Brugge - bikes, beer & bloody good chocolate

Hello all - seems like a while - here are a few snaps of our first bank holiday - well spent in Brugge, Belgium. We didn't really know what to expect and had a great time exploring this quaint little city biking around the canals. I absolutely loved seeing everyone on bikes - made so much easier by the fantastic cycleways (and lack of steep Wellington hills).

We also went on a Chocolate Crawl around the many specialty shops, did the standard canal cruise and a peek at the local crafts. Was great to bump into Tom and Olivia on the street and have some mates to catch up with and enjoy a couple of local beers.




We tried to bike to the coast but had no idea where to go so decided instead to return back to the comfort of more beer and chocolate.




We had a quick look at Brussels before we got back on the Eurostar - though not surprisingly all we did there was buy beer and chocolate.

The Oval - one for the cricket historians

Ah, the Oval. Where England first lost to Australia in 1886, prompting newspaper headlines that English cricket had died and providing the catalyst for the trophy now known as the Ashes. The sortof place that really floats my boat.

An appropriate place to catch up with Frasier on his second day in London and enjoy a good day of cricket. After 3 false starts, the game and the weather eventually fired up and we saw plenty of high quality cricket.

Full scorecard

First pics of Oscar Edward Elliott

New Zealand - 1 drew with Charlton Athletic - 1

It was a big day out for a few of the kiwis in the London region as the All Whites were hosted by premiership team - Charlton Athletic. Two weeks out from the start of the Premiership season, the atmosphere in "the Valley" was relaxed which meant we were able to mingle with the players prior to kick off, enjoy some Corporate hospitality and enjoy premium seats on halfway for only 10 squids.

As for the game, the kiwis played admirably for a deserved 1 all draw in a good quality game - a cracking goal from the magnificently skillful Marcus Bent put Charlton ahead in the first half before a gutsy run from Jarrod Smith (who will always be referred to as son of NZ wicketkeeper, Ian Smith), set up the kiwi equaliser.

Before the game with Denmark international Dennis Rommedahl:

A few pre match beers - fanks to Charlton's new Sponsors!

Baby Oscar

Just a quick note to tell you about the latest member of the Elliott clan.

Oscar Elliott was born at around 11am on the 4th of August. He weighs 8lbs and apparently is a bit of a cone head due to a forceps delivery - but is otherwise perfect:) Pleased to hear that they didn't name him after Blair's favourite Coronation Street character - Fred. The loud, fat butcher!

No photos yet - but will post some when they come through.

G xx

Stepney Green - a place to call home

Welcome to Stepney Green - where English is a second language and signs are written in both English and Arabic. And then there's us - tucked in our nice little flat overlooking the park:



The built in wardrobe came with Gabrielle included:



And it's the same old story with the bed:



The park across the road - home to squirrels by day and Class A drug deals by night:




Ours is the top storey sun trap:

LonDon EngLand Earth

Well, we have made it to this fabulous city and with the help of 3 weeks of tremendous weather have managed to sneak in a few of the sights. I am really impressed with the greenery of the city and how easy it is to travel around (time will tell if I still think this way at Christmas!). Our timing has been nothing short of perfect as we are just in time for Wimbledon, the Cricket season, picnics in the park and of course the Football World Cup - these English really are passionate about it:


Another London icon, named after the Pakistani fast bowler Double Dekarbus:


The greatest cricketing prize on earth:


Not much to talk about at my interview with the BBC.


The view accross the Thames river from Grenwich park - Citigroup is housed in one of the high rises on the right at Canary Wharf.


Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace:


Shooting from the hip:

The Best and Worst from our Travels

Tomorrow is our final day in South America before flying to London, so we have been doing some reflecting (over a quiet cocktail or two) of our best and worst experiences in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

Gabrielle's thoughts: And those who know how bad I am at making decisions will understand how difficult this list was for me!

Best Hostel: Hostel de la Gringa (Cuzco) - but we had just been camping for three nights, so anything probably would have been good

Worst Hostel: Hostel Gringa - similar name but unfortunately inhabited by flying, stinging cockroach/weta things.

Worst toilet: A bus stop between Puno and Arequipa: Smelly squat toilets barely covered by half a potato sack for a door.

Worst experience: Food poisoning while camping at 3800 metres on the Inca Trail. More smelly squat toilets which I inhabited in the dark from about 2am onwards . . . . . Closely followed by food poisoning while travelling on a night bus to Cuzco. The "urine only" toilet got a lot more than it bargained for that night!

Best Drink: Mora (Blackberry) smoothie

Best Meal: Vegetarian big toasty sandwich with cappuccino from Jack's Cafe in Cusco. Just like home! Unfortunately (or fortunately) I couldn't face the local delicacy - Guinea Pig!

Best town/city: Copacabana, Bolivia

Favorite Countries (starting with the best): Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile.

Best activity: Travelling over and through the Salt Lakes, closely followed by mountain biking down the world's most dangerous road.

Worst Activity: The Floating Island of Uros on Lake Titicaca.

Best Walk: Yampupata to Copacabana - 17 kms around Lake Titicaca to Copacobana. Not a soul in sight :)

Best Wildlife: The wasp maiming the tarantula along the train tracks at Aguas Calientes.

Best Snackfood: Choco sodas - kind of like a thin Huntley & Palmers cracker covered in dark chocolate :)

Wierdest thing: Why is all the toilet paper pink? And how come they are still listening to bad 80's music two decades or so late?

Biggest regret (3): Not making it into the jungle in Bolivia, not managing to balance the egg on the nail at the equator, not abusing more taxi drivers.

Overrated: The Inca Trail.

Underrated: Colca Canyon (Peru) and Mt Cotopaxi (Ecuador)

Best restaurant: Jack's Cafe in Cusco

Best journey: The bus ride from Uyuni to Potosi in Bolivia.

Worst journey: The food poisoning incident on the night bus to Cusco.

Strangest person/people: All South American taxi drivers.

Looking forward to: Putting toilet paper down the toilet, seeing family and friends in London, getting away from the taxi drivers!!!



Hamish's thoughts


Best hostel: Probably the beach on the Chilean coast - we were the only ones there, had a pool and a soccer field and I had my own little hut above the girls.

Worst hostel: The rowdy La Casa Roja, Chile. I'm a bit old for such antics these days.

Worst toilet: The filthy & cold squatters on the Inca trail.

Worst experience: Pooing myself during the giardia episode.

Best drink: Definately the Oreo milkshake in Lima

Best meal: The homecooked variety by our lovely hosts on Lake Titicaca in their pokey, smokey little kitchen.

Best town / city: Mantanita on the coast of Ecuador - great for swimming, surfing, running and blobbing.

Best to Worst countries: 1. Ecuador 2. Bolivia 3. Chile 4. Peru

Best activity: The three day walk into the Colca Canyon.

Worst activity: The over-rated floating islands on Lake Titicaca.

Best walk: The 17km walk through the quiet local settlements from Yampupatu to Copacobana, Bolivia.

Best wildlife: I loved the wasp pinning the taranchala on the Inca trail.

Regrets: Not knowing the language. Missing the jungle in Bolivia - an excuse to come back.

Best journey: The Salt flats in Bolivia - indescribably beautiful.

Worst journey: The constant debacle and lies we were fed trying to fly anywhere.

I wish I hadn't met... The lizard of a travel agent in La Paz - he certainly knows what I think of him (though my attempted blackmail and threats to write to Lonely Planet were hollow).

Best restaurant: La Cupula, Copacobana, Bolivia.

Most over-rated: Floating Islands of Uros, Lake Titicaca & the, certainly when you come from New Zealand, the "Inca trail".

Most under-rated: The town of Banos, Ecuador - I loved chilling out there.

Hamish the Inca

Hamish has been physically challenged on many an occasion in South America. We don't think he would have made a very good Inca! Here are some examples:

Roof-riding the Devil's Nose Train

The train was ready to rumble early on Sunday morning from Riobamba. We weren't quite ready for it, but a late dash for tickets and cushions and we found ourselves on top of a train ready for 6 hours of bum numbing views through the Ecuadorian countryside. The early rain cleared which allowed us to bring out the camera and enjoy the ride.

It isn't called the Devil's nose for nothing - the journey ended with a 1,000m drop with a number of switchbacks to keep the crew busy.

We threw sweets to the locals but weren't so game to try the local fare ourselves.

Cotopaxi

From Latacunga we hired a local guide (Christian) and took his pipsqueak of a 4WD into the stunning Cotopaxi National Park. The park itself is massive but its centrepiece which attracts the tourists is the Cotopaxi volcanoe - standing at just a few pompadoms below 6 000m.

We took a stroll around the wetlands in the park, from where we had a perfect view of Cotopaxi and the hills around.

Don´t be fooled by the photos below, in truth we drove most of the way up (to 4 500m) and walked the remaining hour to the refuge at 4 800m. The walk was reasonably difficult in pretty chilly winds and there was a noticable lack of oxygen at that altitude.



We had a funny old lunch of chips and banana chips and then strolled a bit higher to get a better view of the valley below.