After our ordeal yesterday the thought of spending a relaxing day wandering around Bariloche and the picturesque Lago Nahuel Huapi was appealing.  Beautiful clear skies, ideal temperature and no pressing schedule to meet.

We ventured out to explore the town and stock up on some provisions to discover that all the holiday makers were in town, every second person we passed was a tout who could offer the best exchange rate and if you liked chocolate then you were in luck. Bariloche is Argentina’s chocolate capital!

In the afternoon we teamed up with John and Ross Bastian (Goldie) and Mike and Kay Herlihy (Shiraz) to drive the recommended lake route which Ian had learnt was used for Argentina’s Millas 1000 – their version of the Mille Miglia . We hadn’t gone too far when John was pulled over by the local police. It turned out that earlier in the day the Bastian’s had had a minor altercation with a local car and its driver had become very aggressive so they made a hasty retreat. The other car had been in the wrong but they weren’t prepared to stick around and discuss it  It appears that the driver was a cop so there was a general alert out  to find a mustard coloured MG.  As John was questioned more and more police arrived, some with lights flashing, greeting each other with the traditional handshake, hug and kiss.  They all seemed to be having a good time, except of course for John and Ros.  Those looking on would have thought it was a major drug bust.

Unfortunately John had left his car insurance papers at the hotel and this was causing the concern.  As there were three cars, we left the Herlihys there to support them and went back to retrieve the missing insurance papers.  This solved everything!  The whole ordeal took about an hour or more and John was imagining a lonely police cell.  All they wanted were the insurance papers so their mate could make a claim.  A good lesson to us all to have our insurance papers in the car at all times.

It seemed appropriate to have a chocolate fix to restore blood sugar levels and put a smile back on John’s face.  After several hot chocolates, some Argentinian chocolate cake (filled with caramel) and delicious chocolates we all agreed Bariloche lived up to its reputation.

Our accommodation Design Suites came with its own spa. Generally we don’t have the time in the evenings to have a good long soak – with fixing cars, evening meeting/ debriefings, washing all the smalls, etc. so we decided to dine in and make use of the spa. Champagne seemed appropriate too!