Round the World with Ann and Katie

We headed down to Punta Arenas last Thursday (30th Jan) to do a bit of exploring before going on our trek to Cabo Froward. It is an incredibly windy place – anyone who has been on the Cairngorm plateau will have an idea of how strong the wind can be – but we were in town. Sometimes they put up ropes on the corners of the main square to stop people getting blown away. We had an interesting hostel, run by a Chilean Rastafarian. He played Bob Marley 24 hours a day so this is now the sound of Patagonia for us. Punta Arenas is quite a large town with a port that is visited by cruise ships. It also has several interesting museums as well as the second most beautiful cemetery in South America. But the highlight of our stay there must be our visit to Isla Magdelena to see more penguins. We went in a Zodiac which was quite exciting as it bounced over the waves. In contrast to our previous penguin experience we were able to go ashore and walk amongst the penguins. There are about 120,000 of them nesting on the island. The young ones still had some grey fluffy feathers. They come right up and will give you a curious look and peck at your shoes. We spent about an hour there watching them going in and out of the water, waddling about, climbing up and down the cliffs etc. They are really comical the way they jump down little steps on the cliffs and slip and regain their balance. At one point lots of them suddenly rushed out of the sea and up onto the beach. I noticed a sealion in the water which had been the cause of the panic. After that we went to another island which was the main sealion stronghold. They were lounging about on the beach and swimming around, the males having the odd altercation as they are prone to do.
On Monday we set off on the trek, our rucksacks bulging with all manner of goodies. Katie and I are definitely a lot more frugal when it comes to trekking supplies but we had salami, cheese, chocolate, pasta, rice, even 2 carrots and loads of other things. (There she goes, on about food again!). We caught a bus to start of the trek at about 7.30am and were walking shortly after 9. Initially we walked on a gravel track between the beach and some woods, along the Straits of Magellan. We could see across to Tierra del Fuego and occasionally dolphins broke the surface of the water. There were lots of fuschias along the way. Eventually the track finished and we walked along shingle beaches for most of the morning which was quite hard going. At lunchtime we came to a lighthouse (Faro San Isidoro, I think). Then on along more beaches and through the woods to our first campsite after about 7 hours walking. There was a disused house there with a stove so we put up our tents and collected driftwood to light a fire. We cooked our dinner in the hut and sat round the fire which was nice and warm. We had a late start the next day (about 12pm) because we had to arrive at a major river crossing at low tide to make sure the water was at its lowest point. We crossed a smaller river straight after leaving the camp and then after more beach walking we entered the turba, an area of dense extremely muddy woodland followed by a long stretch of bog. It was really fun scrambling about in the mud between tree roots! On leaving the turba we arrived at the river crossing just after lunch. It came well over our waists and was very cold indeed. We all stripped down to our undies and held our rucksacks over our heads and waded across. It wasn´t very fast flowing thank goodness but it was a relief to reach the other side and put warm clothes on again. After that we had to scramble arouind a headland on rocks and this warmed us up. We reached our second campsite at around 8pm and by the time we had had dinner we just collapsed into our sleeping bags. It rained hard all night and we got up early at about 6.30am in order to cross the nearby river at low tide. But it was a raging torrent with all the rain so we took one look at it and decided to go back to camp. We built a fire and got warm and also toasted our wet things from the previous day. Imagine a group of people holding their smalls out over a fire on sticks while they steamed dry and you have the scene. There had been fresh snow on the hills in the night and as that melted during the day it became obvious that the river was not going to go down. So we had no choice but to head back. If we had crossed the river we were only about 3-4 hours from Cabo Froward, the most southerly point on the American mainland. But it was not to be. So we headed back to our first nights campsite. The first river we had crossed was much lower than it had been, probably because of a lower tide, so we were able to get across just rolling up our trouser legs. This was a great relief! We arrived back at the campsite at about 11pm and a lot of people (there were 11 of us) decided to sleep in the hut this time. The river near the hut had risen and we all got quite wet crossing it in the dark. The next day was sunny and quite warm (for Patagonia) and we stayed at the campsite until about lunchtime before retracing our steps to just short of where the bus had dropped us off on the first day. We camped in the woods and had a good fire going. We had popcorn over the fire and someone in the group made pizzas in a saucepan, which we must try. The next day (Friday) we caught the bus back to Punta Arenas and another session with Bob Marley. We all went out for a late lunch at an eat as much as you like Chinese buffet (yes, in Patagonia!) before retiring to the hostel with more pocorn and some videos. It was a much tougher hike than the W and the group we were with was really great. They were all Yanks apart from us but I think we flew the flag with honour!
We are now back in Puerto Natales hoping to head off to the Mount Fitzroy area tomorrow for more hiking.

We´re back in Puerto Natales after a fantastic few days in Torres del Paine National Park. We caught the afternoon bus which took us to the entrance to the park where we had to part with 15,000 pesos to get in. Then on the Lago Pehoe where we got on board the catamaran which took us to the campsite at the start of the W Trail. On the way we saw lots of guanaco. We also met a Norwegian couple who said they were in Chile studying architecture. This struck me as equivalent to going to Switzerland to study deep sea fishing! However they were enjoying themselves travelling around South America. The campsite was quite civilised with toilets and showers and you could even get a beer. We bumped into the Aussie girl we had met on the boat. The backdrop to the campsite was superb with huge mountains and the lake. The mountains are two tone; pale granite up to a certain point and then topped off with dark rock – a bit like a Neapolitan ice cream without the pink bit.
The next day we were up early and away from camp at about 8am to hike up to the Glacier Grey. It was cold initially but we were soon down to shorts and T shirts. The valley was beautiful, through low shrubby trees and then woods. Lots of wild flowers; I had bought a chart with birds and flowers on it so had fun identifying things as we went along. After a while we reached a lake and had a rest and then the path switch-backed through woods with glimpses of the mountains beyond. That woman who said the Milford Track was the best walk in the world had clearly never been to Chile! Eventually we reached Lago Grey where there were lots of icebergs that had broken off the glacier. And then we saw the glacier itself for the first time in the distance. After about 3 1/2 hours we reached the Refugio Grey and climbed to the top of a rocky outcrop for views of the glacier. Then on for a further hour to a point where we could look down on the glacier and see crevasses etc. A big chunk broke off the glacier while we were sitting there with a huge crack and splash. Then we retraced our steps back to the campsite – quite a long day of about 10 hours altogether.
On Sunday we set off early again for the Campamento Italiano about 2 hours or so away. It is at the bottm of the Valle Frances and we pitched the tent there, dumped our gear in it and then set off up the valley. All day we encountered large guided parties of French people who seemed to be unaware of anybody else on the trail. They blocked the way having drinks, eating, taking photos, arguing loudly (!) etc right on the path. But the walk was great along rocky ridges, through woods, with views of the mountians and glaciers all the way along. At the head of the valley you could see the back of the Torres and lots of the other mountains which have great climbing routes but way beyond our capabilities. We went back down to the tent and were both blown off our feet by a huge gust of wind. Fortunately we were fielded by a party going the other way! As it was still early we decided to move on to the next campsite, Los Curenos. Here we met a group of Aussies, from Canberra. Some little mice showed great interest in our food as well.
The next day we set off for the campsite near the Torres themselves. We walked for about 8km along the side of a lake, the track going up and down a lot. There was an interesting river crossing. Then we went steeply up to Campamento Chileno where we had lunch by the river. Another hour and a half saw us at Campamento Torres. This section of the trail was quite rough and there was one bit with a fixed rope. We bagged a nice shady site for the tent and after a bit of a rest went up to the base of the Torres, a scramble up boulders of about 40 minutes. There is a glacier at the base of the Torres and then they rise straight up – very impressive indeed. The plan was to get up at 4am to be back at the Torres for sunrise so we had an early night.
Then up in the dark, headtorches on and back up the boulders. We arrived in the dark and it was really stunning sitting there all by ourselves in the silence with the moon and the stars and a red glow in the east. The sun gradually came up, the light changing by the second as we sat watching. Unfortunately by this time other people had arrived, shouting and eating crisps etc which rather detracted fom the atmosphere! Have they no souls at all? We sat there for about an hour and half before going down for brekky. Then we made our way down to the end of the trail where we waited for the bus back to the park entrance and our bus to Puerto Natales.
Last night we had a meal out – food you had to use a knife on which made a change from noodles and pasta. And pudding too!
We have dropped large bags of dirty clothes off at the laundry and tomorrow will be going by bus to Punta Arenas where we will stay until we set off on our treck to Cabo Froward on Monday. This looks to be an exciting outing with chest high river crossings – the guy who described it was a good bit taller than me so I guess I will take my snorkel!
Interestingly, we were talking at breakfast this morning with a couple who also just done the W and they said “Did you have trouble with the French?” So it wasn´t just us! It´s funny how you get big groups of certain nationalities in different parts of the world.
All for now.

Hola!
Here we are in Puerto Natales after 4 fantastic days on the Navimag ferry. We had been led to believe by our guide book (never believe Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide) that we would be sharing our bunks with cattle and various assorted cargo but in fact the accommodation was great. We were in a C class cabin, the posh people being in AA or A (don´t know what happened to B) and it was rather like the Trans-Siberian – 4 bunks in a little compartment. Each bunk had curtains and a light so you could shut yourself off if you wanted to. There were hot showers, flush toilets, all mod. cons. We had 3 meals a day – it was a bit like school dinners queuing up with your tray and sitting at formica topped tables but the food was very edible indeed. There was entertainment in the form of films and talks about various aspects of Patagonia so between the meals, entertainment, watching the scenery float by, trips to the bar, playing cards and reading our books we were never bored. On the last night we even played Bingo! We met up with our friend Eleanor again and also teamed up with an Australian girl. Intially the voyage took us down between Chiloe and the mainland and was quite calm and sheltered but on the second evening we headed out into the Pacific where there was a bit of a swell. We took our sea sickness tablets and were fine. Most of that part of the voyage occured at night and by the next morning we were back in calm waters again. The scenery on this section of the trip was out of this world. Little islands covered with trees, calm blue water, dolphins, whales, seals, lots of birds, snow-topped mountains, glaciers, beautiful clouds, a huge moon, stars. I could go on and on. We had such a wonderful time. If you ever get the chance to do this trip don´t hesitate. We chatted with the captain (Carlos) who said that the weather was never as good as this – 4 days of sun so hot we had to keep going inside! Usually it rains apparently and you see very little. We arrived in Puerto Natales yesterday evening and we are in a great hostel called Erratic Rock. The breakfast is huge and there is real coffee. The one disappointment about Chile is that the only coffee you can get usually is Nescafe. We are heading out to the Torres del Paine National Park after lunch for about 4 days to do the W circuit. We are taking the tent although there are refugios so we have stocked up with noodles! So I will be back on line on Wednesday I think.

Our transport to Valdivia arrived on Friday evening, complete with another tour guide and a motley crew of fellow travellers. We were not very impressed with the new guide who was not at all communicative and the group was rather undynamic as well. We had a lazy day after climbing the volcano but we went on a short boat trip on the lake in the afternoon. We were rather annoyed when the tour guide asked us if we would mind leaving Pucon later on Sunday to allow people in the new group to have a chance to climb the volcano because the weather was not suitable on Saturday. This would have meant another day hanging about in Pucon for us and also we would not have had the scheduled tour of the Lakes District but would have gone straight to Valdivia. As it happened the weather was even worse on Sunday so we set off in the morning. The atmosphere in the bus was quite depressing – no music, most passengers asleep, none of the new group wanted to get out at any of the stops – it just goes to show what a difference it makes having a good tour guide who sets the tone for the group. Anyway we got to Valdivia in the afternoon and were having lunch by about 4pm. Salmon is very cheap here so we had grilled salmon for lunch which was very nice indeed. Then we had a walk round the town which we found rather disappointing. In the guide books it says it is the most attractive town in Chile and lots of people had also told us the same but Katie´s immediate impression was that it was a bit like Stevenage! The town had been destroyed in 1960 by a huge earthquake and subsequent tsunami so most of the old buildings had gone and been replaced by 1960s “architecture”. However, the setting of the town is beautiful, on a river with lovely countryside all around. We decided to go on a river trip the next day as we had been recommended to do so by a guy who used to live in Valdivia. The boat trip left at about 1.30pm and we didn´t return to Valdivia until 7.45pm. We cruised down the rivers around Valdivia ( there are 7 in all) and the scenery was lovely with lots of reed beds and hills covered in trees. We had a very good lunch on board and eventually went ashore at Isla Monera where there is a ruined fort which was built in 1645. Then we had another short cruise to Corral where there is another castle where they staged a re-enactment of a battle in which the Spanish were defeated by the Chilean army in 1820. On the way back to Valdivia we had afternoon tea with ham sandwiches, cake and tea – very English.
The following morning we went horse riding with Eleanor, the girl we met in Pucon. She lives in Devon and has her own horse so we were very much put in the shade. But the horses were nice and quiet. We had Western style saddles and I rather regretted not having a poncho to complete the look. We wound our way through beautiful native forests for about an hour at a very sedate pace which suited Katie and I. Our guide pointed out all the trees to us and it was a lovely day for riding. Back in Valdivia we went to the local museum which is housed in a German colonial style building. A lot of Germans emigrated to this area of Chile in the 1850s and set up businesses, including the local brewery, which was unfortunately destroyed by the earthquake. The rooms downstairs in the museum were furnished in the style of different periods of the history of the town: colonial occupation, after independence, German style furniture etc. Upstairs was given over to displays about the Mapuches who were the pre-conquest inhabitants of the area. There was lots of jewellery and pottery and textiles but the translator must have got fed up by the time he got upstairs because there was no information in English. In the evening we went to the cinema and saw a horror film called “30 days of night”. It was in English with Spanish sub-titles. It was about vampires descending on Barrow in Alaska where the sun doesn´t rise for 30 days during the winter. The vampires killed nearly everyone in very gory circumstances. Not really my kind of thing. Eleanor spent most of the film hiding under her fleece! Then we repaired to the hostel where we cooked a tasty dinner of salmon followed by raspberries.
On Wednesday we caught the bus to Ancud which is on the island of Chiloe just of the coast of Chile. We had to cross on a ferry to get there. Our hostel in Ancud was right on the beach and was very comfortable. They tend to include breakfast in the price of a night´s stay here. In Valdivia we roared with laughter at the portions of cornflakes which appeared in bowls the size of little teacups. In Ancud however we had homemade bread, yoghurt, fruit, jam etc.I hope this blog doesn´t dwell too much on food but it is important when you are travelling! One of the features of the area is a colony of penguins and Katie was desperate to see them so we went to try to book a trip out to the islands where they live. We were offered a trip that very evening and set off immediately in a minibus bound for a little fishing village where boats take you to the islands. Apparently, early evening is a good time to go because the penguins have been at sea feeding during the day and are just getting back to the islands for the night. At the fishing village we got into a boat on the beach and went out to the islands. We had left in a hurry and so got rather cold but it didn´t matter because we saw lots of penguins – Magellan and Humbold ones. They were climbing up the rocks out of the sea and looked very purposeful as they climbed higher and higher up the rocks. I love they way they walk along, they look so funny. We also saw a flightless steamer duck, sea lions and a sea otter, and lots of cormorants of which there are 4 species locally. So it was an excellent excursion. Back in Ancud we went to a local restaurant and I had a conger eel stew which was very nice. Apart from there was a strange vegetable sort of hanging on the side of the dish. I took a big bite out of it only to discover that it was a chili!
The next day , on the recommendation of the hostel, we hired some bikes and went for a ride along the coast. There was a possibility of seeing flamingos. But it turned into something of a nightmare. The bikes were the most uncomfortable we had ever been on, the gears didn´t work very well. We had to do about 6km down the main road to start with with huge lorries flying past inches away before we turned off down a gravel road. But we hadn´t lost the lorries as the road went to a quarry so we were covered in dust and showered with gravel at frequent intervals not to mention snapped at by dogs all along the way. Stray dogs abound in Chili. Our bums were in agony by the time we reached Caulin which was a lovely place on a bay, with lots of little fishing boats, wading birds, black-necked swans but alas no flamingos. So we had a rest and then pedalled all the way back again. We have vowed not to hire any more bikes for several weeks. When we got back to the hostel our friend Eleanor had arrived from Valdivia.
On Friday we moved on again, this time further south on Chiloe to Castro. This only took just over an hour and when we got there a woman was touting for business for her hostel at the bus station so we went her and got a nice triple room with real beds (not bunks). Castro is a quaint place with some houses built on stilts over the water (palafitos) and a cathedral painted yellow and violet. The churches are a big feature of Chiloe. They are built almost entirely of wood and all have a similar style with a single tower at the front and archways in the entrance. There are over 150 of them and 16 have World Heritage status. So we got on a bus to visit some of them. We went to Delcahue in the first place and then went on a small ferry across to an island where we caught another bus to a place called Achao which has one of the most beautiful churches. It is primarily a fishing village and there was a lot of bustle on the harbour with people coming and going in boats. We had empanadas for lunch which are a bit like Cornish pasties (although they have much more meat in and always contain one olive). The church is the oldest one in Chiloe and much of the wood inside is ornately carved and painted in blue, yellow and a pinky colour. The wood is beautiful, particularly the floor. We then walked along the beach for a bit and saw some people making a boat out of a block of polystyrene using a chainsaw! On our return to Delcahue we went in the church there but it was very plain compared to the one at Achao. Back in Castro we decided to have a look in the church there. It was built in 1906, several previous versions having burnt down. The outside is corrugated metal but inside is all wood and it glows in the light coming through the stained glass windows. We had a stroll round the town visiting a market where lots of handknitted things were on sale. Knitting seems to be one of the main female occupations here. Then more food I´m afraid at a restaurant on stilts over looking the water. We had the local dish, curanto, which is a huge wooden dish full of chicken, ham, potato, sausage, sort of dumpling things and lots of mussels.
Yesterday we went to the National Park of Chiloe on the bus. The bus journey alone would have made the day as we went down the coast before turning inland past a huge lake. Everywhere is very green with trees and small fields, a bit like home. On arrival at the park it became obvious that we did not have time to do any of the long trails but we had a great walk through the woods and dunes to the beach. Along the way there were lots of wild flowers including yellow lupins, fuschias etc. The beach was huge with big waves crashing in and we wished we had surf boards! We walked quite a way up the beach and found a huge bone which we guessed had come from a whale. The we walked inland to a lake where I had a walk in the woods while Katie lay in the sun. The only downside to the day was some huge flying insects which buzzed round all day and if they got a chance they gave you a bite. Don´t know what they were.
Today (Sunday) we are going to Puerto Montt and tomorrow we get the ferry for Puerto Natales. This will take about 4 days. From Puerto Natales we head for Torres del Paine so you may not hear anything from us for a while.
Stop press: we are now inPureto Montt and have checked in for the boat. We were approached by a woman at the bus station again who was offering accommodation and we soon found ourselves in the back of a van with the window blacked out hurtling through the streets of Puerto Montt. But we wound up at a place to stay which was very convenient for the docks. I actually prefered it to a hostel really – I think I´ve had enough of hostels for a while. It is a nice day here and the sea doesn´t look too rough -yet.

The weather here has not been great and in fact we were beginning to think that the volcano doesn´t actually exist and is just a con to get people to come to Pucon and spend their money in cafes and bars. However, although the weather on Thursday was not good enough to go up the volcano (they won´t go if it raining or cloudy) we went to the nearby national park called Huerquehue on the bus. There are a couple of hiking trails there and we did one called Los lagos which as the name suggests takes you to some lakes. We went with a girl we had met on the tour bus but we had to split up for the walk because she was very slow and we would never have completed our walk if we had stayed together. The trail was quite muddy and wound up through the forest past two waterfalls until we reached the first lake, Lago Chico. It was rather cold and started to snow and the lake was steaming. Most people just visit three lakes which are all in a cluster but we went further on up into the forest where there were lots of monkey puzzle trees. The forest was lovely and the trees were covered in all sorts of lichens. We saw two woodpeckers as well. It snowed some more and it really was very beautiful. Back down on the main track we met up with our friend again and were lucky enough to be offered a lift back to Pucon rather than having to wait for the bus.
But yesterday we were lucky with the weather and it clear and sunny so we were able to climb the volcano, Volcan Villarrica. We were collected from the hostel at about 7am and went to the guides office to collect our gear. They supplied excellent boots and waterproofs. We drove to the bottom of the mountain which is used for skiing in the winter. It had a sort of Cairngorm feel about it really with lots of people in the car park with ice axes etc. Amazingly they had a dog sniffing our rucksacks for drugs in the car park. Our party was quite large but there were lots of guides so we soon shook down into smaller groups. We walked quite slowly – just as well as the fresh snow made the going quite hard. We had to put on crampons for an icy stretch but then we were into deeper snow again and the crampons were a bit of a nuisance but we had to keep them on. A lot of people in the group had never used ice axes and crampons before so I think they wanted us to keep them on as it took so long to get them on in the first place. It took about 4 hours to get to the crater of the volcano and we got excellent views on the way up of Mount Llaima which erupted last week. As we got near to the crater the smoke was not very pleasant. It burned our eyes and throats but the crater was quite interesting although we didn´t actually see any lava, just lots of smoke. We stayed up there for about half an hour and then got kitted out in salopettes and a strange device rather like a nappy for sliding down in the snow. We slid on our bums most of the way down the hill, about 1400m in all, which was much better than walking down and of course much quicker as well as being great fun.
Back in Pucon we had drinks on the terrace at the guides office to celebate our success, with a great view of the volcano covered in snow with smoke pouring out of the top.
Later we went out for something to eat with another girl (from Devon) who is going to come on the ferry with us from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. Today the weather is a bit grim again so we are having a lazy day before setting off for Valdivia tomorrow where we will spend a couple of days.
Katie is doing well with her Spanish although the Spanish spoken here is not quite the same as in Spain.

After breakfast, all included in the price of the hostel, we drove for a couple of hours to Santa Cruz the main feature of which is a museum which houses the private collection of a guy who made his money in the arms trade. It is a huge collection and includes cars (inclusing an MGA similar to the one we used to have), a station complete with train, lots of Inca jewellery, conquistadors´weapons, maps, paintings etc etc. We only had a couple of hurs there though which wasn´t really long enough. The rest of the day was spent on a long drive to Pucon in the Lakes District. We didn´t arrive until about 8pm and we went straight to the office of the mountain guides who were going to take us the volcano the next day. It is an active volcano and you climb up the snow slopes and peer into the hot lava in the crater. We were kitted out with boots, waterproofs, crampons and rucksacks and then went on to our hostel which is lovely. It is a large house in which the family lives and the rooms are really comfortable with ensuite facilities. I am writing this in a very nice lounge with comfy sofas and there is a good kitchen if you want to cook your own food. It is called La Posada del Embrujo. Having dumped the gear we went to a local restuarant for dinner. The food was excellent and very reasonable in price. During the day we had picked up another member of the group. He comes from near Edinburgh and his whole life seems to revolve around alcohol (drinking it and talking about drinking it). He also knows absolutely everything there is to know about anything so you can be sure he is going to be my best friend!
Unfortunately Tuesday morning was cloudy and rain was forecast so despite getting up at 6am so as to be ready to leave for the volcano at 7 we couldn´t do it after all. But we had a good day anyway as we hired some mountain bikes and cycled about 20km up to some lakes and waterfalls called Los Ojos de Caburgua. It was a good ride and we had lunch there before cycling further on to Caburgua where there is a larger lake with a beach and boats. We hadn´t realised that this would be all uphill (5km) and it was really hard going but coming back to Pucon was great – downhill most of the way, about 25km. We had an early dinner and then we all went in the minibus to some hot springs about half an hour away. There were 5 hot pools of varying temperatures with wooden huts to get changed in. We mainly stayed in the hottest one although some people did go for a dip in the river to cool down (not us though!). We stayed there until about 11pm when I think we were all very wrinkled. Then back to Pucon where we went out for hamburgers (very nice ones, huge with all the trimmings – lettuce, tomato, avocado, mayonnaise) as everyone was hungry again. Didn´t get to bed until about 2am and that was much earlier than most people!
We had booked to go canyoning today (Weds) but it wasn´t until the afternoon so were able to have a lie in until about 10. Katie and I are staying on in Pucon until Sunday but most of the others were on the road again this morning so we waved them off in our pyjamas, had a cup of tea and went back to bed. The tour company we are travelling with provide a hop on, hop off service so we will get the next minibus that comes through on Sunday. We got up again at 12.30 and went out for a delicious breakfast of fruit, pancakes and warm bread and jam. We called in to see if the canyoning was still on as it was raining hard and were told that it would go ahead. So we got changed and went back to the office only to be told that the guide thought it was too dangerous so we couldn´t go after all. By this time it had stopped raining so we went for a walk round Pucon and down to a beach on the lake, accompanied by a dog who adopted us for the afternoon. When we got back to Pucon we went into a shop to buy some food and thought we had lost him but he was waiting for us outside when we came out! We intend to go to a nearby national park (the unpronouncable Huerquehue) tomorrow although it is forecast to rain again.

We booked a tour to take us down south and left Santiago on Sunday morning at about 9am. There are 11 other people on the trip – quite a varied bunch so that is nice. On Sunday we didn´t have to drive too far, only about 270km. We stopped off for a coffee in a small village where they have a lot of craft shops, mainly selling pottery. We couldn´t buy anything however as we can´t carry any more stuff. A little bit later we stopped to look at a hydro-electric dam of which there a lot in Chile, in the south anyway. We finished our first day´s travels at lunchtime in a place called Pichilemu which is very famous in the surfing world. And we finally got our surfing lesson having failed to do so in Oz and NZ. The surfing school was run by a guy called Elvis who kitted us out in wetsuits (the Humboldt current makes the water here very cold). Then we had to warm up by jogging up and down the beach. Then it was stretching exercises, the full routine, before we practised how to stand up on our surf boards on the beach. So far so good but I felt we were about to encounter another manifestation of the theory-practice gap as soon as we hit the water. And I was right! We paddled out and aided by the instructors managed to catch some good waves. I managed to half stand up and go nearly all the way into the beach on one occasion – really exciting – but spent most of the time falling off. It is exhausting though paddling back out to catch more waves. Katie was better at standing at up than me but didn´t go as far. It was great fun and the wetsuits kept us lovely and warm. When we got back to the surf school Elvis said that I was the best surfer in the group, on account of that one long run and I was awarded a book of photos of surfers! Later we went to another another beach where the waves were much bigger and watched the professionals. Back at the hostel we had a huge dinner of chicken, sausages and pork with salad and in honour of Katie´s birthday I bought a chocolate gateaux which we demolished. By this time it was gone midnight so I turned in but some of the group went across the road to a bar. Katie was bit the worse for wear at 7.15 the next morning! But she had a good birthday.

Here we are in Chile. We didn’t get much sleep on the plane but it was a reasonable flight with quite nice food. It was fairly easy getting to the hostel, which is excellent. It is called Las Casa Roja and was obviously a very grand building originally. Now it is teeming with backpackers but the rooms are huge and the facilities are very good, including a swimming pool – all for $11 US per night. We went to bed early as Friday seemed to have lasted for about 48 hours but were fighting fit on Saturday morning for exploring Santiago. It is very hot here – much hotter than NZ. I had forgotten how the heat makes you feel like a limp rag after a few hours. But we went on a walking tour as recommended by the backpackers bible, Lonely Planet. We started by climbing up lots of stone steps to the the top of Cerro San Lucia, a hill with gardens and a fountain and fortifications on the top. There was a good view of Santiago from the top but there is a lot of pollution so it was a bit hazy and the Andes were not very clear in the distance. We strolled through the centre of Santiago and finally ended up in a big plaza where we went into the cathedral which is actually rather plain by Spanish Catholic standards. The highlight of the walk was a museum of Pre – Columbian art. I hadn´t realised how many different cultures there have been in South America (very ignorant really) apart from the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs. The pottery was interesting because a lot of it is anthropomorphic although some of the vessels also had representations of various animals on them as well. There was lot of jewellery, including lots of jade items and some mummies in which the internal organs and bones had been removed and replaced by wood and other plant materials. So I have some more reading to do when we get home to find out more about all these different people. Then Katie tried out her Spanish and got us some lunch in a cafe. After that we walked across town to La Chascona which is one of the houses belonging to Pablo Neruda the Chilean poet who won the Nobel prize. It was a fascinating place. He had the house built in the 50s as a secret home for himself and his mistress and the name of it refers to her unruly hair. He was rather eccentric and obsessed by the sea so it is built in the form of a ship and has lots of nautical fixtures and fittings. He also collected lots of bizarre things from his travels. It was also very sad because he had to go into exile following the military coup and the soldiers burned all his books and diverted a stream through the house so it was ruined. He died shortly after that but his mistress, who was actually his wife by this time, renovated the place and added to it. Her style was rather different so there is 60s style furniture as well. We didn´t know much about Neruda until we went there but they do an excellent guided tour so now we are more clued up although we must read some of his poetry now.
We carried on with our walk and went up a big hill on a funicular railway for more views of Santiago which is huge. More people live there than in the whole of NZ! Unfortunately we were sitting having a drink under a tree when a bird pooped all over my T shirt. We wandered down the hill through some gardens and then walked all the way back to the hostel where we got organised for our trip south on Sunday morning.

We got the bus to Kaitaia and it quickly became apparent that without a car you couldn’t get to any of the places of interest in the area. We had booked a trip up 90 mile beach for the next day but had another two days booked at the hostel. We tried to hire a car but they wanted to charge us $160 for 2 days and there was only one bike for hire in the town. The only thing of any interest in the town was a small museum – of which more later.
But we went on our trip to Cape Reigna via 90 mile beach on 28th Dec. The tide was coming in so we had to go quite fast up the beach which is actually just under 100km long. Lots of coaches go up the beach and also 4WDs. The sand in the middle of the beach is hard but towards the top end it becomes soft and vehicles can get stuck. We passed one coach that was stuck. The beach was used for attempts at the world land speed record years ago. At the top end of the beach there were huge dunes and they carry sledges on the bus so that you can slide down them. We went down a dune called Psycho Hill – very fast indeed. Screamed all the way!Then we headed off to a beach for lunch. After that we drove up to Cape Reigna, the most northerly point of NZ. There is a lighthouse there and great views out across the ocean where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet. On the way back to Kaitai we stopped for huge ice creams and then went to place called the Ancient Kauri Kingdom. Way back most of the area was covered with Kauri trees and they were cleared so that the land could be used for agriculture. But a lot of trees were buried in swamps between 30 – 50,000 years ago and were preserved there – fossilised really I suppose. They are dug up and used to make furniture, bowls, ornaments etc etc which are very expensive. I bought a Xmas tree decoration.
Back at the hostel we managed to change our bus from Monday to Sunday so that we would only have one day in Kaitaia. The next day we went to the museum which had an interesting exhibit about the gum diggers. The kauri trees secrete gum to protect themselves when they get damaged and it drips down into the ground where over the years it solidifies so that it looks like amber. The Maori used to use it for various things including tattooing. But it was dug up in commercial quantities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, principally by immigrants from Dalmatia. It was exported to Europe where it was used for varnishes, paints etc until about the 1950s when alternatives were developed. There was also a huge anchor from a French ship called the St Jean Baptiste. The French had come to the South Pacific to establish trading oppportunities but they had also heard about NZ and wanted to claim it for France. However, they were beaten to it by only a couple of days by Capt Cook, bless him- otherwise we might have needed a French phrasebook to come to NZ!
We tried to get our hair cut but of the 4 hairdressers in town, 3 were shut and the other had no free appointments. Katie went to try and use the Internet but they closed at lunchtime. A bit of a dead loss really. By the evening we were both a bit fed up! However, we got back to Auckland the following day.
I have had to reappraise Auckland. It is not so bad as I originally thought. We booked in at the YHA rather than the dreaded Nomad’s Fat Camel and got a twin room instead of a dorm because they didn’t have any dorm beds left. On New Year’s Eve we caught the ferry across to Waiheke Island which takes about half an hour or so. It was very busy because it is the place to go for New Year apparently. We had a bus trip round the island to start with. There are a lot of holiday homes there and property is extremely pricey. The beaches are great and there is a big arty crafty community as well – a bit like Cornwall I thought in character. We had a good walk along the coast with stunning scenery and then went down onto a beach where we had a swim before proceeding along the coast back to the ferry. It was a most enjoyable day out. In the evening we went down to the centre of Auckland where there were free bands performing but we thought they were awful so we went to the pub! Fire works went off at midnight from the Sky Tower which is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemispere -not much competition really. I had to do a solo performance of Auld Lang Syne because Katie didn’t know the words and everyone sitting near us was from Japan!
The next day we did the Coast to Coast walk which is about 16km and takes you from one side of NZ to the other. It was very pleasant, mostly through parks and included the ascent of two small volcanic hills, Mount Eden and One Tree Hill. Also it passes the museum where there was a very good exhibition about Charles Darwin. So we had deep intellectual discussions about evolution as we walked along!
The next day we went on the ferry again to Rangitoto Island. It erupted out of the sea only 600 years ago so is very recent in geological terms. You can climb up to the summit of the volcano and walk round the crater. The island is now quite well vegetated and there are lots of NZ Xmas trees there which have red flowers on at this time of the year. We then walked along to a beach and had lunch and a swim before taking the coastal route back to the ferry. Once back at the ferry we had a bit of time to wait so I had another swim to cool off. In the evening we went to the cinema and saw “The Kite Runner”.
Yesterday we went back to the museum as we had only looked at the Darwin exhibition and none of the other stuff. Then we had our hair cut at last so we looked very glamorous (?) when we went out for a curry last night to celebrate our last night in NZ.
We fly to Chile this afternoon at 5.25pm and arrive earlier this morning at about 11.30am. So we are in the air for about 12 hours and arrive before we set off ! Amazing. We will of course be relying on Katie’s Spanish from now on – HELP!

We arrived in Auckland and it is the most disappointing place we have been to. Katie wasn’t disappointed because she had been before and knew what to expect but all the tourist bumf makes it sound really wonderful and in fact it is a rather run down and grubby place. The shops aren’t very good and the hostel we stayed in wasn’t very nice. So it was a good thing we were only there for one night on our way to spend to Xmas at Paihia. We are however back there for 4 nights before we fly to Chile. The hostel advertised a free dinner but it turned out to be tuna and sweetcorn pasta (ugh!) so we went to a Japanese place and had a very good meal instead, which was quite reasonable. Amazingly, we discovered afterwards that it had been voted the best hostel in NZ. It is called Nomad’s Fat Camel and we had decided that it was definitely the worst hostel we had stayed at in NZ! It is very cheap but it is rather run down, and dirty, there are no decent cooking facilities, there is a shortage of toilets and showers and it is not in a very nice situation. I guess it is a question of what you are looking for really. If you want somewhere really cheap in pole position for consuming vast amounts of alcohol then it is probably heaven. But we thought it was nearer to purgatory.
We got the bus the next day to Paihia and it is a really nice place. Our hostel is very near to the beach and there are lovely views across the Bay of Islands. We found a Woolworth’s and stocked up on Christmas goodies (chocs, mince pies, cheese, salmon etc) the plan being to eat on the beach. There are all sorts of water based activities available here including kayaking, sailing and various other types of boating. Lots of boat trips on offer as well to various islands and to swim with dolphins.
On Christmas Eve we went to Waitangi which is only about 15 minutes walk from here. It is where the Maoris and the Brits signed the Treaty in 1840 which is supposed to be the founding of NZ. You can go round Treaty House where a Scottish guy called James Busby lived who played a major role in the drawing up and signing of the Treaty. He was also the first person to start a vineyard in NZ having grown grapes in Oz before coming here. The house has a wonderful position surrounded by lawns on a cliff top so we spent a bit of time there. We had intended to take a walk to some nearby waterfalls but the path was closed so we went back to the hostel and spent the afternoon on the beach. I think if I lived near a nice beach I could waste a huge amount of time sitting watching the boats etc. After dinner we went to a carol singing session on a green near the beach. I was determined to sing some carols at some point and finally got my wish. Unfortunately, there were other acts on the stage as well including a rapper called Isaac who did a bit of a Christmas message thing which was awful.
Christmas Day was nice and sunny initially and we sat on the beach and opened our stockings – a hiking sock each filled with odds and bobs. I gave Katie some new socks to replace some that are full of holes, a new T-shirt (ditto) and a Spanish-English dictionary (for when we get to Chile) and a badge that says “I love tomato sauce”. I had various useful things in mine including some mud soap from Rotorua, some blueberry jam, a 2008 diary and best of all a titanium spoon and fork! Then we decided to have a swim before it rained. Even got Katie into the water (she is a bit of a wimp!) and it was reasonably warm. We had a bit of a walk along the beach and then we had our Christmas lunch sitting on the sand. We had a bottle of wine, smoked salmon, brie, nuts, salad, chocs etc before it started to rain. Then it rained really hard for the rest of the day so we did the Xmas usual thing – had a game of Scrabble! Later in the evening it stopped raining and we walked along the beach to a bar where they had a huge aquarium with fish, lobsters and some very ugly eels.
It was good to escape from the hostel where everyone seemed intent on watching an 8 hour marathon of “Family Guy” (an American cartoon if you have mercifully escaped it so far). It is mildly amusing for a half an hour or so but 8 hours!
Boxing Day was bright and sunny with a good breeze, ideal for our day on the tall ship, R. Tucker Thompson. We caught the ferry across to Russell (about 20 mins) and boarded the ship at about 10am. We helped to put the sails up and we fairly whizzed along as the wind was so strong. We sailed past Waitangi and out into the bay before stopping at a sheltered bay on an island for lunch. We went ashore in an inflatable dinghy and the water was so beautiful and clear I had to have a swim. It was very refreshing! We stayed on shore for about an hour and the crew did a BBQ on board for us for when we got back to the ship. Once on board however people were swinging into the sea from a rope on the yard arm so we had to have a go. It was great, flying through the air and letting go and falling into the sea. But we got quite cold in the wind so had to get dressed. After lunch of chicken, salad, couscous and bread we sailed back to Russell. Katie and I put on harnesses and went right out to the front of the boat on the bowsprit which was quite exciting as we were going very fast. Back at Russell we had a nice of cup of tea (very English!) and got the ferry back to Paihia.
Today we are heading further north, to a place calld Kaitiai for a few days. It is close to 90 mile beach which we will be visiting tomorrow. Hope everyone had a good time at Christmas.