Some things that are slightly different in Chile

This is a post about some ordinary day to day stuff that is different in Chile….

In Santiago and various other towns that we came through in middle Chile, we often could smell raw sewerage when walking on the streets. It never gets pleasant, but you sort of get used to it. So when we were driving down the Pan-American Highway (Ruta 5) and stopped at one of the luxurious Copec fuel stations, we didn’t give it much thought when we smelled sewerage. We wanted to have lunch on the lush green lawns and picked a spot where the sewerage smell was less potent, no problem! So we are lying in the grass, sandwich in hand, cold Nesquick in reach, sunny and all good, or so we thought… Then one of the fuel station employees came over and told us we couldn’t eat there. At first we didn’t understand, but then he explained that the reason the grass was so lush and green was because they watered it with the sewerage from the public toilets. End of lunch! Now who waters lawns with raw sewerage!?!? Continue reading

Valdivia to Chiloé

We ended up staying in Valdivia for five days, which was good as we got some more paperwork done and collected some hard to find bits to add to our ‘gear pile’ in order to achieve self sufficiency on the road/campsite. We also visited the small Curiñanco Reserve which has four different forest types in a very small area. We were the only people visiting and got a very detailed description on the paths we were to take and what we were to see if we were going to walk clockwise. When finished with that, he did the whole story again from end to start, just in case we wished to walk anti-clockwise, so we felt quite well prepared! He also ensured us that it wasn’t dangerous, no pumas or other big cats, just pudús (smallest existing deer), which we really want to see, but no luck. The park was beautiful, with lookouts over the ocean. We also came across some massive vultures, not the most attractive birds around…

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Bought a Car!

Merry Christmas everyone! We are celebrating Christmas in Santiago as we are a bit stuck here at the moment (more about that later). A couple years ago we organised a Chrismas potluck for ‘orphans’ in Wellington and we have found the same event being organised in Santiago! So tonight we are joining a random group of people for a meal on the rooftop terrace of an apartment building. Everyone also has to bring a Christmas card to exchange.

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Last weeks in New Zealand

First blog, first post! It’s been a while since we have been on a big trip and seeing that blogs are the way to keep family and friends up to date on adventures these days, we are now also entering 21st century with our own blog! So welcome to kiwiandcheese.com! I am sitting in our fancy apartment in Herne Bay/Ponsonby in Auckland at the moment, where we are staying for three days before catching our flight to Santiago.

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