Floripa

Florinopolis- our first stop in brazil and for Rich and I our 6th and final country. Another long bus journey during which we met our 19 year old German friend Max who Caz and I wanted to adopt as our son/Molly's boyfriend. Although the sky was pretty grey and overcast we were very hopeful. In true CAnBRough style we hopped in another taxi whilst all the other travellers caught the bus. We were dropped off and had to walk over a bridge to the party hostel - Hilltop as no motor vehicles are allowed on this part of the island. We were met by the owner Zohar and his fluffy dog Oggie who's favourite beverage was red wine and specifically Argentinian red wine. Brilliant. Another 4 bedded dorm, the beds were absolutely average but we loved this place instantly. The vibe from Zohar and his dog, to Sergino (a 41 year old who was the cook and taught us how to make some surprisingly good (but very cheap cocktails) and the rest of the travellers was very welcoming. The hostel was right on the lagoon overlooking the white sandy beach. We had planned to stay in Florinopolis for 3 nights but this was extended to 5 and if time was not running out we would probably still be there although we would probably have pickled our livers.

Our first night we had barbecue fish and rice cooked by Sergino for 10 reales (=£4) - our cheapest meal yet. A group of us then headed to the beach along with our beautiful friend Max to have a few more caprinis. The thunderstorm came and cleared us off to the beach but only as far as the pool back at the hostel.

Our second day we woke up too late and missed breakfast. We were all very disappointed Caz especially (the brecky fanatic) after hearing such good reviews. To make up for this Zohar offered to make us lunch instead, so Rich and i held out and had an amazing beef stroganoff. Mike and Caz had breakfast by the beach and never made it back. This was the third day in 2.5 months were all four were not together all day! After lunch Rich and I walked up to some 'natural pools' which was essentially a hike to see some rocks in the sea. Going barefoot on the way back down as my new havanas has caused some blisters I nearly stood on a hairy tarranchula the size of my hand. Not going to lie I was pretty scared (not enough to miss a picture opportunity- see photo).
Back at the hostel things started kicking off, it was Seegino's 41st birthday. 'Natasha' was out in full storm, vodka that costs £4 per litre. At 11 o'clock Zohar made the party carry on inside as to not disturb the neighbours midweek. So with all the windows shut, inside a small room, with 25 bodys jumping up and down on a Brazilian summer night you can image the sweat. Mike looked like a greased up Chippendale with his shirt off bopping away. Another late night trip to the beach, this time all well prepared in our swimsuits the 4 of us took on the waves and played in the water like it was our first ever beach holiday.

I suppose it is pretty obvious that the following day was not a productive one. The entire hostel was hungover so breakfast was a no goer, instead free lunch was provided! Not a great deal else happened apart from venturing out for dinner for an overpriced seafood risotto. Oh and mike was pulled out of bed to accompany Caz up to the top of the island for some panoramic views. Rich, the ultimate cat hater, believe it or not made friends with a kitten who slept the entire day with him in bed. We later found out that Mike was horrendously allergic to this cat and sneezed the rest of our time at Florinoplois. Oopsy.

Feeling much brighter on our 4th day and finally allowing Mike to fulfil his desire of hiring some scooters (sorry mum) we explored the rest of the island. It was all running smoothly, the boys driving with the girls on the backs until we reach the bus station. After buying our tickets for our next stop we jumped back on our bikes to find that Mike and Caz's locked had jammed. We must have been given the wrong key. Stuck in the car park we found some helpful locals who rang our hire company. I don't think he was very impressed especially since one of the Australian boys from our hostel had caused 700 US$ worth of damage to his bike the day before. As luck would have it though, within 10minutes a mobile locksmith on his motorbike rocked up and bashed the hell out of the lock! Now freed we enjoyed the rest of our day on the bikes until we tried to find our way home and got lost in the centre for a good hour trying to get on the right motorway back over the bridge to our hostel. Another meal at the hostel and only a few drinks to save ourselves for last and final night in Florinopolis.

For our last full day in Florinopolis we took the bikes to Mole Beach. A very pretty White soft sanded beach with huge waves. We then dropped the bikes off and joined the rest of the Hilltop travellers on our local beach in Barra de Lago until the early evening. Back at the hostel we all got our drinking hats on and relatively dressed up (ie hairwashed and make up on but still in flip-flops and some token face paint) we boarded our minivan to a 'superclub' to see Swedish House Mafia (to those music naive people like myself- some well known DJs). Superclub means lots of people and in its peak this one can hold 30,000 people. Thank God it was not quite peak season as it still took us 1h45 to get through the traffic jam and tickets can be as much as £500!!! We danced until 5am with 3 Sheffield girls and 2 Bristol girls from our hostel and had a great night. We were disappointed though that Zohar had dumped us to be with his Sau Paulo friends who had flown in early in the day.

The following day we were reliving some of footage when Zohar stormed into our room with envious outrage. He had spent 2hrs getting to the club to find he had lost his ticket and was not allowed in. After arguing for an hour he turned around and went back home, unlucky for him but it did restore our faith in our friend for not dumping us.

Some essential snacks bought for our next bus journey and a last dip in the pool we said our goodbyes to our friends and set off to our next pit stop - Iguazu Falls. Thank you Hilltop we will be back.