Iguazu memories

So I have been playing around with this blog and updating it with a few pages at the top about travels and food (two of my favourite things)... and I was looking back through all the posts we have written this year and couldn't find a single thing about Iguazu! I was such a lazy blogger in the middle of this year!
Well I am going to fix that by putting up photos and just saying how absolutely incredible Iguazu was!!

Iguazu is a small town in the province of Misiones, up the very top right corner of Argentina, shouldering Paraguay and Brazil. The big big tourist drawcard for travellers all around the world are the AMAZING waterfalls in Iguazu National Park.
We went here in May with my mum and dad for the weekend. it was THE BEST!! one of the coolest places I have ever been to!!! chris and I want to go back definitely!
It was cheaper for us to fly there and have access into the National Park because we have Argentine DNI's (Documents of National Identity)- because we live here. Mum and dad had to pay double on everything- flights, entry to the park etc... so it was great for us, but if you don't have one of these coveted DNI's, then be prepared to pay big on the flights!
But totally worth every penny!! an SPECTACULAR natural wonder of the world! breath taking!
I just thought I would put some photos up, they don't do it justice, but gives a really clear picture of what we experience. The sounds and smells and jungle board walks and grandeur of nature was fantastic!

Dad and me walking out to 'Gargantas de Diablo'- The Devil's Throat

Behind us, the mighty big plug hole of The Devil's Throat

Kapow!

Jurassic park 

Beautiful Beautiful- and the waterfalls are good too! hehe

We flew early Saturday morning and managed to have the afternoon at the waterfalls. It was a beautiful afternoon with the sun streaming through. We went to the 'Garganta de Diablo' which means 'The Devil's Throat'. It was spectacular, unlike anything I have ever seen or heard. HUGE amounts of water just gushing down into this watery hole, you couldn't see the bottom. There we lots and lots of butterflies (mariposas) flying around and it was just magical!

Next day was a full day in the national park! We walked everywhere, down the bottom jungle boardwalk track, did the boat ride that took you right underneath a huge waterfall and got drenched from head to toe- loved it!!!! such a thrill! and then walked up the top track and the top views were amazing, we over looked to Brazil- the waterfalls are the boarder between Argentina and Brazil!

So our trip was totally worthwhile! I know a lot of people travelling don't want to do the whole 'touristy' thing or go to places where everyone goes to. But this is just such a natural wonder must see if you go to Argentina!! Epic and magical!
Chris and I went back on Sunday for a couple of hours, leaving mum and dad at the hotel to relax before flying back to Buenos Aires. We did this 6km walk through the jungle to this solo waterfall that had a natural little pool at the bottom. If it had been a hot day it would have been a magic little swimming hole. But we had mate and sandwiches and had a great little picnic.
Half walked, half ran the track back because we had to fly back to BA.
Overall- DO IT!! it was the best!
And it was so special and wonderful to share it with my mum and dad!

Our picnic spot

Sunset to end our day at Iguazu Waterfalls

 I know this was 4 months ago, but it was so awesome that it was totally worth blogging about!! I know I have said it a lot, but we are sooooo buzzed with the opportunity to travel! I have been so wrapped up in work and trying to get this Music Department off the ground and I have forgotten what we have access too.

Anyways, we are all over it now and have already booked and paid for flights to Cusco, Peru in April 2012!! So stoked and ready to see Machu Picchu! Going to one epic adventure that is! We are planning to do the 4 day trek to the ruins! woohoooo
Come on people, stop saying you need to see South America one day, just start saving and get over here and do it!!!
xoxoxo

By the way, Waterfall in Castellano is Cataratas-
Cataratas de Iguazu (Iguazu Waterfalls)! woohoo

All my love,
~ Miki

A little travel crazy right now...

Well if you have been seeing my status updates on facebook you would have seen my many comments about Pipa in Brazil or Machu Picchu in Peru or The Caves resort in Jamaica...

I have been scanning the internet like a crazy woman every night hunting for the best flights to some of the most exotic places in South America! I am loving it and LOVING the idea that we have this opportunity to travel. It is like the little travel light went 'ping' inside me and I can't wait to go on these adventures with Chris!

It starts in a week with Salta!! I am soooo excited! Everyone is saying it is a super super good place to go to in Argentina. So I am VERY looking forward to it.
I have included a picture of where Salta is on the map (the little 'A' is Salta, you can also see Buenos Aires on the map too).

I know we have been to Mendoza and skiied, but I have to admit, that trip was booked two days before doing it.. now we have had a couple of weeks to build the excitement of travel and I am going potty waiting for the holidays!! haha

And not only that, I am on a travel planning spree! I have contacted travel companies about booking a tour for Machu Picchu next May and I am also looking at where we can go in the July Winter holidays next year... haha! I found a AWESOME way to book flights, relatively cheap so that you can go country hopping- like a around the world ticket, but it is immediate and may work out cheaper. And for all your aussies, it is bestflights.com.au! haha here is the direct link.. if you are a little bit travel thirsty like me, have a go, pick a route like sydney to brazil to mexico to new york and back... its great!!
I have been doing it from Buenos Aires and not even including Australia in my search and it works like a dream! finds the cheapest flights and air carriers!
http://www.bestflights.com.au/cheap-flights/book-flights-online-stopover

Now this all sounds like very me me me travel planning driven, Chris is still in the picture here everybody.. but he has his masters essay due this week and another one next week. We are going to lock things in on Friday together.. travel plans!! yippeeee

So here is proof, while I write this, mi esposo lindo es trabajando mucho! Please excuse the wacky photo.. just getting creative with my webcam. hahaha

So now I am going to end this by saying we have 1 more week and it is trimester break- we get one week off and away we go on our Salta adventure!
I have left a picture on here of me looking very bright and happy off to work.. I can tell you I am not this perky in the morning- But all this thinking about travel and holidays coming soon has put another pep in my step!
And I know that my nan and my mama and gidhi are reading this and so here is a nice picture of me going off to work.

I would like to put it out there- if anyone is reading and has some travel suggestions for me of anywhere from the USA down to the bottom of Argentina and everywhere in between (South America), could you please comment on this blog!! I would LOVE to hear your favourite places and suggestions.

Hope everyone is happy and well!!
Mucho besos siempre,
Mika

ps. Today I learnt that Mika in Argentina is a really vibrant colourful precious stone!! how cool is that, my nickname over here is an awesome rock! I also learnt that Mika in Peru means plastic folder... hmm

Our new garden, Salta adventures soon and BAILA!

Tonight we did something wonderful! we bought little plants for our balcony. A Jasmine vine, a pot of lavender and a pot for the herbs mama K bought for me to grow also some little flowers to welcome in the spring feeling! PRIMAVERA! woohooo... warmness and longer sunshine please come my way quicker!

I absolutely attacked reports on the weekend and am nearly done! still marking about 25 compositions and finishing one last class... my head has been so consumed with work it is ridiculous! but can see the light at the end and its so nice to see little buds popping up here and there to remind me that winter isn't forever!


We have booked our flights to Salta!!! we are going to hire a car and shoot off into the rocky desert and salt plains! sooooo excited, so ready for a change in atmosphere! We have booked at this place in Tilcara that has awesome little rustic cabañas with little mini log fires in the room that we can snuggle on our bed too and look out the window and watch the sunset... okay getting very dreamy and romantic but will be gorgeous!!
and to drive!! yaaayyy its been 8 months. and it will be driving in some of the prettiest country side in the world!
and you can do these llama walks!! how cool is that! horse riding and llama walks for us! I'm going to walk around the mountains with my very own llama!  


Also on the weekend, in between all the marking and reports, Chris and I got an amazing opportunity to go see 'Choque Urbano- BAILA' (Urban Crash- DANCE) which was so so incredible! It was at this really rustic cool arts factory in Capital called 'The Konix' and it was amazing!! the dancing and set design and costumes and talent and drumming and percussion and music was incredible! It was like a more theatrical 'stomp' group kinda thing with awesome dancing. it was a sit down show that started at 10pm and finished at 12am (normal concert time in Argentina). It was so incredible and if you live here and are reading this, then get ya butt to it! absolutely worth it! (less than US$20 by the way! awesome).
Can't wait for balmy nights in summer to go and explore the arts scene in Buenos Aires!! yippeee
if anyone has suggestions, let me know!


Okay, composition marking to get back too! 
Do you like my new blue jumper, it was a gift from two students from the USA tour- they surprised me with this gorgeous Holster jacket.. spoilt and love it!! very special.


3 weeks and we fly off to Salta.. did I mention I can't wait!?
haha


Besitos
~ miki

Mis padres y otras cosas (My parents and other things)

Well, I just thought I would tag a little footnote to Mikaela's recent posts. It is a Sunday night and I have had a day that I will describe with the following equation:

football mania + reports + uni work + incredible meat pie = good.

As Mikaela wrote, we had such a great time with my parents here. We ate a bucket load of good food, explored B.A. and its' many offerings and had a damn good time hanging out. The Milo that came with them has been getting a work out. Literally, every day I have been watching the little brown capsules of Milo goodness float to the top of my glass of milk. This simple pleasure has been welcomed indeed. We are at the 7 month point and things are getting a little more normal now. Walking down a footpath and watching for major cracks and major craps (dog craps that is), eating steaks that are as tender as the definition of tender itself, speaking and hearing Spanish, live football on from 10am to 10pm on television on Sundays, passionate people, crazy ambulances with 6 different sirens all played at once, horse drawn carts clopping down the street in front of our apartment block and late nights are just some of these normalities. And, I love it.

We have a trip planned for Salta in a couple of weeks. It's a cool place up in the North of the country next to the Andes, that has incredible rock formations, salt plains and indigenous desert communities. Looking forward to this one a lot.

In essence, I just thought I'd throw some words on this page to let you know that I'm still alive and kicking and that Mikaela is doing an awesome job keeping the updates flowing!

Ciao,
Chris

Back working late..

So I thought it was bad enough having to only do reports twice a year... but here at St George's we have not semesters (2) but trimesters... that is three times we need to write reports and have parent teacher interviews.
Now not trying to sound wingy.. but that is what is going on in my work world at the moment and it always seems to do my head in.. 1 week to churn out over 200 reports..
my head is a blubber on the beach... just hanging on the sand not able to do anything..
okay that was a little dramatic and didn't really give a clear picture of my head.. I just feel stressed and I need to give it God!

At my desk

Why do we stress.. it's so dumb.. there is no improvement in the situation because of it.. its just our hormones freakin out, our brain saying stop it and it is taxing on the body. How silly of us (or I shall speak for myself I guess).

I am here in my office marking away while Chris teaches a couple of bass students after school. I am thinking that the sun is staying out longer (but it could be my head wishing for it so hard that is appears to seem lighter at 6pm instead of darkness)...
I also, in my procrastination from marking, have whizzed around the music department and taken some snaps since what you may have seen from the first few blogs at the start of the year.

Chris with a boarder bass student after school in a prac room (mirror image from my laptop ppl.. he isn't playing left)

The big classroom

In a prac room (who left that lead on the ground! -spoken like a music teacher...)

The Acoustic room

And so it looks all neat and schmick. I think it is an amazing place to have a music department!! but... it is a cement slab built on a underground spring and is the lowest point in the school.. the constant wetness is no good.

But music is being made in this place! At lunchtime today I was running kids through a catch up music exam, gospel choir was singing in the big classroom with Simon and Chris was floating around while two groups of students were practicing in the rooms their rock songs as bands. It was so utterly musical and functioning and rad!

Did I mention that Gerri brought with her a LARGE can of Milo as a gift from Australia for us... oh my, you can't go past it!! I have been giving tastings of it to our friends here in Arg, and they like it too!! maybe we could start a milo franchise over here!? it would take off I reckon!!

Well going to head and hopefully get to the gym! I got a ton of marking done!! time to hit the reports! it is the comments that bring me down... so many to write!

Ciao for now, see I'm trying to be more frequent with my blogging.
besos,
Miki

Koelma Padres and a weekend to Uruguay

The last 3 weeks after getting back from Mendoza have been action packed!
30th July we had Gerri (Chris' mum) come to stay for 2 weeks and also Geoff (Chris' dad) for 1 week in the middle of that. It was fantastic!! It is the coolest thing getting to show off our new home and town with those we love and don't get to see! So it was a blast and yes, full on with work and everything. But that is living isn't it. all good.

Well as usual, my sister Zo gave me a kick up the bum saying I'm a lazy blogger (yes I am) and need to push on and update this dusty thing, so here we go.

With Gerri arriving we welcomed her with champs and a picada (cheese and cold meats platter) that I ordered and was made by our little local deli 'La Quesera' which was incredible and lots and lots of fun! There was so much to catch up on and lots of hugs to be had and Chris and Gerri's face was all smiles and fuzzies and it was special!
Our first day began with sleep ins and then an afternoon trip to the Recoleta markets. As the sun was setting we saw live music and bought roasted sugar peanuts and walked around soaking in the vibin' atmosphere. was great!

Gerri took rest and adventured solo into Quilmes while we were at work. Geoff then arrived on the Wednesday and they stayed in Recoleta in an apartment while we finished our week at school. The weekend was packed with exploring Capital- the four of us went to Recoleta Cementario, lovely lunches, cruised around the markets and then Chris and Geoff went to a futbol game while Ger and I had girl time. We went off to the most expensive hotel in Buenos Aires called Alvear Palace Hotel for high tea- and high and mighty and fancy and fun it was!!! it was a blast! We met up with the boys after, went to the awesome theatre turned bookshop and spent a lovely evening altogether. Chris and I stayed in Capital that night.

 

Sunday adventures: San Telmo markets down Defensa (a old cobbled stone long long road closed off for kilometres of markets on Sundays). We walked and walked and looked and bought hand made things and it was fantastic! next stop was La Boca where we had a tour through Boca Juniors Stadium - this was the highlight for Geoff and it was great to see the boys sharing that together! Then we tripped to Caminito to watch the tourists and tango dancers and all the colourful magical buildings.
It was indeed a weekend where we became tourists again, but so cool to see ger and geoff in their travelling element!

Geoff flew back to Australia on Wednesday and the following weekend was off to Uruguay with Gerri! On the Buquebus which is the super speedy and very up market ferry we head for Colonia de Sacramento. It was a very relaxing, slow paced, walking, cafes, fresh air and enjoyable weekend!
And this was the second country we have now been to in South America!! tick  =D

 

So now mama K is back in Oz, and Chris and I have been heads down tails up pushing through large amounts of marking and reports that are storming towards us. I am feeling under the pump to put it one way.
September we get one week off holidays- where to go?

In all honesty, I am hanging out for homeness in Australia- I remember at the start of the year feeling quite frustrating on spending money and going back to that side of the world when we were so keen to explore everything over here... but I am so so so keen to be at my brother's wedding and be around my grandparents and my favourite beach spots and to drive a car along the coast, or just to even jump in a car and drive!! missing my Australian home a lot! missing my girl friends and missing the Australian energy a lot. It's not a sad depressed feeling I am having, it's not even close to wanting to pack up and head back... but it is such a fondness I have for my Australian home that I am sooooo looking forward to holidaying back in Aus! I am counting down the months on the calendar!! 4 months to go.

home

Sitting here now on Sunday evening, sun is setting over our little city town Quilmes- dusky pink and gold peaking through the crispy cold clouds- content and snotty from my sinus infection... but feeling good, drinking mate and happy to be here.

Chat soon mi amigos.
Besos,
Miki

July- Part 2- Skiing in the Andes!

a sunrise flight to Mendoza

Mendoza- Los Penitentes- Skiing adventure holiday!

SO yesterday morning we arrived home by bus (and this is not just a 'bus' but a full on business class style seats that recline and you sleep like a baby!) from Mendoza! We spent one week spontaneously frolicking over the west side of Argentina in the province of Mendoza. 2 days before we decided we needed to get out of Quilmes and start to see the country we had moved over the sea to live in!

Helados en Mendoza- muy rico!

Plaza Independencia- Centro Mendoza

We spent one night in a nice hotel in Mendoza city- which is not a big big city like Buenos Aires or Sydney.. it is more like a big big town- no high rises... residential with lots of small shops and tour companies trying to get you to fly or bus somewhere else. Well from what we saw anyway staying in the centre of Mendoza city, this is the impression we got. Lots of nice parks with big water fountains etc..
We had wicked meals of Parilla delights (steak.. oh the steak that melts in your mouth! hahaha)

Off we went on search of hiring ski/snow boarding gear and buying bus tickets out to Los Penitentes, which is a tiny town with ski slopes in the Argentine side of the Andes mountains. Situated about 20kms from the boarder of Chile. We paid $5 AUD equivalent each for our bus tickets- and the bus trip was honestly a highlight of this trip!

Leaving Mendoza- us trip out to Los Pentitentes

It was 4 hours on the coach from Mendoza to Los Penitentes- and the views were absolutely spectacular!! the rugged mountains, the mountain river rushing- we went through this tiny tiny mountain town surrounded by mountains with the most beautiful pristine lake- crystal clear blue.. reflecting all these mountains.. beautiful!! photos don't do it justice... we want to come back and camp in this little town and go fishing and hiking! was superb!

Potrerillos- The Little Mountain Lake Town! Beautiful

Anyways, so this bus was super comfy and the whole time our eyes were eating up this incredible country's beauty!

Los Penitentes- View from the ski slope above

We arrived in Los Penitentes and was shocked at how little snow there was in this place... you will notice that rocks and grass are poking through... it is said that all the ash pumped up into the sky from Bariloche has ruined the snow season here in Argentina... there were two skiable slopes... which were fantastic! one took us at least 20-30mins to get down it was so long and hairy! very very fun!
the next day skiing wasn't very 'snow skiing' it was more 'ice skiing' a wind had picked up and blew all the snow off the mountain...
Now while this sounds totally sucky! haha... it was so much fun staying in a little hostel in the actual snow field- slipping in my gum boots (wellingtons) down the snowy streets looking for dinner at night and watching crazy people ski down the mountain at 9pm with fire torches putting on a magical display for all the tourists.. loved it!
Here are some photos of our adventures here:

Ready to go over the steep drop down! woooo!!

gorgeous!

Mountains- where is the snow?

The same mountains after it had snowed a little- magic!

The front slope.. the bigger better beast was up behind it..

Back to Mendoza on the bus, thinking that we are flying the next day, but no, the ash cloud is still hanging about over Buenos Aires and our flight was cancelled twice! We spent two extra nights in Mendoza in an awesome awesome hostel- clean, cosy and central! and then decided we just needed to get back to BA by Friday. so we booked out cama bus (bed bus) for the 14 hour bus trip back to BA. and we slept the whole way! felt more like a 2 hour drive!! perfect!
Buses in Argentina have a class of their own! amazing!

I'm wrapping this up pretty quick- but it was so nice to venture somewhere so different in Argentina! it makes us both so keen to hit the slopes again soon and see more of this amazing country!
Where to next? we don't know- so many options!

And now we are getting out little home in tip top shape for Chris' mama who is going to arrive tomorrow morning!! woohoooo =D can't wait to share this place with the people we love! awesome

signing out for now- hopefully will try and be a little more regular with updating this blog!

lovelove and besos,
Miki