Day 266 Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas 28 October

We arrived in Puerto Montt in the morning, and after a bit of relaxing in our hotel we walked around town. We ran into two lovers gazing out into the bay.

Inspired by the romance we headed to an even more romantic spot, Puerto Varas, a beautiful lakeside town with gorgeous views of the nearby volcano.

 

 

 

 

Day 265 Travel Day to Puerto Montt 27 October 2012

This morning we got ready to really start travelling again. After we packed we walked around Santiago for a last time and then headed for the bus station where we took the night bus to Puerto Montt.

When we sat down on our cama (lounge chair) Ana spoke before thinking saying “What kind of giant can touch the floor in these seats?!?” When Martijn sat down and tapped his foot on the floor, embarrassed, Ana said “My giant!” We’re just too short and too tall for this world.

Day 264 Resting day 26 October 2012

Jetlag is doing us no favors, so we pretty much slept the day away.

Day 263 Chilean Asado 25 October 2012

Patricia invited us again to have a Chilean asado (barbecue) at their beautiful home. We set the mood with a Pisco Sour, the disputed national drink of Chile (Peru also claims it), while Leonel prepared the meat. After dinner we were joined by Dani to make the party complete.

 

Day 262 Two Year Wedding Anniversary 24 October 2012

Today we celebrate our two year wedding anniversary! On our cotton anniversary we ordered a Donald Duck duvet cover that will be waiting for us when we have a house once again! The only pictures of the day are of us doing what we do this year- traveling!

 

Although we wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate, we both felt more like staying in. We made dinner in our hotel apartment (with an awesome view of the Andes), and ate in our pajamas watching tv.

Day 261 Isla Negra 23 October 2012

Nina lent us her car so we headed out on a grand adventure to Isla Negra. We were hesitant to drive ourselves in Chile but it was relatively easy, except for the unplanned detour we took on the way back. (Read: we got super lost) Also, we had to get used to driving on the right side of the road again! After the driving it was time for lunch with completos (hot dogs with tomato mayonnaise and avocado) and gigantic empanadas.

   

Isla Negra harbors the most famous of Pablo Neruda’s houses. The house was the perfect display of the Chilean poet’s great creative mind. We found this sign at the entrance of the house inspiring: "“I returned from my travels and I began constructing happiness.”

 

The house itself is modeled partly after a ship and partly after a train wagon and is completely filled with curious items. Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside the house, but we could make some pictures outside the house and on the nearby beach, which his bedroom window overlooks.

 

 

 

Day 260 Resting Day 22 October 2012

We spent the day at Nina’s home and with a view like this, you cannot blame us!

 

At night the views were spectacular too!

Day 259 The Sunday Lunch 21 October 2012

The Sunday lunch is the highlight of family life in Chile where an entire family shares a meal. We were very lucky to be invited by Nina, a friend of Ana’s mom and her family, Papo, Gabi, cousins and grandparents. It was a feast! We had three kinds of meat, several salads, delicious boiled artichokes with mayonnaise and two deserts, and great coffee to top it off!

 

Day 258 Culinary Welcome to Chile 20 October 2012

Today we met Patricia, a friend of Ana’s mom and her husband Leonel and son Esteban. We had a wine tasting experience at the Veramonte winery in Casablanca, which included excellent wines and cheese, especially the Primus Blend!

We had, for us, a late lunch at 3PM, but not to the Chileans who eat their lunches and dinners late. We feasted on regional seafood only found in Chile as the joke goes ‘Chile has the best, the rest gets taken to the North by the current!”

Day 257 Santiago de Chile 19 October 2012

We struggled against jet lag but in the afternoon we managed to get out and see the historic center of Santiago de Chile.

Martijn took this picture of Ana in the central market and while doing so, a group of German tourists were looking at him wondering if he was taking a picture of a local!

 

We finished our tour with a visit to the Bellas Artes museum.

 

 

 

Day 256 The longest day 18 October 2012

We made a quick adaptation to the Latin American way of life –since our flight was delayed and we were told to relax we enjoyed a sushi snack on the airline’s dime.

 

We flew to Santiago today and crossed the date line so we went back to yesterday and arrived (after a 12 hour flight) earlier than we had left. Confusing? Guess how we felt; we arrived at 4pm and by 4:10 Ana was asleep by 5:10 Martijn was asleep. We had set the alarm to wake up for dinner but when it rang we both yelled out “No!”turned it off and went back to sleep until 3am when jetlag woke us up.

Day 255 Campervan Drop-off 17 October 2012

We said goodbye to our home in New Zealand for 24 days. In total we have driven 4250 km /2640 miles through incredible landscapes on the two islands!

 

Day 254 Mary Poppins in Auckland 16 October 2012

After relaxing a bit in the morning we headed out by public transport to Auckland, the biggest city in the country. We walked through the center and found an international food court where we had lunch.

 

We were back in time at the Civic, a beautiful theater, for Mary Poppins, the musical, which was just supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

 

 

Day 253 Relaxing Day 15 October 2012

Today we just drove to Auckland and hung out at the campervan site to relax from all the driving. We were not the only ones.

Day 252 Hot Water Beach 14 October 2012

We continued our way up north to Hot Water beach. This beach is very special since it is possible to dig your own natural hot springs from two hours before to two hours after low tide. When we arrived we saw dozens of people already enjoying the HOT water, so after a bit of initial digging we decided to use an already made pool.

This one was so hot that only Ana could endure it; many people came by only to run away screaming! The water heats up to 61 degrees Celcius (141 Fahrenheit) and produces smoke and bubbles!

 

 

 

After a few hours and a cool off in the cold Pacific Ocean we took a walk to another natural attraction, the Cathedral Cove. This amazing limestone arch featured in one of the Narnia movies!