Pucón

In Pucon we had definitely arrived in another tourist-centric town, but a lovely one.  Its lakeside setting with black sand beach and the backdrop of Villarrica Volcano is gorgeous, and there are tons of outdoor activities and adventures, relaxing thermal pools nearby and a heady mix of restaurants and bars for after a long day [...]

Lake Gutierrez

Saturday at the Lake. Everyone was there. Some brave souls took a dip in the icy late spring water. We shared a pizza and beer at a little cafe, and wished we were staying this far out from the city where it was so quite and peaceful. Later in the day we hiked to the [...]

Bariloche

Even though we´ve been challenged by administrative headaches, an overcrowded hostel of rude international youths, and only 2 bathrooms for at least 40 people, we can´t help but like Bariloche. The tourist crowd is pretty easily left behind and we escaped each day to a new, gorgeous spot. The city is right on a lake, [...]

Tierra del Fuego

We spent Thanksgiving hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park.  The route took us along the coast and then through a mixture of Patagonic and High Andes forest.  The “lenga” covers mountain slopes.  The most eye-catching were guindo trees most of which had large nodules with an interesting fungus growing out of them.  They were like bunches of orange-colored [...]

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

From a base in Ohakune (carrot capital of NZ, and a huge ski and snoboarding center in winter), we did an amazing 19.4k walk called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, in Tongariro National Park.  The full trek is multi-day, but this full-day hike was plenty for us, with some steep terrain heading up and an even [...]

Diamond Lake, Beer and Puzzling

The Diamond Lake Track near Wanaka leads past it’s namesake body of water, then up to the summit of Rocky Hill.  The views from the top were fantastic and gave us a great idea of how the glaciers had carved out this amazing landscape.  We were a bit parched when we got back down the [...]