After leaving Santiago loaded to the hilt with extra food for our upcoming climbing expedition we were super excited to be back on the road with a problem free vehicle. From Santiago we cruised 400km north on the expensive but smooth Autopista, taking a detour at the end to miss the final toll and passing through Ovalle. Ovalle is home to many grape vines that are used to make Chile's drink of choice Pisco. With our still broken Spanish we tried to buy some tasty looking grapes off a lady on the roadside but instead she kindly insisted on giving us a handful from her bucket so we had our fill of fresh grapes. Later that day we parked over looking the city of Vicuña where we spent the night and after a quick look around the shops as Will needed new jandels we headed to the border of Paso Agua Negra. 

It was here at the border we ran into our first problems… apparently as we weren't Chilean residents they wouldn't let us take the car out of Chile without prior authorisation???? WHAT!! This being our 6th border crossing we couldn't understand why we suddenly needed this bit of paper from a notary (law office) to say that we weren't exporting the vehicle, even though we kind of were. However the PDI officer wouldn't budge despite our many many attempts, so we gave up and drove the 80km back into town to get the necessary paper work, quickly realising it was a Saturday and the only notary office in town wasn't open until Monday! We really didn't want to waste time in the tiny town that wasn't even mentioned in the guide book so we headed 500km north towards the next border of Paso San Fransico. Thinking this crossing might be the same we spent Sunday night in the larger town of Copiapó near the border and on Monday found the police who directed us to a nearby notary office. At the office the lady explained she couldn't give me the authorisation paper we needed as we had brought the car too long ago and in a different city, bloody hell what difference does that make we thought, but our Spanish wasn't good enough to argue the point. Will decided that notary offices might be as irregular as border crossings so we asked another policeman if there was more than one office and he directed us down the road where we queued in a mosh pit of forty Chileans for over an hour. Finally at the front of the queue were told by the lady not to look so worried as she can do this for us easy! Five minutes and $12 later we had the papers we needed and had also doctored our hand written insurance papers so the since expired second month read as the seventh month. So far we had not been asked for this so called composlary Argentinian insurance at all, but there is always a first time. We now had all the right paper work to cross the border, phew!

Once again we then headed to the border and they DIDN'T I repeat DIDN'T ask for the insurance or the authorisation paper!!!! But the lady had a small problem with our RUT's because we are not from Chile ours have different numbers than most but finally after a phone call and another guy checking it they let us pass. It was getting late now and the Argentina border entry was about 125km away over a very high pass so we decided to spend the night in no mans land between the two countries. We found some deserted natural hot pools abandoned probably because they weren't actually that hot. We knew we were also quite high around 4,400m and wanted to see how it affected us, walking resulted in puffing and we both had slight headaches. That night as we slept Will had problems and woke up twice for a walk in the freezing wind felling unwell, I was ok until dawn where my headache pain increased ten fold. We left quickly in the morning without breakfast though only after Will had a quick dip in the sulphur smelling pools. We were just talking about wether or not we could climb this volcano given the nights events when we came across a German hitchhiker in his sixties who had spent the night in a freezing shelter. In broken English, Spanish and German he asked for a lift down as he had had a bad night suffering from the effects of altitude. Glad we weren't the only ones we dropped him off at the border hut and we easily crossed into Argentina with out a single look at the car! Finally in the small town of Fiamballa and thirty degree heat we were feeling much better but our problems weren't over as the only ATM in town was out of cash and we were out of fuel luckily they accepted our emergency US dollars at a good exchange rate!

We then set off to find the recommended local mountain guide but once again our timing was bad as it was midday so everything was closed for the daily siesta until at least 6pm. Instead we found a cheap campground where for $16US total we got sometimes hot showers in a mud brick hut and a sink to do our washing. Though honestly it was lovely under a mass of grape vines and all the grapes we could eat. Later at the climbing guides office he explains that you can no longer hire mules like we were planning but that anyone with a good 4x4 can drive almost to the base of the volcano around 5,400m over natural gravel. The guide named Johnson was a little worried we didn't have a proper GPS only the iPhone and memory maps app which works just like a GPS so he lent us his prised paper map with everything marked. We also had our Yellowbrick tracker which we can send short messages from this allowed us keep in contact with our parents daily. We slept in the next morning and not wanting to rush our acclimatisation we drove to the very start of the 4WD track at 3,672m where we spent the night and later woke up to a flat battery!! Not deterred we waited half the day for a jump start and then drove a short way to the next camp. I'll stop my story here and let Wills diary tell the rest of the tale in the next blog.

Rochelle & Will

Writing the blog is definitely becoming more difficult there is always something else that needs doing researching, cooking, washing, maintaining the Dodge, looking for fuel stations, wifi and banks as well as actually looking around the towns and scenery. Further more we usually sleep in the car so the laptop has limited battery. After a bit of doubt we have decided to keep writing the blog as much for ourselves as it is for you, because we aren't keeping a diary. Also we currently have a flat battery and are in the middle of nowhere so we have some spare time on our hands. 

We arrived triumphantly in Ushuaia and the "official" start of the trip. Past the grand entrance a wrong turn showed us that even the international cruise boat capital of southern South America has its flaws. The roads were bad, there was rubbish and signs of poverty just beyond the glossy tourist shops and stand out label clad cruise ship tourists. We later learnt that the city had expanded so fast that housing and land had become extremely expensive causing the rise of a shanty town scar on the hill side. Our mission while in Ushuaia was to build a food shelf in the back of the Dodge. Sick of soy sauce and melted butter spills we had conceived a solution. Rather than to build our bed up and lose the ability to have back seats and thus other passengers we planned to build a small shelf above the bed complete with fold down breakfast bar! The girl at the campground at the base of an old small skifield marked some building stores on the map and we were off. Two full days later, working past dark with limited tools we finished it and what a difference it has made. We can now fit all of our things onto the front passenger seat when we are sleeping in the back, with nothing needing to go on the drivers seat. This means we can make a quick get away if necessary. 

Also in Ushuaia we couch surfed at Estebans wonderful harbour front apartment for two nights and enjoyed a sailing trip through the Beagle Channel. On the glassy sea we motored past colonies of noisy Sea Lions and Cormorants and were excited when on the return the wind whipped up and we got to sail through the icy squalls back to the harbour. Thank you to my parents for shouting this for our engagement!

In our typical style we couldn't leave Ushuaia so simply and we sought the advice of a local tour guide Tomi, who drew us up an excellent 4x4 trail map. With everything freshly washed we headed out for the trail at 5pm forgetting how low our truck really is and how crap the tyres really are. Four rather deep bogs later we knew we were pushing our luck on number five and such as is life we took a bad line and bellied out in almost one meter of brown silty water. Not to worry the bed in the back was still dry (can't say the same for my laptop and a few other items in the foot wells) so after an hour of unsuccessful digging and rock placing to bed we went. The next morning like clock work a 4x4 tour came through and rescued us much to the delight of the punters. Shortly after reloading our truck and our rescuers departing we were stuck once more in deeply rutted out mud pit!!!! Max tracks off the roof again plus more digging and eventually we got ourselves through. Everything was covered in mud so we all (the Dodge included) went into the cold Lagona Fagnano for a big wash and we spent the night while everything dried in the wind. Next morning we followed the track as it weaved in and out of the lake and back to the main road, finally we were heading north! 

Rio Grande where we turned off down a gravel road opting for the smaller border crossing of Paso Rio Bellavista. A couple of grumpy men with official stamps had us out of Argentina and it was just past the border gate that the road ended abruptly only to begin again on the far bank of a braided river, no problem for the Dodge and we were soon stamped into Chile. On a mission that day we followed the coast sadly missing the un-signposted penguin colony (just a tent on the side of the road) and headed for the small town of Porvenir hoping there would be a late afternoon ferry crossing. No such luck with winds of 90km/hr that day there were no ferries crossing at all. We took refuge at cafe near the locked ferry terminal where we were told the next ferry was at 2pm the following day. We must have seemed desperate as the owners said we could sleep in the car behind the cafe. We were forever grateful and treated ourselves to pizza while siting in the warm surrounds making the most of the free wifi until they closed at 10pm. The next morning we were the first car in the ferry line next to a rented camper with an older German couple who also didn't have a ferry booking. What appeared the be a cleaning lady then came to open the terminal so we milled around chatting to the Germans by the ticket office and suddenly looked behind us to find we were at the front of a rapidly increasing ticket queue, perfect! We drove aboard and hoped back into bed for a bit more sleep on the high seas, the alternative being to sit inside with the many seasick and vomiting passengers. 

After arriving in Punta Arenas we headed straight to the recommended cemetery and marvelled at the maze of grand victorian styled tombs with space for the whole family. Some had been recently filled and others still had a few spaces... We then planned to look for a thicker mattress for the car as our 50mm one was no longer cutting it. We got directed to the tax free zone with plenty of big shops but none with a foam mattress. After a food court dinner at our favourite Chilean fast food joint Doggis we drove back to the ferry terminal for the night and saw the Germans again who had had the same idea. 

Next we high tailed it to Puerto Natales the base town for the famous Torres Del Paine (TDP) National Park where we hit the jackpot and booked into the New Zealander run Singing Lamb hostel. Apparently it is rated in the top three hostels in Chile and we could see why, the place was super clean and tidy, the staff were friendly and it had all the mod cons you would find at home like a toaster, electric jug and microwave these are almost unheard of in Chile especially not all three at once. Unfortunately a slight domestic dispute over some silly topic meant we didn't make full use of the hostel and we went to bed early. 

Happy again by morning we looked around town then headed to the renowned Erratic Rock hostel for the 3pm Torres Del Paine info talk. We got heaps of great information but were starting to feel unsure about the trek, there were at least forty people at the talk so it left us wondering how many would be on the trail and how much of a wilderness experience we would be in for. Our thoughts were soon distracted when we learnt that the legendary rock climber Steve Schneider who we had seen in 'Race For The Nose' was outside in the flesh selling some climbing gear. Steve and his wife had been climbing in TDP and his wife had just become the first female to climb all three towers of the Torres. We talked to him in awe and brought a few quick draws at the same time meeting Californian Justin Hall who gave us some sweet inside scoops on TDP. Excited we headed to the park and after a road side rescue of a rolled Mitsubishi Pajero we packed our gear and hit the sack. 

We awoke early and wandered around with our full packs frustrated that such a hugely popular trek could be so badly sign posted. After asking three different people we felt assured the gravel road we were on was indeed one the of starts to this world renowned trek. We had heard so much about this famous park but it wasn't at all what we expected. After an $18,000 chilean peso entrance fee each you still had to pay for most campsites, so we were expecting NZ great walk standards. Instead we were met with washed out bridges, single planks of wood over muddy bogs, signs that say to stick to the track and take your rubbish with you, yet even workers on the track haven't adhered to this and old work sites with bits of wood and rubbish remained. The more remote campgrounds on the back of the circuit had ill equipped and cramped cooking refugios missing basics like more than one bench for the 50 or so people trying to cook inside. The toilets were bad and the rotting showers at Campamento Los Perros had part of the wall missing between them. At the big refugios on the W we were blown away by the shear number of people on the track. There were day trippers, kids in jeans and sneakers and newbie trampers with absolutely huge packs and more stuff in their hands. After three days and almost 60km on the circuit track we joined the more popular W route where we found ourselves frequently stepping around the constant flow of people on the narrow track. We don't mean to go on and obviously we were there in the peak season but certainly if they can build a huge fully catered hotel they could widen the track to accommodate the large number of people using it in some areas. Also the distance and altitude signs were great but were frustratingly few and irregular. We did both the circuit and W over 120km in four nights and five days waking early on the last morning for the sunrise at the Torres but it was cloudy and raining. Disappointed and exhausted we made it back to the car complete with more than a few blisters. In hindsight we would have waited for the weather headed straight up to the amazing Torres for one night and left for more remote tramping further north at Fitzroy. If your new to tramping you will love the breath taking scenery and the people and shops along the way will be fun but it was just not our cup of tea, rant over.

After a painful sleep in the car we realised how bad Wills blisters were and the next day we crossed the border once again this time to El Calafate, Argentina. Driving round we successfully stumbled across the hospital and after one look at the redness on Wills feet and lower legs they took him straight in. A ruthless nurse cut away my nice bandages to reveal the raw skin on each little toe. After a saline wash, a rebandage some antibiotics and a $40 fee we set out to find a hostel for a few days rest. Initially we wanted our own room but being high season it was too expensive so we settled for a quad dorm room which we had to ourselves for two of our three night stay. Feeling much better we then headed out early to the famous nearby Glacier Perito Moreno. The glacier was massive yet so close and easily accessible with metal boardwalks to the edge of the lake. It was really cold so we rugged up to watch the ice chunks fall off and listen to its creaking groaning sounds, leaving just as the first bus load of tourists arrived. We then headed to El Chalten the base town for Fitzroy. 

Soon after arriving in the town of El Chalten we felt a tinge of disappointment as it was clearly the epicentre for climbing, guys walked down the street with bolder matts and we watched rock climbers scaling one of the huge cliffs that surround the town. Having learnt our lesson at TDP we kept off our feet and stayed in the car, luckily the weather was overcast and windy. That night we cooked a delicious curry on our tiny cooker in a picnic area we shared with a family from Denmark. They were a sight to see when all five of them piled out of the tiny kombi van they had been traveling and sleeping in for a year, power to them! At nightfall the park ranger moved us over the road to the windy table-less campervan parking where we slept with a line up of other overlanders. 

Rather than hang around with sore feet in El Chalten we hit the Ruta 40 again and three road-side camps later made it to San Carlos de Bariloche. After checking out the town and finding all the places we wanted to stay in were booked out or too expensive we decided to head up to the big ski field just out of town. This was a lively spot even in the middle of summer so we camped in the car park. The next day turned out beautiful so we decided to go down hill mountain biking on the ski field. The trails were great with a gondola to take you and your bike up the hill. We each had a few spills and I had an especially good body slam but we were both kitted out in full body armour so only my bum was grazed and I had a mouth full of dirt. That afternoon we headed to a chocolate museum at a working chocolate factory where we were treated with tastings and learnt all about the history of chocolate. Conveniently there was also a chocolate shop so we stocked up however the supply only lasted one day! 

In Bariloche we also made the tough decision not to go to Buenos Aires, it meant an extra 1600km of driving and a lot more time and money we didn't have. Instead we decided to continue directly north on the sparsely paved Ruta 40 for the wine country of Mendoza. 

After almost two weeks of sleeping in the car and a few river washes in-between we arrived in Mendoza to our luxury B&B thanks to Wills parents as an engagement present. We showered and lazed the afternoon away by the pool and drunk local Rosé wine with the French owners who were interested in moving to NZ. That night keen to try some of the beef Argentina is famous for we headed out for a look around town and dinner at no earlier than 9:30pm. Most restaurants don't open until then and its not uncommon to see kids out past midnight when the town is buzzing. This is due to most people have a sleep during the middle of the day when frustratingly the whole town shuts down for at least three hours. After dinner we walked down town to where the annual Harvest Fest was just kicking off and for $12 each we got a wine glass and tickets for six tastings, good times were had in the party atmosphere. 

Next morning we woke to a magical breakfast and then got dropped off at the start of our wines and bikes tour, complete with cruiser bikes. We were very lucky with our tour as the others in the group never showed up apparently they had gotten too drunk at the Harvest Fest the night before. So we had our own personal guide and the B&B owner Stephan who was also a director of a winery on the tour told the guide to give us special treatment. Adding to this our guide was in good sprits because of the two week long fest and a new girl on the scene. So we were taken to VIP only areas and enjoyed an amazing three course lunch under a huge walnut tree in Stephan's vineyard. After tours of the huge ancient Giol, the large and flashy Lopez, organic Cecchin and an olive oil factory not to mention lunch and all the grapes we could eat we felt like we would explode but had learnt a lot and drunk quite a bit. All this for $85 each when just the lunch and tasting would have cost twice that much without a guide. Let alone the bike hire and the transfers to and from the B&B, what an unforgetable day. Pizza pool side for dinner then straight to bed.

The next day we arranged to check out late but were horrified to find out that our left over pizza which we weren't allowed to take into our room had been thrown out!! They just didn't really get us or the fact that our usual diet is pasta, rice and potatoes. Later that morning while lazing by the pool and sorting the car we made the call to go back to Santiago, Chile. We needed new tyres as one had a slow leak that required pumping up daily and another was wearing out badly on the already bald tyres due to stuffed front shocks. We did investigate new tyres in Mendoza but Argentina has a hefty import tax on everything not made in the country so the tyres we needed were almost twice the price compared to Chile. Going back to Santiago would give us the bonus chance to get our official vehicle ownership card and our official RUT's as the temporary one was due to expire and could create problems. 

We departed Mendoza following the scenic route which ended up being a ridiculously bad winding "road" defiantly not suitable for cars. We arrived at the border after closing and spent the night in a hotel car park where we woke at half past five for the 6am opening to be first in the queue. We had been told that this major border could take up to ten hours to cross, stuff that. We had been processed before ten and were in the huge line of slow trucks and cars making their way down the steep pass. It was here two more Dodge problems became apparent, firstly the radiator was leaking badly again and required frequent top ups. Secondly the front breaks were smelling and very hot which we found out latter to be due to one of our rear brakes not working. So we added these to the list of things to fix. Finally arriving back in Santiago we headed straight to the tyre shop to order our new tyres then it was off to the Dodge service centre to get the shocks looked at but of course they were busy and told us to bring it back "first thing the next morning". Still not sure where we were sleeping that night we headed to a big mall for some dinner and wifi. Thankfully Patricio and Veronique had kindly agreed to have us again for a few nights. 

We were up early the next morning driving straight to the service centre where we left the car and went to check out our new tyres, but they had ordered the wrong ones... No problem he said I'll get the right ones in this afternoon. So we decided to head into town and wandered around trying to remember where the office was to get our RUT's from, finally we found it after directions from some museum ladies using google translate. We had also planned to cook a curry dinner for Patricio and Veronique and another friend Claire so we went to our favourite Jumbo for supplies. Not one to under do a curry we included naans and mango lassis and lots of it at that, luckily Patricio's brother and partner came too and we enjoyed a fun evening drinking the wine we had brought from Mendoza. Also that evening and a long way from his first thing in the morning we got a call about the Dodge to learn what we already knew that both front shocks were stuffed. He emailed through a quote and with the price adding up we txt back immediately to begin the work. 

(I am currently writing this section of the blog from the side of the road once more as we lost a belt pulley yesterday and have not yet been rescued from the middle of nowhere) We thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in the next morning and amazingly got a txt at 1pm to say the car would be all done by four. We picked it up on the dot and headed the next street over to get our new tyres. We watched as our spanking new Dunlop Grandtrek AT1 tyres were put on and wanting to go home the service man almost got away without doing our free wheel alignment but Will insisted. It was here we discovered another problem.... The alignment couldn't be done because the camber bushings were worn and needed replacing, disappointed this wasn't picked up at the service centre we headed back to Patricio and Veroniques for the evening. 

Annoyed we got up early in the morning and headed straight back to the service centre where we were told that the four new bushings we needed were going to cost more than our whole new set of tyres why why why. So back to the tyre shop we went and for a small tip they did our alignment as best they could and now the only thing left to get fixed was the radiator, easy right....

We drove to a recommended radiator repair guy where we think he told us he can only fix plastic ones. So he drew us a map to another place. Once there we convinced the guy we only had a small crack that he could solder up without taking the radiator out. However after chipping off the epoxy we saw how bad the "crack" had become. Now the attachment arm had almost been completely torn off no wonder it was leaking so bad. It was decided that the whole radiator had to come out so we all worked away taking it out and realising that it defiantly wasn’t taken out last time. Once we finally had it out we could all see this would be no easy solider fix as it was too close to the rubber seal. The guy suggested a totally new one so we squashed into his ute and drove to our regular parts shop where we jaw dropingly discovered a new one would be $900USD. We definitely could not afford that so back to the workshop we went and investigated a cheaper solution. The mechanic would remove the rubber seal and solder in big plates over the holes to make it stronger then put it back together with a new seal. So we left him to it and caught the metro to the mall where we caught up on some Internet time and went to the supermarket again for climbing food for our upcoming volcano trip. We made it back to the mechanic in time to help him replace the last few bolts in what looked like an ugly repair job but he assured us it would hold and I can report so far so good! 

The next day we hit the road... actually it took us three hours just to navigate out of town but we were heading north again quite a bit poorer and hoping our car might cut us a break for a while..... Time has revealed we were not so lucky but that's for the next blog!

Rochelle & Will

By Will…We left our cozy and warm hostel in Peuto Varas in the early hours of a rather stormy and drizzly morning, had it not been for our mission to begin the famous southern highway another few hours kip would have been a much easily taken option. Fortunately our 4am start paid off because as we neared the tiny fishing hamlet of La Arena where the ferry departs for Puelche the orderly line of traffic we had been in all at once seemed to realise there may not be enough places on the ferry, presumably to make the ensuing rally more fun the last 5km of cliff side road was undergoing major and muddy earthworks. The V8 earned its keep and I kept our place in the queue slightly relieved to roll onto the first of what would be four ferries to get us to the bottom of the Carretera.

The thirty minute sailing was quickly over and after some entertainment watching a large camper do battle with the steep ramp our wheels were soon eating up the gravel again. This hour long stretch of road was probably some of the roughest we encountered on the trip so far, the large frequent potholes reducing our progress to 20km/hr at times. We arrived at the ferry terminal in Hornopiren to a busy scene of cars, campers, utes, motorbikes and cyclists. Rochelle went to organise us a ticket while I sorted a few things in the vehicle. The previous day in Puerto Varas we had investigated all the ferry crossings we would be making and were told by no less then two information centres that "no" a ticket was not needed before hand and we should just arrive early as the places were based on order of arrival. If only that was the case! Rochelle came back empty handed and we watched the fully booked ferry arrive and depart without us onboard. Luck was on our side though and there was another sailing at midday, after some nervous moments when a large bus arrived just before the ferry was due to depart we were given the nod and were the second to last vehicle on before the ramp came up. This was the longest crossing taking just over three hours so we got a prime position on the rooftop deck to take in the views of the surrounding fiords. While filming a time lapse of the crossing we meet all sorts of people, most notably Luis and Lacy from California they were driving a 1980's Toyota Landcruiser and had spent the last three years driving south. We grilled them for info and eager to see how experienced overlanders do it we made a plan to camp together for the night in Parque Pumalin later that day.

The third and last ferry crossing for the day took us from Fiordo Largo to Caleta Gonzalo, as these were only small ferrys taking around 10 cars there were several trips made before everyone was across. After waiting for Luis and Lacy to arrive on the last one we drove in convoy to a peaceful lake side camp, the rest of the night was spent hearing stories about their amazing adventures and gaining some good tips for ours.

The next morning saw us head off separately with our mission being to find and climb the still smoking Volcan Chaiten, finding it was not a problem as we soon came across the first of several burnt and ash filled valleys, these were an amazing sight being such a stark contrast to the lush green forest surrounds. The volcano had made headlines in 2008 when it unexpectedly and violently erupted causing huge damage to nearby Chaiten and forcing the population to evacuate. The government tried to close the town down, cutting off water and power services however the determined residents with the help of diesel generators managed to keep the town open forcing the government to reverse its decision. The owner of a shop where we brought some white gas showed me a line on the wall where the ash had sat when he returned, it was easily more than a meter. An hours climb towards the volcano from the road took us to a spectacular lookout point right on the edge of the caldera, the massive power of the explosion obvious by the smashed remains of what were once large trees. The day had turned into another scorcher an we had run out of water so we decided to call it quits at the look out and head for a swim in the cool creek by the car park.

After leaving Chaiten the Carretera is paved for some distance so we made quick progress on the luxurious tarmac. At this point I should mention hitchhikers, we must have hit hitchhiking high season because at every bus shelter, road intersection and little town there they were lurking by the road, I swear I could have taken a sixty seat coach down the Carretera and had it full on the first day! Our goal for the day was to make it to the rafting mecca of Futaleufu where we wanted to tryout some of the grade five white water on offer. Along the way we came across Brian and his girlfriend Stavit from Israel, they were traveling north with another couple and also wanted to get to Futaleufu, so with Stavit riding shotgun and Rochelle squeezed into the middle front seat of the Dodge (don't worry Wendy it has a seatbelt) we made room amongst the packs for Brian in the back and headed up the valley. After getting a few sights of the huge rapids on the way we investigated the rafting in town, only to find that it was about twice as expensive as we had been expecting, our minds were made up when Brian told us that we could do a 3 day grade 4-5 rafting tour in Peru for around the same cost. Futaleufu was like one big tourist operation guiding services were everywhere and the usually quiet plaza in previous towns was pumping with loud dance music and filled with young people. We camped with the Israeli couple and another couple they were friends with and had an awesome night with hilarious stories and great advice for the countries to come. 

During the journey back to the Carretera Rochelle was driving and as she regularly does heard a 'funny noise' under the car, I knew what she heard was just a rock but to keep her happy I jumped out and had a look around. To my surprise half the front of the dodge was covered in bright green radiator fluid…. shit. After a quick assessment we diagnosed that the rough roads had taken their toll on the left side radiator mount, causing it to crack at the join to the radiator itself. "Not much to be done for the moment" a top up of water and we were on the move again, keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge. We made it no problem to the next town where we got gas and continued south, topping up the radiator as the temp gauge required it. Unfortunately with the day getting to its hottest point and us running out of water the truck was now edging towards the red line. We nursed it to the next river and parked up under the shade of a lone tree. After a couple of hours cooling and a fresh supply of water we were on the move again.

The next day after a nice river side camp and some semi successful bread making we decided we should check out one of the more recommended glaciers in the area, Ventisquero Colgante. Feeling a little poorer now due to the impending radiator repair we employed a slightly dodgy technique to enter the national park which involved I guess a form of people smuggling… Rochelle hid in the back with a blanket over her. After a few tense moments we were in and at a fifty percent discount, although the cost for a foreigner was still four times the price of a national. While in the park we met two Chilean brothers Javier and Francisco who were part way through a southern climbing trip. After a broken conversation through another guy who spoke both English and Spanish we hatched a plan to take them south and do some climbing together at Cerro Castillo. Little did we know but this was the beginning of one of our most memorable weeks of the trip despite us not speaking Spanish and them not speaking and English! 

By Rochelle…The brothers were in tourist mode like us and enjoyed stopping along the way to take photos and look at things. They were happy to stop and walk in the recommended and free Enchanted Forest. We parked with the rest of the cars and were excited to see another Dodge the same as ours complete with jerry cans and a bed in the back, also we could see that they had Countdown cooler bags in the car, could it be we thought another NZ couple with the same truck as us??? Lets see if we can find out we thought as we set off into the forest. We had no idea what was in this forest as we had only been told that it was all mossy and green like a fairy tale or like NZ it turns out… but it also had a little glacier at the end and a lake filled with small ice burgs that we took pleasure in jumping around on with a few close calls that almost resulted in an icy swim. The water can't have been too cold though as down steam and on the trail we caught a foreign couple starkers having a wash, I saw it all but they didn't seam too bothered. On they way up to the glacier we also found the owners of the other Dodge a cool German couple called Thomas and Kathrin who explained their cooler bags with their recent trip to Australia. We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up again as we were both interested in crossing into Argentina as far south as possible. 

That evening the brothers recommended a stop on a huge curved bridge where they showed us an old rock climbing route and Will spotted some huge Trout swimming up the rapids. The brothers played with the idea that we should abseil over the bridge to the rocks below about 30m. Why not thought Will and I, so much to the delight of the gathering onlookers we abseiled twice each over the bridge. Possibly this was a test from the brothers to see if we had what it took to go climbing with them…and we must have passed. That night we camped next to a river claiming the good spot just before another car turned up.

Our leaking radiator was still a big problem and we stopped in the larger town of Coyhaique to see about getting it fixed of course it also happened to be a Sunday so the guy couldn't do it until the following day! Stuff it, we decided to get some food supplies for the climb and head south towards Cerro Castillo. Though only after seeing the Germans again by chance and hatching a border crossing plan for later. The brothers Javier and Francisco had out done themselves and proved how nice Chileans are by buying a Mutton leg for our camp near the foot of the mountain which worked out really nice as it was also my birthday. So despite the thousands and thousands of large biting horse flies that had swarmed us until dusk we ate like kings and our communication skills improved with every drink.

That morning we packed our climbing packs as fast as possible while the flies attacked and thought we would finally be going climbing. No rush from the brothers though as we all stopped to photograph a loan wild deer near the road. Finally at the start of the track the brothers went to talk to the information centre while I contemplated where to go for a pee… I saw a good spot on the other side of a hedge and away I went though on my return I wasn't watching my head and scratched it rather hard on a branch. I touched the scratch and felt blood, lots of blood was now dripping down my face as I walked back into the information centre looking for Will. Everybody saw me and rushed to my aid, it was only a small cut but boy did it bleed and I needed a wash so the lady kindly lead me to the bathroom which I should have just asked for in the first place!! Will cleaned me up in no time but talk about drama. Finally we parked the car put on our packs and begun one of the more hellish assents of our lives. It was hot like never before, the biting flies were intense roughly forty per person and the trail was far from clear. I was sweating either way but my jacket at least provide some relief from the flies. Finally we made it to a nice river camp and as the sun set the flies left. The next day we walked only a short way, that with an earlier start we could have walked the day before. But it meant plenty of time to polish our rope work with the brothers help and set up a zip line across the river with a quick practice for the real thing at 3am in the dark. 

By 4am we had already had a quick breakfast, zipped lined across the river and walked to the snow line. Turned out we had gotten up a little early as the sun had still not come up which we needed before our first ever traverse of a glaciated ice field so we had a short siesta. As the real climbing began we roped up and scaled some pretty serious ice before ascending the glacier with its maze of  huge crevasses. Next we reached knee deep snow and it was a hard slog to the top for Javier and Will at the front but finally we made it. Ecstatic we ate our huge lunch of crackers, salami, juice and chocolate while the brothers nibbled their two muesli bars. After taking in the view we descended quickly through the soft and mildly avalanching snow. Back at camp we decided that the next day we would back track to Coyhaique to get the radiator fixed and give the brothers a ride back to the bus station. 

Back in Coyhaique we said our said good byes to Javier and Francisco then dropped the Dodge off to get the radiator fixed. After lunch and spending too long at the cafe with free wifi we returned to the still unfinished Dodge. Not long after they proclaimed it fixed we turned on the car only to see several small leaks they had missed with the solder. Again we waited while they soldered them up and $200 later we were on our way. Only now as I write this over two months and many more problems later can we confirm what a waste of money this was as they can't have taken out the whole radiator like they said they had and thus did a very average repair job that was leaking again less than 300km later! That night we arrived in the dark to a known campground where we had our first luxurious hot shower after a week of cold river swims. The next day was filled with the post trek domestic duties of washing gear and cleaning out the car, rice and soy sauce spills included after the chaos of having four people in our already full car. Finally at 6pm we had reloaded the car and hit the road only to camp again two hours later next to another river. Of course I was driving and left the lights on so in the morning we had to flag down several drivers until we found one with jumper leads willing to drive down and jump us. The Dodge didn't appear to like this very much and as soon as we put it into drive it kept stalling. The jump starting must affect the computer and it wouldn't idle so after a bit of high rev driving from Will we were back on the road and the Dodge eventually came right. Meanwhile I decided maybe we did have enough money to buy our own jumper leads after all. 

That day we made it to Cochiane where we noticed the engines temperature was up again and we could see puffs of steam from under the bonnet, so much for our expensive repair! Not to worry Cochiane had this amazing shop full of everything you could ever want: food, veggies, ice cream, shoes, material, clothing, guns (yes even handguns), chainsaws and best off all car accessories. We brought every possible thing we could think off to fix the leak including two types of stop leak and an epoxy resin to put over the crack. However Will refused to use any of this until he had had the chance to clean the area and apply them properly so with  another water top up we headed out of town on the dusty road. 

Ahead of our schedule to meet the Germans in Villa O'Higgins we side tracked to the street-less sea side town of Caleta Tortel where we discovered we had a flat tyre thanks to the sharp gravelled access road. Will changed it in a jiffy and we meandered around the board walks of the peaceful town. We couldn't decided if it was a gorgeous place or weather the sewerage going directly into the sea below the board walks kind of ruined it. As evening came we camped beside the impressive Rio Baker and next morning I woke to a warm solar shower and freshly made banana pancakes, thanks Will! We also noticed that another tyre was a bit flat so we pumped it up and drove to the final and free ferry crossing on the Carretera. 

Finally that afternoon we made it to Villa O'Higgins where we meet up with the German couple Kathrin and Thomas and discovered that our border crossing crew had increased. Now including an Australian family of four in a Nissan Pathfinder and a Dutch family of three in a Troopie Toyota. We told them about our flat tyre and the campground owner directed us to the local Gomeria, unfortunately he also had a separate day job and couldn't fix it until 9pm so we spent an enjoyable night swapping stories with our new friends and drinking wine. By now the rumours about the border river crossing were rife with everything from it was "no problem" to "impossible" keeping us intrigued. As luck would have it the next morning we awoke to another flat tyre on the other side so at 7am we took it to the Gomeria but again he said he couldn't do it until 9pm. Feeling bad that we would be holding up the others we broke the news only to find out that everyone else needed fuel and the only fuel pump in town wasn't pumping. The gas station owner told the others to come back at 8am the next morning so with our plans on hold we all escaped the sun in the refugio and enjoyed some down time cooking in an oven and organising some of our thousands of photos.  

After refitting the patched tyre that evening we left the campsite and the others, camping onroute to the border. At first light we drove until the road came to an abrupt stop at the large Rio Mayer. Here our enquires about making the border crossing were met with a friendly but firm "No authorisation" reply from the local Carabineros. The road lead into the braided Rio Mayer but according to the Carabineros it was the deep and swiftly flowing Rio Carrera further upstream that was completely impassible all but for the coldest winter months of the year when the flow was at its lowest. After all the speculation of the last few days we figured this might happen so we hightailed it north to the next closest crossing at Paso Roballos. After driving all day on the typically narrow and rough Chilean roads we again had a riverside camp to ourselves just before the border. The next day entering Argentina was a fast and hassle free five minute border crossing. Making a beeline for the Atlantic coast the effects of crossing to the eastern side of the Andes was immediately obvious, while still gravel the road improved dramatically and the lush dense forest of Patagonian Chile gave way to barren and dry plains. Straight away we missed the constant rivers and lakes of Chile now being faced with camping in an endless windy desert and a road just far enough away from the ocean that you couldn't see it.  Over the next few days we put in some huge miles and after re-entering Chile for a quick but rough ferry trip across the straights of Magallanes it was back into Argentina, down the Ruta 3 and after 55 days and 5,553km we had finally made it to the end of the world and the official start of our trip USHUAIA!!!

Rochelle & Will

Yes you did read right Will proposed and we are now engaged but I'll get to that later….

After leaving laid back Pichilemu we followed a maze of single lane gravel back roads down the coast, we hardly traveled in a straight line but were rewarded with remote landscapes and quaint local culture. We then arrived in the small town of Cobquecura which is still recovering from the effects of the earthquake generated tsunami's in 2010. With little money and nowhere to stay, we were very glad when a chance stop to talk to a blond foreigner resulted in a warm bed for the night. After finishing her roadside Combi paint job we were invited in by the fire at her and her boyfriends house for a dinner of freshly picked veggies which included our first introduction to Mate (pronounced Matai). A traditional herbal tea packed with caffeine and drunk through a metal straw, I still can't decide if I like it or not. 

Next we headed inland to our latest couch surfing destination Temuco where we meet the fast talking brothers Nico and Francisco who invited us to party. Feeling drained from the driving we went to bed with promises to party the following night. Instead they took us camping at Conguillío National Park and what an experience that was! The evening really began at 2am when the fire roasted Plateada was ready. Dripping with fat and goodness we feasted and drank until the small hours of the night. The Plateada we were to learn is a much loved Chilean tradition and is simply a large heavily salted cut of beef slowly cooked over a charcoal fire on a hand turned spit… absolutely delicious! The brothers also introduced us to the surprisingly good combination of Fanta and Beer! After one more night in their apartment we were sad to leave but excited when Francisco invited us to spend News Years with him and his family at their lake house in Lican Ray, we would even have our own room as Nico was going to Brazil with his girlfriend for New Years. 

With the weather turning grey and Christmas fast approaching we took Nico's advice and headed to a remote hot spring & campground, Termas San Sebastian. At first we were the only ones there and had fun sampling each steamy pool in the rain, my favourite being a carved out log bathtub big enough for two. Precariously positioned next to a swift river there was a single large hot tap and the temperature was adjusted by how long you left the cold hose in. Later that afternoon having retreated to the Dodge for some warming Pisco shots we were entertained when five or so ute loads of a large Chilean family arrived, not being keen to put up tents in the rain they moved into the partly under renovation dining hall. They wasted no time in dragging in an extra large BBQ where they made a fire and began cooking a gigantic pot of soup. Im sure they were equally entertained by us making dinner with our small pots and tiny gas cooker! 

A rainy Christmas day came and went, celebrated with our wee christmas tree, a gingerbread man each and some fruit Christmas cake. Still with unfinished business at Conguillío National Park we headed back for some more serious climbing in the clearing weather. Arriving late we found a sneaky spot to free camp between the lava flows which completely concealed even the dodge. The next morning we woke under clear blue skies. After quickly stuffing our packs with all our climbing kit and telling the rangers our plans where we were soon off up hill unfortunately also with rapidly forming blisters on my (Rochelle's) heels. We camped in the summer snow beneath the highest peak of the Sierra Nevada. The summit climb the next morning was straight forward but met with amazing panoramas of the Surrounding Volcanos Llaima, Villarrica and in the distance a plan was hatched for our next climbing mission, the towering Volcan Lanin. Back down again we had broken camp by lunch and headed away from the track to bush bash our way down the mountain through thick scrub watching our for large Chicken Spiders. Exhausted and dirty we camped in the best clearing we could find, which turned out to be only just big enough to park a mini - on its side. I went to sleep wondering if the creek next to my head might be in the tent by morning time. The next morning was a more pleasant river decent to Lago Conguillio and around to the Dodge for some food, a refreshing dip in the lake closely followed by a warmish solar shower.  

After a quick stop to clean up at an awesome kiwi run hostel in Pucon called 'Paradise Pucon' we headed to Lican Ray for a few days of R&R at Francisco's holiday house. We were so incredibly well looked after by both Francisco's family and his Aunties family we are forever grateful to them. Francisco's Uncle Hugo even took us half way to the next town to get some local smoked salmon and for Will to buy his very own Manta (Poncho) straight from the source at a very very good locals only price. The woollen Manta has a striking purple Mapuche design and took over a week to hand make, I'm sure it will keep us warm on more than a few cold nights. The food just didn't stop coming with a total of three more Plateada roasts and there was also no shortage of alcoholic drinks! A favourite of Wills was a red wine drink Sangria. A tasty pre dinner combo of sliced orange, sugar, cinnamon, pomegranate, ice and of course red wine! Our new family also taught us how to make the Chilean special Pisco sours and to top it off we were given some freshly home made apricot marmalade for the road. We can't wait to make all these delights for everyone back in NZ. 

We saw in the New Year with all of Francisco's family and much like in New Zealand there were fire works, champagne, party poppers, confetti and candle lanterns. The rest of the night and every other night was spent with Francisco's awesome friends who treated us like we had known them for years, we drunk Piscola late into the night and sung to Nacho's guitar who luckily for us knew many english songs. The days were spent swimming in the near by lake, slack lining and eating far too much. All this made leaving very difficult but eventually we did and headed to the much recommended Termas Geometricas. Arriving early we once again had an amazing place to ourselves. Over 20 stone pools are dotted along a 450m raised walkway over the hot thermal river, but as the tourists started to arrive we left rejuvenated and headed to the base of Volcan Lanin to plan our assent.

Volcan Lanin at 3,747m (just higher than Mt Cook) sits right on the border between Chile and Argentina and is an intimidating sight. Almost as soon as we arrived we realised we had stuffed up and the non technical route with base camp refugios (huts) to stay in was actually on the Argentinian side so in a last minute decision at 9pm we decided to try and cross the border. As they were closing they rushed us out of Chile and soon we were standing at the Argentinian entrance however had forgotten the vital point that we needed international insurance for the car in Argentina! Back in Chile and feeling a little disheartened we drove back for a last ditch attempt to climb the Volcan by heading down a rough road that seemed to head in the general direction of the mountain. With luck on our side and night rapidly approaching we found what looked like a track leading up the Volcan so we had a quick dinner and slept in the car only mildly scared after hearing some noises that sounded much too like a Puma. 

Early the next morning as we were packing for our assent a ute pulled up filled with packs and climbers. We soon discovered that they were from Argentina and that there would be 24 of them arriving in total. They had come to climb the Volcan from the Chilean side. If they could do it then so could we, elated we set out on a six hour exhausting scramble up the mountain side to set up base camp at 2908m and watched our Argentinean amigos change tack several times and finally making camp much lower and much later than us. At 3:45am with half a mug of sugar loaded granola each for brekkie we started our push for the summit, the sun rose as we climbed with our ice axes and crampons to unveil unsurpassed views of the surrounding volcanos and landscape in every direction. Three hours later we were the first to summit for the day closely followed by another pair from the Argentinian side, despite the sun a freezing wind was blowing making our summit photos with the NZ flag a brief and cold experience.

By this time i was really feeling the cold and noticed Will was stuffing around with what looked like his camera gear little did I know he was actually getting ready an engagement ring hidden within his pack. He then told me to put down my pack and come over to one side and in the cold wind he began saying some lovely things to me, how strange I thought this is what someone would say when they are about to propose but surly not. Until…. he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!!! The initial shock was followed by a definite YES and some tears of joy, what a spot to get engaged!!! It was so cold I couldn't even try the ring on but half way back to camp we stopped in a sheltered spot had some lunch and I put the most perfect ring on my finger what a day, but it wasn't over yet… 

Back at camp we had a second lunch and packed up, at first we made good time and had lots of fun glissading (controlled sliding) down the snow slopes until we reached the final scree, schist and rock filled gully before the car. From above it didn't look so big but took us hours and hours on our very tired legs to descend and looking back from the car we realised what a mammoth gully it was but still only a small part of the huge Volcano that will always be in my memory. But the day still had more for us and on the way back to the kiwi hostel in Pucon we heard a strange tinking noise from under the car, thinking nothing of it we continued down the gravel highway and back to civilisation subtly become aware that our already loud exhaust had become even louder humm. After some investigation in Pucon Will announced that we had some how completely lost the muffler SHIT no wonder the exhaust was so loud. We decided to dwell on it later and after a much needed shower we went out for a huge meal our first as an engaged couple we even splashed out and got a drink each rather than sharing one. The next day in some broken English and Spanish with some diagrams we managed a temporary fix on the exhaust by welding a pipe straight from the engine to what was left of our tail pipe making it a bit quieter. We are currently in a hostel in Puerto Varas preparing for the next stage of the trip driving the Carretera Austral directly south towards Ushuaia.

How time flies when your having fun 

Rochelle & Will

We have been in Chile ten days now and finally left the lovely but busy Santiago just as we were starting to get a good feel for the city and the way things worked, such as you need a BIP card to ride the bus but if you don’t have one the bus driver doesn’t seem to mind. We also learnt it pays to shop around for a good data deal before buying a SIM card otherwise on your first afternoon in the city you will end up buying one with almost zero internet data. 

Our second day in Santiago was set aside to get a Chilean RUT (a tax number needed to buy a car) so we organised a local from Couch Surfing to help us, however he didn’t turn up, fortunately for us Claire from Canada with her much better Spanish did! We successfully got our RUT’s and in the process met Julianna also from Canada who was like us getting a RUT to buy her own car. She had been in Santiago a few days and had already found a car she liked so we tagged along to watch the process unfold, in broken Spanish and English between the four of us we made it happen. As her boyfriend wasn’t joining her until later she appreciated Wills help in checking out the engine and Will even drove the car (breaking no less than 5 road rules) for its first trip to the gasolina station. Who knew to fill up would be so hard as at first no petrol came out, then after some investigation we found a lever you have to flip up, all good! Later that afternoon we felt like we hadn’t achieved enough so we went to look at a car we found on the internet, instead we walked about 7km in the wrong direction, turns out Americano Vespuciso is a very large loop road!

After once again consulting google maps the next morning we found the car yard and test drove an old Chevy Blazer that looked the part but in reality was pretty old and worn. Next we tried a Ford Explorer, Will wanted to try the cuatro por cuatro (4WD) so the dealer drove us at speed over a sandy rubbish filled hill next to the highway. Needless to say the cuatro por cuatro worked but the hand break didn’t and according to Will the Explorer was lacking in character for our trip. After miscalculating the map again, taking the wrong Metro and then a free bus ride to the next car yard on the list, we found the one! A very good condition year 2000 Dodge Durango was on sale for exactly our budget. The truck ticked all our boxes with big 32" all terrain tyres, roof rack, nudge bar, spotlights, alarm, a strong V8 engine and as a bonus all the rear seats folded flat to make a spacious sleeping area. The skinny young sales man being fast talking and not overly interested in trying to understand us meant that it took almost four hours to agree on a price and only happened thanks to iTranslate.

The following day we took our huge wad of Chilean Pesos to buy the car and luckily met a guy there who acted as an excellent translator. He helped convince the seller and sales clerk that we YES could actually buy the car despite being foreigners. Next we watched with amusement as our sales contract was written up on an ancient type writer. Driving out of the car yard in an elated mood, our orderly New Zealand driving was soon forgotten as we descended into the chaos of navigating Santiago by road. It quickly became obvious if you want to change lanes you just change lanes, indicating is optional but use of the horn is compulsory!

Next day we booked a service for the Dodge and finally by 6pm found a place to tint the windows. We went for the darkest tint they had and moments later five guys were taking all the panelling off the doors and disconnecting electronics in our newly purchased truck. We needn't have worried as they made a quality job and all the windows still go up and down! Meanwhile Will had used his powers of persuasion to convince some cheap grease monkey to change the engine oil and filter with the one's we had bought that day. So there we were at 9pm as all the other mechanics were closing for the day having the oil changed, but it did save us a bit of cash on the proper service. 

With the car away getting serviced we spent the following two days searching far and wide for the things we needed to kit out the Dodge for the journey ahead. It was hot frustrating work in the Santiago sun with our limited Spanish. We walked endlessly around the city looking for things that would take moments to find in New Zealand a spade, tow strop, spare tyre, fuel containers, air compressor, cable locks, bucket, mattress topper and pillows. Each day we would come home scrub our dirty tired feet and drop into bed but eventually each item was ticked off the list. The best part was that we had a bed and it was free as we were staying at Pablo's, a fellow couch surfer with a love of handstands, unicycles and music. We were fortunate to have him and his brother Felipe give us some great advice for our search. 

Between all this we made time for an excellent free walking tour of the city, climbed San Cristobal Hill for an amazing panoramic view of Santiago, went out for drinks at the coolest roof-top bar Zully and made friends with Patricio and Véronique. Later in the week with the dodge ready for action they took us up a suspension destroyinly rough gravel road to a remote village in the Andes where we stayed in a local Cabana, drank Pisocolas till midnight and the highlight of the weekend was climbing to a 3000m glacier in the Mountains.

Santiago was good to us, we felt extremely safe even in the outer suburbs. Even next to the countless much loved street dogs who roam the city sleeping happily centimetres from main roads. Finally we should mention Empanada's, we never knew they existed until we arrived here but they occupy a space on virtually every Chilean menu. Similar to a pie they are a half round crimped piece of pastry with a variety of fillings from traditional meat stew with egg to cheese and mushroom. We have eaten them at least six times from all class of place. On the side at a fast food restaurant, confusingly two for one from a street vender and cooked in a traditional Adobe oven at a remote road side eatery. They are delicious and usually cheap we think they would go down well in New Zealand. 

This post has come to you via the free Wifi at the old casino now museum in the sleepy surf town of Pichilemu.

Rochelle & Will