Thread: An Epic: a minor one at that.

This old brain is not functioning properly.Just realised I could post about my travels here.

Had a great trip to Brasil via:

Aukland, where we caught up on some sleep.

Tahiti, beautiful as ever. This time did a trip around the main Island, Saw Gaugin's house,the site where Cook observed the transit of Venus across the sun- and the area is not well kept or signposted ( something to do with French arrogance methinks). The Bounty site is better signposted! Goes to show that scoundrels are more revered than true men of distinction.

Easter Island, is still absolutely fascinating. Moi everywhere. Must have been extremely industrious buggers because about 1 in 3 statues never made it to where they were intended to go because they broke in transit. We hired a car and drove all over the Island so we saw absolutely everything. The ocean around the island is the most spectacular shade of blue, like nothing I've ever seen.

Santiago, Chile. Wonderful city. Contains 7 million of Chile's 17 million inhabitants.The city is much cleaner and far more prosperous looking than when I was last there 22 years ago (Under the regime of that mongrel Pinochet ). Went to Undurraga Winery. The winery and grounds are better than the wines.
Next day it was off to the coast. A beautiful coastline with wild surf and many rocky outcrops. We were able to get a peek at the world's largest swimming pool. It is 1.2 kilometres long and covers X hectares. All water is drawn from the ocean and is kept at a constant temp all year round.
The Andes dominate Santiago ( along with the smog ) They are just "there" almost at arms length and quite spectacular. A trip over these mountains by plane is one of life's great spectacles.You can see Aconcagua from the plane to the north of Santiago as you fly eastwards.

Rio. Well, Rio is Rio, noisy, busy and just a bit grubby. Nephew picked us up at the airport and drove us directly north to the MIL's home in Campos.The road has been improved considerably over the years but is still, for the most part a 2 lane main highway. I sat In open mouthed, wide-eyed terror as we took a white knuckle journey to one of my favourite places on this earth. God, Brazillians are the world's craziest driver's bar none. Overtaking every and any where. Despite the fact that Brasil now has one of the toughest ( and one of the most stupid ) driving tests in the world the people pay little, and mostly no, attention to road safety. Pedestrians are simply targets in a great target shoot. Bicyclists ride wherever they please and actually- by law- have superior rights to motorists. Too many drivers simply want to be in front, no matter what the state of traffic.

Now Campos, where the family is ensconced. All that I've said about driving and traffic applies to Campos with the added features of Thousands of motor scooters and motor bike PLUS horse drawn carts carrying all sorts of stuphph.
It is not uncommon to see a cartload of sand for a building site with reinforcing steel tied to the axle. This is driven along the streets and roads at clip-clop pace.

More next installment.