We arrived in Vina Del Mar under a massive cloud, not the lovely blue skies we had expected. Our hostel was perched very close to the edge, teetering right on top of a hill and looked very spanish conquistadory as did most of the buildings on top of the hill. Apparently Vina Del Mar was devastated and flattened by a powerful earth quake at the turn of the last century so all the wealthy tradesmen decided to build new ornate mansions on top of the hill in defiance!!...strange logic?? Anyway these buildings were now very dilapidated and looked like they may go at any time.

Our hostel was called 'Little Castle' and was run by a really lovely Chilean guy who looked like Alexis Sayle and whose name was Patricio but when he introduced himself I thought he said 'Pistachio', so of course that's the name he ended up with!!

Vina Del Mar was an ok town but nothing special really except that along the waterfront on top of the granite rocks were colonies of pelicans!...fascinating to watch as the preened themselves, fought over the star fish they'd caught and flew across the pacific ocean, just skimming the water with their wing tips...waddley and ungainly on the rocks but beautiful in flight..but unfortunately they were horrendously smelly and kept pooping everywhere...gone off fish soup pong everywhere!! We had to be very careful when trying to get close up shots!!

We also visited a neighbouring resort called Valparaiso which the guys at the hostel in Santiago had spoken very highly of...not sure why? When we got there it was really run down, dirty and seemed to be the place where all of the down and outs, misfits and unfortunates in Chile congregated. Some of the sights were very sad. Broken and diseased dogs, people and buildings all around. Every time we declined a beggar with his hand out I felt more and more guilty until a toothless and dishevelled woman had a go at me for not giving her a bit of my ice cream as if she had a right to it or it was my duty to let her have it...horrid crone after me cone!!????? I stopped feeling sorry for them after that.

Even the pastel colored houses that sprawled up above the town on the hillside, that we'd seen in all the guide books in the Artisan quarter looked dreary and broken...such a shame. Chileans hold this place in quite high regard but I just felt it needed a bit of TLC, mind you so did everyone and everything there. We took a few uninspiring piks then headed back to the smelly pelicans and the pretty flower clock in Vina Del Mar.

We only stayed a few days on the coast then headed back to Santiago in readiness for the next leg of the Great Grinaway/Oliver World Tour.

I'm writing this at 4pm in the afternoon and our flight is at 11pm tonight. I can't believe that South America has come to end. It has been the most beautiful, crazy, stunning, eye-opening and fascinating place full of magical sights and wonderful people ...I've loved every minute of it. Macchu Picchu, horse riding in Tupiza, Lake Titikaka, Iguazu Falls, beautiful Barra De Lagoa and busy fascinating, historic Buenos Aires....just a wonderful continent that definitely needs further exploration.

We really are sad to leave but we take with us some life changing experiences and fantastic memories which we shall cherish. but just around the corner (well just across the Pacific Ocean to be precise) is my crazy cousin, Aunty Rotorua, Kiwis and camper vans...New Zealand here we come!!!....bye bye South America!!