Sydney - Aquarium & Manly - 29/30th March

Not usually high on our list, but we really enjoyed our visit to the Sydney Aquarium, which is housed in the Darling Harbour area. Keeping with the worldwide theme of making the docklands look good, there has clearly been a lot of devlopment in that part of town. We also caught the ferry out to Manly (beach area) where we met up with Tania, the girl from London we have seen at various stages of our travels. I don't think any visit to Sydney would be complete without a trip on a ferry, and it was really good to be heading back into the harbour at sunset. The tour of the Opera House was another must see highlight.

One thing I did notice in Sydney is an amazing number of English accents and not just amongst the hoardes of tourists. Most people I know who have spent time in Australia have based themselves there - just as most Aussies go to London I suppose. We met up with one of of our former London housemates who is now living there, and loving the lifestyle espeically as she is very sporty and appreciates having a beach to run along every morning - a bit of a change from Tooting Bec Common! Our other catch up was with Maz and Chris, Sydneysider friends of Andrew's who were in London but have now headed home, so all in all it was quite a sociable few days.

Werribee Open Range Zoo - 2nd March

As a wedding present, one of Andrew's friends bought us a ticket for 3 zoos in the area - Melbourne, Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Open Range Zoo. Here are some pictures from Werribee...















the web address is: http://www.zoo.org.au/vorz/

The journey to Chile, Puerto Natales and more horses...

We were relieved to wake up on Sunday not aching too much from the horse riding, as we were catching an early bus to Puerto Natales in Chile. This was a relatively short journey - about 4-5 hours, which incidentally in the UK I would have thought was a lifetime - and we realised soon enough why they didn't put a definite time on it. When we reached the Argentina-Chile border, we had a long wait to get our exit stamps before another short drive followed by a similar wait to get our Chilean entry stamps. It was interesting to note that Chile has Australia style restrictions on bringing certain foods etc into the country although their checks are nowhere near as thorough. It is of course completely understandable that they want to protect their country's wildlife, but hard to grasp how a country with such an extensive border could possibly be able to achieve this. Fair play to them for trying though.

Anyway, we didn't have any problems getting through, it just all took a bit of time and we finally reached Puerto Natales at around 2.30pm. It was incredibly cold and windy as we walked to our hostel, and we soon got the impression that this was pretty normal here. That said the day before had been windy even by Puerto Natales standards, so much so that the phone cables had all been knocked out! We wandered into town, and unlike many places we have been which seem to have very extensive opening hours, the town was dead on Sunday, which to be honest made quite a nice change. We tucked ourselves away in a small cafe for a late lunch and ended up staying there for ages as it was so grim outside. We got chatting to another English couple about many things including their plans to trek the "W" ie the most popular 4+ day circuit of the nearby Torres del Paine national park.

We had already decided not to do all of this, but still wanted to do more than a one day tour of the park. When we headed back to our hostel we spoke to the travel agent conveniently located next door, who suggested a trip involving a bus out to the park, a hop across the lake on the catamaran and an overnight stay at a refugio. This would mean heading out early on Tuesday, doing a full day trek on Wednesday and then getting back late on Wednesday night ready for our our 4 day trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt.

This left us a full day free on Tuesday and after a few glasses of red - yes, it's very good and cheap in Chile too - together with another English couple (hi Pete & Jo if you're reading, we'll check your blog to see how you get on up north!) we decided to do some more horse riding. This time the horses were a little less tranquilo, but still no great problem. We got into jeeps then went across to the peninsula opposite the main port on a barge, drove a bit futher into the estancia and off we went. The views were even better than those in Calafate as you can see from the photos - it really is a beautiful setting, with snow capped mountains all around. We even got to ride the horses through the lake itself, which was fun for us but probably not so great for them...

The only issue was that the horses often wanted to go faster than we did, so we did get thrown around a bit more and have the bruises to prove it...didn't help that the side of the saddle was digging into my leg for 2.5 hours as well. It was definitely worth it though, and quite funny that after years of not going near a horse we had managed to go riding twice in 3 days!

El Calafate horse riding

After our failed attempt to go horse riding in Bolivia, we finally got the chance in Argentina on Saturday. We were reassured that it was going to be OK for (at best) very out of practice riders - I hadn't been on a horse for nearly 7 years, and Andrew more like 15! Also, after my concerns about not having a helmet for riding in Bolivia, I was a little worried that there weren't any here either. The difference was, however, that the company running it seemed to have lots of experience and know exactly what they were doing so we decided to go for it.

The ride took place about 20km outside El Calafate so we were picked up from our hostel and driven out along the bumpy roads in a jeep (exactly a month after our last jeep trip, brought back some memories!). The ride took place in what seemed like a huge estancia (ranch), although we later found out that it was one of the smaller ones in the area; there is a massive amount of open space here. At the starting point we already had great views of the Lago Argentino and surrounding mountains, so were looking forward to seeing some more of the area. We were introduced to our guide and our horses, given a few pointers, then together with a couple from Madrid off we went.

I was initially concerned that the horse I had was much bigger than those I had ridden before - when I was a teengaer I used to go pony trekking in Wales, so quite a different matter! However, we were both fine and enjoyed a really relaxing few hours admiring the beautiful views. The guide and the other couple with us were lovely, and fortunately the horses were muy tranquilo ie very chilled out. We were also joined by the resident dog Colin who is quite possibly the luckiest - and healthiest - dog alive as he spends all days running through open countryside...



Afterwards we helped to set the horses free, as they are able to roam around until they are brought back to work the next day. The only was that the Spanish woman set one free which was meant to be kept back to help round up the others the next day, much to the horror of the guys who would probably would have had an earlier than usual start on Sunday! We then had a great dinner (asado, of course) in the beautifully located dining room, and admired the multi-coloured sky as the sun set. All in all, not a bad way to spend and afternoon/evening...

Me looking slightly relieved after getting off the horse in one piece!

Woodpecker

While we were sitting down to munch on our lunch at the Moreno Glacier we had the surprising visit of 2 woodpeckers, unfortunately moving too fast for me to get out the camera and take a photo..

The head of the woodpecker was an amazingly bright red colour, we both always thought that the cartoons kind of exagerated that feature, but having now seen one in the wild, maybe not...

But for your pleasure (and as proof of this experience) to the left you should see a photo of the damage a woodpecker made to one of the tall trees. I assume it was hunting for grubs/bugs, though I always wondered, how does it know where to peck?

Andrew (& Cath)

Punta Tombo & Gaiman - and the road south

Still on a high from our day on Monday, despite being exhausted we decided to go for another long day trip early on Tuesday. Tours are the way to go in this area as public transport isn't always available This time we were heading to the penguin colony at Punta Tombo, and then on to the biggest Welsh town on the area, Gaiman.

Oh, and we also got to see some dolphins along the way! We had another hour on a boat and were able to see them (a type locally called tonino) jumping around us. Although this didn't have the same wow factor as the whales, probably because they move much quicker so you don't get the same feeling of closeness to them, it was still an amazing sight. As a bonus we also saw some seals swimming past us. We ended up with lots of photos of splashes, but also some pretty decent ones as you can see.




We then headed further south to see the Magellenic penguins, which are about half a metre tall. Punta Tombo is a breeding ground for half a million of them, and the largest colony outside Antartica. Again we were able to get very close to them, and in some cases able to get a glimpse of their eggs which they were carefully guarding. The males and females take it in turns to look after the eggs (usually 2 but only 1 will hatch) whilst the other goes out to sea for food. We therefore saw some especially fat penguins waddling back! They are fascinating little things, and I could have watched them playing around in the ocean and on the beach all day. It is incredible to see so many of them in one place, and the setting itself is also stunning. I´m very tempted to go back in a few weeks to see their newly hatched chicks...





After another rough ride in the minibus (roads were pretty rocky) we reached Gaiman, which was a totally strange experience. We left behind the acres of scrubland typical of the area, and suddenly found ourselves in a lush green valley! The Welsh settlers introduced new plants and crops to the area, and the town remains very different because of this. Interesting combinations of Welsh and Spanish names appear all over the place, and we also saw the original school building which has a motto in Welsh and Spanish above the door. Apparently this continues to confuse people no end as they don't realise that Welsh and English are just slightly different languages!

Unfortunatey we only had an hour or so in Gaiman, but luckily that was plenty of time to have tea in a very quaint "Welsh" teashop with some other English girls from our tour. We did try to explain to our guide Mauriccio (same guy as day before) that we don't generally have afternoon tea back in the UK, but he still seemed convinced that this was still typical of the south of England! Anyway, while in mini Wales it just had to be done and lots of delicious tea and cake later we jumped back on the bus ready to be dropped in the nearby city of Trelew to pick up our long distance bus to Rio Gallegos.




We weren't looking forward to another overnight trip, but it was seemingly the only way to get to where we wanted to be. Also it should be our last overnight bus as we are getting a ferry up through Chile next week (more about that later) and concentrating on a couple of places in Patagonia in the next week or so. We have decided aganst going to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, not only because it is really hard to pronounce (?!) but also because it would involve many more hours on buses. It is also a key departure point for Antartica, so we´ll see the very south when we go there at some unknown point in the future, ie when we win the lottery! We always knew that we wouldn't be able to do everything in the time we have, and wanted to leave ourselves enough time to see some of Chile. It is difficult to appreciate the distances involved until you get here, but there is a danger of travelling everywhere yet seeing nowhere.

Back in Trelew, we weren't pleased to hear that the bus was delayed by over 2 hours, mainly because this would mean that we'd be restricted on connections from Rio Gallegos (by all accounts not worth a stopover) to our ultimate destination El Calafate the following afternoon. Despite our concerns and several stops by the police to check passport details (no idea why!) we eventually arrived at Rio Gallegos at 3.30pm on Wednesday. We were therefore able to get a connection at 6pm arriving in El Calafate at 10pm. In other words we had a 24 hour journey, but as we finally got away from the seemingly endless miles of this:

into stunning countryside we knew that it was worth it.

Here in El Calafate we are staying in one of the nicest hostels so far and enjoying a quiet day strolling round the town, a nice little place which reminds us of a ski resort. It is also pretty cold and windy, so the fleeces etc are being well used again. Luckily it's not raining as yet so fingers crossed on that - anything can happen weather wise here! The biggest draw of the area is the Perito Moreno glacier, 80km away, which is where we're heading tomorrow. We're doing a very highly recommended alternative day trip which involves a hike away from where the usual tourist crowds congregate, viewing of the glacier from the land and then a boat ride to get up close to it. We're also hoping to do some horse riding before we head to Puerto Natales (Chile) and the Torres del Paine area on Sunday. It´s been an amazing week so far and lots more to come...

Puerto Madryn & Península Valdés

After a surprisingly comfortable 17 hours on the bus, we arrived in Puerto Madryn at lunchtime on Sunday and checked into the hostel we had pre booked. Although it is right at the start of the season, we had been advised to reserve in advance in Patagonia as reasonably priced double rooms in particular are hard to come by. For that reason we spent te first night in a dorm room. There is a great deal of tourism in the region - you'll see why in a minute - not just from foreign visitors but also from people from other parts of Argentina.

The hostel we stayed at was run by a lovely woman called Gladys. Yes, you have read that correctly. For those of you who don't know, there is a big connection with Wales in this part of the world as Welsh settlers came to here in mid 19th century because (in the words of a local guide) they had "a few problems" with the English. They were very successful, and the Welsh language and culture therefore remain very strong in the area, so much so that the recent Eisteddfod brought at least 200 people over from Wales. In Puerto Madryn itself this is not very obvious, but there are some signs; I'm sure John & Beryl will be pleased to hear that there is a Welsh tea shop there called Beryl! I opted to for some excellent seafood in favour of cream cakes - it would have been rude not to as we were only a block away from the mighty ocean.

On Monday we had an early start for our day trip out to the nearby Península Valdés wildflife sanctuary. Well, nearby by Argentina´s standards, ie 400km in a day! It was however, worth every minute in the minibus, and we were really lucky to have a great guide, Mauriccio, who really knew his stuff and kept us informed all the way. After a brief stop in the museum at the peninsula's entrance, we went on to see elephant seals, sealions, a few penguins, the local type of llama called Guanacos - and last and best of all whales.

It was an absolutely amazing day, especially seeing the whales get right up to our boat, as neither of us had seen them up close before. At one point there were five of them swimming around as well as under the boat. Suffice to say, it was one of the big highlights of the trip so far - I'll let the photos say the rest...

The Peruvian experience

http://www.petethomas.co.uk/peru/video.html

Thanks to Pete Thomas and Leo (the peruvian guide in the video), not to mention the young peruvian and his faithful chickens (or are they ducks?)

Andrew (& Cath)

Machu Picchu

After several hard days trekking we arrive upon Machu Picchu, well that is we catch a bus, then a train and finally another bus again before arriving at Macchu Picchu. For those that are curious, from Cusco there are lots of different treks you can do, most finishing up at Machu Picchu, kinda. As far as I can tell there is only the famous Inca trail that you actually hike up to Macchu Picchu, the rest include various hiking but seem to all finish up at Ollantaytambo (which is where you can catch the train to Machu Picchu)...

Anyways, it was absolutely fantastic to be up at the top there, and the SAS guides again did a fantastic job of taking us on a tour around and telling us all about how it was discovered and what Archaeologists have been able to figure out.. (Though of course with no written language it is all theories)...

I especially liked the theory on Inca art, where the rock formations represent the mountains in the background..


I don't know how to sum up being up in Machu Picchu, but I will say that unlike the Nasca lines (which slightly disappointed me) I was not at all disappointed by these spectacular mountain ruins, I think that was also helped by all of us having a real sense of achievement in finishing the hikes.. Basically we were on a huge high (as well as bit of exhaustion) that definitely helped the party get going that night :-)

Ok, I'm starting to gush way too much, I'll just say loved it! And hope the photos sum it up... :-D

Andrew (& Cath)