Valdivia

Unlike most towns and cities here, Valdivia's centre is not the Plaza de Armas but its waterfront where three rivers come together on their way to the sea. The main market - fish on one side, fruit and veg on the other - is the big attraction on the quayside and there is little else in the city centre other than another modern concrete cathedral.

Our base on the Isla Teja proved ideal as we were in walking distance of the two main museums and the botanical gardens which surround the university campus. The museums show just how much the German immigrants shaped the city and its business and their involvement in education and science.

The confluence of the rivers means that there are vast areas of wetlands and a great variety of birdlife.

It was also one of the most successful ports under the Spanish - the system of forts and batteries which they built at the river mouth in 1645 were undefeated until 1820 when a Scottish (of course!) Admiral who was the Commander in Chief of the fledgling Chilean navy managed to breach the defences and capture the city on behalf of the new republic.

When we went to visit the forts this morning, we drove into a fog bank which dropped the temperature by about 15 degrees C and cut short our visit. As an alternative we investigated a couple of artisan breweries - probably the most enduring evidence of the German immigrants. The most successful - Kunstmann - offered a tasting of their 10 different beers - a very commercial setup - and also one of my personal favourites - Torobayo.

Decided to skip the Jetski championships which were taking place in town and settled for a cooling libation on our balcony watching another sunset.

We are back on the road tomorrow heading inland to more lakes, volcanos and hot springs.