Chile

We arrived in Pucon, Chile at 23:30 on the 23rd December after 36 hours worth of buses!! We were so tired but luckily our hostel was two blocks away from the bus terminal.

In order not to make anymore transport cock ups we went straight to the Tur Bus terminal to book our tickets to Santiago. Once it was all sorted we were walking back when we bumped into Steward and Reeca who we had met in La Paz, Bolivia!!! We were so shocked to see them. It must have been fate because they told us how they were just discussing how their three bedroom cottage was too expensive for them. Therefore the simple solution was that we moved in with them!! It would work out cheaper than the hostel we were staying at and as well as their good company it would mean more kitchen and bathroom space, a private bedroom, a lounge with a TV and a BBQ outside!!! We arranged to move in on the 26th.


In the meantime Recca came into town with us to help us book our excursions (She had already done the Volcano) and she wanted to buy Steward a fishing trip as a Christmas present and asked us if we wanted to join them. We accepted of course!!


During our trip to town we brought Recca back to our hostel to try and find out if she and Steward could stay at the hostel for xmas dinner (of course they had to pay) so they weren't on their own. Luckily the hostel said it was fine. As Recca is German they celebrate xmas on Christmas Eve and exchange presents then so she invited us around for dinner that night. However as it was a special day for her so we declined and told them to enjoy it together. We would see them the next day for xmas dinner anyhow.


Christmas day was baking!!! The hottest day in Pucon by far!!! We got up early so we could go to the Internet cafe to call our families. It didn't feel like Christmas. All the shops were open and they wasn't a xmas tree in sight! After making our calls we went down to the lake and used a paddle boat. Tony kept trying to get Emily wet by steering her into the waves so she got clever and cupped her hands lowered them into the water and then threw all the water she could at Tony - who said romance was dead!!!


Back at the hostel Emily relaxed in the hammack and waited for Steward and Recca. Tony got started on the beer!!! Our dinner consisted of salmon and steak on the BBQ with lots of salad and potato. There was also free wine. We knew we would be fragile the next day. We finished the night by playing cards and teaching everyone to play Shithead.


Of course we were hungover as hell the next day. Emily was really bad although she didn't drink that much. Tony must be used to the hungovers as he didn't feel too bad but drunk like a fish!! As soon as we got to Steward and Reccas, Emily feel asleep on the sofa. Once we had the energy to move we went to try on our clothes and shoes for our volcano excursion. Then we phoned the Cooper household. We got to talk to Rob of course as well as Lucy, Brenda, Rodger, Wes, Nick and Digger. Unfortunately we couldn't get hold of the Calows.


The following day we got up at 05:15 ready for our excursion. However once we got there it started raining so they cancelled!!! The weather conditions were too bad for the climb. Therefore we rebooked for the 29th and went back to bed!! The weather was so bad!! It rained the whole day so we were so lazy! The four of us stayed in, watched movies and played cards. We had prepared for a BBQ and we still went ahead with it as it wasn't cold. We had the BBQ under shelter of course. Tony and Steward did the cooking while Emily and Recca stayed inside!!

We slapped on the sun cream the next day and went fishing. It was a another hot and sunny day!! unlike yesterday! Two people were placed at the front of the boat fishing while the other two enjoyed the sunshine at the back of the boat. Recca and Tony went first. Tony caught the first fish but was unlucky for the rest of the day and Recca caught three fish!! One was even big enough to take home for dinner. When Emily and Steward started fishing we were sure the fish had gone to sleep for the evening. Steward kept getting bites but they kept getting free whenever he tried to pull them in. Emily caught the smallest fish ever!! Luckily one of the men on the excursion let us take home some of his fish for dinner. Therefore when we got back to the house we cut the fish open, stuffed it and covered it in lemon from the lemon tree outside. We then wrapped them in foil and put them on the BBQ. Needless to say they tasted gorgeous!!!

Volcano day - This time the tour wasn't cancelled!!! The first part of the volcano was just gravel but it would fall underneath your feet. It was quite difficult as it was very steep as well. Unfortunately Emily pulled a muscle during this part which was annoying for the rest of the climb. The second part was easy as it was just on soft snow. However Emily found it a bit more difficult because she kept having to stop every 15 mins or so because he leg was throbbing. Emily moaned the whole way up!!! Tony went on ahead.

Emily ended up having to wait behind with two girls from Israel. This was a risk because if either of them decided they couldn't do the Volcano it would mean that she would have to go down with them and not get the opportunity to see the top. However the guide insisted that they shouldn't be left. By this time Tony had been waiting for Emily with a different guide for quite a while. All the guides had walkie talkies so he asked the guide if Emily was ok. The guide told him that Emily had quit and gone down. Therefore Tony rushed to the top of the Volcano. He filmed the top and stole some of the volcano for her. He toboggoned down before anyone else so she wouldn't be on her own.

In the meantime Emily was still trekking up the volcano wondering why Tony hadn't waited as he had all the water and she was dying of thirst. Luckily the two girls from Israel let her drink some of their water. Emily expected to see Tony waiting at the top for her as he had the camera and she wanted photos!!

Emily got to the top of the volcano and couldn't find Tony. She sworn she would kill him when she got down. No water or photos!!! Did he not think she would need it!! Emily was so scared on the tobaggon down. She screamed all the way down and the guide just laughed at her. When she got down Tony was nowhere to be seen so she had to get on a bus back to the town on her own.

Back in town Tony appeared. Emily went into one and Tony was confused!! Tony explained to Emily what had happened and Emily was mad that Tony would even believe that Emily would quit!! Emily has never quit anything in her life!!! However Tony was angry with the tour company. He went in and complained that we had no photos together on the top of the volcano as the guide gave him false information. They made excuses but Tony was persistent. The guide shouldn't have lied!! In the end they gave us some of our money back.

That evening we got the coach to Santiago with Steward and Recca.

In Santiago we couldn't find Hostel Sammy. However once we popped into an internet cafe and got the right address we found it. What an amazing hostel!!! It was 6 pound a night and it had free internet and breakfast, a huge TV with a chipped xbox, 300 films programmed within it, a pool table, playstation and a brillant communial area. we arrived at seven in the morning so the owner (Charles) put the xbox on and let us watch movies. We were so tired from the journey that we had a sleep and just went out for dinner that evening.

We woke up to an amazing pancake breakfast. Charles was even making his own strawberry jam. From our time in the hostel we realised Charles liked to cook. His two dogs, Jack Jack and Sausage also liked Charles cooking.

We walked around the Plaza and around the stream and park. We went back to the hostel to socialise as it was New Years Eve!! Everyone was really friendly and English speaking!! Jack Jack is only a pup and he is very playful. Unfortunatley Tony was trying to stroke the cat when Jack Jack wanted to play with it and the cat stratched Tony instead of Jack Jack. Tony decided he didn't like the cat from that point on!!!

Charles gave out free beer and we stayed in the hostel and then ventured out to watch the fire works to see the New Year in. Tony ended up getting to bed at 4pm!!

Emily was the first person up the next day as she didn't drink the beer. She and Charles sampled the strawberry jam and it was gorgeous. Jack Jack knew it was breakfast time. He rested his head on Emilys lap. This was a regular occurence whenever anyone had food and because Jack Jack was so damn cute it usually worked for him.

Tony was hungover big time!! He felt so ill and didn't get up until late! When he was ready we went to Santa Lucia hill to meet with Steward and Recca and meet Steward's parents. We got a few drinks with them and some food. We didn't stay out too late because Tony was tired. In addition Charles had made the stupid mistake of telling Emily that he will have made brownies by the time she got back and she wanted to sample them before he left the hostel for the night.

We got a bus to Valpariso the next day. It was only an hour away. As soon as we got there we went in search of the beach. However this ended up being too far to walk to we just went to the main square and the park and walked through the busy streets. We also went in search of an acsender. Valpariso is famous for their acsenders that take you up the steep hills so you don't have to walk. We had a ride in one of them and went to find ice cream because it was so hot.

The following day was our last full day in Santiago and we went back to Santa Lucia hill as that was where the city was founded and from there you can view the whole city. Howver this was the only thing we could do today as it was quite a distance away and it was just too hot!!! We spent the rest of the day packing and feeding the food we didn't want to Sausage and Jack Jack.

We checked out of our hostel at 12:00 but as usual Charles didn't mind us staying around the hostel as he knew our flight to New Zealand didn't leave until 23:00. We decided to go to the mountain top as a british couple had told us it was really good. We got a cable car to the top and walked around there for most of the day. It was huge. There was a zoo up there as well although we didn't go.

We headed back to the hostel and as we got close we saw two people at our hostel. They stopped to warn us that Jack Jack had just been run over by a car and that he was dead. They said that Charles was in such a state. It was awful. Jack Jack was only a puppy. In South America there are so many strays that people don't stop when they see a dog. The owner of the car was one of them people. Poor Charles was devastated. He sat on the stairs with his head in his hands and then went home.

This is the last blog from South America. South America was an amazing continent. We loved every minute of it and we were so sad to leave but still excited about the next leg of the tour - New Zealand!!!