Having never even changed a tyre on any car, let alone a fairly substantial pickup truck, this was an issue that we all could have done without. 

We were still in Valdivia at this point and the plan for the day was to drive the fairly straightforward distance of about 140km up to Villaricca.  With neither of us having a clue what to do (at this point we had managed to confirm that there was a jack and a spare tyre) we were thankful when our host came over and began to take charge.

The first thing that he did was inform us that he had a compressor and we should try re-inflating the tyre.  

This was exactly the sort of thing we wanted to hear, Chile isn't like back home, with the exception of pretty much booze and meat, it is very expensive.  Even a wheelbarrow will set you back 60 quid.  People don't pop out to Lidl or Aldi for a loaf of bread and come home with compressor, or in my case, a deep fat fryer and a full leg of Serano ham.  So for someone to own such a serious piece of kit, we had to assume that he knew what he was doing.

He set the compressor to 30psi and turned it on and gobbed on the top of the nail.  Although considerably better than our Español, his English isn't great but it was good enough to make it clear to us that we were looking for bubbles.  The bubbles never did arrive and within 20 minutes we were off.

Apparently there are not any good tyre repair businesses in Valdivia, just drive slowly, you will be fine, get it fixed in Villaricca.  What could possibly go wrong?

Well nothing went wrong, not on the way there.  

When we got there it was a public holiday so nothing was open, however we were able to identify the local "kwik fit" and we were reassured by a local that it would be open tomorrow.  The other problem we had was we were only here for a stopover and needed to head off the next day.  Add to this that there was no guarantee that the tyre would still be inflated in the morning, what if it can't be fixed? How much would a new tyre cost? Stress that we really didn't need and certainly didn't want.

Come the morning, everything was fine. I went to the shop for doors opening and was able to explain everything and within about 30min, I had paid about 7 quid for the tyre to be fixed and was out of there.  Even the communication part was alright and not a word of English spoken.

Stress gone, we explored Villaricca. 

It is a lovely place, very affluent, loads of cafes etc.  After a spot of breakfast (Jessica and I were both far too stressed to have any first thing) we headed down to the lake.  Lago Villaricca is stunning, beautiful blue water surrounded by tree lined hills, peaks and for the cherry on the top, the messmerising site of a huge volcano.  Volcano aside it bears a resemblance to the highlands back home and how they look on a warm summers day.

Dinousaurs are a big thing in our lives these days and given the rich history of discoveries over here, it is never a surprise to stumble upon some sort of Dinousaur attraction. That is exactly what happened on the shores of the lago so off we went. It wasnt the biggest place, but the kids liked it and these places are always good for a photocall.  The owner/proprietor was obviously a real enthusiast and had handmade all of the exibits to an incredible level.  I do wonder though if the discovery in Burma of feathers on a dinousaur, that was preserved in amber for circa 65 million years may mean that he may need to adapt his creations.

As I said, this really is a beautiful place and although it is lovely hanging around the lake, your eyes keep getting drawn towards the volcano.

I also said earlier that we have to be somewhere later today, however the sight of the volcano is too much not to get a closer look. So we jumped in the car, pointed it towards the volcano and off we went.

Volcàn Villaricca is a little bit special as far as volcanoes go, it has even been described as geology porn.  When I was twelve I climbed to the top of Mount Vesuvius (a bus took us most of the way) and I remember being a little underwhelmed, not sure why, perhaps I was expecting to see lava.  With the exception of a wee bit of steam and a strong eggy smell (to be fair, it did smell like a deadly fart), there was not the sense of danger or excitement I expected and hoped for. Why would there be? Vesuvius hasn't errupted since 1944.

Volcàn Villaricca on the otherhand last errupted in 2015. In 1971, which was a particularly violent eruption, there were over 200 deaths.  Not caused by ash or through exfoliation from falling pumis stones.  Most of the deaths were caused by a 10 mtr thick, 200 mtr wide torrent of lava. On top of this, the sheer amount of toxic gas released caused 15 deaths in both Villaricca and Temuco, up to 1hr away by car. 

There are other factors that make it unique, such as being partially covered by a glacier, being one of the few volcanoes in the world that has a lava lake and it is one of only 9 volcanoes that is permanently monitored.  With a height of 2,860 mtrs it is also twice the height of Vesuvius.  

When we headed off we didn't really have a plan, however, by the time we needed to turn off the main road, we had settled for "we will just see how far up we can get and get some decent photos". So there we were heading towards the volcano.  For somewhere that had errupted so recently, there was a lot of businesses set up along the way and after passing several hotels and a line of artasania shops (think wooden crafts such as fish, spoons, volcanoes etc) we finally reached a fork in the road.

We had a choice; ski centre (how exciting, skiing on a volcano) or volcano? The ski centre would be the easy option, paved road, probably a cafe and loads of good photo opportunities.

We opted for the 9km unpaved road pointing towards the top of the volcano, we had come this far so we might as well see it through.  The road looked bad but, we should be fine, we had the pickup truck. Well not really.

You see when we chose the pickup, it wasn't chosen for performance or thinking of offroad tracks.  It was more of a vanity project, chosen purely on appearance. So the additional cost of the 4WD option was neither discussed nor considered.  

What went on next was the slowest speed, high octane driving, I have ever experienced.  The resultant stress caused from many incidents of stalling the car, traversing high edges, rolling backwards whilst letting another vehicle pass on the single lane track (would be far too inaccurate to call it a road) meant it was quite a ride.  We did eventually reach a point where contrary to Jessica's request, I decided to park up and out we all jumped and the photoshoot began. Not long, perhaps 20 rapid photos later, a proper 4WD truck turned up and stopped.

It was obvious from the outset that my parking was going to be the issue.  The gentleman spoke to me in Spanish, but I wasn't sure exactly what he was saying so walked over. It must have been obvious to him that I wasn't local and he then explained I couldn't park there and why, "It is an exit road from higher up the volcano", seemed reasonable.  He then mentioned casually that he was a professor from Oxford University or it might have been Cambridge, same difference, and pointed into the distance and said "go to the lava caves, they're the most interesting thing here".  

I should probably have asked his name or engaged him in more conversation, however all I could think about was; How the hell am i going to reverse the pickup round that corner? and What is a lava cave? So I signaled to everyone to get back in the car, got the kids seat belts on and declared "we are going to a lava cave".

The lave caves were well worth the visit, it was an organised tour extending to 500 mtrs into an underground former lava river.  They actually extend 4km down towards the lake, not that I would fancy pushing my closet claustrophobia any further than I had already done.

The kids loved it and although it was cold and the terrain was very challenging it was well worth the visit and a very much a unique experience.

When we left all the earlier stress felt worth it and as much as the journey back down the mountain was playing on my mind it did seem that this was bucket list territory that we had ticked off.

Just as we were leaving I did notice my professor friend holding court in the car park with the many geologists and workers, he seemed quite a celebrity. Still got no idea who he is though.

Lorne