Category: Travel
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Chile – Atacama!
This post follows on from: Chilean Lakes The aridness and extent of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile boggle the mind. The desert is about twice the size of Tasmania and is one of the driest regions on earth. The Google satellite map below (click to enlarge) shows it stretching from the Pacific in the…
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Patagonia – Chilean Lakes
This post follows on from: Argentinean Lakes The Google satellite map below (click to enlarge) shows the extensive lakes system in northern Patagonia, stretching from Bariloche in the east (Argentina) to Puerto Varas in the west (Chile). The snow-capped Andes and various volcanoes are quite apparent. In the west, Puerto Montt is a major port,…
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Patagonia – Argentinean Lakes
This post follows on from: Glacier Country The Google satellite map below (click to enlarge) shows the eastern section of the extensive lakes system in northern Patagonia. The region is at a similar latitude to Hobart and is surprisingly lush and green, with landscapes reminiscent of the European Alps. We flew into Bariloche (San Carlos…
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King Valley – Food And Wine Trail!
The King River Valley is about three hours’ drive north of Melbourne. It is accessible from Mansfield (to the south-east), Benalla (to the west) or from Wangaratta (to the north). Whitfield, Cheshunt and Moyhu are the main small settlements in the valley. Some years ago we would sometimes drive through Whitfield when returning from skiing…
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Torres Del Paine National Park
This post follows on from: Tierra Del Fuego and Cape Horn Patagonia Patagonia is one of those mystery places: we know the name but we don’t really know much about it or where it actually is. Patagonia isn’t a country but a region on the southern tip of South America. It is large – a…
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One of Australia’s Great Drives – And Food And Wine Trails!
The Tamar Valley is one of the most beautiful parts of Australia, perhaps the most beautiful. This blog post is about a day we spent in July, 2017, where we started at Windermere, headed into Launceston and drove down the West Tamar to the Batman Bridge. It was a perfect day, starting with a light…
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Tierra Del Fuego and Cape Horn
This post follows on from: Four weeks visiting Patagonia, Atacama and Mendoza Ushuaia Ushuaia is at latitude 550 South, the same as Macquarie Island, making it well south of Hobart at 430. Naively we expected a small isolated settlement in freezing barrenness. Yet we found a thriving tourist hub of 60,000 people with good infrastructure, interesting…
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Four Weeks Visiting Patagonia, Atacama and Mendoza
This post follows on from: Cazuelas and Empanadas On the 12th of March 2017, sixteen of us started a four week tour of the southern parts of South America. Everyone in the group knew each other, all friends of ours. It was a private tour organised for us by our Melbourne travel agent, Natural Focus…