That night a storm causes havoc and the morning greets us with a grey windy smile. We decide to take the freeway.

I am a disaster when it comes to freeways – I get bored easily because a highway never tells the real story – you have to take the slower way to really "see and feel" a country. Therefore we take a turnoff to Rio Bueno, but the rain pours down now and at some stage we nearly have an accident. Rule for travellers: if it rains hard either stop or travel on the highway – depending on the amount of time you have.

When we reach Osormo the weather clears and we turn in the direction of Entr Payehue. It is a small village and the lady working at the Supermarcado provides us with a fantastic map “mappe of the region” of the surrounding area. There are a lot of toll roads in the area and at every stop we have to pay a fee of 1400 pesos (there are 4 tollgates in short succession). In true Goss-Ross fashion we dodge all toll roads and enjoy the slow go on the alternative routes. (At this stage we did not have any toll roads in South Africa and now we stay in Mtunzini with a toll road on our door step – funny how things work out sometimes!!)
 
 
 
 
 
 

At Lago Rupanco we turn off onto a gravel road. The scenery around here is too beautiful for words. Neat fences and moss-covered gates make wonderful pictures, we end up at the most beautiful lake. This is the playground of the rich and we see some magnificent houses in this area – but with that comes the privacy issues – it is nearly impossible to get to the lake as the high fences block all access to the lake. (This happens all over the world).

From here we stay on the gravel road and head towards Puerto Actay on the edge of Lago Llanguihue. We drive down the west side of the lake and pass places with names like Frutillar. We take a photo of an ox-wagon (actually a cow car – a car towed by cows) – we thought it to be unique, but later we find these wagons on the highway!!

At Puerto Mont we buy a better map from a travel shop. The guy is very helpful and shows us a scenic route and we decide to follow his advice. Puerto Mont is a big city and since we do not like cities we decide to go to Puerto Veras a little north of this bigger city.

We find a place to put our heads down at Hostel Quehui (an even cheaper place than before and we discover that the TV has no reception, but the room is filled with character and charm. Last night'sbath was so small you could barely sit in it and tonight there is only a shower....at least the toilets stay a standard size in all price classes).