Ice Ice Baby

Jökulsárlón is a glacial lake in the south east of Iceland.  It’s about 4-5 hours from Reykjavik so to get there you need a car or a tour.  Luckily for me, Nasr (backpacker from Hugi’s remember) met a couple of crazy Americans in a bar.  They happened to have a car and were happy enough to take Nasr and I along for the drive.

 

It was a great day; a fairly long drive, but good company so it was fun.  Adrian and Sarah were great value and True Americans.  Everytime they did something funny or dumb or said something to do with home they were like ‘AMERCIA!’ (world police style).  Apparently this must be done whenever you do something funny or dumb or brave or strong or right.   I think the worst thing about the whole day was we ran out of time – or maybe Sarah’s driving.  We’ll have to toss a coin on that one.  But we definitely didn’t get to spend enough time in the places we went to and there were places we wanted to go that we didn’t get to at all.

 

We stopped to look at the glaciers.  From a distance it's a bit creepy how they come down the mountain looking like a great wave.  Like someone has pressed pause on a tsunami.  What if someone unpaused that thing? 

 

This guy could be in trouble if there's too much hot weather 

 

 The glacial lagoon was awesome.  Beautiful still looking water and ice everywhere shining in the sun.  What I wasn’t expecting the birdlife and the seals! They were everywhere, just hanging out in the water, being seals.  Then across the road is the glacier beach.  Black sand beaches with random chunks of ice covering the entire beach.  Ice of all shapes and sizes, murky white ice and shiny clear glisten in the sun ice.  Another photographer’s paradise.  So pretty and if I had the time I’m sure I could have just wandered around for hours taking pictures of chunks of ice.  Ok so maybe I’m just easily amused.

 

 

 

You can also do boat tours of the lake – but not at this time of year.  So I think that’s about reason 23 as to why Kelly should come back to Iceland in the Summer.  

 

So coming home we were pretty late.  It got to after 9 and we were still an hour or so from Reykjavik when Nasr looks out the window and starts yelling ‘Holy shit, stop the car!’  Poor Adrian must have nearly had a heart attack, but he pulls over and we all get out and there are the Northern Lights.  Big and amazing and fantastic and just like the pictures!  The wind was wild and icy cold and in normal circumstances you wouldn’t stay out in it for more than five minutes, but there we were for half an hour watching them stretch across the sky from one end to the other.  They moved and danced, fading and reappearing, doing that thing where they look like powder falling.  We tried to take the impossible photos.  Balancing our cameras on the roof of the car when the wind was so strong it was not just moving our cameras, but the whole car!

But we got back in the car cold and happy.

 

 

Woah, that's one big one

Yesterday was a cold and snowy day in Reykjavik.  A perfect day for experiencing a little of the culture that this fine town has to offer.  So you all know where I went.

And well, it wasn't very big (aw c'mon, it had to be said).  Anyway, there was this big one.

Whale doodle

Humans are the peeny weeny on the end

Icelandic National Handball Team - Beijing Silver medalists

Yep, this ugly squishy son of a bitch is human.

Reindeer - so it turns out it wasn't Rudolph's nose that was red.

Tasty snack anyone?

Gimme a little lavan'

Icelandic places are like Sri Lankan surnames. 
Hard to read.  Impossible to pronounce.

 

Lava fields are everywhere in Iceland and I think they’re great.  Michael, Gabi & I caught a bus to the edge of town to go for a bit of a tramp around.  From a distance it looks like a rocky, barren terrain.  But upon closed inspection is filled with fauna in miniature.  A thick carpet of mosses in varying shades of grey, green and orange.  Tiny flowers that bloom even in the middle of winter.  Grasses of a myriad of colours flattened by the winds. 

 

 

 

The moss is so thick and soft that when you have a sneaky lay down you could close your eyes and believe you’re on a pile of cushions.  Trolls like to have their naps in lava fields.

 

Napping like a troll

The day we went was sunny but had an icy wind.  You could hear ice crunching underfoot and all the puddles were frozen over in crazy patterns.  The lava fields continued down to the beach, dark grey-green water lapping coldly against black rocks and there were a number of derelict buildings spotted here and there over the landscape.  A bit of a photographer’s paradise.

 

The 10 commandments of hostel living

 

Now before I get started, for those of you who have never stayed in a hostel, there are plenty of good reasons for hostels.  They’re super cheap, most have kitchens so you can cook for yourself, a lot of hostels are also good sources of tour/event information and it’s a really easy way to meet people whether you’re just looking for someone to have a beer with or a travel partner for a week.  And most of the time you do get a good night’s sleep.

Anyone who has stayed in hostels will read my list below and go ‘der, everyone knows that’.  But apparently not.  Just occasionally you get a dickhead who doesn’t know the rules.

1.       Be quiet.

2.       BE QUIET.  All hostels have kitchens, lounges, bars, etc.  There is no reason for you to be yapping in a dorm room if people are trying to sleep.

3.       Even if you think you’re whispering – you’re not, so just shut your trap.

4.       Even if it’s 3 in the afternoon, if someone is sleeping be quiet.  They may have been travelling for 27 hours or they may just be hungover – whatever.  Dorms are for sleeping so again, be quiet.

5.       You do not need to zip and unzip your bag 15 bloody times.

6.       If the lights are off – leave them off!

7.       Some hostels have lockers, some don’t.  Either way, leaving things on my bed with a sleeping bag thrown on top is a totally acceptable security measure. Don’t pinch my shit.

8.       If you’re getting up early and need an alarm – there is no snooze button.  Get the hell up the first time!

9.       Don’t switch beds.  If I get in at stupid o’clock after 14+ hours travelling the last thing I need is some douche in my bunk so I don’t know where I’m sleeping.

10.   If you are a bunk-rattling, window-shaking snorer and you book into a dorm room – you are an arsehole.

Rant over – next post promises to be more pleasant J

Iceland is Niceland

So I’ve just had my first couch surfing experience and it has been loads of fun!  I doubt most couch surfing experiences are like this though.  Hugi, our Icelandic host, had 5 of us staying with him.  There was Gabi & Michael, Americans au pair-ing in Belgium & Germany, Ali from Bahrain and Nasr from Germany.  Everyone was good value, even if Ali seems somewhat misguided when it comes to the facts of life.  But Hugi our Icelandic father was there to help him out!

Hugi welcomed us into his home and let us treat his apartment as our own.  He drove us around town, took us looking for the Northern lights, picked us up and dropped us off, took us to his favourite karaoke bar (no I did not sing) and really went above and beyond chasing around after us.  He's tour was good and a total bargain compared to the outrageous prices for things around here (day trips like $150 - $400).  And the clever title for my post Iceland is Niceland I've actually pinched from his facebook page https://facebook.com/icelandisniceland

 

Marshmallows for trolls.  Farmers put these in the paddocks
to stop the trolls from eating the horses.

Going somewhere with Ali, or Princess Ali and we started calling him, was like going somewhere with my sister.  ‘Are you ready?’ ‘Yes’ ‘Great let’s go.’  Then you walk outside and realise they’re still inside and so you wait.  And wait.  Then you’re like ‘What the hell can they possibly be doing?’ and after about 10 minutes they wander out.  Every time.

The Hugi tour was great despite the crazy weather.  He hired a minibus as we ran into a couple of random Germans that Nasr met on the plane over and they decided to come along too.  So we went to a couple of amazing waterfalls.  There was Gullfoss, a huge waterfall that was almost totally frozen. We tried to take a group photo there, but the wind was icy cold and almost blowing us sidewards.  Seljalandsfoss was a really tall waterfall that in the Summer you can walk behind, but this time of year is too icy.  I went to walk up to the lookout at the side, but it was too slippery and I didn't want to slip because of my camera (it's got nothing to do with being a pussy).  But Michael and Nasr went up to the lookout and then behind the waterfall.  But they had a little trouble getting back, having to climb the wall because the path was too icy and Nasr got almost all the way up then slipped and slid back down like of a big slide.  I reckon he wasn't far off ending up in the water!

    

We also went to the Geyser area.  We waited for 10 minutes in the freezing, icy wind only to get a little pfft, pfft fart of a spurt from the Geyser - and because my fingers were so cold I missed getting a picture anyway! 

But the best part of the day I thought was the glacier.  It was raining when we got there, and the wind was blowing sidewards so that whenever you looked up you got stabbed in the eye with rain-turned-ice, but it was so amazing!  The blue of the ice is amazing and the contrast of the ice and the surrounding black lava it looks like another planet.  The photos aren't too good, but it was raining a lot - it's a miracle my camera is still working after this!  But I'm going ice-climbing next week so I might have more luck then.

Well there's a lot more to tell, but I don't want to bore you with long posts, so I'll save those stories for another day.

Pitching tents

Yeah, this is a terrible place because it is cold

Yes I have arrived in Iceland.  Yes it is cold.  No I am not whinging about it.  Today was beautiful and sunny. I jogged up to the nearby thermal pool for a dip in the outdoor pool and it was -1 degree.  The pools are great though.  600 krona (about $6) and that includes all the pools, the hot tubs (there’s about a dozen of them varying in heat), the steam room and a locker.  Not like stingy old MSAC where it’s $7 for a swim, plus $4 to use the spa & sauna, plus $3 for a locker.

A big thanks to Natalie from work who saved me some culture shock and a world of confusion.  She gave me a book about a woman who moves to Iceland.  Luckily I starting reading it last night before going to the pool today because Chapter 2 covers the woman’s confusion and awkwardness at the Icelandic pre-swimming rituals & general acceptance of public nudity.  Going to the pool goes something like this:

·         Remove your shoes and place them on a shoe rack before entering the change rooms

·         Enter change rooms (where there are no cubicles), undress and place clothing in locker

·         Take towel and bathers (that’s right, you haven’t put your togs on yet so you’re starkers) and progress to the next room which has a number of communal showers

·         Shower paying attention to signs which instruct you to make sure you clean your feet, pits and naughty bits properly

·         Now you can put your bathers on and off you go for a swim!

On the way back there is an extra ‘drying area’ where once you’ve had your shower you must dry yourself thoroughly before going back to the locker room.  I nearly skipped this bit, but the big lady in the uniform looked like she would put me in a headlock & drag me back if I went into the locker room dripping water on the floor.

So a little bit different, but all good.

Speaking of different this isn’t the first time I’ve been to a place where they drive on the right, but it takes more getting used to that you would think.  For example, to cross the road you need to look the other way first so you just end up looking each way about 5 times before you cross.  There is a massive increase in the number of awkward sidewalk tangos that happen when people walking toward each other move the same way.  And in the pool you swim on the other side so I nearly head-butted some poor guy this morning when I was splashing along the wrong way down the lane.

The trip over was pretty uneventful.  A quick stopover in Doha which involved getting off the plane onto a bus, driving for 10 minutes to get to the airport, queuing up for a bit, laughing to myself at some guy sleeping in the waiting lounge who was pitching a tent, transferring to another bus which then drove around for 20 minutes until the bus driver found our plane.

Copenhagen stopover even less eventful, but all the staff there ride around the airport on scooters which is pretty cool.

So tomorrow off to the Penis museum.  Yeah you heard me.  Penis museum.

However the fine print at the bottom of the sign says 'No pornography or offensive material at the museum' so it may not be quite up to expectations (yes pun intended). 

Patience is a virtue

Patience may be a virtue, but sadly it is not one that belongs to me.  See look at my countdown for my next trip, I've only started the counting a little early and I only have it appearing every time I open my browser.

'Jeepers', I hear you say, 'Where is she off to now?'  Well, thanks for asking.  This time I am off to Europe for a couple of months. I will be heading to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, will pop over to Ireland and hopefully catch up with a few of my Gaelic buddies for a drink or two.  Then I'll head over to mainland Europe and see where my wanderlust takes me.  After all this, due to some horrid people at work who leave brochures on my desk and email me pictures of baby elephants playing on beaches and wicked national parks, I'll be stopping off in Sri Lanka for 4 weeks on the way home to get in a spot of diving, work on my freckles tan and see those damn baby elephants!
 

Comments or suggestions on where to go in Europe or Sri Lanka are most welcome :)

Balmy balmy Beechworth

I'd heard Beechworth was pretty, but it really is.  The town itself reminds me a little of Maffra, but a bit bigger and with more older buildings.  Our camp site was just out of town.  It was a nice spot, in the bush and there were even koalas in the trees around us.  God those things make a racket.  At night they sound like crazy bush pigs.

The koala hanging out near our camp.

Our camp was nice and with the fantastic weather it was really not fun packing up to go home.  But we had a good time.  Checked out the festival, a bit of the town and had a bit of a paddle round in some waterfalls.  But I think the consensus was that we definately have to plan another trip up here; maybe bring some bikes for the rail trails and check out more of the national parks.

Bbq-ing in our idyllic surrounds

 The Beechworth Celtic festival was a bit of fun.  There were markets, stages for music and dancing and a classically country, underwhelming street parade.  But it was good, at the end of the parade half of the pipe band hung around in the street and kept playing for the small crowd who gathered round them.  And it just happened that when they finished up we realised we were standing right next to a nice old pub.  So we went in for a beverage or two then stayed to watch the bands they had on.  It was a pretty good night, the bands were good and we walked outside after to discover the one taxi in Beechworth was free and waiting for us.

The Celtic festival street parade.

A bag pipe or two is a prerequesite for any street parade.

So my original motivation for the drive to Beechworth was to deliver a postcard that I got from the pirate's postbox in Post Office Bay in the Galapagos.  I had been carrying this postcard for siz months, intent on hand delivering this postcard as the author of the card, someone called Carly, wanted.

I also decided to add my own postcard for delivery so that if there was no-one home, they would know where the postcard came from once I'd left it in the letter box.  My postcard was from Macchu Picchu and told the story of all the places that Carly's card had travelled between leaving the Galapagos in May and arriving in Beechworth in November.

So Julie and I pulled up outside the address on the postcard and after a little confusion about the name of the street, we actually figured out we were outside the right address.  We rang the door bell and heard a voice call 'yep?' through the screen door, coming from the lounge chair a few metres away.  I spoke through the screen door asking if Mick or Bev were about.  'Yep' was the reply.  I continued speaking through the screen door, telling the Mick who was still watching the telly what I was there for. 'oh yeah?' came the reply of disinterest. 

Old Mick didn't look like getting out of his lounge chair anytime soon, so I invited myself in.  Opened the screen door, went in and gave him the card.  He was sitting in his chair with a little fluffy dog.  He had a bit of a look and gave me another 'oh yeah,' and 'yeah, we'll tell Carly when she rings.'  Mick asked what we were doing in Beechworth.  I said we thought we'd come up for the Celtic festival. 'well, you better hurry - you'll miss the parade.' he said.  So we left Mick and the little white fluffy thing that may have been the infamous 'Monster' on Carly's postcard and went off to see the parade.

So the whole postcard delivery was not as exciting as I'd hoped.  I think maybe if Bev had been there it would have been different.  I would have liked to know what Carly & Mark were doing in the Galapagos; whether they loved it as much as me and whether they'd delivered any postcards they'd found in the postbox.  But I guess it must have been a bit odd for Mick to have a couple of randoms turning up on his doorstep and talking about postcards from the other side of the world.

The postcards I had to deliver

The content of the postcards.

I heart Melbourne

I've been back in Melbourne nearly two months already!  And glad to say there's no post-holiday blues.  I've been busy catching up with everyone, getting back into work and the weekends have been jam packed. 

I got to see a whole two footy matches for the year as my beloved Saints got done by Sydney in the first week of finals which was a little disappointing.  But this year the weather held out for Derby Day.  We packed our picnic goodies and sneaky beverages to get in early and get our usual spot by the 300m marker.  As per usual I lost all my betting money, but the biggest rort of the day was $48 for a bottle of yellow.  Yes, no typo $48! 

The Sunday after Derby day there were Zombies in the city which was pretty cool.  I couldn't believed there were thousands of them.  And the effort some of them had gone to was amazing.  There were waves and waves of the undead, covered in blood and gore.  There were kiddie zombies, pirate zombies, zombies getting married, dancing, screaming and beer swilling zombies.  One really cool one was the monkey-wings zombie.

Being back in Melbourne in the Spring is great.  I've been running along the beach most mornings before work is good and although I only had 4 weeks once I got back to prepare I ran the half at the Melbourne Marathon and was pretty happy with my time.

Coming up is a trip to Tassie with the footy girls and a camping trip to Beechworth where I'm going to deliver the postcard I picked up in the Galapagos.  I hope the people who get the postcard think it's cool that it's hand delivered and don't just think I'm a freak.

Football Bolivia

Our guide Freddy was awfully excited about the football match.  His home town Sucre were playing the locals Potosi in the final.  We went along and the atmosphere was similar to a footy match at home.  People wearing their team colours, lots of families eating dodgy food and cheer squads down each end of the pitch.  Although the cheer squads in Bolivia are better than at home.  They have drums and other instruments and sing and dance in the stands, which is cool.  They also have a lot of firecrackers which they randomly through into the stands, which is not so cool.

The stadium was a little different to home.  Mainly the security; the 6ft barbed wire fences, followed by a 20m buffer zone so anything thrown over the fence wouldn't land on the pitch.  And the riot police. They had batons and shields and were lined up on both sides of the fence.  I couldn't figure out why they were on the inside of the fence - no one was going over that thing.
 

Riot police on standby

The match itself was a normal soccer match, 80 minutes of pass, pass, pass.  Stop, pass, pass.  Turnover.  Pass, pass, pass.  How is this one of the most watched sports in the world?  It bores the shit out of me.

Potosi v Sucre - Sucre are in the red.

But as is common with soccer, things actually start happening in the dying minutes.  Finally a goal was scored by Potosi - the home crowd went nuts!  The team ran around like they'd already won the match congratulating themselves for a ridiculously long time then the match restarted.  Then there was a red card for Potosi from the ref.  The crowd goes nuts, the team goes nuts.  The other team comes in and they get into a bit of a melee which is soon sorted out when the riot police step in.

The game restarts again only to have Sucre score in the 93rd minute.  Potosi fans are livid but Freddy out of his seat excited and all of a sudden there are full drinks and other shit getting thrown at us.

Riot police seperating the teams after a red card.

Potosi stadium - note 6ft fence and buffer zone.

 Turns out Sucre only need a draw in this match to take out the whole thing, so the locals are spewing.  The refs are escortted off the ground at the locals throw things like full 2lt bottles and batteries at them.  The locals then turn on anyone wearing the red and blue of Sucre (I had to hide my scarf in my bag).  They blocked all the exits and as the cheersquad tried to leave they were beating the shit out of them.  Punching and kicking into them.  The riot police had to move in and escort the fans onto the ground so the locals couldn't get to them.  The whole thing was fucking mad.

Riot police escort the unpopular refs from the ground.

All in all it was a pretty mad night.  It was definately something we wouldn't experience at home.  But something I'm glad of.  You ask the locals about it and they just excuse the behaviour as 'oh we're very passionate about our football'.  But it sounds like bullshit to me.  You can be passionate about something without being violent.

Oh Bolivia, you are fantastic!

Michael & I had a great time in our whirlwind tour of Bolivia.  We toured a working mine, visited the salt flats, a train cemetary, rode some horses and saw a mad game of soccer.  In La Paz we visited the witches markets which are full of llama fetus & statues of Pacha mama the earth goddess.  And I shopped up a storm managing to spend a couple hundred bucks in a couple of hours in one of the cheapest places on earth!

But like lots of places, it can be the people you meet that help make it.  We went for dinner with Cecilia & Patty - two Bolivian girls who Michael met travelling a few years back.  They were really cool.  Took us to dinner & out to a club where there was this Bolivian-African band with plenty of big drums and crazy instruments I've never seen before.

For our tour of Bolivia we had Freddy, also a Bolivian, as our guide and Laura & Ericka fellow tourists.  Freddy was a great guy, knew a lot about his country and was well excited when he realised we were going to be in Potosi for the football final between Potosi and Freddy's home town Sucre.  When he told us about it we were keen as mustard, so he organised tickets, I got me a Sucre scarf and off we went to the footy.

The mine tour was pretty cool.  We started with a trip to the miner's markets where we bought some presents for the miners; kind of a thank you for letting us visit and sorry for interrupting your work.  We bought cocoa leaves, fizzy drinks, cigarettes and dynamite.  Yep, that's right, anyone can buy themselves a stick of dynamite for 15 bolivianos, which is about $2!

Me and my $2 dynamite

Ready for the mine tour.

 In the mine it was hot and claustrophobic.  As we walked down the narrow tunnels we were regularly made to squash ourselves against a wall as a couple of guys pushing a one tonne cart came running past at full speed.  We also stopped by an idol of the devil, where the workers pay him respect and give him gifts, hoping in return that he will show them where the precious metals are.  They give him cocoa leaves, cigarettes and alcohol.  The alcohol is 96% and smells like metho.  Michael & I drank it and I thought I was going to choke, and was then burping up metho breath for hours - ugggh!

Ericka, Laura & I swimming at the hot springs.

Random street festival

All in all, there were so many things to see and do in Bolivia I think we could have spent a lot more time there.  We missed the Cholita wrestling, touring the prison (although I'd heard a lot of bad things so wasn't too concerned missing that), could have spent more time in the salt flats and Sucre and Michael never got to Lake Titicaca.  Ah well - next time.

Rapa Nui big heads

Easter Island is an enigma, somewhat of a mystery to historians and archeologists alike.  The experts think it was populated for around 5-8 hundred years before it was rediscovered in the 1700's.  By then the civilisation who had sailed almost 4000 k's in little canoe's from Tahiti to populate the island had all but disappeared leaving only the huge stone Maoi as testament to what had been.  But even the Maoi had all been toppled over, all but destroyed.

Now some of the Maoi have been restored to their original glory, others, all over the island, lay scattered over the cliff sides where they once stood watch over the people.  The big heads are huge, and like ancient pyramids all over the world, Stonehenge and  Machu Picchu you look at these big heads and think ,'How the hell did they do that?'

Where's Wally.

Remember the oracles?

Michael says 'pfft, my head's bigger than this.'

Looking at the giant stone faces with their blank stares, it kind of reminded me of the oracles in The Never Ending Stories.  I kept expecting them to talk to me or start crumbling at I stood there watching them.

The island itself is not so big.  It took us about half an hour to drive end to end.  On the first day we thought hiring scooters would be fun.  It was fun until we hit the first of many long gravel tracks, all rugged and bumpy.  I was wishing big time for a sports bra.  Lucky I don't have big boobies or I would have ended up with black eyes.  So the next couple of days we hired a little 4wd to get around.

As well as the big heads there was Orongo which is restored houses that sit on the edge of a huge crater.  There were some nice beaches and lots of caves sprinkled along the coast.  We crawled into one where the opening was only about a metre square and crawled and walked through about 100 metres to come out in the side of the cliff overlooking the water smashing onto the rocks.  Pretty cool.  I was all like, 'Hey check this out.  Be careful it's slippery.'  Great advice that I was giving and not actually doing because two steps later I was flat on my arse.

Pots and pans and protests

Santiago is a big city.  You can see the cloud of smog for an hour before you get there.  But it is a pretty cool city.  We found the central mercado which is a big seafood market.  As well as the seafood stalls there are also a heap of restaurants and dudes hanging out the front trying to drag you into theirs.  We found one with the most amazing and huge paella.  Michael ordered one for himself, not realising it's for 2 people, but really it could have fed 4.  From Santiago we've been to Valparaiso, Santa Cruz and Valle Nevado.

I don't know whether it's made news at home, but there have been some pretty big protests going on in Santiago.  Students protesting for free education.  A good cause but it's been getting somewhat out of control.  We've seen lots of police and armoured vehicles around and one big green robo-cop dude.  As well as the protests in the day there has been night protests which involves anyone who cares opening their window at 9pm and banging pots and pans as loud as they can for an hour.  It's pretty noisy when you're staying in the University district, that's for sure.  We also discovered that tear gas is not fun and even after lingering in the air for hours still bloody stings.

In Valle Nevado the skiing was great.  There are long wide runs, no queues for the lifts, lots of snow and sunshine and it's cheap as compared to Aussie ski prices.  I spent the whole day onthe slopes while Micheal checked out the resort and spent a bit much time sitting in the sunshine, getting a nice red tan to one side of his face :)

We spent a few days in Valparaiso which is a cool seaside town.  It's a fairly big town with lots of old buildings, some renovated and looking stunning, others left with a dilapidated charm.  One cool thing about this town it is built into some steep cliffs, so these big old mansion houses are hanging off the sides of ledges and there are 'hill elevators' sporadically placed about the town to save you walking up the long windy roads.  The hill elevators are basically little trams on really really steep tracks going up and down some of the steeper hills.

About an hour south of Santiago is Santa Cruz, a little town that reminded me a little of walking around the back streets of Maffra.  Nice, but not much to do except for one pretty cool museum and the fact it is the centre of one of Chile's best wine regions.  However the wine tours are ridiculously prices - $170 per person for 3 wineries and lunch!!  That's a lot of money for a wine tour, but that's was we were there to do, so we forked out the cash and did the tour.  And it was good - maybe not $170 good.  But we had a fun day, tested out a few wines, visited some really nice wineries, the guided tours of the wineries were great and lunch wasn't bad either.

So next off we fly out to Rapa Nui to go check out the big heads, can't wait!!