Ushuaia - End of the World

Ushuaia was the perfect way to see in the New Year. The "End of the World" for the "End of the Year." It was a random night including some traditional Lithuanian folk dancing, drinks on the beach with some Brazilians and kittens running around the bar at 4am while the sun was high in the sky! Looking forward to what 2007 will bring.

Tierra Del Fuego - The Land of Fire

To shake off our New Year's hangovers we took off on a 3 day hike through Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was fabulous with incredibly beautiful scenery- just when you think you`ve seen enough mountains and glaciers. But this one skirted the ocean too, which was a new experience for us. The weather came in really bad on our 2nd night and we were camped out in the open. We got smashed by Patagonian wind and snow and rain and woke up warm and dry with our tent covered in snow. But it was a ridiculously beautiful spot with forest below us and waterfalls cascading down green cliffs across from us. And then a view through a tight valley to the ocean. Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego are one of our favourite places we`ve been too.

Torres Del Paine

Torres del Paine is arguably the most famous trek in Patagonia and after our 8 days of hiking the circuit it was easy to see why!

The trek itself was not demanding in terms of distance and terrain covered. However, carrying 8 days of food along with the testing weather saw our bodies weary and in desperate need of a warm shower at the conclusion of this walk.

The aspect of Torres del Paine that gives it its fame is the astonishing diversity the route takes you on. Wildflowers carpeting the landscape red with pleasant song birds chirping away, gave us the impression of the perfect spring day. Later the weather would contradict this, exposing us to wind, rain, hail and finally snow. And then, as if God Himself were reading our minds, knowing full well we had had enough the sun would shine momentarily giving us renewed hope and energy.

Open grass lands changed into closed valleys surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Later the trek would pass through knee deep mud as it began to climb over Paso John Garner to a view that was nothing short of amazing. Looking over the massive ice field in Glacier Grey is one of the most breathtaking sights I have every seen trekking.

The main draw card of this tramp is the ´Torres´. Spectacular towers of granite erecting from the top of the mountain range. On our final day day of the walk we woke at 3:30am and started trekking to a location where the intention was to see the first rays of sun hit the Torres turning the grey silhouette of granite golden orange and the sky a warm red. Instead we were met by heavy cloud, strong winds and the snow dumping for hours. We could barely see 20 metres in front of us let alone the mighty towers. With our tails between our legs we trudged back to the tent and crashed out disappointed and fatigued.

With a stroke of luck, when we awoke the clouds had lifted. Not wanting to miss the view we ran back up the mountain to the view spot and were rewarded with the impressive icon. No words or photos can describe the feelings one gets of this place but it was an amazing experience.

We ran the next 15 kilometres along the trail with packs on backs to make the afternoon bus that would take us back to civilisation. We made the bus with most of the other walkers present showing signs of disappointment as they were unable to see ´Torres del Paine.´ Katie and myself were only too happy to show them our digital photos.