We left Santiago bus station so that it could recover from our visit, and continued on a different whizz bang bus to La Serena, where a lovely German lady rescued us from the large road by the bus station and helped us find our hostel. We enjoyed the pavement cafes of Serena but it was a bit busy for us and we just stayed a couple of days. We had read about the beautiful and mystical Elqui Valley, where communities have been established believing that the magnetic centre of the earth is here rather than in the Himalayas, where apparently everyone else thinks it is. I have to say that the location of the magnetic centre of the earth has never, not once, been the subject of my thinking so I am happy to believe anyone. ... read more

Santa Cruz. We moved on to stay in a very congenial Californian’s apartment for a couple of days in Santa Cruz. He advised us on what to do and how to get there. We booked into Clos Apalta winery for starters (www.closapalta.com) for a tour of the very impressive winery then lunch. Turned out we were the only English speaking tourists so we had a personalised tour guide. Twenty years ago the winery was bought by the French family who invented Grand Marnier about a hundred years previously. They invested a lot in dynamiting out granite hills to build a beautiful structure reflecting the shape of a wine barrel. All of the processes used gravity to transfer the liquids from one stage to the next. To achieve this, the building was 70 meters tall but buried ... read more

After the conquest of Fitzroy we decided to take a leisurely stroll from the estancia into town the next day. The weather had changed and we realised why the books give a very short window of opportunity to visit Patagonia. The window was definitely shutting and the wind was simply ferocious. We had been so lucky with the weather but it was good to be reminded that we are very very small and the forces of nature and God are very very large. As we supped a morning coffee in our favourite cafe in town, the view through the picture windows reminded me of cowboy westerns, vegetation blowing about, people stumbling around, doors banging and breaking etc. We were relieved to have completed all the hillwalking we’d planned. Next day we set off, saying a sad ... read more

And on we travelled the next day by bus to El Chalten, right in the middle of the Parc Nationales de Glaciares (the clue is in the name). “Is it February?” Pete asked, at 7.50 as we waited to load our rucksacks onto the 0800 bus. “Of course its February” I replied, thinking “what’s up with the man?” “Then why does it say March on our tickets?” says Pete.......meaning “the tickets YOU booked“.....Pete took command and his now fluent Spanish along with a lot of gesticulating and a bit of wailing from me ensured we got on the February bus. We are now half through our adventure and as a bit of a treat we decided to stay in one place for 5 nights to regroup and get our laundry done. We found the most amazing ... read more

We set off on the characteristically swish bus from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas to see penguins. Punta Arenas was an important stopover from Europe to the American west coast pre Panama Canal (1914), as it lies at the end of the Magellan Straight, a narrow channel which by- passes Cape Horn. It therefore has lots of old colonial architecture and evidence of wealth from a by- gone era. There was a regular steamship service from Liverpool to California years ago. It was also where Ernest Shackleton planned his venture to Antartica. I love a bit of history; feel free to skip this paragraph! Shackletons endeavour was privately funded by many donors, it’s mission to bolster the British exploratory credibility by being the first country to cross Antarctica. He advertised for crew for an arduous and ... read more