24th

Jose makes us our last breakfast as we are leaving for the airport in Calama at 9am. The drive is about 1 hour, and our flight is at 11.40am. It is so peaceful sitting on the porch having breakfast. All you can hear is birds singing. The sky is beautiful blue, not a cloud in sight. There is not a breath of wind. We are enjoying the atmosphere so much I lose track of time and we nearly miss our shuttle bus.

We arrive at the airport with 15 minutes to spare before baggage check-in cut-off. The flight down to Santiago is on time and it's a smooth flight, which arrives on time. While Alan is waiting for the bags I find the Budget care rental office and get the rental car organised.

The GPS gets us out of the airport and oton the Pan American Highway to Pucon. The distance is 800 kilometres. We leave the airport at 2.30pm. I lost count of how many toll booths there are. I think it must have cost us $30 to cover the 800ks. Anyway we arrive at our accommodation just after 11pm.

Our host Ernesto has waited up for us, and shows us the cabin. Its large with 2 bedrooms about 6 kilometres from Pucon. We unpack and head for bed.

25th

Its a beautiful day, and ever so quiet. The cabin is on a hill and we have a great view of the lake, and it looks like the Volcano is in the back yard, its so close. After breakfast we find a laundry and a supermarket. We also take a walk around the village of Pucon. There are quite a lot of people here, as this area is very popular with the Chileans. The rest of the day is spent chilling at the cabin enjoying the peace and the views.

26th

Today we visit Huerquehue National Park. Its about 35 kilometres from Pucon. Thought it would be a short drive, but the road to the park entrance is unpaved and very rough. We dont arrive till just after midday. The hike we have chosen is 18 kilometres return, and climbs from 200 metres to 1,100 metres. Should take about 5 hours. the climb up is hard and steep in places. The shade from the massive trees keeps us cool. There are waterfalls along the way, and its here where we cool ourselves down with the icy water. The vistas along the way are stunning. We arrive at the end of the hike and take a well deserved break, and enjoy our packed picnic lunch.

27th

Today its off to Villarica National Park. We are hiking up to a lookout which has views of the Villarrica Volcano and the Andes Mountains. The walk is 4 hours return and nowhere near as tough as the walk yesterday.
The vistas at the lookout are impressive. We are so close to the Volcano, one of Chiles most active. You can pay to climb to the top and look into the crater, but we chose not to. Its a full days hike and costs $65 each.

28th

It will be a quiet day today chilling at the cabin, and coming to grips with the fact that our trip is nearly over. Tomorrow we drive to Santiago where we will spend the night before flying to Sydney at 1.30pm.
It has been an amazing adventure, one neither of us will forget in a hurry. It was the hardest trip to have planned to far , but the effort was well rewarded.

Now to start planning our next adventure!!