Whale size dreams

When we finally dragged ourselves away from Bariloche's comfort - and gave up on the wait for enough snow for Gio to ski - and headed for the Atlantic coast. Puerto Pirimides was our next destination and for a very specific reason. Whale watching.

Gio and I managed to fulfill a long time dream and see Southern Right Whales close up. In fact they were such curious creatures that one even came up to the boat and repeatedly lifted himself out to look at us!! A M A Z I N G.

There are no more words (nor any more photos!) to describe the experience.

A is for Argentina

Bariloche is Chocolate!

...B is for Bariloche and C is for chocolate!

The border crossing between Chile and Argentina was both straightforward and very beautiful. Having completed formalities in Chile the bus took us through the Andes which were snow covered and glorious. Everyone had their noses pressed against the windows looking at all the snow and lovely mountains.

Bariloche, and Argentina lived up to our expectations immediately! We found a lovely hostel and our room was like a cosy log cabin which was lucky as it was absolutely freezing outside. We were quick to indulge in our first 'parilla' - Argentine grill and it was amazing. Lots and lots of meat, fresh off of the grill. Lots of it! Bariloche also provided us with a big choice of chocolate shops. We quickly picked a favourite, which also had a beautiful patisserie section and made sure we took full advantage of it - you never know when you will come across something so delicious again!

Our favourite chocolate & patisserie shop

After a couple of days of indulgence we realised we should perhaps do something more than hide out in the warm hostel so we hired a couple of bikes. Not put off by being told we had picked the coldest day of the year, we tucked our woolly hats under our bike helmets and off we went. Despite the fact it started snowing part way through we had a fun afternoon, cold, very cold but fun!

Sausage sandwich and a stunning view....thank you very much!

One of the bike pit stops

Pucon and Chiloe

The Villarrica volcano, Pucon

Next stop south was Pucon, again a long old ride with many miles covered – such is the way with Chile as it is so darn long! As we arrived at night it was only the next morning when Gio draw back the curtains that we fully appreciated why people come to Pucon. The Villarica volcano was a glorious sight. The volcano is active enough and close enough to the town that they have a daily alarm test and a traffic light system to warn residents of the level of activity. Thankful of some sunshine we hired bikes and enjoyed the absolutely glorious scenery around Pucon.

The flat before the big crazy hills (where I may have to admit to getting off and pushing a little bit)

On the way home we stopped off at the supermarket for treats and some more Underraga wine to quickly reload any calories burnt by our afternoon’s activity!

Crossing the bridge on our bikes

After much indecision due to the weather we decided to chance a visit to Chiloe next. Chiloe is a lovely island off of the Chilean coast, the rain managed to hold off but the grey clouds and rolling hills definitely reminded us of the UK and made us crave a hot destination! The ferry ride over was fun, we saw penguins, pelicans and sealions swimming alongside us. And on the island we had fun exploring, two aborted attempts to reach the pacific coast as our little Corsa didn’t seem to like our off road driving routes!

We managed to make it across once and even then had an aborted attempt to walk to the ocean when we found ourselves in water up to the ankles! We did finally make it to the beach and the dramatic waves rolling in – but not for very long as by then it was early evening and blooming freezing.

Our last meal in Chiloe had to be a local speciality - curanto. Acutally I made Gio order it in case it didn´t work out! My mistake! Sadly we do not have a photo to show but it was amazing. He had the biggest mountain of shellfish, mussels that were the size of my palm - never seen them so big before. And on top of the lovely pile of steaming shellfish a giant sausage!

Chiloe, as with a lot of Chile will go on the list of places to come back to in their summer as the scenery is so beautiful but just not accessible at this time of year. And so we decided it was time for Argentina. Bring on the steaks!

Stilted houses, Chiloe

One of the many many wooden churches, Chiloe

The lilac and yellow wooden church of the capital of Chiloe

The wonderful and moody Pacific