Long, long, long flights down bring the wanderer to the edge of the Magellan strait - the end of the world feeling is close. More to come some other time but lazy breakfast this morning before a long bus ride to Puerto Natales.... read more

Being in the middle of one of those work phases, this trip is shorter than might otherwise be desired but it allows the wanderer to visit a long-held target (the Torres del Paine). Also hoping to visit the Perito Moreno glacier. On the afternoon of February 20th, a long series of flights (LHR > MAD > SCL > PUQ) will find the wanderer in one of the southern-most airports of our planet - Punta Arenas (pretty close to the bottom of Chile) on the afternoon of February 21st. If all goes well, the wanderer finds a fellow wanderer (FD - last found in the Khumbu in December 2012) awaiting his arrival. The next day, the wanderers hope to find a long bus ride to Puerto Natales. An overnight pause and supply stop and then another bus ... read more

Woke to a message from Singapore Airlines saying my flight's been delayed by nearly four hours so a morning of relaxing and watching the England batsmen exhibit admirable patience as they try to bore New Zealand to a stalemate. I've avoided the temptation to dash in to town and catch an hour or two of the match. If the new flight time proves real, then it'll chop my transfer time in Singapore from 4.5 hours to 1 hour, which is probably about as close as one would like to cut it. Here's hoping it all works out. Update from Changi Airport, Singapore: Made it here in good time for onward flight to London so it's all worked out rather well. And well done to our Sussex man Matt Prior for rescuing the final test :)... read more

Long drive to Mt Cook village in the morning. The clouds holding the forecast rain are snagged on the Western Alps (the other side of Copland Pass) so the sky is only spitting a bit for my scamper up Mt Sebastopol for views back to the Tasman and Hooker valleys. The tops of Mt Cook and the surrounding high peaks are in cloud all day but the hike is good nonetheless and the views atmospheric (something to do with the atmosphere above them being very visible today and not at all see-through). Just under 2 hours to the top and less than an hour down makes for tired legs (I met my run-down-the-lower-half-in-10-minutes challenge today) but a quick whizz round to Kea Point below the glaciers is in order. The run back is good but the ... read more

The ankle twinges twice as the wanderer steps out of bed this morning so a rest day is in order. So the day is spent watching the first day of the test match I would have been at had I stuck to Plan A. A good day for NZ up in Auckland but I think I'd rather be watching it remotely from the shores of this stunning lake, soaring mountains creating a ridgelined horizon. If the ankle recovers swiftly, then Mt Armstrong might be on the cards for tomorrow.... read more