Day 141: Chaiten to Puyuhuapi, Chile

Every time I start this blog I sit and think for a minute or so about which salutation shall I use today. Hello? Gidday? Hi? Hey youse? Greetings chaps? It's harder than you might think. So today .... no salutation. Just into the blog.
Missing my photographer. :-( Too much delicious scenery.
Up reasonably early to a lovely breakfast of porridge and poached eggs with coffee and yoghurt cooked by Diana (mostly) with Dick helping by mostly staying out of the way. Although he did a fine job of finishing off the eggs - finishing off poaching them I mean; not finishing off the eggs by eating them.
It was a gorgeous cold cold dawn. A kewl jet trail over the mountain with the funky streetlights.




And the volcano bothering the morning sky on the other side with lots of steam boiling away uselessly into the atmosphere.




We waited till the petrol station opened at 8am and filled up and got on the road. First a wonderful stretch of wonderful new super-smooth tarseal with amazing swing bridges (it was excellent!)




that disappeared all too soon to this.




and this.



and this.



We got on with it anyway; what else could we do? :-) The scenery was pretty amazing. Quite nostalgic really because it was so like NZ with rivers, waterfalls, lakes and then snow-capped mountains lining the valley. Lots of dairy herds (Ayeshires I thought) with the cows wearing ear tags straight form NZ. And sheep too: the bossy ones with roman noses and very little wool on the heads. White and brown wool. Alas, I am sin photographer. (Here's a thought. If you are paragon of virtue of Spanish extraction (he wot is allowed to throw the first rock) does that mean that you are "sin sin"? Espanol experts please? )











We checked out a small town for Sunday coffee without success and then just down the road we found this place (not that it was lost, you understand.)




A quirky little cafe and cabana in the middle of not very much at all!




Kiwi wasn't sure what to make of the calf licking his bum. Mind you, hardly surprising. He doesn't like me doing it either.




He thought these jokers looked vaguely like rellies. But what rowdy buggers.




There was a sign saying "English spoken here." It wasn't. But there was this lovely note in a book.




Dad was wearing a kewl tee shirt. On the front it said: "How to keep an idiot busy. (Refer back of shirt.)" I asked him to turn round. On the back it said: "How to keep an idiot busy. (Refer front of shirt.)" whoops. Got suckered that time. :-)
Mum brought out this teddy bear to meet Kiwi and then insisted that we keep it and take it with us. Dick has taken charge of it. I think he's worried about Kiwi's morals.




Here is the cabana. It was too early to stop but it looked like fun.




Our next stop was at La Junta where we stopped for petrol and lunch. Lots of stickers in the window from various biking groups.




Including this one.




And a didymo cleaning station. Trout fishing is big here.




I had my usual soup (the one with the big spud in the middle) but I had to have a plate of fried salmon as well. Not quite sure why. The salmon was ok but very oily and being fried didn't seem to get rid of any of it.
The gravel improved a bit from here and we were sitting on around 40kph when we arrived in Puyuhuapi at about 3pm. On the way we passed this amazing gaucho on his horse wearing a woollen poncho and beret. He looked pretty cool. Also a saleyards where the farmers were standing on raised platforms around the yards bidding for cattle and sheep. It could easily have been Tarata. Sorry. Sin foto.
The rain was beginning to set in and we weren't sure what accommodation there might be further on so we called an early stop. (Early, your name is now Stop) There was a hosteleria called Alamon and as we are riding German bikes we thought we would check it out. It's ok. Kiwi and Ebony enjoyed their resting spot.




Before he went off to play dolls with the kids.




Meanwhile, I went for a walk. I would have liked a shower but apparently the agua is off until 8pm. Must be because it's Sunday. She's a nice place this Puyuhuapi. Right on the coast and of German origin. Here's the front garden of the hosteleria




with these amazing very brown bumble bees.








Well, I thought they were amazing anyway.
Meanwhile down at the beach, nothing was happening.












and Saint Peter was keeping an eye on everything that wasn't happening.




And the cops were doing the same. I can't imagine NZ police having a logo of crossed firearms.




So now we will go out for dinner and that will be our lot. It's getting cool now - our hostel manager is bustling around lighting fires. We'll need to wrap up.
Ciao.
Today's run: 221kms
Cumulative: 35,973kms
Tipovers: 7

Location:Puyuhuapi, Chile