Day 56. Home. 13.3.25

Today we fly from Sydney home to Hervey Bay. Wendy kindly offered to pick us up 🙏 

Overnight temperature was 20° and it was 26 when we boarded the plane. Nice to be back in shorts and tshirts.

This will be our 13th and final flight and the worst one for queues. The whole process at Sydney domestic airport has been unpleasant when compared to all the South American ones.

The lovely Wendy picked us up in HB and delivered us home to our over grown jungle. Thanks Wendy we really appreciate it. 

Sarah has kindly done some food shopping for us and we will eating well for the next few days. Thanks for not letting us starve.

We will have plenty of jobs to do after all the rain and sunshine. Sarah put all our outdoor furniture inside just incase cyclone Alfred caused havoc so we will be busy moving that back out.

Day 55. Sydney. 12.3.25

Coming down to land in Sydney. 

After a very long flight we arrived in Sydney just before 8.30 am. The flight was ~14 hrs. We both managed to get a decent sleep, Mark more than as I watched a movie and read a book. Thankfully our luggage met us in Sydney and we grabbed a taxi to the Travel Lodge. The hotel computer system was down and they couldn't find our prepaid booking even though I handed them the printed booking confirmation 🤦‍♀️ by the time we'd had a coffee at the cafe next door we were good to go.

Had a nice hot shower and a bit of a rest before going for a walk.

We went for another walk later in the afternoon. 

Went out for an evening walk.

I walked about 7 kms today. The top temp in Sydney was a pleasant 25°. 

  

Day 54. Travel Day. 11.3.25

 Our 3rd flight leaves Santiago, Chile, at 1.40 am. It is a 14 hr 50 min flight and due to the time difference we will arrive in Sydney at 6.30 am tomorrow morning. Thankfully we are flying business class for this leg so should get some sleep 🤞🏼

Well that was an adventure. We boarded the plane, the hostess made us a bed and we settled down to select our meals for the flight.

Then we were asked to take our luggage and disembark the plane at 1.40 am. No explanation that we could hear. We are now scheduled to leave at 3.30am.

We left on the new scheduled time exactly.

Day 53. Travel Day. 10.3.25.

Today we start the long trek home.  We have 4 flights before we land back in Hervey bay. Only 2 of these flights are today. It was 8° overnight and light rain this morning. Mark appears to be coming down with a cold 🤦‍♀️. After a hearty breakfast we waddled out for a last meander. 

A little retail therapy. 

Our driver was on time and in 20 minutes we were at the airport checking in. 

Our first flight is from Cusco at 1.50 pm* to Lima, Peru. This flight is 95 minutes. Hopefully no earthquake in Lima this this time.*actually left at 2.30.

Our luggage is supposed to go directly to Sydney 🤞🏼

Our 2nd flight is from Lima at 5.45 pm to Santiago, Chile. This flight is 3 hrs 35 min. We have 2 hours 20min  before the third leg.

* due to our delayed departure on the first flight and a huge effort to get to the international airport we had 35 minutes before boarding!

Our flight to Chile left a little early and made good time so we arrived just after 11pm and have time to relax in the business lounge before our next flight. We have gained 2 hours in time.

Day 52. Cusco. 9.3.25

Today we are having another leisure day, allowing us to spend time wandering the streets and look at anything we may have missed as tomorrow we start the long, complicated journey home.

Mark has woken up feeling a bit 'snotty' but I'm feeling pretty good now.

A teeny, tiny coffee with breakfast. Couldn't finish it, my taste buds aren't the working the best.

We are heading off on another waddle into town to another art museum.  Chimu Adventures, the company who are looking after us in South America, bought a block of tickets to different experiences in the area. We used a few with them and yesterdays museums were also included as is todays. 

Well we went to plan b today. We walked down the hill to the town square and every 4th person was offering to sell us a poncho. No rain about, we thought it was a bit strange. When we got to the town square we realised why. 🎉 There was a big, colourful parade on 🎉 The costumes were beautiful.  The crowds were throwing water balloons🎈🎈in all directions. They were also spraying foam at anyone and everyone. Such frivolity! Everyone was laughing. Some of the dancers were spraying foam back and some threw little bags of corn, of which I managed to catch one.

Mark did some google research and discovered that it's called the Cusco Carnival. 'It's a cultural expression that involves the entire community.  It's characterised by a game with water & talcum powder and symbolises purification and rebirth'

'Today is the central day where public and private institutions gather to present an impressive cultural display.'

The colours are so vibrant. 

                  The kids were having a ball.

                                The fight back.

After an hour or so we thought we'd take a tour around the block and try and find the museum. Instead we ran into a lot more groups waiting their turn. We also found another 100+ people wanting to sell us a poncho or a can of foam. 🤦‍♀️

We went to the building that google told us to go to and there was a museum sign on the wall but the guard inside said we were in the wrong place 🤦‍♀️ So we took a big detour around the frivolities and headed back to the hotel as we were both wearing out.

                                   Court house.

Bit of resting, blogging and resting before we went for another wander looking for lunch at 2.30 and discovered a vegan bakery next door, so we had a mushroom empanada 🥟 and shared a chocolate truffle ball.

We had another delicious dinner at the hotel. Every night while at dinner the house maids turn the bed back and pop a hot water bottle in our bed. They leave us a little dark chocolate and a fancy tea bag. 

I don't know how I'll manage when we get home on Thursday. We have been totally spoilt for the whole trip.

Todays temperature range was 8-16°, with a light showers. We've walked ~4 kms.

Day 51. Cusco. 8.3.25.

" Today is at leisure allowing you to spend time wandering the cobble-stoned streets of the ancient Inca capital. With treasures around every corner, Cusco is a wonderful city to explore on foot. Vibrant markets and stores give the traveller a plethora of shopping opportunities set amongst fine Inca and Spanish colonial architecture. The UNESCO World Heritage city is lined with history and ancient monuments, a truly enthralling city to spend time in."

Last night we decided to have an oxygen therapy session, 45 minutes in a hyperbaric tent. I followed mine with the best massage I've ever had. 

Mark took his camera in with him.

Today we have both woken up feeling better than yesterday morning. We slept a bit more than the past 4 or 5 nights. Neither of us appeared to be in need of deep breathing continuously during the night. We are still a little short of breath upon exercising but not as bad so far.

We will be taking it very easy today and hope to take a 12 min walk (according to google)* into the town square where we can sit for awhile before hopefully checking out a couple of museums.  We have pre paid tickets left for a few things around town. If things get too much we will just grab a taxi back.

*it took us 25 minutes to waddle there.

Basilica of the Cathedral. 

The town square. 

Church of the company of Jesus. 

Convent of mercy.

Lots of free roaming dogs in town as we headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art.

I couldn't resist this one even though my swannies lost last night.

     ↕️

This is exactly how my head felt about 2 mins after landing in Cusco. The pressure was incredible. It really felt like I was wearing a rock helmet.

After all that art work we moved in to the weaving room.  Omgoodness the works were incredible. Very talented people.

Next we went to a History Museum. 

Found in an archaeological dig in an Inca terrace.

Sat outside for a rest and noticed how wonky things look.

Saint Isabel of Hungary. Baroque style, XV111. 

L-R. Saint Sebastian,  Roman martyr. Pope Saint Gregory the great. The Apostle Saint James, the Elder.

Gotta love Google translation. 

After 2 Museums and an empanada we were ready to slowly wander home. 

The photo doesn't show how steep this hill was but we managed it with a few rest stops.

After a rest we were both feeling pretty good so I think our money was well spent on the oxygen therapy. 

Osso Bucco and Lamb Shank for dinner as we actually had an appetite. 

The weather has been rainy on and off all day but still it was lovely to be back out exploring.