Well we woke to grey skies...the rain didn't seem to have any plans to burn itself out! So we made the sensible decision to stay in bed for another hour. By the time we finally got up at about 9.30ish, the rest of the tourists in the hostel seemed to have all disappeared....obviously keener than us!

By late morning the rain seemed to have abated and we could see a glint of blue sky in the distance; so we decided to hire bikes out for a half day. I made us up a packed lunch (short of a thermos flask - something we would later live to regret!); and after a quick stop off in tourist information to get a map we found a good outfitter for mountain bikes and set off. The plan was to cycle about 20km out of Pucon towards a place called El Cristo and pass a number of waterfalls on the way. Pretty much as soon as we left the town the heavens opened, and despite my hopes of it being a brief shower it unfortunately set in for the rest of the day. We carried on, determined not to give up, as our route took us along a dirt track off the tarmacked road and over a bridge with the river running in strong torrents below us. By now it was actually hailing and my trousers were so soaked I'd basically given up hope of ever getting dry again until we made it back. The path we cycled followed the river to some extent and was pretty hilly - but luckily didn't go up for too long without the relief of a bit of downhill free-wheeling after. After 2 hours cycling and being wet to the core, we tried to shelter under a tree from the relentless rain eating our sarnies before they could get too wet as well! You could tell the route would have been gorgeous in nice weather but unfortunately we weren't able to appreciate any views as the mountains were shrouded in mist and cloud.

After lunch we decided to head back and gave up on the idea of seeing the waterfalls. We had no idea how far we'd come but guessed we couldn't be too far away; but to be honest by then we really didn't care. All I could think about was getting back in the warm and dry. The trip back seemed faster than the way out. By the time we got back - to give you an idea of how wet it was - Scott had been wearing a gore-tex and his really thick poncho and the rain had gone through both. I was soaked through to my knickers!

As I write this we are huddled by the fire with our clothes hanging around us trying to dry them off and my boots are under the log burner! We're fed and watered (I cooked prawn and cashew nut stir-fry) and are sipping on a glass of red wine. I'm slightly apprehensive about tomorrow as we are going on a hiking tour leaving at 6.30am! We are hiking up an active Volcano Villarica and sledging down it on fresh snow, with an ice axe to use in the snow to slow down the sledge as necessary! We are reassured the sun is meant to come out tomorrow!