Living in the Castle

The shearing shed built in 1863

We have just returned from a 5 day trip where we were in residence in a traditional castle - yes, a real castle - Kings Plains Castle situated on an unsealed road between Glen Innes and Inverell.

As the only guests, for the first 2 days we settled in but with car problems, we had to stay another 2 nights and with the owners away, we took over as Lord and Lady of the Castle as well as custodianship of the property complete with cattle (Angus, no less).

We toured the 1860s shearing sheds, inspected the graveyard and visited the local national park via the farm ute. We spent many hours sitting in front of the wood fire....... it was genuine Scottish weather!

Sunday at the Palace

The Presidential Palace in Santiago

Robert checks out the livestock

Gail checks out the guardsmen

We spent an enjoyable Sunday looking at some of the spots we had missed on our previous visit to Santiago. The presidential palace is quite spectacular with lots of open space around complete with pools, fountains and statues. The guards on duty were friendly.

We also wandered around looking at shops and some of the other public buildings.
We leave for Sydney on Monday night and arrive on Wednesday morning.

More Mouai

Look carefully and you will see
us straightening the leaning statue.

See what they look like when

no-one straightens them. We

learnt how in Pisa when we

fixed the tower.

Restored after being toppled

and washed inland after a tsunami.

The quarry where the mouai

came from. These heads are

full figures buried from erosion.

The headpieces are a different

kind of rock from another quarry.

We have now toured all the major sites on the island and also visited a lovely beach where we swam to a backdrop of royal Mouai (the last picture). Tomorrow afternoon we fly back to Santiago.

Meeting the Moai

This is the only group of moai that
are facing towards the ocean.

Now you can see them from the front.

There are lava tubes from the

extinct volcanoes. This one

reached the sea.

Overlooking the crater of one

volcano - now one of the water

supplies for the island.

These houses were lived in for

about 1 month each year during

the birdman festival used to

select the king.

We spent a day travelling around the western side of the island with a guide. Today we will explore the southern side of the island with the same guide - hope to meet more moai.

Easter Island

Gail in the garden of our accommodation.

Our first moai along the beachfront

just along from our accommodation.

We left Santiago quite early yesterday morning for the 5 hour flight to Easter Island. There is a 2 hour time difference so we arrived at lunchtime where we were met with flower leis.

In the afternoon we bought supplies to cook dinner as we have a kitchen here and are missing our own cooking. We walked along the coast looking at the little port where turtles play, tiny beaches with people swimming and sunbaking and platforms where moai are standing.

We are looking forward to our first full day travelling around .

Museo Historico Nacional Gaucho dancer spins his spurs

Religious dancing at Santiago's cathedral holy day.

One of the dancers at the religious festival on Santiago's holy day.

Since travelling from Valparaiso to Santiago by bus, we have spent an enjoyable couple of days taking in the city sights. We visited a heap of museums, including the National History, Pre Columbian, Post office (ex governor's palace and presidential palace) and the Basilica de la Merced with its Easter Island artefacts. We loved the main square around which these buildings are located with the fountains, jacaranda trees etc.

The cathedral was very interesting as when we visited it on Sunday, it was a holy day and the dancers included bears (not real ones), devils(?) etc and statues being blessed. I don't think even the pope could understand South American catholicism.

We also climbed a local mountain/hill that included forts, fountains and young Chilean lovers. We celebrated our ascent with an ice cream!

Jean departs for Sydney and we head off for Easter Island the next morning.

Valparaiso

Our hotel in Valparaiso. We have a wonderful view over the harbour. The little balcony on the left is ours.

Toy cars in the central square.

The MS Veendam departs.

Our cruise has come to an end and we are back on dry land although it seems to be rocking a bit. It could be our sea legs adjusting or it could be that we are in Valparaiso, one of the shakiest cities in the world.

Still lots of evidence of building damage from the earthquake earlier this year. Our accommodation is a quaint old converted teahouse, perched precariously on the hillside. The views are spectacular, including at night where it looks like fairyland.

We have been on several walks around the city, travelling down by ascensor - a bit like the scenic railway. Ours was the first built in 1883 and still going strong. They are all over the city which is built on the side of a very steep hill.

We have visited the churches and squares, public buildings and small outdoor markets.

We particularly like the district around our hotel which has a bohemian feel rather like Montmartre in Paris. There are lots of old mansions converted into small hotels and restaurants. There are many artisan's workshops and painters displaying their work. The place has a real buzz.

We are off to Santiago today.