On Saturday we caught the boat across the river from Colonia to Buenos Aires which took 3 hours because of immigration delays. Once we got off the boat we caught a Taxi to drop our bags at the apartment and then we were picked up by Santi, Lucia and family to go to their farm in La Plata. The drive was about 2 hours.

At the farm we rode in the horse drawn carrage which was really fun. We rounded up some cattle and put them in a different paddocks. Then we went back to the house and Santi cooked a traditional Argentinian BBQ, which was delicious. We went to bed at about 10.30pm. In the morning it was Sunday and in Argentina Sunday is a rest day so we had a quiet day. We played some Croquet and did a little bit of gardening. After lunch Marta (Lucia's mother) gave me a haircut which was great because my hair was getting really long. Then we went back to BA and stayed at Santi and Lucia's house. It was great to spend time with their family and hopefully they will come to Australia to visit one day.

On Monday we then went into the city and had a look at a 101 year old book store called El Atenea. There where not many English books there but I did end up getting a movie. Then we visited Santi in his office and said our last goodbyes before returning to our apartment ready for our flight tommorow to Patagonia.

The photos of the farm are on Dad's camera so I will have to upload them later.

And a very happy B'day to Luke hope u had a good one wish I could be there to celebrate it with you. See you when we get back.

Adios Ozzy

Night 1

When we arrived we met the group and had dinner.

Day 1

The next Day we rode Our horses to a broken fence that got washed away from the heavy rain. First we pulled all the weeds off the fence,then we went back over the river and tied the fence together.On the first ride which was when we fixed the fence I had to be lead by Juan. He did this by attaching a rope from my horse to his horse. While we were riding home we rounded up the sheep.It was really funny watching the lambs run to there mums.We were herding the sheep to the yards and weening them.For those that do not know what weening is it's when you split the lamb and the mums but they put 1male in to show the lambs what to do for the rest of there lives!for you that think its cruel it isn't because the lambs are like 4months old which is pretty old. Before we weened the sheep we had lunch after lunch we went to the yards. We didn't need to get on the horses because it was right next to the house. When we were weening the sheep we got a little help from the dogs. The mother sheep were jumping up to try and find there baby's.

Day 2

On day 2 we we did the same as day 1 but with cows.

Day 3

On day 3 it was raining so we could not work with the animals. But we still went on the horses. We went up to this hill which had a wonderful view!

Day 4

On day 4 it was Susan's birthday party! We had a big lunch and then we went for a horse ride with the guests.

Day 5

Day 5 was sadly the last day so we had the last ride and went.

The animals

My job was to feed the potty calf every morning and night. There were also these little turkey chics that I had to feed and they were so cute! I also fed the pigs cat dogs chickens and the horses (they weren't all the animals on the farm).

After our night in Montivideo we came down to a little beach house in a village on the beach called Las Flores. We arrived at 2.00 with yet another hire car that we had driven down from Montivideo. We dropped our stuff at the beach house and then went into town which is called Piriopolis, we had lunch at a little fish shack which was very nice but as per usual we over ordered. After lunch we went up to the top of a mountain by chair lift, this was weird because there is no snow in Piriopolis in the winter. The mountain overlooked Piriopolis and th Gold Coast of Uraguay called Punta del Este. Then we went back and had a game if beach soccer and tennis before having a home cooked pasta for dinner which was DELICIOUS.

The second day of our stay was pretty relaxed, we stayed at home until about 2.00pm just sitting and swimming on the beach. At 2.00 we went into Punta del Este to have a look around. We went to the port and had a look at the beaches and the "hand in the sand". After this we went to see if we could go out to the island and see the seals but it was to windy and bumpy so we didn't. After that we went home and had some dinner.

On the last day of our stay we went into Piriopolis and went for a swim at the beach. Me and Scarlett did some boogie boarding but it was to cold for Mum and Dad to go in. Then we went home and did some more swimming and realaxing at our beach before having a BBQ on the beach for dinner. The meat was cooked perfectly and we had it just in time to watch a big lightning storm role in.

The next morning we left at 7.30 to Montivideo then from Montivideo to Colonia which is where we are right now. Tommorow we are catching the boat across to BA, Argentina.

Oscar

On Thursday we finally arrived in Tacarembo after our 19 hour bus ride from Florianopolis to the border of Uraguay and Brazil. We got stuck on the border and did not know where to go but we managed to get our passports stamped and we made the bus from the border to Tacarembo by 5 minute.

The first day of the ranch was a lovely day. The first thing we did was saddle our horses and learn to ride them Goucho style. Then we got straight into it. The horses were very quite and were the best horse to learn on. My horse was called Garibaldi and he was a very pretty horse as you can see in the photo. The first thing we did was round up the sheep that we were going to work with. This was very easy as sheep run together and never stray far from the mob. We then brought them into the yards and went and had some lunch + a siesta. After lunch we went and weened the lambs of their mothers which is taking the lambs who we think are old enough to fend for themselves. Once we had weened them we left the lambs in the yards and took the others back to their paddock. Then we came back, unsadled the horses then gave them a brush and waited for dinner. This was a long day as Juan ( the owner of the ranch) says we have to be ready for an 8.30am start on the horses and then going to bed when the electricity turns off at 10.30pm.

On our second day of riding at the ranch we rounded up a huge herd of cattle to brand, count, ween and mark. Rounding them up took ages because they kept straying from the pack and because there where so many cattle it was hard to keep them all together. Anyway we did it but it took 2 hours, after we had rounded them up into the yards we went and had lunch + a siesta. After lunch we went into the yards, we were all given different jobs. Dad had to seperate the cows and the calves that went down the race. I was the assistant brander which was heating up the branding sticks for Juan to put on the calves that were big enough to fend for themselves. Scarlett's job was to count how many cows and calves there were in this herd, and mum's job was to paint the cows that were old and are not useful to Juan anymore, then Juan will send them to market and make them into tomorrow nights dinner. Once we had done this with the whole herd we put them back in the paddock and went and had some dinner.

The 3rd day of our stay it was a rainy day which means you can not work with the cattle or sheep. In the morning we went for a ride around Panagea, it is a big property with many paddocks of sheep, cattle and horses. We rode from about 9.00am to 12.00pm and then went back for some lunch + a siesta. After lunch it was pouring so all we did was sit around until 4.30pm. At 4.30 we went for a walk with Mum, Dad, Me, Scarlett, Juan, Ambar and Avril (Juan's daughters) and Thomas (a person staying on the ranch with us.) On our walk we found some Nandu eggs which are like Ostoriches except smaller, these ones had rolled down from there nest during the rain. After our walk, it had stopped raining so we saddled up and went to look for a bull that had escaped from the neighbours property. We could not find the bull though.

The next day was Sunday and Gouchos don't work on Sundays but we had Susana's (Juan's wife) party. It was quite a nice day but not many people came to the party, because the river was flooded so it was a very long drive from town. It was very nice with lots of food and fun. In the afternoon we went for a ride to inject a calf who was not doing so well with some anti-biotics, I had to hold the tail while Juan injected it in.

On the last day of our stay we went out and tried to find the bull that had escaped. We did not find it but it was nice to have one last ride before going to the coast. At about 12.45 we left the farm and headed off to the bus terminal which is where we caught the bus to Montivideo. The bus ride took 5 hours but we finally made it to our hotel in Montivideo.

If you woul like to have a taste of the Goucho lifestyle just type up

Panagea ranch Uraguay.

Oscar