Our 2nd Day on Easter Island

It's still sunny and hasn't started raining yet (that's why we are smiling). This is the quarry where all the heads were carved before being taken to their respective places along the coast. We rented our 4x4 to ensure we could see everything in two days and to conserve our $$ as Easter Island is quite expensive. We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast that had hot water most of the time with a lovely hot breakfast each morning to start our day. Quite honestly, two days is enough on Easter Island. The running joke was there wasn't any concern of Dad wanting to move to Easter Island to live. Jeff was quite happy about this revelation. We were all glad we went but we know we are never coming back either. We visited a museum, travelled around about 80% of the island, and drove through about 25 small lakes.....one we didn't as I was even too leary about going through. I think I was just too afraid of Elaine's wrath if we got stuck in the mud/water/rainstorm since we were only about half an hour away from a hot shower and comfy beds. These pics were taken on Aug 20th.

Our 1st Easter Island Stone Heads

We rented a 1980's 4x4 Suzuki sidekick (weren't these outlawed at one time?) on Easter Island for two days. On the first afternoon we drove (Samantha drove too....sorry Grandmas) to an extinct volcano and to these restored Stone heads, also known as Moai. Even in the rain they were still pretty impressive. The kids enjoyed the offroading experience just as much as seeing the Heads. We drove through a number of puddles or small lakes that had us all laughing our heads off, well not Elaine, but certainly the rest of us.

Easter Island

Well we arrive at Easter Island. Approximately 3000 miles off the coast of Santiago, Chile. Easter Island belongs to Chile.....so are Chilean Pesos are still welcome. It was quite wet, somewhat like the weather we understand Toronto has had for most of the summer.

Penguins in Chile

We think these are Humboldt penguins. We took this picture about 3 hours north of Santiago Chile. We had a guide, Hector, who drove us up the coast from Vina Del Mar. It was an incredible Ocean drive. We went through six or more seaside towns and got out numerous times to hike/walk along the ocean trails. At one point we came across a spot where these penguins were. Most people in Chile would never believe there were Penguins outside of Patagonia but there are!!

Kevin's 1st Full Day on the slopes

Chile is a fantastic place!! The wine is phenomenal and it's cheap too! Oh yeah, the skiing isn't too shaby either. We are staying at Portillio, South America's oldest ski resort. Being the oldest ski resort in South America, the history is incredible. The resort is about 2 1/2 hours from Santiago Chile, and there is nothing else here except this small resort (about 400 guests). We are between Santiago and Mendoza, Argentina. The snow is fantastic, light, fast and fun!! We are expecting snow overnight as the barometer is falling :)

An added bonus this week......the Men's Canadian Ski Team arrived this afternoon. Their course is being set up tonight. For those of you who do not follow skiing, this current team is said to be better than the days of the "The Crazy Canucks." Last year, the men's team made it to the podium more than 12 times. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the team members and maybe get the odd autograph myself.

I don't think anyone could not marvel at the beautiful sceery. Portillio sits entirely above the treeline. We look at Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. On some of the steepest advanced runs, the hills are so steep they require specialized lifts (a combination of a slingshot, 5 man poma lift)....I'm waiting for a little more powder to dampen the carnage my knees will likely take. The hotel looks out on a beautiful lake that is nestled between the mountains and provides great opportunities for pictures....sorry I forgot to take a picture as we were too busy eating/skiing. Here's a link to the view from where I'm sitting and typing this....

Jeffrey's 1st Day on the slopes

hello everybody. Its me Jeff. I'mhavinga great time here. Hope everybody's o.k back home. My first day onthe slopes was amazing. we were skiingin the stinken moutains. it was crazy. The only problem was I'm skiing on skis that are only 130cm long and my sister is skiing on140 skis. After my picture that you see to the left Isnowed my dad and accidently my dads camera( he freaked out on me and my mom could here from the top of the hill).

sincerly
the one
and only
Jeffrey
Misner

Sam's 1st Day on the slopes

We arived in Chile about 4 days ago. Today we went skiing in the morning and the afternoon it was so cool because we were skiing on moutains. We get free meals and they are pretty good. After we skied, Dad and I went to the pool and hot tub to relax. The cool thing is that if you looked behind you you could see the mountians coverd with snow. So far its been great!

Elaine's 1st Full Day on the slopes

Chile has been awesome so far. The skiing is really different from anywhere I've been. There is no ice even though it is mild outside. Santiago was a great city to stay in. We did alot of typical tourist things, the warf, zoo, cathedrals.... The people were friendly and we traveled mainly on the metro. We are here at Portillo for another 6 days of skiing. The Canadian Ski Team arrived today, however, we haven't seen them on the slopes yet. We are sitting in the library waiting for dinner, enjoying a glass of red wine. Tomorrow we are going to ski some harder runs. Life is fine!

Off to a good start!

This is the first of many treats we are going to have along the way. We are in Lime, Peru and have just finished walking through the main square. There was a craft fair that we all enjoyed, with all of us trying on many different pieces of clothing. We are staying in an apartment in an area called Miliflores. It is a great area, full of shops, restaurants, parks and within a few blocks of the ocean. So far we have not met many people who speak English, however, everyone has been really nice. Kevin and the kids met a teacher who used to teach at the catholic school at Morningside and Lawrence. She's taken a leave in order to establish a charity supporting education in rural Peru. Kevin got lost driving from the airport. REALLY SCARY!!!!!! The drivers are absolutely crazy! Horns beeping, cars weaving in and out, bumper to bumper traffic. You can imagine how calm I was! It has been a great start to our adventure. E.K.