If you want an unpredictable, streamy, dreamy ride through the smoke and mirrors corridors of the universe, then hitch a ride from the Andes to the Amazon, it´s the Bermuda Triangle of Chaos ... where strange things disappear and even stranger things are simply just true.

I was reminded of Alices´adventures in Wonderland by William on the plane (thank you William, this was just one illumination you gave me and I hope we get to meet again so there may be more) ... for reasons involving tea parties and madness ... and today I feel like I have slipped another notch down my own rabbit hole to find yet another eccentric dimension of reality - one that had been missing for a long time back in the more solid reality of Sydney. For one thing, I won an egg and spoon race, with a small child attached to me, and for another, I won a dance competition with a 7-year-old at a slum town festival, and based all of my technique on a tango class I once had beside a rockpool in the deep Aussie bush, and an old Gidget film.  See!!!  Life really can be full of wonder, magic and unexpected wins... especially when you bend the rules and the map a bit! I think the reason for this free ticket to a great attitude has something to do with completing the quest of the hills as well as the mental, physical, emotional impact of moving suddenly from 5000m closer to the sun into this Amazon world where the water moves in so many directions, visible and invisible, that we´re really spending most of our time floating ... there ain´t no true terra firma in the Amazon.

Or perhaps it´s just the cosmic pumpkin´s way of sending out a big toothy grin to us gals, rewarding us for doing good, and sticking it out, and having faith in the big picture .. through thick air and thin¿

Yesterday´s time with the animla rescue centre reminded me how precious and how like us all our world´s animals are... and how much we need to ensure they have the safe, vibrant, mysterious homes they deserve - in the wild, where their spirits can be free. Todáy´s adventure with the children of the slum town of Belen here next to the jungle city Iquitos, reminded me that there are people living in this world in ways that would curl your hair!!  Girls on Top were made international guests of honour at a festival for the people of this floating ramshackle suburb of more than 50,000 who do not even have solid ground, let alone a solid meal every day to rely upon. We represented Australia as we entered sack races, tug of war, dance competitions and sing-offs with the children for whom we have made our donation to fund the first stage of a medical clinic... some of whom, I couldn´t help thinking, may one day depend on this project for their very lives! We gave the gift of resources to make this vital service possible, but as always, the people we came here to help, gave us so much more back... showing us a passion for fun, a gentleness and connectedness, enthusiasm and radiance - even amidst the open sewers, the sideways houses, the dog shit and piss-rich puddles that surround their homes and gardens.

The best shone out in everybody, and I wonder if more than one Girl on Top thought through her own tests and challenges on our expedition, measuring the struggles and doubts we had in the Andes against the daily currency of compromise and danger, frustration and hopelessness that must be traded here?  Having it made so real and vivid just how much difference we have been able to make has made me see again that an empowered, impassioned, focused soul of the western world can turn a standard life into a catalyst for incredible change and happiness in countries where $10 is a monthly wage, not a half-hour earning.  That is an exciting thought for me...  but it gets even more incredible when you think of what we can achieve too when we employ our expertise, education and will to improving the worlds of others who do not have the privilage of our levels of knowledge and application but are eager and awake to the possibility of a better life - one where, for example, they can eat a proper meal, live free of raw sewerage or toxic waste, where they do not die from basic problems like diahorrea and worms, where they have a real chance at simple health and freedom to be who they are.

It´s all very meaningful I suppose, but whenever i find myself holding hands with a child from one of these villages, or skipping off down some dusty alleyway, or just engaging with the melted chocolate sweetness of their South American eyes I really do see both the splendour in these people and, reflected right back at me, the splendour in my own.