Specifically in the pacific

A 5 hour flight from Santiago doesn't get you too close to Australia, but it does give you enough time to watch the Hangover 2 & Mission Impossible (yes they made another one). More importantly it also gets you to one of the remotest inhabited islands in the world where on arrival you walk onto the tarmac to be greeted by dancers and garlands of flowers. I've also listened to tales of the creation (from an old chap in Spanish, involving a lot of eggs) and seen some of the mysteries of the world
Rapa Nui (Easter Island - so called as the dutch landed on easter sunday in the C18) is home of the Moai statutes that proliferate the island.  Without these, the place would still be remarkable, I can hear the waves crashing from my campsite as the temperature dips a few degrees at night to the low 20s.

hire car & me at Tongariki

Note the 4x4 hire car (32) which got a good testing today

Ranu Raraku

One of the most spectacular spots on the island, Ranu Raraku - the ´birthplace´ of the Moai where the statues were originally hewn from the rocks, most never made it to there intended final destination.

Tongariki

Ahu Tongariki comprises 14 Moai, restored in the 90s with Japanese funding having been toppled by a combination of civil wars and a tsunami in the 60s

Bird men houses at Orongo

The Bird man cult of the mid 19th centuary involved an annual race to collect the first egg of the season from a nearby island, the winner ´enjoying´ a years isolation.  They lived in stone houses with incredibly small entrances

sunrise at Tongariki 

sunset at Ahu O´rongo

Tongariki

Rano Raraku

pre sunset golden hour - Akivi

sunset - Ahu Vai Uri

Volcano Villarrica

The pretty little town of Pucon was the launch point for a walk up an active volcano.
Fortunately for us the ski lift (29) was running which saved some walking. Unfortunately it was a bit antiquated, so no safety bar and a running dismount. We trekked up to the base of the ice before donning crampons, this time we also had ice picks although I the primary reason was for something to dig into the ice if you fell. More luck at the top as the wind was in our favour & the gas masks could stay in the rucksacks. Up close to the edge of the crater you could hear the volcano grumbling.
So at the top of another hill & looking for a route down. This time tobogganing, well more of a plastic tray (30) but I'm still counting it

Bariloche bonanza

It's not been that long since the last entry but in the meantime Reading have not only been promoted to the premiership but gone up as champions. URZ! Should make watching games from Asia next year a bit easier.

So in the meantime I've been keeping myself busy with a spot of kayaking (27), finding the shortest route down from a mountain - paragliding (28)

and a link back to the start of my journey with cycling (29). Today was a lot more hilly though & I suspect I'll be feeling the full consequences tomorrow.

 Just for Dave a thistle along the way while waiting for the paragliding..

& a couple of sunrise picture from the truck.. 

After the glacier treking in El Calafate we stopped at El Chalten for a spot more hiking, pictures to follow once I get computer access. It may get repetitive but theres a reason that the tour I'm currently on is called Patagonia Panorama. It was also probably the windiest place I've ever tried walking in.

Big Ice

Next stop El Calafate and the Moreno glacier. Yet another awe inspiring slice of mother nature that Patagonia offers up.

Today's activity was a 4 hour trek with crampons (26) on the glacier

 The photos pretty much speak for themselves but here's a boat to put a glacier thats 5km wide and 70m high into some sort of scale

The Big W

Onwards & naturally northwards, back into Chile and Torres del Paine National park. So named for the 3 impressive towers of rock that are at the end of leg 1 of the W.
Having missed high season the logistics of completing the trek in 3 days rather than the usual 4 or 5 were made a little more tricky by some of the refugios being closed and the ferry back only running once a day. Despite this our intrepid band of 3 sallied forth with a hire tent and large quantities of bread, ham and cheese.
Day 1 was a short one as we drove to the park and hiked up to our campsite at the base of the Torres. The final ascent took us through the snow of 2 days previous to a windy spot to see the impressive 3 towers.

Day 2 started in the dark back up to the towers for sunrise.

From there we walked through some fabulous vistas to refugio los cuernos for a hot meal and a glass or two of vino tinto.

Day 3 started walking along the lake at sunrise, we took on the middle leg of the W - Frances valley. The first view of glaciers and, as throughout the route, passing numerous streams and waterfalls from which to refill water bottles.

January this year the park was closed for some time after a fire started by campers got out of control, we started to see the impact of this with swathes of blackened trees but also shoots of rebirth. We forged onwards towards the originally planned stop of lago pehoe, still without heating & limited electricity. This point was the spanner in the plans since we'd found out the day before starting that the ferry only ran once a day, taking 6 hours out of our final day. So plan B sprung into action and we continued onwards up the final leg of the W rewarded with the sight of glacier grey as the light was fading. The final couple of k were completed in torchlight to end the day having covered 36km - a day dedicated to the route planning skills of Paul Baker.

Day 4 - the usual start in the dark, but finally our luck with the weather had turned and with rain and wind beating down we didn't hang around long to see the glacier and made it back soaking wet, in time for the boat
 

 Total of 70km and 4000m of height gained over a fabulous few days.

The intriped 3 · Steve, Nuala & me

Ushuaia - out & about

Spent the last couple of days in the national park and a boat trip (25) to the Beagle channel and Jules Verne's inspiration for lighthouse at the end of the world (for you literary types)

 and also the home to plenty of sea lions, birds and some choppy waters. Fortunately for me it wasn't as long as whale watching in Sri Lanka so returned unscathed.

It was somewhat chilly though so wrapped up warm for a short walk on possibly the furthest south I will ever go in my lifetime.

There's been plenty of camping so here's a little picture, for posterity, of my tent. The puddles were icy this morning so it's definitely testing the limits of a 2 season sleeping bag.

3000km to the end of the world

So I've covered a fair bit of ground since the last update from Buenos Aires joining a tour on an overland truck (23)

We've more or less driven down the coast of Argentina to the town of Ushuaia - the most southerly city in the world. Much of the time has been spent in the truck looking at the changing scenery.
We stopped for a day at the peninsula Valdes to see penguins, seals and distant orca whales although the armadillo was probably my personal favourite.
Last night we spent a couple of hours in Chile, including a car ferry (24) crossing

and a fair bit of time at the boarders to get into Tierra del Fuego which is the archipelago of islands at the bottom of Argentina.
Ushuaia is also the town which claims to be the capital of the Falkland islands and we missed the PM marking the 30th anniversary by one day.