Great Day, Runny Night

We have just returned from a top adventure out to Lake Titicaca–the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at 3,812 metres above sea level. Titi means Puma and you can see from this link how the lake actually looks like a puma chasing a rabbit from above (just like the way Orion looks like a guy holding his sword).

It is amazing how many inca derived tribes still exist there living seemingly traditional lifestyles untouched by modern conveniences (but more on that later).

The first stop on the lake was the island of Uros. These special islands are made from reeds. No land, just reeds, floating around the lake. Each island sustains around 12 families each. The Uros people eat the reeds, sleep on the reeds and even make special boats from the reeds. Walking on the island is like walking on a giant inflatable dingy.

We are pleased to report that we have taken instruction on how to build said islands and will be commencing construction on Lake Ginninderra on our return. The main benefit of living on a floating island in Peru is the exemption from paying taxes. Do you think John Stanhope will extend us the same privilege?

The next port was the island of Amantani. This is where we had our homestay with a local couple. Here we had the chance to participate in a fiesta complete with traditional costumes and bonfire. We have acquired some fancy new dance moves from our "mother" which we can impart on our return.

Everything was going swimmingly..........until.....

It was on our return trip up the steep path back to our homestay on the hill that Matthew felt something brewing from within. This was not good news because as we foreshadowed earlier in this entry, the islands of Lake Titicaca, while beautiful, are not furnished with modern conveniences we take for granted.

It must be said that the outhouse was of decent construction, but after several visits throughout the night, Matthew can now give you a full description of its function.

Suffice to say, after 24 hours of unpleasantness he is now on the mend and now rearing to tackle the 4850 metre mountain passes of our Lares Trek which will start on Sunday morning.

We´ll tell you all about it when we get back!

I'm so dizzy, my heading is spinning. Like a whirlpool.....

Please forgive any seeming incoherence in today's entry. We are both feeling the light-headed effects of altitude as we blog from a computer terminal 3827 metres above sea level give or take a stairwell.

Yesterday we took a tour of downtown Lima, the first opportunity we'd had to do so having previously been too scared to hail a taxi from Miraflores into Centro Lima. When we finally did our fears were fully realised. As you can imagine indicating is optional and the lines are just are just rough suggestions. The cab drivers seem to have a mystical power that allows them to conjure up the space for three cars where my driving experience would tell you only two (maybe one and a half), kind of like Jesus with the loaves and fishes. I guess that is one of the advantages of living in a 98% devout catholic country.

Centro Lima itself is very colonial European and is well worth a look. Very large squares with central statues of local conquerors/liberators. We had the whole how many horses legs in the air vs did he die in battle debate, which I think is just an urban legend anyway.

The highlight of the area is Franciscan chapel which houses religious art with a Peruvian twist (with Jesus feasting on Guinea pig in the portrayal of the last supper) as well as the bones of 25,000 Limoleans bodies that have rested in communitas for hundreds of years in the church catacoombs before the existance of cemetaries in the city. The absolute highlight of the visit was the "harry potter-esque" library complete with spiral staircase and dusty books dating from the 1600's.

So we're now in the lovely Puno among the Quechan people in their colourful outfits and very spiffy headwear. Matthew has purchased a local hombre style hat. Of course this purchase was first preceeded with the trying on of the hat for the seniorettas, much to the amusement of the vendor whom was unaware of Matthew's penchant for such apparal. In any case he is now working on a serious mo to complement the outfit. He was very chuffed because our local guide assumed he was Latino and started speaking to him in Espanol! Only after she regaled him with what seemed like her life story did he regretfully own up to not understanding a word she said.

Tomorrow we head out to the islands on Lake Titticaca that are man-made from reeds. We'll have a homestay there and really get amongst the locals. Think of us heading to the out-house in the middle of the night, floating along in the darkness.

What Happens on Tour Stays on Tour

Unless you read it on our blog of course!

We have just spent our first day in Lima. Well almost a first day because we got to the hotel at 2am last night and then slept until 1pm today. We are not as lazy as you think though, we had to fly via LA which means we were in the air for 22hrs plus 5 hours in line for US customs after filling in our¨were you ever in the Nazi party?¨ questionnaire. Then when Matt got pulled up on the national security watch list he couldn´t sit down for the first 5 hours of the Peru leg.

Lima is an attractive city and we´ve enjoyed spending today just people watching. Meredith is also making a mental list of all the alpaca yarn shops we have to visit on our return in a couple of weeks.

Our phrase book is getting a good workout, the only slip up was ordering 3 main meals at the restaurant tonight—and we couldn´t work out why she was looking at us like we were greedy pigs! She didn´t say anything, maybe she thought we were looking for a super-sized American meal!

There is no sign of the earthquake except for a relief effort drive being run from the centre of town. There were also a few aid workers on our flight to Peru as well as many red cross teams at the airport.

Tomorrow we are going to head to check out the coast and a monastery with some good catacombs. Real skulls have been promised!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We have ponied up our cash and are ready to go. We are leaving on the 17th of August for our exploration of the old new world. Our first stop will be Lima Peru before embarking on a 2 week tour that will include a visit to Lake Titicaca, a four day trek to Machu Pichu, and spending a day in the Amazonian jungle. I will remember not to do any number one's in the river, lest a spiny fish find a home where it shouldn't.

After South America we will be heading to Washington DC to visit with J&J Young. They will be tres pleased to see us too! We will be there for around 10 days exploring the local scenery, and exciting venues such as Baltimore, Delaware and New Jersey. Broadway might get a look in, but as you know Matt isn't too keen on musical theater :-P.

On the way home we will be making a quick stop in Vegas baby. There I hope to win back the cost of our trip at the black jack tables. Hopefully we can also see Megatron and the Allspark at Hoover dam.

Stay tuned for further updates of our adventure as it unfolds. It could be really interesting, unlike the standard descriptions of our mundane lives.

Sorry, what was that?

After around 2 months trying out the benefits of a 'hearing instrument' I made the difficult choice today to send it back.

After a false start initially (due to some fitting issues), my audiologist was able to make some adjustments and pump up the volume on the whole thing. It looked promising for a while, but over the last couple of weeks of the trial I began to get some hard core ringing in my ear.

More testing revealed that my hearing has further deteriorated and thus the benefits of wearing the hearing aid, even with the volume up high, are marginal at best. That considered, I decided the $4,000 could be better spent elsewhere.

I am quite sad about it all. I was really hopeful that wearing a hearing aid would be the answer to my audiological prayers but I guess the reality is that sometimes you just have to accept the way things are, and that even with impressive technology there are still things today that medicine just can't fix. It also makes me conscious of the need to be more judicious in looking after the aspects of my health that I can actually control (like not eating quite so much turkish delight ice-cream).

Overall though, I am grateful that my deaf ear is something I can live with. I wish the same could be said for our family friend Elaine who succumbed to cancer this week. She was a strong woman and a bloody good maths teacher. I respected her immensely and I can't believe she's gone...

Anyway, next time you see me, don't forget to ask me for the full story on my 'aid'—just don't be surprised if you have to ask me twice!

Still Alive

This is just a note to the world at large that we (and this blog) are still alive and we will start updating it again now.

It was Matt's birthday last week, his 29th infact, which means he is officially nearly old. Meredith has been sick for a couple of weeks, but being the trooper that she is has been soldiering through. She actually took a couple days of work, which is unusual. She had better watch out, she only has 110 left. Now what happened to that cashing in sick leave thing they were talking about? That would have been the only good thing to come out of the work without choices legislation.

Wedding bells, astrological events and more

Last weekend we attended my cousin Sally's wedding. It was an outdoor affair and even though we thought we were going to die in the 38 degree heat, it really didn't seem that hot in the end.

Sally looked beautiful, and my Aunty Polly had done a fantastic job on all the flowers and decorations at the reception. It was wonderful that she got a standing ovation lead by her new son-in-law Graham during the speeches. She certainly deserved it.

One of the great highlights of the night was the chance to see Comet McNaught shooting across the sky. (all credit for the pic goes to John who snapped a much better picture than we ever could, later in the week).


Happy Australia day to everyone for today. Especially all those celebrating away from home!