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Our Year at Home
Yes we are back in Chile. Not a good start though as we had a very thorough customs search of Gerty and my smoked trout was confiscated. I was not happy. They are very concerned about the spread of disease from Argentina. I am not sure what disease could be carried in vacuum packed smoked trout?
Chile is sunny at last, so much so that Peter spent lunchtime sitting in the garden of our hotel listening to the Watford versus Manchester City game (on the internet) whilst drinking beer. After this we walked around town (Villarrica) and found somewhere selling gas cylinders and a suitable regulator so our gas rationing has been lifted. Whilst there we decided to have a fruit juice. Not wanting to be accused of being unadventurous I ordered us something new. It turned out to be fresh fig juice. All I will say is that we were both very pleased to be spending the night in a hotel
with private bathroom.
Gerty fans will be sorry to hear that she has received her first battle scar. Whilst being distracted by an old man waving his arms, in the hope that we would give him money for filling the potholes in the road, we hit a large volcanic rock with jagged edges. Gerty now has a chunk missing from the side wall of a front tyre and my step is badly bent.
You may remember we had mentioned getting excited visiting a large supermarket in Santiago. Well this simple pleasure has not diminished, in fact it has grown. Today we found a supermarket from a chain we had never come across and despite not needing any groceries we did not hesitate to pop in. We could not believe our luck when we found peanut butter (Peter had run out over a month ago).We promised ourselves never to moan about Tesco again.
Whilst in Pucon Peter decided to go on a trip to climb Volcan Villarrica. He was kitted out with heavy duty trousers, jacket, crampons, ice axe and helmet. The climb was on snow at 45 degrees so he said. It took 5.5 hours to ascend. He didn’t take many photos as he said he was too scared to look down. At the top he did walk around the smocking crater which occasionally let out deep rumbles that shook the ground. The way down was by sliding on your backside, using the ice axe as a brake. His only comment when he returned was a stuttered ‘my god that was scary’. The next few days he complained of arm ache. It turned out to be the arm holding the ice axe into the snow as he tried to reduce the speed of his descent.
The next day we left Pucon and visited some volcanic lava caves. Basically the outer layer of a lava flow cools and solidifies whilst the hot inner core keeps moving and in some cases it actually drains out to leave a quite spectacular tube of solidified lava. We headed out for a walk after our
visit but with the temperature touching 40 degrees we cut the walk short. We did however see a couple of spectacular rivers of lava that had flowed from the volcano during the last two eruptions.
We had intended to spend a day in Parque Villarrica but the road into the central sector proved to be a little daunting, even for Gerty so we made a strategic retreat. Whilst walking in the Southern sector Peter pointed out four Magallenic Woodpeckers. Before I had a chance to look up a 2”
square piece of bark landed on my head. A gift from one of the Woodpeckers.
This week has been Gerty maintenance week. This included the mending of my bent step. This was achieved by tying a rope between the step and a tree and reversing. The final straightening was achieved with a bit of hammer work on a hard volcanic rock. I now have an almost perfect step. Another job was an oil change. Whilst in the garage Peter used their pit to inspect Gerties
underside. Their Health & Safety is obviously not quite as stringent as ours!
Around the Chilean lake district we have spotted so far 14 old steam engines, like traction engines only smaller. They either lye abandoned in fields or have been painted and used as attractions. They must have been used in the logging industry and of all those we have looked at closely, they were made in England. Marshall & Sons of Gainsborough and Ransome, Sims and Jefferies of Ipswich being the most common. Quite sad to think of what we used to export.
- comments
Belinda Pullan First Capital Connect....
Simon B Is this the hotel toilet after the fig juice?
Paul & Jayne You should have packed a Tirfor or Lukas spreaders; that would have fixed the step good! The volcano climb sounds amazing. We appear to be at the opposite ends of the temperature spectrum as currently -2 here; off to Tesco's now, do you want anything? Best regards
Dave and Sandra Had a similar experience driving the golf yesterday in the snow or should I say sliding down a hill (ungritted), had to go up the bank to stop smashing into all the cars st the bottom of the hill. Not a lot of fun but no apparent damage done. Gerty sounds a bit like the Tardis - what else have you got in there, some canoes, speedboat, glider perhaps? Like the pics as always.
Mum and Keith Love the photos, and the video, different woodpecker to the one on the peanuts outside, Sounds like you are having fun now. Lovely speaking to you both, Will let you know when I've got new system and the skype working. Simon seems to have more snow then we have had, only about an inch and half here. Oh for the sun. ake care xx