The Rhyme of Sim’

Day 42 - Buenos Aires to Santiago and Santiago to Sydney

Up at a reasonable time this morning to finish our packing and discard the last of the gear we wouldn’t need for the return trip.

Decided to wear our Teva’s on the plane rather than our boots - also pulled out our Thermarest pillows to carry on, so there’s plenty of room to pack the boots in our bags.

Got our airport transfer at around 11:30am and headed to the international airport - flight was at 2:25pm.

We arrived in Santiago on schedule and made our way to one of the LAN club lounges. We had a 7 hour or so wait for our flight to Sydney - so I spent the time catching up on blogging and uploading photos (very fast link here with free WiFi!).

Our flight leaves at around 11:05pm tonight (just over an hour from now) - and stops in Auckland before continuing to Sydney - scheduled to arrive at just after 7am Sunday morning (we skip Saturday when we cross the date line).

Buenos Aires to Sydney - trip overview

We plan on catching the train home and walking with our packs - depends on how we feel when we arrive!

This will be the last blog entry from the trip itself … although over the next few weeks I’ll do some reviews of the places we’ve visited, the activities and tours we’ve done and the gear we took.

Leanne with her pack - Sydney Central Station

Simon with his pack - Sydney Central Station

Day 41 - Ushuaia to Buenos Aires

Up reasonably early this morning to finish our packing and check out of the hostel and book a taxi to the airport.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Our flight to Buenos Aires left a bit later than the 12:05pm scheduled time. At least it was a direct flight - about 3.5 hours.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Our transfer driver was waiting for us when we arrived and we got to the hostel with no problems - it was really hot and humid though … we’re missing the cool weather already!

We put on our Teva’s (nice to be out of the boots) and headed out for a walk - walked the length of the pedestrian mall “Florida” and back, stopped for some dinner and then eventually wound our way back to the hostel.

Had an early night - the humidity not too comfortable - has been raining a lot here too … lots of water lying around.

Ushuaia to Buenos Aires - trip overview

Day 40 - Ushuaia

Slept in today - decided to have a slow day and just do some stuff around town.

Headed out late morning and visited Museo Fin del Mundo (End of the World Museum) about the history of the area and the town of Ushuaia.

One interesting part of the museum was a collection of stuffed birds (and a couple of animals) found in the region. Despite it being a little creepy, I took lots of photos to help me with identification of some of the birds we have seen. I’m disappointed we didn’t see any woodpeckers!

Magellanic Woodpecker (stuffed) - Museo Fin del Mundo

After lunch we decided to visit the local aquarium, which was a 45 min walk from downtown. It turned out to be not a lot more than an old building with a few fish tanks in it - but they were large tanks and they had some marine creatures we hadn’t seen before (although it was poorly labelled, so we didn’t really know what they were). Certainly not worth the 25 peso entrance fee (around AU$9).

After walking back and stopping for afternoon tea, we headed back to the hostel to have a rest and get some washing done.

Dinner was the rest of the leftover bolognaise from the other night - three meals out of one dish saves a lot of money!

Had an early night after doing a bit of packing ready to leave in the morning.

Day 39 - Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego National Park

Got up a bit later than we had planned this morning - but managed to catch a 10:30am bus out to the Tierra del Fuego National Park - only 20km from town. We weren’t sure what the weather would be like - the forecast was for 14 degrees

We started off walking around Lago Roco until we reached the Chile - Argentina border (the trail stopped here). We then walked back and all the way around to Lapataia Bay (about 7 hours all up) where we caught a bus back to town.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

Argentina - Chile Border, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argenti

Lago Roco, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

Peat Bog - Lago Negra, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

Geese, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

Lapataia Bay, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

It was a nice day for walking - cool but not cold. It did rain a bit in the afternoon, but not too much. It was really nice to be able to walk through the forest areas with nobody else around. Quite a lot of birds around the bay area and many Chimango Caracara around the campsite. These look like a small bird of prey, but are more like crows in their behaviour - scavengers and noisemakers.

Chimango Caracara, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

Interestingly there were hundreds of rabbits around - we weren’t sure if they were native or not (someone told us later they are introduced). Didn’t seem to be that much damage from rabbits like we typically see in Australia - but then, there was plenty of lush green grass for them to nibble on - even in the middle of Summer.

Rabbits, Tierra del Fuego National Park - Ushuaia, Argentina

I reheated the leftover bolognaise from last night for dinner and spent the evening posting blog entries from the past week.

Tierra del Fuego National Park - satellite view

Day 38 - Ushuaia

We slept in a bit this morning - breakfast was served until 10:30am, so there was no reason to rush! I was still feeling really tired and didn’t feel like rushing out - so we lazed around the room and Leanne headed out to buy some postcards and look in some shops while I had a bit of a nap. I met her just before lunch and we walked down to the waterfront to take some photos and enjoy the stunning scenery - this is a beautiful town with snow-capped mountains on three sides and a body of water out the front.

View from FreeStyle Hostel - Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia, Argentina

Dolphin Gull - Ushuaia, Argentina

Kelp Goose - Ushuaia, Argentina

Oystercatcher - Ushuaia, Argentina

We stopped for some lunch and then headed back to the hostel so Leanne could have a snooze and I got some more blogging done.

Flying (?) Steamer Ducks - Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia, Argentina

We went out after about 6pm and walked down to the supermarket to buy makings for dinner - another Penne Bolognaise (it’s been a couple of weeks since my last one!), which we cooked in the well appointed hostel kitchen.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Had an early night after watching a bit of TV and doing some more blogging.

Day 37 - Cruceros Australis and Ushuaia

Breakfast was early - 7am this morning, but we had to have our bags packed and sitting outside our rooms before we went so that the crew could take them out to the dock for us. We finished our packing and then headed down to breakfast. It was a bit quiet - many people had already left to meet their transfers for the next part of their journey. I was surprised at how many people were not staying in Ushuaia at all.

Our cabin - Cruceros Australis

We checked out just after 8am, collected our bags from the dock and headed into town. Fortunately the crew had already processed our immigration into Argentina, so we were able to leave without any lengthy processing - we just had to remember to set our watches forward an hour.

Leaving Cruceros Australis at Ushuaia

Leanne with her pack - Ushuaia

Cruceros Australis - satellite view

Cruceros Australis - map view

We walked up to our hostel “FreeStyle” - found it easily after a rather steep climb up the hill, made the hills in Bariloche and El Calafate seems quite insignificant. Of course, it was too early to check in, so we sat in their dining room and I use the WiFi link to download the 350 or so emails waiting for me after being offline for 5 days. Leanne wandered in to town for a bit to find some tourist information and came back in time for us to move into our room. While Leanne was out, I got talking to a British girl who was explaining to a German girl about the various towns and what she could do at each place. I was able to add some useful suggestions too - about the only good thing about being at the tail end of our trip is that we are now useful to people who are just starting - and we regularly get grilled for information on where to go, how to get there, what to do, and most importantly - how much it all costs!

After settling in to our room, we headed out to find some lunch. We were just about to leave the cafe - Leanne went to the bathroom and recognised one of the girls coming out - it was Meredith from our Spanish class back in Sydney who had arrived the night before! We knew she was coming to South America, but to arrive at the end of the earth at the same time, and then go to the same cafe at the same time was a bit freaky. We talked for a bit and then agreed to meet for dinner.

Leanne and I headed down to find a minibus that would take us to the chairlift up to Martial Glacier. We were advised by a local that due to the nice weather, all the minibuses were usually full, so it would probably be better to catch a taxi. It was only 7km away and I’d heard that catching a taxi was a common thing to do, so we found a taxi rank and were driven up a very windy road to the chairlift. We caught the chairlift to the top and then walked a couple of kilometres up the valley towards the glacier. At this point, the trail headed up to a lookout at the base of the glacier which apparently had great views - but we didn’t really feel like more climbing, and we hadn’t worn our trekking clothes - so we turned around and headed back. It was a nice outing anyway, and we enjoyed the countryside. We caught the chairlift back down and then waited for a taxi, which eventually dropped us back at our hostel.

Leanne - Martial Glacier - Ushuaia, Argentina

Martial Glacier - Ushuaia, Argentina

Glacier Martial, Ushuaia - satellite view

We had a bit of a snooze and then went to arrange some washing. It turns out that the hostel have their own laundry facilities, and for only 10 pesos, we could do a full load (we ended up using both washing machines at once!), and dried them in the drier - it was done quite quickly and we were able to wash almost everything which was great.

We finished just in time to meet Meredith for dinner and headed out to find a restaurant. Dinner was nice - I tried some Calafate icecream for dessert (ideally I should have done this in El Calafate !!), which was very nice - it has a subtle berry flavour - not unlike boysenberry I thought.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel, Leanne headed to bed while I started to get caught up with the blogging - getting a bit behind now - we were a lot busier on the boat cruise than I had expected!

Ushuaia - trip overview satellite image

Arrived in Ushuaia

Just a quick note to let you know we arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina after our 4 night cruise - it was fantastic. We managed to land on Cape Horn (something they only get to do around 60% of the time due to bad weather). We were very lucky - as the last Zodiacs were returning, the wind picked up and hit 70 knots (around 130kph)

We took over 1300 photos, of which we kept just over 600 (I spent a lot of time deleting photos - mostly duplicates). We saw a lot of birds - most of them the ubiquitous Kelp Gull, although we had nearly constant companionship from the Black-browed Albatross and Imperial Cormorant, with the occasional Kelp Goose sighting. Saw a few Dolphins, and a couple of Elephant Seals - which was quite special.

Simon and Leanne at Cape Horn

Day 36 - Cruceros Australis and Cabo de Hornos

A very early start this morning - we had to be up and in the sky lounge by 7am ready with our life jackets and gear for our excursion to Cape Horn. This was the highlight of the trip and we were all eagerly waiting for the chance to visit the “end of the world”. We knew there was a chance we would not be able to land - they quote statistics of 70% success in landing on Cape Horn - but some people say this is a bit optimistic - the weather is so changeable, and the previous week’s voyage had not been able to land due to a storm.

When we woke, we opened the curtains to see what it was like outside - and it was fairly calm … so we hoped it would go ahead. Indeed, we soon heard the sounds of the zodiacs being offloaded from the boat, so we quickly got dressed and prepared for our excursion.

The zodiacs took us to the base of a steep stairway which lead to the top of a cliff on the sheltered side of the island. From here, we followed boardwalks to the lookout and monument from where we could see the actual cape itself. We were on another part of the island - not the most southerly part - that is a steep bluff, which would be too difficult to access (and possibly too dangerous, being fully exposed to the weather).

Cape Horn Memorial, Cape Horn, Chile

Cape Horn, Chile

Cape Horn Memorial, Cape Horn, Chile

The weather was cool, but not uncomfortable, and we enjoyed the short walk, but on the way back towards the lighthouse, the wind picked up and it started raining a bit. We could see some large ocean liners cruising around the cape, and by the amount they were heaving up and down in the water - we could tell it was fairly rough … and this was actually good weather!

Cape Horn Memorial, Cape Horn, Chile

Southernmost Chapel in the World - Cape Horn, Chile

The wind continued to get stronger, and by the time they herded us off the island and back onto the zodiacs, the swell had risen substantially - and it was a bit of a hairy ride back to the boat. Of course Leanne and I just smiled at each other - it was nothing compared to our zodiac ride to Magdalena island.

A large passenger liner approaches our small boat

Cape Horn 15 minutes after we departed

We heard later from one of the expedition leaders that the wind speed peaked at around 70 knots (130kph) just as the last zodiac with the excursion staff was departing - it was apparently a bit exciting for the crew as they returned.

Cape Horn Memorial and Cape Horn

A large ocean liner pulled into the bay just after us and was about to disembark - but they were unable to due to the change in the weather - we had timed it perfectly.

Back on the boat, we changed and went down for breakfast - we were starving by this time and enjoyed a nice hot breakfast. The boat had started to move around quite a lot in the rising swell - we discussed over breakfast whether we would try and circumnavigate Horn Island, which we all wanted to do … we weren’t sure if the captain planned to do so. We found out from one of the staff that the captain intended to try, and we headed out to open water away from the rocks of the island - the ride becoming increasingly rough as we left the shelter of the island. Suddenly, the boat took on an alarming lean to the side as we executed a sharp turn … it continued for quite some time and it became obvious that we had turned around - the capital decided not to risk the open ocean around Cape Horn. Disappointing, but I’m sure it was the best decision given the changing conditions.

We decided to try going up to the top deck and watching from there - but they had closed that off as well … it was deemed too dangerous with the very strong wind. We sat in the forward lounge instead and watched the waves break over the bow of the ship and the birds struggle in the wind (except the albatrosses, who seemed to relish it!). It was a rough couple of hours - and many people ended up sleeping through it (it was quite hot in the lounge and the chairs were very comfortable).

At 10am they put on a documentary - Shackleton, which was fascinating and told the story of his failed attempt to cross Antarctica by foot and the daring trip he made to find help for his men stranded for months. It kind of put things in perspective given the weather we were experiencing and the comfort we were in.

Lunch was at 1pm, and we spent time up on deck in the afternoon as the wind dropped off slightly - it was still very windy, but we were able to get up and enjoy the scenery and the albatrosses and petrels flying around the boat.

Southern Giant Petrel - Cruceros Australis

We spent more time in the lounge in the afternoon before our final excursion at Wulaia Bay, where we took the zodiacs to the beach for a hike up the hill and a magnificent view out over the channels. There is a lot of history in this area - this is the place where Capital Fitz Roy on board the HMS Beagle had close encounters with the Yamana aborigines in the 19th century.

Wulaia Bay - Cruceros Australis

As we returned to the beach where the zodiacs were loading passengers for the return to the boat, we were delighted by a pod of dolphins playing in the water around the zodiacs - leaping fully out of the water and chasing the boats as they sped back to the boat.

Dolphin - Wulaia Bay - Cruceros Australis

Dolphins - Wulaia Bay - Cruceros Australis

We returned in time for dinner and afterwards we headed up to the pub for the captains farewell speech and the auction of the navigation chart we used when travelling to Cape Horn (it fetched US$500!) before heading back to our cabin to pack - disembarking would be early the next morning.

We actually arrived close to our destination well before midnight and moored while the Chilean immigration processed our departure from “Chile” and then we berthed at Ushuaia around 11pm - although we spent the night on board.

Cruceros Australis day 4 - satellite view

Day 35 - Cruceros Australis

Woke a bit later this morning - just before breakfast at 8am, and were delighted to see a dolphin swimming alongside the boat just outside our cabin window - the water was so clear, we could even see him when underwater! The rain had stopped and it looked like we might be able to spend some time on deck today.

Black-browed Albatross - Cruceros Australis

Southern Giant Petrel - Cruceros Australis

We had no excursions scheduled for the morning, so breakfast was a leisurely affair, and then after stopping back in our cabin to get cleaned up, we headed up to the top deck - rugged up with our cold weather gear, and spent some time watching the amazing scenery of the Beagle Channel.

Cormorant - Cruceros Australis

The excursion leaders did a lecture about the birds that are found in the Patagonian region. It was good that I had already seen many of them on our trip so far.

Lunch was at 12:30pm - another buffet, and we headed back upstairs after lunch to take in more of the scenery.

The boat turned and navigated down a narrow channel which brought us to the Pia glacier - where we once again disembarked on the zodiacs and were able to hike up a small hill to a viewpoint which gave us a great view of the glacier and the surrounding bay. We went back down and around to near the base of the glacier and sat watching icefalls and enjoying the scenery.

Pia Glacier - Cruceros Australis

Mountains near Pia Glacier - Cruceros Australis

Back on the boat, we cruised down the “Avenue of the Glaciers”, past the Romanche, Germany, France, Italy and Holland glaciers. Quite small compared to the glaciers we have already seen on this trip - so a bit difficult to get excited by them.