After two nights camping in the garden of the El Bolson microbrewery we left El Bolson and headed north again on Ruta 40.

Ruta 40 is the Argentinian equivalent of the Carretera Austral but with less rain and more dust. Like the Carretera Austral it is part paved and part ripio and runs the length of Argentina through some amazing scenery. It is affectionately called 'La Cuarenta' (the forty). We will remember it, but maybe not so affectionately, especially the potholes. You can buy Ruta 40 stickers and tee-shirts and there are even books written about it. Che Guevara traveled along much of it in his famous motorcycle trips.

Along the length of Ruta 40 and on other roads in Argentina and Chile we have come across shrines. Most are dedicated to Saints. Two stand out, those painted and decorated in red and those surrounded by plastic bottles. Neither are dedicated to Saints. The first is dedicated to a Gaucho Gil (1840-1878). He deserted the army and became a sort of Robin Hood figure. Why the red decoration is not known. The other is to Difunta Correa, a woman who in the 1840's followed her husband on a military campaign into the desert with their baby. She died of thirst but the baby survived. The bottles around the shrines are full of water.

We arrived in Bariloche the day before Christmas Eve and not being able to find a stable we headed straight for the 5 star Alma del Lago hotel with swimming pool, spa and big flat screen TV, bath and large comfy beds in the rooms.We stayed 4 nights- it was heaven. It wasn't all pleasure as I did take advantage of the constant supply of hot water to catch up on the laundry and I also gave Peter a much needed haircut. I was glad he couldn't see the back of his head!

Christmas Eve we took a boat trip into Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi on the lake of same name. The boat was an old steamer built in Holland in 1938 and transported to Argentina in pieces. The boat first took us to Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes, a park within the park. This small park was created to protect a rare forest of Arrayan trees, one of the few places in the world where the trees grow to full size. The forest is rather magical as the twisted trunks of the trees have a smooth powdery or peeling cinnamon coloured surface. The boat then took us to an island in the lake which in places still has a covering of cream coloured pumice that erupted from volcano Puyehue in 2011. There are even areas of lake covered with the pumice that looks like stone but is so lightweight it floats (see our Blue Peter demonstration).

They don't seem to publicly make much of Christmas and shops etc are only closed for Christmas day. Decorations in towns and shops are much less than in England. We headed into town for a meal on Christmas Eve but most places were closed so we ended up buying sandwiches from a petrol station and eating them in bed watching television....luxury!

Christmas day we were invited to dinner by some fellow travelers and their friends - 9 of us in all. They are all on bicycling trips of varying lengths. Their enthusiasm has rubbed of onto Peter who is now looking at a cycling trip.

Boxing day we drove out to the south of park Nahuel Huapi to Mount Tronador (the thunderer). Below the mountain is the murky receding black glacier (Ventisquero Negro) and the stunning falls at the Garganta del Diablo, a natural rocky amphitheatre on the Tronadors slopes. The falls drop vertically from the glacial shelf. Ventisquero Negro, which is fed by a higher glacier, is more brown than black due to all the dirt and rocks that have fallen on it.

The next day we took a trip on a cable car up to Mount Cerro were there is a revolving restaurant and stunning views of Bariloche and the lakes and mountains. After this we left Bariloche driving on the Severn Lakes Drive which as you can guess passes seven lakes all lined by mixed natural forest.