SEADAY (10 deg C)

Good Morning. Well it was a pretty rocky night last night. Didn’t get sea sick, but it was hard to sleep. This morning we watched some info about Antartica on the big screen, with commentary by the BBC Antartica exploration team I followed that up with another golf putting game. No improvement from the last game. At 11;00 we had our mandatory emergency drill at our life boats. Around noon we treated ourselves for a rijst tafel lunch (Indonesian food) As with my dutch heritage we basically grown up with indonesian food. Carol and I , we both eat way to much of the the good stuff. After lunch we had to lay down for a nap. Carol decided to do some more reading and myself, I went to the Gym to run off some of the Indonesian food. By the time I was done in the Gym, we had sailed back into the open ocean with 40 miles/hr wind. well, this made the ship move pretty good. Outside decks were closed, and stuff was flying around in the dining room. The Captain did a good job stabillising the ship. Apparently they move the waste water on board around from side to side to keep the ship as level as possible.It was rocking pretty good on the 20ft high waves. It saddled down some after midnight when we sailed back into the shelter of the fjords. Early morning tommorow as we sail up to the Amalia glacier around 6:30.

Cheers

“South America” “Cruising” “Chile”

PUERTO CHACABUCO, CHILE

Good Day. Puerto Chacabuco is located on the end of an inlet near the mouth of the Aysen River in Southern Chile. It is a small port town population near 1400. The main source of industry is fish processing suplied by the multiple of fish farms nearby. Today we decided not to get of board, as this was a tender port and the weather was iffy with intermitted rain and a temperature of 11 deg C. Not very high for summertime weather. Through the day we did on ship activities, write blog, walking, gym and music at night. Tonight we decided to have dinner in the diningroom in stead of the buffet. We sat on a table with a family from Montreal and a couple from Boston. Both couples had visited near a hundred different countries in the world. To me that is quite an achievement . Around 8:00 PM the ship turned from the wind protection of the fjords back into the open ocean with pretty good swells. I have to let you guys know in my next blog how this is going overnight.

Cheers

“South America” “Cruise” “Chacabuco”

CASTRO, ISLA CHILOE, CHILE

This Morning when I woke up, we were anchored in the harbour in front of the city of Castro. There was a very nice scenery with all the colourfull houses including several build on piles along the water front. After taking the tender to the shore, we set off on foot to explore the town. we criss crossed the town for several hours. Again, the infrastructure of the City was impressive. Very good road structure, vehicles are all newer and the commercial trucks are all very modern. This City has a lot of businesses supplying the Island of Chiloe. The Island is also a favorite spot for back packers. I saw several back packers Hostels around town. Around luch time and after 12,000 steps we headed back to the boat. This afternoon we had a Chilean wine festival on the boat. For 2 hrs you could try as many Chilean wines as possible, complemented with cheese. (that’s why I might have a few more spelling mistakes then usual) We set sail around 5:30 PM. There was a spectacular view of the hillside littered with small farms and beautifull homes. When we sailed out of the inlet, we noticed both sides of the inlet, are lined with fishfarms for miles. This was definitely one of the most spectacular stops on our trip so far. After all that wine this afternoon, I will make it an early night.

Cheers

“South America” “Castro Chiloe” “Cruising”

PUERTO MONTT & PUERTO VARAS, CHILE

Another stop high on my bucket list was the lake district in southern Chile. After embarking the boat, we boarded the bus for a day tour. First we headed out to Puerto Varas and on for a bus ride along Lake Llanquihue. This was a beautifull busride along the lake with a stunning view of Volcano Osorno on the background with its snow covered top. We arrived at a small place along the lake called Petrohue. From here we boarded the boat for a 45 min tour on the lake. Stunning views of the lake and surrounding areas. After returning from the boat ride, we re-boarded the bus and our next stop was a waterfall at the Petrohue river. Very pretty, but if you are from BC, we seen them before. We stopped back in Puorto Varas for luch in a restaurant overlooking the Lake with the Vulcano at the background. This was a very nice Salmon lunch. After luch we had about 1hr to roam the town. Listened to some life music at the downtown plaza for a while, till it was time to board the bus back to the port of Puerto Montt. I am very supprised by the contrast in landscapes in Chile. From the dry desert area around Santago and Valparaiso to the lush green farm fields around Puorto Montt. So far the infrastructure we encounter in Chile is getting better the more south we go. Very clean and no garbage around anywhere. Fantastic roads all around. I didn’t realise that Chile is one of the major fish exporting country’s in the world, especially Salmon. The Salmon comes all from fish farms. We had more stunning views when we sailed out of Puerto Montt with both Volcano’s in the back ground. The visit to Puorto Montt area definitely didn’t disappoint me.

Cheers

“South America” “Cruising” “Puerto Montt”

SEADAY

Today another seaday. after 1 month I decided to have a haircut. Cut, wash and dry for $25.00 I thought that was not to bad for cruise pricing. In the morning I entered the golf putting contest. With the boat rocking and rolling, I couldn’t do much good with that challenge. In the afternoon we entered the dutch shuffle board game, I hadn’t played that since my early teens. Lots of fun, I couldn’t do much with that game either. Today it was Chinese new year, we celebrated with chinese food in the dining room. During dinner the chinese dragon waved its way through the dining room. It was also Robby Burns day. After dinner we celebrated that with some scotisch treats in the lounge acompanied by some music. Next, bedtime!

Cheers

“South America” “Cruise” “HAL Volendam”

SEADAY

Today another seaday. after 1 month I decided to have a haircut. Cut, wash and dry for $25.00 I thought that was not to bad for cruise pricing. In the morning I entered the golf putting contest. With the boat rocking and rolling, I couldn’t do much good with that challenge. In the afternoon we entered the dutch shuffle board game, I hadn’t played that since my early teens. Lots of fun, I couldn’t do much with that game either. Today it was Chinese new year, we celebrated with chinese food in the dining room. During dinner the chinese dragon waved its way through the dining room. It was also Robby Burns day. After dinner we celebrated that with some scotisch treats in the lounge acompanied by some music. Next, bedtime!

Cheers

“South America” “Cruise” “HAL Volendam”

ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND, CHILE

This morning we sailed into this nice small bay, looking at this small island with houses scattered on the hillside. After breakfast we went to the tender boats getting us to shore. We were warned by the captain of the difficulty unloading the tender at the dock because of the waves. People with canes and walkers were recommended not to go on shore. (that’s about 1/3th of the boat). We went for a nice hike up the hills on the island and on return stopped at a small place to have a locally brewed beer and a fresh cooked lobster. We hiked up to the cemetery and to a memorial site of a battle from the 1th world war between the British and the Germans. This is the place the German ship the Dresden was sunk. There were still shells from the battle embedded in the rockface of the hillside. The site of the sunken ship is now a popular spot for scuba divers. Approximate 1000 people are living on the island. In 2010 most of the village was destroyed by a Tsunami. For all you folks who want to get away from all the world’s hussle and bussle this seem to be the perfect place for that. At 3:00 PM we re-boarded the ship with the tender and we sailed away around 5:30 PM.

Cheers

“South America” “Robinson Crusoe Isla” ” Cruising”

SEA DAY

Today is a sea day, sailing from San Antonio Chile to Robinson Crusoe Isla.After breakfast we went to lecture in the theatre by Prof Craig Franklin from the University of Queensland Aus. He did a talk about the sea life along the coast of South America and also about the sea currents all over the world. apparently along the coast of South America we have the Humboldt Current what keeps the water along this coast very cool. In Peru, even being so close to the equator the summer water temp is only 17 deg C or 62 deg F. Because of the cool water there is an abundance of fish, especially anchovis and sardines. Weatherwise today, the waves are rolling quite a bit  but we seem to get used to it. A new event today, was the block party. At 4:30 in the afternoon, stand outside your cabin door with your emty glass and they might put something in it. Sure enough, at 4:30 the cruise staff came by with wine. This was a great way to get to know your neighbours over a glass of wine standing in the hallway. We had about 15 people show up on our little corner. Not much for a party after dinner. called’r the night around 10:00.

Cheers

“South America” “HAL Volendam” “Cruising”

SAN ANTONIO, VALPARAISO, VINO DEL MAR

This morning we sailed into San Antonio, the largest Port City in Chile. After the earthquake in 1985 this port was totally rebuild. This is a very busy port, there were several large container ships in port today. Today we booked a tour to Valparaiso and Vino del Mar, about 1hr drive north of San Antonio. Valparaiso is a city I wanted to visit for a long time. I read about Valparaiso many years ago and never could get it out of my head. Now today, here we are. The landscape on the drive to Valparaiso is quite different what we had seen so far on on our trip. Definately more trees(pine) and rolling hills. On our way we past through Casablanca a major wine region in this area. The highways are very good so far in Chile. When we got to Valparaiso we witnessed all the colourfull houses build on the hillside, many dating back to the 1800’s. Through the years part of this City had been lost through large fires and earthquakes. The City looks in some ways a lot like San Fransisco with its steep streets and houses build on the rocks. It is hard to discribe the views of the narrow winding streets lined with many historical houses pained every colour of the rainbow without seeing it with your own eyes. Valparaiso is also a major Port city and home to several universities. We continued our day trip to Vino del Mar. Vino del Mar is a much more modern city compared to Valparaiso. Nice boulevards lined with palm trees and many flowers and parks. It looks to me much more a beach resort City. After a visit to a local museum, we had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. After lunch the bus took us back to San Antonio. After we got back to San Antonio we walked around the market a bit and then boarded the boat. I personally didn’t like San Antonio as much as the other 2 Cities.

Cheers

“South America” “Cruising” “Valparaiso”

COQUIMBO (LA SERENA) CHILE

Today we are visiting the port city of Coquimbo and the nearby City of La Serena. The population is about 200,000 in each city. Some of you might remember the rescue of the 11 Chilean miners a few years back, this was in Coquimbo. When you sail into Coquimbo, you can’t mis the enormous Cross on top of the hill apparently it is 100m high x 40m wide. Today we decided to take a 2.5hr busride in the area to get an idea of the lay of the land. First we travelled to La Serena. La Serena is a university town. One of the main subjects studied at this university is Engineering and subjects related towards mining. There is a major Iron mine just north of the city owed by CAP mining. La serena has a beautiful beach area. Many visitors are coming down from Argentina (Mendoza) for their vacations. Many of the Condo buildings are bought up for investment purposes and rented out to holidayers by the day. There was still a lot of graffiti all over town from the protests against the government they had in October, also most of the traffic lights were missing the lights. Apparently, they don’t plan to fix these lights and clean up the graffiti till after the elections which are scheduled for March. After returning to Coquimbo we wandered around the market for a while. We also got into the local fish market, what was quite the sight. Fishing is a very major source of employment for this City. After getting back on the boat, we set sail by 5:30. We really notice, that with the 2hr time change and going further south, the days are getting considerable longer. Sunset is now close to 9:00 PM

Cheers

“South America” “Cruising” “Coquimbo”