As if we'd never been away!

Arrived home on a glorious spring day to find everything was pretty much as we left it. One car started first time, the other didn't.

Managed a bit of essential shopping, unpacking and sorting, a walk in the sunshine and a home-cooked meal - chicken liver curry - followed by 11 hours asleep.

Woke refreshed to a grey wet morning - with a list of jobs to be completed outside before the ewes and hens come home.

Stayed wet all day - full waterproofs for the afternoon while I mixed cement for the hen-house floor and tried to stop the leaks in the roof. Got the shed ready for the ewes and power back on the electric fences while Linda was busy with the washing machine.

Unfortunately our sick hockey girl didn't make it - despite all Kate's efforts - will have to decide whether to replace her or not.

The Statistics

We spent 46 nights in Chile slept in 23 beds -10 hotels, 7 apartments or cabanas, 4 hostels / B&B's – our longest stay was 6 nights in Concon.

We were on 3 domestic flights and then drove 3700km in the X-Trail. Weather-wise there were 32 sunny days, 10 1/2 were overcast and 2 ½ were rainy (one day didn't count because we spent it in an airport waiting for a rescheduled flight) – Linda can tell me to the penny how much we spent on petrol, and the average cost per night of our accommodation – but I nodded off and missed the figures.

A weekend in Mississauga

Started with pub night again – thanks to Mark & Judy – a chance to practise my Pisco Sour recipe. Made it home before daylight but still spent most of Saturday recovering.
Despite Braeden's injury we went to watch his team in the playoffs – maybe they would have won if he had been on the ice!
Then on to a family dinner – Saucy in Streetsville – an excellent meal and the sort of professional friendly service which we rarely see.
Sunday morning and we are back on the road for our flight to Newark and connection home to Shannon. Couldn't check in online (system wouldn't allow) for the Continental / United flight and had to wait until Newark by which time they tell us that we are sitting at opposite ends of the aircraft – hard to understand when we had seats assigned in our original reservation about 5 months ago.
Airline staff in Toronto and Newark have been among the surliest people we have encountered – will be a pleasure to be back home where you have a bit of chat with everyone you meet.

About 7 hours in the 'Land of the Free'reminded me that the inalienable right that they exercise most is the the one that makes them loud and vexatious in public spaces.

Braeden is his usual lively self - even with a damaged knee - no concessions. Luckily he can't move very fast when you take his crutches away.

Pub night calls!

The Last Supper

With a 21.45 hrs departure for Toronto, we had a full day to fill on Thursday. Our hosts were happy for us to stay for as long as we wanted but we got on the road just after midday and drove cross country to Casablanca in time for a late lunch at the Casas del Bosque. We were too late to visit the winery when we were in Casablanca last week but they gave us such a friendly reception we decided that it would be a nice way to finish our stay in Chile.

We chose their food & wine pairing menu and the food was excellent, perfectly matched to the four wines that they gave us. One of our best meals and a fabulous location -not sure the picture does it justice!

From there it was a a quick blast down the motorway to the airport to drop of the car and the joys of long-haul travel.

Alamo - like most of their fellow car rental companies - lived up to form; first they couldn't find the original reservation and were unable to calculate the costs, then when they did find it, they charged a $120 penalty on the rental cost because they had no record of my request to extend the rental period by a week - despite an email and a phone call to confirm the extension and the absence of any penalty. After a lengthy discussion (just as well we had plenty of time for check-in) we had to pay 50% of the charge in return for the contact details of their General Manager to whom our complaint will be addressed. Will refrain from further comment until I see his response.

The Air Canada flight was full, long and took a very bumpy road north - otherwise uneventful arriving on time in a dry mild Toronto morning. Jim was waiting to meet us and provide Starbucks for breakfast-how good can it be!

A further thought

Forgot to mention that just as the towns and cities feel safe and secure, the countryside is equally benign. There do not appear to be any snakes or bugs to bite or poison you and there have been very few mosquitoes - haven't even seen a cockroach - probably explains why camping is so popular!