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.
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.
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
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