We got off the plane at El Calafate and it was cold!.. I don't mean a 'fun we're going on a ski trip' cold with a warm ski jacket and snow boots, I mean COLD with a stupid flimsy puma zip up and 'breathable' trail running shoes. So on with the rain jacket ( it wasn't raining. It's just the only item I have made of material that won't let body heat escape) beanie, gloves and scarf... I'm ready Freddy.

El Calafate is a small tourist town with it's street lined with tour operators ... Smaller than Howick (how exciting). We were wondering what else one could get involved in if you lived here and say weren't intested in the tourism industry?! We did find a vet (no doctor!) a grocer store but we noted most ppl grew their own veggies in a makeshift green house tacked onto their back wall. And ... a laundromat!

As this hostel did not allow washing of clothes we headed for the laundromat as soon as we could as we were pushing onto to El Chalten the next day. So at the laundromat again we had the pointing at the bag of clothes and speaking in English while the laundromat lady spoke in Spanish and we worked out how much to pay and then she drew a little clock - 8:30pm. Great! it should be done that night. Now we did mention that this place is freezing as it is sitting on latitude 50. The upside is that the sun rises at 6am and sets at 10:30pm! So the town ( by that I mean the one and only street) is a buzz till pretty late, normally til 10pm.

So we decide to buy some thick juicy steaks from the grocer ( got to give him something to do, next we're visit the vet for a check up) and then swing by the laundromat at 8:30 and head back 'home'. Small problem, the laundromat closes at 8:30, not the clothes will be cleaned and ready for pick up at 8:30!!! Hahaha we left the next morning at 7:30am with the clothes on our back ( which luckily included jackets and scarfs etc) and a few extra pairs of underwear :)

El Chalten is a few degrees colder and based in a valley at the base of the Fitz Roy mountain range, the wind channels through the valley at speeds of 35-50km/hr on a average day! We met some Canadian photographer who had camped on a hill for the last 2 weeks in the mountains waiting for a clear day to take the best possible picture.

BUT! the weather was a beautiful clear, low wind day the very next day as we scurried up the mt side to Fritz Roy! Took some lovely pics which the poor guy had been waiting to take for 2 wks and then continued on the hike to the next mt range! Although I thought this sheer craziness myself I didn't want to take the chance that tomorrow may be another miserable day so we better make the most of today...which only ends at 10:30pm! ...Yes It started to rain and the wind picked up. On the way home Tim would try perk me up by stating that the town is just over the next hill... On about the 4th hill he got the look...'just say that one more time' look. I decided to calculate how far we had actually hiked (after flopping on the bed like a rag doll) and worked out we had walked 42km!! In 1 day! That is a frikkin marathon! And i didn't even get a frikkin medal at the end! Anyway, we saw a beautiful mountain range and in fact met some interesting ppl along the way and we're still married.

The best part of southern Patagonia and probably one of the most amazing things I've ever seen was glacier Puerto Moreno (30kmx5kmx60m high) - this mass of ice creeps forward at up to 2m per day! Unbelievable! At that rate I expected to see it inching forward but I couldn't notice. What I did notice was ice falling into the lake. The ice would crack through the valley like thunder and then a few moments later a few tons of ice would splooosh into the lake. It was mesmerizing to watch.(so they discovered that deforestation is one of the main causes of the melting ice caps, not only global warming that's why this glacier which is protected in a national park grows and shrinks and on the whole keeps in equilibrium...that's your bit of general knowledge for the day).