Don´t cry for me Argentina...............

Volcano Villarica, Pucon, Chile

A fat sea lion in Valdivia, Chile

Bariloche, Argentina

Hey there everyone!

Well, we are in the Argentinean Lake District in a ski resort town called Bariloche by the side of Lake Nahuel Huapi. Really pretty place, very alpine. Arrived here on Wednesday after a scenic and interesting 8 hour drive over the Andes from Puerto Varas in Chile. Snow was piled higher than the bus by the side of the road, we got stuck for a bit while a wagon pulled other wagons up a hill, and we had to pass through two border crossings. The ski field near Bariloche is the biggest in South America but we decided not to board while here, partly because the conditions aren´t that great at the moment, but more importantly the hire gear is mostly multi-coloured all in ones!!!!!!!!!!!!! NICE.

Our 5-day trip from Santiago down to the Lake District region of Chile was great. We spent the first night in the beach town resort of Pichelimu, has the best surf in the whole of Chile and amazing black sand beaches. Bit cold when we were there though to appreciate the beach. Second stop was Pucon (via an awesome museum in Santa Cruz containing a huge and very eclectic collection of all kinds of stuff belonging to a very rich Chilean arms dealer!). Pucon lies in the shadows of Volcano Villarica, which is active! It puffs smoke by day and glows by night, cooooooooool. We did a 40km bike ride in the countryside around it one afternoon, beautiful, and we saw some baby lambs J Then it was further South to Valdivia, where we saw the fattest and laziest sea lions ever, they just gorge on fish from the fish market! Finally arriving in Peurto Varas after a stop-off to eat salmon and peruse the local markets in Peurto Montt. Made some new friends on the trip too, we had a cool guide called Nicos and a great driver called Sergio, both from Santiago and both spoke really good English, thanks guys! And there were only four other peeps on the trip, including an English couple from Twickenham, all great fun.

So this afternoon we are catching the bus to Buenos Aires, woooooooooohooooooooooooo, bring on the steaks and the tango. A 19 hour journey arriving around midday. Can´t wait!

Lotsa love,
J&J xxxx