Monday 2nd March

Well well not long to go now before i return home to what sounds like demolition central at number 16 - for those of you who know what a long road its been to getting the old kitchen redone at home i am sure you will all be suitably impressed to hear that the ball is rolling...though no doubt its on a pretty lousy incline so will be rolling exceptionally slowly! (Im gonna get a smacked arse when i get back now aren´t i mum?!) It sounds like poor woobop thinks the house is falling down around her and in her old age is struggling to control her bowls as it is.....so looking forward to getting back to that!

Mum has also taken the kitchen scenario as inspiration to have a clear out and i think on my return i will follow her lead in having a good old de-clutter of my room which i might then, David Dickinson stylee (minus the dodgy ´tan´), use to make some money at a merry car boot sale. OH the exciting things i have planned upon my return! Anyone wanting to join in the fun is more than welcome!

Sooo...enough of the tangent. I am now in Uruguay; arrived today in quaint Colonial town of.....Colonia! It´s a very refreshing change from the smoggy, huuuuuge, cutlery-charging, outrageously coin deficient city of Buenes Aires!!! Very cool place all the same and must just explain a little better about the hilarious but bizarre coin scenario...so they have a ridiculous shortage throughout Argentina apparently, particularly acute this year, which we found out the other day on the bus WHICH ONLY TAKES COINS (eeeeeeeerm....who´s the smart b****** who thought that up!?) and so threw us of for not having any; leaving us to roam the street for half hour trying to get change for a note but faaaaaiiiiling....its so bad apparently they have a black market for coins - people sell them for 10% profit or something insane like that. Very weird.

So, aside from BA all we saw of beautiful Argentina unfortunately was a small north Patagonian/lake district town called Bariloche; famous for chocolate! That was a cool place, enough said! From there we had to take a 22hour bus across to the capital - just the three of us (Paula, Steve and I) as the rest of the group plus the tour leader wanted to pay an extra $10 for an upgrade to a fully reclining bus. Snobs (more to the point at that time i was literally down to 1pound in my bank....absolutely NOT exaggerating there)! Semi recliners are also really quite nice here so we three ventured off on our tods to get our bus and survived. Extremely proud!

Cant remember now when i last wrote but have a feeling it was Santiago...and since then have mostly just been drinking copious amounts of vino tinto, so bear with me while i try to recollect what i have been up to since then!.....................Turns out quite a lot actually (consulting journal!) including rafting down rapids on the river in Pucon (Chilean lake district) and climbing an INSANELY steep volcano only to reach the top with a stinking headache and burning throat from the sulphur. Still pretty cool i must admit. Had a fantastic last day and night in Santiago also after writing last blog. A few of us headed out post dinner to a very sophisticated wine bar in a lovely area in the city with nice chilled out lounge music and a very cool ambiance...before heading to the other side of the river to an area at polar opposites to the first! We were sat outside a bar which served mostly beer, beer or beer on the side of a road dominated by drunk beggars and stray dogs (as in cars having to drive around both!) getting up to funny business with each other. It was really pretty hilarious! This part of the night was so legendary that it made it as my quote of the day; specifically Jasper´s rage at receiving so much attention from beggars solely (by his logic) because of his scandinavian blonde hair. The line went something like this - ´ I am NOT a Christmas tree. I am NOT Santa Claus´! Might have been one of those had-to-be-there moments, but if you can try and picture the bizarre scene your already halfway there to appreciating how hilarious the night was. Believe it or not it went on to get even better as 3 of us stumbled across a FANTASTIC gay club which we spent the rest of the night in and half the next morning - i have never had so many enthusiastic dance partners in my life, it was GREAT and watching the 2 lads (Steve and Rune) i was with squirm was frankly priceless!

Wednesday 4th March

4days until i turn 23...ooooooh, it´s all down hill from here, right?! Im feeling for Pops this year - youngest turns 23, oldest walking that aisle and then he himself has a BIG milestone to cross ........i wont say anymore else i will have two cross parents to go home to!

It´s raining outside right now, in Montevideo (capital), so today my plans mostly consist of posting this blog, plus pics, reading, watching tv and drinking coffee! City doesn´t look over inspiring, particularly not enough so to have me strolling around like a wet dog all day.

Right ho, think that is pretty much all from me - need to go upstairs and do my stomach crunches (my small attempt to do something about the extra stomach´s and arses i seem to have grown over the past 9months and now need to get rid of so i dont look like a Fatty McBiff walking down the aisle behind Skinny McBride). Im not sure whether this will be my last blog :( or not, as obviously only a couple of weeks until i am home and plan on spending most of my time left on beaches wherever possible with a Caipirina in hand. No doubt i will have birthday antics to report on so will have to find time in my busy schedule to get back on here....!!!!!

Later on Wednesday 4th March

Right well it is still raining here and aside from writing this, tediously uploading pictures and/or going outside to sightsee (NOT gonna happen) i have run out of things to do in this city - been to the cinema (Slumdog Millionaire, aaaaaaamazing!), done all my clothes in the bday in the bathroom (maybe a bit gross but 1. laundry is always priced per item and is practically daylight robbery so i refuse to pay and 2. i also refuse to believe that anybody actually uses bday´s to wash anything other than babies.....and, in my case, clothes), made customised showercaps for Lauren and Paula, written my journal............im out of ideas.

Well, picture upload proving pretty unsuccessful so far so will go ahead and post this all the same.

As always, thinking of you all and will continue to do so while i laze on the beach catching those rays...will do my best to bring some back for you all, though the backpack is pretty full already sooooo...............!!!!!!!!!

Your soon to be not such a Lone Gringo!

p.s. THEY BLOODY LOVE MULLETS OVER HERE!!!!!! Can you believe it? It´s like going back in time; they´re literally everywhere. No joke. Will do my best to snap a few for you. Genius!