Mountain hiking in El Maiten

Ronda and I went to visit Eliana in El Maiten the other day.  The day was quite nice, so we decided to take advantage of the weather and hike up to the top of the hills behind her house.  As it happens, there is a "Via Crucis" there.  For those ignorant of Catholic doctrine, the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) consists of 12 stations of the cross, each station representing some supposed significant happening between when Jesus was sentenced to death to when he died.  Normally you see it in the cathedrals, each station is a painting, and there's only about 10 metres between each one.  The faithful go from station to station and say their Ave Marias etc, especially around Easter time.  Some bright spark has put a Via Crucis up this mountain, with each station going up the hill till you reach the twelfth right at the top.  Quite a handy indicator as to how much further you have to go!!  Ronda and I used them to mark whose turn it was to take the backpack...each turn was two stations of the cross then we changed over :-).

There is a look-out point about a quarter of the way up, that was the second station of the cross.

 

Forgot to mention the most important fourth member of the climbing party - Rocco the 6-month old poodle!  Up till a month ago, he was banished to the boiler room of the house where he lived, as his previous owner bought him, but then realised they didn't really have the room or time for dogs, so there he stayed, always dying to rush out and run into the house!  His owner's cousin Eliana bought him and now he has a new life.  Here he valiantly went in the lead on the way up and all the way back, seems to have boundless energy!

The wind was so bitter up here, poor Eliana was underdressed, so we stayed about 30 seconds!

This is the view of where we went from Eliana's kitchen window.  Just above the roof of the two-story house you can make out a tree on the hill-side, that's the first look-out we stopped at.  

Then we continued up the gully and to the top.

August in Comodoro Rivadavia

This month I have been with Ronda Stidolph (USA) away in the south in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia.  About the same latitude as Oamaru, it's much colder than where I've been this year.  Typical of Patagonia, it's very arid, and about the only things you see down here are guanacos (alpaca type animals), ñandú (small ostriches or rheas) and pink flamingoes.   Comodoro is over 1,000 kms south of Bahia Blanca, also on the Atlantic coast.  There are currently none of our people living here, so the ladies have a bach, a one-room affair, with a small bathroom attached.  There are one or two people listening to the gospel, but it's hard-going in the south.  The cities are based around petroleum, and there's a fair bit of wealth.

The red pin is Comodoro...a long way south, but there's still plenty more to go!

Views around Comodoro Rivadavia. Note the petroleum tanks in the middle photo.  YPF is the national petroleum company.

The white half-open door is the bach.  (not our vehicle unfortunately).  The building to the right is where the owners live.

This is what you see as you walk in the door!  Bathroom door is the white sliding door by the window.

Looking in opposite direction toward front door.

The yard...not very aesthetically appealing, but very typical!

This part of the country (the Patagonian coastal area) is very prone to high winds.  The gales blow for days on end, and bring grit into the house through every crack and crevice it can find.  This sunset was on one particularly windy day.

These are views travelling south to the city of Caleta Olivia where there is a lady listening.  We did a bit of door-knocking there this week, but it was so cold!  The puddles were all iced over at midday still!  You can see what the country-side is... bleak.

Heading out of Comodoro Rivadavia, going south

These are guanacos, a common sight looking out the bus window.

Thrilled to see these flamingoes in a lagoon in Caleta Olivia!

Long, really straight roads.

Another common sight....little road-side shrines.  People are pretty superstitious around here.  The truckies pay homage a lot to these shrines, to bring them good luck and safety on the roads!

Very typical Patagonian coast... saw little penguins and seals along here

Common to see oil and gas tankers out at sea.

Ahh...this was a good lunch on that cold day we went door-knocking!

We went 400kms north to visit Daniel Peiretti, a man in his early 40s, who came in touch with the gospel about 20 years ago, when he studied at university with one of our young friends.  I wrote about him in a previous post, having lost out several times over the years due to one thing and another, and then come back.  He's now really settled a few issues (his wife left him a few years ago, they have no children, a big thing for a Latin to accept that).  We stayed the weekend at his sister's house (she was away but offered us the use of her house), and had a really nice little fellowship meeting with him, the three of us, Sunday morning.  His nearest fellowship meeting is Esquel - 600-something kms away.  So often, he is alone Sunday morning.  The above photo is the INCREDIBLY boring landscape for 5 hours between here and Trelew!

Ronda preparing delicious Sunday lunch

The evolution of a Patagonian sunset...the wind was gusting up to 130 kmph this day returning to Comodoro...the double-decker bus was shuddering and shaking!

The sea at Comodoro Rivadavia.  While waiting for some contacts to come home (they live right here), we whiled away 20 minutes by the sea...beautiful! Just on dusk.

Three vagabonds....street dogs wanting to play

The beach is made up of these stones. Unusual seaweed.

This is what is facing the sea...ugly!