Mirador Cuernos- the Horns lookout and the Blue Lake

Apologies for delay in writing to you - we know our audience awaits with baited breath for the next instalment

We all have 270 degree views of the mountains and the surrounding steppe - the small rounded hills as follows:(I'm sorry but my photos are not uploading - this is not the place for photos NOT to upload! However if you check in to the blog after we return to aust or when we get reception please do)

I had no idea all the classics are very close to each other - you can see them here ( see the web for an idea - www.tierrapatagonia.com) on the left is the Paine Grande - rising about 4,700 metres above the lake to 5000 metres. Then the famous Horns of Paine and then one I can't remember on the far right the Torres or towers - the south tower is obscured from the hotel but you can see the central and north towers. In the 1950s a British mountaineering group were in a race to the top of the central tower with an Italian group. The Brits out manoeuvred the Italians and claimed the victory of climbing the highest of the towers. However.....the Italians were not daunted and decided to stay on and tackle the south tower, presumably while the Brits sat back on their laurels over a G and T. It turned out that unbeknownst to anyone the south tower was in fact 50 metres taller than the central tower and so the Italians had a last laugh over a Campari!

In the morning mum stayed at the hotel to have a relaxing poodle in the pool and a spa whilst cath and I forwent the horse riding for the excursion along the steppe to the base of the Horns. Wow - those massive structures rose wonderfully above us.


We were treated to a flock of 10 condors circling as well as guanacos in small quite tame flocks by the roadside.

We left the car for our 2 hour hike to the horns lookout or mirador Cuernos . We were buffeted by winds that Kate thought were 80-90 km per hour.

We passed tough scrub and burnt out trees - Sadly there was a terrible brushfire here accidentally caused by an Israeli camper - 18000 hectares were burnt out of 224000 for the park. It burnt in the park for 1 month and in the surrounding area for 3 months. It's effects were everywhere we went.  We noticed that on the front door of the information centre there was a sign in Hebrew explaining camper responsibilities so there is no excuses though we think it should have been in all languages. As the
trees are not used to fire it will take 50 years to regenerate.

We passed Lago Nordenskjold with its black sands beaches and the winds whipped up a spray that even Kate with her years of sailing experience had never seen.

The horns as you know them (and if you don't google image Cuernos del Paine or horns of Paine )have looked like that for 12 million years - they were formed by Glacial action like everything here but originally were below the surface whilst now they are 5 km high! The lighter rock of the horns are granite that is hardened lava and the dark is another stone that was baked that way by the lava.The geology is fascinating.
At this stage I was decidedly grateful to Anne for suggesting a second battery- thanks Anne - You warned I could run out at a crucial sunset - here I ran ran out at midday so I was very glad to have my backup.

In the afternoon we went with mum to the blue lagoon where we saw some fantastic wildlife including a native grey fox, groups of emu like birds called rias and flamingos!!hard to imagine a
bird you associate with the tropics or African savanna here but there they were minding their own business.

As the sun doesn't set until 10pm it's a pleasure to watch the ever changing light though very disruptive to dinner as we have to record the changes.

Today we took a lovely drive under the mountains and along some gorgeous lakes- luminescent green and blue because of the lime in the rocks.  We saw a skunk- completely oblivious to the 5 photographers with massive (read World Cup type cameras)approaching it from all sides.more about the talents of skunks later.

We then drove along the edge of Lago Pehoe and made our way to the info centre where mum got to pat a puma - well a photo of one)  and we had a delightful picnic by the lake in a manner to which we could become accustomed- ie rich folk on holidays. Our guide Martin was fantastic - a mine of information and he was very nice to mum - which made him extra handsome!
From the picnic we went to Lago grey where a glacier sits at the head - we saw a brief and distant view of the glacier and Kate and I saw our first iceberg. I meant to ask how old it was as. I remember Laura saying the blue ice in the icebergs of Iceland were 10,000 years old. We also saw the Paine Massif from a different angle and it glowed.

Tonight it was off to the entrancia  (ranch) for a typical Chilean BBQ- ie if you are a very rich Chilean I think!  We were eating in the dining area and saw a skunk outside.i decided to get a closer look and as I came closer the guide and the owner were anxiously knocking on the window to stay back. The skunk decided to waddle up to me which I thought was terribly cute and a photo opportunity when I heard yelling and frantic knocking on the window just as the skunk picked up his pace and ran at me. I turned around to see about 8 people madly waving me in! I got the idea to run for it and launched myself into the dining room in the nick of time! Pepe le peu went back to grazing
whilst I was informed that the skunk can spray a blinding (not to mention stinking) concoction from several metres away- close shave!

Must away and prepare to depart this wonderful place as we head south to Tierra del Fuego- land of fire!

Very sorry for lack of photos.

Heaven

Writing to you from the most spectacular spot on earth!

The 2.45 am start was worth it. We got to the Santiago airport and boarded our 5.50 am plane which took us 20 degrees south to Punta Arenas- a hub for exploring this magnificence.
It was cold enough that there were islands with snow on them - these were on the edge of the filigree that is southern Chile and we got a taste of things to come.

We were then picked up in a private van and took the 4.5 hour trip to Tierra Patagonia with complimentary canned mushroom sandwiches- yum yum. The land starts off flat with small nuggety trees bent to the south west by the permanent north East 'Patagonian breeze'- which today was an average 80 km per hour. The colours are totally gorgeous- earthy greens and browns with aqua and green lakes and lagunas as we made our way along the "Road of the end of the world"

We passed stumpy forests whose trees were covered in a beardy ancient lichen and the roadside was littered with gorgeous delicate purple and pink flowers - possibly the humble gladioli?

Things got serious about half way in when we turned a corner and saw a first glimpse of our destination- Torres del Paine.  

Well this is not quite the first glimpse but a better piccy. 

We dropped by the driver's town- Punta Natalas - a fishing and tourism base. Is this a representation of the melting ice which they must surely feel the effects of this far south?

The mountains were edging up on us and we eventually swung north and the famous spires came into view-majestic wonders.

These are the new three Spires- sorry my photo download is mucking up so can't share all I want to. 

Not too far up the road is the hotel - Tierra Patagonia which you can see here buried in the landscape.(no you can't because the photo thing is not talking properly). 

It sits on Lago Sarmiento and the spectacular view here is from mums bedroom! Bloody amazing wouldn't you agree?
(You would if you could see it so I will show you an almost identical one)

We have already seen some of the animal life - rias - a type if emu and guanicas- cousins of the llama. 

We went for a short walk down to the lake and the wind was ferocious- wow- you have to be tough out here - but not inside - where you can be as soft and flabby as you please. Here is the lounge and dining and bar which we plan to test out shortly.

 We'll waddle off to the spa later and report back to you later. 

However I must away as it is the golden hour and time for photographs......

Very hard to shoot west and do it justice. Bernie we are coming back so you can see this gorgeous photogenic place. Start a new holiday account today!!

Can't download my sunset so here are our bathroom doors instead

Even the bath has a panorama.

Goodnight- must prepare ourselves for horse riding tomorrow.eek!!

Wow the Andes! We were picked up by our guide for a day trip to the Andes.

We were fine until about 1800 metres when the 20 odd hairpin bends got to us so we had a pit stop and we're greeted by a very companionable ...stray dog


After a nice chat with Pepe "le peu" we carried on above the tree line - things were getting seriously high with spectacular views a camera can't capture.

Finally, 60 hairpin bends later, and a 2.5 km altitude climb, we arrived at 3000 metres above sea level in amongst the Gods and their messengers - the condors.  Those magnificent  creatures circled above, one of them must have had a wingspan of 2 metres

Mum stayed at the ski lodge -the dot in the picture on the right

while kate and I took the chairlift to the top of the field. What a view.

in 1954 some local ranchers found a perfectly preserved "mummy" body of a small boy in the snow in the mountain (behind Kate).. He had been sacrificed to the gods 500 years before (100 years before the spaniards arrived). His body had been preserved in the perpetual snow and is now preserved at the national museum.  Poor little tacker.

We also saw wild horses and mules on tHe hillsides and Kate would like to add - (for Al's sake), some macho wild rancheros riding horses down the vertical slopes. They certainly did look like the real thing!

The mountains do make ours look like small bumps. We were pretty exhausted and mum has done amazing things on 4 hours sleep. We've put her to bed and are having sisterly chats by the pool over 'piscos' - the national drink! We're pretty pisco'ed!  Tomorrow we awaken at 2:45 to fly to Punta Arenas (end of world) to then make the bus trip (erg) to Torres del Paine - where we get more 'piscos' - yay!

Kate's beading by the pool.  Much like twisting. But cooler.  And requires academic capability.

Santiago in the morning

We started today with a tour of Santiago which was good to get our bearings. Santiago is very flat and was settled for that reason, oh and Spain's thirst for gold ( in which they were thwarted by Mother Nature). However there are dramatic and sudden hills one of which we climbed to get an expansive view of the city and it's skyscrapers. However the Andes were nowhere in sight because, surrounded by mountains, there isn't a lot of outlets for the smog. We visited the presidential palace where mum's charm offensive was in full swing as you can see. Here she is with the tour guide and the policeman who was very happy to help out.

What holiday is not complete without a visit to the cathedral ( where the local street dogs happily wander in and out, or generally lounge around as they do outside). They are largely in good shape and we'll fed by the locals. 

Outside the cathedral there was a prophet like man gaining the attention of the crowds- basically blessing chile AND Peru as today in The Hague a very important decision was to be handed down over a land/ocean dispute that has caused tension and even war between the countries for 140 years.  32 km of Coast is at stake. In fact its decision, just handed down has effectively changed the oceanic borders. 

The Biblioteca National was too much to pass by and we saw a gorgeous exhibition using old card catalogue entries. I admit that the librarian in me was a bit pursed lipped as old card catalogues have their vital uses still. However, without going into a reference lecture, I know the good librarians of Santiago would protect such sources if they needed to. It was hard to ignore the charms of the art work and I got a sense that the artists loved the medium. 

The Biblioteca Americana within the building was set up in the 19th century and is one of the most important libraries in South America. 

After a gorgeous late lunch we wandered back to the hotel room and once more admired the charming view

We've arrived in Santiago

The view from the plane as we approached Santiago is quite spectacular and a taste of our adventures to come with high craggy snow capped mountains that must be full of local legend and history. Santiago itself is quite dry and a mixture of dead flat and sharply rising hills/mountains in the middle of the flatness.

We drove by too many slums before arriving at our hotel in Central Santiago. We are looking forward to exploring it tomorrow but today we only had the energy for a fantastic seafood lunch at the "mercado central" - famous seafood markets before succumbing to jet lag so I am writing this at 1 am Santiago time- just couldn't keep the peepers open.

The blog will be short on visuals till we work out how to upload them but hope to sort that out soon.

We're off!

So here we are all checked in and waiting to board. None of us can believe the day has arrived. V exciting but a few little sniffles as we say goodbye.

Get ready, get set...

1 more sleep till the Holz gals are on their way to a huge South American adventure.

Mum's adventurous spirit is taking us to Chilean Patagonia, Tierra Del Fuego to cruise around the glaciers and the Iguazu falls in Argentina.

Cath and Wen are incredibly lucky to be carrying her bags.  Thanks mum!

Tickets - check
Passports - check (Wendy's new one arrived in the nick of time)
Cameras - check
Clothes for the tropics and clothes for the glaciers - check
Cocktail frocks - check