Hi Guys,

We should mention the water levels have been quite low after one of the driest summers on record for Brazil. Our Pantanal photos will show this too.

Also we are now safely in Bolivia!

Dave

The waterfalls album has to be one of the most spectacular yet! Hard to imagine how much more gobsmackingly amazing it must have been in real life!

Sounds good, you're listing places I've never heard of before you went there!

Hi everyone,

I have sorted the problem Kate mentioned, and am now busy either swimming, playing pool, playing table football then maybe I shall grace Paraguay with my presence. Ahh the easy life.

Dave

On your map, why is your pinpoint for Rio not actually anywhere near Rio? It seems to be near somewhere called Varzea da Palma instead.

Hi everyone,

Firstly thanks to my dad for the previous comments. Finally, we have started our tour now and several places have no Internet access, please note our comments and blog posts will be sporadic from now on.

Also, Lucy and I just went to a beach called Lopez Mendes, aside from being miles and miles away from Rio it is also miles and miles better than Copacobana and even Ipanema. The water clarity and waves and sun and the marine life and the jungle next to the beach...fantastic.

Dave

We have just returned from a holiday and are settling down to catch up on 11 pages of blog and a few photo albums!
Well done Lucy and Dave, it really is fascinating to follow your travels.

Actually Lucy is right, I would say every place we have been has good points and bad points. Sydney was good but I sold tickets for a kids charity door to door so I got grief. That spoilt the greatness a bit. I loved Koh Tao I reckon I could travel the world and never find a location that parallels Leam Thian in quiet beauty. Heck look at the pictures.

I should tell you about Cloncurry, within a month of leaving a town with appalling water, the minerals grew out of the taps, the entire place was surrounded with flood water! A precursor to the Queensland floods.

Dave

Dave you forgot to list Koh Tao as one of our favourites! Also Uluru, Kakadu, Litchfield and the Whitsunday islands in Australia, and the Yasawas islands in Fiji. I'd also have parts of almost every other place we've been to as well, like Sydney, Auckland, Rotorua (the hot springs and zorbing), Bangkok, Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, Taj Mahal in India, Singapore, and Rio of course! Even in places where there were some bad things too, like India, I loved the exoticness of them and the fact that they were so different to England.I agree with Penang, Santiago and Cairns (Barrier Reef included) also being great!

I agree with Melaka being one of the worst - the small historical centre was good but overall it seemed obsessed with tourism; everything was done with the sole aim of attracting tourists, and the place was covered in building sites. The Portuguese Settlement there sounded really great but turned out to be a big disappointment! Nadi seemed to be filled with people trying to squeeze money out of you and con you.

Hi guys,

Ian. I would say the best place is between Penang, Santiago and Cairns and the worst is between Melaka, Nadi and Cloncurry.

I could list every place we have been as good or bad. In case your wondering , the tiny little Cambodian girl selling pineapple for ´one dolla´ with a spider on her shirt, noticed my dislike as I dived for the bus. From then on I spent the time at a large pace and no one badgered me. Phew! I was really suprised by my actions I thought I was not as scared as you, Ian, but the implications of the young girls wearing them and selling them to eat tested my intestinal fortitude to the max.

In Brazil its similar, minus the spiders. They all talk portuguese and I say ´Fala Inglesh´ to which they all reply ´Nao´ and the ruck of beggars leave you alone.

Dave

So where is the best place you'ev been to so far? and which is the worst? (got to be that spider place)

I'm just off to the music school where I will be handing out exam results, among other things...I will email tonight about the menu tasting, and other wedding stuff! Just think, in two month's time we'll be able to see you in person! :D