Once off of Ventus Australis in Ushuaia we collected a Mercedes-Benz Vito people carrier from Localiza, a car rental company within walking distance of the port.

After depositing the bags at the hotel (it was too early to check-in) we visited the Cabanas Tea Room perched high on the side of the mountain over looking Ushuaia. We had visited here ten years previously and the place now provides hotel accommodation as well as food and drink - the interior of the place is just like a British tea room and they serve up cakes (including scones) and other lunchtime snacks.

After a walk around Ushuaia itself we returned to Hotel Los Nires on the outskirts of Ushuaia to unpack before heading back into the centre of town for dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Ushuaia certainly had expanded since our previous visit.

Our first full day in Ushuaia started with a visit to the Tren del Fin del Mundo (Train at the End of the World) located around 10km out of town. We were a little bit shocked by the number of people wanting to board the first train of the day at 09.30, there must have been at least six coaches and a number of minibuses depositing people at the station . . . . . it was almost tempting to go elsewhere due to the crowds, but we managed to get tickets for Train #3 departing at 09.45. It appeared that the railway was well set up for the numbers of people, with the organised coach tours departing on Trains #1 and #2 (leaving at 09.15 and 09.30) and Train #3 departing on time with around 15 people on board.

The return journey took around 90 minutes to complete on the 60cm gauge railway which was originally constructed to move wood from the area that is now in the Tierra del Fuego National Park into Ushuaia. This work was carried out by prisoners from Ushuaia that were transported by train each day to undertake the back breaking work.

After the trip on the railway we headed into the Tierra del Fuego National Park for lunch and followed that by some walking along some of the many marked trails that are easily accessible from the road.

The walk to Lapataia Bay was one we had done previously, but really enjoyed arriving at the stunning bay after around 40 minutes of walking, bird spotting and plenty of chat.

Once back in Ushuaia there was time to call in at the local supermarket for supplies - and bizarrely the 2016 Spanish Eurovision entry (Barei, Hey Yeh!) was playing as we wandered the aisles. Maybe they knew that Herr Eurovision (a.k.a. Chris) was shopping at their store?

Our final full day in Ushuaia saw us splitting up and visiting various museums in town. We chose the 'end of the world' museum to start with - not the best of places if honest, and it just goes to show that TripAdvisor is not always correct. That said there was some useful information - mainly in Spanish - but not enough to keep us too enthralled.

After lunch we wandered along the waterfront and visited the Malvinas memorial to the Falklands War before meeting up with everyone else and heading back to the hotel.

We had booked a restaurant for dinner that promised the local Patagonian lamb cooked on an open fire and it certainly didn't fail on that count. There was no need for too many additional side portions to accompany the meat feast.

The follow morning we were up fairly early to head to Ushuaia airport, drop off the hire car (van) and head to El Calafate on flight AR1873. This was just a short flight of about one hour with Aerolineas Argentina in a Boeing 737-800.

Once on the ground we were then to head to El Chalten, a three hour drive from El Calafate airport.

*More pictures are available on the either the 'photos' section of this blog, or via the 'more photos' link within this blog entry (it depends on which version you are viewing)*