New Zealand (part 3)

Next stop on the world tour of New Zealand was Rotorua, where we stayed long enough to marvel at the geothermal fields, but not long enough to get suffocated by the smell of sulphur. We even made a detour to go to a local geo-thermal power station which was supposed to have a visitor’s centre. Turns out we had the wrong power station, so we must have looked a right pair of plonkers driving onto their site, having a good gawp, taking photos and driving off again!

P at 'Craters of the Moon' thermal park

After Rotorua, we headed for a tiny place called Turangi, famous only for being the start point for the Tongariro Crossing – a day hike across an amazing volcanic plateau, with unworldly landscapes, coloured lakes and towering volcanic peaks. As part of the walk, you have the option to climb Mount Ngauruhoe, the peak which cameos as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings films. Despite the cloudy conditions we decided that the opportunity to climb Mount Doom was not to be missed, so we set off up the steep rocky slope. Fortunately Sauron was not in residence that day, but Mt Doom did claim another victim as I lost my balance and came sliding down the sharp scree on my shins. I would like to be able to say the view was worth it, but the cloud obstinately hugged the summit all morning, and we couldn’t see a thing! Luckily that didn’t detract from the rest of the walk, which was stunning, and deservedly described as possibly the best day walk in NZ.

Emerald Lakes, Tongariro Crossing

It seems you can’t visit NZ without throwing yourself off, out of or down something. So next up, James had an appointment with 12,000ft of fresh air on his way out of a plane above Lake Taupo (all because I had done a skydive there on my last visit and he didn’t want to be outdone, I reckon!)."Geronimo!"

New Zealand (part 2)

Having collected our trusty motor – a ’96 Nissan Sunny with nearly 200,000km on the clock – we headed north out of Auckland on one of New Zealand’s few stretches of motorway. It didn’t last long, within 30 minutes we were on a windy single carriageway road – something we were going to get used to over the coming weeks.

Our target was Russell in the beautiful Bay of Islands and one time capital of New Zealand. Much more importantly it is home to Fliss – Petra’s cousin’s wife’s aunt (got that?!) – and her partner Butch. Our plan had been to have one night in Russell before steaming on north to 90 mile beach and Cape Reina (NZ’s most northerly point) but as soon as we arrived Fliss insisted it wasn’t to be a flying visit and her great hospitality ensured we stayed on there for 3 nights instead.

Fliss is currently running a luxury lodge just outside Russell with stunning views over the bay and this is where she put us up. Initially we had to pretend to be fellow guests as we settled down to a 4 course meal but after that first night we had the place to ourselves and aside from helping clean the rooms we settled down to lounge by the pool and play with the dog (called Sea but generally known as Dog)

The Lodge

Fortuitously the Bay of Islands Sailing Week was taking place whilst we were there and I decided to get up early on Friday morning to see if I could get involved. Luckily I found Jeremy and Anne, the owners of Sea Hawk a 35’ Chico yacht, who were looking for crew. I joined them and an English guy called Robin (who bizarrely was a previous owner of the boat I did my Day Skipper course on – small world!!) to take on all comers in the cruiser class. We had a great day out on the water and came 2nd in everyone of the 3 races but nicked 1st place on handicap in the long afternoon bay race. It was a really good day and will sit up there with highlights of this trip. I was so excited I could barely sit still all evening.

Seahawk

The Race James, Jeremy, Anne & Robyn - the winning team

We left Fliss on Sunday morning having enjoyed a superb stay at the lodge to drive leisurely down towards Auckland to spend the night in a campsite with Sam and Anna and some kiwi friends of theirs. It was our first night in the tent in NZ and it was nice to pop it up again – our one piece of consistency in a frantic year! We had a good fun boozy evening and learned a great game called Kub – it’s of Swedish origin and we will be buying a set when we get home so be ready (hopefully they sell it at Ikea).

The next morning we headed for a swim on a beautiful beach before waving good bye to Sam and Anna and heading to the Coromandel – a small peninsula to the east of Auckland. It was a picturesque place and provided two lovely nights camping. We also managed a short walk to Cathedral Cove – a beautiful section of coastline where the sea is eroding through limestone cliffs to leave stacks and caves. Another highlight was Hot Water Beach - sadly the tide was in and no hot water in evidence but a great place to body surf. I also took the opportunity to finally loose my watch once and for all!!

New Zealand (part 1)

True to the style of what has inadvertently become a bit of a retro-blog, now that we’ve left NZ, its time for a few words about the Land of the Long White Cloud.

The first, and probably most important thing to know about NZ is that the Kiwis are legendary for their friendliness and hospitality. Never was this more apparent than when we arrived, like most travelers, weary, and a little jet-lagged at Auckland Airport. NZ is well known for is its no-tolerance approach to the importing (deliberate or otherwise) of animal or vegetable products, which would further mess up their already delicately-balanced ecology. As such, anyone who has come from a weird or exotic country (check), has recently worn their boots in rural/farming areas in said country (check), is carrying a tent (check) – you get the picture – is subject to detailed scrutiny on arrival. So we had steeled ourselves for a long drawn-out and frustrating process.

In fact, we were greeted by a team of professional, efficient, and above all friendly Customs and Immigration officers (I swear even the sniffer dog was smiling!) who checked our stuff thoroughly but quickly, and seemed to take personal pride in being the first to welcome us to their country. We were even offered free tea and coffee as we waited. The whole process (including taking our tent away to be checked in ‘quarantine’) seemed to take less time than passport control at Heathrow. We were impressed!

Things went from good to better when we were picked up at the airport by Anna, managing to fit 3 people plus all our worldly belongings in her mini for the ride across town. On arrival at Sam and Anna’s flat, James and I then got stupidly excited about the prospect of a good shower with real, fluffy towels, a nice bed, good food, free washing machine use and other luxuries like being able to throw our toilet paper down the loo for the first time in 9 months!

We spent a great few days in Auckland, (despite having apparently brought a tropical monsoon with us) in the capable hands of Sam and Anna, who guided us to all the local points of interest including, most importantly the watering holes and eateries.

Great hospitality chez Anna and Sam!

But all too soon it was time to ship out of the big city, so after picking up our trusty hire car (a Nissan Sunny with 200,000km on the clock) we headed north to Russell in the Bay of Islands where another warm kiwi welcome awaited us.

Easter Island

Finally after nearly 9 months, we bid a fond farewell to the South American mainland and boarded a LAN Chile plane to the mystical Easter Island (or 'Isla de Pascua'). We really had no idea what to expect - all we knew was that the statues looked cool in photos we'd seen and since we were flying over the top of it anyway, it seemed rude not to stop!

The flight took 5 hrs and as we circled for landing, we got great aerial views of the island, which is only around 30km long by 15km wide. For those of you who are none-the-wiser about Easter Island, it is the island the most remote from a mainland land mass in the world, about 3500km W of Chile in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is governed by Chile, but as we were to find out, feels much more like a Polynesian island than part of South America.
The first indication that we had effectively left South America behind came as we were greeted at the airport by a representative from the campsite we'd booked, and presented with floral garlands.

We jumped in the truck and were duly transported to our accomodation which turned out to have one of the best views of any on the island - even if it was only a field! Along with us were several other backpakers, including a dutch couple, Timme and Mariette, who turned out to be great companions for our time on the island (guys, I hope you're reading this - yes, we finally managed to post this, only 2 months after leaving!)


We were immediately made to feel at home by the campsite owners, and soon settled into chilled island life. The main event of the day at the campsite was watching 737s take off and land at the airstrip, less than a km down the coast, leaving plenty of time for marvelling at the superb coastal views, having a yarn with the other campers over a beer, or taking up ring-side seats for the most beautiful sunsets over the Pacific.


On our first afternoon, we wandered into Hanga Roa, in search of our first statue, and to check out the local amenities. There was only one town on the island, with one main street, so it didn't take long. Provisions were pretty expensive to buy, not surprisingly as nearly everything is flown in, so we were glad we'd brought some stuff with us.

On our second day we hired a car, and the 4 of us set off to get a closer look at the giant statues or 'Moai'. They were even more impressive in real life than in the pictures we had seen, and we were staggered by just how many of them there were - over 900 in total, scattered about the island. Although they look quite similar to each other few are identical, each having its own expression which gives it a unique personality and they range from 2m to a massive 21m high.

Many are positioned in rows of between 5-15 statues atop a ceremonial stone platform or 'Ahu' usually on the coast but facing away from the sea, and we visited several of these sites on our way around the island.

Many more of the statues were never finished, or never made it to their final resting place, and it is possible to visit the quarry from which they were carved, where you can see literally 100's of these mystical figures emerging from the rock, and dotted around the surrounding hillside awaiting removal to their intended location. It was a truly incredible sight!



The Moai were carved by tribespeople who inhabited the island from 800AD onwards and were supposedly a sign of the status or social standing of the clan. The biggest mystery of the Moai is how they were moved from the quarry where they were carved, to their platforms around the island sometimes miles away, and stood upright, when some of them weighed over 100 tonnes. Many theories abound, but due to the lack of written evidence, we may never know how!

Despite its obvious attractions as the home of such fascinating cultural heritage, and its beautiful coastline and beaches, Easter Island (probably due to its exceptional remoteness, and therefore cost of flights) has remained blissfully unspoilt by mass-market tourism. No high-rise appartment blocks or hideous Hilton hotels! Just friendly locals and a relaxed way of life - long may it remain that way.

After spending a fascinating day visiting as many statues as we could take in, we decided that in order to take full advantage of the hire car we could even make it out of our tents for a Moai sunrise the next day, followed by a dawn dip at one of the islands most beautiful beaches, and still be back before 9am. What a punishing schedule!


All in all, Easter Island well exceeded our expectations, both in terms of the company and what the island had to offer, and will stick in our memories as a highlight of the trip.

South America - the conclusion

Whilst we enjoyed our time on Easter Island we thought back on the 8 1/2 months we had spent in South America. Here are a few facts of our trip:

-266 days

-6 Countries (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile for those not paying attention!)

-58 hostels - recommendations given on request!

-33 nights in our tent - mostly on very cold and high mountainsides!

-24 passport stamps each

-From the Equator to 53 deg south and another 20 back north

-Highest point somewhere around 5,000m

-14 forms of transport (plane, bus, train, car, minibus, cable car, canoe, ferry, foot, motorbike, bike, tuk-tuk, motorboat, rowing boat)

-A dissapointing 5 G&Ts each (can't remember the last time we went so long with so few!)

-Miles covered - lots and lots (it's a very big continent!)

-Most encountered nationality - Dutch ("ik kan een betje Nederlands spreken" - most used phrase!)

-John Deere Competition won by James with Bolivia and Chile as draws (0-0 and 6-6 respectively)

-Photos taken - not sure but somewhere around 4,000

-Books read: James - 39, Petra - 31 (might have forgotten a few though!)

-Most craved food: curry!

-Things we will miss: genuine hospitality and friendliness of the people, opportunity to practice our Spanish, the beautiful mountains, uncomplicated way of life, being wowed by something new everyday, fresh orange juice for 6p a glass, lovely wine and delicious steaks, dulce de leche

-Things we won't miss: interminable bus journeys (the ones in Bolivia especially), packing, unpacking and repacking on a daily basis, noise and pollution in the cities, chicken and rice, stale bread and jam for breakfast, crap coffee, having to continually wear the same clothes,

In summary we have really enjoyed our time - from the charming chaos of the Central Andes to the endearingly hospitable and Europeanesque Argentina to beautiful Chile with stunning coastline, mountains and volcanoes.

We hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as we have enjoyed experiencing it.

Chilean Lakes District

Our first new destination of 2008 was the Chilean Lakes District, of which a town called Pucon is the 'adventure capital'. We had been advised to stay in a town called Villarica, just down the road from Pucon, for its slightly more chilled out atmosphere. We'd also been recommended a hostel there with a good breakfast, so James didn't need much persuading to stay there...

The hostel, La Torre Suiza (the Swiss Tower) was owned and run by (no prizes for guessing!) a Swiss-german couple who had spent 3 yrs cycling round the world before setting this place up. We've met a fair few long-distance cyclists on our trip, and have come to the conclusion that you had to be a very particular type of person to pedal for 1000's of km's, over the harsh and often pretty desolate terrain of South America, sometimes not seeing another soul for days - for fun. Long distance buses may have their draw-backs but give me that over weeks of saddle-soreness any day! Still, whatever flicks your switch I suppose, and they had plenty of photos on the hostel walls of other crazy cyclists who'd passed that way as testament to the fact that they weren't the only ones with a few screws loose!

On arrival we were greeted fairly abruptly, and with typical swiss efficiency were shown the hostel amenities. We soon settled in though enjoying the hospitality extended by our hosts, and a swiss-sytle breakfast whic was indeed fantastic, including home-made bread, yoghurt and jam, as well as coffe, oats and fresh fruit. It seems like a simple thing, but in teh world of backpackers, where free breakfast usually consists of dry, white bread, jam and nescafe, it was really something to get out of bed for!

Villarica Volcano at sunset

Villrica and Pucon are overlooked by the volcano Villarica, whose perfectly-shaped snow-capped cone is visble for miles around. In order to reach the summit, you needed the services of a local guide, and many agencies in town offered tours. As a fitting end to our time in Chile, we decided to climb our first volcano, and signed up for the 4am tour. This involved a painful 3.30am wake-up call, but was worth it, as we reached the summit before the crowds, and got to do most of the climbing before the sun got too strong.

Dawn over Villarica

At 5am when we started walking, it was still dark, but before long the sun was creeping over the edge of the crater, and we were treated to a stunning sunrise. We were lucky to have picked such a small group, as we were only 5 plus 2 guides. About 1.5 hrs into the trek, we hit the snow-line and for the remaining 3 hrs or so zig-zagged slowly up the cone through the white stuff, but we made good time and when we reached the top we had it all to ourselves. We had been provided with ice-axes and crampons, but as the snow was quite soft we didn't actually need to use them.

The volcano is still active, and the length of time you could spend at the top depended on how much gas was present. Stopping for your picnic in the midst of a toxic sulphurous cloud was not to be recommended! The view from the summit was incredible, and took in at least another 10 volcanoes in the local area, one of which (about 80kms away) had errupted recently and you could still see where the ash had blackened the cone. When we'd had enough time to take in the view, it was time for the part everyone had been waiting for. The chosen method of descent from Villarica is somewhat unconventional, and involves donning waterproof overtrousers with a reinforced seat, and sliding on your bum down one of a number of snow-chutes, previously formed by others taking the same way down, using your ice-axe as a brake where necessary. It was great fun! and a lot faster and easier on your knees than the walking. We arrived at the bottom exhilerataed, if a little damp!

P & J sliding our way to the bottom of Villarica

'Tis the season to be jolly...

It was getting on towards Christmas time, (depsite temps in excess of 30 deg, which felt a bit surreal!). In the absence of friends and family, we had decided to spend the festive season somewhere familiar, so on Dec 23rd, we headed back to Bariloche in Argentina, and Periko's hostel. They even recognised us from our previous visit.

Carlos, Caro provide a warm welcome at Periko's

Christmas Argentinian style meant celebrating on Dec 24th (presents are usually given to eager kids at midnight) with (what else?!) a huge BBQ with the folks from the hostel. James predictably took the 'all-you-can-eat' part to heart, and chomped his way through more servings of steak and sausage than it is polite to mention, all washed down with the obligatory beer and vino tinto. Christmas Day itself was a chilled out affair, mainly spent soaking up the sun, swapping gifts and (for James) digesting! I have to admit, although neither of us are particularly prone to home-sickness (good job really!) we were both a more than a little sad at having to spend Christmas away from friends and family - it was definitely missing something this year! :-(

After a few more days in Bariloche, and a couple of good walks (unfortunately this time plagued by horse-flies, which had appeared in anger since our last visit) it was off back to Chile where, after another short trek to a volcano, we headed to a town near the coast (what am I talking about? all of Chile is near the coast!) called Valdivia for New Year.

We liked the place immediately. Not only for the fact that it was one of the least touristy towns we'd visited in Chile, but also because the moment we arrived at the hostel, we were invited to join (another!) big communal BBQ for New Year.

International BBQ in Valdivia

The beer started flowing early, as of course we had to celebrate the arrival of 2008 in all parts of mainland Europe and the UK as well as Chile. There must have been 15 of us altogether, from a variety of european and south american countries, which made for a great relaxed evening, with quality banter in french, spanish, english and german. We were even treated to a burst on the accordion by German our host!

On New Year's Day, the pace was understandably 'tranquilo' - we mosied to the coast for some sea air to cure the hangover. Then when we got back to the hostel we charged up the barbie again, and tucked into the meat mountain left over from the night before. A little hair of dog and we were right as rain!

Chiloe

Chiloe is the 2nd biggest Chilean island (after Tierra del Fuego), is situated about 2/3 of the way down the country and marks the start of Chile's crazy fijord-scarred coastline further south. It is famous for its unique culture and myths that have remained seperate from the rest of Chile. Amongst their beliefs are witches, warlocks and magic pirate ships! Chiloe is also the end of the world's longest highway - the Panamerica, which runs down the west coast of the Americas from Canada to Chile. Its end is the southern tip of Chiloe.

We saw the island from the Navimag ferry as we headed into Puerto Montt and we jumped straight on a bus in its direction when we disembarked. There are several small ferries that make the 30 minute crossing to the island. The water around Chiloe is amazingly rich and we saw sea lions and penguins in the water heading both ways. Apparently dolphins are a regular sight.

Our first impression as we drove south through the island was how much like England it looked. Its location jutting out into the Pacific means it has a wet climate making it perfect for farming. The island's gentle rolling hills are seperated into fields for livestock and crops. It was the first time we had encountered anything like this on the trip and it certainly brought bcak memories of good old blighty!

Houses on stilts, Castro

We spent a day in the capital, Castro. It is a bustling little city with houses on stilts to hold them above the water when the tide comes in and lots of little fish restaurants. It felt more like Peru than anywhere else we had visited in a while. There were lots of small shops, a chaotic bus station, a lot of indiginous looking people and more street salesmen than we had seen since leaving Bolivia. We really liked it!!

Chiloe's main tourist attraction are its churches. Every town and village has a small quaint wooden church. We however didn't visit any (I know, we're heathens!) and instead caught the bus to the National Park. It is situated on the Pacific coast and offers a supposedly lovely walk up to a refugio and camp ground and then beyond. We were understandably dissapointed when a Dutch guy got on the bus and told us not to do the walk - "the path is bad, there's no water, there is no refugio, there are squatters there that are unfriendly, the bridge is down so you can't go beyond the camping"........

Chiloe Beach

He seemed to know what he was talking about so we decided to walk along the beach and return the same day. Luckily another Dutch couple were setting out on the same walk and together we decided to push on and see what we found. Jan and Rian were great company and we enjoyed a good tramp along a beach and over a few headlands to the campsite. When we arrived we found water - there was a tap! There were people living in the refugio but not squatters - they were local builders constructing a new refugio. Whilst they kept themselves to themselves, they were chatty at times and certainly far from unfriendly. The only truth was that the bridge was down so it wasn't possible to go any further but that wasn't a problem.

Scenery on trek

The next day we had a leisurely start and strolled back the same way we had come - this time spotting the bridges over the rivers we had previously forded! As we hadn't pushed on beyond the refugio we had an extra night so camped for a night in the a campsite in the access village with Jan and Rian,. The next morning we caught the bus back to Castro for a relaxing afternoon and a nice meal in a local fish joint - my indoctrination into the world of fish continued with a serving of hake and a spoonful of Petra's crab.

Jan, Rian, Petra & James at campsite

All in all a charming island, a good few days and some more Dutch friends!!

We are sailing.....

After our physical excertions in Patagonia we decided it was time to do something a little bit more relaxed - a ferry trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt was the order of the day. In fact we had booked it several months before and alongside the trekking it was one of things we were most looking forward to on our trip. The trip starts at 51 deg 44´ South and winds north through the fjords of Chile´s Pacific coast up to 41 deg 28´South. Taking 4 days to complete the trip.

The Navimag Ferry in Puerto Natales - tourists upstairs, cows downstairs!

We had managed to convince Annalisa, who we had met on the Galapagos so many months ago (and again in Peru and Bolivia), to change her plans to join us. She had a tight schedule to catch a complex series of flights home to arrive back in Ireland so was mildly stressed when the boat was already delayed by a day because of bad weather. Rather than boarding on Thursday evening and departing early on Friday we boarded at 3pm on Friday and left as soon as possible aftewards.

The ferry is operated by Navimag and is first and foremost a cargo ship but despite the warnings of the Lonely Planet the accomodation was surprisingly nice. The dorms were split into sections of 4 bunks and each with its own locker. The three of us had one pod of 4 bunks to oursleves so had loads of space. In fact we seemed better off than people who had paid for cabin! There was however a lorry full of cows in the cargo hold and the smell by the end of the trip was really quite distressing. Standing near the stern of the boat became less and less appealing as time went on.

As well as Annalisa we knew some other people on the boat: Emma and Jill, two Aussies currently working in East Timor who we first met in Torres del Paine & Kathleen and Jon, Scottish/Icelandic newly weds on their honeymoon. We quickly assumed seats in the bar or wandered around the deck. Emma and Jill had a travel scrabble board and as the weather was less than perfect this became the centre of attention. There were numerous queries along the lines of "is ´og´ a word?" or similar. James seemed to be the one who frequently made up words but was also the most leniant with other peoples. Perhaps the classic being when he decided to claim that ´Sexo´ was a word in order to get on a triple word score! Emma and Jill now regularly send us updates of strange words they have got away with in subsequent games. In fact today they sent us a photo of their Scrabble board at the end of a game because they were so impressed with it!

An evennig game of Scrabble

The evenings got cold quickly so we generally retired inside to open a few bottles of wine before and after dinner. We had bought a fair bit of wine with us (as had everyone else) so all was needed was to distract the bar man to grab a few glasses and we were away. The evenings were then finished off with a glass or two of Dulce de Leche liqueur - a horrendously sweet and sickly drink that some people like more than others!

The first night was especially good fun as we had discovered that it was Annalisa´s birthday so slipped a bottle of Champagne on board and when she wasn´t looking asked the barman to put it in the fridge for us. I think other passengers were a bit jealous when we popped the cork!

Celebrating Annalisa´s (21st) Birthday

It wasn´t all about drinking and playing scrabble though. The weather wasn´t great but we still saw some great views. At one stage the 30m wide ferry slipped through a narrows of only 80m. Another time we sailed close to a glacier that decended right into the sea. Also cruised past a wreck of a boat that got it slightly wrong and we now used as a marker buoy. We also briefly anchored at the small port of Puerto Eden where a few brave soles dismbarked.

We have to get through there!

On the final evening there was a beautiful sunset and then the night it was clear enough to see some stars so I took my star chart out and gave an impromptu class on star gazing. Everyone gathered round whilst I pointed out Orion, Sirius, the Southern Cross etc and answered questions as honestly as I could from a variety of people. There was quite a large group around me by the end. Luckily it clouded over before anyone could test me with any particularly challenging questions!

Star gazing - "no that one!"

When we arrived in Puerto Montt it was time to say farewell to Annalisa. She had to fly to Santiago, then onto Buenos Aires, then New York, then London and finally Dublin. It was great commitment on her part to re-arrange her flights so she could get on the boat. It was great to see her again and really cemented the friendship. As our time in South America nears its close we could sympathise with her sadness at having to head home.

Despite the weather it was a great trip that we thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone travelling in that part of Chile.

Torres del Paine

Refuelled with a good Argentinian steak, and with Fitz Roy safely under our belts, we headed across the border to Chile, home of the famous Torres del Paine (T-del-P) National Park. The night before the trek was spent in Puerto Natales, buying last minute supplies, and hanging out at Erratic Rock Hostel - lenders of equipment, providers of the best hostel breakfast possibily in the whole of South America and home of the '3pm talk', a local institution, dreamt up by the inimitable Bill, a larger-than-life Oregon-ite as a damage limitation exercise for those planning a trip to the T-del-P NP, who have no previous experience of trekking. Even for old-timers like us, he had plenty of useful tips to impart, but for some of the people who came to listen, his non-nonsense chat good be a life-saver.

T-del-P, for better or worse has achieved the status of a 'must-do' for any self-respecting back-packer who makes it as far south as Patagonia (whether trekking is their thing or not). Some of them have never been nr the mountains in their lives - and it shows!

Amoung the great examples of un-preparedness was Colin, the cheerful american, who we met on day 2, dropping his stuff all over the path, and hoping to survive the 5-day trek on the nutritional provision of a jar of peanut butter! After a cursory glance around at the other tents at the camp on night 1, we were well satisfied that should we bit hit by strong winds (not an uncommon occurrence in Patagonia) that ours would definitely not be the first tents to collapse. To give you an idea - there was one tent which was even pitched so that the doors in the outer and inner didn't line up... someone was going to have difficulties getting into bed that night!

Lisa, Guido, Colin, James & Andrew in the Quincho

For those for whom 4 nights under canvas in one of the wettest and windiest parts of the world held no appeal, there was a selection of refuges, most of which were built well, and in keeping with the natural surroundings. Although we were dismayed on arriving at the first site to find that the lodge there would have looked more in keeping next to a motorway service station in Swindon than in one of the world's most beautiful national parks. There was a distinct whiff of commercialism in the air.


After catching the bus to the park ranger station, we set off walking on day 1, trying not to let the slightly damp conditions subdue our spirits. From a distance of the Torres massif was still shrouded in cloud, and we knew that we would need luck on our side if we hoped to catch a glimpse of the the amazing mountain scenery that the park had to offer. T-del-P gets pretty crowded during high season, with more than 100 trekkers each day starting the famous 'W' route, but one of the advantages of this is that there's a great spirit of camaraderie on the trek, with evenings spent sharing funny stories in several different languages. On the evening of day 1, we sat in the 'quincho' at the campsite along with another 50 or so fellow campers, watching the cloud lift from the towering 'Paine Grande', the highest mountain in the range, and feeling lucky to be there.


Day 2 took us up to Glacier Grey, where we experienced the full force of the Patagonia wind and came face to face with huge, brilliant blue icebergs. Luckily, as we were returning to the same campsite that night, there was no need to carry our big packs, although at times they would have been handy to keep me pinned to the ground whilst being buffetted by the wind!



On Day 3 we walked around the base of the towering Paine Grande, to reach Campamento Italiano. Here we could leave our packs again before heading up towards Vallee Frances, a natural amphitheatre of mountains, which can be admired from a central view point. The weather had exceeded expectations, and we were treated to a 360 view framed by cloudless blue sky. Not even the widest wide-angle lense could do this scenery justice.


Andrew, Petra & James at Vallee Frances

After descending the valley, we continued on to finish a long day around 6pm, tired but happy with what we'd seen, at the Cuernos campsite. We found a sheltered pitch, and enjoyed our camp-stove pasta in the late evening Patagonian sun. Bliss!


Dinner at Cuernos campsite


On Day 4 we had our eyes on the prize, and were up early to set off towards the elusive Torres del Paine - the Holy Grail of our trip. We walked around the base of the Cuernos del Paine (Horns of Paine - what a great name!), on what is usually one of the most exposed and windy parts of the trek. Imagine our surprise when there was not a wisp of wind, and the lake beside us was still as a mirror. A true rarity in this part of the world! By around 2pm, we arrived at the Torres campsite, right underneath the towers. We pitched our tents at speed, and set off up the steep moraine field, which was all that separated us from the view which graces the cover of every guidebook to Chile.

Cuernos del Paine


The climb was steep enough that the Torres remain hidden until the very last minute - as if specifically designed by nature to achieve 110% wow-factor. But it was worth waiting for. We were able to bask in the sun and drink in the view, which became no less amazing in the 2 hours or so we sat looking at it. Eventually it was time to head back down to the campsite, and get an early night in preparation for another potential climb up to the viewpoint for dawn. At 4am, James was unceremoniously kicked out of the tent to check on the weather. With a note of relief in his voice he reported that it was wet and windy, and therefore not worth making the climb up to see the sunrise. Phew! Back to sleep for a couple of hours.



Torres del Paine

On day 5, we descended from the Torres, just in time, as the weather appeared to be closing in. By this time we were all dreaming of a hot shower and a pizza... As we gathered in the bus shelter waiting for the ride back to Puerto Natales, there was plenty of good chat with the other trekkers, and we even met 2 aussie girls, Jill and Emma who would be joining us on the next stage of our journey, up the Chilean fijords on the Navimag...

Chilean rumblings...

For any of you who have heard the recent news stories about the erruption of volcano Llaima in Chile, just thought it was worth a note to ket you know that we haven't been affected by it.
Apparently the column of ash and smoke was 3000m high, so not a small erruption, but luckily we are several hundred miles away from the affected area, so no need to worry!