Murkey Buckets to our Fantastic Mummy :)

'How does Mother's day tie into travelling?' I hear you say. Well, I think I owe a large part of my Wanderlust to the wonderful Janet Heller. When we were younger (my siblings and I) we were lucky enough to be taken all over the place by the parentals, so we've decided to share some of our favourite blast-from-the-past travel moments in honour of our incredible Mum :)

Hostelling in Wales...

You gave us our first hostel experience! Little did you know what you'd be preparing me for...







To anyone wondering were my fashion sense came from, it wasn't my fault. And now you have evidence.




Carvaning at Holgates...



Ah old faithful. We used to love that place. Except when Rach and I decided to run down a hill holding hands and when she was the one who tripped over thin air, I was the one who was landed with stitches in my chin. Face Plant of epic proportions, we don't change much ;)


Travelling in France...

Something we did year after year when we were younger and it never got old. From struggling up the Dordogne in a Canoe to water-skiing on Lake Annecy. The drive down was sometimes a bit of a killer but we wouldn't change it for the world.

Pan for breakfast, meeting dutch kids who taught us how to use a Diablo, fires on the beach with Felix, SO much swimming, bike rides - that time I nearly flew down a hill of jaggedy rocks! Ouch, I still remember that HURT. And Rach being knocked off by a car door! - throwing Abi in the pool, Siobhan's hair braids...



I loved those braids. No regrets.





We were used to camping but sometimes it could really take it's toll.



...'It's not a holiday without a good church', thunder storms, picking wild berries, learning how to dive, lakes that are so clear you could see the floor, Josh would always be more tanned than us girls no matter how hard we tried, chocolate factories, ice-cream...



Anyone surprised that I remember this ice-cream more vividly than Reims Cathedral above? Didn't think so.



...Josh's blooming flipflops, Croque Monsieur, reading reading and more reading, being stung by a wasp, Rach walking into a pool fully clothed because she had a towel on her head and she couldn't see where she was going, Andrew losing his glasses/maps/car-keys etcetc, Marco Polo, that pout that'll haunt us forever... ;)





In my 'I'm too cool for photos' stage.



...wind-surfing with the COOLEST instructor who had dreadlocks, those horrendous pants Andrew bought from a market just to embarrass us, 'Silly plaits and murkey buckets' - our expert French skills... I could go on. Good times :)


In the Algarve, Portugal...

And then when we started to get a little older, we decided to have a change.





Wowzers.



The 'coolest' siblings anyone could ever ask for. I'll never be this nice to you again, so cherish it ;)




Not forgetting Spain with the Sareens, driving to Italy, that stop off in Belgium where we lost the handbag with our Game Boys in (it was like the world had ENDED), camping in Wales where I buried my ring in the sand and lost it for days and so many more.

So thanks Mum, for starting and fueling such an inspirational hobby/obsession. We love you :)

Lots of love and kisses, from your three favouritest people in the whole entire universe,



Emily, Rachel and Joshua :) xxx

SURFING

Aside from the 5 hour bus ride on Wednesday, the majority of the last four days has been spent chilling out on various beaches.

Arica was really lovely, we had such a good time there relaxing (I'm beginning to learn the difference between relaxation and lazyness) and swimming in the pacific. It's such a nice place to swim, even if it is freezing. We also took a few beach pics in an attempt to make everyone at home jealous. I hope it works.

The bus to Iquique was pretty horrible, for some reason Chileans like to close the windows to make the bus even more stuffy and ROASTING HOT. Evie and I also got taken off the bus by three policemen and were questioned about whether we were smuggling drugs inside of us... It was so scary. We were so relieved when we finally arrived at the hostel. Which is SO CHEAP and about half a minute from the BEEEEEEEACH (which is even nicer here than in Arica) :D

It's such a nice city to explore. There is loads of colonial architecture and the main square has a beautiful memorial with fountains around it.

We explored the markets a little and invested in a few bits of jewellery, before having a lovely wander along the beach. We've also discovered this awesome german cafe just around the corner from the hostel that does incredible burgers and cake. And I do love german cake <3 Yesterday I had my first SURFING LESSON and it was EPIC. I had so much fun, I forgot just how much I love watersports. I managed to stand up on the board too, I was rather proud of myself. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the experience, but if i get a chance to have another lesson I'll try and get some then! The rest of the day we spent on the beach. It may seem that we're doing very little at the moment, but we're just making the most of our last few beach days since we're heading in land to San Pedro de Atacama on Sunday. Wandering down the beach we came across some cool graffiti.

Pretty impressive eh?

And then we watched the sunset... it was so beautiful!