We came to Florianopolis because we`d heard it was a lot of fun, and a beautiful place to boot. We intended to stay only a couple of nights...well that didn`t quite happen!

First off, the Ilha de Santa Catarina, which is an almost-island, attached to the mainland by a spit of land on which the city of Florianopolis is located, is absolutely GORGEOUS. On the east coast and long stretches of beaches battered by the Atlantic Ocean and providing some awesome surfing (yes ladies, lots of surfers - quite heavenly). The west coast is much more sheltered, taken up with pretty villages, beachside cafes and restaurants, and sheltered coves. We stayed in a place called Barra de Lagoa, which is a sweet little seaside town with an enormous beach, which we could see from the bar/cafe of our hostel. The "Lagoa" bit of it is a huge lake very nearby, which was often crammed with sailing boats and kite surfers. Lots of water activities in this place!

Secondly, our hostel is up there among my favourite places to stay ever. Run by Junior and Tish, brother and sister, it`s so friendly and in the most incredible location, set on a little hill across a stream that you cross on a rope and plank bridge to get to the town, and overlooking the beach. It`s a 24-hour party hostel and we had a fantastic time with the 4 we`d travelled down with from Ilha Grande, plus lots of new friends.

Even the slightly dud weather didn`t bother us too much. We spent a couple of days relaxing (and recovering from a couple of big nights following our long bus journey!) and then, when the rain came and we didn`t want to leave (but were bored of the DVDs - yes a bit lazy but remember I´d just sprained my ankle and still wasn´t quite up to long walks along the beaches - 20 minutes being about the most I could manage), we hired a car and went exploring. We went down to the south of the Island, found fishing villages with beautiful streches of beach, perfect church squares (with the graveyards slightly ominously located next to the health centre) and the surfer-central beaches. We went up to the north as well, which is much more developed and totally different to the south - beach towns similar to those somewhere like the Costa del Sol, with big bars and restaurants and beach car parks, and upmarket towns with lots of nice hotels and elaborate holiday homes. Here the boats were yachts, not wooden fishing boats, but the beaches were just as beautiful and the surf a little calmer - no riptides here!

And we tried to leave on schedule but it just didn´t happen. In the end, we succumbed to the inevitable, staying an extra few nights before leaving - and I really had to tear myself away!!! An awesome place - go if you can, stay in the Backpackers in Barra da Lagoa, and get Junior to make the best caipiroska you´ve ever had (and then have 6 more).

Next stop - Iguassu Falls...and Argentina!!!