Summer vacation in Pucón

Although this is a summer-in-Pucón post, I just can't resist first posting the videos from this winter.  

They're short so just think of it as a comparative study of seasons...

And now...back to our feature presentation:  SUMMER IN PUCÓN!

November brought  loooong warm days 

December 13th marked the end of Primero for Kaia (1st grade) and Tercero (3rd) for Niko. 

As part of the school finale, we made tie-die shirts with the class which turned out to be a real hit.

Being summer and all--in the Southern Hemisphere, St. Nikolaus (Dec. 6th) arrives wearing Bermuda shorts and flip flops. Niko and Kaia didn't seem to think it strange that we had to dig out the, now long-retired, winter boots...at a time when most of us were starting to wear sandals.

Best of all (besides the end of rain and drizzle) was the fact that we could finally start swimming out our front door. Though our house is the last one on the beach before the Rio Trancura Delta, we decided to pack a picnic and see what the other side of the delta looked like.

The hike out included a 4x4 and lots of wet feet

The empty beach and views were worth it.

Three volcanoes in a row (L to R)-Lanin, Quetrupillán, and Villarrica

Grampa showed up on the heels of St. Nikolaus - a quick check-in to make sure St. Nick did his job well.  None of us complained about the inspection!

Fort building on the beach with Grampa.

Santa also found Niko and Kaia in the Southern Hemisphere - his annual letter is always a highlight.  Apparently the Puelche wind screaming into Pucón from Argentina caught him off guard and almost whipped him into Lago Villarica.

Thank goodness for Skype to feel connected to family, especially on holidays!

Mormor and Rocky celebrate Christmas morning with us

Drum session whether Uncle Erik
likes it or not!

Gramma checked in during the day from wintery Minnesota

Niko attended his first sleep away summer camp, and then he and Kaia both attended day camp with friends from the Waldorf school.

Summer camp at Los Riscos meant lots of open space and LOTS of  time to just be kids...

Sleep away camp drop off

Besides the most magnificent strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, cherries, and avocados we've ever tasted, summer in Pucón meant

..........more time with friends.....

Testing out the pool and pizza oven at Heidi & Damien's

Luca and Kaia

..... more time to check out cool critters ....

...and they actually get even bigger...really...

yep, tarantulas

........ more time to climb trees........

Climbing the boldo tree in the back yard

..... more time to enjoy Jerry's sailboat.........

 


..... and more time to hike!

View from the mirador in Cañi

It was interesting watching Pucón change, almost overnight, from a fairly sleepy small town to a vacation resort destination packed with families from Santiago ready to party. "Our" once-empty beach suddenly filled with a variety of inflatable water toy rental centers, people selling everything from massages to sodas to flags, parasailors landing right over our house, the start of seasonal jet service into Pucón airport, and partiers carrying on until 5 AM.  The action really ramped up with the annual Ironman triathalon where tent-covered streets were shut down and helicopters patrolled the beach.






Two weeks of the circus was enough for us --which is lucky for us as rents increase ten-fold during high season. So, mid-January we packed up Monty and headed for Tierra del Fuego.

First stop, Chiloé -and the focus of our next post.