Customs confirmation

We've heard today that Customs will be inspecting our household contents this Saturday or Monday next week. Assuming there are no complications we're hope to have it delivered to our apartment by the middle of the week.

Our refresh continues apace. Garry finished painting all of the doors on the top floor of our apartment today. He's only got the kitchen ceiling and staircase balustrade to do and the entire place will have been completely. We could have a complete home within seven days.

On less positive note, we've discovered that the driver who collected our car for shipment to Australia drove through London's congestion charging zone and never paid the standard fee for doing so. As a result, while we were travelling back to Australia a penalty notice was sent to our former address, followed by a further fine when we failed to respond to this notice.

It seems that the matter has been handed to the county court and baliffs are now involved. We're understandably furious that this happened and are waiting for our removal company to resolve the matter. The entire incident has left us wondering if our UK credit record has now been trashed.

New Zealand's "darkest day"

Another terrible tragedy has struck New Zealand today. A second major earthquake rocked the city of Christchurch at 12.51pm this afternoon. Today's tremor, registering magnitude 6.3 jolted the city at the worst possible time with the central city packed with lunch-hour shoppers, office workers and school children. While less severe than the 7.1 quake that struck on September 4, its epicenter was relatively shallow and located closer to the city centre.

As a result, the quake’s destructive force has proven far greater. Buildings have collapsed around the city killing at least 65 people. This toll is expected to rise as at least 100 remain trapped in the rubble tonight. Many fear that the final toll will exceed 200 people. The nation’s prime minister has described today’s tragedy as possibly New Zealand's "darkest day.

My mother was born in the city and so many extended family members still live in the area. Over the course of day we’ve been able to make contact with all of them. I’m relieved to report that all are safe but badly shaken. As you can imagine this destructive quake has trashed the contents of their respective homes, toppling furniture and throwing the contents of cupboards onto the floor. My Aunt whose house was condemned after last year’s quake has now been impacted by liquefaction. Her garage was flooded and her yard has been smothered by layers of mud. While the damage is heart-breaking it seems she may have been relatively lucky.

In town, one of the destroyed office blocks, the Pyne Gould Corp building, was occupied by my brother’s employer. While he’s based in Auckland much of the company’s IT infrastructure resides in Christchurch. He’s now working tirelessly through the night rebuilding their network. The media is reporting that up to 30 people are trapped in ruins of this building; roughly half work for my brother's company. Understandably there are grave fears for their safety as one death has already been confirmed on site.

UPDATE: February 23
My aunt has had to abandon her home as the area is still without water, sewerage and power. She's now staying with my cousin. My brother finally got home at 3pm today after working 36 hours non-stop. At least five people have been rescued from the PCG building overnight. However,the official death toll has climbed to 75 and is expected to rise further. At least another 80 bodies are believed to be buried at the site of the CTV building that also collapsed yesterday. Other news reports claim 22 people have died in the rubble of Christchurch Cathedral.

All day today new images of the earthquake's devastation have poured into newsrooms showing unbeliveable scenes of damage across the city. Christchurch has been seriously battered. Unfortunately the worst may not be over. Regular aftershocks continue to rattle the city, inflicting further damage. Tonight one of Christchurch's tallest buildings, the Grand Chancellor Hotel, is on the verge of collapse.

UPDATE: March 10
The official death toll in Christchurch now stands at 166 people. Authorities are still saying the final toll is likely to come in close to 200. As the last two weeks have unfolded the scenes of utter destruction across the city have begun to reveal the true extend of the quake's damage. Large sections of the inner city are literally in ruins and hundreds of building will have to be demolished.

Photo source: The New Zealand Herald

Mission accomplished (almost)!

Last weekend we broke the back on our floor to ceiling refresh of the apartment. As you can see from the photo above it’s been chaos in the living room for most of the week. However, I can now report that we’ve all but finished painting the top floor of our apartment. I’m also relieved to report that our chosen colour palette seems to have worked. Incredibly, even the original (and rather cheap looking) kitchen finish now looks somewhat smarter. Garry has a few minor paint jobs to complete such as painting the doors and the kitchen ceiling. We’ll then be ready for our furniture. There’s no word yet as to when Customs will release our household contents. We remain hopeful it’ll be sometime this week.

Temperatures hit 30C in Sydney on Sunday. Unfortunately the air-conditioning unit for the top floor broke down last Thursday and no repairman was available until today. As a result, our final painting blitz had to be conducted in the sweltering heat. We sweated buckets the entire day. I’m hoping we’ve also lost a few extra pounds in the process. Since our return to Australia I’ve been forced to take my belt in two notches. A few more months of daily exercise and healthy eating should see us trying on clothes we’ve not worn for years.


We’ve also made progress on a number of other apartment refresh activities. Here are a few highlights:

• While the air-con repairman was here today Garry arranged for a new, modern control panel to be installed. The panel downstairs was replaced a couple of years ago when the downstairs unit failed. It makes the original panels look rather cheap and nasty. Our new panel will be installed this Friday.
• Today we had the carpet deep cleaned upstairs. It’s made an incredible difference. I’ve gone from hating the carpet to feeling I can live with it for a couple of year.
• Tonight Garry’s surfing the web looking for new colour coordinated faceplates for our light switches and power points.
• I also want to tile the chipped and worn splash back in the kitchen. This should also give the kitchen a slightly smarter look. We’ve yet to find the right tiles so this job hasn’t progressed.
• Last Friday I had a joiner come in to quote for minor alterations to the base of our staircase. Hopefully this will all be in place before the end of March.
• Last week I placed an order for new blinds throughout the property. They should be also here some time towards the end of March.
• Finally, the cable guy came in on Friday and connected us to the network.

Piece by piece we’re slowly getting the house in order.

Once our furniture arrives the next project we’ve lined up is the purchase of some modern outdoor furniture. We saw some impressive dining suites several years ago just prior to our move to London. We’ve no idea if the warehouse we visited is still in business. As for outdoor seating, three years ago while walking the streets of Berlin I saw a stunning sofa and chair suite. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t make a note of the brand or the store it was in.

However, I had a brainwave a couple of weeks ago. Using the magic of Google Maps and Google Street View I located the store in question, surveyed its website and finally tracked down the missing brand name. As luck would have it there are two retailers in Sydney that sell this product. The power of the Internet is amazing. I’m now dying to see if this furniture really is as perfect as I’ve been fantasizing all these years. I’ll let you the verdict.

Refreshing news

Four weeks after arriving back in Australia Customs remains in possession of our household contents. We heard early last week that it began processing shipments that landed a week before our own. With a little luck, our house lot may be released next week. 

The delay is proving very fortuitous. It’s given us plenty of time to give the entire apartment a thorough refresh. Two weeks ago Garry boldly took on the project of repainting the entire apartment; both stories from ceiling to floor. We completed work on the lower floor last Monday, just in time for the carpet layers to install the new carpet the following day. It looks stunning.

Attention has now shifted to the top floor. Over the weekend Garry finished the final coat of paint on the master bedroom and today he had a go at putting a final coat on our new feature wall. We’ve painted the stairwell wall that links both floors a stunning terracotta colour; a British Paints shade called Outback Sunset. The effect is impressive. 

Garry also gave the main balcony a thorough clean yesterday and so this space is also starting to come together again. Later this week we’ll start work on the final two rooms; the living room and the kitchen. It’ll be a mammoth job as both rooms have high ceilings and plenty of surface area to paint. 

Tomorrow we're getting the windows in this space measured for some stunning modern blinds we’ve discovered. The bedrooms are being dressed in the Luxaflex Luminette Privacy Sheers while the living area will receive a new Luxaflex range called Pirouette. They’ll take five weeks to arrive and are guaranteed to bankrupt us for months. 

To complete our refresh I’ve arranged for a joiner to come in on Wednesday and quote for minor cosmetic improvements to the base of the staircase. Garry is also ordering some slim-line light switch covers and new downlight covers to add the finishing touches to his repainted walls. 

Once it’s all in place we can take our time drawing up plans for a more extensive renovation in 18-14 months’ time. We reckon it’ll take us at least that long to agree on the design, secure body corporate and council approval and finally book the relevant tradesmen.

We moved back into the apartment on Friday morning. The move was totally unplanned. The night before our move I discovered I’d forgotten to extend our service apartment booking. A quick check with reception confirmed that the apartment had been booked and no others were available. We were left with little choice but to move out. 

We spent Friday morning shifting gear into our apartment and shopping at K-Mart for a list of living essentials. We’re now living in one room downstairs, sleeping on a couple of air mattresses, and watching TV nestled in bean bags. We’re now patting ourselves on the back for saving at least one week of fees in the serviced apartment, even after paying for cheap crockery and cutlery. 

We’re using a $12 saucepan and frypan set for cooking and even found a perfectly decent good steam iron for $14. Fortunately, we’d left an old table in the apartment and our new washing machine had been delivered earlier in the month, along with a TV I’d bought for the bedroom. 

We have everything we need to set up a temporary home until our household effects are released. Hopefully, life will almost be back to normal by the end of February.

Hot but happy

It’s been too long between posts! Our first two weeks back in Sydney have simply flown by. I’ve found myself drawn straight back into work with a stream of meetings, emails and conference calls. As has been the pattern for many years I’ve found myself up before breakfast most days for calls and back on the phone for a few more after dinner. Antarctica is rapidly becoming nothing more than a distant memory!

The weather has been simply glorious since our return. Temperatures have peaked in the mid-30s while Australia Day, the nation’s national holiday, proved to be Sydney’s hottest public holiday for more than twenty years. Garry spent the public day enjoying a traditional BBQ with friends while I worked as I had an American business colleague in town. However, it wasn’t all toil. We broke away for a couple of hours shortly before noon to walk across the harbour bridge and enjoy a leisurely lunch at Circular Quay.


We timed our excursion perfectly. As we crossed the bridge the annual boat regatta was drawing to a climax with vessels churning up the water in all directions. As noon approached a ceremonial gun opposite the Opera House let off a booming 21-gun salute. Lunch was then followed by a ferry ride back to Milson Point to resume working for another couple of hours.

The walk across the bridge is just the start of a new regime for myself. I'm determined to lose the "Heathrow Injection" obtained while living in London. I first heard this phrase about six years ago when a returning expat noted that everyone relocating to the UK inevitably puts on 10-20 pounds. At the time I simply chuckled. However, Garry and I soon discovered it was no laughing matter. The cold weather and indoor lifestyle in London really does encourage considerable weight gain. In an attmept to reverse the damage I've now started walking to and from work; a distance of almost six kilometres daily. Garry has also put us on a low-fat, lean meat and salad diet.

On the home front things are slowly falling into place. We took procession of our apartment mid-week once our tenants had vacated. The initial inspection proved a little disappointing. While the tenants had generally kept the place in good condition it looked tired. It’s been at least ten years since the walls were last painted and its suffered inevitable wear and tear. I think we’ve found the motivation we needed to plan our long mooted renovation!

For now we’ll repaint the entire apartment and repair minor dings. Garry has already been down to the hardware store several times to purchase trestles and painting gear. Last night we settled on colour palette. We’re planning a vibrant orange/red feature wall, soft brown and cream highlights and a brilliant white ceiling. It’s a huge paint job that’s bound to keep Garry busy for the next week.

We’ve been told by our removal company that our household effects should be released from customs and quarantine some time after February 7. The ship carrying our container safely arrived in Sydney on January 23. Garry had been tracking its imminent arrival on the Internet almost daily. We’ve also purchased a new washing machine and a new TV for the bedroom. Piece by piece our lives are falling back into place.

New posts uploaded

I plan to spend the next week or so filling in a few gaps in the current blog record of our recent travels. This includes posts on our time in Chile, including Easter Island, and several posts capturing highlights from the final days of our train journey through the Swiss Alps. 

As a start, I've posted updates today about our brief Santiago stopover and an early morning tour of the El Tatio geyser field high in the Andes. Both posts have been back-dated so that they appear online roughly around the date they occurred. You'll have to scroll down a little to find them. Check back during the week for accompanying photos I've yet to upload. Watch for more such posts in the days ahead.

Finally, for those so inclined, here's a day-by-day summary of our extraordinary sabbatical itinerary back to Australia. This little beauty has tested my HMTL coding skills to their limit. I've included all of the 11th-hour itinerary changes that occurred after we were stranded in Antarctica for three days.

DAY	DATE	LOCATION	NOTES
SAT	11 Dec	Vienna	Le Meridien Hotel
SUN	12 Dec	Vienna	Royal Palace
MON	13 Dec	Vienna	Christmas Markets
TUE	14 Dec	Salzburg	Mozart Dinner Concert
WED	15 Dec	Kitzbuhel	Picked up by Hamish
THU	16 Dec	Kitzbuhel	Hahnenkamm lunch
FRI	17 Dec	Liechtenstein	Hotel Residence
SAT	18 Dec	Bern	Glacier Express: Chur to Brig
SUN	19 Dec	Interlaken	Day exploring Bern
MON	20 Dec	Interlaken	Jungfraujoch Railway
TUE	21 Dec	Santiago	Evening flight from Frankfurt
WED	22 Dec	Punta Arenas	Transfer flight to Punta Arenas
THU	23 Dec	Tour Day 1	Join group for Fly Cruise Antarctica
FRI	24 Dec	Tour Day 2	Flight to South Shetlands
SAT	25 Dec	Tour Day 3	Mikkelsen Harbour & Cierva Cove
SUN	26 Dec	Tour Day 4	Dorian Bay & Charcot Cove
MON	27 Dec	Tour Day 5	Paradise Bay & Neko Harbour
TUE	28 Dec	Tour Day 6	Deception Island & Half Moon Island
WED	29 Dec	Tour Day 7	Stranded in Antarctica
THU	30 Dec	Tour Day 8	Stranded in Antarctica
FRI	31 Dec	Tour Day 9	NYE stranded in Antarctica
SAT	1 Jan	Santiago	Flight to Punta Arenas
SUN	2 Jan	Tour Day 1	Hotel Taha Tai. Easter Island
MON	3 Jan	Tour Day 2	Rano Kau. Orongo. Ana Kakenga
TUE	4 Jan	Tour Day 3	Puna Pau. Rano Raraku. Ahu Tongariki
WED	5 Jan	Tour Day 4	Flight to Santiago
THU	6 Jan	Tour Day 1	Morning flight to Calama
FRI	7 Jan	Tour Day 2	Salar de Atacama
SAT	8 Jan	Tour Day 3	Tulor & Pukara de Quitor
SUN	9 Jan	Tour Day 4	El Tatio. Fly to Santiago
MON	10 Jan	Santiago	City Bus Tour. Evening flight to NZ.
TUE	11 Jan		Cross the Dateline
WED	12 Jan	Tauranga	Transfer in Auckland
THU	13 Jan	Tauranga
FRI	14 Jan	Auckland	Evening with Matt & Shelley
SAT	15 Jan	Sydney	Home again!

Shipping, shopping and settling in

We’re finally back in Sydney. Initial preparations for setting up home again are already underway. We already know the container holding our household effects and Saab is scheduled to dock in Sydney on January 23. It’ll then take up to six weeks to clear quarantine and customs. 

We googled the location of the ship carrying our worldly processions last week and discovered that it was due to dock in Freemantle, West Australia on January 15; the same day we arrived back in Australia ourselves. Until our household effects clears customs we’ll been camped out in a serviced apartment literally across the road from our own property. This should make it reasonably easy to complete final preparations for moving back in. 

Garry has already taken it upon himself to repaint the entire apartment when our tenants vacate on January 25. The current paintwork is at least nine years old now so a touch up is well overdue. We also have several appliances and numerous minor items to purchase as part of our relocation. The shopping list includes a new washing machine and some outdoor furniture for our expansive main balcony. 

Of course we also have the joy of sorting out phone lines, cable television and all manner of regular household utilities. Garry plans to manage most of these chores in between job interviews. With a little luck we should be settled back in our own home by mid-February. 

At this point I’m unsure if I’ll continue maintaining the blog as its original purpose will have well and truly ended. Dear readers, what do you think?

The final flight

Garry and I are sitting in the Qantas lounge at Auckland Airport. After exactly five weeks on the road, we're preparing to board the final flight on our leisurely journey back to Australia. In a few hours from now, we'll begin our new (or is that old ?) life in Australia. It's been five years, three months, and nine days since we departed Sydney in 2005 to embark on our grand European adventure. It's hard to believe that another chapter in our lives is drawing to a close.


We've capped off our eventful journey home with three gloriously relaxing days at my parent's beachside home. The weather has been glorious with blue skies and sunshine every day. We've also made a daily pilgrimage down to the beach to soak our feet in the surf and watch majestic waves rolling in one after the other.


We even took advantage of our jet lag early one morning rising in time to watch sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. It was a magic experience and perhaps the ideal way to draw a metaphorical line under our time in London. A new adventure is dawning. Stay tuned for more updates as we work to settle back into Australian life.


• Posted by iPhone
• Location: Puhinui Rd,Auckland Airport,New Zealand

24 hours in Santiago

Almost six million of Chile’s 15 million people call Santiago home. As a result, the capital of Chile is a sprawling, bustling metropolitan that doesn’t look that dissimilar to any other large city. We’d originally booked ourselves into the Sheraton using loyalty points for three nights, but had to abandon this plan after becoming stranded in Antarctica over New Year's Eve. As a result, we ended up spending less than 36 hours in Santiago. However, despite our truncated itinerary, this proved to be enough time to sample the city's highlights.


To initially orient ourselves, we bought tickets for the hop-on, hop-off bus that circles the inner city from 9.00am to 6.30pm every day. The entire circuit takes roughly two hours, giving visitors a quick sense of the city’s historical districts and its modern additions. Garry loves these bus tours as he enjoys gaining a brief understanding of what it’s like to live in a given location.

After completing a circuit, our first stop on the route was Santiago’s bohemian arts and cafe district, Bellavista. It was here we discovered the expansive Patio Bellavista, a delightful complex of redeveloped warehouses that now house dozens of cafes and restaurants. We stopped for a leisurely alfresco lunch before making our way toward Parque Metropolitano, an expansive parkland that covers a series of hills on the city’s north side.


The 860-metre summit of the nearest hill can be reached via a funicular tramway, built in 1923. It offers an open-air ride through groves of mature trees as the sprawl of Santiago slowly unfolds before you. Santiago is huge! The hilltop itself is dominated by a 14-metre pure white statue of the Virgin Mary, who stands looking serenely over the city with her arms outstretched. It is now a historic moment, but it still attracts regular streams of devout Catholic pilgrims.

Our next stop was the city’s historical centre, located in the shadow of a small hill called Cerro Santa Lucia. Pedro de Valdivia founded the city here on February 12, 1541. Today, the hill is an attractive park upon which an extensive series of terraces, paths, viewpoints, and grand stairways has been constructed. Much of this work was completed over a two-year period, starting in 1872, by 150 convict labourers. The entire neo-classic construction is an impressive sight, and it’s easy to imagine the city’s more fashionable citizens ostentatiously promenading here 130 years ago. The design and location do make you feel a little like royalty.

From here, we wandered into the Plaza de Armas, the old city’s central square that remains the city’s heart today. The square is bordered by a series of impressive buildings that include the city’s cathedral, central post office, and City Hall. Each building was constructed during a different period, creating a wonderful array of architectural styles that simply reinforce a sense of the city’s growing age. 

We wandered briefly among its ornamental palm trees, past groups playing chess at the bandstand and the inevitable flurry of illegal street vendors and buskers before making our way back to our hotel for dinner and on to the airport for our flight to New Zealand.

No doubt with a little more time, we’d have visited more of Santiago’s historical buildings and perhaps a few museums. However, we appreciated spending time outdoors and saw enough to satisfy our own sense of discovery. 

Garry also enjoyed our hotel’s outdoor BBQ restaurant, which always had lamb roasting on a charcoal spit and every conceivable carnivore’s delight hanging on hooks nearby. If you ask him, he’d tell you it was the perfect way to end our tour of Chile. Over a period of three weeks, we’d seen the country literally from top to bottom (from the Atacama to Punta Arenas) and east to west (from the Andean altiplano to Easter Island).

El Tatio

A tour of the Atacama Desert is incomplete without a visit to the El Tatio geyser field. Its location on the Andes altiplano, 4,320 metres above sea level, supposedly makes it the world’s highest such field. It also has a rather unique geology. Overnight sub-zero temperatures chill the plateau and its underground water source which then makes for some spectacular geothermal activity shortly after dawn.

Incredibly, an entire natural depression nestled in the mountains erupts with hundreds and hundreds of billowing steam columns and spluttering geysers. Some columns rise an impressive ten metres or more into the air while the largest geysers erupt for almost ten minutes at a time. It’s an impressive sight.


Even more remarkably, within hours the morning sun has warmed the area causing most of the geothermal activity to cease. While El Tatio’s geysers weren’t as spectacular as the geyser we saw in Iceland several years ago, the dramatic transformation from a flurry of steam columns to a barren plateau was definitely a highlight.


Given this unique dawn phenomenon, visiting the site required an exceptionally early start. El Tatio is also located almost 100 kilometres from San Pedro. As a result, we rose at 3.20am in time to join a tour group at 4am. We then endured a two-hour bus road, a third of which consisted of travel along rutted gravel roads. However, the journey was worthwhile and I’d recommend it to anyone that’s never seen geothermal activity before.

Perhaps the only negative of our entire visit was the rather meagre breakfast provided afterwards. This consisted of stale bread rolls, chocolate chip biscuits and eggs that our guide hard-boiled in a nearby hot spring. I later read that the water at El Tatio is undrinkable thanks to dangerously high arsenic levels. I certainly hope the bag in which our eggs were cooked was properly sealed!


Our journey back to San Pedro was broken up by two memorable stops. The first was a photo stop at a high-altitude wetland where we were able to watch endangered black coots nesting, flamingos wading and the odd vicuna (a type of high altitude Llama) grazing. The scene was unbelievably peaceful and idyllic. Our second stop was at the remote village of Machuca located about 4,000 metres above sea level. The village consists of a dozen adobe buildings, each capped by a quaint thatched roof of reeds. However, its most note-worthy building is a small white-washed abode church that sits on a nearby hill.


I boldly strode out to visit the church while Garry loitered in the village. He’d spotted locals cooking delicious Llama kebabs on a small charcoal BBQ. Garry probably chose the easier excursion. For those readers familiar with high-altitude travel you’ll know that air pressure falls as you rise subsequently reducing the volume of oxygen taken with each breath. As a result, climbing up to the churchyard left me breathless. I had to rest for several minutes before moving on.

Sun-bleached history

We kicked back a notch today. As a result, the laid-back desert life lifestyle became today’s highlight. We joined a 3.5 hour tour in the morning of two local archaeological sites, Tulor and the Pukara de Quitor, then spent an afternoon by the hotel pool or dining alfresco with a local beer in hand. After a relatively full week of flights and daily excursions the change of pace was much needed.

The archaeological tour proved more interesting than expected. This is thanks in part to the captivating scenery that greeted us at each site. Our tour started at Tulor, located ten kilometres away from San Pedro de Atacama on the edge of the desert. It was here in the mid-1950s that a French archaeologist, Padre LePaige, discovered a small village of distinctive circular adobe houses.


At first, it was thought that he’d only found the wall foundations until the site was partially excavated in 1982. Researchers soon realised that shifting sands had actually buried the houses up to their roofline and thus almost every wall was completely intact. This discovery is all the more remarkable when you realise that these walls are composed of mud and straw; and are at least 1,500 years old. Today you can see just a couple of rooms partially uncovered while the remaining walls have been reburied leaving a series of curious mud rings in the ground.


Two replica houses have been constructed nearby giving you a good feel for both their design and the cool interior. These buildings also make for an impressive sight sitting stranded in thousands of acres of dry, barren desert landscape. Sadly, our visit will probably be remembered more for the unfortunate bathroom incident I suffered as we were finishing our tour of Tulor.

Buy me a few beers one day and you may hear the full story. For now I’ll simply confess that desert food got the better of me in the middle of nowhere. The embarrassing situation which resulted was then compounded when we discovered the only bathroom in the area lacked toilet paper. I’m now returning to Australia minus a pair of underwear and a large chunk of my dignity. Enough said!


Our second archaeological site, the Pukara de Quitor is a more recent settlement. It consists of a dozens of fortified structures built on steep hill overlooking a small river (more like a stream) that runs through a dramatic gorge and out into the nearby salt flats. The site was founded by the local population in the 12th Century as a defence against neighbouring villages seeking water and land in the small oasis that follows the course of the Rio San Pedro river. Today the site offers visitors a stunning view across the salt plains towards the soaring Andes mountains. The tallest peak visible is more than 6,000 metres high.


The Pukara de Quitor was also the sight of a famous battle between the Incas and the Spanish Conquisitors. In 1536 Rodrigo Ordofiez unsuccessfully tried to take the fort but was driven off. In late-1540, the Spanish returned, this time led by Francisco de Aguirre commanding 30 elite horsemen and a thousand conscripted Inca soliders. He captured the fort and as a warning to the local population then decapitated up to 200 elders and leaders, leaving their heads prominently on display.


Aside from this short tour, our only other excursion today involved a casual wander around central San Pedro looking for somewhere to dine. Our walk took us past the Church of San Pedro, built in 1744 from adobe bricks and furnished with items made from cactus wood. Yes – cactus really do have wood. We later saw several beautiful cactus wood craft pieces in the local market. If Antipodean quarantine restrictions weren’t so onerous I’m sure we’d have bought something.

Update May 2025: 

The airline sock story (what really happened in Tulor)

As we started our tour of Tulor, my stomach felt a little tender. Then, as we explored the ruins, the discomfort transitioned into an urgent need for a hearty No.2. However, the nearest bathroom was at least 600 metres away back at the archaeological park’s entrance. Even worse, there wasn’t a bush or boulder to be seen on the arid desert plateau.

I began a swift walk back to the toilet block. Garry decided to accompany me. I made it about 500 metres before a minor leakage accident occurred. The final dash to the bathroom was now on. Once inside the toilet I dropped my jeans and released a load. It was at this point that two hiccups occurred. 

First, I discovered there was no toilet paper in the cubicle. I called out to Garry to retrieve some wet wipes from the bus while confessing I’d soiled my underwear. He returned a while later with bad news. He couldn’t find any wet wipes in his backpack. As an alternative he passed two small nylon airline socks under the door. Second, I confessed to Garry that, as I’d sat on the bowl, a turd had fallen from my soiled underwear into the crotch of my jeans.

I spent the next ten minutes giving Garry a running commentary on my dilemma as I attempted to wipe myself with his moisture resistant nylon socks and clean my jeans without wetting every inch of fabric. I eventually abandoned my rinsed underwear behind the toilet bowl, before emerging from the cubicle. Garry and I then rejoined the group on our tour bus. As I walked along the aisle I silently prayed that a faint whiff of turd wasn’t evident to others on the bus.

As I sat down, Garry revealed that throughout my commentary, members of the group had been queuing outside the toilet block’s only other cubicle. In other words, half the bus had enjoyed a blow by blow account of my mishap. Then, as we drove off, Garry made an unexpected discovery. While searching in his backpack he stumbled upon the missing tube of wet wipes. Later, when our tour finished, we asked to be dropped off in town. As we disembarked, I discretely slid Garry’s soiled airline socks under the seat and left them there.

However, my misfortune had an unexpected epilogue. Hours later, as Garry and I walked back to our hotel, the tour bus suddenly pulled up along side us. The tour guide leapt out and greeted us with delight. “I’m so glad we’ve found you,” he said. “You left these behind” and with that he handed over Garry’s damp and slightly soiled airline socks.

Just 35mm of rain annually

Garry and I are enjoying the desert climate at San Pedro de Atacama, located on the northern fringe of Chile's Atacama Desert. Barely 100 kilometres from our current location is the driest place on earth where it's rained four times in the last four decades (that's an average rainfall of 0.5mm annually). We've based ourselves in San Pedro where it rains 35mm annually.

The lack of rainfall became abundantly clear yesterday when we noticed a plasma television on the wall of a cafe where we ate lunch. Nothing odd about that you say? Think again. The cafe was covered by a roof of slatted branches, offering nothing more than partial shade for hungry customers. We're definitely not in lush Santiago anymore!


Our first afternoon in the Atacama saw us join an almost obligatory afternoon tour of the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) located 12km out of town. It's a fascinating landscape of weird, wind-sculptured rock formations where rain almost never falls. In fact, much of the rock in the area is actually made of little more than incredibly hard, dry rock salt crystals. Our tour ended at sunset which we watched from a narrow ridge overlooking a giant sand dune more than 100 metres high.


Our second day in the Atacama saw us take a full-day tour of the Salar de Atacama (known in English as the Atacama Salt Flats). This incredible 15,620sq km plain of dried salt lies 2,305 metres above sea level. Its surface consists of rough, jagged salt rocks that stretch as far as the eye can see. However, every so often, subterranean water rises to the surface creating spectacular brine lakes. Salt-tolerant brine shrimps thrive in these waters, attracting thousands of hungry flamingoes. We saw plenty of these birds today, all with their heads down filtering lake water through their beaks at a furious rate.


Our tour also took us up to the Andes altiplano more than 4,350 metres above sea level. Here we visited two picturesque lakes; Miscanti and Miniques. These lakes are rimmed by a thick band of bright white salt and their waters are the most iridescent blue you can imagine. Behind them sit a series of towering, arid volcanic peaks; again, more postcard fodder. We then stopped for lunch in the small rural village of Socaire noted for its adobe churches. Abode buildings are constructed of mud and straw bricks, making these rather unique buildings.


Today's tour ended with a brief stop in the village of Toconao. It's renowned for a simple, white-washed adobe bell tower built in 1750. The tower is now a protected national monument. The town owes its existence to a remarkable oasis found in a nearby valley called Quebrada de Jerez. We visited the valley earlier in the day. It's an awe-inspiring sight. Mature trees and grass nestle in the shadows while dry, desolate hills and salt plains stretch to the horizon. We learnt that each village family has a small plot in the valley where they grow fruit trees, grapes and vegetables.

Tomorrow we're off to tour the ruins of two ancient civilisations that first settled the San Pedro area. The oldest settlement discovered so far dates back to roughly 800 BC. Our final day in the Atacama will see us rise at 4am to drive 97km to El Tatio, the world's highest substantial geyser field. It sits 4,321 metres above sea level. The early rise is important as the geysers are at their most spectacular as the rising sun warms the sub-zero desert, generating impressive columns of steam. Stay tuned for more memorable photos.


PS: Keri if you're reading this post and discover spelling errors, please blame my spell-checker. When logging onto the blog the system automatically detected my location and established itself using Spanish language settings. I later tried to run the spell-checker which caused almost every word came back as an error. I know my spelling is shaky at times, but challenging every word was a rather harsh slap in the face.