Pucon

Megan and I took an overnight bus from Santiago to reach Pucon. We booked a premium bus and were very excited to be able to have a seat that went the full 180. We arrived at 6:30am so we had to kill some time sitting on a curb outside a coffee shop drinking terrible coffee until we could check into the hostel.
Pucon is a volcanic town which currently has a semi-active volcano. During our stay it went from a yellow to an amber warning alert. The town is beautiful and would remind you of a little European ski town. It has huge lakes with black sand beaches.

Accommodation: Chili Kiwi hostel. It's such a great hostel and we loved it here. It has loads of different sections with various kitchens and hangout areas. It has a treehouse that overlooks the lake and has great sunset views.

-Day 1: arriving to the hostel I met plenty of familiar faces. I met Emma from Patagonia, Elisa from Santiago and Ronan from Mendoza. I also linked back up with Joseph and Sarah for our Chilean family holiday. Day one was pretty chilled, checkout out the town and had drinks in the hostel.
-Day 2: We had a slow start to the day and then hiked/hitched to a nearby waterfall. It was a much steeper climb than we anticipated so we weren't too mentally prepared. Very kindly, we were offered a lift back to town by a Chilean couple in their huge truck. Predictably, Joseph was very happy with this. In the evening we had the vans first BBQ. We had steak and ribs which dad would say were "cooked to perfection".
-Day 3: this was an advertuous day. We went hydrospeeding which was floating through rapids on a river while lying on top of a tiny foam board. I was clinging on for dear life and stressfully kicking to stay in line and keep clear of rocks. It was a great adrenaline surge. In the evening we had our second BBQ, this time joined by Ronan and Gandalf the beagle.
-Day 4: We went to the national park called Huerquehue and did the San Sebastian hike. This was steep and hands down the hardest hike I've done in SA. It was 1300m in elevation. It took the full day but gave us incredible views of the area. We were very pleased with ourselves and had a cup of Barry's tea when we were back down in the van. We ate out at Cassis restaurant and went to bed very tired.
-Day 5: The last day of our little family holiday. We rented out kayaks and had Rob from the hostel join us. Sarah and I took turns being in the middle to be the ladies of leisure not having the paddle. We had a few drinks at the hostel before saying our sad goodbyes. Megan and I took our night bus to head back north.

Recommendations:
San Sebastian hike
Hydrospeed
Rent kayaks
Hike to the waterfall (can't remember the name)
You can also climb a volcano but it's pricey and we couldn't get to the top as it's activeRead more