Hola from Brazil, Just a quick catch up, dorm is going well, don't get quite as much sleep but I has 3 siestas yesterday so feeling good ha ha. Sharing with a german couple and this Israeli guy who is really nice. We went up as a group to see Christ The Redeemer up Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca national park, views were out of this world and weather was perfect blue skies, sunshine then storm clouds on the other. Made for some wicked pics. We asked chef to d...

Hi all, making good use of the iPod and free wifi at the mo!! Had a fantastic day yesterday, walked round santa Theresa and Lapa and found a stunning cathedral which was humongous. Afterwards we got on the metro to the botanical gardens (pictures to follow soon). It was beautiful, the highlight were the monkeys just hanging about all over the place. We got lost later on which was nice......! Walked for about 6 hours in total, great preparation for Inca Trail. W...

Hi guys....we're here! Flight was good. Hostel is wicked and does a mean Caipirinha (brazils national cocktail) woke up with a stunning headache after just 3, they're sooo strong! Going to explore Santa Theresa today (where we are staying) and then meeting up with some guys tonight to go partying in Lapa which is supposed to have great live samba bands on the street. That's all for now, lots of love from Rio Adds

PEXTON ROAD, SHEFFIELD, 9TH JUNE 2010 Well the time has finally arrived....! Just finishing off all the final bits, setting off to the airport at Heathrow in the next hour. Never thought our bags could hold so much stuff........ Mixed emotions at the moment, obviously excitement, however this is jumbled up with a bag of nerves and a pinch of sadness! Going to miss everyone SOOOOOOOO much but hopefully the combination of sun, sea, sand, cocktails and good times...

As Peter Kay famously quoted, we've "Booked it, packed it and........" well you know the rest..........! Although that isn't the complete truth as we have packed nothing to date and haven't actually gone anywhere yet, nor will we be leaving Sheffield for another 6 weeks but you get the gist. This is going to be our tracking device for the next year to come and we will 'blog' as often as we can be bothered to really, so maybe a few of you can read it f...