Hutchwood

Hey everyone! Happy Easter!

This blog was much beter when I finished it 5 minutes ago after spending the last HOUR ON IT and then loosing it because this C*NT of a computer just lost it! (sorry for the language but im fairly furious!)

deep breath, sigh. well it all started in

San Sebastian
After we left Barcelon we went to San Seb. It was great, we got some awesome weather and ate tapa like fod (pinxos) alog with beers ciders and wines until we were blind from over eating and well, blind drunk to boot. We also took the cable car to the top of the hill overlooking the bay to ride the lamest rollercoaster on earth. it was beautiful though.

Then it was into france and up to

Bordeaux
In the heart of a main wine region we indulged in great french food and obviously wine. Including a day trip to

St Emilion
Awesome wines n an amazing town surrounded by chateaus and vineyards. we toured underground churches and tunnels as well as wineries and purchased some Grand Cru wine (which is easily the best wine i have ever drunk out of the bottle/ever!)

Nice
was as its name suggests, but definately not ready to be renamed awesome. we hit some pretty cool museums which were free for the month of March. The modern art museum was excellent and the chagall was solid. We did have a cool daytrip to Monaco though.

Monaco
Rich and ridiculous we saw so many porche, aston martins and bentleys in our short time in Monaco. The monte carl casino was pretty cool and they even let us in long enough to loose a little money. But after a while our lack of budget forced us to leave after hitting the aquarium.

Avignon
We had a great time here, checking out the palace of the popes and wandering along the towns ramparts. Other than that all we did was a daytrip to Arles.

Arles
A cool old roman town that van gogh loved. there are aisles set up in places where van gogh painted some of his pieces which is cool and the colusseum was awesome! other than that the food is expensive and there is dog crap EVERYWHERE!

Grenoble
My favourite town so far in france! a student town with the best night life in France apparently. at the base of the alps and a gateway to snowboarders haven you can start to see why we loved it so much! theres also a gonola to a lookout with amazing views of the region and mountains!

Chamrousse
We headed up to the site of a winter olympics of old for some snowboarding. Staying at a great accom with food included we had an amazing time (even though one dinner was four courses of cheese). The mountain was awesome although Lindo was a bit too sore the second day after the icy conditions in the morning of the first day. I improved so much, going from green/blue runs to red all the way (equiv of aussie black) even straying onto the womens olympic track for a bit. Such an awesome couple of boarding!

Geneva
Ducking into Switzerland was awesome but we did have to cut the tour a little short (after one night) when we realised how ridiulously expensive the country was! We had an awesome time however, getting our neutrality on and sounding the beige alert as often as possible.

Annecy
Just a duck in to this beautiful town to stroll the canals and check out the market.

Freiburg
Couple of days in the black forest were awesome! gorges lakes and delicious food. Throw in a boozey St Patty day and a day trip to baden baden for some luxury. We also found a great little town, St Bastien.

Baden-Baden
We headed off to the snobby town for some pampering. and that we got in this totally nude roman baths. 21 euro for 3 hours of steam, sauna, hot air, hot pools, whirlpools and relaxing, all totally naked and towelless... and MIXED. Sadly i thin we were easily the hotest people in there and if i see one more old mans.... im glad i had those years of nudey runs at college to calm my bashfullness and it didnt take long before it was very relaxing. here are the 17 stages.
Moisture, warmth, heat, moisture, scrubbing, moisture, steam, hot steam, water, bubbling, activity, moisture, shower, rubbing, care, rests. Simply delightfully.
http://www.roemisch-irisches-bad.de/roemisch.html

Triberg
Just on our way out of germany we thought we had better see the heart of the black forest. we ducked in and i think we saw the worlds biggest cuckoo clock but im not sure... we did have a snow fight and climb a waterfall though.

Strassbourg
Finally back to france and into out gite. Half a house for our relaxing easter consisting of chocolate, egg hunts, stargate, cooking, stargate, sleeping, snowfights, handstands and relaxing in front of stargate.

Now you are back up to date and I am so unbelievably sick of writing this giant blog twice.
Looking forward to seeing you all again in 2 months.
I get in at 9:25am 26th of May (Monday, well thats the plan)

Lots of Love to you all.
Tim and Linden.

Hey everyone!

I know I know, you still havent even finished the last one cos it was so long, but this one covers only about two weeks so it should be much shorter.

This map is getting ridiculous! back and forth and around the place...

Anyway, just finished uploading some new pics to the flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21750162@N05/

and you can also see lindens blog (which will be similar only well written and accurate) at

http://lindenashcroft.travellerspoint.com

And i was a bit lazy when i came to uploading the thousands and thousands of photos we took at Carnaval so check out this flickr group, (guys, seriously its worth it, the girls are amazing!)

http://www.flickr.com/groups/en_gualeguaychu/

So, I'm writing to you from Barcelona! Having flown Buenos Aires to London, with a week there then Linden and I flew to Barcelona yesterday. Heres how it happened.

After writing to you from Mendoza, we jumped on a bus, finally riding Cama (which is like first class) back to BA. it was great although i slept horribly. In BA we met a guy i hung out with in Uruguay from Ireland and stayed in his US$900 a week flat with his parents. Needless to say it was pretty nice! With them we relaxed a fait bit, eating big steaks and going shopping and then at night getting filthy drunk on fernet (horrible jagermeister-like argentinian drink) because linden likes to fly hungover!

I flew a day after linden and spent it pretty much sleeping before going to the san telmo market one last time and eating a giant steak at my favourite parilla. Then it was time to catch my delayed flight to Madrid. As we came down to land, we were only about 30 meters from the ground and we pulled out which was pretty scary so my delayed flight was even later, but it was ok, cos the flight from madrid to london was also delayed....

Finally I got in an met linden and her friend jessie for dinner and we stayed with her. The next day was a shambles and we stayed out in a horrible room which was just a room in someones house... in the middle of nowhere... never again. Luckily James let us crash on the floor in the room he already shares with Jay (Brissy boy Jim works with). So we crashed there for the rest of the time in London.

While in London though we; saw the Lion King, went to the Meridian Line, Tate Modern, Looked at but didnt ride the London Eye, saw Big Ben, showed linden around where i stayed and ate at my pub, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, St. Pauls Cathedral, London Tower and the Tower Bridge. We also did a day trip to Oxford which was very cool. The buildings just like Harry Potter and we even saw some bits where they filmed sections. You can see where Queens comes from.

Then after horrible Oyster card debauchles and shite we got our bus to the airport and hit spain. again delayed and ridiculous but made ok with our delicious paella dinner. Now we are staying in the place james and i stayed in months ago and the guy remembers me which is cool.

Yeah, not a whole lot to say at that was a bit sterile but if i dont write it down i will forget. Seriously, check out the photos i uploaded and from carnaval, they pick up the slack when it comes to this blog. Awesome!

Lots of Love to you all, only 3 months left!
Tim (and Linden)

Hey everybody!

As per usual i will begin with an apology for how long it has been since i last wrote! this time it really has been ages!! well that just means i have been having fun, which i have! WE have! Thats right finally I am travelling with Lindo! ill take you back to the beginning.... (this is going to be a LONG post, sorry!!)

So i left you in montevideo and since then i caught the ferry across to B.A. Not wanting to see the city without linden i kept a low profile and chilled out a fair bit. Then I moved into the apartment that I rented for linden and i to stay in for a week! it was awesome! Middle of the night I went out and picked her up and it was so awesome seeing her again! I was speechless for like 10 minutes!!

So ill skim that week in B.A. We visted the Zoo, a park full of feral cats, ate amazing food (including the best steak i have ever had in my life) and just wandered the city exploring. On saturday we decided to head out to Gualeguaychi to see the biggest Carnaval celebration in Argentina! it was awesome!

We chilled down by the river in the very cool town which was overflowing before we got an empanada dinner and hit the carnaval. sneaking in vodka and boozing while we danced and watched was awesome! The girls were all hot and wearing almost nothing so it was fairy enjoyable (dont worry ladies the guys were all fit and semi-naked too).

Finally after hours we collapsed boozily into the bus which took us back to B.A. A days rest before catching the bus to Tandil. Known for cheese. and thats what we got. cheese and wine and it was awesome! I could say a lot more but this blog is already gunna be huge! So basically we had a wicked picnic in a great park and it rained all over us!

The we bussed to Puerto Madryn. Here Linden got her money belt stolen from the hostel. luckily i found it in the bin down the road with the cards in so we didnt have to cancel the cards and the hostel was new and fearing a bad review they reimbursed the money (i have a feeling it was the staff who stole it anyway) sop it all worked out. Then we hired a crappy grey VW golf (Phil) and drove out to the penninsula valdes. it was so cool. we saw sea lions, elephant seals, penguins, armadillos (one cheeky little one nibbled our toes and fingers) but we didnt see an orca (killer whale) eat a cute baby seal like we hoped! We did get chased by a hilarious lama though!

So it was overnight to El Calafate where we saw the fastest moving glacier in the world... i think... something like that. my spanish and listening skills are both lacking. anyway it was freaking sweet! and we did a boat trip down to look closer. have soooo many photos, it was amazing! Then back in town we went for a big walk with a beautiful huskie (Maya) for a sunset before sharing the mixed grill platter thing at the nicest restaraunt in town. haha backpacking huh?

Bussed it to El Chalten before hitting the mountains for a 3 day hike! it was awesome! we glacier after glacier (and their lakes) and the way the sunsets and sunrises make them glow. We even hiked the fairly intense walk up the hill in the dark for the view of Cerro Fitz Roy in the sunset (below) and the other part i cant remember the name of (below that).

Fitz Roy

Other one

So after our awesome 3 day hike we got stuckin the town for another day before doing a 30 hour hit up to El Bolson on a normal bus. NORMAL, so uncomfortable. AND we had the front seat meaning no leg room. AND the front was walled up so we couldnt even see out. just staring at a wall for 30 hours. At least there was a TV.... WHICH THEY NEVER PLAYED ANYTHING ON!!! sigh... im putting it behind me.

El Bolson was a beautiful town where we pretty much went to eat chocolate and icecream... which we did. then on to Bariloche the next day for a repeat of that. A quick excursion out to see the lakes district via local bus and a chairlift before the overnight bus to Mendoza.

Mendoza is a beautiful town. and the wine capital of Argentina, so that was our first point of call. is that a saying or did i make that up? anyway, so we caught the local bus to the district and hired bikes. Then we spent Valentines day riding around wineries and country-side tasting awesome wines. it really was great! And i guess that brings us up to today.

Today we have just gotten home from white (well brown really) water rafting. Neither of us have ever been but it was heaps of fun. If you look at the photo below I am on the far side in the front and that is linden behind me hitting me in the head with her paddle. it was so much fun. tiring as hell but awesome! i think i might be hooked!

So now we are catching the overnight bus back to Buenos Aires before we fly out to London. Sorry that it was so much at once and it was also a little vague but it was a lot to get through!

I hope you are all doing well back home! monkey, plum, sam and jus who all got home safe and house warmings and what not that filters through to me. Im always really happy to hear what you guys are up to. You too mum and dad, i love getting your Sunday email update.

Lots of love to you all.
Tim (and Linden)

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

Merry Christmas!!

A day late yes but you cant expect me to blog on christmas day, we were too busy feasting and sleeping for that! Now, other current events and important dates in order. Welcome home Monkey and Plummers!! wow must be amazing to finally be home after such a huge adventure! Swan and Greg must be over the moon! And Happy Birthday Sammy up in Scotland, ill be there soon! And seeing as this post will be much closer (without going over) than my next one Happy Birthday Linden! Hope you have an amazing beach celebration! Then of course Happy New Year!! Plan for me is reuniting with James and Sam up in Edinburgh along with Jus to rock Hogmany!

But, enough of now and future, follow me now on a journey through time and space... back to a couple of weeks ago in Berlin. Sam and I chilled out a fair bit that first day before we walked all around the city (first on our own then on a free tour) including going down Unter Den Linden, checking out the wall and going into a crazy crackden. Then it was time to celebrate, and that we did knocking back some boots and hitting a club (in tshirts, so so cold between the two) before bed. oh and i bought a new camera.... here are some photos from it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21750162@N05/

Now it was train to Hamburg time. of course we took the cheapest and slowest option getting us in late and there was only really time for dinner and bed. The next day we explored a little down the harbour and met with shirley for a couple of beers. The next day Babs, Bert and Anja took Sam and I out to an Argentinian Restaraunt for a steak which was so so good! mmm, im still full of christmas goose and that steak sounds delicious! then it was time for sam and I to train to Holland!

N!ojh met us at the train station at 2am and showed us to his house in Delft. Awesome catching up with old Roger as all we did the next day was have a short look at Delft (from the top of a church spire) before retiring to his room for drinking, eating, watching episodes and playing a little poker (i still owe N!ojh €5, but he probably wont see penny one from me). Then it was time for us to head off to Amsterdam and let N!ojh get back to studying for his exams.

Amsterdam, was pretty fun. This is where sam and i were to part ways after a pretty fun month so we made sure to enjoy ourselves while there. Cant say we saw much of the city although we did walk every street in the redlight district, although window-shopping was all we did. Other than that we went to some coffeeshops and drank a beer or two, ate some food, the usual. then it was time to part. wont be the same without sammy but we reunite for a couple of days soon.

My trains messed up leaving me waiting for 2 hours then when i did arrive in Hamburg I ran to catch the S-bahn. I ran down the stairs and jumped on the train that was leaving on my platform and as i looked back at the sigh it said that it was not in service... Why were the friggin doors open then? hahaha so i ended up in the train yard parked with all the other trains and had to walk back to the station which took like 20 mins. Luckily i got the last train home with 2 mins to spare. Whew.

Since then I have been in Hamburg living the hedonistic life of amazing food, presents, no job and sleeping. ridiuclous. We have had a couple of outings. I was taken to the Rat Haus (Town Hall) and to a Bach Concert (in the Michael) both of which were really good! The town hall is very ornate which i wasnt expecting and really cool, and the concert was huge, 2000 people and really good! Also today Bert and Anja walked me around Blankenese and showed me where my german roots come from, with a gluewhine of course. But generally Christmas has been very relaxing at the house.

There were kids and a dog and all sorts of fun with presents and the food, i keep coming back to it. Babs outdid herself over and over, culminating in a roast Goose today which was awesome! I hadnt had it before and it was delicious. oh and this is all over the place, but somewhere in there I hit the town with Robbie again. it was a saturday night and everyone was out so i thought i had better be also! so we rocked some random irish pub but it was a heap of fun! I didnt get home till 6am and Robbie fell asleep in the club so theres an indication of how boozed we were.... erg i just remembered all the jagermeister....

So, there you have the past couple of weeks and all my Christmas best wishes so I can get back to my stressfull life. Tomorrow we are off to the beach-house in St Peter.

Ok, take care and have a great new years!
lots of love
hutch