Eating, drinking and birds

Last night it was quite rough, I woke up and needed an emergency seasickness tablet. Marion of course slept right through. Today we are out in the Pacific Ocean sailing parallel to the Chilean Coast. After a croissant this morning I stood on the aft deck observing the many birds flying round the ship. There were numbers of petrels and albatrosses, though it is not as easy to get a photo of a flying seabird as it might seem. For every success there are ten pictures of blank sky or sea.

 Lunch was a presentation by the catering team. They set up a buffet all round the galley. I thought this was very clever as it gave the passengers a view of the galley and showed their confidence in the standards there. The buffet was quite the best I have ever eaten. It was helped down by a pisco sour and glasses of champagne. Completed by some odd grappa recommended by the Australians we were sitting with. I think that it settled my stomach but am not sure.

As befits all good lunches we were one of the first in the restaurant and among the last to leave. Time for a strenuous walk round the deck and then a lecture on our next two stops, in Castro and Puerto Montt. By now the weather had improved so we sat on deck for an hour enjoying the gentle rolling motion of the ship. Now it is time to change for a clambake dinner. Tomorrow is sight seeing!

An apology I spelled the names of our friends from Lake Tahoe incorrectly, it should be Chrestin and Carolin.

Picture from El Brujo

Due to poor internet coverage last night I was unable to post the picture of the glacier yesterday, so here goes for a second attempt. This is just after a simple breakfast of croissant and coffee, as it was a little rough last night as we sailed in the Pacific Ocean parallel to the coast of Chile. More tonight.

El Brujo Glacier

Today we were sailing deep in the Chilean fjords. Throughout the day we were in sea passages no more than two miles across. The sides of the fjords were steep with plentiful scrub growing. At no point today did we see any sign of human habitation with the exception of some marker buoys. It is hugely isolated down here; there has been absolutely no commercialisation of the area. At points it was sunny and others cloudy so the light effect and cloud interaction was great.

As befits a day in the fjords there was a lot of great discussion. We had breakfast lasting until half past ten with our friends Coralyn and Krestin (apologies if this is the incorrect spelling). The discussion ranged far and wide as well as a great deal of leg pulling, especially about some of the more extreme characters on board. Discussion of this is probably best left until we return home. A salad lunch was spent with Darla and Ross from Atlanta who are excellent and interesting company. They have great dry humours.

The highlight of the day was in the early evening when we approached the El Brujo glacier. This is the outfall of the largest ice field on the continent of South America. The captain approached really close to the glacier so it was possible to see the ice floating off and appreciate the deep blue colours of the ice. I included a photo with people so that you can gain an appreciation of our proximity to the glacier. Also it was possible to see the effects of climate change that had caused the glacier to recede. This cruise has proved a complete anecdote to those who deny climate change.

When I ventured back into the observation lounge Marion was already on her first Bellini, this cruising lark is really hard!!! Once again we chose the informal bistro style restaurant for our dinner, each night has a different theme tonight being South American. The service is just lovely, with many of the staff remembering your name.

Well it is an early night tonight, possibly after a nightcap, I am getting a taste for Highland Park malt, while Marion likes her Cointreau on the rocks. The waiter knows our order before we sit down!! It is a hard day cruising at sea tomorrow. The chef makes a special lunch presentation, while we are booked into the lobster clambake in the evening. I think it had better be the gym in the afternoon!!.

Torres del Paine National Park and Marion at Fort Bulnes

Today we went our separate ways as I was taking a long day trip to the Torres del Paine National Park. Marion on the other hand discovered the surrounds of Puerto Arenas where we docked early this morning. This port of about 120,000 people is the base for serious Antarctic expeditions and re-provisioning of the research stations down there. The serious ice breaking supply ship that we were berthed next to evidenced this.

Unfortunately it was very wet when we first disembarked from the ship, however this gave rise to some beautiful rainbows. I had a coach ride to the local airport where we boarded three small planes. Mine was the largest of the three, a nineteen seat twin otter, flown by two pilots who conformed to all the stereotypes of Latin pilots in their leather flying jackets with epaulettes. However it was an uneventful forty-five minute flight, excepting that I got wet from a drip in the emergency exit, to Puerto Natales. This was quite the smallest airport I have ever used; the evidence was that we were the only passengers to use it today.

It was then another coach ride to the national park. On the way our guide gave us the history of Chile from the year dot. We stopped several times particularly for wildlife, there were many lamas, some wild ostriches and flamingos, perhaps not what I expected to see in this area of pampas. Indeed otherwise we only saw perhaps three farms on the entire trip of almost one hundred miles.

The Torres de Paine is an imposing mountain range, distinguished by three pinnacles or towers. At first they were obscured by low cloud but as the day progressed it became clearer and the full magnificence of the peaks was evident. In front of the mountains were very blue lakes, the colour caused because they contain the glacial alluvial material as part of the melt water. This of course makes for lovely photographs.

The day was over too soon and it was time to return the way we had come, again taking a flight back to the Quest. Just back in time for an excellent Singaporean themed dinner washed down by a glass of Grolsch.  So now to Marion for news of her day.

I too set out in a coach to reach my destination, which was Fort Bulnes. The best part of this trip was the drive along the Magellan Straits, which really is lovely.  Clear seas whipped up by what I gather is the pretty well permanent strong wind and the land covered in wild lupins, mostly of pink and purple.  The fort itself was a little unexpected. I had expected a fairly substantial stone building so was surprised to see something more like the OK Corral!!  It was, in fact, a relatively recent reconstruction of the original. We were back to the ship in time for me to have lunch and then I went to the coffee bar come library come observation lounge and settled in a reclining chair watching the view and reading my book – until I fell asleep.  The nice thing about ship life is that we have met some very nice people (and some rather weird ones!!) but nobody invades your space  - you can have company or not, just as you choose.  The experience of shipboard life is not at all what I expected and I have really enjoyed it.

The End of the World

Today we visited the end of the world, aka Ushuaia at the southern tip of Argentina. Here everything is billed as being the furthest south, although some of the claims probably should not be examined too carefully. The ship had been docked overnight so it was an early start; breakfast at seven and on the coaches by eight. Funnily enough Ushuaia does have a sort of frontier town feel. It was originally a penal colony and the whole town was centred on servicing the prison. Now captive tourists seem to have taken over, as it is a hopping off point for Patagonia and people taking tours to Antarctica. There were several expedition ships docked as well as the massive Norwegian Sun, I could not get Marion to swap.

Appropriately our first stop was the prison that had been turned into a museum. Certainly life as a prisoner down here in the first part of the Twentieth Century was not a bed of roses. The cells were small, damp and the heating and sanitory arrangements primitive. There were some interesting exhibits particularly of the areas s maritime history. Not surprisingly there had been many wrecks around the channel leading to the harbour.

From the prison we drove through the town to a national park on the outskirts of the town. Inevitably we came to a post office billed as the most southerly in the world. Well given we were able to post cards in the Antarctic courtesy of the Chilean government it obviously was not. Apologies to Millie and Martha, they will receive cards from different South American outposts, in no relation to the chronological order that they were posted.

So then the highlight of the morning, a visit to the narrow gauge railway that the prisoners had used to gather wood for fuel. It had been restored and now runs as a tourist attraction. I think that it is the same gauge as the North Bay Railway, but the engines and carriages are considerably bigger. It was also one of those hybrid affairs where they had tried their best but compromised by using modern technology. The engine was actually powered by some sort of liquid, certainly not coal or wood. It was a lovely ride through a valley with a visit to a waterfall on the way. However good news for Laura as there is something being brought home for her office bragging rights.

 We returned to the ship just in time for lunch and for Marion to attend a question and answer session with Sir Tim Rice.  Not sure she asked any of the difficult questions like why is he a Sunderland supporter? I enjoyed the beautiful departure from Ushuaia and spent all afternoon on deck as we turned north along the Beagle Channel through and area called Glacier Alley under Mount Darwin. Although showery the sun often made for spectacular combinations of light and shade. The glaciers were more alpine in nature than we had been used to. At points they ended in spectacular waterfalls that cascaded into the channel. Originally inhabited by native Indians there are now no inhabitants at all, no roads, no nothing. Great scenery, not unlike that which Barbara and Iain will enjoy in the south of New Zealand.

So it is time for a pre-dinner drink as we head towards Punta Arenas in Chile, the last country of our tour.