Melillanca Hotel Valdivia

... tears of pain in our eyes), we arrived at a ladies house. She had converted part of her house into a separate flat with 3 rooms, 5 beds, a couple of sofas and a tv (cable - happy days) and we had them all to ourselves.. excellent because we couldn't walk anywhere even if we wanted to. We have really got a sense of Chilean people so far and are so grateful for all the help we receive despite our failings in Spanish. Some local girls helped us when we were lost ...

... got up close and personal with some huge seals which, for some reason, they all came back doing impressions of! Whilst they were all off at the market, three of us stayed at home.....little piggies spring to mind! Kate just stayed collapsed in bed - I think last night hurt her a little! Me & Colm stopped back to watch the Liverpool v Everton FA Cup replay that was being shown live (and also to keep an eye on the Forest score). Obviously, the two of us first ...

... take us part of the way back to where the Kuntsmann Brewery is located - after all the wine tours it was time to try beer. This is the only brewery we came across in Valdivia let alone finding any of the quaint Colonial buildings and restaurants we had envisioned. We sampled their full range of beers and I found myself liking some surprising ones. There were 7 types of beer; 2 Lagers, 3 Ales, 1 black beer and one which can only be described as drinking liquid honey ...

... each day. Puerto Montt is a definite improvement weather-wise, if still a bit rough around the edges from its frontier perch, a mini-Seattle servicing the outback. At least the flowers are beautiful. They say the grayest climes produce the prettiest flowers. If New York or Hanoi is any measure they produce the darkest clothes also, and some of the darkest moods, too, people looking like the Hanoi buzzard ladies dressed in black ...

It was a tough day. PMS had set in and I was not in a good mood. Reluctant on my part, we headed up to Valdivia. We drove up a 50 km gravel road alongside a gorgeous river. The area was a mirror image of the logging country in Oregon. Clear cutting gave way to large forested rows of evergreens waiting for their turn to ...

... do walks etc and this will cover the car him, Chris and I. I am waiting for something to go wrong. I shouldn´t be negative but can you believe our luck? The reserve was beautiful, as per my experiences previously travelling, whilst different, it honestly is just as nice as what we have back home, but this is Chile and Chile is not Tasmania Styx Valley. It reminded me of it though, it has been heavily logged and is now protected so it can grow back to ...

... walking back over the bridge to the bar. Walking here is easy and enjoyable so we do not mind this. A brilliant pizza each (or almost a pizza each) and a very relaxing day is drawing to an end. There is a party in town tonight, but we are stuffed and most likely an early night will be the result for us. I am sure Kate will add her thoughts, but that was basically our day. Again the people have been very welcoming and helpful at all stops and we are very happy.

... fog had lifted a bit, so we went back to the beach for another try. When we got back down to the shore, we were amazed at how much we could actually see now. Only about 30 minutes had passes and it looked as though we came to another beach. We laid down and just relaxed on the beach for the day. At the end of the day, both Siobhan and I realized that there was another mountain on the other side of the bay that we had not seen ...

... but got shooed away before grabbin a fish which was a shame. There is a pontoon just near the markets where a bunch of them were playing (or fighting) trying to push each other off the pontoon. We eventually have a look at the market and manage to buy a pretty decent sized atlantic salmon, which they scaled and fillited for us, for $6aus. Had a great meal that night. After dinner we headed out to the Kunstmann, which ...