We have been in Santiago for a week having arrived last Friday on the bus from Serena. Chile is very expensive compared to Peru, but we decided to check in to a slightly more upmarket hostel and enjoy some comfort for a change. So here we are at the Happy House Hostal right near the centre of town. It has a swimming pool and tv lounge, plus a kitchen so that we have been able to cook our own meals.
The week has mainly been enjoyable, but we did have one disastrous day in Valpariso on Valentines Day. Sitting in a restaurant enjoying a local chilean dish, (basically muscle soup), we were seranaded by some charming street minstrals who distracted our attention long enough for someone to snatch Jon's backpack from under the table. It was done so quickly that he was not even aware that it had gone until he reached to pick it up. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the police station, desperately trying to remember what had been inside for the police report, and trying to find enough spanish so that they didn't record something like "priceless Inca artifacts" instead of "sunglasses". We did pretty well, ending up a bit like Generation Game trying to remember things going by on a conveyor belt. What we didn't remember was Jon's false teeth, having fallen out he had stuck the plate in his pack, (I don't know the spanish for that anyway).
The week has been bitter-sweet for us because today we are parting for a while. I leave for Auckland tonight and Jon flys back to UK tomorrow. We have got to know each other very well, warts and all, and sometimes we have treated each other badly. Sometimes the stress of a situation has brought out the worst in us. But Jon, if you read this, I have to say that no-one could have looked after me better, and you have often been stong for both of us. You have been beside me during the worst of times and the best of times. We have done an amazing thing and will still be talking about it together until we are very old (well even older). Thank you for helping me fulfil a dream.
I am looking forward to NZ more than I can express in words, (I am sure you can imagine). I have been looking forward to seeing my family again for the whole six months and, of course, I will be meeting baby Fin for the first time. I will post some pictures on the blog when I get there.
