We arrived into Mendoza after our last long South American overnight bus journey!!!

We strolled from the bus terminal to our hostel, even though it was 9am in the morning, we were still passing people in open bars!!!..It's a pretty, green city, even though it's in a desert, due to its irrigation system using the natural supply of melted glacier water....thank goodness there was still enough left for good rafting!!!

It was a Sunday when we arrived so the majority of places were shut, so all we could do was book our adventures for the next few days!!!

First up was the all day wine tour! We decided it was too hot to cycle around so we took the minibus option this time....we headed to 3 very different vineyards, with each explaining its process, showing us around and then finishing with our favourite bit, the wine tasting....no buckets provided here so we had to swallow it all....bummer!!!

First up was Navarra Correas, where they have several lines, exporting to supermarkets as well as selling on site. They have in storage usually 5000 barrels, with each barrel holding 225 litres...a nice handy amount....

Facts from the other vineyards are a little hazier for some reason!!!...we do remember that they had a 6 year old vintage that was almost 100 euro per bottle and you can only buy it there!!! And also that we had a nice few chances to try the wines, and in fairness they aren't bad at all at producing it!!!

From there is was to a restaurant where we had a really nice spread put on for us...a whole range of meats, cheeses and a million other sides...and of course some homemade red wine!!!!:)... Needless to say we didn't do much else for the day!!!

Next up was white water rafting on the Mendoza River. This was a grade 3 river with a few juicy rapids to keep us entertained! It was about 45mins of fun, getting wet and thrown around the raft!!! No one on the boat fell in, but of course Shane wasn't content in the boat and had to take a dip when the offer was made!!! Luckily the guide helped to pull him back in again!!

We couldn't take any pictures on the day, but we did drive past the river the next day on our way to Chile...so you can get a rough idea of what it was like!!!

So there was just time for one last steak dinner before we hit the road to our final South American country, Chile!!