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Holtyboy's Travel Blog
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Location Date Europe 1624921200 South America 
1575590400 Asia 1557010800 Africa 1493506800 Oceania 1430694000 North America 1423872000 -
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Location Date Punta Lambarry 1543104000 Punta Arenas 1542672000 Colchagua 1542499200 Santiago 1228348800 Valparaiso 1227830400 Cape Horn
1227312000
Our three nights on board the Via Australis started in Ushuaia and took us via Cape Horn, through the Beagle Channel and finally arriving into Punta Arenas in Chile. What a great experience this was!
The cabin on the boat, which had around 100 guests on board, was plenty comfortable for three nights and had an en-suite bathroom too. This was not a sun lounger, brolly in a cocktail type of cruise, it was a waterproofs, woolly hat, gloves and life vest type of cruise that saw us getting off the ship onto Zodiac type boats to get to land for the various shore based excursions. It really was great!
The price of the cruise included all food and drinks (including alcohol at the bar) as well as the on shore activities, the food showcased local wine a nd food products and normally featured glacier ice in any drinks that required it.
After our first night on the boat we arrived off Cape Horn and it was a bit touch and go as to whether we could actually land on Horn Island due to the weather. Fortunately we were OK and were soon speeding across the sea on the Zodiac boats to get to the landing stage before we had even had breakfast. When we were on land the weather did turn for the worse and then for the better with hail storms followed by bright sunshine. It was great to land on this famous piece of land that is home to a small number of Chilean naval personnel all year round too.
Later in the day we stopped at Wulaia Bay, a spot where the HMS Beagle had landed in 1831 with Charles Darwin aboard and were able to climb up and over look the magnificent bay with our ship, the Via Australis moored in the distance.
The following day we visited the ship's engine room and were later back out on the Zodiac boats getting up close to the Aguila or Eagle Glacier in Agostini Sound. The final stop on the trip, before arriving into Punta Arenas was Magdelena Island which is home to thousands of Magellanic penguins.
Overall this was a great experience and very little of the sailing was actually in open sea. There was plenty to learn about between shore excursions with lectures and videos about the local area being held at various times throughout the day which you could choose to partake of if you wished. The lectures were held in both Spanish and English with the passengers being split into the relevant language groups in each of the ships main lounges.
The cabin on the boat, which had around 100 guests on board, was plenty comfortable for three nights and had an en-suite bathroom too. This was not a sun lounger, brolly in a cocktail type of cruise, it was a waterproofs, woolly hat, gloves and life vest type of cruise that saw us getting off the ship onto Zodiac type boats to get to land for the various shore based excursions. It really was great!
The price of the cruise included all food and drinks (including alcohol at the bar) as well as the on shore activities, the food showcased local wine a nd food products and normally featured glacier ice in any drinks that required it.
After our first night on the boat we arrived off Cape Horn and it was a bit touch and go as to whether we could actually land on Horn Island due to the weather. Fortunately we were OK and were soon speeding across the sea on the Zodiac boats to get to the landing stage before we had even had breakfast. When we were on land the weather did turn for the worse and then for the better with hail storms followed by bright sunshine. It was great to land on this famous piece of land that is home to a small number of Chilean naval personnel all year round too.
Later in the day we stopped at Wulaia Bay, a spot where the HMS Beagle had landed in 1831 with Charles Darwin aboard and were able to climb up and over look the magnificent bay with our ship, the Via Australis moored in the distance.
The following day we visited the ship's engine room and were later back out on the Zodiac boats getting up close to the Aguila or Eagle Glacier in Agostini Sound. The final stop on the trip, before arriving into Punta Arenas was Magdelena Island which is home to thousands of Magellanic penguins.
Overall this was a great experience and very little of the sailing was actually in open sea. There was plenty to learn about between shore excursions with lectures and videos about the local area being held at various times throughout the day which you could choose to partake of if you wished. The lectures were held in both Spanish and English with the passengers being split into the relevant language groups in each of the ships main lounges.
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