It seems like a long time since our last blog update, and an even longer distance... In fact, we have travelled 1,922 kilometres in that time (according to www.mapcrow.info).

We ended up spending just the one night in El Calafate, as we did the tour to Glaciar Perito Moreno in the day then caught the overnight bus to Perito Moreno the town at 8pm. The glacier is one of those things on most people´s South American itineraries, particularly if they make it that far south, and it´s definitely worth a day or two on the bus!! From the panoramic first views of the glacier from about 3kms distance (only about 40% of the glacier visible) we remained slack-jawed for the rest of the day. We did a boat trip on the northern side, as that´s where our transport took us. There are also boat trips offered on the south side for a bit cheaper, and that´s the side all the ice seemed to be falling off when we saw it later in the day, but it´s all luck of the draw, I´m sure. Our boat cruised up and down the north face, staying about 200 metres away from the 60 - 70 metre high wall of ice (for safety reasons) for a good half an hour. It was pretty nippy out on the deck, and with no big ice falls, it felt like a goodly amount of time to be on the water.

Next we were taken to the platforms, which are situated on the promonitory which comes closest to the glacier wall, which also happens to be smack in the centre of the ice. If anything, it was more impressive from the platforms than from the boat, as the views were better of the surface of the glacier as it slid down the mountain to break off into Lago Argentino. The sounds were really something else. At one point, there was this constant cracking, groaning, grumbling sound for about 5 minutes... you could tell things were happening deep inside the ice, and it was just a matter of time before something happened at the face. We saw two big hunks of ice fall off while we were there, and a few other minor crumbles, and heard plenty more (if only sound travelled faster than light, and not the other way around!).

So yeah, after the glacier we had a 16 hour bus ride to a town named after the same guy as the glacier, but much less impressive. The bus took route 40 north, which is famous for being the real Patagonia. Mostly unsealed roads. Hardly any buildings. Hardly any anything really. Not something I´d do again for the scenery, but it was the quickest and cheapest option to get where we wanted to go.

We were faced with a choice upon arriving in Perito Moreno town: stay for three hours then spend the next 17 hours on the bus to Bariloche, or stay for two days waiting for the next bus north... We chose the first option: 3 hours was plenty to see the sights in PM... and enough to stretch, freshen up and buy more food (the buses on route 40 didn´t supply food or show movies). It also bought us two days to spend somewhere more interesting.

So after a second night in a row on a bus, we arrived in Bariloche at around 7am. Bariloche was great when we were there a few weeks before - - one of the real highlights of our time in South America - - but we didn´t feel like repeating ourselves, and we were keen to get to Chile ASAP, so we took the 8am bus to Osorno in Chile (5 hrs).

When we finally arrived in Osorno we were happy to be stationary and dying for a shower... Unfortunately it took a while to find accommodation, and the one we settled for was only fit for one night´s stay (window didn´t shut in room, springs through mattress, no hot water), but we managed to find a better place for our second night.

Osorno has three huge, modern, well-stocked supermarkets within 300m of each other, while at the same time it has lots of street vendors and stray dogs... it was kind of an interesting mix. As for sights, it does have one of the more interesting cathedrals we´ve seen on our travels... But that´s about it.

On our only full day there we caught the bus to the Puyehue National Park (took about 1.45mins). Where the bus stops (Aguas Calientes) there were two walks on offer, and we did them both in around 2 hours. There were other walks we were keen to do, but had no way of getting further into the park. There were also natural hot springs flowing right into the river, which we tested out, but didn´t think it was worth getting into our bathers.

After Osorno, we caught the bus north-west to Pucon, which is a resort-y town near Volcan Villarrica. Most of the buildings in town are built in a similar woody-Swiss-German style as Bariloche, and house either restaurants, travel agencies, souvenir shops or accommodation... but since it´s down season now (in between summer and the ski season), it wasn´t oppresively touristy. In fact, the day we signed up to climb Villarrica may have been the last day they took people up before spring rolls around.

We chose to do the volcano ascent that began at 5:30am, as it offered the possibility of seeing the sunrise as we climbed the volcano. Turned out the clouds obstructed any dramatic sunrise, but it did mean we were the only group climbing at that time, which was cool. In fact, there were 5 of us who were supposed to climb, but when we arrived at the volcano, the guides told us it was extremely windy and there was a good chance we couldn´t make it all the way to the top, and gave us the option of going (and paying full price regardless of how far we got) or not going (and not paying). Four of us (three kiwis and an Israeli girl) decided to give it a go, while another Israeli girl bailed.

After about two and a half hours climbing, with a few short stops for photos and snacks, we reached the start of the glacier. To get to the top of the volcano, we would have to walk over the glacier in crampons, but it turned out the wind was just too strong (and cold) for that to be safe. So we only made it 3/4s of the way up Villarrica, but the views were still great and it was a good experience. Going down was pretty cool too, as you could run/slide down the ash. It was also cool seeing four groups of other climbers (about 20 ppl in all) on their way up - - doing it with just the 4 people and our 2 guides was pretty special.

The next day in Pucon we explored the town, then ended up drinking Piscolas (Pisco and Coke) with some others in our hostel and the owner and his friends who were over to watch a football match.

And I finally found time to shave off the hideous ginger abomination that was my Patagonian beard. As they say, all gross things must come to an end.

After Pucon, we headed north to Chillan (about halfway between Pucon and Santiago). Like Osorno, there was not a lot to set it apart from other towns, but it did have a pretty big market, wherein we both tried paila marina (a non-creamy seafood chowder).

After one night in Chillan, we bussed still further north, through Santiago (boy was it smoggy, can´t wait to get back there), to Valparaiso on the coast.

Today was our first full day in 'Valpo'. It´s a lot like Wellington, only with a lot more cable cars, more pollution, and more character. The houses are all painted in bright colours (a bit like La Boca), and there´s graffiti everywhere (some of it sanctioned by the council, see ´Open Air Museum´, some of it not).

Tomorrow we´re off down the road to Viña del Mar, then we´ll explore more of Valparaiso on Wednesday, checking out Pablo Neruda´s house... And then it´s only a few more days till, gulp, THE END.