Paraty - the pace of life project

Paraty (Brasil)
06 - 08 January 2012

A few years ago I recall reading an experiment that was undertaken by the British Council in which researchers travelled to major cities of the world and measured the average time that it took for people to walk a distance of 60ft (approximately 19 mtrs). The data set applied in each city involved 35 randomly chosen men, and 35 randomly chosen women, with the parameters being that the area chosen to assist in the statistical measurement of the 'pace of life' would need to be a busy street in a major city, free from obstacles and also be sufficiently uncrowded so as to allow individuals to be able to hit their maximum walking speed over the distance set. The hypothesis from the data retrieved was that a pedestrians' measured speed could somehow be a reliable indicator of the pace of life in a city. Additionally the data would also somehow show that in fast moving cities people are far less likely to help others and in one more intruiging quirk, fast paced cities also had higher rates of coronary heart disease.

I often wonder how organisations such as the British Council conjure up experiments that often seem to be quite whimsical and capricious. I sometimes imagine good 'ole chaps such as Winston and his buddies from Carrington Hall, sitting back in their Chesterfields, puffing on their Cohiba Behike's, working their way through a Remy Martin Louis, and coming up with fantastic ideas by which they would be 'officially' allowed to indulge themselves in the realm of exotic world travel for the sake of science and the further understanding of the strange beings which we happen to be. I have the odd suspicsion that a conversation amongst Winston and his dear old chums as to the viability of an experiment might go something like this....

'Rodrick, listen to this idea, we'll put to the council that we travel to say 50 cities around the world,we'll sit in cafes having macchiatos for the afternoon and just time how long it takes say, 70 people to walk past us' ...

'Why Winston, what a wonderfully scrumptuous and mischievious idea. I'll get the heads of the Council for Arbitrary Nonsense together at once, tally ho!'

Still, if you want to know the outcome of that experiment, it goes a little something like this

Top 5 for SPEED

1. Singapore (Singapore)  10.55 secs

2. Copenhagen (Denmark)   10.82 secs

3. Madrid (Spain)                   10.89 secs

4. Guangzhouu (China)         10.94 secs

5. Dublin (Ireland)                   11.03 secs

Bottom 5

5. Damascus (Syria)           14.94 secs

4. Amman (Jordan)             15.95 secs

3. Bern (Switzerland)          17.37 secs

2. Manama (Bahrain)          17.69 secs

1. Blantyre (Malawi)          31.60 secs

Seriously Blantyre, what's going on in your world? When did your entire population 'check out' of life? I recommend that you find something to do, collectively, and spice up your society. I'll write to Winston and Rodrick, I'm sure they have a project that they're just waiting to unleash on you....aside from all of this garble however, what the hell does it have to do with Paraty you're asking yourself? Well to me at least it was quite noticeable that Paraty operated on Island Time, or should I perhaps restate it to, time in accordance to the Blantyre factor. The pace of life on the Costa Verde was S-L-O-W, but the type of slow that embraced you and drew you into its pervasive and all conquering ways. This quaint colonial town located on the Bay of Ilha Grande, had that charming and casual sensibility that somehow infiltrated your own cells and forced you to slow down through the enforced changing of your own internal fabric.

View out onto the Bay of Ilha Grande - Costa Verde - from the Resort Croce del Sud

JJ & Jetson - pace of life at a stand still - Paraty - Brasil

Historic town centre - Paraty - Brasil

Historic town centre - Paraty - Brasil

Paraty - Brasil

Walking around the well worn cobble-stone streets in the historic centre, appreciating the colonial architecture and getting moderately beaten by the humidty and heat, our pace of life was frequently truncated by our need for alcoholic refreshment and inspiration. Not that any of us minded the challenging framework of Brasilian style being that we set ourselves. With increasingly slower movement we managed the purcgase of seafood and wine for an evening fiesta and made our way back to the Southern Cross where we watced the sun fall away over the rainforest covered hills. I think that if someone had taken a measure of my rate of movement in Paraty during those days they would have quickly followed up with a check of my pulse!

07 January

Sunrise from the Croce del Sud

If our previous day didn't quite live up to the all pervasive chilled vibe that we expected from Paraty, well, the next day almost put us into a euphoric coma (is that a contradiction? Probably, but I'm sticking with it). On this day we jumped onto one of the many local boats/yachts that depart on daily adventures of Ilha Grande Bay from Paraty and spent something close to 6hrs gliding across the emerald green waters of the surrounding bays.

Yeah, I'm on a boat! - Paraty - Brasil

'Oh sh*t! Get your towels ready because it's about to go down!'

The colonial town of Paraty - Brasil

Being out on the water of Ilha Grande just made you appreciate the Costa Verde for all that it was worth. I don't recall a place that I have ever been to previously where I've seen rainforest simply cascade from the surrounding hills into the majestically coloured water. Not only was it completely tranquil and peaceful, and not only were we now graciously being served by the weather which had decided to support us in our cause, but the water of the bay was a perfect temperature that allowed you to get your swim on. Additionally, I don't think that I ever recall seeing water equivalent to the brilliant emerald green of the bay of Ilha Grande. It was breathtaking.

Ilha Grande Bay - Brasil

Emerald Green water of Ilha Grande (magnificent) -Brasil

When you're travelling, they're the types of days that are the exception to the rule. Not so much for the fact that other days don't match up, because they do, but more due to the fact that creating a day without expectation and being surprised by what it ends up delivering is always a golden reward. To quote myself, from a line that I wrote in relation to Madrid, 'Sometimes planning things can be the death of enjoyment because what you end up deducting is the very aspect of surprise and chance that you searched for to begin with' -  I think our day out on the water absolutely caught me by surprise in what it offered, and also for the fact that I saw Frichot get out into the water also! What the? Unexpected much!!?

Ilha Grande Bay - Brasil

Splish-splash - Rockin' the emerald waves of the Costa Verde!

Ilha Grande Bay - Costa Verde - Brasil

08 January

Each morning at the Resort Croce del Sud we were delivered an amazing breakfast which consisted of fruit juices, various types of breads, and combinations of sweet and savoury offerings from the Lucas's wife, offerings which the three of us could never get through. On our final full day in Paraty I think it was either the enormity of the breakfast, or perhaps the sleep deprivation that finally got the better of Jetson, but he decided to inhabit the inside of the unit for the day whilst JJ and I cruised on into Paraty for a little souveneir hunting.

Now I always find souvenir hunting a chore. Unless something really jumps out at me I hate having to walk around without a real aim and be driven solely by my moral compass. Somehow you feel that it has to be 'shown' that you were thinking of someone whilst you were away and then proof comes in the degree of gift that you manage to conjure up for your peeps hours after your homeward flight has touched down. I think in future I'm going to make my friends and family sign a contract that mutually binds us to strict terms of not having to purchase gifts unless the gift bought is absolutely 'legendary'. That is the only fair way of getting off the program,saving pain, time and unnecessary funds whilst on holidays for items that really won't ever be utilised again. There's only so many 'I love Uruguay' t-shirts that I can buy! REALLY!!

With the mind numbing task of souvenir harassment out of the way JJ and I got ourselves into the 'primo' mode of lunch, chased down by a few bottles of wine. It was just the the trigger that we needed, as our wanderings after this lead us to an exquisite wine bar where the service was impeccable, if not disarmingly odd. JJ and I sat at the bar for hours, with JJ blabbering to one of the staff in English, the staff member responding to her in Portuguese, and me understanding only the common bits of Spanish that I knew but the both of them somehow getting totally in depth about life,love and all things female. At one point the Brasilian lady took it upon herself to give me a stern talking to for calling JJ 'loco'.....'C'mon lady, you've been talking to her for the last 3 hrs! You KNOW that she is, give this man a break!!!'

Several hours later we slipped out of the bar into what was already early evening. I recall looking around and simply thinking, 'Hey man, where has that sun gone!' and then automatically feeling sorry for Jetson because he was going to have to put up with two drunken upstarts when we got back home who when affected by alcohol love to argue! It's just in our DNA, what can you do!?

Sunset from the Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

Somehow the night turned into an oddity in  that I manged to rip out what I thought was quite a sensational seafood meal with the goods we had acquired in Paraty, JJ and I held of on any drunken one upsmanship in the argument stakes, and for an additional trick we tried to locate the owner of a mobile phone that we had acquired somewhere along the line. I pity those poor Portuguese speaking bandits that had to try and decipher my guerilla Spanish for the several hours that they continually called the phone in order to resolve its whereabouts. Ah Paraty, you're sensationally chilled, attractive, and have a rebellious dash of good old fashioned pirate in you. I would have loved to have stayed longer but the relaxation coma that you would have put me into may have been something from which I would never have returned!

Paraty - The Southern Cross

Rio de Janeiro - Paraty (Brasil)
05 January 2012

Sometimes I quite like being the isolationist. I can easily allow myself to contemplate and meander through those real, surreal and errant thoughts in my mind for hours on end. I could gaze both longingly and forlornly out onto mountain ranges, desert plains and nautical miles of ocean. I'm totally OK with being in my own space without the need of company, so much so that if I allowed that line of thought to continue for a period of time I could quite easily become the quintessential hermit. I believe that occasionally social butterflies need to be shot out of the sky for the simple fact that their constant need for recognition and attention irritates the living daylights out of me. This outlook, although perhaps slightly warped, is why I can make sense of a man wanting to spend those crucial years of his life building and then sailing his yacht around the globe. Spending endless days on the timeless ocean, allowing oneself to to break lose from economic or social melodramas, I get how someone could fall for the solitude of the ocean. This in fact was the life of an Italian man (Luca), who was the owner of the resort Croce del Sud - (Cross of the South or Southern Cross), that we were to stay in over the next 5 days, about 20kms outside of the old colonial town of Paraty. I'll get back to Luca and his story in a little while.

Our time in Rio had unfortunately come to an end and whilst the rain had damaged its obvious potential there's nothing that could damage its glorious reputation in my mind. It didn't quite pull me into its web of seduction in the same way that a Buenos Aires can and does,nor did it wrap me up in a cloud of mystery in the manner of a Marrakech, but Rio is attractive, laid back and obviously knows how to get its party on when required. I've ticked you on my future 'to do' list Rio, and I'll be back with reinforcements sometime very soon.

Incidentally, do you know how difficult it is to acquire bus tickets in Brasil from outside of the country? It's a task that nearly drove JJ and I to breaking point before arriving in Rio. Trying to arrange the 4hr transit down to Paraty online was more than a mission, it was a lesson in the mechanics of coping with frustration without unnecessarily fatally damaging your own property. Vexing, annoying and futile! Actually, 'counterintuitive' would be the perfect description. Why Brasil, why do you bossanova bandits make it so difficult for us mere mortals? Still, we found out, as I probably should have realised, that just rocking up to a bus station and acquiring tickets is far less painful.This is what we did for our return leg thankfully. For our straight journey south however we were already locked and loaded, aiming at the once Portuguese colonial town of Paraty which carves out its little niche in this world along the Costa Verde (Green Coast). It's a place that had been recommended to me by my once salsa partner in crime Paula, and had originally been earmarked on my now fatal 2010 tour. This time it was getting taken out!

Overlooking Pararty Bay from the Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

Overlooking Pararty Bay from the Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

As most people who travel with me are aware, put me on anything that moves and I'll inevitably find a way to fall asleep. The four hour run down to Paraty was nothing more than a nap, so much so that when I saw the bus pull up right in front of the driveway to the Resort Croce del Sud I thought I was having quite a vivid daydream. For some reason the bus stopped for a few minutes longer than anticipated and I made what I thought to be the 'obvious' decision, that we should bust out of the bus and forgo the additional 20km run into Paraty because it would only mean having to find our way back. What I was also aware of was that the walk from the start of the driveway (in fact it was a road shared by other estates), to the actual resort was 500mtrs. I knew that. What I didn't know was that the 500mtrs was almost vertical!! It was 2mins into our walk that 'perfect male reasoning' was decimated by the reality of humidity and gravity. We turned up to the actual driveway of the resort in clothes that would not have been fit for Aquaman to wear. When Luca greeted us it was with a glassful of dismay at the fact that these ignorant Australians had decided on attacking the slopes 'freestyle' - 'Oh yeah Luca, we're hard nuts that aren't partial to reading, why would you want to have all the information available when you can find out first hand how much of an idiot you are'. Usually when I make mistakes of this calibre I come out with the line, 'Well, this is how you earn it'. Of course a taxi ride would have sufficed and I would have been happy for the driver to have earned the 40 Riel's which we saved in our 'enterprising' fashion.

The view from the back of the unit - Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

The units/flats, or whatever you would like to call them were amazing however. Not so much for their facilities but for the fact that they had such a commanding view out over the bay of Paraty. The idea of chilling was not a decision that had to be made, it was something that was virtually going to be forced on us. It's a place where the rolling hills and mountains of rain forest effortlessly cascaded into the bay, and where you could hear the receding echo of fishing boats making their way out for another working day. This place was going to be very easy to get use to.

On our first afternoon we managed to walk back down the hill and into the small fishing village of Prainha and then onto the small secluded beach of Praia Grande. Now this beach to me was absolutely perfect. Emerald green waters, completely surrounded by rain forest, pristine sand and a bar not 20mtrs from the waters edge! How we didn't spend more than one afternoon just lazing around or drinking ourselves into a rain forest inspired drunken coma is beyond my comprehension. It's definitely one of my regrets for the time that we spent there but it also leaves the opportunity of having to make it up to myself at some distant point in the future.

Prainha - Costa Verde - Brasil

Jetson and JJ on the beach in Prainha - Costa Verde - Brasil

Now explain to me how we only spent the ONE afternoon on this beach

That initial evening on our balcony, glasses of wine in hand, gazing out over the bay was just E-A-S-Y. The taste of victory from walking back up the hill from the fishing village was captured perfectly in several glasses of white and also in the food that we managed to retrieve whilst down in Prainha. It's kind of obvious but when you're in a fishing village you go with their local produce right! ....and that decision was NOT a mistake. The fish and prawns that we picked up that afternoon was some of the sweetest and most 'delightful' (yes, I used that word), that I've ever had. Thankfully our flat gave us the opportunity to cook up a storm whenever we felt inspired by our environment and the way that it turned out we ended up dancing to a sweet seafood symphony every night.

Afternoon session over the bay - I think that's JJ hitting her head and expressing her overwhelming disappointment as to the situation she was now in!

Evening on its way - Resort Croce del Sud - Costa Verde - Brasil

A score with the local produce!

So, back to the story of Luca, the owner of the resort. Now apparently his life story took a turn when he entered the bay of Paraty. Somehow the Costa Verde had her way with him and decided on his behalf that his being was going to occupy this space for a while. Now this is the part that amazes me, whilst in Paraty he made his decision to stay, found himself a wife, had a couple of kids and set himself up with a ridiculous resort in a 'ridiculous' location. Of course he sold his yacht, the original Croce del Sud, which the resort was named after but what a freakin' sea change! Luca, you're kind of an oddball but much respect for following your instincts!

Rio de Janeiro - Delta blues and the perfect day

Rio de Janeiro (Brasil)
01 January - 04 Janaury 2012

New Years Day for me didn't automatically conjure up images of places, events and spaces that I inhabited for that portion of the day. In fact I had to default to the diary of Jetson, the master of all things discretely personal in a chronological sense for him to be able to advise me that we spent the evening at the rooftop bar at Porto Bay (huge surprise huh). I have the feeling however that this was the night that we ALL ended up in the pool fully clothed and staggered through the lobby dripping wet, with our dignité somewhat tarnished but with our reputations as the 'funky cool crew' fully well earnt amongst the staff. The question that I put to myself now, on reflection, is why the hell do I end up in hotel pools fully clothed on New Years Day? It's turning into quite a common event! Please see [Skybar dive - Kuala Lumpur - New Year's morning].

Rio pop art: My photo + iSkills = PopCristo!

02 January

Rain, again. Continuous, relentless, soul destroying, crushingly disappointing rain. We had lived with it since our arrival on the 26th of December, and it had continued, virtually unabated and without the slightest bit of remorse until this morning. We had attempted to outplay and outwit the earth mother and her sullen mood by recruiting the universe to act as a pawn in our feeble attempt to bluff our way out of the pertaining weather pattern. Our 'idea' was NOT to go to one of the myriad of umbrella selling bandits lining the streets who were anticipatin a riel  bonanza with the onset of the rain, in the hope, in the pathetic hope actually, that by not buying an umbrella we were not caving into the demands of the weather. We were still anticipating and in our own way aspiring to obtain a perfect Rio Summer day or several prior to our departure on the 5th and so this way of holding out was keeping those oddball hopes alive.....yeah, well the idea kind of lasted 10 mins until we all crumbled and parted with some riel in order to target severak good ole fashioned Rio umbrellas. Damn you Rio, damn you for forcing our hand on that call!

Sandwich makers of extreme meat 'epicness' - Cervantes - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro

The pain of rain - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

The moment in time where we all lost it!

After the obligatory morning breakfast from our local cafe downstairs and some connection time on the 'internets' we hit Cervantes for a dose of meaty pork goodness and then headed into Lapa with the intention of checking out Santa Teresa and perhaps a few other sites. I'm not sure when the collective depression struck or whether we just hadn't noticed it but I recall we were in a bar/restaurant on the outskirts of Lapa, looking out onto another bleak Rio day, the rain starting to really bucket down and I think we all collectively 'lost it'. It was one of those rare moments when all three of us came to a crushing halt. For 15 minutes there we all were thinking 'F**k this and F**k you Rio! You've played us hard!'. It was nothing that a few beers couldn't fix though. We rallied, got up and got back into the game soon after, attacking the nearby Escadaria Selaron.

Escadaria Selaron - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Escadaria Selarón is a set of world-famous steps designed by the Chilean born artist Jorge  Selarón who got sick of the dilapidated nature of the stairs that ran outside of his home and commenced work on designing, brightening and offering his tribute to the Brasilian people through is tiled artistry. The first time I ever saw these stairs was in a video film clip, and you've probably guessed it, it was in [Snoop Dogg's - Beautiful], and yes, Mr Dogg spells his surname with a double g! It's a g-thang! Then MY BOYS delivered these stairs to me in [Walk On - U2], after which it was always going to make my 'to do' list.

...And it's a pretty cool spot. Knowing the reason for its existence now and how/why Jorge originally scavenged for the tiles from various construction sites, it makes you think that even an oddball Chilean man can have his impact on the world in his own unique way. The stairs themselves split the neighbourhoods of Lapa & Santa Teresa, and the work, just like the harbour bridge, is constantly in progress. Jorge is always at it, finishing off a section and then commencing another section, redoing, recreating. On the day that we were there JJ actually pointed Jorge out to me, as he's known to be working on the stairs constantly. It took me a little while to either believe or register the fact that this was the case but our little JJ, she was right on the money with Jorge and is locale!

We climbed the stairs and up into Santa Teresa as the rain started to back off. As the light of the dat faded and the street lighting began to take hold we climbed a little further into Santa Teresa, probably a little unsafely considering Rio's penchant for petty crime. Somewhere on those streets we encountered a Paolo Coehlo look alike who asked us we were were from and then added, 'You know, this is not Sydney, this is Rio, you have to be careful'...and with those kind words of warning we descended back into one of the bars in Lapa for a few glasses of the local brew before jumping a ride back to Copacabana.

Bleak streets - Santa Theresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

03 January - the perfect day

If the second day of the year was a lesson in what Rio shouldn't be and what we didn't want from the weather then the 3rd day was EPIC! It was THE perfect Rio day. Sun kissed, warm, inviting and perfect for us to reason that if ever we were going to jump a helicopter in order to take a ride of this aesthetically stunning city then today was going to be the day!

The group decision to take to the air was inspired. I think there was the briefest moment when we considered to postpone for a day or so but we came to our senses quickly and realised that even though the rain had been scared off for the day a return serve was already on its way in.

I don't need to put into words what this aerial escapade actually gave to us and what it did for our mood because Jetson has been kind enough to deliver it to you via YouTube with his band Speedball playing as musical support to the visuals! Enjoy the clip, it's FANTASTIC. I've included a couple of screenshots below.

Helicopter flight around Rio de Janeiro!!!

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Helicopter ride to Christ the Redeemer]

Backing track by Jet's band - SPEEDBALL!!

Leblon - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Corocovado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

It's not hard to tell as to why this city ranks in the top couple of cities to be considered the most beautiful on earth. For me, grabbing a pair of wings and soaring above this town was always going to be a highlight, but, nothing quite prepared me for what we all witnessed as we swung behind Cristo and the city unfurled it's dramatic beauty before us. There's a stream of images that I'm going to be taking with me for years to come, and whilst the photos and video don't do it justice at all maybe you can get just a little bit of an idea of what we experienced.

Cristo redentor - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

Cristo redentor - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

Cristo redentor - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

You can imagine that once we hit terra firma all of us were on an enormous high. It's not every day you cut such a dramatic circuit of the city. Needless to say, it wasn't at all difficult to pinpoint what our next stop would be. It was a glorious day, the sun was just starting to drop out of sight and the sun was gracefully dancing its playful retreat over the mountains. We knew the perfect spot to witness that would be from the rooftop bar of Porto Bay, and again I have to say, it was the perfect choice for what ended up being the perfect day.

Looking east from Porto Bay - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Sunset from Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Sunset from Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Copacabana beach from Porto Bay - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Sunset from Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

The final round - 04 Jan

Our last day in Rio rolled around quite quickly, which often seems to be the norm when you're travelling. Whilst you're in the moment time moves slower than anticipated and then on reflection you figure it was actually a lot faster.

We had a few ideas for our last day but the general concensus was that it was going to be cruisy, or rather that it should be. I had it in my head that we would head down into Lapa and jump the famous Santa Teresa tram line up to this bohemian style neighbourhood. The only issue with that thought, and what I didn't know at the time was that all tram services had been suspended due to the fact that in the preceding August a tram had derailed, killing 5 people and injuring 27. Observing the line and noting that NO trams were operational we took to walking up to Santa Teresa via Escadaria Selaron which we had taken out on a rainy day a few days earlier. Much more pleasant in glorious sunshine I must say.

Tram line to Santa Teresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

A tile on the Escadaria Selaron - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Santa Teresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Our stop in Santa Teresa was only brief and later into the afternoon we headed back to Porto Bay for final night drinks...but of course, where the hell else would we have gone.

View from Santa Teresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Rio is a fantastic place, it's got that carioca laid back style, it's gorgeous beyond belief, full of colour and full of life. It's a place that bounces along to it's inherrent samba rhythym.  I would imagine that the  'the well to do' locals  of Rio  can't help but feel to be just a little blessed by the city they find themselves living in. We spent 10 days in this place and I think the circumstances of weather more than anything prevented us from obtaining the full amount of what it had to offer. Still, with the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 you just know that this place is going to be THE epicentre of all things 'party related'  during those days. Thankfully Rio has already mailed me an invite and I've replied back in kind. Be sure to get yours otherwise you'll be kicking yourself whilst watching the action from home, in the dark, and wishing that you had taken a snippet of Helisher advice!

Rio de Janeiro - New Years Réveillon 2012

Rio de Janeiro (Brasil)
30 Dec 2011 - 01 Jan 2012

It's amusing how on occassion the smallest things can get stuck in your head, sometimes it's in that kind of innocuous but still irritating manner, like an itch that you can't quite scratch and yet you still know in yourself what the antidote needs to be. For example, my visit to [Helsinki] a couple of years ago was based solely on the misconception of an ex husband of my aunts' who thought that Helsinki was a superstar Russian athlete. His line, mentioned at some point during those 1952 Olympics went something like 'Wow, that Helsinki must be a great athlete, all I'see in the paper each day is Helsinki, Helsinki, Helsinki'. This line of gross ignorance and stupidity somehow filtered down through the years as an internal family joke that in turn manifested in me wanting to actually go and visit the place. In somewhat of the same manner, our visit to Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro was based solely upon fact that I had in my head crystal clear images that were imprinted via the visual outlet of the Snoop Dogg & Pharrel Williams song, [Beautiful - (Parque Lage)]. You can check out the venue at 2:42-2:45 and then anywhere after 3:53. I mean the whole clip is like a glorious advertisement for Rio but for some reason the Parque stuck in my mind as a party venue (it's not by the way, it's located in the Botanical Gardens, but is a nice enough place).

Parque Lage - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Parque Lage - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

What I also noticed prior to leaving Sydney was the proliferation of video clips that 'all of a sudden' started utilising Rio as it's backdrop, for example,[Pete Murray - Free], [David Guetta ft Usher - Without You], [Flo Rida - Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1)]. It felt to me as though they were everywhere and I don't know whether it was just the fact that I had now become consciously aware of Rio appearing everywhere and the simple fact of the matter was that the frequency was no different than that of previous times, or, whether Rio had simply gone gangbusters as a location backdrop and it was hitting everyone artists radar as an IT zone, once again?

Whatever the case was, Parque Lage was unfortunately a little bit of a let down. Of course it had stern competition from that imposing and almighty Cristo Redentor guy that we had just returned from, and in addition, perhaps it was that all three of us were by now well into the hunger zone but the botanical gardens struggled a little for our respect and appreciation, although I really do like some of the black and white shots I managed to capture.


Defeated in our quest to acquire any food of substance we made the absurd decision to walk to Lagoa de Rodrigo de Freitas, and then when nothing but coconut water and slices of pineapple eventuated, we walked to Leblon, and then for some reason down Ipanema... and then onwards, most of the way to Copacobana. It was yet another ludicrous walk, by the end of which tempers had been frayed, nerves had been trodden on and cheap shots were flying around within a thinly veiled disguise of good humour and banter. It wasn't that bad to tell you the truth. It's rare with either JJ or Frichot that the annoyance factor gets anywhere over a 2 on the Richter scale. Still, on this night we all crashed out a smidgen earlier in a kind of silent protest, and I guess as an energy saving strategy for the following evening!


31 December 2011 - 01 January 2012 (New Years Réveillon 2012)

Now this is the day that I had been anticipating for well over a year. I had intended on being at the greatest party in the world the previous year but when things came unstuck in Bolivia I set my sights on 2011-12. Admittedly the idea of returning to South America was more set in hope than anything else but I usually figure that if you put things out to the universe then the worst it can do is not give you a response, and then at other times, well it seems to be able to work a little magic for you.


The tradition in Rio is to where white for NYE, it's meant to bring the individual good luck for the new year. There are also options for wearing all green or blue, but for me, I'm a traditionalist by nature and my thinking is if I can call in an ounce of luck in advance, well then so be it, but if I get call in a whole bucket load with 2,000,000 other people on Copacabana beach then why the hell would I not want to be part of that goodwill tsunami!? It's like the 'God' argument, fair enough if you don't want to believe but if you do per chance and things work in your favour then it's a win-win, and if God doesn't exist, well then you've really lost nothing in the process, but alas, I digress.

Now that's the way to 'take down' a meal!

The pacing and tempo for any NYE  is generally very different from all other days of the year. Go out too hard and peak too early and all possibilities are lost to you. You have to build from early afternoon, into the evening and then last into the morning. The start of the last day of 2011 for this trio was actually late afternoon with an epic meal at a place whose name I don't recall. The food was great, relatively cheap but the portions were immense. Frichot ordered himself half a camel with a side of horse and I have no idea how they managed to fit the 57 plates onto a table made for two but it was a sight to behold. Jetson gave it a good shake also but even on this day, in the challenge of Man v.Food, food came out the victor.


Pacing ourselves into the early part of the evening, we had a few drinks to move the night along and then somewhere around 9pm hit the beach to wait out the last few hours and call in 2012. Now unfortunately at this point in time the rain also decided that it wanted to partake in the festivities and damn it, it was adamant that it wanted to hang aroud. Down it came! Constant, persistent, incessant, ludicrously frustrating and irritating. A Rio NYE with rain to me felt like a Melbourne Cup without the horses, WTF man! C'mon, a break please! We thankfully managed to hijack a few beach umbrellas and beach chairs to keep ourselves 'relatively' dry but geez, it was an uphill battle to lift our spirits for those final hours.

Seriously, it's NYE in RIO!

I think Jetson's face here says it all!

Umbrellas abound on Copacabana!

Perhaps I should qualify that last paragraph, JJ is always in good spirits! You could tell her that the world was going to end in 45 seconds and I think she would laugh hysterically until the very last. For both Frichot and myself, well, we quite usually need things to go our way or some sort of a trigger. It wasn't until perhaps the last 30 mins of the countdown that we really started to get swept up in the NYE fervor, rain and all.

Counting down for those final few minutes and those last few seconds of course I considered myself more than lucky be in that place, in that moment with two great friends. And then it happened! The GREATEST FREAKIN' FIREWORKS DISPLAY OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen a few in my time but I tell you now my friends, nothing, but nothing, will ever beat the intensity, vibrancy and 'good vibrations' of a 2012 shout out on Copacabana beach.

Check out Jetson's video of the fireworks here

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - NYE 2011-12 - Rio]

The videos tell a FAR better story than the photos below!

This video is also pretty good

[NYE - Rio de Janeiro - 2011-12]

New Years Réveillon 2011 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

New Years Réveillon 2011 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

Standing beneath that fireworks display was mind blowing. The colours were so vivid and the sheer size and breadth of the display down the beach just made you feel as though it was wrapping around your being. I could feel the shock waves from the bursts hit me squarely in the chest and make their way through me. To say that it was captivating and spellbinding would be to do it a huge disservice, so the best I can really do is to add the photos that I have and some of the YouTube videos, inclusive of Jetsons, to show you how damn intense it was. This was certainly a highlight and for anyone that ever has the means and capacity to be here for a NYE, then I would say without hesitation, do it!

New Years Réveillon 2012 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

New Years Réveillon 2012 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

New Years Réveillon 2012 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

I don't quite recall the duration of display, it may have been 15 mins, it may have been 30 but in the end it didn't really matter, I'll always have that experience to carry with me, so too the 2 million other people that were on the beach at that moment. As the haze of the display mystically morphed into those irritating rain clouds once again, the weather that we finished 2011 off with got pulled into 2012. Still, people seemed to be in great spirits and many were dipping their toes into the Atlantic for their first swim or 'splash' of the year.

New Years Réveillon 2012 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

First swim of 2012 - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

It was at this point that Jetson departed for the night, I don't think the fireworks display was quite the inspirational drawncard and was incapable of holdimg him with us until the morning. I on the other hand wanted to stay out on the beach and watch David Guetta do his set and somehow sold JJ on the idea that hanging around until 2am to check it out was going to be well worth the trouble of braving the rain and masses of people.

[David Guetta - NYE 2012]

Why I had it in my head that trying to make our way to the stage was going to be the golden ticket, I'm not sure, but our path to Guetta glory was blocked by parties, tents, public urination, spruikers, jokers and anything else you could imagine. Once 2am rolled around Guetta jumped on stage and yelled out in his inimitable French accent , 'Hello Rio, this is going to be the biggest party in the world tonight' ...for some reason that I still haven't worked out, somehow JJ and I bastardised that simplistic intro and our memories both acted to convince ourselves and each that his opening line was, 'Hey there Rio, this is going to be the biggest f*cking sh*t on earth EVER!!!', of course that's not what he said but we believed it for a while.


(For the sake of posterity and because I was recently able to find a clip of what he said, if you get to somewhere around 3.11 via the video link above, what Guetta actually says is...'[t]his is going to be the biggest club ever on the planet' ...Well DG, over a million people would probably have you close to the mark!)


Now I think Guetta would have gone off, I really do, but the sounds from 100mtrs off the stage was appalling and the idea of having to put up with that for 90mins was not going to sit well with either of us. It was at that point that we decided to make our way back to our Copa unit in the sky, via the other million people that were backed into that small beach front space. Man, now that was a task. There were waves of people moving every which way and what you thought was the direct route out, or what it should have been, turned into wild web of off ramps,  misguided short cuts and incidental moshing. What should have been a 10min walk out took nearly an hour, perhaps longer. That's what you get for taking on an NYE in Rio though, and just for that, I have it in my head for making it back one day and doing it all again!

Chaos on the streets - view from our apartment on New Years Day