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Apparently this town also comes alive in the summer season. The owner of the poolroom amused us, each time we passed he was asleep in a chair, Helmuth said he slept all day everyday in the same place.

What a quaint town just like in the movies horse and carts people gathered on the corners having a chat. In the bars the fisherman playing cards and drinking red wine. Apparently the Fishermen are not highly motivated to go out fishing and spend sometime in the bar.

While we were at the bar we were invited to check out the garden that was used to produce vegetables for the bar. It had a couple of guys working in the garden that was right next to the sea. The Publicans quarters were also attached to the bar.

There were two guys working in the garden gathering potatoes.

One of these guys approached us and asked if we could help him get a job in New Zealand. He had his grand daughter or daughter with him. We had to tell him that we could not help. They gave Helmet a large bag of potatoes. It is sad to see these people who are so poor but willing to share whatever they have, the girl reminded us of our grand daughters.

We could not hire a car in this area and travelled to larger towns such as Cauquenes to hire cars, there was none this was not a tourist area but a town for supplying the local farmers. After Helmet made enquires with the local Taxi company. We decided to use Helmut and Claudia’s utility wagon and their time to guide us as we wanted to go to the lakes area and see the Andes and volcano’s.

Helmets vehicle had a noise from the gearbox and Rhondda and I were not overly confident of his vehicle but he insisted that we should use it. So the vehicle was serviced and the following day did some exploring of the local area.

Bullocks ploughed the fields we only saw one tractor used for cultivation. Horses did much of the work.

The roads around here are shocking the potholes are craters that buses and trucks are forced to cross onto the other side of the road. Logging is a big business here and the trucks are on the road 24/7 carrying pines from the forests. 150 huge trucks went through the town each day.

Helmets vehicle at the local garage.

At nights we would talk and learned of the times when dictators were collecting anyone who might not be sympathetic to them and the times when Cludia left for France and Helmet escaped to Australia. Helment enjoying his red wine prior to dinner.

Helmet had prepared steak and salad with wine and Rhondda dishes it up while Claudia looks on.

We went to a fishing village called Pelluhue, where we saw a young foal with its mother and a stallion being put to the mare. As horses are so valuable with the variety of work they do it is only a short space of time before the mare is in foal again. This was interesting because the mare did not want a bar of the stallion so she was kicking and bucking him off. When it was all over and the stallion was off the mare he gave the most incredible grin with his lips rolled back baring his teeth, then leaped around  and rolled over on his back kicking his legs in the air. Rhondda was so astounded that she was unable to take a photograph. It was hilarious she missed the photograph of the century. There was a rodeo ring near by.

Helmet and Claudia at a War memorial to the Pacific War on Pelluhue beach.