End of the World (well, almost)

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Still covered in the dust from the fossil park, we arrived in Ushuaia on Saturday evening. It{s the most southerly city in the world and has a stunning setting on the Beagle Channel, surrounded by mountains on most sides, and looks almost nordic in many ways. Guess there is a style of house that suits this kind of weather, so it makes sense there is a similarity between the northern regions and here. It almost came as a surpise to hear people speaking in Spanish though. ´

Saturday night was spent sinking beers in the cosy hostel bar with an American who's been inspiring us with stories of his travels and treking expreiences. The next day, all 3 of us, all feeling a bit sluggish, decided a nice trip aong with Beagle Channel was the right thing to blow away the cobwebs. Unfortunately, the wind was considered to strong to run the trip, so we embarked on a short trek instead, up Cerro de Medio instead. The trek sets off from the town and took about 3.5 hours. Great views from the top over the city and the Channel, but the aches in our legs the next day have proven that much more practise will be needed before we reach Peru. It appears that 18 months cycling may be good for the fitness levels, but doesn't help tone up half of the correct muscles needed for walking up hills for extended periods. Maybe should have practised walking up from town more the last time we were over in Derry!



On Sunday the winds were in our favour, so took a trip on the Baracuda, which is the original tour boat on the channel and has a bit more character than the catamarans. It also has a lot of outdoor space, so you get really close to the birdlife, sealions and so forth. Needless to say Mr Cameraman was in his element and if we ever find somewhere with a decent enough connection to load the photos, there should be some nice shots added to this later on.



As the boat drew back ito port, the rain started, so what else could we all do but head for the nearest bar (the southern most irish par in the world, allegedly) to sample some of the local brewed beers. The next day as penenace, we went on another trek (anyone see a theme developing here?), this time in the national park, beside stunning Lago Roca. This was far more challenging, but equally far more rewarding, although the last 1km up a scree filled steep slope was a bit of a killer at the time.

Naturally enough, we were split over where the scenery reminded us of - I was seeing Scottish mountains and glens everywhere, whilst Luke was reminded of the peat bogs of Donegal, as he happily jumped from lump of moss to lump of moss leaving me to sink in the mud between.

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Comments

[filthymick]

Just remember
I want my Frey Bentos postcard! Good to see you both in rude health. Same old stuff over here - mail me for an update.

[Mark]

I'm worried ...
not sure Luke's ever been this long out of range of a cell station before