Chao America del Sur

Well that was it - South America on a Shoestring! Totally magnificent with the richest mix of memories and surprises.
Here's a few intersting observations from the 7 countries we borrowed time from:
- A full spectrum of cultures from the very wealthy through to the impoverished...with no clear impression of who is happiest!
- Highs and Lows both in our own progress...and in height above sea level
- Coping with sudden switches from hot to cold weather extremes
- Only 4 days with any rain over the 3 months
- language difficulties certainly curtailed some of the enjoyment - we went for a spell of 14 days without speaking to anyone else in English
- on the whole trip we met only 18 kiwis
- one pair of good shoes (Keens) worn out
Yes - we would love to return to explore more - particularly more of Brazil and to visit Patagonia in southern Argentina and Chile. We also hear that Equador and Colombia are wonderful. Maybe we'll make it and maybe we won't.
For now we are coping with exploring the NE USA...more to come soon...

Chile

Being physically crammed onto the early morning rush hour tube train for half an hour is not how you might imagine the start to a glorious days skiing, but in Santiago, Chile, that seems to be quite normal. Once at the edge of the city it was a quick bus ride up to the 3000m high base village of Valle Nevado, the largest ski area in the southern hemisphere. Spectacular vistas of the high Andes and long, well groomed runs made the skiing experience super pleaseant - and even the black runs felt easy, which is not like me at all! Sarah whiled away the day enjoying the sun terraces and cafes as not feeling able to justify the rather spectacular lift and ski hire costs!
Santiago altogether exceeded our expectations. It is very well organised and livable with several rugged mini mountains sticking out amongst the tower blocks with the snow capped Andes formimg a splendid backdrop, and some very lovley old buildings, monuments and squares.....and the most wonderful shopping mall ever!
Prior to Santiago we had worked north from Valparaiso up the cloudy and foggy coast, until we learnt that sunny skies lay inland. For the first time we hired a car and sure enough, some 15 minutes inland sparkling blue skies and dry mountain ranges appeared from nowhere. We explored fantastic valleys enclosing wonderful cactai and harsh dry vineyards, visited a Pisco distillery and had a meal cooked on solar cookers. Here are some of the clearest skies on earth and it is a favoured spot for astronomical observatories. We visted an older one, but huge projets are underway with the European funded VLT (Very Large Telescope) nearing completion. The ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) will be starting construction soon!
From what we have seen Chile has a modern and sophisticated society that seems to be going places, but laterly learned of Chile's dark political and social problems which it makes a good job of hiding from visitors and investors! However they certainly have a huge variety of stunning and beautiful landscapes that have amazed us...rather like New Zealand on steroids!
Certainly not an anti climax to the end of our South Ameican experience.

Argy-Bargy

The fast super ferry across the River Plate takes just over an hour to reach Buenos Aires from Uraguay and we entered a different world of some 13 million in a truely grand and spacious city. We stayed at a lovely old hostel amidst cobbled, tree lined streets with classic pavement cafes and occasional tango dancers. A couple of days were spent dashing around this Paris of the South, including visiting Evitas grave and the worlds widest street - we counted 22 lanes running through the middle of town. Our (mainly my!) tolerance for city life was wearing thin and, after dragging Sarah away from a sudden fight in the underground in which she caught a glancing blow to her wrist, it was a relief to escape the argy-bargy (sorry!) and board the night bus for Mendoza in the west.
15 hrs later, once again sporting a light beard (me, not Sarah) we arrived not in the picturesque alpine wine region we had in mind, but a sprawling drab city of a million people. Rats! The weather turned v cold with snow down to the city limits so it was time to hunker down for a couple of days. We did enjoy a very informative winery tour but it was rather like coals to Newcastle and the famous wines weren´t nearly as good as our locals ones at home. Maybe it was the bitter weather that didnt help the Malbec?
Again it was a relief to leave the big city and head west again into the Andes to stay in an isolated hostel near Uspallata just a couple of hours away. Immediately the scenery exploded into spectacular life - blue skies with white snowy mountains surrounding a monochrome bowl of golden hues...golden trees, leaves, grasses, rocks and soils. Even the hostals 3 labradores were golden! (This area was the setting for the film Seven Years in Tibet as it so resembles Central Asia.)
This was indeed food for the soul and we both recharged our batteries and breathed in fresh life again.
The next stage of our journey was to cross the pass over the Andes to reach Santiago in Chile, but as the winter weather can close the pass for weeks we had to move on to be ready for a likely chance to get through.
We opted to move further into the mountains to stay at a large ski resort and hopefully get a few turns in, but on hopping out of the bus we hopped straight back in again with the lean, icey slopes looking most uninviting.
The road to Chile was currently closed, but was rumoured to open next morning so the bus dropped us at icy cold Punte del Inca which is used as the start point to climb Aconcagua, which, at 6959m is the highest point outside the Himalaya. Exciting!
Next morning, standing by the snowy road watching the backlog of 100s of big trucks grind past, doubts grew about the arrival of our bus, so jumped at the chance of a lift with a Texan family in camper van who we had talked with the night before.
What an awesome ride! With an outstanding nerve Michael overtook some 10km or so of stationary trucks backed up at the border post....all over the double yellow line and at speed with me in the front acting as spotter on the blind corners. Oh my God ...epic stuff in epic scenery. (We would still be in that queue which must last for a couple of days if he hadn´t nailed it so decisevely!)
After the semi-chaotic queues at the crossing we stopped and all went snow tubing with the 3 kids.
They were not heading to our destination of Santiago but to the Pacific coast, so we stuck with them and greatly enjoyed their company for several hours until Vena del Mar. We hope they take up our invitation to visit us in Nelson sometime as we thoroughly enjoyed their company.
And as for Chile - it´s different again and so spectacular!....and with the magnolias just coming out it offers up memories of home.