OK, so final South American destination was Rio de Janeiro. What a city! The sea and mountains merge together in a sweeping and irregular pattern and the city itself sits in the valleys in between. It's for this reason that you never feel like you're in a large city, especially if you stay at the Copacabana like I did. After my second longest bus ride (20 hours) I arrived in Rio at lunch time and already loved this place. 35 degrees, humid and loud. After settling in and making sure the air con in the dorm worked I set off for Sugar Loaf mountain for a vista of the sun set. This is one of the mountains you will always glimse on post cards of Rio and it was just as I'd seen plastered on many touristy shop fronts. From the top you could see Christ the Redeemer, the old city, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and so much more.

The next day I decide to do the tour of the slums (Fevelas), which is run by a young chap who lived and taught kids there for six years. Apparently we are safer in the slums than on the Copacabana. This is due to the fact that the drug lords run the slums and if tourists are hurt it's bad for business and bad for image. So walking around the slums we had delicious food from the bakeries, saw 12 year old boys with guns bigger than them, magnificent views of the city and many other naughty / illegal things. It was a great tour and our guide Marco really gave us an insight into their hard lives and the history of the slums which made you really appreciate how good we have it here in the western world.

That night we went off to a street party in Lapa, which I must say was quite disappointing. After nearly being glassed by a drugged out teenage boy the moment we exited the taxi there wasn't much going on except people standing around drinking. Maybe we went to the wrong spot. Six hours sleep that night was more than expected. The next day I went up to Christ the Redeemer or the big statue of Jesus you will no doubt have seen on any film that has Rio in it. After waiting nearly 3 hours to buy my train ticket and board the train I finally made it to the top and boy was it worth it. The best views in all of Rio are from this mighty position and the sun was in full glory providing views as far as my eyes would take me. I didn't want to leave but had arranged (and paid $200) to meet some chaps at the hostel and go to the Sambodromo for the biggest night of the parade. The metro was too crowded so after discussing some over inflated cab rates we finally found one that was reasonable. I've never experienced anything like the Carnival parade at the Sambodromo and can say it lives up to its reputation as the greatest human spectacle on earth. There were 6 Samba schools each dancing for roughly an hour and a quarter involving up to 5000 people each. The colors of the costumes and floats were amazing and the locals were just dancing all night, which started at 9.30pm and finished at 5.30am! Man they certainly have energy those Brazilianos. Four hours sleep was had that night.

The next day was spent chilling on the Copacabana with some Danish dudes from the hostel. What a beach. Views of Sugar Loaf mountain and the circus that unfolds on the sand. Hawkers, beach volley ball and soccer, people wearing too little and swimming in water that didn't look too clean. After a while we joined a bloco street party. Blocos are hit and miss but this one rocked. Thousands of people dancing around a street band that slowly makes it's way through the side streets of the Copacabana. We'd pit stop for Caiparinhas along the way and then catch the crowd again. After several hours of fun we returned to the hostel to refresh before hitting a club in Ipanema near the beach. Being the last night we all got zero sleep as we returned to the hotel for checkout and taxis to the airport.

Indeed it was sad to leave South America after such an amazing experience but also exciting to head back home. After my four days here I board the plane a tired boy. First stop in Australia was Sydney, where I spent 4 days catching up with my good buddies Davo, Cath and little man Eamon. Thanks for a great four days guys, it was super to catch up. You too Ginge. So after five amazing years abroad I am finally back in the land Downunder.....and it feels great.