Heading north

Left Castro on a rainy day (I think it rains here every day) to head back to mainland Chile, but took a detour via Dalcahue which is a port city but also has the Church of Our Lady of Dolours - another of the Jesuit churches made in wood. From there made my way to the ferry for the 40 minute crossing. They are in the process of building a bridge (The Chiloé Bicentennial Bridge)

to link the island of Chiloé with mainland Chile crossing the Chacao Channel. It was one of the several projects that were planned to commemorate Chile's bicentennial in 2010. The construction of the bridge began in 2017. When completed as a suspension bridge, it will be the largest such bridge in South America. The opening of the bridge is planned for 2028. Only 18 years to build a bridge - sounds like Australia.

The town of Puerto Montt is the gateway between the Lakes district and Patagonia. It was the worlds 2nd largest producer of salmon (behind Norway) until a highly toxic red algae bloom (known as the red tide) problem in 2018. Later that year a Chinese company bought the salmon farms and now controls 30% of the Chilean Salmon export industry. Go figure!

Tomorrow I explore the town but the highlight to date is a pretty ugly statue thing on the main street!