Summer Trip South: Puerto Varas

After Frutillar, we drove around the south western corner of Lake Llanquihue to a place just outside of Puerto Varas. One of our Bradford Dad friends has a friend who lives in Puerto Varas and is a fishing guide, so we decided to go meet a local. His name is Felipe, and he had two kids aged 12 and 10. This map shows Lake Llanquihue. You can see Frutillar on the west side, and Puerto Varas on the south. We stayed nights three and four at the red dot, just a few minutes east of Puerto Varas. Puerto Montt is just south of us on an inlet that heads out to the Pacific Ocean. There is an airport there that connects to Santiago if anyone wants to fly in here for future travel!

                     

We were able to park the vans in a field next to this gentlemen's house, which the boys loved to run around in. It was hilarious, because they'd be running, then they'd eat it, either accidentally or on purpose, and they'd fall down and disappear completely from sight. Like a corgi jumping through the snow. 

We arrived on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning it rained non-stop, so we cuddled up and hunkered down for several hours. Luckily having the two vans is nice for the boys to get a change of scenery. A couple of hours here and a couple hours there. Around 2pm, the rain stopped, and we were able to get out of the vans and go for a walk-about. The house was up on a hill, so we had a really nice view of the surrounding farms and the lake.

Walking straight down the hill took us back to Lake Llanquihue, so we spent some time enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. 

Thursday morning, Drew and his Dad were going fishing with Felipe as their guide. On our drive to the river, we passed a lookout for the Osorno Volcano, and it blew me away. We finally had a sunny day and, man, was it spectacular. 

While the guys were fishing, me, the boys, and Grandma spent the day at a private park. It had a cafe, bathrooms, a pump track with bikes for rent, and a playground. What more could you want! We spent the morning here, had lunch, and then hiked 3 miles to the river which was the takeout point for the guys. I wished we had gone to the river sooner, because it was also stunning. Same crystal clear waters. Mountains all around. 

Pics from Drew and Brian's fishing day. Drew ended up catching 5 fish! All catch and release trout. The horse flies were bad on this river, hence the face mask Drew is wearing. 

After reconnecting with Drew and Brian, we drove on to Cochamo, which is where we will be staying for the next several days. The drive from Puerto Varas to Cochamo on a sunny day is one of the most scenic drives I have been on in a long time. I could easily spend a month here. 

Summer Trip South: Frutillar

Today's the day! The sun is shining, the tank is clean! (Finding Nemo joke). We're officially heading out for a 10 week road trip through the South of Chile! The van is packed, and we're ready to go!

My in-laws, Brian and Karen, are accompanying us on this journey in their own slightly smaller camper. Anyone else have in-laws who are this adventurous?  I didn't think so.  We're so glad they're coming, as the boys love all the Grandma and Grandpa time. It also gives Drew and I a bit more flexibility to leave the boys in their care and go do some harder hikes that wouldn't be possible otherwise. And, finally, to be frank, I'm not entirely sure Drew and I have the camping cred to pull this trip off on our own. Brian did an incredible amount of work on both campers ahead of time to get them trail ready. Plus, these two are super experienced, with two trips from Michigan to Alaska under their belts, and another summer spent throughout the Western US. We needed their know-how, and they graciously came along, making this whole thing possible. Big shout out to them. 

We're on the road again! I can't wait to get back on the road again!

The first day was a travel day. We drove 9 hours from Santiago to a little town just south of Temuco called Quepe. If you were in a car, this drive would only take about 7 hours, but we are not winning any land speed records in our vans. This little town has a nice sized central square with a police station right there and public restrooms, so it was a good place to stop for a night's rest. I found it using iOverlander, which is a website documenting both official and unofficial camping spots for campers, tenters, etc. Most of the places we'll be staying at on this trip I found using iOverlander. It was perfect for the night. Because it was a Sunday (I wanted to leave Santiago on a Sunday as that's when traffic is low), there was even a little market going on in the park when we arrived, so we got to stock up on some local produce. 2lbs of cherries for $1.50, anyone? It was a very quiet place, except for the handful of people driving around the town honking their horns and celebrating after Kast won the Presidential Election that day. But they stopped early, thank goodness. 

On Day 2, we drove 4 more hours to a town called Frutillar. It is a German heritage town, settled by 50 German families in the 1850s. What are Germans doing in the South of Chile, you ask? Apparently Chile gave these German families lots of fertile land in exchange for their agricultural and technological know-how. The land needed settling, and the Industrial Revolution in Europe was making life as a farmer more difficult there. So the Chilean government created a program to lure the German farming families here (mainly from Hamburg), and it worked!

The town is very quaint. It is set right against Lake Llanquihue, which is the 3rd largest lake in South America. The water was crystal clear and cold. Lots of old, German style buildings. They even had a Biergarten where we had lunch!

On the other side of the lake is the Osorno Volcano. We really only got to see it kinda one time, as the weather so far has been very erratic. Hot, cold, hot, cold. Sun, rain, sprinkles, sun, clouds. Everything. But, we were warned about this. The weather in the South of Chile is a complete 180 from Santiago's hot hot hot summers. Here it is more like Alaska summers. But getting to see the Volcano when we did was pretty spectacular. On a clear day, when they do happen, it must be jaw dropping. 

Frutillar is also known for its music scene. It's even considered a UNESCO Creative City of Music (Did you guys know there was an UNESCO designation for that?). It has a huge music festival one week every summer, and it has a gorgeous theatre right on the water for its events.  The town is itty bitty, so the fact that it can support a music venue of this size is impressive. 

Art piece in town that captures Frutillar's vibes!

The German influence of course means there were many bakeries selling German cake, or kuchen. We, of course, had to try some. Didn't disappoint. 

There was a playground right on the lakeshore, so the boys had a great time playing in all forms. 

Emerson mainly, but also Avery now too, is starting to really get into chess. They've been watching Drew play alot the last couple of years, and Emerson got to take a chess class at school last semester. Now they both play alot, so they were thrilled to find this giant board in the center of town. 

Frutillar, in addition to the quaint German houses and the yummy bakeries and the music, has a flower scene that is out of control. I have never seen such lovely flowers. This climate must be treating them right, because, wow, they were putting on a show. I felt like my Mother. Have you ever seen THIS MANY hydrangeas on one bush? Have you?!?!? It was outrageous! I'm definitely getting old if I'm using the word outrageous to describe flowers. Jajaja

I've never seen dark pink hydrangeas like this before. And to see pink, purple, and blue all on one bush!

On our second day in Frutillar, we went to the German Heritage Museum to learn all about what the German settlers' lives were like. They had a water wheel powered grain mill, a blacksmith shop, and a bunch of old tools and machinery. Plus the grounds were really lovely. Worth the $3 admission for sure. 

Anyone ever see an orange bumblebee before? Maybe that's the secret to these gorgeous flowers. The giant, hardworking bumbles. 

While in Frutillar, we camped in the overflow parking lot for the theater. It was actually perfect because it was walking distance to town, it was free, and there were woods right next to it, so the boys ran amuck every chance they got. That's always their favorite part of any camping trip we take. Running amuck in the woods. 

Here is a map of the distance we covered from Santiago down to Frutillar. We've basically passed through the entire fertile region of Chile, and after this, we're transitioning to fjords, and inlets, and lakes. 

This map puts where we are in perspective in Chile as a whole. After this, it will be much slower going. 

End of the School Year and Christmas

The boys' school year officially ended on Dec. 10/11th, so there were lots of end of the year events to wrap up different activities. The first one was an exhibition of all of the after school art classes. Emerson had been taking Sculpture on Wednesdays after school, so we got to go see all of his pieces and those of his classmates. It was actually very fun seeing their work as well as the work of the bigger kids in all kinds of mediums.

Avery's after school activity was learning to play the violin. So the following day, he had a little recital, which was absolutely adorable. The teacher did an amazing job. Avery went from never holding a violin before in his life, to actually being able to play a real song, two songs in fact. For the first song, the kids played one note but in lots of different rhythms. The teacher would then play a melody over the top of their one note rhythm, and the result was this really lovely duet that was actually nice to listen to. The second song they played was one where they actually played a little melody on their own. I was so impressed; it was very fun to see Avery do something musical when it's something I love so much. 

There was also an end of the year party for their wrestling class that same week. 

For the boys' end of the year class celebrations, the Kinder classes put on a show about ancient civilizations. One class dressed up like Egyptians, one class was the Maori from New Zealand, and Avery's class dressed up like Ancient Greeks. Avery was chosen to memorize some lines and speak them in front of the entire audience, and he did so great. Proud Mama Bear moment. 

Then each class did their own dance. I was very proud of Avery because in the middle of his dance, his belt came untied, but instead of getting upset or being unsure, he just grabbed it off the floor, held it in his hand the rest of the dance, and kept right on going. Avery's class did their dance last, and it ended with a couple of glitter cannons. What's not to love??

Avery has been learning a song at school and the lyrics make me want to cry. "I'm a little bud, small in this world. Spring is coming and I want to fly. See a rainbow, fly over it. That's what I want to do, fly and discover a world of color." 

For Emerson, the first and second graders put on a performance showcasing different types on jobs. Emerson was an artist, so he got to wear a beret and a smock. He also got to say a few memorized lines at the beginning on the show. 

The 1st and 2nd graders also did choreographed dances. I didn't get any pictures of this part, but the second half of the showcase was an exhibition where each group had made a display about their profession along with some kind of hands-on activity for the parents. The artists had a painting station set up, and the artists would refill the paint, move pieces to the drying area, and set up new blank canvases for the parents. Very cute and well thought out. 

Since we'd be leaving for our big Patagonia trip on Dec. 14th, we realized having Christmas on the road would be pretty impossible. So instead, we asked Santa to deliver presents on Dec. 6th, and he kindly obliged! So, we had an early Christmas this year, which was the opposite of last year when we had Christmas in January. The boys had no problem with the early time table. I love Emerson's face here. 

Avery's Santa gift was a kitchen set, which we hid on the porch under a blanket so he wouldn't see it initially. Pure joy from Chef Jeff. I love that a kitchen set is still his gift of choice. He was heartbroken when we had to leave our old one behind in CO. 

We leave on Sunday, Dec. 14th for our big Patagonia trip, so the next post will be from the road! My goal is to post after every new section; we'll see how that goes. Van life, here we come!