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At 8:30am we departed El Calafate by bus. The way was familiar to us having travelled the opposite way a few days previously. While Lady Eileen snoozed Leigh enjoyed the vista. Once Eileen awoke the main topic of conversation was the series of pylons that spanned over two hundred kilometres but were not linked – does anyone know what they are? An easy border crossing and we arrived at Puerto Natales at 2pm. We checked in and left our bags at the Navimag meeting point then spent the day looking for slippers for Eileen and trying to keep warm. Success; slippers purchased. (I was anticipating a stunning pair of carpinchio leather slippers but the reality was more like granny slippers; warm, effective and comfortable – Leigh. And best of all ... cheap! – Eileen.) We dined at the stunning Afrigonica, a meal of real quality, cheap by Wellington standards, but still budget blowing. Leigh’s rack of lamb was “perfecto” (7 chops), Eileen’s beef was superb and more than she could eat. Satiated we headed off to board the boat at 9pm.
The Amadeo 1 provided us with a bit of a shock when we realised we were in a six
berth cabin not the four berth cabin we had booked. Nearly everyone was in the same very cramped situation. Instead of grumbling like most others, Leigh went to find someone to sort out our accommodation issue. After some negotiation we were moved to a 4 berth cabin by ourselves. Hmmm ... has Leigh had negotiation training? We settled for the night ready for the boat to sail in the morning.
Day 1 sailing – foggy, very cold and no wind, we passed snow covered peaks, and fur seals playing. We learned several new card games and we introduced others to “Pass the Pigs” (The glances from the “transportistas” (truck drivers) clearly said “what are those *#%@%#* gringos doing?”). There was lots of laughter and games throughout the evening until about 1am.
Day 2 sailing – sunny and no wind, a stop at Puerto Eden for a Chilean family to disembark on tenders, and we watched the young cattle being fed straw. All of us took advantage of the beautiful day and we spent time on deck watching the wildlife and taking photos. We filled the evening with games (a nice Austrian girl made a special request to Leigh
for ‘crazy pigs’) and lots of laughter until approx 12:30am.
Day 3 sailing – raining, windy and warmer than previous days. We began to head out of the bay into the Atlantic before dinner and the communal area cleared as the swell made its presence felt. By 8pm the communal area was very quiet with only the “transportistas” watching “shoot-em-up” DVDs and a few seasoned travellers. Around 10 we headed off to bed.
Day 4 arrival at Puerto Montt, Chile – while we were assembled in the common room at 8am waiting for the ‘ok’ to disembark, we noticed we were the only people with wheelie bags – a challenge to look forward to on the stairs down to the cargo bay.
The relief on everyone’s faces was obvious as we descended the stairs, were lowered to the lower cargo level by truck lift, walked off the vessel and boarded the bus to exit the port. The excitement was short lived as the 200 metre journey ended sooner than it took to board the bus! Then we led the procession with our happy wheelie bags (looking back we were glad not to have 20 kg back packs)
to the bus terminal so we could catch an onward bus rather than spend a night in this wet, boring and uninspiring town. Leigh said that Puerto Montt had the excitement of Taumarunui on a wet Sunday afternoon.
The bus left Puerto Montt at 10:45am and we settled in for our 7 hour trip including crossing the border into Argentina through the Andes. Travelling over the pass we were shocked by the amount of ash we could see as a result of the eruption of the Chilean Puyehue volcano one year ago. It was sad to see the obvious damage it has done to the vegetation and also strangely beautiful at the same time. Later we would feel the effect of the ash whipped up by the wind in San Carlos de Bariloche; coughing and sore eyes. Inside the safety of the bus we marvelled at the scenery all the way to Bariloche.
Five days of travelling covering approx 2500kms. Hooray, we’ve arrived!
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