Hogmanay to Uruguay

Holá Everyone,

Whew, as usual, sorry it has been so long since i last wrote. I will start by firstly saying hello to the gang who commented on my last blog in Hamburg. So nice to hear you were having a great time and once again it was fantastic to see you all for christmas!

Now since I left you there in Hamburg, I have been busy. A bus to Berlin, followed by a flight to London followed by a flight to Edinburgh. Sam and Jus enticed me onto a bus to Glasgow where I met them. It was awesome to see Jussie again after what seems a million years and lots of fun joking about with Sam again. He really is exactly the same as me and we are both morons.

So I snuck into their twin room and shared the cost of that to compensate the ridiculously inflated prices of that time of year. The next morning it was time to part for a while as they had booked a tour and i just needed somewhere cheap to hide. After hours in the tourist information I found beds in Stirling. It turned out to be the best decision i have ever made as i absolutely LOVED it there. So much history about William Wallace and memorials and what not combined with sunshine and cheap food (I got, a fried egg, a scrambled egg, baked beans, black pudding, haggis, a sausage and 2 fried potato pancakes, all for 2 quid 30p), i had a great day there before meeting James in the evening.

We drank some whiskey and cooked some food before hitting the hay. Next day we wandered about town looking at the castle and mucking about. In the arvo jus and sam turned up and we all went to the best pub of 2007. haha it was pretty good i spose. anyway, we got sucked into a trivia night and did terribly but it was a load of fun. The next day we all met in Edinburgh for Hogmanay.

On the bus i got the best call from the guys back in Oz!!! It was so awesome, the gang were all together and I got to speak to a few of them. Haha, and they sang a song which was funny as! I wish i had had my UK sim so it wasnt costing me so much so i could have talked to all of them. I did get to speak to Swan, Monkey, Greg and Plum and I later got a sms photo from swan, plum ev and jane. I am to understand that Lachie, Nikki and Amy were also there. I felt like i was home again and I cant wait to catch up with you all again when I get home! I love you guys!

After James said he would handle the tickets i was a little pissed off when he didnt get them, especailly when they sold out but we got some scalped tickets and i even got the guy down to just paying the normal fee. then we met james friends and got boozy there before hitting the town. The fireworks we awesome and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers rocked out cover scottish/irish style. a couple more beers and a pass out on the couch was in order.

The next day was spent hungoverly wandering before, jus sam james and i all slept in Sam and Jus´car.... terrible nights sleep had by all. we had some fun though in our misery. In the morning we parted ways and james and I went to the airport. And there we stayed.... all day.... and night... until i left in the morning... but james had to wait until that night... i just want a bed.

A few hours to kill in London I visited the old haunt. Turned up at Paulie´s but he was no where to be seen and not answering his phone. Luckily the front door was wide open so i strolled in and left the gear i needed to leave there with a note and a bottle of Whiskey.

I spent the last of my pounds on some lunch then headed back to the airport to play the waiting game before my flight to Madrid... which was delayed... then my flight from Madrid was delayed. I did sleep fairly well on the plane but it still isnt a bed. Finally Buenos Aires... where i waited for hours and hours for a ferry, then a bus. Then montevideo where i boarded another bus at 1am. which was my next place of sleep. still not a bed. i got 4 hours sleep and arrived in La Coronilla at 7am.

Finally I was there!!! (Sorry this blog is so long, take a break or just skim it. hell just stop reading its ok) Meeting the gang who were all pretty cool before being thrust directly into work. We went out capturing turtles with no success on that first day and by the end of it with a couple of beers i was glad to retreat to the smallest tent ever made (sunburnt as hell).

And here i stayed for 2 weeks, catching turtles, measuring and tagging them, cutting off barnacles etc. Walking the beaches on census, sleeping in sand-dunes, helping build the extension on the shack. Macheteing bamboo and Palms to re-roof the patio thingy, telling kids not to touch la tortuga when we had an education day. getting hungover. etc etc.

Finally it was time to go yesterday and I was sad to say goodbye to the people there. some of them were fantastic but there was no more room and Linden to meet who definately trumps any reason to stay in La Coronilla. So I jumped the bus to Cabo Polonio, then the 4x4 to take me across the dunes to the town on the peninsula with no electricity. Sigh, i should have booked ahead as after a few hours walking in dunes with all my gear and no accom broke my spirit enough to buy a ticket back out and to montevideo. It was then, waiting for a 4x4 that a spanish speaking girl from BA offered me a bed in the house they had rented cos it was spare! Grrrr. oh well, so i took the bus to Montevideo and that is where i am now.

Will put some photos up soon and you can check them out the usual way
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21750162@N05/

Hope you had a great New Year.
Lots of love to you all!
Hutch