Travelog for: Quentin Ducky

Hi Mum,

Today we gathered all together to say goodbye to Landroval and Sigfrido who are travelling back to Europe and will arrived just in time to celebrate New Year’s eve ...assuming they won’t be too jet-lagged .

Hi Mum,

Today we went for a short hike near Calgary. Most of the route was between trees with the occasional viewpoint .



Once we reached the summit the views were great and, funny enough, the place is so windswept that there was hardly any snow around .




On the way down we noticed that someone had built a igloo . The outside didn’t looked exactly state of the art in igloo construction ...



...but is seemed solid enough, so we went inside to take some shelter from the wind and have some rest. And it was actually very warm and comfortable , too bad eventually we had to leave and go home .

Hi Mum,

Today I said goodbye to all my friends here in Calgary as tomorrow I’ll start travelling to Chile .



sammino gave me a big hug and wished me safe trip .



And luckily I’ll have company going to the post office as Cassiopeia is leaving too .

Hello mum and everybody else!

After many days inside my dark and tight but soft envelope, I finally arrived to my destination...
- and where is that? - in Chile!
Actually I've been here a few days already, but my new host Leslie and the others just arrived today from their holidays, but hey! it's not like I missed all the fun! because there's still another trip to come!

Anyway, I was waiting and waiting until I hard the door open, followed by some steps and voices saying "hey! there's another one of us" another voice said "do you think this is the one Leslie has been talking about?" and then a louder voice said something in spanish "por fin llegó", which means "he's here at last", I was told later.

The first thing I saw was a lot of light and then some curious faces eager to see me!



As I came out they all came closer to welcome me!



And they all jumped to give me a big welcome hug!



Then Pato introduced himself as my new TV host. He's a duck too! And his name means duck in spanish, how cool is that! He said my name in spanish would be "Patito" ...do you like it? ...I'm pretty sure I still prefer my english name, Ducky



I was so excited that I almost forgot to give Leslie the gifts I brought her from Canada! She was very happy with them



Now I have to help packing, tomorrow we are going to Argentina!
I can't wait!
I'm so happy to be here!

Bye!
Ducky

¡Hola mamá! ¿Cómo estás? - see? I've been learning some spanish here!

I'm having a great time here, although our trip to Argentina turned out to be not like we expected at all! You'll see why...

Here we are crossing the Andes mountain range that divides Chile and Argentina. Can you see the white thing on the ground? well, it's not snow, it's the ashes of an erupting volcano!



As we went higher we could see more and more and all the vegetation was dead because of the ashes, it looked like winter!



Leslie said it is a chilean volcano called Pullehue the one that's erupting, but the wind is carrying all the ashes to Argentina, poor argentinians...



Then we crossed the border! Welcome to Argentina!



I kept asking Leslie "are you sure that's not snow?" but she said there's no snow in the mountain range in summer...
That's really a lot of ashes!



Petunia wanted to pick some volcanic rocks so I helped her, she said they're good for the skin Maybe I could bring some home for you too mum



As we went down the mountain we could see everything was covered in ashes!
The beautiful views were now grey and we could not see very far
But I still liked what I saw... I bet it must be very very beautiful when the sky is clear!



And then after some hours we reached our destination, Bariloche!
Look at this funny tour bus!



Bariloche is well known for its chocolate, and you can really tell! There are whole supermarkets of chocolate! It's hard to walk through the streets without stopping every now and then to drool in front of the showwindows!



And then we went to the most famous spot of the city, the Civic Centre







It's really beautiful! isn't it?



I'll write again soon!

Argentinian hugs and kisses from the ashes!
Ducky

There are so many carnivals going on around the world and here we have nothing! It's unfair! ...so we decided to do something about it... Our own carnival!!

We weren't quite sure wether to do it the brazilian way, or more venetian... so we decided to do a mix, or own carnival style! but I chose a more tropical style for my costume How do I look mum?



Then we all gathered on our colorful costumes to let the party begin!



We lit some candles and I started to play some music so everybody started to dance! Did you know what a talented musician your little duck is?



Then Chrissi took the guitar and I went to dance with Petunia



...and then with Fiona. She's such a good dancer!





It was a lot of fun! and Chrissi did a great job with the guitar!



Our carnival was awesome! At the very level of Venice and Brazil I dare to say



See you mum
I'm having a lot of fun here!
Bye bye!

Hi mum and everybody else!

The photos I'm going to show you today are from the nice city of Bariloche too

In daylight the civic centre didn't look as nice as at night because of the pale ashes covering everything... The sky looks cloudy, but that's mostly ashes, mum!

Can you see all those St. Bernard dogs? It's a tradition here in the civic centre to get a picture with them and they're all carrying brandy barrels around their necks as they used to rescue people in the mountain range
See how much I've been learning?



It was a little windy, too





I stayed with this nice guy who was standing outside a tourism office while Leslie went inside to ask a few questions
In the office they said all the tourism activities of Bariloche are up in the hills around the city, but with the ashes you can't see anything up there, so there isn't much left to do here in the city...



Can you see the lake back there? That's Nahuel Huapi lake



We spent the afternoon mainly driving around

Here I am in the fields of Llao Llao Hotel. It's a very nice and famous hotel!



On a sunny day I would choose a room with view to this lake



Here I am at the ferry port where you can take tours to the Nahuel Huapi lake...



Then it was lunch time and we went to a cozy restaurant to eat yummy empanadas! fried dough, some filled with beef and the rest with cheese and ham, really yummy!



After our delicious empanadas we drove to a city called El Bolsón (which means "the bag" in spanish, what a funny name!) I wonder who can name a city like that



There wasn't much going on in El Bolsón either, so we were there for a very short time... I liked this sculpture very much though!



And then we returned to Bariloche and in the night we went to the centre again, but there was a massive blackout for some minutes, so when the power was back all the shopping centres were almost empty!



And that was our day
Many kisses and hugs for you!
Bye bye

Hi mummy!

I'm sorry it's been a long time since I updated here... but it's all Leslie's fault! she keps saying she's busy with her studies and all sort of excuses to not help me! But today me and the others hid her books and won't give them back until she helps us update!

These photos are from our last day in Argentina, in the end it was a very short trip because of the ash fall...
On our last day we visited the main cathedral of Bariloche



It was very beautiful inside!





And there were many interesting pictures and sculptures inside...



Fiona was impressed by the stained glass windows!



...So I took a closer look. They told the story of the first jesuits that came to South America





Do you like it mum? I do!



Then we packed our stuff and started driving back to Chile.



There were some beautiful views by the road!



Look at this mum! We found a giant dwarf!



I learned that Bariloche is also known as "the land of dwarfs"!



Then we returned to Chile, where I am now doing this update

Hugs for you!
Bye bye!

Hi dear mummy!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted here, but Leslie keeps saying she's so busy all the time! Grrr!

Anyway, we took the day off to go to a nice touristic town near Llaima volcano, called Pucón

On our way we first passed through another town, called Villarrica (rich village )

Both Pucón and Villarrica are surrounding a big lake



What do you think? A beach with grass



Then we drove some more and got to Pucón!

Back there you can see Llaima volcano, one of the most active volcanoes of Chile and one of the four most active of South America! In fact, right now it's with yellow alert and last time it erupted was in 2009...



Then we started heading to the lake side



On our way we passed through the main square where I found some sculptures!

This is a mapuche woman not so pretty I must admit But her jewels are deffinitely interesting



And a beautiful woodpecker



And here's the beach! There were lots of people here, more that we expected And some very nice sailboats!



We moved closer to the water...



...but we thought it wasn't warm enough to swim, so just stayed there in the shore watching the waves come and go



I hope to write soon again!
Love from your Ducky!

Hi Mum!

Even though it's autumn here, most days are still sunny and the temperatures are still nice, so we went to relax for a weekend to the summer house in a small fishing village called Queule which is surrounded by beautiful hills and beaches! 

This is the beautiful view from the deck



Ahh... I love the fresh sea breeze



Pato and I were feeling a little reckless and went up to the roof!
From up there we could see a little part of the town and the forest behind it



Then we went down to see the flowers of the garden that Pato had been talking about earlier

This one is called "chilco"



I could easilly tell it's the bees and himmingbirds' favourite meal!



Can you see that little guy having a meal?





Pato told us we would walk to the beach later, so we took a nice rest under the shadow of this fern for a while to save energy for the walk



After lunch we started walking. First we went down to the town an walked by the water and all the old fishing boats and old docks!



There are still some old wooden docks that survived the 2010 tsunami!





Back there you can see the main dock of the town







I would love to be Captain Ducky on one of these boats one day!



Did I mention that the beach is about 30 - 40 minutes away, and to get there you have to walk up and down the hills!?
But we all love walking and exploring new lands so it sounded perfect!



We did a little stop at this view point called "El Tope". What a great view! We could see the some black vultures flying right in front of us!
Down there you can see the river mouth of Queule river and the penninsula.



Behind me is "Los pinos" island. The beach is called "La herradura" (the horseshoe) because of its shape and it's 9 kilometers long!
Pato told me he once walked along the whole beach and got giant blisters on his feet!



That's Queule! see? It's a very small town. Nice and quiet. Perfect for a relaxing weekend away from the crowds of the city



Can you guess the name of this rock? I'll give you one clue, it's the king of the jungle ...king of the jungle with some trees on his back!



...We kept walking and walking and from time to time there were get some great views!



Look what we found!! Pato was convinced that if we ate them they would give us energy to keep walking, but I suggested it was best not to try them... What do you think??



As we kept walking we found Ronca beach! But this is not the one we were walking to...



It's called "ronca" because it means "snore" in spanish, and its waves sound so loud that all I could imagine was a big man snoring!



Then we finally got to the beach we were walking to! "Agua de las Niñas beach" (water of the girls) It's called like that because the water here is so shallow that's perfectly safe for little kids (and little toyvoyagers too! )



How do I look here, mum? Do you like these flowers?? I do!



They were a perfect nest to enjoy the view



Pato and I took a well deserved rest on this rock after our long walk





I wanted to test the water temperature to see if it is as cold as they say...



And yes, it is!



Look mum! This little guy came to say hi to me 



The beach was great! and later when the sun was about to set we went up the hill again to one Ronca beach's viewpoints to watch the sunset!



...Climbing up is really tiring!!



...But we got there on time...



Although because of the earth rotation we couldn't see the sun Pato said last time he was here the sun set in front of him, now it's setting behind the hill!



Anyway, the colours in the sky were beautiful, so we really enjoyed it!



To get a different view we climbed a little more, hurrying before the colours vanished!



Beautiful!



It was a wonderful and fun day mum!



Now I'm off to have lunch
Love from the most southern country of the world!
Your Ducky

Hello!

Today I visited the most important hill in Temuco, Ñielol hill.
By the way, I like the way the "Ñ" letter sounds, it's somewhat between N and I

Some people say that Ñielol hill is an extinct volcano I hope it isn't, because I would not like to see it in action since it's right next to the city!



We went up (by car - we were feeling a little lazy) to the main viewpoint from where we could see a big part of the city!



This is Temuco to the south east



And this is the view to the south



Then we moved to another part of the hill to see something else...



These famous Mapuche totems!



They are called Chemamulls, which in Mapudungún (Mapuche language) means "wooden people"



...and they are 4 meters tall!



When I was posing for my photo, a local came to say hi!



Then we saw a fallen old totem close to the ones we'd just seen!



Its base was rotten...



But maybe he was just taking a nap



This is the ''Patagüa'', the tree under which, spanish and mapuches signed a peace treaty in 1881, after 300 years of war.
It's a very old an important tree!
I wish it could talk and tell me its stories!!



Autumn is almost gone, but there are many trees which still have their beautiful yellow leaves



What a beautiful season this is!
(although I woulnd't mind a bit warmer temperatures at all... just saying )



Enjoy the spring at home mum!
I am enjoying the south!

Kisses
Ducky!

Hola a todos!

First of all I have to apologize for the long long time that I haven't uploaded my news here, sorry mum, sorry everyone... We have been quite busy here helping Leslie with her studies, researches and whatnot...

By the way, today Chile changed to daylight saving time and this is a 23hrs long day, finally the days are going to be longer
But well, that's not what I'm writing about today... I'm going to show you another weekend we spent in Queule a few weeks ago, another splendid weekend!

When we left Temuco the day was foggy and grey...



But as we got closer to the shore it was nicer and nicer



I could see Queule river at the side of the road, this means we are close to Queule



Aaaaand here we are



We hurried walking to a nice viewpoint to see the sunset!



Look mum, these look like cotton!



...Queule river to the east





A tumbril passed next to us... This is an exotic country!



On the road to the view point we saw all kinds of mushrooms, but I have to say this was the ugliest of all!



And found some yummy berries on the road too



And here we are in the high view point of Ronca beach, waiting for the sunset





What beautiful colours!!



The next day as we woke up Pato took us to the balcony to breathe some fresh air



The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day!



Aaahhhh!



Then we climbed on the roof to show Ping the view from up here





Quite high we were, but don't worry mum, I am an expert in these matters



Then we got ready to walk to the beach to enjoy the sunny afternoon!



By the way... did you ever mention something about me exploring my feminine side mum!? ...hmm well... here is a proof that I am not!
That's me heavyweight lifting!



On the way to the beach we were running and playing around...
You can see we didn't even wait for Pato to pose on this photo 



But... hmm... sometimes you have to be careful when running near fishing nets...



Look at that big ugly American Vulture back there





We all were excited about sailing, so when Leslie got a little distracted we hurried and boarded one of the boats on the shore planning to start rowing as soon as we could, but unfortunately Leslie saw us before we could start, and said we would go walking...







After climbing up a little we found the first view point. I had already been here before so I was a good tour guide for Ping



The day was a little hot so we agreed to stop and rest for a while before keep on walking...

Pato said he was sure we could find some water in Leslie's bag...



And he did!



But then I thought maybe I could find something even better inside that bag!



And so I did!



So we quickly forgot about the water...





Well... what happened next needs no words to be explained...





Hey! we were just resting! 
After that we kept on walking because the beach was waiting for us!!



On the way I saw a kingfisher! Pity I look so blurry in this photo, but Hey! It's a proof that I saw it!





The road through the hill goes up and down, here we are once again at the top with a beautiful view to the river...





Then we passed another of the view point of Ronca Beach!
The beautiful beach we came to watch the sun set the day before



Isn't it beautiful!?



And the mushrooms all over the ground made it look like a fairy land!



Look at this one! I could berfectly imagine some fairies living under it



I am the king!!



After walking for about 45 minutes and getting some great leg exercise, we got to the beach





I took a well deserved rest here after the long walk!



I found a very strange rock with holes! What do you think might have caused them? Me and the other discussed a few different possibilities like erosion, but do you think it could have been the aliens?



Yes... deffinitely it must have been the aliens...



Then the others came to rest here with me



It was getting a little cold and the sun was getting down, so before leaving, we wanted to leave our mark





Good bye Agua de las Niñas!

Many kisses and hugs for you mum!
Bye bye

Hi my dear mum!

After almost three months since the last time I wrote, we are finally free here. Leslie is finally done with her exams and we are all happy that the books are gone from the desk and the tables and couch and everywhere!
All this time we've been peretty much all the time bored sitting and waiting for something exciting to happen, but it didn't until now...

So now im going to show you a nice trip that we made to a city five hours south called Puerto Montt
By the way, maybe you'll notice why Puerto Montt is known for having a permanent grey sky...



Look at that poor skinny horse with a tumbril



We walked around the city until we found the main church of Puerto Montt, can you guess what the dome is made of? it's made out of copper because Chile is the biggest copper exporter in the world



And this is the main square of the city



After a while walking we sat down to rest in these seats with nice designs on our backs



These are Chilco flowers, i've seen some in Leslie's garden



Then after resting we walked for a while through the shore





This couple is very famous, they're called "sentados frente al mar" (seated by the sea). There is a song called Puerto Montt and it tells the story of these two lovers you can listen to it here




In the afternoon we did the church trail, a road full of typical churches through the slope of the hills next to the water, very beautiful!

So first we started getting away from the city to the east



And this is the first church we saw. I learned that all the churches around here are built with tiles



This one has a few tiles below the roof, can you see them?

















In this area there are many many creeks and waterfalls coming from the mountain range to the sea, and we stopped at one
Aahhh the beautiful sound of the water 



And this is the last church of the trail!



I hope you liked the churches mum as much as I did!
Many kisses from the warm spring!

Your Ducky

Our second day in Puerto Montt started with a bright warm sun over out heads, temperature quite nice and the breeze too... we had to go out to explore as soon as possible, so we got on the car and drove west to a small town called Maullín



But in Maullín there was nothing to see exept the main church, so we kept on driving south....







...Until we reached the next town, Carelmapu

Our good tourit guide Pato taught us that the word Carelmapu is in Mapudungún language, the language of the Mapuche people, the aborigins of this area, and it means Green Land... which I could see with my own eyes, it's very green around here!

We went to see the oldest church in the town, the Church of Candelaria.



It was built in 1860 and is now a National Monument



It got damaged in the big 8,8 Earthquake in 2010, so it's being repared, that's why we couldn't go peep upstairs, the ground could habe broken uder our feet!







And then we went to see the sunset at Mar Brava beach
Back there you can see an island, that is Chiloé island, the first of all the islands of the south of Chile, you can see that in my map



It was a very nice day!
I hope you're having fun at home mum!

Kisses,
Ducky

Our third day here in the south started cloudy as usual, but that didn't stop us

If you take a look at my map you can see that the area around Puerto Montt is surrounded by lakes, so today we decided to drive around them

So first we drove to a town called Llanquihue and we saw the main church.



As we walked around Pato was a good tourist guide and told us about this place, he said that many many years ago german settlers came to this area around the lakes I think I wouldn't mind moving here either... the landscapes are so beautiful!



But we didn't stay in Llanquihue, but kept on driving through the road next to the lake. On the road we found a cemetery and walked around it and the graves were all german, Ulani and Ping felt somehow at home! And now they seemed like the tourist guides teaching me and Pato what "ruht in frieden" means



The cemetery had a lovely view



Then we kept driving north... on the way we saw many farms and plantations.



And this was our destination, the city of Frutillar which was founded by german settlers, so it looked like a little Germany... german architecture, signs, people and whatnot, it was very nice!
Here I'm outside the theater which is very famous, it's called Teatro del Lago "theater of the lake", very appropiate name, don't you think so?



Frutillar is a famous holiday spot for tourists, people from all over the world come to this beach in summer (and not only people but also toyvoyagers)




And we found a church so went inside to peep luckily there was no one inside so we didn't have to stay as silent or quiet



And this was our last day in Puerto Montt...
I hope you liked our trip At least I loved it!

Hugs!
Ducky