Mendoza

Well Tom and I left Las Leñas to Mendoza. Argentina defeated Mexico in the football and our whole bus erupted into cheers and I was worried the driver was not going to put his hands back on the wheel after celebrating. We met a really lovely girl called celeste, whose parents gave us a lift to our hostel.

Rob and nina have had to move on as they have to fly out soon so I wont see them again until the UK so it was sad to leave them.

We spent a day relaxing and watching football of course.

















The next day we took a winery tour. Mendoza is a very famous wine growing region, there are hundres of wineries. The good thing is you can drink some very lovely wines for such cheap prices. We visited 3 wineries and a liquer distillary. At the third winery they fed us lunch which was one of the best meals I have had travelling. A full table of antipasto, which we ate and started to feel full, then came the hot food; empanadas, stuffed pumpkins etc. Followed by a fantastic dessert. I normally do not write about food but it was such an amazing meal.

















The next day we were up early after a few wines the night before to a alta montaña trip. It was a little boring as we spent nearly the whole day on a bus but we did see some cool things. Mount Cero Acongauga which is the highest peak outside of asia at around 6900m, but it was hiding behind clouds. Also punta de Inca which is a natural thermal spring which is full of minerals and has left bright yellow and green deposits on the rock. We did play around with a sled in the snow as well.

The next day we went white water rafting I was a little nervous after we were taught all the commands and safety instructions. But afterward we got in the water it was great. There were only 4 of us in the raft so we had to work pretty hard but we also had lots of fun, spinning the raft around, standing up etc. It was a blast! I loved it!
















That night we went to the bus station and I took an overnight bus to salta and Tom to Buenas Aires. At first it was a little strange and I left a little lonely but I do enjoy and relish the time travelling by myself.

Las Leñas!

Well, because of the terrible weather we left Bariloche in search of some snow. Rob and Nina left a day before us, as there was not enough seats on the bus to I had to travel with just Tom. We took a 14 hour bus from Bariloche and arrived in a town called San Rafael at 4am. Where we had to wait 5 hours in an all night cafe watching football repeats for a bus to the ski resort town of Las Leñas. Now after 24 hours with out sleep, 20 hours with out food. Those that know me would know that I was about ready to kill someone!!!

But we finally got on the bus to Las Leñas where I got to have a nap. When we arrived we caught up with Rob and Nina and settled into our place. It was a georgeous town and seeing the snow made me light up. I was itching to get on the slopes but needed food sleep and rental gear.

















The next day I started with a lesson with a cool Argentinian chica Ivana. She was a great teacher and has been the only person who has been able to overcome my problem of turning heel to toe edge. So I had a fantastic lesson where we went all over the mountain and I was boarding really well and improving on every run with Ivana´s help. I caught up with Rob and Nina and did more runs in the afternoon and it was fantastic.

















Later in the afternoon I snuck into a bar where I met the only other Australian on the mountain as we both wanted to watch the Australia Croacia game. So with the result of the football all and all it was a fantastic day.

The next day I did not board in the morning as only 2 small runs were open as it was so windy they had to close all lifts. In the afternoon the wind died down and the lifts began to open up and I went out again. It was difficult conditions as the wind had blown the snow into big patches and left most of the terrain very icy so I had some great crashes. That said it was still fun I was just a little sore the next day.

Time on Buses and Bariloche

As Argentina is a large country we have spent a lot of time on buses, to me it has all turned into a blur but I have stolen the following information from Rob and Ninas blog about all our time spent travelling on the buses.

in the last 10 days we´ve done:
18 hours, 3 buses, one ferry from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia,
16 hours 3 buses, one ferry from Ushuaia to El Calafate,
24 hours 2 buses from el calafate to Puerto Madryn,
and13 hours one bus Puerto Madryn to Bariloche.

Total hours with only flat Patagonia steppe to stare at 67. Hours of mountainous lake district last 4. Border crossings: 6 passport stamps.

We spent a total of 3 days in Bariloche a very pretty town on the lake district. We went there with the intention to snowboard, and visit the surrounds. However it rained constantly and all we pretty much were able to do was watch the football and eat. The good thing about Bariloche was that nearly every second town is a chocolate shop so we indulged in cakes and chocolate. I also watched people drool and devour huge steak dinners (I got to eat a salad!). Also met some great people in our dorm and we all went out to a bar one night, which was a lot of fun.

Whales!! & Puerto Madryn

Hi all, well after El Calafate we took a very delux bus to a town on the atlantic coast called Puerto Madryn. Again we watched more football, played epic matches of ping pong and ate well. The food here is good but it is hard being a vegetarian. I do enjoy the wine though!!!

















Well our main activity in Puerto Madryn was to see whales. We took a tour for the whole day where were we drove to a peninsula and took a boat ride where we were very close to the whales. We saw a least 3, two of which were trying to mate so there was a lot of movement in the water. It was great. I have seen whales before but never that close. We also visited collonies of Elephant seals and sea lions but were a bit dissapointed by there laziness.

















Then back to town to take another bus. At the moment it feels like I have spent so much time on buses as Argentina is such a large country there are long distances between places.

Glaciers and Dinners.

Well, It has been a while but after Ushuaia, we moved up north (the only way possible) to a town called El Calafate. The journey was very long and we had to take 2 buses so we decided to break up the journey and spend a night in Rio Gallegos. Where we watched Argentina win its first world cup match and then dodged all the celebrating cars on the street afterwards.

















We also splashed out and ate at a fantastic restaurant, where for about $20 we ate like kings and drank a lot of very good Argentinian wine. I should probably introduce ¨we¨a bit better. Rob and Nina are a young married couple, who live in London. Nina is originally from yugoslavia she is fiesty and super fun and is always teasing me. Rob is a true gentleman and always looks after the group. Tom is from Ireland, who smokes, gambles and snores but is always fun.

The next day we went to El Calafate which is normally a thriving tourist town but was pretty quiet and not much going on. I got to watch Australia defeat Japan, we have been watching a lot of football here.

















Again we ate and drank very well. An absolute highlight was visiting the Moreno Glacier. It is one of the worlds biggest glaciers and we took a taxi tour with a driver whose name was Jesus, he was a pretty cool guy. The glacier is absolutely massive, it is the same size as Buenos Aires and words can not really describe how awe inspiring it is. It is a fantastic blue colour and with a face 5Kms long. We took a boat ride along the face and drank local beer and drank whiskey with glacier ice. I have some amazing photos.

















We then walked along a board walk for a closer view and we spent quite some time there, we were lucky enough to see a chunk of the glacier fall of the side and crash into the lake. Luckily Tom had managed to catch it on video. We also got to see many eagles and condors on the journey there.

The end of the world - Ushuaia

Well after a very long bus ride, in which we cross the Magellen Straight in Patagonia, we crossed the border into Argentina.

















I am now in the city of Ushuaia which is ¨the end of the world¨ and I mean that. It is the Southern most city in the whole entire world. So naturally it is a tourist attraction if you take your passport to the tourist office you can get it stamped with a ¨end of the world stamp¨. In summer it is normally teaming with tourists taking cruises to Antartica, but it being winter it is more quiet. At the moment it is snowing which makes for lovely backdrop of snow covered peaks.

















Yesterday we took a boat around the beagle channel where we visited a lighthouse and islands which have cormorants and lots of sea lions.

















It being Argentina of course world cup fever is well alive. You may think that people are excited in Australia but you have to remember here that football is more than a passion it is a way of life.

Puerto Natales - Torres Del Paine

Well you may have to ignore the date of this post as it has been a while since I have written so I have to do some catching up.

After the Navimag ferry we (that being Nina, Rob Tom and I) were staying at this great hostel which was run by a lovely woman where it was warm and we had freshly baked bread everyday.

















We did a three day trek into the National Park Torres del Paine. It is a huge tourist attraction in Patagonia Chile, however we were there in low season so we saw no other hikers for the whole time. It was if we had the whole park to ourselves. The walk was mostly flat but a little hard going as we had to carry all our own stuff including food. We stayed at a refuge in the night, where we kept warm by the fire.

















The scenery was breath-taking. We walked through a vally surrounded by huge jagged peaks, snow-capped mountains and blue lakes all of which were spectacular. We saw condors flying and the second day we walked to a glacier and sat there for a while listening to it rumble. Where I took some really interesting photos.

The people I am travelling with are lovely, all very easy going and lots of fun. Back in Puerto Natales we were all greatfull for a warm shower and then went out for dinner. One night it was -12 degrees (so I do not want emails from home complaining about how cold it is).

Navimag

I have spent the last 3 nights and 3 days on a boat called ¨Navimag¨ we sailed from Puerto Montt in the lake district to Puerto Natales in Patagonia. It is actually a large cargo ship that has been outfitted to carry passangers as well as trucks and cows. Some of the cabins are pretty much in with the cargo, as in high season the ship takes on 200 passengers.

















It now being low season there was just 14 passangers so we all had nice cabins. We all got to know each other and we had a really great group of people. I was sharing my cabin with two Brasilian girls well I say girls, but they were quite a bit older than me but they were lovely and a heap of fun. We also had 3 Aussies (a mum and daughter and their friend) a lovely spanish couple. Some English boys who kept to themselves.

I have hooked up with a sweet couple Nina and Rob, and an Irish guy Tom who were also on the boat. We are staying together and tomorrow we are going to do some hiking in Torres del Paine national park.

















The boat ride was great we sailed through many patagonian channels and saw some great scenery. They fed us all well and showed us films. It did get rough when we went out to the Pacific to the ¨Bay of Sorrows¨ we were all rolling around in bed, and the gales were force 7 so I was sick but felt ok afterwards. But it only lasted was for about 12 hours the rest was smooth sailing, we got to see seals and birds and generally I really enjoyed myself.

Will put some photos on soon