Thanks for wishing me a Happy Birthday. In the end, I decided to skip through Curitiba, and ride with Tess on a nightbus straight through so that I could get here for that day. After setting down our stuff in Ipanema, we spent the day first visiting Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer statue), which I guess is synonymous with one�s photographic image of the city, and which you can see prretty much wherever you are here, It makes a good reference point. That�s the thing I�m finding to be different about Rio when comparing it to the other cities we�ve visited so far; because it�s so vast, you often need to look up high to know where you are or where you need to get to. You also invariably need to take taxis to a lot of the sights, which can be expensive, though we found the mostly English-speaking taxi drivers extremely helpful, both in terms of navigation, and also as local tourist guides! Anyway, after this we spent our time wondering the central part of the city, in which we found one of the most peculiar looking cathedrals I�ve seen, before we returned to the beach to get ready for dinner. Though Ipanema is meant to be the location of some of the most stylish characters in Rio, we deecided to spent that night downtown in an area called Lapa, which is basically where the best bars and restaurants are, and where I endulged in some Caipirinha drinking.

Have I even told you what a Caipirinha is yet? Well basically it�s a cocktial made with sugarcane and lime and everyone drinks it in Brazil.To be honest, it�s hard not to! A couple of days ago, after we�d arrived at Ilha Grande, an idyllic (though largely commercialised) island just off the mainland, from which we arrived here yesterday, we spent the day lounging on a boat, where the pre-paid amount included as much Caipirinha as you could drink. I guess now we�ve come to the part of the tour where one can really do as much relaxation asone wants, now that all of that hard work at uncomfotable altitudes is but a memory. Suffice to say, Ilha Grande was an all-round hit with the group.

At the very beginning of the week (which now seems a long time ago), we had a few days at Foz do Igua�u, located on the border of three countries, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, and which is one of the most famous waterfalls in the world, and rightly so, with some of theindividual falls reaching 82 metres. I realise it�s quite hard to imagine what it�s like seeing such a breathtaking view, but the videos, I hope, do kind of show how immense they are. For me, the most exhilarating part of our stay there came when we were taken in a speedboat below them, an experinece I perhaps should have prepared for with a little more care and thought; if you do Igua�u, don�t wear jeans - you�ll not only not be able to walk for the next few hours without squelching, you�ll also be laughed at by those who decided that to bring their ponchos WAS actually a good idea!

At the moment, we�re staying very near the beach at Copacobana, which was very handy for the free Live Earth gig which went on last night - again, pictures will follow. Granted, we didn�t have Spinal Tap like you lucky people at home, but we did get Lenny Kravitz, though, for some unknown reason, without �I Want To Get Away�. Still, I can again say I Was There. And today, I jpined Katy and Louise to take in yet more stunning overhead views of this monster of a city at the top of Pao de A�ucar (Sugarloaf Mountain), via a cable car.

Right now I find myself in a situation I might have forseen a while back: so many things still to see, yet so little time to fit it all in. I�m torn between doing everything I possibly can, and giving myself some simple beach time. This is where the Southern Cross ends. People are beginning to talk of their families and of what their first home-cooked meals will be, and making plans for airport transfers. But for me, this is perhaps where the travelling really begins, when it is I who has to decide where to go next, and how to get there, and again a time where I become responsible only for myself.