Living in Pucón through the four seasons

Pucón sits on the shore of Lake Villarrica in Chile's Araucanía Region, below the snow-capped cone of Villarrica Volcano. It is one of the best-known nature destinations in the country, and unlike many holiday towns it is busy twice a year.

Remember that the seasons are the reverse of the northern hemisphere's: Christmas comes in early summer.

Long, warm days. Families swim and kayak on Lake Villarrica and Lake Caburgua, whose white-sand beaches such as Playa Blanca are about 25 km from town. The Trancura River fills with rafts, and the trails in the national parks are open.

This is the busiest time for holiday rentals, and the best time to view properties in full leaf.

The crowds leave and the native forest turns red and gold. It is a quiet, beautiful time to visit, and a good season to look at land: you see the light, the roads and the gardens as they really are.

Snow on the volcano and in the high forest, hot springs in the valleys, and a second wave of visitors who come for both. Down in town and in the countryside around it, winter means rain, wood stoves and green fields.

Good road access matters in winter, so it is one of the first things to check on any rural property.

Orchards flower, rivers run high with snowmelt and the days grow long again. Many owners use spring to get cabins ready for the summer guests.

Pucón has shops, restaurants, schools and health services, and Temuco, the regional capital, is about 1 h 45 min by road with flights to Santiago in about 1 h 15 min. Fibre broadband reaches Pucón, and satellite internet covers rural properties, so remote work is realistic.