Wow! It is 2013!!

I can't believe it has been MONTHS since our last update! I think I have been avoiding the update due to the fact that there is just TOO MUCH to update about!
So I have wacked together a video to sum up our 2012 travels. Please keep in mind that it is full of our random memories and I really hope you enjoy!

Well I hope this is the start to being a frequent updater of our blog! Because life here in Argentina is still happening!
We frolicked across the globe for 2 months in Dec to Feb and have so much to catch up about!!
So stay tuned people!
Hope you enjoy our crazy video with some fun footage of the places we travelled and explored last year!
Big hugs,
~ Miki
xo

Rio - Final edition of Brasil!

We are backtracking a bit now, but we can't go past mentioning the amazing time we had in Rio! After arriving at our awesome accomodation at Pousada Favela Cantagalo (in a safe zone of favela right between Ipanema and Copacobana), we nailed some great burgers at a local cafe and waited for the arrival of my parents!

They traveled around 20 hours from Aus, via Chile to meet us in Rio and boy was I happy to see them!
Together we spent the next 5 days exploring Rio, relaxing on the beach and generally sucking up Brazilian culture.

Beaches - because it was "winter" the beaches were relatively chilled and not as crowded as the crazy summer postcard shots that I was expecting (in reality it was still packed), so we spent each morning hanging, people watching, swimming and relaxing on the beach. Ipanema seemed to be a little nicer and vibier, so we tended to chill there.

Football - We booked a tour to go and see Vasco Da Gama vs Botafogo, which was wicked! The company was called 'Viator' and we would recommend it highly. We rarely do tours, but felt it would be safer to do so in Brasil. They picked us up (along with about 20 other tourists) and took us to the stadium, whilst giving plenty of stats and info about the game and the players etc. The game was actually pretty bland, apart from the appearance of Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf, who dominted the game with European style passing and flair. Most of the Brasilian players just booted the ball up the field, sprinted like maniacs and then fell over all the time. So, we decided to liven things up a little by imagining what it would be like to sit in a pulsating crazy Brasilian football game (note the "excited" faces in the background!)

The Big Jesus - After getting some advice from some young backpackers, we fanged it up to 'The Big Jesus' (as we liked to call it) at 10am in the morning to beat a LOT of the crowds! It was a great tip.
Instead of waiting for a train, we took a dodgy taxi up to the top and got short lines and great views. Mum was particularly stoked as this was a 'bucket list' item for her.
After our minds had been well and truly blown by the stunning views and a couple of hugs, it was time to head back to the beach!

Sugarloaf Mountain - Again, a cheeky backpacker conversation helped us to time our run up to the top of Sugarloaf perfectly. We were told to aim for sunset (5:15pm in Winter) for the most breathtaking views and not only did we get the time spot on, but also we chose the perfect day. I think for all four of us...it was one of the most spectacular sunsets we had ever seen! We were mesmerised and stayed up there snapping photos for a good hour or two. Wow!

Overall, Rio was an amazing end to our Brasilian adventure. It was safer, cleaner and more modern than we all expected and we could really see the booming economy seeping through all aspects of life in Rio. It is a place we think we could easily live! After all, who wouldn't want summer all year round :) The people were friendly, the transport was smooth and the vibe was great!

A cool city that all should check out when in South America. For us, it is just a short flight north...and that is one thing we love about Life in Argentina. :)

Chau,
Chris

Salvador- Edition 2 of Brasil

Where to begin?
The second instalment of our Brazilian adventure. We landed in sunny and hot Salvador- please remember that we are travelling in a Brazilian weather which is AWESOME! Tropical and warm and because it is winter, it is not summer holiday season- I can't imagine how more crowded it could be in areas!

We stayed in an awesome BnB which I found on airbnb.com but can also be found on Tripadvisor at Pousada de Bem Estar Esmeralda.
We loved staying here- Such amazing hospitality and beautiful hosts! Very generous, caring and happy people! When we go back we would stay here again!
Not to mention how amazing the french cooked breakfasts were!!

It was a good walk into the cultural centre which I will talk about in a second- we did a lot of walking, but it was so beautiful and easy to feel like you were becoming a part of this vibrant place!
Public transport was great too- but we were lucky we could speak spanish which helped us understand Portuguese surprisingly well. At least we could ask for bus stops and directions etc... Something I think someone who could only speak english would have trouble doing.
But the Pousada/bnb was very helpful and have us so many tips and how to get to places!


A mini side story- but boys be warned- I am talking about jeans and butts... sorry-
I even bought myself pairs of jeans!! Now this is exciting for me because I think jeans are the hardest things to buy! Is any girl with me on this? How hard is it to find a pair of comfy jeans that actually fit correctly in the right spots?! Well Brazil is the place to get them!! Brazilians love their booty- I'm talking women with mean butts! It is fact (and I saw it with my own eyes) that women get bum implants! No joke, they seriously get cosmetic surgery to get an upgrade on their buttocks! which was PERFECT for me because I have booty and I found my magic travelling pants! Jeans that look good and feel good and fit in all the right places!! yayaya!!! and cheap cheap too!!
so ladies with the booty- Brazil is your place for pants and a praised rear end- Hallelujah!

Okay- Back to the travel journey
It was located on the outskirts of
'The Pelourinho' which is the historical centre of Salvador. All the houses, churches and buildings have been beautifully restored in the traditional colonial style of the Portuguese.
We got very familiar with this place as we were staying close by - only a 20 minute walk and we found ourselves in this colourful place!
It was also really evident how rich and vibrant the Afro culture still was in Salvador! In the Bahian food, culture and music and just the people! It was fantastic and so enriching!! You just know you are travelling when in Brazil- and loving it all at the same time!

We also went for 2 nights to a beach side village called Praia do Forte which we LOVED!! It was set up for tourists, but it wasn't tourist season- It suited us just fine! We went snorkelling and ate some of the best pizza I have had in a long time (wood fired thin and crispy gourmet goodness!). There was a turtle sanctuary that was really quite amazing. As you can see I was so amazed I turned into a turtle... Actually, highly amusing, I got stuck!
There were baby turtles that were 3 days old!! absolutely amazing and gorgeous to see them flipping around in a safe little pool! Was cool!

We loved walking up and down the beach fringed with palm trees and swimming and being in paradise! what more could you want!?

It was also cool seeing all the stadiums going up for the Football World Cup 2014! Pretty epic constructions going on and I can guarantee a fire has been set in Chris' belly to get to the World Cup somehow... We would LOVE to live in Brazil- there are some super big draw cards!! But it is a passing thought.. nothing yet on where we will be or what we will be doing yet... Still loving life here in Argentina.

But back to Salvador- hmm what else?! It was just super cool!!!



We did have one special night in a really really nice hotel in The Pelourinho. Amazing rooms and HUGE bed and nice pool with an amazing view and you can see. The food wasn't so hot.. very bad food actually which was a bummer- But very nice hotel! We had a great afternoon pretending we were king and queen by the pool with the view watching the sunset. special stuff!




At this point in our second week of the trip we are thinking we never want to leave Brazil!! We were eating and drinking so much tropical fruit and eating Acai (have I explained what that is yet? I can't remember?!) Just being happy together.

Totally glad we picked Brazil as a country to travel while living here in South America. We would definitely (and hopefully) get back there!!

Besos a todos,
Miki
xo

Skip June and hit July with BRASIL! Pipa Edition

June was a continuation of work work work.. Chris had so many events he was managing in the Theatre over this month- Each week there was some Musical or play production or concert or big important assembly.. It was a little too hectic! But not here to complain, just trying to paint a picture of how busy that month was- I don't miss it, put it that way.

I put together a big event called 'The Big Sing' after directing the College Musical. It was a hugely successful night with all Choirs of the school coming together, community choirs, special guests and soloists- it was one might vocal showdown! haha 

It is after successful events like that that just make both Chris and I (speaking for you here babe.. haha) feel so full in the energy we put in. It is this extra curricular stuff that makes this job worth while! But it is so much on top of all the other normal demands of the job... need to find the balance. But loving the work journey as we go! Lots to learn and grow and develop- it's awesome!

So we are just going to skip June completely for now because compared with July, you'll forget I even mentioned work stuff.

WE WENT TO BRASIL FOR 3 WEEKS! and it was the best ever!!

Where to begin? 

Well I am going to talk about each week in separate posts. This edition is:

- The Pipa Edition -

We spent the first week up on the North Eastern Coast of Brasil, an hour South of Natal in a beautiful paradise tiny town called Pipa.

The best way I can describe it is a 'Latin Byron Bay'- a tiny Bohemian, tropical, natural town by the sea, with nothing to do but swim with dolphins, eat eat eat yum yum food, surf, swim, lay in the sun, swim some more, read books in a hammock, eat, swim.. okay you get the idea- just completely what we wanted and what our tired bodies needed!

We stayed in the most AWESOME Pousada!! I have reviewed in Tripadvisor.com if you are interested in knowing more about it. It was called Pousada Pomar da Pipa and was so beautiful and awesome!! We would fully go back!!

Our days in Pipa were spent swimming in the beautiful clean aqua sea. We had very hot sunny weather and the water temp was warm and lovely! Lots of places to eat fresh delicious seafood right on the beach. We did spend one afternoon (probably one of my fave days of the whole trip) at a place called The Beach Club in Pipa (to the right of the main beach, past all the tourist lunch umbrellas on the sand). 

We laid all afternoon around on the sun loungers, ordered fresh pineapple juices, order my first cocktail (a cocktail virgin.. sad I know.. But I don't drink.. so there you go)- It was a Caiparinha, Brazil's national cocktail drink.. it was okay.. Fresh juices were way better!

We had grilled prawns and salad and spent all afternoon, swimming, eating, taking funny photos as you can see and just being holiday tourist bums! loved it!!

The restaurants in Pipa are great and had many great meals, from hot corn cooked fresh on the street, to salads and lots of bean dishes, to grilled seafood and yummy yummy fried 'cassava' chips- like a tropical potato, more starchy but sooo good when fried!!

We laid in our hammock a lot together for siestas and to escape the sun a little.. It was just a paradise holiday!

I recommend Pipa to EVERYONE! It was superb!

We rented a moto one day which was super fun to cruise around the coastline together- it was magic!

The coastline in Pipa itself is amazing- big red cliffs with white sand beaches and blue blue sea! Had some fun taking photos and exploring!

It was a treat week of unwinding and doing/going wherever the wind carried us. 

Stay tuned for the second week in Brazil- Salvador de Bahia Edition!

Big hugs,

Miki

xo