It could be Somersetshire

 The weather was cloudy but warm and dry so I decided to head further north from Pt Montt, although I would have happily had another day there. I wasn't going far, just to some lakes and volcanos. I used the highway to get out of the town but then peeled off to use the back roads, and lovely sweeping roads they are too.

After all the dramatic scenery of the past few weeks it was a surprise to drive through, what could pass for, Somerset countryside. Soft rolling hills, herds of dairy cattle, old fashioned orchards and the like.

When I say it is like Somerset, the bloody great volcano's on the horizon tend to blow that story.. I passed a lovely place on a lake called Frutillar with the Osorno volcano beyond.

The tops of the volcanos were alwas shrouded in cloud & this is the best shot I could get. It may just look like a white cloud but if you look closely you will actually see that this is a snow capped, conical volcano above the tree line.
I got to Orsorno which is quite a big town, rich on agriculture. I parked in the main square and grabbed a sandwich & coffee. A couple of guys had seen me ride in & came over for a chat - about the bike mostly (as always).
They have this strange Cathedral. I think the builder must have gone bust during construction.

I checked in to my hotel which is just outside of Osorno and on the way to the Puyehue Nat Park. Puyehue is the Volcano that has been puffing out ash for many months. You may remember the blog from Bariloche where i took a picture of the ash half way up the poles of road side signs. This is the culprit.

The weather forecast for the morrow was not good so I headed straight to find the beast. It was a good road but the cloud got thicker the closer i got to the mountains. I drove virtually to the border with Argentina but still didn't get a clear view.

I dont even know if this is the volcano! But the evidence in the rivers was pretty strong. What should have been crystal clear water was a grey slurry

You can see high waterfalls through the almost tropical vegetation. Gunnera & Fuschias grow wild in the hedgerows and of all things Blackberries!

That is one for the Guardian letters; "Picking ripe blackberries in March". That should get them hot under the collar about global warming.

You pass lots of places offeirng thermal baths but by now i was getting wet as it was raining pretty hard so i didn't stop for a warmer version of what i was already getting (for free).