We arrived in Ilha Grande, a small island off the coast of Brazil a few days ago. It is a paradise island which is a little backwards, but beautiful. There are no cars on the whole island and an abundance of stray dogs (which I am subsequently avoiding as I was too tight to pay 150 quid for rabies jab!) Our accomodation is a little hut fully equiped with TV, ensuite, fridge and hammock on the porch. I laugh in the face of backpacking! The only thing ...

The first leg of the tour has officially begun, and what better way to start than in Rio. The two plane journeys here were surprisingly smooth, although I think I have replaced my fear of flying with the fear of taking foreign taxis. It all adds to the excitement though. Leah has been repeatedly mistaken for a Brazilian and I nearly lost her 3 times in the first 12 hours in various RTAs. However, we have now managed to successfully negotiate the traffic...

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to my leaving party. I had a fantastic night and was so impressed with the array of costumes! I've put the pictures in the phot album section. A few moments do stick out: the spontaneous fanfares from our Austrian friends, Lucy and her skills on the accordian (she really was the UK under 17 champion), Alan's 'touching' speech, the reappearance of the famous carrot costume and of course, the bike r...

Five weeks tomorrow and the grand tour will commence!