Christmas in Patagonia

We're yet to do a blog post for our journey from Ushuaia up to El Calafate, Argentina.  Christmas has come around so quick that we simply ran out of time, but watch this space, we will get round to it soon.  For now though...

Feliz Navidad
Merry Christmas

We are spending Christmas in Patagonia and have arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, on Christmas Eve.  We'll be commencing a photographic expedition of the Torres del Paine National Park on Christmas Day.

During our journey to Punta Arenas (from El Calafate) we found Santa sitting in a cafe in Puerto Natales so we decided to join him while we waited for a connecting bus.  He must've finished his Australian run fairly early - at around 3.00pm our time (it would have been 5.00am on the east coast of Australia).  A nice little break before he had to get going again to the rest of the world.

We have no idea what gourmet treats will be our feast of the day buts it's likely that it will include empanadas and meat of beef (veca) or lamb (cordero).  And we must mention "dulce de leche" a sweet and creamy caramal spread that is served up at breakfast, lunch & dinner in Argentina & Chile - a very sweet spread that can also be used as a dessert sauce or ice-cream topping too - very versatile for any sweet tooth.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing - have a fabulous time enjoying all the festive cheer.

Enjoying empanadas in El Calafate

Having a chat & cuppa with Santa in Puerto Natales

Ushuaia - after returning from Antarctica

Hmmm... now what do we do now? 

With no real concrete plans we had 2 weeks to enjoy and explore - there is so much to do and (dare we say it) so little time!

On our return from Antarctica the only plan we had in place was 2 nights accommodation at La Casa de Tere B&B - apart from that we simply knew we had 2 weeks before Christmas and having to be in Punta Arenas, Chile for our photography expedition in the Torres del Paine National Park.

Staying in Ushuaia for 5 nights in total we visited the nearby Martial Glacier.  Expecting to reach the edge of an actual glacier we hiked up the mountain and discovered we were 10,000 years too late to set foot on this glacier - it had receded completely leaving only glacial moraines (remains such as rock, soil, gravel) on the mountainside.  In fact we discovered at another stage of our stay in Ushuaia that the city itself was under about 1,200 mtrs of ice 25,000 years ago with only the peaks of the mountains surrounding the city above the ice level.  Maybe no glacier but a wonderful walk.  Fortunately just as we finished the rain started pouring down.

Martial Glacier

Shopping with the Penguins in Ushuaia
Penguins make up the majority of shop window displays in Ushuaia

Just a note on Ushuaia weather - some of you know about the weather in Melbourne - 4 seasons in one day - well in Ushuaia if it's raining, wait 5 minutes it will be sunny, wait another 5 minutes it'll likely snow, another 5 minutes, sun again - and so on.  We certainly experienced weather just like this - we had to dress for every possibility - except heatwave as it only got to maximum 5 degrees celcius on any of the days were were there.  And this is summer!

So many places to see we took a couple of full-day tours with "Canal Fun" - the first one was a canoeing & hiking trip into the Tierra del Fuego National Park - we did the hiking but no canoing (weather on the Beagle Channel was rough and it was so darn cold that canoeing would have been simply uncomfortable in the rain.  During the previous day and overnight it had snowed quite a bit and the snow was still falling during the day we took this tour.  Fortunately, dressed in waterproof pants & jacket we could still enjoy the walks through beech forests to take in the (limited) views of the Beagle Channel and Lapataia Bay - the southernmost end of Route 3 road that goes from this point as far north to Alaska (Roy's done some of this route before now on a solo motorbike journey so he had to have his photo here.  A great day out and while we didn't get to see everything we'd hoped for we enjoyed what we did see - not too many photographs as it was just too wet to bring the cameras out to play.

Our second full day tour was a 4WD tour called "Lakes off-road" in a Land Rover Defender, 8 seater.  The weather improved substantially - not raining, not snowing but still cold.  The track is a true off-road experience, created and used only by "Canal Fun" - fallen trees, muddy & boggy ruts and so much more fun stuff.  We even drove along the edge of Lake Fagnano with the waves crashing in alongide the vehicle.  Lunch in the bush, where we received a visit from a "Zorro" (fox, a patagonian one) then return to Ushuaia.

The day before our tour to the Tierra del Fuego National Park
it snowed for quite some time in the Ushuaia area -
this is what we found along the way.  This was the same day
that it bucketed down rain all day long.

Roy at the end of Route 3 - the road that extends from
South America to Alaska

Looking out the rear of our vehicle at what we had just passed through
and our companion vehicle had still yet to succeed at.

Time to move on from Ushuaia - we arranged to rent-a-car for a week to travel from Ushuaia to El Calafate / El Chalten - post to come soon.