and… relax.

It’s been a pretty good few months, but it’s hard work this holiday stuff. My poor wee knees are feeling the pace, and were just about ready to start some kind of strike action if I hadn’t taken some time out. Which is why I’ve found myself chilling out in Pucon for most of the last week.

It´s a good base for outdoor activities, or just for chilling out on the black volcanic sands by the Lake. I found myself getting back in a kayak (on a river) for the first time in around three years, which was brilliant! It really made me remember why I used to love it, so I’m looking forward to getting to New Zealand to give it another whirl. I even went for a wee wander up the local volcano the other day.

Ok, I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t that thrilled with the volcano, but that’s probably my own fault for expecting too much. Everyone raves about it here, but at the end of the day I’ve come to Patagonia on a walking holiday/photo mission, spending most of the last two months walking in some of the most magnificent landscapes you could ever hope for and for the most part doing it in perfect solitude. To ascend Volcan Villarica have to go with a guided group and after the last two months I found walking a snail’s pace, nose-to-tail up the hill kind of trying. It became so monotonous and mindless that the guy behind me kept walking into my rucksack every time we stopped.

That said, the views really were stunning. Particularly early in the day when we had a perfect cloud inversion for sunrise.

Perhaps I’m also judging it a little harshly as I’d really hoped to see some magama bubbling in the crater at the top of the volcano. Unfortunately the levels are apparently quite low at the moment and all we really got at the top was a whole lot of extremely noxious gas. On the whole it was still a worthwhile experience, and I’m glad that I went up; it just didn’t quite rate on the same scale as some other recent outings!

Tomorrow I backtrack a little down Chile to Chiloe, a large island near Puerto Montt. I’ve really not much clue what I’m going to do when I get there, but that’s because I’ve been doing some serious relaxing rather than thinking about things this last week. It’s been great, and I’m sure that Chiloe will take care of itself when I get there. I understand that it’s a particularly mellow and pretty place to visit, so I’m trusting that my return to The Mission won’t be too much of a shock to the system!

In the mean time, I took a stroll along the beach form town this evening. It might have been intented to be a week off from the photography mission, but it’s still a very pretty place to be….

Seven Lakes and Osorno again

Well, it’s got to be said that the weather over the last few days has been in stark contrast to what I experienced the last time I went out for a walk! It’s been clear blue skies and blazing sunshine all the way. Having taken on a bit of a stinking head cold and throat infection, either due to sharing dorms all the time or being wet for 48 hours straight last week, I was exceptionally glad to have the offer to join a couple that I met on the Navimag for a couple of days: more banter, less exertion!

We took in El Bolson, around 150km south of Bariloche, and spent the afternoon being typical tourists around the artesan markets for the day rather than flogging ourselves in the hills. Well, ok, we did make it up a short walk to visit the site of an old forest fire where artists from around the world come to carve the dead trees into all manner of forms. Well worth the trip.

The next day Dave and Augustine decided to hold onto their rental car and we took in a fair portion of the “Seven Lakes” circuit. We managed around five of the seven, but given my inclintion for peering at rocks for hours on end through a viewfinder, and the fact that Augustine (being a photography teacher back in Oz) was similarly motivated, we did really quite well. Dave is clearly possessed with the patience of a saint….

The scenery was stunning, and constantly changing. It was quite astonishing just how much the landscape changed in the course of the day – you could have been forgiven for thinking that you were a world away from where you had sat for lunch just a half an hour previously….

And it was nice to be out with another photographer again. I really enjoy working on my own; landscape photography is a solitary pursuit for the most part. But every now and again, it’s good to get out in the hills with another photographer, and after two and a half months of solo trekking and shooting it was great to have a day out with someone else that shared a common agenda: going back to town with a good shot in the bag.

Ironically, after battling with the wind and rain for the best part of a month, the empty blue skies and the harsh, hard light made it hard to bring the best out of the landscape. I think it would take months of exploring and waiting for the right light to do the area that we covered in that one day any real justice, but we had a throughly enjoyable day out and if Dave and Augustine happen to read this, thanks again!

Dave in a Cave!

I have now returned to Osorno in Chile to attempt the walk around the Banos De Caulle, which I abandoned a week and a half ago due to the horseflies. I’ve been reliably informed that they should have been gone by the end of Jan, so with any luck they won’t be as bad now. That said, I’ve also been reliably informed that they’ll still be out in force. There was a fair few of them at the border crossing from Argentina this afternoon, so I’m not holding out too much hope but I’ll give it a go anyway, as I really want to see this place. I’ve suddenly realised that I’ve only got a few weeks left in Patagonia and there’s still a huge list of things to do, places to see and pictures to take. If this walk doesn’t come off this time around, I’m not wasting any more time on it, I’ll just move onto the next think on the wish-list.

Don’t sweat the small stuff!