Walking in Sir Graham's footsteps

In our first week of our time in Ancud, Chiloe, I was asked to help put with the local rugby team, no doubt due to my extensive qualifications (i.e. owning an All Blacks shirt). The coach wanted me to teach the team touch rugby, to help them learn how to play faster and pass better. After 2 training sessions, people (me) have been struck by my similarities to Sir Graham Henry:

1.) We both have coached at an (arguably) high level
2.) We both worked at Kelston Boys High
3.) We both overcame significant adversity (Him: 20 years without the World Cup, the feeling we might choke on the biggest stage. Me: There is no rugby field in Ancud. The soccer field we use is only 15% grass and has two resident horses)
4.) We both have achieved greatness (Him: Winning the World Cup. Me: Teaching the team how to play touch rugby).
5.) We both own a beanie (see photo below).

Graham ponders his appalling lack of ginger facial growth

Practically brothers! Surely I'm also destined for a long and prosperous career. I'll admit, I actually hoped when I first appeared at training that some of the team might mistake me for Tigers and Australian centre, Chris Lawrence. Sadly they did not. In fact, only one of them has seen rugby league before. He is also the only one who speaks English.

My first task was to revolutionise the warm-ups. They showed me their first exercise: ankle circles, standard stuff. I then suggested that this should be followed by a calf stretch. This was unheard of. I initially thought they were joking, but they had never seen the standard calf stretch, and players were soon grasping their freshly-stretched calf muscles making noises of amazement. I continued to show them an array of very simple stretches, again met with equal amounts of joy and wonder. Intrigued, I asked them what their usual warm up consisted of. It was very hard not to laugh. You too would laugh, if you saw 19 Chilean males looking like they are performing hula hooping. In all earnestness. Without the hoops.

I then proceeded to show them how to play touch rugby. It was surprisingly difficult not having the words for  dummy half, play the ball, or "just run straight at him", but they picked it up pretty well. We then separated the team into forwards and backs, and I watched the overenthusiastic forwards coach teach the two most difficult lineout moves in existence, including the one-armed gridiron throw to the back of the lineout. I did my best to suggest the merits of throwing to the guy at number two in the lineout.

The club is very new (6 months old) and they have only played one game to date. They lost by 80 points and didn't manage to win a single set piece. I'm hoping with my little bits of coaching genius, they will improve dramatically. Sir Graham will be proud.

Meat, wine and long bus trips

Our blogging promptness seems to have taken on a South American concept of time – i.e. slightly later than planned! Mostly due to the fact that we've been covering some serious distance lately. In the last week or so we visited the amazing natural wonder of Iguazu Falls, eaten meat, meat and more meat and had good family times in Buenos Aires, and then had some time wine tasting and bike riding in Mendoza. But now we’ve now reached the 12^th and final country of our travels, Chile!

In South America, bus travel is easy and affordable so everyone uses it. The good news is that Argentina has some of the best buses in the world. The bad news is that you are still on a bus. Our long-distance rides have been 15, 16 and 18 hours - longer than anyone wants to be on a bus! It’s kind of similar to a plane in that you get fed, the chairs recline to 160 degrees, wine is served, movies are shown, and in one case they even organised a game of bingo! Of course it’s also kind of different from a plane due to enthusiastic braking, endless corners and oncoming bright lights at 3.45am.

In Buenos Aires, we stayed with the Bagnoli family, who are family friends of Jess’. It was so nice to be part of a family again! We had lots of good food, with the highlight being an amazing asado (Argentinian barbeque). We think we are pretty good barbequers in New Zealand, but Argentinians are on another level! Their bbq’s are designed with a fire on the left and all the meat on the right, with no direct flames below it. As the embers fall from the fire, they are then moved under the meat. The meat slowly cooks into a state of perfection over 2-3 hours. Tender, tender, tender, and utterly memorable.

One of the other highlights of Buenos Aires was that I brought Richie McCaw’s All Black shirt. Well it was an All Black jersey anyway, with a number 7 on the back. It cost $23, so it was probably the real deal.

We needed to get from Buenos Aires to Chile, a mere 25 hours via bus. We made the sensible decision to break this up with a stop in Mendoza: serious wine territory. The vineyards and neighbouring olive farms are all close to town, so it’s very easy to rent a bike and do some wine tasting. The bikes came complete with no gears and a warning not to drink alcohol and ride (difficult on a wine tour). For some reason we started with an olive tour, despite the fact that neither of us like olives. Augustin (unfortunately not Augustin Pichot, former Argentinian halfback) was one of the brothers that ran the company, and gave us a guided tour. I immediately regretted being on the tour when he said “The olives on this tree are terribly bitter. You should try it”. And so we did, and they were indeed disgusting! The man knows his olives. Thankfully we also got to try some olives that fell into the tolerable/mildly enjoyable category, and had some really good olive oil and bread.

We then went on to see (and taste) some cool vineyards. All the wine was really good, and even helped to suppress the frustration of getting a flat tire 2km from home. Moral of the story: Don’t take shortcuts down stony backroads on under-equipped bikes after an afternoon of wine tasting. Bad combination!

Continuing the bus theme, we took a beautiful bus ride from Mendoza to Santiago through the Andes mountain range. We had a long delay at the Argentinian-Chilean border, because the Chilean government was there shooting footage of the border security process. We got the most thorough bag check EVER. Unfortunately there was no dramatic smuggling activity to be filmed, although there was an unnamed, rather gorgeous, New Zealand woman who had fruit confiscated for the second time on her trip. She shall go unnamed, but her name does rhyme with Hess Florence. (If you see her in the future, ask her about the embarrassing incident with the sniffer dog and the overripe banana at the Peruvian border).

We are now on the island of Chiloe, in Chile. We are here volunteering for the next month with a family who run a tourism business. They have three energetic young girls who are a lot of fun, despite telling me I “look like a devilish man with that red beard”. I’m convinced it was a compliment.

Petite snacks handed out on a classy busride

The roadside scenery as you pass through the Andes

Olive farm taste testing time!



Firey goodness....and I don't just mean the beard



All bikes should come equipped with a manly basket!

 

 

Buenos Aires glows at night

The Bagnoli's, minus a few

Photos de Iguazu!

Hi family and friends and any such others,

We've just visited Iguazu falls in Argentina/Brazil, and have made an album on facebook with a few photos. You can view the album without signing into the website - too easy! Click on the link below to check them out :)

Spoiler: Get ready for lots of water and lots of butterflies.

Photos photos photos! Click here!

Adventures with the Ecuadorian milk industry

We have just finished our final few days in Ecuador in true style – walking the Quilotoa Loop. The loop is essentially a collection of remote, uncommercialised villages in central Ecuador that can be reached by a challenging hike or via unpaved roads on unreliable public transport. Fun!

We set off on a rather packed bus (humans and live chickens) to Chugchillan, our first destination. From there we rode on the back of a truck to Quilotoa, the site of a beautiful lake in a volcano crater, and started an 11km walk back to Chugchillan. In an effort to ‘encourage’ visitors to hire a guide, the locals have removed all signs that offer directions. Although guide-less, we decided to be confident in the random scrawling on a rather vague map we’d been given. The map included helpful phrases such as “At the sandy outlook turn left, you can’t miss it” or “follow the path to the right after walking for ten minutes”. Unfortunately, there were many paths on the right and lots of sandy outlooks that turned out to be very easy to miss!

After a few wrong turns, we made it to a village where we hoped to buy lunch. We saw what we wrongly assumed was a lunch establishment. The signs were all promising: people eating at tables, large pots of rice and salad on the table, etc etc. But as we walked into the building, all conversation suddenly stopped and instead there was a hugely awkward silence. When asking if we could buy food, we were met with a decisive “no”. It turns out we had walked in on an official meeting of some kind. Oops. We moved on to the only other food option in the village, where they told us we could have a plate of hot chips for 50c. Unfortunately the chips were cold; the ‘hot’ bit came courtesy of a fried egg perched on top. Not ideal, but it gave us enough energy to make it the final 6.6km back home.

The following day we walked 14km with two Swiss friends and three hungry dogs to a tiny town called Isvilini. We stayed at a great hostel where we relaxed in hammocks, ate great food and played some epic games of Bananagrams (we reckon we've found a word game that trumps boggle!).

On the final day we needed to somehow get back to the city where we started the loop. We heard there was a milk truck going in the right direction, so we decided to try and catch that. It sounded ideal in concept – surely it would be 45 minutes on a large, slightly cooled milk truck with complimentary chocolate milks at our leisure. What came to pick us up was instead a very small, very dusty ute, with an open back for people to stand in and severely lacking in complimentary milk, cooling and general safety standards. There were ten of us crammed in the back tray, and while the first few people were lucky enough to get seats on rice bags and milk barrels, the rest of us hung on to rails that were missing bolts in what appeared to be essential places. While we thought we were on the milk delivery truck, it soon became apparent that we were on the milk collection truck. So we stopped at around 10 farms, where a lady from the truck would sprint off, get a bucket of fresh milk from the farmer, and then come and pour it into our barrel. Not content to just collect our money, the driver ensured we were kept busy by pushing the truck when it broke down on hills, pouring milk and lifting a small child off the truck. The quoted 45 minutes turned into an incredibly dusty 2.5 hours. It was a great adventure though, with the added bonus of having my dust-laden beard no longer appearing ginger for the first time in a month.

The trip was a great finale to complement the rest of our time in Ecuador - the relaxing in Baños and the crazy-mazingness of Galapagos. For a country we hadn't originally planned on visiting, it has been an absolute blast!

Laguna Quilotoa - what a colour!

This lady was all smiles until we asked if we could take a photo

A house along the route

Jess and her loyal steed. It turns out she really likes donkeys.

Anita and Rolf, our new Swiss friends

Dodgy swing bridge. We made sure we only stepped on the nails!

We were all trying desperately but unsuccessfully to avoid the dust

The milk truck was at maximum capacity!

Shaving my dog and other awkward moments

We've been having many laughs and challenges while studying Spanish in an intensive four hour-a day course. We are learning quickly, but still have a long way to go! When we learn a new verb, our teacher asks us both to use it in a sentence as an example. Unfortunately, with a limited vocab I have often panicked when answering, with some disastrous results:

(All these conversations take place in Spanish, which will hopefully explain any confusion)

Teacher: Chris, what are the main exports in New Zealand?
Me: We milk bulls. They give us many products.
Teacher: *laughs* "No no no, you don't want to drink bulls milk!"

After learning the words for 'difficult', 'easy', 'wet', 'dry', 'on' and 'off', I decided to pre-empt the teacher and blurted out
"My pants are wet!"
*Awkward pause follows*
Teacher: "Um... do you need to go to the toilet?"
My heart sank as I realised I had got wet and dry mixed up.

Teacher: Chris, what is an example of the verb 'to shave'?
Me: (Experiencing internal panic, as I don't know the words for face or legs). "I want to shave my dog"
Teacher: Ok.....

Teacher: Chris, what do you say when a young lady asks you out?
Me: Sorry but I have just been beaten up.
Teacher: Do you mean married?
Me: Yes.

You'll be pleased to know that Jess hasn't spared herself from embarrassment.
Teacher: "When are you returning to New Zealand?"
Jess: "We are returning in November, because my brother is gay"
Teacher: "Do you mean, he is engaged?"
Jess: "Oops.... yes!"

Baños is fuños

I'm happy to report that the most exciting thing we've done all week is unpack our bags! After visiting the Galapagos Islands we decided to spend some time lingering in the town of Baños, Ecuador, which means we are experiencing 2 weeks of pure, revitalising normalcy. There is something deeply satisfying about hanging clothes in a cupboard after 6 months of digging around in a backpack, and I'm ashamed to admit how thrilled I am to be able to leave the shampoo bottle in the shower. We've also found a lady in the local market who sells huge glasses of fresh juice for $1, so we visit her every morning for breakfast. Daily routines: another one of life's unappreciated pleasures.

Baños is Spanish for baths, and the town is well named as it has loads of hot pools that are naturally heated by the local active volcano. We visited some of the baths last night after going for a run, and did the hot/cold/hot/cold water dash (Chris said it would be 'beneficial'...definitely the kind of benefit I can do without). The hottest pool was a scorching 46 degrees, and the coolest one next to it was what Kiwis call "refreshing", but everyone else calls "flippin cold". We had a self-imposed limit of approximately 2 minutes in each pool. Unfortunately I didn't realise I'd hurt my knee during our run until it got aggravated in the hot water, so now my leg kind of resembles an overstuffed sausage. But that's beside the point! The point is: volcano water is fun!

At the moment we're studying Spanish for four hours each morning at a language school, then use our afternoons for homework, runs, hikes, naps, movies, hot pools or whatever the heck else we feel like doing. Life is sweet! The cafe down the road shows a different film each afternoon - arguably the greatest idea anyone ever had - so we get to hang out with an iced chocolate or a bowl of guacamole and nachos and watch whatever happens to be playing that day. The films are hilariously diverse, ranging from travel docos to Casablanca to The Full Monty. We were in the middle of eating dinner the other night when a loud and extended sex scene came on during a Korean period flick. Awwkward - it put me right off my soup.

Low point of the week: our hostel room backs onto the road, and some awesome, beautiful, thoughtful person (ooh sorry, I pressed my sarcasm button by mistake) has a car parked outside with an alarm that goes off every time a truck rolls past...which would be about 10 times a night. The worst thing is that it's not just one car; there seems to be a series of cars with the same problem. Any suggestions as to how to destroy  Ecuadorian car alarms will be met with thanks and payment in fresh juices.

Studying hard or hardly studying?

Delish options at the juice stand

Baños - nestled in the mountains

Galapagos fantabulous!

We have just returned from eight days of incredible animal watching and relaxation in the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos is truly like no other place on earth. It was like journeying to an alternate universe to hang out creatures who are utterly unafraid of people.

We managed to pick up a last-minute deal on a cruise round the islands the day before it started. We were on a boat with nine others - two Americans, a Canadian, two Scots, two Germans and a very enthusiastic pair of Italian birdwatchers. We arrived comparatively under-prepared (in that our camera could fit in our pocket, we owned no tripod and we couldn’t tell the difference between a woodpecker finch or a common ground finch. Admittedly, we still don’t know the difference), but our faithful little camera took some great photos, and we’ve had an amazing adventure.

If you’ve read anything about the Galapagos Islands, you will have probably seen the phrase “the animals are fearless”. But it’s not until you reach the islands that you fully comprehend what this means. The animals really didn’t care less about us, occasionally to the point of being laughable. Sometimes sticking to the designated path required stepping over sunbathing iguanas, sidling around sea lions or creeping along the edges of a blue-footed booby nest (which is a bird in case you were wondering, and yes, boob jokes abounded).

The awesome thing about the islands is that you could just sit there and watch nature unfold in front of you. It was like being on Animal Planet - you expected Morgan Freeman to start commentating at any moment. Some of our highlights were:

• Snorkeling with giant tortoises, watching them casually swim and chew on algae from a metre away.
• Seeing the pre-mating rituals of frigate birds and blue footed boobies (think a slow version of the can-can)
• Watching iguanas methodically munch their way through fruit from huge cactus trees
• Watching families of pelicans go dive-bombing for fish
• Listening to our guide, Tanya. 20 years on the Islands and she pretty much knew everything. Any guide who can make passing remarks on the occipital condyles of sea lions has our maximum respect. Not to mention that she revealed that she guided Brad and Angie around the islands when they visited in April, which increased her street cred about a million points.
• Spending the second night vomiting in the toilet or trying not to fall off the bed while going through ridiculous swells on an eight hour sail. Jess was so sick that she ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor to minimise travel time between the bed and the bathroom. OK so maybe it wasn't a highlight, but definitely memorable!

As the islands are 1000km off the coast of Ecuador, getting to them is definitely not cheap. But after a week of snorkeling with giant tortoises and chilling out alongside sea lions, we know it was money well spent. An amazingly memorable week in a truly unique part of the world. 

These dudes loved to play!

Fun in the sun

Chris presents: the rear end of a turtle

The face says it all!

Marine iguanas on their way to the sea

Chris checks out some of the local talent

Fighting the urge to ride a tortoise around the forest

Blue footed boobies. The name is a total mystery to us...

Some incredible design on the foot of a land inguana

The lady frigate birds were digging this display big time.