Killing time in Punta Arenas before the long journey home


Advertisement
Chile's flag
South America » Chile » Magallanes » Punta Arenas
April 2nd 2016
Published: November 25th 2016
Edit Blog Post

It's going to be a long, long day today as we commence our journey home. We are not flying to Santiago until 7.35pm tonight so we have some time (quite a lot actually!) for a last look around Punta Arenas before we are driven to the airport mid-afternoon.

It was cold, but sunny today so it was reasonably pleasant for our last minute sightseeing. We wandered back 'downtown' to visit the Palacio Sara Braun a stately home built in the 19th century on wealth garnered from the wool trade. Judging from the opulence of the residence wool was a very lucrative industry to be involved in.

Our next stop was the Punta Arenas Cemetery officially named the Cementerio Municipal Sara Braun. The huge stone gateway was donated in 1919 by Sara Braun, the richest and most influential woman in Patagonia at the time. Dating back to 1894, the cemetery is one of the main attractions of the city. Although Bernie had already visited the cemetery on our last stop in Punta Arenas he was happy to go again so that I would have the opportunity of seeing it. It is a fascinating place to fill in a morning. It features many immaculately trimmed cypress trees that line the pathways between the elaborate graves and mausoleums that are the final resting places of the early settlers of Punta Arenas. People came from all over the world to colonise and develop this isolated part of the world.

We walked back into the main part of town and stopped for lunch at La Chocolatta. We were so cold after being outside all morning that we pigged out on ham and cheese toasties, followed with caramel-filled churros. I have to say I have been underwhelmed by the churros that we have tried in South America. I think that churros that I've had in Australia have been better. Here in South America they have all been a bit dry.

We thought that we would head back to the hotel and read our books in the lounge until our ride to the airport arrived, but there was no answer when we rang the doorbell. Oh well, we'll walk up the hill to the viewpoint that looks out over Punta Arenas instead. This was another case of déjà vu for Bernie who had climbed the hill before with Meredith. It was very windy on top of the hill, but quite clear for a good view down over the town and the Straits of Magellan.

We wandered back down to the hotel and had barely settled into our seats in the lounge when the driver arrived to take us to the airport ... FOUR HOURS before our flight!! We don't know why our ride to the airport was organised so early, but pretty much had to go along with the bookings that had been made on our behalf.

At check-in, we attempted to improve our seating allocation and convince the check-in clerk to check our baggage right through to Melbourne. Because our flight from Santiago to Auckland is tomorrow the young lady on the desk thought we must want our bags at Santiago. But our flight to Auckland is at 1.00am we pointed out - we are continuing straight on to New Zealand, we are not staying overnight in Santiago. Grrr, finally she agreed to check our bags right through ... we hoped so anyway. The seating situation didn't turn out so well though. After mucking about on the computer she issued us boarding passes that we thought had improved our seats. Damn, when we checked them more closely after we left the counter it was to find that we weren't even going to be seated together for the long haul flight to Auckland!!

We arrived in Santiago on schedule at about 11.00pm. With only two hours until our flight to Auckland it was a relief that our flight had not been delayed. Of course, with only two hours between flights the usually unflappable Bernie turned into crazy airport Bernie in a panic about finding our way from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. I agree that there was a distinct lack of signs and that the airport staff were extremely unhelpful, but getting all in a tizz does not help the situation.

Thank goodness that just before Bernie would have had us in a taxi to go goodness knows where I spotted a sign that said 'International Departures' that was still in the same building that our domestic flight had arrived at. Thank goodness that we didn't have to spend ages or take a shuttle to another terminal with so little time between flights.

Bernie was still determined to try to improve our seating situation - especially since his seating allocation was on the aisle in the very back row of the aircraft right beside the toilet. My seat wasn't so bad, it was a few rows forward of the back of the plane and on the other aisle which was actually a bit of a plus for me because I usually get the inside seat. We looked and looked ... and looked for the LAN lounge to see if they could do anything about changing our seating in the middle of the night. We have no idea where the LAN lounge is actually hidden at Santiago Airport? Maybe there isn't one?!

Finally, after traipsing all over the international departures terminal we decided to head to the gate lounge to see if the staff at the desk there could do anything about changing seating allocations in the middle of the night with less than an hour to go before the aircraft's scheduled departure? Nope, nada, no, it wasn't to be! Maybe I should have volunteered to swap to the seat in the back row of the plane, but I was disinclined because it wasn't actually my fault that our seating allocation was buggered up. I would have been happy enough with the seats at 38D and 38F that we originally had.



Steps 15,579 (11.76km)


Additional photos below
Photos: 13, Displayed: 13


Advertisement



Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0389s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb