We arrived in Puerto Natales at about 11:30pm on a Saturday night and made our way to Nikos II, our hostel for the next couple of nights. This was a good hostel, great information, good rooms and an egg and freshly squeezed juice for breakfast every day!

Day 1 in Puerto Natales was spent booking tickets for Torres del Paine and shopping for the necessary supplies for our four day walk / camping expedition. We were then able to join the landlady for a trip out to a local rodeo where we got to watch children riding sheep and chasing pigs (hearing the pig squeal was a bit disconcerting but the kids seemed to enjoy it) and the finals of the saddle bronc (for those of you who aren´t familiar with this kind of activity it involves grown men sitting on madly bucking horses for as long as possible - although no longer than 8 seconds). Only one person got taken off in the ambulance but there were quite a few who probably would have rathered a ride in the ambulance to the grimace of pride they displayed as their friends helped them to a safer place!

Day 1 in the park began with an early morning bus ride into the parque to start the ´W´trail, which is a 4 / 5 day trek that takes in the most striking aspects of the park. There are two longer circuits - the circuit which is about 9 / 10 days and the ´Q´which is 11 / 12 days. Having arrived at the park we pitched the tent and, inspired by the lack of rain and wind and presence of blue skies we headed straight up to the ´Towers´ which took three hours up and three hours back. To put that in some kind of perspective, the first hour is a long uphill walk with the second hour lulling you into a false sense of security, taking you through forest and along mostly flat paths. The final hour is simply a mad scramble over granite boulders to the mirador. The view however, makes it all worthwhile. It really was incredible, towering spires of bare rock reaching up into the clouds. (Yes, I know photo´s would give a better picture and we really are trying!). Having spent an hour at the top we scrambled down and set off back to camp, stopping briefly for a celebratory wine and beer at the lower refugio.

Day 2 we were up early for the next leg of the journey. The day´s walk started out quite easily, along a flat path with some of the most amazing lake and mountain views. We arrived at the campsite at about 3:00pm, set up camp and again, owing to the fabulous weather we were having we decided to head straight up the mountain, through the ´Valle de Francis´. This part of the walk started off by following the river and so again we were climbing and scrambling over rocks and boulders before heading into the trees and then across bare landscape that offered no protection from the wind. We stopped at the first mirador and were greeted by the most amazing views of snow and rock and the cracking sounds of avalanches. We continued on with climb and finally reached the end of the trail which was more of the same views except even more awe inspiring. It´s difficult to put into words just how breathtaking the views of mountains can be but all around us we were surrounded by towering peaks, snow covered mountains and below was forest. As we got there quite late in the day there weren´t many people there so it was quite peaceful as well. Anyway, as the wind picked up we decided it was time to head down and so we returned to camp and collapsed for the evening.

Day 3 had us again heading off early for the final part of the trek. It was a relatively short and not to difficult walk to the final campsite, Pehoe. We filled ourselves with a huge but not very tasty breakfast at the hotel there (the thought of more than a muesli bar for breakfast was just to tempting), set up camp and headed up Glacier Grey. This was perhaps the most spectacular of the views for us. As you followed the path you eventually reached a huge rock that was the first mirador and it simply took our breath away. Clear lakes stretching for miles, small ice bergs dotting the lake and in the distance the snow covered peaks and our first view of the Glacier. We continued on and were constantly surprised by the beauty of what we were seeing. We finally reached the Glacier and just sat and stared for about 45 minutes before it got to cold to sit any longer! We then headed back to camp for our last night in Torres del Paine.

All in all we both concluded that this was an amazing part of the world and we were certainly glad that we had made the effort to spend the time there.

In addition to Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales offered us one of our best meals yet (2 really because we went back twice). It was an Afro-Patagonian restaurant with a Kenyan chef and the food was absolutely incredible. The prawns were fresh and garlicky, the king crab salad had lots of fresh, tasty crab, the steak was cooked to perfection and simply melted in your mouth ... You get the picture!

Anyway, now it´s time to continue our journey north and see what else Chile has to offer.

Bye for now, take care

Tim and Tracey

Having arrived in Ushuaia 4 hours later than the advertised time (apparently they don´t take into account the border crossing times) we got the first taxi we could find and went directly to the hostel. Fortunately, the owner´s son was there and awake as the owner had gone to bed, having completely given up on us arriving! Still, it was a lovely hostel, more a b&b really, with a very motherly landlord who was very concerned to tell us what trips we should and shouldn´t do for maximum benefit and minimum cost.

Having been caught many times before, the very first thing we did was book our bus tickets out of Ushuaia and then headed off to visit the various museums as it was raining and windy (not unusual for the world´s most southern city). Ushuaia has a few museums but perhaps the most powerful one is the old prison which tells some interesting stories about its inhabitants. I recall one about a young boy who killed a few people (mainly children) and eventually they blamed his deviant behaviour on the fact that his ears were very big and stuck out. They did operate to fix this problem but this appeared to have little effect on his overall behaviour.

Day 2 was again a bit grey, very windy and threatening rain but we bravely headed off to Cerro Martial and Glaciar Martial. We were a bit lazy really and got a taxi to the beginning of the chairlift (it was a 7km uphill walk and it was very windy!) but did manage the 15 minute walk to the beginning of the walk up to the Glaciar. The views over Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel were amazing and the walk up to the Glaciar was a bit tough - straight up a stony, slippery mountainside. Having made it to the top, sadly we weren´t that impressed by the Glaciar and as the clouds moved in and the wind picked up we set off back down the mountain. Having reached the bottom of the start of the walk, we decided to walk back into town, following a well marked, lovely, peaceful path through the forest for about two hours.

As a bit of an aside, we were both hugely impressed with this young Japanese guy who seemed to literally run up the mountain and then back down. As we were walking up we could see him in the far off distance and yet he managed to get to the top about 5 minutes after us. We both left to go down at the same time and by the time we were barely halfway down he was very nearly at the bottom!

Having had our fill of exercise for the day, we spent the rest of the afternoon taking a boat ride on the Beagle Channel, taking in some small rocky islands which are the home to seals and sea lions as well as cormorants. I know I´ve said it before but those sea lions really do smell!

Having spent so much time in Bariloche we really had to keep ourselves moving now and so spent only 2 days in Ushuaia before boarding a bus north to Puerto Natales, which is the starting point for Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. It was a bit of a shame really, we did enjoy Ushuaia and could have happily spent another couple of days there exploring the area. Still, we boarded our early morning bus to Puerto Natales feeling quite excited about seeing one of Chile´s most popular parks.

Because Torres del Paine was so amazing it deserves an entry all of its own so, bye for now.

take care

Tim and Tracey

So, having had enough of Bariloche and armed with our new, improved spanish speaking skills, we boarded a bus to a little town called El Bolsen, which is apparently known for its hippy beginnings and being the only town in Argentina to have declared itself anti-nuclear or something similar. We spent only a day there, wandering around the markets and enjoying the small town feel. There really wasn't much going on and it rained most of the day. I guess people who spend longer there, doing lots of walking in the mountains would have a much more impressed view but at this point we really just wanted to move on. And so we did ....

Next stop, following a brief overnight bus ride, was a place called Puerto Madryn, which provides access to Peninsula Valdes and Punto Tombo. The fascination of these two places lies in the sea life. Having arrived early in the morning and hearing the cost of the tours and going on advice from other's we have met along the way, we decided to hire a car and make our own way around, with the idea of allowing ourselves however long we wanted at each spot, rather than the 15 minutes alotted by the tour operator. Having located the only car hire shop opened at 9:00am on a Sunday morning, we soon found ourselves pottering about in a 5 door Fiat Uno - Tim was not very impressed and mumbled for quite some time about having to drive a Fiat ... Anyway, once we got over that we loaded up at the local grocery store and headed off for Punto Tombo.

Punto Tombo was fabulous. It was just a world of penguins that roamed the beach side with signs telling humans to give way to the penguins! We spent about two hours there just walking along the tracks, watching the penguins crawl in and out of their little burrows, listening to the babies calling for their mothers with their lunch and getting as close as possible to take photo's - this led on one occasion to a grown up penguin pecking Tim on the leg and pulling out quite a few hairs and 'spraying' him. I told him not to get so close .... We also got to see the penguins playing in the ocean. It was great fun to see them diving in and watching the waves tumble them back to shore only for them to start the process again.

After Punto Tombo we headed off to the Pensinsula only to be turned back at the gate because it was close to closing and there didn't appear to be any accomodation. We turned back to Puerto Madryn, spent the night camping and headed off early back to the Peninsula. We managed to find a camping spot (it was quite full but I am pretty sure if we had arrived the night before there would have been space even if not the ideal spot) and headed off to check out more penguins, seals and sea lions. Sadly, we had missed the whale season but the sea lions were certainly impressive (if a little smelly) and the seals were super cute. We spent the afternoon lazing on the beach until it started to get a little cool at about 8:30pm.

Next morning we headed off relatively early, congratulating ourselves on not having roled the vehicle or crashed into another car (both of which seem to be quite regular activities) - although Tim seemed to think it impossible that we would have such an encounter (obviously due to his superior driving skills on gravel roads...). Our self congratulations, it seemed, was slightly to early as about 10 minutes prior to arriving back at the hire office a truck went by and showered us with rocks and stones, leaving 3 cracks in the windscreen. What had started out as a relatively inexpensive trip suddenly became a lot more than anticipated. Nevermind, the animals were lovely and I am glad we got to spend the extended time there, particularly when I hear people talk about the tours they went on.

Having got our fill of sea life it was time to keep moving so we boarded yet another bus, this time for Ushuaia arriving about 36 hours later, having been through 4 border crossing to end up in the same country we started in!

That seems long enough for now so the next chapter can have it's very own entry.

Hope all is well

Until next time,

Tim and Tracey

PS - thanks very much to Mhari and Li-Ann for the information on getting photo's onto the blog - now I just need to find a computer with a fast enough connection ...

As I was waiting for the site to re-direct me to this page I noticed that the last entry date was from 15th January, which seems so long ago now, especially when I think about the amount of ground we have covered. Once again, apologies for the time between blogs but this time it wasn´t completely down to my inability to keep the thing up to date. In that time we have covered hundreds of kilometres on bus, spent many days trekking and camping in places where internet hasn´t yet made it! Also, the obligatory(for me anyway) belly upset and cold kept me down for a few days - but we´re back on track now!

But now it´s time for me to cast my mind back to 15.01 ..... As I recall we had recently arrived in Bariloche and had the bright idea to spend some time studying Spanish to improve the whole travelling experience. Before school started we had a few days to get to know the area and so hired a bicycle to do the ´circuito chico´ which is a bike ride around Bariloche that takes in some fabulous views across the city, allows you to stop at some beautiful lakes and lagoons and certainly tests your fitness, if not your bike riding skills. I was completely exhausted, had to push the bike up more than one hill (mountain) and spent the next day doing pretty much nothing!

Having recovered from the bike ride, it was time to move to our new hostel in Bariloche, booked as part of the spanish school experience. Having done that we took a bus to a nearby lake, which was apparently quite nice for relaxation and swimming - unless of course there are gale force winds and you take shelter in the nearest (and only) restaurant before opting for the short walk to the cascada (waterfall) and mirador (lookout). The cascada wasn´t so spectactular but the views from the mirador were impressive.

Having braved the cyclonic winds we headed back to town and, for the first time of the trip, stopped for a quick drink in a lonely planet recommended Irish pub where we ran into a couple that we had met briefly in Cordoba, Mark and Sheenagh. Given the level of coincidence involved here it was agreed that a quick drink or two were in order. Anyway, we caught up with Mark and Sheenagh a couple more times over the next few days and it was really nice to have someone other than each other to talk with! I guess it´s also one of the rewards of travelling - meeting like minded people who you can have a laugh and chat with. They had been travelling for 7 months and were looking forward to returning home - I know the feeling! Anyway, if you do read this, Hi Mark and Sheenagh. Hope you are settling well back on Oz.

Well, after an enjoyable weekend it was off to school for the first time in a really long time (more so for Tim). There were four of us in class (Tim and I, Patrick and Guido) who we had stayed with at the previous hostel.

The next two weeks past quite quickly really with life developing into a routine quite quickly. From 9 - 1 we were at school. After school we had lunch and headed to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and do our homework (!) and then back to the hostel for dinner, more studying and bed. The only additions to this routine we some after school activities including Salsa dancing and ten pin bowling. Both were fun, a good laugh but sadly, neither of us excelled at either.

At the end of the first week of school we moved again, this time to our host family - Marta, Rodolfo and their son, Gaston. This was good. We both really enjoyed the time spent with the family and it was a great way to help improve our spanish. They all spoke english which was helpful (for us) because if we didn´t understand them in spanish they would repeat in english and what we couldn´t say in spanish we could ask in english. Anyway, they were a lovely family.

In our second week we stuck to mostly the same routine but also managed to check out Cerro Catedral which provided views of the city but also looking back towards Chile and, on a good day, views of some volcano´s in Chile and Colonia Suiza to taste a traditional ´curanto´, which is really quite similar to a ´hungi´(sorry for the incorrect spelling). Unfortunately, we were really quite late and so didn´t get to experience the whole thing, we did get to eat though.

Unfortunately, I was ill pretty much for the whole time we in Baroliche, due to some dodgy meat. You would think, given we have eaten in the cheapest places we can find, from stalls on the side of the street, that one of those would be the cause of illness. But no, the time we decide to eat somewhere really nice and relatively expensive, it happens. Anyway, after two weeks of soup, rice with some an occasional fish and sprite, I tried meat again and it happened all over again. Now, I eat salads and vegetables and fish and have now re-introduced red wine to my diet.

The key question, I suppose, to the time spent in Bariloche was whether or not the school was worth the time and money spent. Well, I guess it must have been worthwhile; our vocabulary has increased, we have a much better grasp of grammer and reading, writing and understanding the language has certainly improved. Sadly, our conversational skills are still rather lacking ... hopefully this will improve as we travel further - even if it is just our of necessity!

Anyway, after 2 1/2 weeks in one place it was definately time to move on - more on that in the next entry.

So now we will sign off, wishing you all the best and hoping that the new year has treated you well so far.

take care,

Tim and Tracey

PS - Message for Lesley and Anthony - I now only have Lesleys work email and I guess youre not there right now, so it wold be great if you sent an email to our same old address so we can catch up on whats been going on.

PSS - Sorry for the lack of correct punctuation, I cant work out this keyboard!