Just as you can find Harvey Nichols wine bar in Leeds, you are also able to find a taster of the south of Chile up here in the fourth Region as we discovered this weekend. Not quite as posh or pricey as HN (no champagne in sight, £3.50 entrance), we visited Parque Fray Jorge, a UNESCO world heritage sight and national park by the sea. It´s famous for its impressive array of green plants from the south which flourish here in the north due to the strangely humid micro-climate that exists between the hills and the sea.
After giving the car a good battering down a bumpy dirt road and hiking the final 5km to the top, we were greeted by an enchanted misty green forest. Being unable to see past our fingers, we felt our way past many an odd plant, and began to wonder if we were on another planet. Reaching the lookout spot, we popped out our sarnies, and I had a very familiar feeling of trogging around on one of those unlucky days in the lakes. Jonny was in his element (being from the Sheffield moors) and took himself off for some lonesome pondering, whilst we followed the trail into the deep dark woods.
You may look at these photos and wonder why on earth we bothered (believe me, i did stop to think), but after spending the last 4 months in drought striken landscape it was a breath of misty fresh air for us. I´ve never been that enamoured by plants (just another green thing right?) but I spent a good 5 minutes oggling that funny spikey thing. Oh, and I should mention that the day was just a little bit extra special for the (gushy) fact that Jonny and I have been spending these crazy weekends together for two years now....how time flies!
After giving the car a good battering down a bumpy dirt road and hiking the final 5km to the top, we were greeted by an enchanted misty green forest. Being unable to see past our fingers, we felt our way past many an odd plant, and began to wonder if we were on another planet. Reaching the lookout spot, we popped out our sarnies, and I had a very familiar feeling of trogging around on one of those unlucky days in the lakes. Jonny was in his element (being from the Sheffield moors) and took himself off for some lonesome pondering, whilst we followed the trail into the deep dark woods.
You may look at these photos and wonder why on earth we bothered (believe me, i did stop to think), but after spending the last 4 months in drought striken landscape it was a breath of misty fresh air for us. I´ve never been that enamoured by plants (just another green thing right?) but I spent a good 5 minutes oggling that funny spikey thing. Oh, and I should mention that the day was just a little bit extra special for the (gushy) fact that Jonny and I have been spending these crazy weekends together for two years now....how time flies!