Hi guys Happy New Year!

Wev finally managed to find time to update our blog sorry its taken us so long. Wev been here in Rio now for just over a week we are ready to depart tomorrow heading to a beach town called Paraty just south of Rio. We were supposed to leave yesturday afternoon but a lindslide occured creating a lot of chaos, the roads were blocked and the water had been shut off for the city so we booked an extra night at our hostel in Rio, but all is well now and we are good to go.

Sunday 27th December

We arrived in Rio after a stop off in Sao Paulo to board a smaller plane we landed at 10.30am local time a perfect time to land as the views were incredible. We have never seen anything like it! The landing was a little rough to say the least but the views made up for it. We could see everything the coastline, the sea, the rain forest, Christ statue and sugar loaf mountain we decided that was our 1st once in a lifetime experience. We arrived at our hostel after a very dangerous taxi journey, the driver tried to charge us more because he spoke (in very broken English) pointing out the Christ statue and the police station but we just paid him the fare and dived out! Our hostel is nice enough its basic but it has everything we need. Its clean and tidy and the staff are really friendly. However the area was dissapointing there seemed to be nothing open but it is Sunday so that probably explains it. We walked to Botafogo beach where we are staying its beautiful as youll see from the photos it overlooks Sugar Loaf Mountain. We decided to eat in the only restaurant open you pay by Kilo it was nice I had sushi Mark had chicken in a questionable tomato sauce he seemed to like it he said if he closed his eyes it tasted like chicken pasta bake!!

Monday 28th December

We woke in the middle of the night to what we thought was a hurricane it turned out to be a tropical storm which happens a lot at this time of year because its so hot. We braved the metro to Ipanema beach today the language barrier is proving very difficult here but thats our own ignorance for assuming people would speak English we seem to manage eventually though. The beach is beautiful and we took a long walk in the sea to Copacabana beach. The weather was ok it was still a little cloudy from the storm but that meant it was managable enough to enjoy a nice walk. We sunbathed for a while and a had my first cocunut water straight out of a tree it was deliciouse really refreshing. We discovered that Mark has difficulty walking in flip flops he literally could not walk 5 steps without them flying off. He was getting very annoyed but of course I thought it was hilarious he turned to me and did a Dad (you know what I mean Mum) he said you better not be laughing!! Haha.

Tuesday 29th December

We woke up to find we had gotten very sunburned even though it was cloudy and Mark has been eaten alive in the night by midgies but its ok we went to the pharmacy and hes got plent of cream. We decided to save on cost and did a big shop at the local supermarket for breakfast and a few teas in the hostel. Nothing much else to report today we were in the middle of a storm again so we were rained in. Although I have come to the conclusion that listening to Mark try to communicate with the locals is like watching Manuel in Faulty Towers! I speak English I learned it from a book! Haha hilarious!!

Wednesday 30th December

We booked a tour today to see the sights of Rio. We headed to the Christ Statue, Maracana football statium, Samba Avenue, Sant Tereasa and Sugar Loaf Mountain. However the rain still had not stopped so the sights from Christ were not good at all. We left feeling very disappointed but ploughed on. As we headed to Sugar Loaf Mountain the rain still had not cleared so we decided to pick up our tickets and head there another day on our own. We went to a nice Italian restuarant for tea just over the road from our hostel and had drinks with friends in our hostel who had been on the same tour so the day wasnt a total loss!

Thursady 31st December New Years Eve

The rain still hadnt cleared so everyone was down about going to Copacabana beach for New Years Eve. We caught up with people in the hostel and got plenty of tips for our other destinations. We met a group of guys from USA and a group of girls from Melbourne and Sydney. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun came out!! Yeah!! Our hostel put on a party for us all and we all changed into our whites had a few drinks and headed to The beach. I cannot tell you what the sight was like when we got there near enough 2 miliion people on one stretch of beach all wearing white and celebrating together. The clock struck 12 and the most AMAZING fireworks began. Its in with the top 10 moments of our trip we decided. An experience of a lifetime. There were 5 boats out at sea all setting off the same display and we were right in the middle. AMAZING.

Friday 1st January

The sun was shining so we thought what better way to celebrate 2010 then a trip up Sugar Loaf Mountain. It was worth it as you can see from the photos another top 10 moment of our trip. We finished the day off with some more coconut waters at Urca beach just below Sugar Loaf and Mark tried one!!

Saturday 2nd January

We took a long walk to Flamengo beach today to take advantage of the sunshine it was worth it for the views!! Breathtaking.

Sunday 3rd January

Our final day in Rio and we headed to Ipanema beach with our friends from Sydney. The beach was by far the most beautiful wed seen and the waves were enough to compete with Oz. We enjoyed the sunshine and took a stroll around Ipanema market. Now were headed to Paraty then Sao Paulo!

Hope everyone is well the photos will be uploaded asap! We need to go now so goodbye from Rio and we will speak to you soon xxxxx