Puerto Montt is where the Carretera Austral starts, though few people would call it a pretty town. It is a busy port and salmon-farming centre on the Reloncaví Sound, with a grey waterfront, fish stalls and a rain record to match, and it was founded in 1853 by German colonists brought in under the direction of Vicente Pérez Rosales. Across the water, if the clouds allow, the cone of Osorno volcano shows up white against the sky, and the lakeside towns to the north, Puerto Varas and Frutillar, still show their Bavarian-style wooden houses.
The harbourside quarter of Angelmó is the place to go before leaving. Stalls and tiny restaurants sell smoked mussels, fresh shellfish and woollen goods, and you can try curanto, a southern Chilean dish of shellfish, meat and potatoes traditionally steamed in a pit. From the jetties, ferries leave for the islands and the long fjords of the south, a reminder that for much of Chilean Patagonia the sea was the only road until the highway was built.
Heading out, the Carretera Austral, Ruta 7, begins as an ordinary paved road, passing farmland and forest to the ferry at La Arena, which crosses to Puelche. Further south, a second ferry connects Hornopirén to Caleta Gonzalo, running through fjords and mountains. Ferry timetables are tight and reservations may be needed in summer, so check before you commit. Rain is frequent all year, and the great temperate rainforest depends on it. The driest and warmest months are January and February. Pack full waterproofs, because showers can come suddenly even then.
Puerto Montt is a big city of over a hundred and fifty thousand people, with fuel stations, motorcycle dealers, supermarkets and good hotels, so it is the place to sort out spares, tyres and supplies. Puerto Varas, seventeen kilometres away, is a more relaxed base. Fill up and buy extra snacks and water before the ferries, and keep cash handy for ticket offices, which do not always take cards.