Driving north

We said a fond farewell to Marisa with promises to keep in touch and she is going to follow our blog.

It was a rainy day so our plan to stop for a walk and lunch on the way through the lakes was thwarted. The good thing was that all of the road was tarmac.

There were roaming cows, sheep and horses along the way.

We discovered that signs for turn offs are only at the actual junction - there is no pre warning so Google maps served us well.

There were advance signs however advising that the Guardaparque office is coming up and there are bollards in the middle of the road. I presume in summer everyone has to stop and pay the entrance fees as they enter each National Park.

In the towns there are 4 way crossings and it is the first car to the junction which takes precedence. However, yesterday I saw a police car stick its nose out and 2 cars determinedly drove across the junction in front of them. Not sure if that's a measure of lack of respect for them.

The roads in the towns all have the same names - usually past leaders and Generals. We had some difficulty locating our accommodation so I went in to a pharmacy to ask for help. The staff all had a discussion over the address and, in the end a nice young man came outside and walked with me up the road until we found the right house. We have a small studio apartment which is in what is probably a converted garage next to the owner's house. We can cook our dinners again so we stocked up at the supermarket. However we bought some big fat sausages which I cut length ways to cook them properly but they were disgusting.

The garden outside our annex;

We visited the tourist office and spent 20 minutes going through walks we could do over the next 3 days. At the end the chap recommended that we check with the National Park office who have a better understanding of snow conditions etc. We went across the square to the office. The chap in there did not speak English but proceeded to put lots of crosses on our map saying "cerrado", "cerrado", "cerrado" (closed). Note to self; visit the Park Office first.

Getting ready for Christmas using plastic bottles;

There are proper gauchos here complete with hats and baggy trousers. I will try to get a picture but will need to be surreptitious.

We walked up to a mirador to take in the view of the lake and the town. Near the top there was a small Mapuche settlement and a shack with a boy charging an 'entrance' fee - we were a little suspicious but it was only 50p each and the views were worth it.