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traveled in 25 countries Read more Moeraki, New Zealand
  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    Day 265

    We are home!!!

    March 22, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today is a great day!! This morning we landed at Auckland airport, 30 mins late but no-one cared.... we were home!!! Thanks LATAM!!
    We joined an extremely long queue that was then split into 4 lanes as we waited for a “health assessment”. This basically consisted of ensuring we knew we had to self isolate, had somewhere to self isolate to and didn’t need anything etc.
    What was interesting was that there was a sensory wall at the airport and watching the amount of both adults and kids touching the wall, activating it but no hand sanitizer etc.... turn the wall off!! Lots of precautions but simple infection control procedures not being thought about.
    K was desperately trying not to cough and sneeze ( she caught the ship cold) whilst in the health line but this just made her eyes red and watery so she looked even more ill!
    Anyway we got through and then sailed through passport control before picking up our bags that were already going round and round on the carousel.
    By now it was 06.45am and we had 2 hours until our flight to Dunedin.
    We walked to the domestic terminal to get some good NZ fresh air even though it was still dark.
    Check in for the last flight went smoothly and before long we were sat with a newspaper, large flat whites and a good old kiwi muffin- life was good.
    ( we tried to get an Airnz refund at the ticket desk but were advised we had to ring the service centre.....I can’t face another service centre on hold for hours at a time right now!!)
    The connecting flight was on time and we boarded with our masks in situ. Airnz had spaced us out so the plane was only about a quarter full but it was an easy flight and before long we were landing in Dunedin! It felt like we had never left! Sadly it was only 4 weeks instead of 4 months but needs must at this crazy time.
    Meem has kindly driven the truck down with the neighbours following. We did a car swap at a distance, just waving and communicating across the road before she jumped in with Dave and Yvonne to drive home whilst we dumped our gear in the truck and followed them up the road.
    12.30pm we pulled into our drive in Moeraki and shut the gate behind us for the start of our 14 day self isolation- Coronavirus u r a pain in the ass but i can’t think of a better place to self isolate than home in Moeraki.
    The crib was just as we left it albeit with a few more spiders webs- did I say it was nice to be home!!
    Self isolation isn’t going to be too tough at all. Just so relieved to be back in NZ.
    Thanks Meem for the care package just dropped off at the gate to comply with quarantine.    Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    11
    Day 264

    All the places we didnt see

    March 21, 2020 in Chile ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Whilst at Santiago de Chile airport there were constant reminders of places we didn’t go and places we didn’t see.
    K found great delight in taking photos of me in front of many of them!!
    It’s the stress of the situation!!Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    Day 263

    Hopefully we are coming home!!!

    March 20, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    At 7am we finally managed to secure tickets out of Argentina on paper anyway ( these being the third tickets we own to leave this country!!)
    Went back to sleep for a couple of hours as exhausted. At 11am got a message from a friend at the airport “ get here now they are locking down the airport and only letting in one person at a time!!”
    Straight to shower, print new tickets and taxi called in record time.
    We anxiously got to the airport and luckily got let in as we had tickets. Hurdle 1 done. We then queued to see if we could get on an earlier flight “ no”.
    Queued for 2 hours after being told we could check in early only to be turned away at the front of queue- to be fair it was to check in people with earlier flights.
    Then we discovered there was another direct flight to Santiago leaving 2 hours before ours, so back to the service desk it was to be told “ go to check in and they will check for u”- back to check in. Told to wait another hour to check in. Did this and finally checked in and got seats on earlier flight - yay!! We were then told that we were put on the earlier flight because our 20.20 one had been cancelled!!
    Definition of relief ..... 2 boarding passes in situ!!
    After a totally empty of passengers security snd passport check we find a blinding oasis of amazingness....An Aussie Outback Steakhouse open!!! No word of a lie!! K had an amazing steak sandwich and I finally got a coffee. We realised we hadn’t had a meal since Monday - now Friday!!
    Anyway we r now sat in row 42 of a plane for Buenos Aires to Santiago. Sadly the plane is 80% empty- gutting.
    We have paid an extortionate amount to get seats due to “ limited availability” and now these planes are empty.
    We were told we couldn’t get out 2 days ago because there were no seats available but an Aussie couple on it messaged to say their plane was also 1/3 full.
    We could assume it is to limit contact between people but they have everyone seated together in a few rows and the rest totally empty - totally gutted. We could have been home days ago for probably a quarter of the price.
    Anyway we are hopefully on our way and that all that really matters for now.
    Never looked forward so much to a 4 hour layover in Santiago before!!

    Santiago layover saw us nervously checking the Departures board every 10 mins until at 22.40 they posted our gate!! So many flights had the ominous “cancelled” sign next to them.
    Gate 31 was full of apprehensive passengers all with horror stories of trying to get home to NZ, AUS or other places in the world. Everyone was exhausted with the stress of constant changes but finally boarding was called and we were away!
    Interestingly the majority of us were all in “premium economy” with the economy section virtually empty. Whilst this normally would be considered quite nice in this situation where we had been made to pay an extortionate amount for our seats, in order to maximise our chances to get home, it really pissed us off because we could have just paid for an economy seat.
    Despite this we were just super relieved to be taking off and getting out of the madness of being locked down in Argentina.
    The 12 hour flight went v smoothly and the meals with LATAM were actually very nice- the first hot proper meal we had eaten for 4 days!!
    On our way home!!    Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    Day 262

    Low day thanks to Qantas

    March 19, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    To cut a very long day short it started at 7am with phone calls to the NZ embassy and Qantas and ended 17 hours later with a 3 hour phone call to Qantas... (there were at least 7 more in between!!)- with no ticket at the end of it!!

    Tanya and Greg messaged early to say that they had no joy at the airport but had a friend of a friend who was a travel agent who had managed to book them LATAM tickets out of Santiago this am. Lucky them!
    K and I went downstairs for breakfast as we weren’t hungry particularly but we didn’t know when we would next have food.
    K was in the throes of her cold and was desperate that people didn’t think she had Coronavirus whilst I had woken up with nausea and the worst headache ( ? Dehydration / coffee withdrawal).
    Speaking to the NZ embassy they said we were allowed out for food and essentials so we informed the hotel and went to the supermarket. The hotel warned us not to speak whilst we were out so people didn’t know we were tourists because we could be reported!!
    The supermarket was pretty empty except for fruit, chips/ crisps and packet soups! Our diet is going to be outstanding if we have to stay.

    Next we sent a desperate email to a travel agent in Dunedin we used to get our travel insurance to see if she could help with a ticket out, as rumours about the quarantine lockdown turning into Marshall law at midnight seemed to be true. Our hotel also didn’t know if it was going to be allowed to stay open.
    We also made an emergency dash to the airport with Aussie claire as she had flights but she couldn’t process the payment for them ( much stress!) and for us to pray that LATAM could change our ticket from July 6th ( which they could not). Only Qantas could change it ..... WE CANT GET THROUGH TO THEM!! We have been trying for 3 days.
    What was most depressing was the constant playing of the Qantas hold music and repetitive announcements I had to liaten to for hours and hours at a time until the WiFi made the call drop out whilst we were on hold.
    We went back to Claire’s air bnb to use her better WiFi which resulted in getting through to Qantas after a further 2 hours!! “Jamie” was in middle of helping us when he cut us off!! WTF??!! No way of getting him back. Rang executive headquarters to get put back through- no luck. 1 hour later through again to a female of no name. We asked her continually not to put us on hold as it would cut out. We are now desperate as it’s 9pm and claire wants to leave for the airport.... Qantas rep is checking flights... and puts us on hold!!! Despite us shouting “nooo” at the phone as she says “ I will just pop u on hold”. Gone.
    Now 10pm we decide to leave but suddenly “Dave “ answers the phone and we start again.
    1.5 hours later, a lift, a cab ride and a transfer to our hotel whilst praying we don’t get cut off, Dave comes up with an answer... there are no seats out forever for our fare class- WTF?! Ok try the next fare class up.... $12,000 aud to get us out on 23rd mar!!!! Come on!!
    Anyway we sent a desperate email to Janine and she said she would work on it and get back to us by 7am tmrw. V v hard to sleep as I had the Qantas music on repeat in my brain!
    Then to top off a bugger of a day K in her sleep sat bolt upright, jumped out of bed and reported the hotel was moving and we were parked v close to a street!!!😂😂😂 apparently this am she said she thought we were on the World Explorer and she couldn’t work out how we had docked right in the middle of town!!! This world is going mad... and so r we it seems!! Tmrw will be a different day of god knows what.... a flight home??
    If Janine can’t get us seats we really are stuck here until a mercy flight or quarantine is lifted in 2-4 weeks or longer. Praying for affordable seats v soon.    Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    Day 261

    Ushuaia to BA .. and a kick in the guts!

    March 18, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Woke up in our little double bed in our turquoise room at 8am. No rush to get up as our flight out of Ushuaia wasn’t until 18.35.
    Up at 10am and sat on the phone for 2 hours to Qantas to try to get a refund sorted for our original flight home - no luck and we had to hang up to leave.
    At 1pm we had to wake our hosts up to explain to him that we wanted to check out now in order to get to the airport but if our flight didn’t go we had paid for tonight’s stay so we would be back. Poor man had been on late shift as a policeman but he was very lovely and called a taxi to take us to the airport.
    We had decided to try to get on standby for the 14.30 flight Ushuaia to BA as we were just super worried we wouldn’t get out of Ushuaia before they stopped all domestic flights 20th-25th March which would mean we would miss our AirNz flight to Auckland. At the airport there was just a mass of people and a queue and a guy making announcements in Spanish. It soon became clear we were too late! There was already obviously a waitlist for this flight and soon they were calling at least 20-30 people’s names- bugger. We so could have done with getting on that plane.
    Also in the melee were Josh, Tania and Greg and a few other Quark shipmates- none of us successful on the earlier flight but we all had tickets for either 18.35 or 20.30 flights to BA so there was still hope!
    Tania and Greg were actually trying to buy an earlier Latam flight just to get to BA and thy had planned to go straight to Ezeiza airport to try to get on the Airnz flight that leaves at 11.45pm tonight.
    Anyway we queued for check in super early to make sure we got on and before long we had boarding passes in hand... but couldn’t relax until the plane flew in at 18.00.
    Relief was abound as we all queued to board the plane. Claire ended up being seated in premium economy whilst we ended up sitting next to Vlad one of the Quark guides.
    The 3.5 hour flight left on time and a a was uneventful apart from the last 10 mins when Vlad got a txt message from Katrina the Kiwi kayak Quark guide saying she was the holder of the “last golden boarding pass” .... and then Vlad says there are no more AirNZ flights after tonight. We explained that AirNZ was flying until Mar 30th and we had a ticket for 25th.... Vlad shakes his head and shows us the NZ Herald page which says AirNZ is suspending all flights out of Argentina effective immediately!! WTF??!!! They had just stranded us- all of us!! Not one of us had received an email informing us- we were all in total disbelief but at the same time totally knackered from all of the stress.
    Tanya and Greg still wanted to head straight over to the international airport even though there was no way they were going to get that last flight whose doors were shutting in 15 mins.
    The wind had been kicked out of us and K, Claire and I worked out how to get a taxi to our accommodations- had to get a ticket snd queue and then be directed to a taxi.
    Sadly we got a female taxi driver that looked like she was having a v v bad day and soon began ranting at us in Spanish- not what we wanted at 11.30pm. To cut a long story short we ended up having to pay twice the recommended amount but we finally got dropped off - firstly Claire to her Airbnb and then us back to the A Hotel.
    On checking in we were told the hotel was in lockdown and we couldn’t go out for food or water and also they didn’t know if they would be allowed to be open tmrw or any day after! At this point we really were just too tired, hungry, dehydrated and thoroughly despondent. We had discussed that if we couldn’t get out of BA we would need to just ride out the quarantine but would need a hotel that had a restaurant or served food.
    We had a quick look at booking.com but it was impossible to tell which ones would take us and which wouldn’t.
    The plan for tmrw was to access food ? For at least a week in case we were really locked own, and then deal with the fact we now didn’t have a flight out and were technically stranded in Argentina. Not a great feeling or position to be in. Not much sleep was had and poor K was now really in the grips of the ‘ship cold’ that had been passed around.
    We were still couldn’t believe AirNZ had stranded us! So gutted... not to mention the cost of the flights we had paid to them. We were actually angry more than anything- why sell flights 2 days ago that they knew they wouldn’t be able to deliver?
    Tmrw is another day and we were a bit grateful that at least we had made it to BA. One step closer to home.    Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    Day 260

    Lockdown in Ushuaia- bye World Explorer!

    March 17, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After not sleeping v well at all we were up as we had to put our bags outside the cabin door by 06.30am. Breakfast was at 06.45am but we got down there just after 7am and proceeded to collect items for the next 2 days as all restaurants and cafes mandatorily closed as we are reportedly meant to be locked down at our accommodation. Most people were making sandwiches and hoarding the bread and cheese and anything else that wasn’t bolted down!!
    We heard from our host Gaston, who kindly said we could arrive at 8am, which settled the boat staff as they could now legitimately dump us from the bus.
    A few goodbyes ( none teary) and we were scanned out for the last time ( well we got scanned out , in and then out again because we accidentally left with the people for the airport bus!!!).
    Picking up our bags that had been kindly lifted to the wharf we loaded them onto bus 2 and grabbed a seat, laughing that we should have been boarded by seal, penguin, albatross and whale groups for the last time.... and probably in that order!!
    Goodbye World Explorer it has been an amazing trip and a beautiful ship and we have met some v lovely people.
    K and I actually got off the bus first and when we saw our accommodation we laughed that it was a good job we had been dropped off around the corner!!! Most others were in hotels with sea views .... we went for a washing machine and WiFi!!
    Our host Gaston was v lovely and finished off cleaning before leaving us to the 4 loads of laundry we ended up doing.
    Gaston is a police officer and whilst saying he thought the lockdown was unnecessary he didn’t exactly say we could roam free around town!
    We have spent all day in the apartment which is basically in Gaston’s family’s backyard watching grandma and grandpa (in a dodgy vest/singlet) go about their business whilst the baby cries and another young child screams intermittently. They seem like v lovely hardworking people and the apartment, despite being basic is spotless.
    At 4pm we sneaked out to a supermarket 100m away and bought chips/ crisps so we have existed on a diet of bread, cheese, cookies stolen from the ship, chips and wine.... are weight watchers doing online classes??!!!!
    Today the advisory has been than Argentina are stopping all domestic flights and long haul trains from Mar 20th-25th so we have to get out of here tmrw or at the v latest 19th otherwise we may v well lose our Airnz flight on 25th. Today they have released more seats .... business class at $5000 usd each!!! Really??!!!! They are definitely not flying after March 30th and with Chile being closed Qantas flights are out also. Fingers crossed we leave Ushuaia tmrw.
    For now we are safe and well ( not well fed!) and have everything we need. Let’s see what tmrw brings    Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    Day 259

    F***ing nightmare!!

    March 16, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    So we arrived back into Ushuaia today a day early due to the Coronavirus to allow residents of USA,UK, China, Iran etc to get home before Argentina stop all flights to these countries from midnight 16th March - tonight!!
    We have been relaxed as we have been planning to get the bus up to Patagonia and hike for a couple of weeks before heading to Santiago and go to Easter Island mid April.
    We head into town in Ushuaia this am at 9am only to find EVERYWHERE closed due to a national directive this am to shut down EVERYTHING!! Our travel agency was closed but we needed to drop off our wet weather trousers ( covered in penguin shit) and gloves so the guy talked to us through an open window saying he shouldn’t be there and he was closed..... but kindly took our stuff before telling us this shut down was likely to last longer than the 2 weeks!!
    I went to a cafe to use WiFi whilst K tried to find a SIM card after we found all phone shops closed or open but only able to stand behind a line to ask a question!!
    Once back on the boat we went to Ed’s lecture on Amundsen and Scott’s race to the South Pole. Half way through we heard that Chile he closed all borders immediately and had closed its airport due to rioting- shitballs!!
    Cutting a v v long story short we spent our last day on the boat panic packing and going to the airport where we secured a flight to Buenos Aires on weds 18th March which was the earliest out but too late to exit via Chile.
    More relaxed we enjoyed a cocktail and then many wines over dinner before an announcement that the president of Tierra Del Fuego has now shut down the whole of Ushuaia immediately and tmrw we must now be dropped directly from our ship to our accommodation at 8am..... we can’t check in until 3pm so god knows how that will work??!! I have emailed our accommodation (Z y K apartments) but the no response at 10.25pm is giving everyone nightmares on the ship as they don’t know what to do with us tmrw!! No one is allowed in town!!
    We tried to ring Qantas to change our flights home to get home immediately or ASAP only to be greeted with “ your call will be answered within ....5 hrs!!!” Seriously!!! We have tried several numbers but no luck at all.
    K is now trying to book flights directly Buenos Aires with Auckland with Airnz. Earlier they were available on 20th and every other day but tonight the earliest we can get home is March 25th!!! Shit this is turning into a total and v expensive nightmare ( insurance won’t cover us as it’s a pandemic/ act of god!! Aka robbing assholes!!)
    Well technically Flights booked but who knows what will happen as we now have 8 days in between.
    Had a great trip but this really is a nightmare
    Ps on a positive note the beautiful Europa was moored at the wharf which made me smile. I was offered a job back on this beautiful boat back in 2006 and was sadly unable to take it 🙁🙁    Read more

  • Kate and Tamsin Trip 2019
    1
    1
    Day 258

    Tragedy at sea- for the breakables!!

    March 15, 2020, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    We had a slightly better night but there were still 5-7m swells reportedly.
    This am we were having a relaxed breakfast with Diane and Carl.
    Suddenly we were hit by a set of huge waves and the dining room turned to chaos...... cutlery flew off tables, coffee pots hit the floor, next the industrial toaster took off from the counter and ended on the floor, the decorative planter pits flew off the top of the buffets and the whole buffet area turned into a mess of smashed glass/ crockery and god knows what else!!
    Meanwhile upstairs in the Observation Lounge the bar stools were sliding wildly side to side whilst poor Kenny behind the bar was dealing with smashed bottles of spirits that flew off the bar.... that’s what u get when things are unsecured!!
    We have made amazing time and we r now just south of The Beagle Channel.... basically near Cape Horn .... and it’s wild!! Loving it!! Just off for lunch to see what drama that brings!!

    Pm- the sea immediately calmed as soon as we were anywhere near the eastern lee of Cape Horn- I already missed the huge and hypnotic swells of just half an hour previous.
    Suddenly there were albatross and kelp - signs of life..... as suddenly there was in the ship when people came out alive of their cabins!
    At 2.30pm we took the opportunity to go and visit the bridge - super swanky and lots if technology - see additional post.
    17.45pm saw the last recap and slideshow before 19.00 “Captain’s Cocktails” when we missed the brief about wearing our best clothes. We turned up in the lounge to unrecognisable staff an passengers in “semi-glam” wear, well actually items other than merino and hiking pants!!
    We had a couple of bubbles whilst we toasted the staff and the trip before going for dinner. Tonight we had a lovely table with Sue, Glenn, Gary, Karina, Thomas, Stefan, Diane and John. Much wine, merriment and laughter until Christians talk at 9.30pm about something.... we got a coffee and came to the cabin!!
    We are currently anchored in the Beagle Channel with the pilot boat booked to take us into the wharf at 06.30am tmrw.
    A v expensive day at the wharf side for those of us staying on but can’t be helped and at least those returning to the US have all seemed to have rebooked flights before the shutdown at midnight. We are off to town!!    Read more

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