The magical mystical tour!

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Hi everyone,
Its been awhile but i'm back. I have a great adventure to tell you about so get comfy and i shall begin. After we left Ushuaia we headed north of course and our destination was the island of Chiloe. This is the biggest island of Chile and is half the size of Holland so a little one. We got the boat across the chanal to the island. On the way see seals and dolphins which makes a otherwise boring boat trip nice.
So we get to Isla de Chiloe and the first point of contact was the small town of Ancud. Not much to see here but we checked it out. We decided we would take a short enough bus trip out to a part of the island where you could see penguins. Thing was the bus only goes twice a day and well we missed the early one so we hoped on the next one and headed out. We got there got off the bus and asked when does the last bus go back. The drive kindly replied in about 15min. Oh! We had a quick think and then thought someone has to be kind enough to pick us up and bring us back so we headed off on a nice walk. We didn't see any penguins but it was pretty out there so worht the trip.
Anyway after a few hours and a beer for dutch courage we started our trip back. Asked around to see if anyone was willing to be good samarathons but with no success. So we started walking just to get a little closer to town. By the way it took 1hr 1/2 to get to this spot on a bus. So we walked and tyhen we got to a juntion in the road where we were dropped off and along came a truck but it was full of fish and even if it did stop i think we would have had to decline this one. Not being picky but, fish,sun oooh!
So we decided i would be the one to stand out and thumb and along came this very nice jeep and it stopped. WOW! Not even 15mins and we were on our way in style i might add. Anyway the guy who picked us up was lovely and dropped us right back in town. We had a nice chat with him and we felt good for actual getting ourselves back and relieved. Wasn't looking forward to that walk at all!
So back in Ancud and we planned our next move. We were heading for Castro the capital and also our connection to the national park. So we got our tickets and headed south. Castro was a nice enough place. This is where you have the houses on stilts which are called Palifitos. They are really colour full and interesting features of the island. From Castro we went to another island much smaller and had a walk around. These islands have many churches and they are really old with lots of character. All made of wood of course which gives it something a bit more special and authentic.
So after seeing around the Castro we got ourselves together to head to the national park where you can do a three day hike. You know we love a good old hike and well this one was going to be a bit different.
We got the bus out to the entrance to the park passing some really nice scenery along the way. It really is a very pretty island. So we reach the rangers office and of course there is nobody there and well we hang around for a bit just to get a map of the trek but we decided it can't be that complicated and so we head off. And so it begins. We first have to walk through some bush and a field to get to a long and beautiful beack. Hello Pacific ocean!Oh i love the see! So we turn right on the beach and start to walk. Its really cool to hike along the beach. It feels like it could be a deserted island and we are stranded. If you use the imaginationof course. But the think that made this even more special was that there was a really thick mist rolling in from the sea( i know all you irish and maybe some english are singing that song)but it got really thick and we could only see a few meters in front of use. You could hear the waves braking and see the white brake but otherwise we couldn't see what was on the right of us. It was also just me and Joost on the beach so it just added to the mystical tour. We walked along like this for three and half four hours. Sometimes the mist would clear and you could see what wasn't there before. Cool!
So when we got to the end of the beach we had to cross a river. Not sure how deep but it didn't look that deep so shoes off and across we went. No probs. Then we walked up over the hill to see another beach which we had to cross but this one was small. We got down to the beach and there was another stream but this one was not just a shoes off job. So we obviously looked lost and so a local guy called over to us and pointed to the bridge. Phew! So nice and dry we cross over and wonder where are we going to next! So we turn left and head past a small little settlement and head up to the hills.
Now the thing is there is ment to be a refugio around here somewhere so we think it is up the hill and around the corner.But not so. We get to the top of the hill after passing a very muddy track and see that there is no sign of the refugio and we think that the new building that they are finishing off at the bottom of the hill we just passed is the new refugio. So waht do we do! Its hot byu the way and we are SWEATING!. So we talk a dring and a museli bar and have a little chat and decide we keep going. This track is so varied it is great fun. Difficult but interesting! We hikwe on for anther 2hrs up and down and around and then there is a split in the track. LLuckily there was a lady in her garden who we could ask and she pointed us in the right direction.
I would like to add at this point we are in the middle of nowhere and there is no road only track out of here and well there was people living out here. WOW! So isolated! Only walk or by horse can you get out of there and thats what they did! Really special to see such an existence that is not a show for the tourists. It really made an impression on us.
So after we were on the right track again we headed off down hill. This part was really cool. In parts is was walking throught gullies with high walls either side and they were narrow and muddy and a little tricky in parts but fun for us. So we managed to get to the bottom of that and saw that there was a house belonging to another farmer. So we went up to it and asked him if the refugio was near. He said it was another 2hrs which at this hour was too far so he said we could camp in his field with his bull, Nice, for 1,500 pesos, and he also had a shower, chocolate and wine! Well he just had everthing! So we decide we would stop there and set the tent up. Thee was an amazing view from this hill over onto a beach and it was just perfect, except for the bull.
The bull you see was on a rope , so we had to judge how long the rope was as to where we could put up the tent. So we did that and hoped we were a good judge at distances and lengths. He looked pretty harmless though. So up with the tent and off to have a shower which was well not the finest structure. It once had something of a cover around the sides but with time it decade and well no need to replace i suppose. So the shower was rapid, as well you might have guessed.cold and well didn't want to show too much off! After a good nights sleep and the bull not taking advantage of the full lenght of his rope we decded we would do the last part of the trek but without our stuff and come back to this spot. So off we went down to the beach only to find a very fine refugio with flushing toilet and showers! Fecker! But hey it wasn't really up and running and well there is another refugio 2hrs away so he didn't really lie! Tde tide was coming in a this stage and we had to cross yet another river. So we looking for the bridge and well we found that one part was over the other side and the other part just looked liked drift wood on our side. mmm! What to do? We went back to the refugio as there were some local guys there and asked if there was another way over the river and they said no. We mentioned the makeshift raft that we saw and they said that we should try that. I was a bit dubious as it didn't look that sturdy and well it wasn't big enough for the two of us and no paddle , Anyway we decided that we would give this a go. First things first clothes off. As we were not prepared for a dip in the cold waters of the pacific all we had with us was our birth suits. We dragged the radft in the water and Joost give it a test run. Suprisingly this was a very sturdy piece of nautical equipment. Joost using his feet as the engine it moved with absolute grace. We loaded it up with all the dry stuff and bags and off he went across. The plan was a journey back to pick me up but as Joost reached to other side along came a group of business men who were checking the refugio out and there i was butt naked so very apidly i was in the cold pacific waters trying to catch my breath and swimming very fast over to the other side. It was rather refreshing but then i had to get out the other side. I gave a quick look behind me and they were gone so out i jumped and got dressed.
What an adventure! And theres more. On the other side of the river is dense jungle that we were to trek to to get to the other refugio. It was really difficult and were very glad the we didn't have our rucksacks, In some parts we had to bend doulbe to under things and other parts we had to manouver orund trees and bushes and plants and water. We went on through this for about 1hr1/2 and thought no more. So we headed back trying to remeber how we got through some of this stuff first time so we could follow the same track. It was yet another totally different type of enviroment which made this trek so interesting. When we got back to the river the tide had gone out and it was just possible to wade across.
The next day we made our way back and loved every minute of it. The mist had gone from the beach which was great because then we could see everthing around us and there was alot more than we thought. But still those people off out at the end of the track are sill very isolated. We got back to Castro safe sound and happy, ready to move on again. Hope you enjoyed the trip. Till next time G&J

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Photos

Some Chiloeon Art !
Guess!

Blue whale skeleton!
Washed up on shore.Now in museum

Condor
Waiting for some lost tourist to devour!

Joost at the coast!
It rhyms!

This is not a feature!
It just got stuck in the stones.

The not so bridge!
This is what we rafted over