Valle Nevado

Today started out quite cool, and after a quick bite to eat, I headed down the road to the Conference Hotel to catch the bus as it was 'Conference Tour Day'! Now most of the delegates were off to either the local 'National Stadium' and Winery, or off to a Golf Course, and a Winery (the Sod farm was cancelled due to lack of interest...), but I thought long and hard about it, and thought I will go on the trip to Valle Nevado Ski resort!

It was not that far of a drive there, and as there was only 8 people taking the opportunity of something unique, it were almost had our own little private tour! After about 20 mins or so, we started our ascent up (yes, UP) the mountain. We were going to go up 3000m and that was just to the car park, hotel and restaurant/bar (and where the trails and lifts start)! Trouble was, the bus we were travelling in was only going at a MAX of about 30klm AT BEST, but we had to negotiate a very long and windy road. There was some 60 odd hairpin bends and it felt like at least another 100-200 others that were close as well! It was also a road that was just wide enough for one and a half cars, which was fun when trying to pass oncoming traffic!

Valle Nevado: - Long and widey road, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Once at the bottom of the mountain, there was a rental place in the car park, and one again under the restaurant/bar. Also, downstairs was a cheap and cheerful cafeteria styled place which had some good looking food and drinks etc. There was a magnitude of different lifts from tow-ropes, to J bars to Quadchairs, which were all easily accessible and quick.

Valle Nevado: - Easy Quad Chair, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

We had lunch out on the snow at a cute little place, I had a pizza, whilst some of my travel buddies had BBQ spears with salsa and bread. Refreshments were also had, (soft for me) and we were once again off to the lifts, this time, the top we went!

Valle Nevado: - Lunch on the mountain, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Valle Nevado: - Top of the Andes, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Valle Nevado: - Looking too the top of the Andes, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Valle Nevado: - Bottom of the Mountain, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Valle Nevado: - Powder run, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

When it came time to pack up the gear and head for home (thank goodness), I noticed these widowmakers on one of the hotels... I sure hope that they do NO damage!

Valle Nevado: - Widow Makers, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Farewell Valle Nevado, thanks for a great day!

Valle Nevado: - Car park & Hotels, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Life around Chile... From an Aussie's perspective

Today was full of conference stuff... Poster displays in the morning, another huge lunch followed by an afternoon of Research Paper presentations. Boring right? Maybe not to me, but that's ok for you to think it is!

So, in an effort to keep you here and reading, I will not go on to what was presented, but rather to give you an Aussie's perception of Santiago. And apologies in advance, there were no photos taken today due to being in a room all day!

• Santiago appears to be a very clean city. There is no shortage of people cleaning, sweeping, hosing down the pavements, street gutters and buildings! I find some of this very strange, hosing, as there are so many areas in Australia, and the world, that have water shortages, it should not be wasted!
• Landscaping is very similar to what I am use to in Sydney. Species are very similar in the wider horticultural sense, but they differ dramatically when looking downwards to the turf. Sydney, has a predominate warm season grasses whereas here the common are the cool season species, Perennial Ryes, Fescues and so on.
• Tree planting are, to me, somewhat of a concern with some horrid trees, Liquidambar, planted directly under the telecommunication cables, and within 2-3m of each other!
• People are incredibly friendly, and are willing to either try or understand our accent and English where they can; try themselves to communicate in English, and are accepting of my very bad attempt of Spanish
• Getting around the city of Santiago is easy, fast and efficient. The Metro to get into town is 400 CLP ($0.89 AUD or $0.79 USD) how cheap is that!
• Food is fresh and very VERY tasty... I had lunch the other day, 1/4 chicken with chips, a beer (in one of those big handle jug type glass) and a dessert... 1990 CLP ($4.43 AUD/$3.67)!!!

So, if you want to come to Chile, I throughly recommend you do...

Tomorrow, I am off to Vallenevado, so there WILL be photo's tomorrow, PROMISE!

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Grand Hyatt Santiago

Ok, this has to be really quick as I will be running late if it is not... I am also a day behind in posting, sorry, but yesterday being the first FULL day of presentations was an exhausting and long day...

A mutual work aquaintance that both L and I had, just happened to stumble in on day 1 of the preceedings... First I knew of it was from a finger in my back! It was a great surprise that this Sydney Water chap was there...

Ok, as I said it will be quick, so I will post some pics of the hotel where the conference is being held, the Hotel Grand Hyatt (I don't think the extra $90USD was justified, but I am happy where I am staying, even though it is a truely beautiful hotel)!

Grand Hyatt Santiago, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Grand Hyatt Santiago, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Grand Hyatt Santiago, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Grand Hyatt Santiago, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Grand Hyatt Santiago, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Cerro Santa Lucia & Parque Forestal

This morning, after another great breakfast, I headed to a couple of the sites I saw on the 'Turistik' bus tour yesterday... It would be easy enough to do, yeah, right?

Well, I am happy to report it was... A small walk to the Metro station (and I am now all for the Sydney Metro...) and a metro train trip to Santa Lucia, where my first stop of the day, Cerro Santa Lucia, or simply put, The Garden on the Hill. It was very much a hill, and a steep one at that! It was a maze of terraces, some were cobble stones, and others were simple crushed granit type. Atop of the hill is a Castle like structure with battlements, lookouts and canons... A place for kids to play and act like the Knights of olde.

One thing also I have noted in Santiago, is the amount of dogs that are roaming around. Certainly not fle ridden rat bags like in other countries like Blai & Phuket etc, but they actually look healthy. I did see a pack of them, outside a butchers, and a couple already chowing down on what appeared to be a healthy sized shank! Well, around the Cerro Garden, it was the same, with a couple of dogs (and even a cat) either happliy walking around or sleeping in the sun.

After getting my breath and legs back (about an hour I think having a cool drink), I caught the Metro again to Baquedano and headed for the Parque Forestal. This is an amazing park, with wandering pathways of crushed granit (or similar), and beautiful trees either within the paths, or within the turf areas. Whilst almost all of them had dropped their leaves due to winter, I can only imagine what they would look like in the Summer and even in the Autumn!

So here are some photos, this time in a mosaic (easier to see right?) so click on a link to see the full sized photo!

Chile Day 3, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

1. Plaza Da Armas Dancers, 2. Parque Forestal 4, 3. Parque Forestal Bridge, 4. Parque Forestal 3, 5. Parque Forestal 2, 6. Parque Forestal Plant Signage, 7. Parque Forestal 1, 8. Parque Forestal Statue, 9. Parque Forestal, 10. Graffeti, 11. Santiago Skyline 2, 12. Santiago Skyline, 13. Santiago Skyline 1, 14. Cerro Santa Lucia Statue, 15. Cerro Santa Lucia Chapel, 16. Cerro Santa Lucia Canon, 17. Cerro Santa Lucia Terrace Garden, 18. Cerro Santa Lucia Lookout Entrance, 19. Cerro Santa Lucia Seat, 20. Cerro Santa Lucia Lookout, 21. Cerro Santa Lucia Urn, 22. Cerro Santa Lucia Vista, 23. Cerro Santa Lucia Terrace Walkways, 24. Cerro Santa Lucia Palm, 25. Cerro Santa Lucia Shy Knight, 26. Cerro Santa Lucia Boy Statue, 27. Cerro Santa Lucia Girl Statue, 28. Cerro Santa Lucia Tiles, 29. Cerro Santa Lucia, 30. Water Garden Created with fd's Flickr Toys

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Turistik Bus Tour

This morning, I awoke rather early, too early it was still dark! But, after a little while (and catching up on things thanks to the wonders of the internet) it started to get light outside... Here is the morning sun rising over the Andes from my hotel window...

Hotel view 6am, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

After a quick shower, to wake up more so than anything else as I was now getting tired agian, I went downstairs to get some breakfast. I had some ceral with chocolate milk, toast with bacon & scrambled eggs, toast with spanish salami & cheese & a coffee. I also had an apricot juice in there too! After breakfast, I returned to the room to get my things, and the room was re-made already!

My Room 1504, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I then headed off to see Santiago. After asking how to get into the city, downtown, I was off with map in hands and careful directions in my head. Trouble was, I was heading in the WRONG direction! She did point me the way, and I followed it, but I was running backwards! After nearly 30 mins of walking, I found an intersection of streets I could understand on the map, and headed off to the banks hole in the wall, to get some cash. Funny thing was, it was all in Spanish, and do you think I could understand a word of it?! I asked the security gaurd for some assistance, and he told me how to change it to English, phew! I then made my withdrawal, for what I thought would be enough, only to find out from the tellers inside, I had withdrawn $184 USD! I had heaps of cash!

After the explination of money from the bank, I was pointed in the right direction towards the Metro; Escuel A Militar! From here I was told it is 11 stops to get downtown, Moneda. Easy as, until I got my ticket and then had to work out HOW to get through the barriers, it was easier than I thought and will not make the same mistake tomorrow!

I got onto the Turistik Tour Bus, its one of those 'Hop on, Hop off' type of ones... It was also incredibly glary all day, with a lot of smog (from wood heaters maybe?), which made photography a little difficult, but these are what I got today...

Old Stataion, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Main Mall Santiago, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Presidential Palace, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Stone monument, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Steel books, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

River Crossing, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Roadside Tree, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Santiago Andes, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Nightmare communications, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Fountain Plaza de Armas, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Bicentenario 2010, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Constitucion Square (Parliment), originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Sorry for the amount of pictures, I will try and do a slideshow or a mosaic next time!!!

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Welcome to Santiago!!

Well, here I am... After a quick 2.5 hour flight to Auckland to refuel and then a long haul of 12 hours, I have arrived in Santiago. The flight was good, very good actually, even though the food, compared to recent travels in Emirates, was a bit 'light on'... Good, just could have been more!

I was told what to expect when departing Auckland, a very LONG takeoff roll, which was very much the case. It was more than a little bumpy as well as we crossed the bay and headed across the Pacific. The dinner service was delayed just over an hour until we got through the turbulance! I was also told that the approach into Santiago is quite special... Indeed it was as we took a northerly approach THROUGH a valley (snow capped Andes on the right, and another mountain range on my side). We did a quick left bank followed by a steep righthand bank which now saw us heading south and the Andes on my side. It was very glary, so I am sorry for the photos below...

Business LAN, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Economy Rear LAN, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Approach SCL, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I finally got something good about my British Passport. Had I have come into Chile on my Aussie one, I would have had to pay for an Arrival Visa of $64USD, but as Chile and the UK have reciprocity rights, this fee is waived! I passed through immigration within 15 minutes and I had a driver waiting for me outside, you know the guys holding a placard with YOUR name on it! Cool hey! It took us nearly 40 mins to get to the hotel and it was fairly interesting sights along the way. I was dead tired, didn't think to have camera with me, and got to the hotel, checked-in and had a quick 2 hour sleep!

After dinner, I got my internet working, photo's uploaded from camera and I am now about to head off to bed, I am beat!

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POLL: - Help with colour selection please!

I am about to change the colour scheme of the house... Something I/we wanted to do, and now I think is the time to do it... Also, as the painter suggested, to do it PRIOR to having the brickwork, repointed!

So here is the house now, in the classic Green & Cream scheme (which I detest!)

HOUSE 1, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

HOUSE 1 Gabel Ends, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

HOUSE 1 Entrance, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Now here I offer you some different combinations of colour schemes, AND I want YOUR comments/suggestions, and to even discuss this amongst yourselves and debate which one I will choose (please?)!

OPTION 1

HOUSE 2, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

OPTION 2

HOUSE 3, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

NOTE: Brickwork will NOT be painted, so please refer to window frames, doors, facias etc).

OPTION 3

HOUSE 4, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

So, what will it be??? Let the discussions begin!!!

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Still remembering...

I went to the cemetery today, to place some flowers, sit and ponder, remember even, but I thought I would share with you some photo's I took. At first, I thought I was 'strange' doing this, but from the perspective that some of you are no where near here, I thought, I am not being so strange after all... It really is SUCH a nicely landscaped area!

When I got there, there was a flock of Galah's searching through the turf, trying to find some seeds or something to eat:

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

This is the view across the little roadway to the lawn area:

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

And then from where she is:

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Now, here she is... The headstone was put up the day I arrived home from England in May and the plaque (and a photo) will be there in about 6-7 weeks:

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Here is the seat that I sit on, as it is close, I can she her, I can rest, look, think and ponder about things...

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

On my way out, I went past a couple of other really nice areas, the Mum 'n' Bub Lawn and the River Gum Reserve, both as nice as each other...

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Visiting Lou, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Looking forward to a nicer day tomorrow, a better nights sleep, and hopefully, the weather plays nice and does NOT rain!

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Remembering a life lost to soon...

Today, mark's 3 months when my world came crashing down...

3 month's ago, I lost my love, my partner my life. But in the 3 months since, I have had to come to terms with so many emotions I never thought I would have to until I was old and grey...

But, in remembering the good things in life, and putting these down on paper... well, will a blog do?, I will remember for a long time to come.

When looking through the photo's I have, I came across this one that was taken on a trip Nth, to Brisbane, to look after the nephews for a couple of weeks. It was only now, that I see WHY this is so important... The number 15 that M is holding, it is the day that it all came crashing down in April...

Louise, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Here we remember our first trip to New Zealand, in the cable car (gondola) to the top of Rotorua. This was such a great trip, as it really was our first REAL holiday. Not a trip that was combined with a conference or a meeting of some sort for either one of us.

Louise, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

And lastly, remembering some of the things the was enjoyable... Macc still misses his momma. He knew his place in the pack; there was me at the top, and then him and it was up to him to protect his momma. He did this on a couple of occasions as well!

Louise, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

It is now just over a week until I head off, overseas again, and this trip has been 4 years in the making. I am really looking forward to it, the conference, and I have added in a few extra destinations as well. After Chile, I am then off to Spain for a couple of days, the UK for about a week (and maybe a trip across the pond to Paris) before heading back to the real world called home. I can't wait to tell you of my travels.

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