I had a great sleep until about 1am when the person in the room above me returned from a night out. The snores were so loud I couldn´t sleep eventhough we were in completely different rooms. I was about to start banging on the ceiling above me when thankfully the snoring stopped and I got back to sleep. I´ve signed up to do Hydrospeed today along with Fionnuala and a girl from her group. This didn´t start until 2pm so I had a lie in.
I got up, bought some pastries for breakfast in a bakery on my way over to the bus station to buy a ticket for San Martin, 5hrs the other side of the Andes in Argentina. Again, getting the bus ticket took longer than expected. It was noon by the time I was sorted so there wasn´t much time to do a whole lot before meeting up with Fionnuala at 2pm. I got lunch in the supermarket, brought it back to eat in my room and had a snooze.
I got to the Aquaventura centre a few minutes before Fionnuala and her friend, Bev, arrived. When the girls entered the centre Fionnuala came over towards me, indicating to Bev where I was. Instead of following Fionnuala, Bev veered off at ninety degrees and very politely introduced herself to a handsome latina saying how pleased she was to meet me. ´Jaysus, Bev, I´m flattered but I´m the skinny white guy over in the corner. Yep, thats me with with sunburned nose, and nope, I´m not the Bronzed Latino you thought I was!!¨ It was quite funny as Fionnuala had to backtrack and point out to Bev where the real Fran was sitting. Bev´s grovelling mistake at the misunderstanding was equally funny.
There were six in the Hydrospeed group altogether. We had one guide who would be in the water with us and two lads in kayaks who would act as safety. What is Hydrospeed? Well I didn´t know until Fionnuala pointed it out to me. You are basically body surfing through white water rapids in a wet suit, flippers and with an oversized float. The guide intructs you where to position yourself in the water and the best point to enter the rapids. The rest is an adrenalin rush through a churning river and stunning scenery.
I was concerned about getting cold in the water but as it turned nobody got cold. We started out in a calm pool on a bend and had a 400m approach to the first set of rapids. As the sounds of the rapids in creased I got a tingling sensation and as we drifted closer to the noise the sense of excitement rose. You could see the anticipation in everybody´s face. In an instant we went from fairly placid water into tumbling, rolling, turbulent whit water and were simply carried along by the rapids, heads bobbing up and down between waves. You hung onto the float as you crashed over the top of a wave and were then carried in to a dip. As the next wave rolled above you were thrown up into and then over it, and then down into the next cascade.
Very quickly we were thrown out into calm waters again and drifted calmly until the noise of the next set of rapids began to rise. We went through maybe 5 sets altogether with the guide shouting over the sounds of the river, instructing us as to the positions we should take on each approach. All too quickly it was over. The hour we were on the river felt like perhaps 25 mins. It was exhilirating and something I´d love to do again.
Afterwards I went with Fionnuala and Bev for something to eat on Pucon´s main street, Avenida O´Higgins. It was totally relaxed and carefree. These last few days in Pucon have been a real highlight. Meeting up with Fionnuala, climbing the volcano and now the hydrospeed have been pure enjoyment the whole way.
While Sipping on some beers John and Jim, the Americans, came strollinbg down the street and asked how we´d got on on the river. Our reactions sold it to the lads who promptly signed on for tomorrow. It was John´s 40th birthday so we arranged to meet up later, after the lads had dinner.
After a quick shower back at the hostel I got the bags ready for leaving in the morning and went back out to meet Fionnuala at ´Mamas and Tapas´where we´d agreed to meet the lads. The rest of the night was a good laugh with Fionnuala and then the lads who sauntered along later. The two J´s were sound. I got on with them from when we´d met at the start of the hike. It was really entertaining listening to Fionnuala´s tales of her adventures in Central and south America. I thought I´d been adventurous cycling acroos America but listening to Fionnuala she really did have some adventures which contrasted so much to my solo little trek.
I was very tempted to stay on in Pucon and was beginning to regret having bought the ticket to San Martin. However doing the activities was a drain on the pocket and I had to be budget conscious. Having Fionnuala there was so good. It had been great looking forward to seeing her and having a laugh with her. By the end ogf the night I was confused in my own mind.... should I stay or should I go?
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