Pucon

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My last update left us in Santiago & wine tasting. We went to the Concha Y Toro winery (Chris's birthday treat) where we were shown round the lovely grounds & the vines & got to taste a few wines. Very nice. We got there by metro & bus. It took quite a while & we got a few odd looks from the locals, but everyone wanted to help & show us what bus to get on , where to get off etc. It was a brilliant day.

We left Santiago for Valparaiso on the 15th Jan which was a couple of hours by coach. Its a sea port. Not at all pretty, but is surrounded by hills which you can get to by one of the 16 veniculars which date back to the late 1800´s. The views from there are good & we went up a couple & walked round the cobbled streets of different coloured painted houses. Very nice. Took a picnic with us & then walked down to the waters edge & saw a sea lion basking in the sun on the bow of a boat. The hostal had a kitchen & the boys cooked us a few meals which was great. We all were craving jacket potatoes. We were lucky enough to be in town to see a group of Catalonians on tour building human towers. Miles got roped in to help & had his watch stolen.

After 3 nights in Valparaiso we moved on to Talca, which is known for its wine region. It was Chris´s birthday on the 19th & he treated us to another wine tour of 2 wineries, lunch & spa. (anyone would think Chris had a drink problem!) It was a great day. We got to go to some family run wineries & were shown how the wine is made & of course got to taste a few. After a nice lunch, we chilled in the natural hot spas for the afternoon & swam in the various pools. It was a great day.

Now we are in Pucon which is in the lake district. Its beautiful. It is a skiing resort in their winter. We are staying in a log cabin. The lake is a few minutes walk away & there is a live volcano smoking all the time. A green, amber or red light is on display at all times to show how its activity is & they test the siren alarm every morning. Its probably my favourite place so far. 36 degrees today & not a cloud in the sky. I dont want to come home!!

Yesterday we went white water rafting (grade 3) which was great fun. The scenery was spectacular. I nearly fell out on one set of rapids (it could only happen to me). We are keen to do another one now, maybe a grade 4 in New Zealand.

We are off to Valdivia tomorrow before making our way to the far south of Chile.

Loads of love to you all xxx

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