First off, apologies for the 6 week delay but we've been rather busy finding multiple flats, having visitors and in Joe's case-working.

Unbelievably our 20 glorious weeks in South America are over

but with a set of amazing memories, an abundance of photos and a healthy glow we are now ready to start our Australian adventure.

More on Oz later, now for the awards ceremony! After 5 months in South America many people have asked us how it was, what was our favourite bit, and most importantly-what was the official number 1 steak!!!

BEER: this category was heavily contested by a number of fine beers from each country. The winner edges it for crisp taste, amount consumed and low price, making it a worthy winner:

1. AGUILA (Colombia)

2. CUSQUENA (Peru)

3. QUILMES (Argentina)

HOSTEL: well what can we say; there were highs and lows in this event. The podium is made up of hostels that were clean, fun, affordable and informative.

1. Kokopelli (Mancora, Peru)

2. Che legarto (Parati, Brazil)

3. Point hostel (El Calafate, Argentina)

CITIES: considering all the natural beauty seen in South America we were also treated to some great cities. All of the podium citires were outstanding, but we think number 1 is a total must-see...

1. Rio de Janiero, Brazil

2. Buenos Aires, Argentina

3. Cusco, Peru

EXPERIENCES: we thought it wasn't enough just to have favourite countries and so have included experiences, as a way to sum up some very special moments. Number one has to be.....

1. 4 day Inca Trail

2. Iguazu falls (both Argentinean and Brazilian sides MUST be seen)

3. The salt flats (Bolivia)

COUNTRIES: this podium had to be discussed and refined between the 2 of us, with all of the top 3 at some point sitting in the much coveted number 1 spot. The winner was eventually decided based on accessibility (aka comfy buses!!!), sheer range of natural beauty, culture...our congratulations go to..

1. Argentina (the excellent wine and food helped the decision too)

2. Colombia

3. Peru

Now, for the all important category, the equivalent of best actor, best actress and best film combined:

STEAK: it is no secret that this is entirely Joe's decision, he wears the steak trousers in this relationship, and so his royal highness of meat-loving has decided:

1. Bife de lomo, Alberto's Parrilla, El Calafate, Argentina

2. Bife de chorizo, (the steakhouse in Zona Rosa), Medellin, Colombia

3. Fillet de lomo with pepper sauce, "The Italian", Popayan, Colombia

As an aside, myself and Joe pitted our mental arithmetic skills against each other as we tried to total up the hours spent on buses (thrilling, I know) but with over 3700 miles covered north to south and 1900 miles west to east, it was no easy feat! The closest with a guess of 349 hours was me (Katie) with the actual amount of hours standing proudly at 344 hours or 14.3 days! Two whole weeks on buses, those iPods paid for themselves!

When we first named our blog "Katie and Joe win at life" it was based on a funny northern saying that Joe used when particularly pleased with things, but on reflection we couldn't have chosen a better blog name. South America is beautiful, safe and welcoming, with adventures to be had in every country-as can be seen from all our photos. We already wish we were back there!

A few people had expressed concerns that we were leaving steady jobs in the middle of an economic crisis, that we might not last having never spent more than 10 days in each others company (they actually bet on this in Joe's local) and that we were spending our savings on gallivanting rather than on a mortgage down payment. We can honestly say we'd have it no other way, the joy we got from South America alone is worth it all. Now we are in Australia the holiday is over (don't roll your eyes!) and work begins again. The sheer cost of everything here (far more than London), the fact we don't really know anyone over here or had lined up work means that yes, there are risks. We may come back richer, we may come back poorer, but we won't have any "what ifs" hanging over us and we'll have done all we can to CARPE DIEM.

I'll end the South American summary on another funny northern saying (cheers Snapper) that I think sums up our philosophy on adventures away from home:

The safest place for a ship is in the harbour, but that's not what it was built for.

We hope you've enjoyed our tales from South America, it turns out there really aren't enough words to describe our trip. We can't recommend it enough!

So carpe diem, viva la vida and take your little ship out sailing and do all you can to win at life-because there may never be the perfect time...but you sure won't regret it!

All our love, always

Kate and Joe xxxxx

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've been in Sydney for 6 weeks now and are coming up to a week in our new flat. After arriving on Sunday 4th March, we booked 5 nights into a hotel and after one day of enjoying our surroundings we hit the internet café hard. Joe was looking for work and I was looking for a flat share for the 3 weeks before my Mum came out. We turned to gumtree (a site I've never used before but it turns out you can buy just about anything on there, from cars to second hand books-and EVERYTHING in between). On the Wednesday we set out with high hopes to view one of the flat shares advertised online, it wasn't the cheapest we'd seen but it was available at the end of the week and we thought it'd be a nice place due to the price.

We were wrong.

Moments after stepping into what can only be described as a Chinese sweatshop, we were looking for a way to leave. The 2 bedroom flat was home to at least 6 others, with the corners of the living room cordoned off with sheets to create makeshift bedrooms. It wasn't for us. After another unsuccessful viewing we were now on Thursday, due out of the hotel the next morning and with no where to live! Good news was that Joe had lined up work to start for the following Monday and he'd found a possible flat share with an English couple in Manly. We viewed the flat Thursday night and moved in the next morning, it's crazy how quickly things can turn around!

After 3 weeks living with Paul and Sophie, we fell in love with Manly. Although it's a 30 minute commute to the city it has exactly the beachy, out-doorsy feel we were looking for, and with the commute being a boat ride through Sydney harbour-it sure beats the tube! After another week of frantic flat hunting (I never want to talk to an estate agent again), the day before my mum arrived we signed on for a 6 month lease for a flat 30 metres from the beach, bonza! That meant we could kick back and enjoy the 2 week holiday home we'd hired and we had a great couple of weeks with Mum, Frank and our friends Jimmy and Heather coming to stay. We took some time to finally go to some tourist attractions and just have a good old catch up.

We sadly waved goodbye to Mum and Frank on Saturday and have spent the week hunting out some bargains on gumtree to furnish our flat, walking through the streets of Manly with a table and chairs lashed to our backs and we are eagerly awaiting the delivery of a sofa to complete our flat. It's been a week of life sorting and job applications as we belatedly start our "grown up" lives over here (with the 2 week hiatus when my best friend comes out on Saturday). I'm sure the next 12 months won't be quite as full of crazy, exciting adventures as our time in South America, so, for the foreseeable future this'll be the last blog. We've loved writing them, and we've loved the comments even more. Thanks so much for sharing in our journeys; it's meant so much to us.

Loving and missing you all loads,

Kate and Joe xxxxxxx