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Well, today is my last day in Bariloche now. At 7pm tonight I board a bus and start heading back to my new home in Corrientes. A 20hr bus ride to Buenos Aires with a 4 hour stop-over there and another 11hr bus ride to reach Corrientes. No more travels for now. But this is only a pause, for I will never stop travelling now. I love it too much to actually stop.

It is a funny thing then, that I was probably one of the biggest advocates against travel before I started to actually travel myself. It was not that I had never been anywhere, but just that I had never really travelled and until I did it never made any sense to me. Of course now it does.

You see, now that I have started travelling, I do not want to stop. There is something in the mystic air of being in a new culture and new place with new discoveries and things to see. To be an unknown person in an unknown land – a discoverer, an explorer, an adventurer.

But it is not just this that makes travelling so worth the effort and cost. To me, it is the inexplicable changes that happen in your head and heart as you travel. Meeting other people helps to show you more of who you really are. It reveals exactly where you came from. Opens your eyes to what your culture really is like. Gives you more of an understanding of your roots.

Travel is one of those things that unless you actually do it, you will never understand. Some people love it and others seem to hate it. But very few people seem to return home unchanged if they have really travelled. I have been changed through my travels. Ideas expanded, understandings challenged, concepts replaced. I have also changed to become one of the biggest advocates for travel. It really is that worthwhile.

So if you are thinking about it. Stop. And just do it.

I had these sandals for 12 years and today they finally stopped going. They have been with me for many journeys.

Tasmania was the first big trip, where Brod and I rode around that place on pushbikes. Then there was Cairns and the myriads of trips up through creeks and other interesting places. New Zealand and its amazing beaches were also stepped on by these things.

A journey around the world and finally to South America where they got to experience the beaches of Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina, and the mountains of Bolivia. Their last journey was through the incredible Andes mountains around Bariloche, Argentina and they finally gave out on their second day back in Corrientes.

Tough sandals. Many memories. May they R.I.P.

On our way back to Corrientes from Bariloche, we stopped in Buenos Aires for four hours. This was enough to get out of the bus station and have a quick look around the city.

Our look around included the icon for Buenos Aires: The Obelisc, located on what is known as the widest road in the world. The other world renowned aspect of Buenos Aires is that it houses the gravesite of a very famous woman.
Continue reading “Four Hours for Famous Sights in Buenos Aires”

Well, it is old news now, but just so you know that I really did climb it, here are some photos from my phone to prove that I was on top of the most active volcano in all of both North and South America.

While we were on top of this volcano, peering down into the crater, it exploded with a deadened roar, sending globlets of molten lava into the air before our very eyes. We were not in any danger, as the display was some distance from us, but even though we were at quite a distance, the heat from the lava pressed hard against our faces, reminding us that this indeed was the real thing.

At night, we could see the red glow of the crater radiating into the night sky around it. It was certainly a magical place. The climb up took us several hours to complete, and was no easy feat. Following are the photos of our eventful times, and as promised, a story is certainly in the making now…
Continue reading “Climbing A Real Volcano (update)”