Scotty's Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my husband. His day started with breakfast cooked by moi (frankfurter hotdogs and cereal) followed by present opening. My fears that the hoody I bought him might be a bit small were correct; but not to worry as we managed to exchange it for a bigger size later in the day. We had a lazy morning in the hostel - the weather looked overcast unfortunately but Scott used the opportunity to chat to his parents on Skype.

Our original plan had been to do a 2 day horse-riding hack starting this afternoon, but unfortunately we were informed the company only had space to do one day (tomorrow); so our plans to spend Scott's bday eve camping under the stars and cooking steak on a camp fire were quashed. Unpeturbed we still had an enjoyable afternoon resting in Pucon. We took a wander through the town to the beach; luckily the sun had broken free and we had gorgeous warm weather. The lake is bordered by black volcanic sand - a little less comfy to walk on than normal sand. The beach was vibrant with kids doing tricks on skateboards on the pavement and some brave souls swimming in the freezing lake! On the way back we passed through the main plaza in Pucon, which feels more like a park spotted with stalls selling various souveniers. We found a nice pavement cafe and sat in the sunshine drinking proper Twinings tea (so good when you've not had a proper cuppa for weeks!)

Scott lazed in the hammock in the garden of the hostel when we got back in the late afternoon - I got a great photo of him enjoying the bottles of dark ale I'd bought him for his bday. I managed to embarrass him by getting all the residents in the hostel to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him while I brought out a massive chocolate cake! The evening ended up being a low key affair as we had to check out of our room the next morning and head off early to do horse-riding. I cooked baked potato with tuna mayo and salad which we ate sitting out in the evening sun on the picnic table in the hostel garden. As it got dusk we did another brief walk to the beach front and Scott attempted to get some photos of the volcano in the dark when you could see its magma glowing at the peak. I think he had a good day despite the lack of horse-riding.