We had a super new year celebration in Tortel. We arrived at about 6pm just in time to see a patagonian BBQ (whole lamb cooked over an open fire) down on the beach. The skin and fleece of this luckless creature was hanging over the balcony at our residecial! We had some of the lamb for dinner and the Didier (our guide) had created a black forest gateau for pudding as a celebration of Dad's birthday! What a surprise! The parties in the village continued long past us going to bed and there was still music playing when we got up in the morning! The whole village is strung out along the shore and built into the hillside. So all the houses are on little platforms and connected by walkways - some quite high up in the air. We spent a long time wandering back to the car along these in the misty morning.

We stayed another night on Lake General Carrera before taking a couple of planes back to Puerto Montt where I am just now. Mum, Dad and Dougal have gone down to Torres del Paine for a few days but I will meet them in Santiago in the middle of next week for a wee wine tour. We´ve had some fabulous wines so far (the best a Montes Alpha merlot for those in the know) so I think we´ll be in for a bit of a treat!