Hey all. I wrote this blog about a week ago as I was waiting for the plane to New Zealand, but didn't have time to upload it. So here we go again...

I´ve just come back from watching Australia at the cinema, rather fitting I thought as we fly to New Zealand, or indeed Australasia, tonight. A decent watch for sure.

Right, as usual theres plenty of catching up to do! I took the 16 hour bus from Puerto Madryn down to Rio Gallegos in the south of Argentina, before taking another 4 hour bus to El Calatafe. This town is very touristy as it acts as a gateway to Perito Moreno, a moving glacier that is far from small, and the Fitz Roy mountain range. I met Dave at our hostel, after scrambiling up a gigantic hill with my backpack. Even though I was completely shattered, Dave persuaded me that we should visit the glacier the next day, as we were running out of time in south america. He decided to do the expensive glacial walking, whereas I just took the regular tourist bus and tour. This was the first glacier that I´d seen and it was spectacular! Whilst you can't actually see the glacier moving, you can see chunks of ice breaking off the glacier at both ends (mostly due to sunshine) and hear them crashing into the lake. There was a boat that took us to the face of the glacier and metal walkways slightly further away in the national park.

The next day we took another 3 hour bus, crossing the border into southern Chile, to the town of Puerto Natales. This town is far less developed and had a quaint feel to it. It's a another gateway town but this time for the Torres del Paine national park. Independent from the Andes, this is a range of granite mountains set in glorious surroundings and is very popular with trekkers. By now Dave wasn´t feeling too well so I went off on a familiar route of research and booking. I swopped the Argentina Lonely Planet book for a Chile one at a book exchange (great deal for 1 pound!) and inside the front page it describes how 'a trip to Chile is not complete without visiting the magnificent Torres del Paine'. So thats what made me decide to go trekking in the end. The doctor told Dave that he should rest for 3 days but we were already running out of time and I would have to miss most of Santiago if I stayed with him. So it was decided that I would go on a solo three day trek and Dave would be catching up.

Now as most of you will realise, I'm not much of a practiced trekker! The most popular hike is the 5-6 day 'W' but I only has 3 days so decided to cheat using the catamaran both ways across a southern lake. The scenery is amazing almost as soon as you arrive by bus and theres a potentially a stunning photo behind every angle of every rock. The majority of people take tents for camping, but seeing as we didn't have one, I decided to stay in the Refugios, which are similar to hostel dorms. Apart from the fact that its so much more expensive for just about everything, equating to English prices. The first afternoon I climbed up to Glacier Grey (on the left side of the W) and after the initial heavy climb, it was so beautiful I just wanted to keep on going! Sometimes you walk on dusty paths, then the next minute you are trampiling over rocks, to climbing across cliff faces. But of course it still gets dark eventually and you have to trek all the way back down again before sunset, unless you are seriously hardcore when you trek the circuit. Trekking back down wasn´t quite so interesting, particularly because the trainers I was wearing were beginning to reveal all the stones to my aching feet, more with each step! That was probably my biggest mistake, in not taking or having walking shoes. The next day I took the route along and up the middle W to Valley Frances. The clear blue lakes merge magnificently with the turquoise mountains and deep blue skies, as you´ll see on all the photos. That night I was talking to some ladies from Hong Kong, who had a tour guide who explained that one family owns the whole of Torres del Paine national park and have a deal with the Chilean government to pay them US$10,000 a year as a licence to run the park. When you consider that it costs $20 for the entrance alone, this must be a hugely profitable business! Finally on the last day I went a little way up the third valley and then went back on the bus to Puerto Natales.

The next day consisted of a 3 hour ride down to Punta Arenas, where I was due to fly to Santiago the following morning. There is nothing particularly special about this place, apart from the fact that is probably far south as I´ll ever go, being right on the southern tip of Chile. Santiago is a great city, akin to Buenos Aires in its look and feel. I stayed at Hostel Forestal, where the manager Rodrigo greeted me. I did a walking tour of the city centre which as usual included plazas, churches and a cathedral. The next day I walked up Cerro Santa Lucia and went to the fish market and then spent time organising for New Zealand. On the final day I visited, Cousino Macul, the oldest vineyard in and around Santiago. This was a real lesson as I didn´t know too much about the wine producing process before, which I won´t bother to explain right now. Then went up Cerro San Cristobal, a huge hill to the north east of central Santiago, offering fantastic views of the city. Pope John Paul held mass from the top of here in 1984 and the stage and seating is still there, where there is now the Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepion, alarge white statue that looks down over Santiago. That evening Rodrigo organised a barbeque in the hostel and easily persuaded me and the Irish girls I shared a room with, that we should visit Valparaiso for the weekend!

So the following morning we took the bus to Valparaiso, a coastal town directly east of Santiago, reknowned for its steep hills and hence funiculars (cable car like trains). This experience was quite different to everything else I'd done so far, because virtually all the time we were following Rodrigo who was an excellent tour guide, which became quite a joke after a while. We dropped off our bags at his friends' house and went to a fish restaurant in the central market, where I ate a huge meal of different kinds of shell fish. Then we embarked upon a long walk along the coastline to Vina Del Mar, where the Chileans tend to go for beachlife and then caught the bus back to Valparaiso. After a few late night drinks, the next day we spent touring the town and its funiculars, including the house of Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet and politician.

So thats about it for South America and trying to speak Spanish! I'm due to meet Dave at the airport then James Glenton and my cousin Ben in Auckland for a whistlestop, three week tour of New Zealand. Over and out.