariso. Our room had a double bed and two singles with television. There was a common bathroom; however, we were the only ones staying here so we had the place to ourselves. Valparaiso (world heritage site) was a beautiful town on a hill overlooking a busy port. We went up and down to the main part of town on a funicular (an inclined railway system that was installed in the 1800’s providing transportation up the hill for the wealthy merchants.) This is the port that the majority of cruise ships who visit South America stop at. We toured Vina del Mar on our own the next day. We got on a local bus by the ocean and just stayed on it until the end (no one spoke English) figuring we could make our way back somehow. We had a lovely walk along the boardwalk and craft market, ate McDonald’s ice-cream and candy apples, but had to get back as Samantha had a fever. A cab driver offered to take us back for 20,000 Chilean Pesos (about $40) but we decided to take the bus ($3 for all of us) instead. The bus driver dropped us back where we needed to be after Kevin showed him a picture of a Statue that was on the digital camera where we started our day. We arrived safely and the bus ride was clean and fast. Samantha went straight to bed after a warm bath. Our hosts, Fernando and Jenny were very worried about Samantha and offered to take her to the hospital. They were very kind (we bought them some Merlot and left them a Canadian baseball hat before we left). Samantha’s fever was gone the next morning and we were all better again. Hector took us for a city tour the next day. We had never seen so much rain in our lives. Literally, the roads were like rivers coming down the streets. We had a great traditional Chilean lunch. Hector took us to a local restaurant where we had “The menu of the day” – a starter, an entrée, wine, and dessert for 3000 Chilean pesos (about $6 per person). The next day Hector took us to 3 wineries which was fun, and the day after he took us on an incredible drive up the coast where we all had an incredible day. We saw penguins along the coast, Sammy went crazy! Hector had picked us up at 9 in the morning and we returned at 10pm. We had to pack and be up at 4:30am for our drive to the Santiago airport for our 8am flight. We were sad to say goodbye to our new found friend, Hector.

8) We arrived in Easter Island just before lunch. The sun was out but there was a light drizzle of rain. The hosts from our B & B picked us up at the airport and presented us with flower lays for our arrival. We checked into our room where we had one double bed and 3 singles. The weather was cool and very damp. It then began to rain. Kevin went out to about 10 different places that rented cars and found a place that agreed to rent us a 4 door 4x4 Suzuki for two days for 54,000 CLP (about $110). The roads around the island are really rough.....we really mean rough!! Pot holes everywhere and since it rained so much, it looked as if there were small lakes everywhere. The 4x4 worked out fine, although the windows only went up and down about a mm/sec, and you had to open the driver’s door from the outside, and the passenger’s window (Elaine’s) didn’t move up or down and the defrost didn’t work very well. It was fun to drive and we think everyone would have loved to see Elaine’s face while we drove in it. The Moai were really interesting to see. We saw lots of wild horses, some with babies. Once again, Sammy went wild! The Island and ocean views were really beautiful when it wasn’t rainy but two days was definitely enough. If you ever go don’t spend more than 3 would be our recommendation.

9) The travel to Australia was really long..... We had to fly back to Santiago even though we were almost half way to Australia already. We had a 5 hour wait in the Santiago airport before our flight to Sydney. Fortunately we were able to use the Business/First class lounges because of Samantha and Kevin’s elite flying status. We went to the Admiral’s Club (American Airlines) first and the kids loved all the first class treatment. Complimentary drinks, sandwiches, cheese etc. While Kevin and Elaine sampled all the expensive Chilean Reserve wines. We made a few calls home to Canada and booked our car rental for Australia. We went to the LAN airlines lounge after (another perk of Elite flying status). Jeff and Samantha loved the Sushi and other foods while they used the web on the computers in the lounge. Our 5 hour stopover flew by in no time. We flew from Santiago, Chile (11pm) to Sydney, Australia with a 1 hour stopover in Auckland, New Zealand. The flight from Santiago to Auckland was about 13 hours long. Fortunately, the plane was not full and we could spread out a little (as we had four middle seats). Jeff sat ahead and had two seats to himself, Kevin ran to 4 empty seats in the front only to find they were reserved for the flight staff to sleep in, so he came back to sit with Elaine and Samantha. Samantha and Kevin became very cranky in the middle of the night because Sam kept kicking Kevin while Elaine took up 3 of the 4 seats herself. Kevin attempted to physically remove Elaine, however she countered his attack! It was not the nicest flight we have ever had.....but it did manage to get us back on budget after our trip to Easter Island.

10) We arrived in Sydney at 7 in the morning after flying past the International Date Line (we left on Thursday evening and arrived Sat morning). We rented car from Hertz in the Sydney airport and decided to upgrade to a midsize for more room and automatic transmission. This was a very good decision because all of our luggage fits into the trunk and because driving a standard on the wrong side of the road would be a little difficult. A manual transmission while sitting on the wrong side of the car would have been a little challenging --- plus we promised the Grandma’s we would be careful with the kids. Elaine has become more comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road (she’s currently driving while I’m typing this). Sam and Jeff are now sleeping in the back seat. Coincidentally they fall asleep as soon as they ask if I could charge their PSP or IPod and I instead suggest that doing some Math homework might be a good idea. Well at least it’s quiet right now, outside of the speed alarm going off that we set at 120km/hr. Like I said, Elaine is getting more comfortable with driving on the wrong side of the road!!

5th Day in Australia
We decided to do a top 10 list of Australia for our friends this morning. We know that this will be a work in progress so expect updates over the next couple of weeks.

Top 10 things in OZ so far:

10) The abundant colourful birds
9) Delicious Fruit
8) Milk tastes the same
7) Ocean Tides
6) Tennis – Jeff loves to play and is quite good
5) Fully equipped Cabins on the ocean are less than half the price of an Easter Island hotel room
4) Tourist Information Centres
3) People speak English (although with a funny accent Mates)
2) Kevin is awake each morning before the Sun rises
1) Great Scenery

The pits in OZ so far:

10) Wine isn’t cheap like Chile
9) Everything is backwards i.e. Light switches down for on
8) Cell coverage is worse than Peru
7) Groceries are more expensive than Toronto
6) Kevin is asleep by 7pm (it gets dark by 5:30pm)
5) Driving on the Wrong side of the road!!
4) Driving on the Wrong side of the road!!
3) Driving on the Wrong side of the road!!
2) Driving on the Wrong side of the road!!
1) Driving on the Wrong side of the road!!