The South America Chronicles - Quince

Just two days now to the big departure, and it is all arriving to fast, as it always does with such things. But we can´t say the three months have gone too fast and there hasn´t much we haven´t done that we wanted to.

So a week ago we departed on the Three Lakes Crossing and did so on a fine and sunny Lakes District morning - much to our relief. It was a bit of a slow start to the day - we had forgot how much we disliked being part of groups - they are so slow to get organised and moving. The highlights of the crossing is of course the three lakes, and it was a pretty awesome way to see them. The first, Lago Nahuel Huapi, is a huge glacier-formed laked, flanked by towering snow-capped peaks and watered by numerous waterfalls after the rainy weather (so there was benefits at least). Anna and I braved the cold and sat up deck for the whole two hour cruise, though frustratingly our fellow voyages seemed more interested in feeding the seagulls than taking in the awesome scenery. I mean, come on people, bloody seagulls are everywhere. But there they all were, taking idiotic photos - or more idiotic video cams - of people holding out crackers to seagulls, and erupting with laughter when a seagull came down and took it. You would think their US$170 would be better donated elsewhere.

After letting the fools head off like lemmings for lunch at the over-priced and rather unappealing buffet, we had our picnic lunch side before departing on what was the highlight of the journey for me. This was the crossing of the very small Lago Frias. This Lake is very remote, and one of the only ways to see it is by this crossing. It is also called the ´Emerald Lake´ on account of its very green waters - apparently caused by the minerals fed into by the waters of the surrounding glaciers. The trip was only 30 minutes, by crossing the still green waters, completed enclosed by the surrounding mountains was unforgettable. And there were no seagulls!

When then had to bus over into Chile, through snow-lined rain forest (a weird combination) before starting the final crossing over Lagos Todos Los Santos. Unfortunately, it was here that they had problems with the boat and we ended up departing over an hour late (Argentina 1 - Chile 0), by which time the weather had turned and we were covered by dark cloud and drizzle (Argentina 2 - Chile 0). It was a real shame, as Todos Los Santos is suppose to be one of the more spectacular lakes in the Chilean Lake District, which green waters and surrounded by three volcanoes. But unfortunately we didn´t have any light to see the waters and the volcanoes were shrouded in cloud. So it was a bit of a disappointing end to the day, but we still enjoyed it.

We spent that night at Puerta Varas, which again is suppose to have great views of a volcano across its lake. But we still got a look around what is a pretty weird area of Chile. Back in the 19th century, about 10000 Germans emigrated to the Chilean Lake District, and their presence is still very obvious. Lots of German architecture and every second street name is Otto-something-or-rather. Every town in the region will also have a German Club (where only German is spoken), a German school, and a Lutheran church - so it is all a bit strange in the middle of South America.

It was big regrets the next morning - and it wasn´t the still dreary weather - when after buying our bus tickets to Valdivia on the Chilean coast, we wandered past a big Oktoberfest tent that had been going on for the past three days. We must have missed it by half a block the night before and now we were due to leave in half an hour. There were some serious thoughts about flagging our bus and staying for another day, but with an ever reducing amount of time left on our trip and had to regrettably leave the Oktoberfest behind.

Valdivia isn´t a huge tourist attraction, and we were mostly using it as a base for exploring the northern part of the Chilean Lake District, but it did have one thing going for it, its seafood. There is a large seafood market there everyday alongside its river (which opens out into the Pacific Ocean), it was an impressive site, especially the huge mussels which were of NZ size (causing much excitement after having been submitted to those pathetic things in Europe). And all around the market are Pelicans, Cormorants, and these huge sea lions, some the size of walruses. Of course, we had to indulge, and in the short time we were in Valdivia we went to the seafood restaurants alongside the market three times - the ceviches being very good.

As I mentioned, from Valdivia we explored the northern part of the Chilean Lake District, hiring a car and heading up there for two nights. Much to our joy, on our drive up there the weather finally started to improve and we got our first glimpse of the renown volcanoes. Along the stretch of the Chilean Lake District there is suppose to be a volcano every 30kms, and now we good see Volcano Villarica towering above the lake of the same name, with another volcano peaking above its shoulder. There are quite awesome sights, perfectly formed conical volcanoes, covered in snow and reflecting off the surrounding lakes. We decided to treat ourselves and spent the two nights in a lakeside cabin, complete with fireplace (which came in handy) and deck overlooking the lake.

The first night we tortured another little car by taking it up into the mountains where there was a natural thermal spring that is open all night. It had two natural rocky pools, one with hot water and one with cold, and we spent a couple of hours hopping between the two - trust me, you needed to go in the cold pool. There was hardly anybody there, and we had the last half an hour or so there completely to ourselves, only the river that runs beside it to keep us company.

The next day we decided it was about time to get ourselves some exercise and planned on making a hike up to three lakes in a nearby National Park. Of course, in typical Sam & Anna fashion we had done no research on what this would involve, or looked at a weather report! So after a late start (it is very hard to get up when you finally have a comfortable bed) and visiting a waterfall on the way in the morning, we didn´t get away on our hike until 1.30pm. But it was warm and sunny and the hike was only suppose to be about a 10km round trip. However, what we didn´t know was that the track would be very muddy and that we would be climbing above the snow line! So after having our picnic lunch halfway up the trail, we still hoped to make it to the first lake, all the time that everybody else was heading the other way, and most were wearing gaiters. Not far from the top of the ridge, the snow that was just covering the track from time to time now was a blanket and there was no more track. It was also at this point that it started to drizzle. There was much umming and arring about whether we should continue, and I finally decided that, ignoring my common sense, I wasn´t going to be defeated by the elements once again. I left the bag and Anna behind and scrambled up a snowy bank, which was more suited to crampons and ice axe than my boots and bare hands. But I was well rewarded, as at the top of the ridge was a narrow alpine lake, surround by the snow and trees and feeding off the cliff in a waterfall. After a couple of quick snaps for posterity sake, I footed back to Anna, mostly sliding back down the aforementioned slope of snow. By this time, the drizzle was now rain and we still had a one and a half hour walk back down to the car in front of us. So we had to negotiate the snow and the mud again, accompanied now by little rivers running down the track. This was a good test for our Goretex jackets and boots - which came out of it really well. By the time we got back to the car though, we were pretty cold and wet - but after settling down in front of our fire back at our cabin we could then reflect on what had been a really good day.

Our final day we spent driving back through the Lake District to Valdivia, where we were catching an overnight bus (in style again, of course) to Santiago. We passed many more picturesque lakes, which would have been even more picturesque if the top of their volcanoes hadn´t been hidden behind cloud again. But is was still enjoyable driving, amidst countryside that has a very strong resemblance to New Zealand, with a lot of the trees, scrubs and ferns looking very similar. Which, I guess, isn´t surprising if you think that millions of years ago these two pieces of land were probably side by side. Arriving back in Valdivia we had time to make a quick drive out to the coast to look over the Pacific Ocean - thinking how strange it is that we would be on the other side of it the same time next week - and one last seafood meal.

Arriving in Santiago, the plan was to jump onto a bus and head across the border again to Mendoza. However, much panic ensued when every bus company or minibus company said they had now free seats to Mendoza that day - and there are a lot of them. It was by chance that we happened to be at a desk of a particular minibus company when they must have decided to put an extra trip on an managed to get ourselves seats. It is a spectacular drive over the Andes, but such enjoyment was cut short when we hit the border crossing. The queue of cars must have stretched for a mile, and though we got to bypass this because we were on a bus/minibus - it still took over two hours to get through! By the time we arrived in Mendoza we were looking forward to dumping our stuff, having a shower and then heading out for some Argentinean steak. We should have known something was up before now, but it wasn´t until we called around for somewhere to stay that we found out that it was a Chilean long weekend and most of Chile comes over to Mendoza. So needless to say, we found it very difficult to find somewhere to stay. We ended up having to take rooms in two different hostels over the three nights we wouldn´t normally stay at.

And now it is our last night in Mendoza, and despite the troubles in getting here we have managed to treat ourselves to good couple of days. Surprisingly Mendoza isn´t a attractive wine town. It is in fact a city, attractive enough in itself with tree-lined streets and many plazas, but most of the actual vineyards are quite far away from the city, and the wineries that are in town are all in what is quite an industrialised area. So, again in typical Sam & Anna fashion, we have ignored the normal touristy things around here like visiting wineries and tours and fine wined and dined ourselves. We have had two of our best lunches ever, yesterday at a restaurant that was voted 7th best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine, and today at another which grows all its own produce and ´submitted´us to five courses. We also went to a tasting room where we tasted 10 different wines from the Mendoza region. So while our accommodation hasn´t been up to scratch, we have more than made up for it by food and wine. Though both of us have been feeling very full and have probably added an extra inch or two to stomachs that already didn´t need it. But it is our last few days in Argentina and we are making the most of it (especially when we can convert it back to Pounds - the currency kind that is)!

So tomorrow we head back to Santiago, where I expect we will have to fight the border crossing again, for one night and then one day before flying out on Monday night, arriving back to New Zealand on Wednesday morning, and a whole different world....