Saving the best for last

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Our last month was spent mostly camping from Ushuaia (the southernmost city in the world) all the way up to Mendoza. Dave likes to call it the time of a thousand barbecues.

In Ushuaia we took a tour of the Beagle Channel to spot sea lions and lots of birds and then visited the Tierra del Fuego National Park in sub-zero conditions. It seems that rabbits are not in the slightest afraid of a little nippiness as we spotted them in their thousands around our campsite.

After Ushuaia we headed across to Puerto Natales in Chile, from where we visited the Torres del Paine National Park and did most of the 'W' trek. We gave up on the last section because the weather was horrific and walking was miserable.

Then we headed back into Argentina and visited the Perito Moreno Glacier at El Calafate, Mt Fitzroy in El Chalten, and a cute little hippy town called El Bolson.

From El Bolson we ventured further north and arrived in Bariloche, a very popular Argentinian ski resort. However we were there in summer and so hired a car to look at the 7 lakes and beautiful landscape nearby.

From Bariloche we endured a grueling 17 hour bus journey to take us to Mendoza, Argentina's most famous wine-producing region. We did the obligatory wine tour, as well as some paragliding and a visit to hot springs and markets.

After Mendoza we said goodbye to Argentina and headed to Santiago in Chile to catch our flight to Australia.

Best BBQ
Camping in Tierra Del Fuego NP near Ushuaia - it snowed all day and we were forced to sit outside in the snow for our BBQ dinner. We kept as big a fire as possible going and dragged out fresh coals to keep the BBQ warm.

Best hike
In Torres del Paine NP where we hiked in 3 litres of wine and spent four days hiking the famous W circuit. We saw the best and the worst of the weather and as Nicola was carrying the food supplies we drank heavily in the first few days.

Best town
Without a doubt, El Bolson. A small hippy town with a great campsite, beautiful walks and relaxed feel.

Best night
In El Calafate we bumped into around 12 other people we knew from all over South America and invited them to our campsite for a BBQ. We ate and drank into the early hours of the morning. It was just so crazy to meet so many people you know from so many different countries in such a small town.

Most hopeless sightseeing
Goes to our tour of the wine region in Maipu, Mendoza. We made it to our first winery at 4pm and found out that most wineries shut at 5pm. Fortunately earlier we had managed to find a great restaurant for lunch and this managed to salvage the day.

A close second would have to be our trip to El Chalten for a series of hikes. The weather turned bad and we spent our time cooped up in the campsite's refuge snacking.

Best NDE - near death experience
Nicola was halfway through her paraglide when the wind turned dangerous and everyone was told to land immediately. Nicola asked if everything was alright, to which the guide replied that it was not - they couldn't get down. Desperate manueveurs to lose height couldn't prevent the opposite from happening and after a considerable time they managed to get down and crash land in a field. Nicola chooses never EVER to paraglide again.

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