Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. 5 Day Hike: The Marriage Maker or Breaker.

So Friday morning we were up early, packs ready, thermals on awaiting the 7.30am bus. Bill (the hostel owner) sent us off with a hearty breakfast of omelette and homemade bread and we boarded the bus wondering what the next few days would have in store for us.

In true Henderson style we decided to make life a bit harder for ourselves by adding an extra bit to the first day's walk. So we were dropped off by the bus at the Sede Administration CONAF office at the bottom of the park where we would walk (17.5km) round Lake Pehoe to Refugio Grande rather than taking the 30 minute Catamaran journey across the lake, like most of the others on our bus. This was a beautiful walk which starts crossing the flat plains leading up to the mountain ranges and lakes, from afar this allowed us a glimpse of what lay ahead of us and as we neared the lake this built up into an exciting picture of the terrain and scenery we would face.


We reached the first Refugio around 3pm and allowed ourselves a generous 1 hr lunch break before we started the hike to Glacier Grey campsite. The weather had been very kind to us that morning, with beautiful blue skies, however, as we finished our sandwiches and prepared to set off for the afternoon the weather broke and the heavens opened, lashing us with wind and rain. Luckily this didn't last too long and the sun made a welcome return as we continued our climb to the glacier. The paths were well marked but the terrain was mixed, at some points we were walking through muddy woodland paths, while at others we were marching across streams and scaling boulders. The hard work was rewarded with some truly stunning views of Glacier Grey on route. We made it to the campsite about 7.30pm, both tired and hungry. We quickly pitched the tent before succumbing to a hot shower, this was not a great idea - as soon as we were out the shower the cold, icy air hit and we were chilled to the bone. We brewed up on our stove and quickly discovered, tea has never tasted so good as when you are camping next to a glacier and can't feel your fingers and toes from the cold! Then we got on with preparing our pasta and sauce dinner, which disappeared within seconds! We were both shattered after the 7 ½ hrs of walking that day so it wasn't long before we were ensconced in our sleeping bags ready for bed. Unfortunately though, neither of us was to get much sleep that night, camping next to a glacier is pretty chilly and we were both awoke several times throughout the night trying in vain to warm up cold hands, feet, noses, etc!

Finally morning came and we were up and on our way again, after a satisfying bowl of porridge and a cuppa! David wasn't so keen on the porridge, luckily Lynne was ready and waiting to finish of the leftovers! We walked the 3 ½ hrs back down the trail to the Lake where we prepared and ate another exciting lunch of pasta and sauce, then we began the shorter (2hr), and considerably easier, walk to Los Italianos campsite at the foot of the Valle de Francés. The campsite was spread across some woodland and we found a sheltered spot not too far from the river (our water supply for the day). After pitching the tent we got on with cooking up some rice and vegetables before we heading off to bed, hoping for a bit more sleep than the previous night. Unfortunately, once again it was a chilly night, particularly for David, whose 'summer' weather sleeping bag wasn't really up to the job.

We got up early and set off on the climb through the Valle de Francés. The first hour was a steep climb over boulders and through forest trails. We were making good timing until we lost the path at a river crossing, instead of cutting over the river we headed up the bank, we walked about 20 minutes uphill before we agreed that this probably wasn't the correct route. We weren't too sure where we had lost the path but didn't think it could be too far away, so we found a bit of high ground to scan the area from, thinking we could see the path we cut across some shrubbery to find just another stream, it was at this point that David noticed some large, recently made paw prints, the evidence seemed to suggest that this was a watering hole for one of the park's resident pumas, so we quickly scarpered, retracing our steps until we finally found the point where we had lost the path and rejoined it, with hearts racing, not daring to think of what might have happened had we run into Mr Puma!!

The last half of the trail was less steep and we found our way to the Mirador where we could enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the snow capped mountainous landscape.

We then headed back down the trail to the campsite where we took the tent down, cooked a quick lunch then made our way (2hrs) to Los Cuernos campsite, a beautiful walk along the coast of the lake. This was Lynne's favourite campsite as it offered the opportunity to have a hot shower in clean bathrooms and then enjoy numerous cups of tea from continuously topped up thermoses in a cosy common area, with a wood burning stove providing much needed heat! After two fairly sleepless nights we decided to hire and extra sleeping bag from the Refugio (for about £4) which we used to sleep on providing some further insulation from the cold ground. We sat drinking tea for a few hours, chatting to some Californians, who were about twice our age and fairly hardcore walkers, the W was merely a walk in the park for them (although I hasten to add they weren't enduring the hardship of camping!!). We then retired to our tent where we huddled in our sleeping bags, considerably warmer than previous evenings and listened to the winds outside. You could hear the wind as it started out on the lake and built up as it blew inland through the forest, bracing yourself for it to hit your tent. Thanks to David's legendary Duke of Edinburgh skills our tent survived the night and we awoke early to find ourselves bathed in sunshine and beautiful blue skies.

We hit the trail around 8, after some more of that delicious porridge and started the 11km trek which would take us to the foot of the Torres. We stopped off for a short break before beginning the steep 4.9km climb to Torres campsite, pausing for a hour to cook lunch halfway up at Refugio Chileno. The climb up to Chileno is the steepest part of this climb and when we finally reached the peak of our climb we were met with gale force winds which blew us into the mountain face and made moving forwards even more of a challenge. We were glad to have our walking poles to dig into the ground and help us progress along the track to the Refugio. Once again we were afforded outstanding views – this time of the Valle Ascencio. The final part of the day's trek was just an hour's walk to the campsite, this was considerably easier than the first part of the walk as we were sheltered from the winds by woodland and the terrain was far flatter. We reached camp early after approx 5 ¼ hours of tough hiking. We pitched the tent and brewed up before our meal of packet rice and vegetables. We were due to get up before sunrise the next day to trek to the Mirador to watch the sunrise on the Torres so we were in bed by 6pm, fully clothed in all our layers!

We woke at 4am and along with a number of other campers began the 1hr climb to the Mirador. We were behind another walker and followed him for most of the way until we realised that he had veered off the path leading us and another German couple. It was pitch dark and with our limited torchlight we couldn't find our way back to the path. We ended up in some forest and managed to locate a clearing where we had a good view of the Torres, so it was there that we sat and awaited sunrise and the snow started to fall around us! Sadly, the snow meant that the three Torres were shrouded in clouds and there was to be no beautiful sunrise turning them into the red towers seen on so many postcards. Once the sun was up we could easily see the path and were surprised by how far into the forest we had strayed, we quickly found a more direct route back to the path and headed up to the viewing point we had intended to reach a few hours earlier. Despite the clouds the Torres are still are remarkable and imposing view and we enjoyed a few moments taking in the wonder of our surroundings.

On our return to camp we dismantled the tent for the last time and quickly packed and set off on the 50 min walk back to Chileno where we would make breakfast and enjoy some tea and coffee in the warm dining room there. Then it was downhill for most of the way back! We took our time and enjoyed the walk and some victory banter reaching the bottom of the trek by midday. A popular game was to think of classic marching rhymes – David wanted to record some of his favourite in this blog, but with a threat of a divorce he has decided not to.

As the bus wasn't until 2.30 we decided we had time to walk the 7km round to the bus stop instead of waiting for the shuttle bus, however Lynne's legs disputed this decision and her pace slowed to that of a toddler, when a kindly mini bus driver slowed and offered us a lift for a measly 1000 Chilean pesos we leapt at the chance and bundled in. The sun was out by this point so after being dropped off we both slept, basking in the sunlight until the bus arrived ending our siestas.

We stayed at a B&B for our final night in Puerto Natales and we were so pleased to be returning to a private double room, with en suite, heating and cable TV!! After some well earned pizza, empanadas, beer and wine we crashed out, enjoying the luxury of a mattress and central heating system!!

The W walk was undoubtedly a highlight for both of us. The scenic views make the physical challenges worth the effort! Camping and lugging all your stuff round in your packs does make this all the harder but the campsites are beautiful and we felt it added to the experience overall (particularly for Lynne whose pack was only half the size of David's!!).

Puerto Natales (part 1) and El Calafate.

After eventually disembarking we made our way to the Erratic Rock 1 Hostel where we had our reservation. This turned out to be a great little place with fantastic staff headed by Bill & Paul. It's a really cosy hostel with a well-equipped kitchen and busy social area. The only dampener was that the double room we had was freezing at night because the heater was broken much to Lynne's dismay!! The hostel also has a hiking shop attached that puts on a free talk every day at 15:00 which covers everything you need to know about hiking around the Torres Del Paine National Park – the reason we are here!!! That night we cooked and enjoyed a casserole (the meat here is almost as good & cheap as in Argentina) whilst chatting with other guests about their stay and more importantly their experiences hiking around the Park. We decided to go to El Calafate first to see the Perito Morreno Glaciar before getting on our rucksacks & hiking boots and entering the park.

Tuesday: After booking our bus for El Calafate on Wednesday, the rest of the day was spent doing some admin tasks – booking buses (for Ushuaia and Punta Arenas) and hiring the necessary gear for the hike in the National Park.

Wednesday: An early morning bus took us back in to Argentine and El Calafate – the base town for visits to the very touristy Perito Morreno Glacier. After a bit of a error in our logistical planning we managed to get a bus to take us to the Glacier that afternoon within half an hour of arriving to ensure we could return to Puerto Natales the next day. Fortunately for us the staff at Hostel Buenos Aires (where we stayed) were absolutely fantastic and sorted out everything for us. (We should also add that the room was great – we were upgraded for no extra cost to an en-suite). The Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is fairly vast with several hikes and boats excursions amongst other activities available. However, the main attraction is Perito Moreno and this is all we had time to see. What makes the Perito Moreno special is, (like the Pio XI glacier,) that it is still advancing, up to 2 metres per day, while most of the world's other glaciers are receding. Having had the opportunity to visit Pio XI on the Navimag ferry we weren't too sure what to expect but the glacier really is a treat to visit, it's enormous and the park really gives you a chance to appreciate the sheer scale of it. Walking round the many walkways opposite we witnessed the constant creaks and groaning of the ice and even saw several large chunks of ice breaking off and crashing into the water below. A fascinating natural event, one that made the whole trip here worthwhile. That evening we strolled round town enjoying a few local empanadas and purchasing some more of the famed beef fillet from the butchers. WOW......we both agree that the steak we cooked that night was probably one of the best we have ever had – if not the best – it melted in the mouth like butter!!! The meat is so good it makes even David think he is a world class chef!! There were two other British couples staying in the hostel that evening – also cooking steak! After dinner we all sat around chatting, discussing travel plans and getting advice on our upcoming hike around Torres Del Paine.

We took the bus back to Puerta Natales the following day, once again facing the arduous customs system to enter back into Chile. We arrived around 10pm so headed straight to bed to get as much sleep as possible before we hit the park!

Puerto Montt and the 4 day Navimag trip down the Chilean Fjords to Puerto Natales.

Thursday: The bus journey to Puerto Montt in Chile took approx 8 hours – longer than expected due to the Chilean border crossing. As we found out, the Chilean Envionmental Department are extremely thorough (i.e. ridiculously so) in controlling food products across the border. We must have been at the border for over an hour during which every bag was put through an airport type scanner and a declaration form was filled in stating what food & drink substances you were carrying. With no idea of this we shed a few food items prior to crossing.

So we arrived in Puerto Montt and checked into Casa Perla – a cute little B&B. Perla was the perfect host and we were soon out exploring the town. To be honest the town doesn't offer much to do, but the countryside offers much more including horse riding, hiking and other outdoor activities. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for any of these activities as we were catching the Navimag ferry the next day; so we settled for a walk along the sea front instead.

Friday: We had to board at 14:30 and so had the morning to relax with the rest of the passengers in the town's harbour & fish markets whilst basking in the splendid sunshine. We were very excited about the ferry journey and were enjoying the day until we noticed Lynne's passport had been swiped from her handbag. With only 20mins before boarding both our hearts sunk and were understandably shaken. Luckily upon retracing our steps we spotted the passport discarded in some bushes only a few metres away. We realised Lynne had been targeted by some pickpockets (two middle aged ladies) who we had thought were gossiping and walking slowly in front of us, we now know what they were doing was purposely separating the two of us before making the grab. Fortunately for us, they must have decided that the passport was of little use to them and ,perhaps after hearing Lynne's shouts, decided to throw it in the undergrowth next to the walkway. So we boarded with hearts racing and feeling very relieved indeed!!

Moving on, the first day on board was really pleasant, the weather was stunning as we set out to sea down the Fjords. We had booked 2 bunks in a room of 4 and shared with two Italians neither of whom spoke English or Spanish – but they were cheery enough people and by the fact all of us had brought on board plenty of wine we developed a mutual respect for each other. The boat was an old cargo ship that now transports tourists around the Chilean Fjords. There were plenty of Europeans on board mixed amongst Chileans and some North Americans. All announcements were in Spanish and English and the crew were all young and good fun. Instead of describing the route each day we have attached a rough map of the route (best we could find on the internet). If you want more information the website is http://www.navimag.com/.

The day was spent on top deck with the majority of passengers enjoying the sun or reading books in the bar / lunge area. The evening was spent in the bar playing cards, chess and mixing with the other passengers over some wine!!

Saturday: After a good breakfast (all meals are served in a canteen – decent quality in-fact!) the day was again spent walking around the decks enjoying the scenery and wildlife. This was enhanced by a very lively presentation by the crew on native Patagonian wildlife. By the afternoon however, the weather had closed in and we were to enter the Pacific Ocean from 14:00 after passing through Bahia Anna Pink into the Golfo de Penas. The crew warned us that the conditions would become very choppy and it is advised to take sea sickness tablets. Lynne was the first of the Hendersons to be affected and went for an afternoon nap to recover, much like a number of other passengers. David meanwhile (one never to have been affected by sea sickness) was in the Bridge with the captain and on the front of the top deck enjoying the experience of just how humbling the ocean can be! The waves at times crashed over the front of the lower deck and the size of waves very daunting. However, by dinner time the tables were turned as David started to feel a bit green, by that time Lynne was feeling much better as the sea sickness tablet had taken affect! David for once couldn't finish a meal and went to bed with a tablet! He certainly wasn't the only one and a number of people had to be carried off to bed after being revisiting by their dinner in the corridors and toilets of the ship! By about 9pm the ship was deserted as almost all the ship's passengers had retired to their cabins attempting to sleep through the very choppy conditions!! We found ourselves sliding down the beds constantly as the ship rocked forwards, backwards and sidewards!

Sunday: The ship awoke in calm conditions once more after escaping the Pacific ocean through the Angostura Inglesa. The views were fantastic today and it felt like you were a million miles from any civilisation amongst the many inhabited isles of the region. After an informative (!) talk by the staff about glaciers, the boat took a detour northwards to treat the passengers to up close and personal visit of the largest Glacier in the Southern Ice Field of Southern America – 'Pio XI' (The 11th Pope). This was truly a staggering sight which left everyone speechless. This topped off a day of seeing lots of wildlife including dolphins, sea lions and many of the regions birds.

The final evening on board was a bit of a party and included a brief staff Karaoke before a game of Bingo. During the game, the booze was flowing and with every winning line the lucky contestant had to dance in front of all the room. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for all involved Lynne was one number away from winning the star prize!! We hit the dance floor as expected and after being completely embarrassed by some Chilean dancers we decided to call it a night!

Monday: The final part of the journey took us through the Golfo Almte Montt and was enjoyed on the deck with most of the other passengers trying to clear our hazy heads. The final leg into Puerto Natales is in a truly breathtaking setting, surrounded by huge dramatic snow capped mountains and vast plains of arid land.

In summary, we had a great time aboard the Navimag and really enjoyed the opportunity to see very rarely travelled waters and coast line. At times eerie, beautiful, scary and simply breathtaking it had a bit of everything. The staff were great, everyone on board was there to enjoy it and have a good time and the food wasn't half bad. Although more pricey than travelling by road we thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Bariloche - Argentinian Lake District - 17th - 21st January

Sunday 17th January (My wonderful husband's birthday!)
We arrived on the bus around 10am waking up to a glorious view of the Argentinian lake District, framed by the snow capped Andes. We stayed at Hostel 1004, which was a recommendation from another backpacker we met in Rio, what a fantastic place it was! The hostel is on the 10th floor of the tallest building in Bariloche centre and looks out over the Lake Nahuel Huapi. Our room was beautiful and airy with the same spectacular view!

We spent the morning exploring the town and planning our activities for the next few days, in the afternoon took a walk along the lake and went for a birthday drink! We bought a few bottles of good (and unbelievably cheap) red wine and some tapas style nibbles for dinner and settled down in the lovely common area with several other backpackers. Later in the evening the hostel staff treated us to some live music, mainly celtic tunes and a special rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for Señor Henderson!

The next morning we headed off to hire bikes and cycle round the Ciruit Chiquito. This is a 30km loop which takes you through the Nahuel Huapi National Park, provided some great vistas of the areas en route. The circuit turned out to be fairly, no make that VERY, hilly and it wasn't long before Mrs Henderson lost her sense of humour about the whole thing! However, we had started so we would finish. It was worth it in the end though and the views, beautiful weather and wildlife soon won Lynne over. We arrived back at the hostel a bit weary but with a sense of achievement, a great opener to our Patagonian adventure. We spent the evening in the hostel exchanging stories of our day with other guests over some wine and risotto - a great end to the day.

Tuesday morning was spent hunting down some fresh local fish and practising our spanish in some of the local shops. We had arranged to go kayaking in the afternoon and were collected after lunch with the rest of the group. There were 10 of us in total on the trip accompanied by two instructors. As it was quite windy we set off from a more sheltered lake (Lake Moreno) to ease us into it. We had a two man canoe, David went in the back, taking charge of steering (probably a good idea given Lynne's sense of direction) and Lynne took the place up front. The kayaking was great fun and with the windy conditions gave us a bit of a workout! We got back quite late and enjoyed some more banter with some of the hostel guests.

On Wednesday we made our way to the 17.7km point to do a short but very steep walk up to the top of EL Campanario, a spot which is rated by National Geographic in the top ten views of the world. It was quite a tough trail up the mountain but luckily doesn't take too long and we were rewarded with a panoramic view of the beautiful crystal clear blue lakes and lagoons and mountains. We picnic-ed at the top taking in the sight for as long as possible then headed back down the trail. In the evening we bought some steaks to cook ourselves (ridiculously cheap) and of course a bottle of red wine to accompany them, delicious!

An early morning bus will take us on the next leg of our journey to Puerto Montt where we catch the three day ferry trip to Puerto Natales.

Buenos Aires Part Dos

We took the ferry across the water to BA and arrived at our around midnight. We stayed in the Hostel Suites, Obelisk in Central this time instead of San Telmo. The hostel is really cool, its basically split into individual apartments each sharing a kitchen and bathroom. The bar area is really busy and lively, although unfortunately for us on our arrival night it happened to be full of loud, drunken, shirt-off Argentinians and Americans!

Thursday we went to Palermo visiting the beautiful wide avenues and grassy green park areas. We later went into trendy central Palermo where we stopped in a cobbled square for a Stella Artois in the sunlight! In the evening we took advantage of a free meal from the hostel (which turned out to be a shoe leather piece of meat and rice!) and a few more beers, then went to a late showing of Sherlock Holmes at the cinema to take in the last English film we'll probably see for a while.

Friday we walked from central down to San Telmo and Boca, stopping off at a deli to use our new found Spanish to order some delicious salame and cheese for lunch en route for just £1 all in! We had a great time wondering around taking in the architecture and amazing artwork on the buildings. David was pretty excited about getting in a game of chess from the locals in one of the parks famous for this, however we couldn't find anyone brave enough to take him on, only a table full of hobos trading white lightening!

We spent the afternoon walking (actually crawling in the sweltering heat) around the natural reserve in Puerto Maderno which was beautiful and a hidden gem in an otherwise crowded cosmopolitan city.

In the evening we met up with friends, Amy and Ben to attend a tango show called La Ventana in San Telmo, the show was fantastic, the food was great (half a cow each for main course!) and the company was even better. After the show we hit the bars (we are BRITISH, of course!) we traded wedding tips and travelling stories until the wee hours! It was a great night although the morning after proved a tough one as we had to get up and out by 11am!

So now we are off on the bus to Bariloche excited by the prospect of fresh air, mountains and the great outdoors!
Ciao!

Montevideo Monday 14th Dec 2009 - 12th January 2010!!

This blog entry recaps on the above period and gives a general update as to what we've been up to based in Montevideo.

We started college on Monday 14th Dec at “Academia Uruguay” and were really impressed with the college. We were assigned Gaston as our teacher and for the first week we were the only ones in the class. They have a fairly set curriculum and we started to work through their syllabus book 1. Gaston is a fairly animated character and very difficult to understand, apparently some of the Uruguayans who visit the college struggle to understand him!! The first week flew by and we appeared to progress well, although we found ourselves exhausted and moaning about the homework soon enough. College this week was between 09:30 – 13:30 meaning we were out and free by the hottest part of the day – and hot it was!! A typical day that week involved us heading home for lunch and then heading down to either Punta Carretas or Pocitos (favoured) beaches to siesta in the sun before returning to the flat for dinner and wine and the odd trip to the bars.

By the first weekend, we were looking forward to two days off and celebrated by enjoying a few drinks out on the town in Ciudad Vieja and a few longer runs down by the Rambla; we have been fairly discliplined with the running, alternating between a gentle jog and a David's training run which has us doing all the kind of exercises expected in a football training session warm-up – much to the pleasure of the 'mate' swilling locals who tend to shout and encourage us (we think!) as not many people here tend to take advantage of this fantastic rambla to run.

By the end of the weekend we had become fully accustomed to having our own flat again with the fridge filled and enjoying a routine of cooking with no smelly dread-locked travellers in the kitchen! The flat is great although a few mornings it's hard to sleep when the market on the road outside being set up from 4am!! Also, the local bar (Bar Sarandi) tends to be frequented by various local characters and seems to go on until the last of them runs out money or falls asleep!!
The second week was a four day week, with 5 hours a day (!) due to Friday (Christmas Day) being a holiday and that we were joined by another student – Bjorn, from Germany. It was a good laugh with Bjorn, who we quickly realised was just as keen on having a laugh with us as he was about learning the lingo! The week passed by quickly but was tiring with the additional hour each day and Gaston not easing up on the homework! (Lynne and David don't need to point out that we are quite geeky and wouldn't dream of turning up to lesson without having completed it!). By the end of the week it was evident that much to his disgust David was clearly bottom of he class and crying out for some numbers and no more Spanish! Lynne on the other hand was clearly top of the class and Gaston's favourite! The afternoons this week remained hot and so we frequented the beaches once more.

Christmas Eve however was rainy, we decided to head down to the Mercado del Puerto after enjoying it for Lynne's Birthday....it was quite different this time!! By the time we had left college at 14:30, the streets were filled with locals wandering the streets drunk on Roldo's and swilling it freely in the streets; by the time we got to the Mercado the area was crammed with the drunken mass singing along to live music and throwing cider in the air over any unfortunate bystanders who happened to get too close. The meal was as good as last time and afterwards we headed back to the flat as the streets emptied – we later found out that after drinking the afternoon away everyone goes back to their families where they dine and relax before setting off fireworks at midnight. This was quite spectacular, we enjoyed some wine on our roof terrace watching the 360 degree firework display. It seemed every plaza, house were setting fireworks off, even those in the streets were setting off rockets.

Christmas day was relaxed, with the morning spent cooking Christmas Dinner. Limited by the produce on offer here we opted for roast chicken, roast potatoes, homemade onion and herb stuffing, sweet potato mash, broccolli, carrots & sweetcorn topped off with proper gravy (no oxo!!) and a few bottles of local red wine. It turned out great and we enjoyed raising a glass of wine with the family over the webcam!

Shannon (from Canada) joined us in the class for the third week, which again consisted of 5 hours a day with Friday being New Years day. The weather didn't quite live up to the first two weeks, so afternoons & evenings were spent between the beach, parks and socialising with the other students at college.

We brought in the New Year by having a group of the students round to our flat for drinks and food before once again taking in an impressive fireworks display at midnight which was followed by a trip to the bars/clubs of Ciudad Vieja which only opened at 1am. They seem to have many strange customs here, the drinking of Mate being numero uno, but another noted is that on New Year's Eve before they all go out and get drunk at midday they rip up their used diaries as well as all office paper that relates to the year and throw it out their windows and onto the streets! The streets were littered with paper on every street in town, it was quite strange! What would be called a security nightmare in the UK!!

On New Years day we relaxed by the coast and on the 2nd we headed to the Bodega Bouza Winery in the countryside of Montevideo. This is an experimental vineyard only recently opened and prides itself on quality over quantity. The scenery was as beautifu as the weather and we thoroughly enjoyed a break from the city. We had a tour of the facilities followed by a wine tasting session. We tasted 4 wines consisting of pure Tannat (a grape favoured in Uruguay)., Merlot and combinations of the two. Needless to say we say we enjoyed the wine tasting and look forward to more of the same in Argentina.

On the Sunday we explored some new areas of the city including a trip to Estadio Centenario – which is the Country's National Football stadium, the same one where they won the first ever World Cup in 1930. It got David thinking of how great it's going to be when England win the 2010 Cup!

The final week in college started with a painful Monday. We were joined by two new girls, a Finnish girl who was pleasant enough and a German lady who was possibly the most annoying person we have ever met. She just wouldn't shut up!! Following a brief complaint and a day of deep breaths and counting to ten we had Gaston to ourselves once more from Tues – Fri. We covered loads of material in this week at a fast pace, so much so that it's going to take some time to revisit it all. The weather once again picked up and with class finishing at 13:30 we were once again unleashed onto the beaches. We enjoyed a few nights out with some of the other students which left us very tired in college trying to survive on only a few hours sleep! For the Friday we prepared a hand made card for Gaston as a thank you which he got quite sentimental about!

We then took a bus to Punta Del Este which is 2 hours down the coast and is the Monte Carlo of South America where all the wealthy and famous go for the summer break. We booked a B&B just out of town and after settling in headed into town (the peninsula) to meet with Ida (Ian's wife's best buddy from San Francisco). We went for dinner with her before making our way home about 1:30am being tired after the week at college – for Ida however and most of Punta Del Este, this is the beginning of the night when they start to go out clubbing. The typical day there appears to be: clubbing from 1am – 9am, sleep until 5pm, beach for a few hours before grabbing a power nap from 7pm – 10pm after which they go out for dinner and then back to the club!! A ritual we may have sampled if we had a few nights there, but we were to head down the coast to Punta Del Diablo the following evening and so opted for a fairly early rise, hiring bikes and exploring the city & coast on wheels! In short, the day took a twist after we realised somewhere on the bike tour that David's wallet was missing! So the day then went as follows: a visit to our first South American police station, a trip back to see Ida – our Guardian Angel who saved us with a cash advance – as with no cash we couldn't pay for our last night's accommodation or any food! We were touched by the generosity of not only Ida but also the local Uruguayans and visiting Argentinians who couldn't do enough to help. The B&B owners were very kind to us and in light of the situation allowed us to camp for free in their back garden (we had the tent as were planning to camp in Punta Del Diablo) and gave us breakfast in the morning. After a negative response from the police that morning and having been able to change our bus tickets (and receive practically a 90% refund for those missed and cancelled – thank you kind women at COT buses!!) we headed back to Montevideo a day early as that is where our remaining bank cards and money are!

With only Monday & Tuesday left in Montevideo, we started getting ready to leave. We had some positive news on Tuesday when the hostel in Punta Del Este informed us that my wallet had been found and handed back in with all the money intact!! Amazing, not sure that would happen in London!! A bit late for the bank cards that have already been cancelled but nice to have back. We picked it up from some Argentinian Girls who were travelling back to Montevideo that evening. That afternoon we also enjoyed our final run down the Rambla, notching up 10km and then heading out to a Tango Club with Bjorn, Shannon and a few others. This was basically someone's house that has been converted into a Milonga which stays open until the last person goes home – Lynne impressed with her first Tango lesson!

So our Montevideo / Uruguay adventure comes to an end as we take the BuqueBus Ferry back across the Rio de la Plata to Buenos Aires.

Saturday – Lynne Henderson's Birthday!! With college starting on Monday we had the whole weekend to explore the city and to find a suitable venue to celebrate a very special birthday! The morning took us around Ciudad Vieja and the weekend Flea markets before we walked down the coastal Promenade (the Rambla) right round to Playa Ramirez (our nearest beach 2km away) and then to the Punta Carretas district and more importantly its shopping mall; this area is a very smart residential area with tree lined avenues and based around a decent amount of greenery on the coast. A very disciplined Mrs Henderson left the mall with no shopping bags except for lots of carrier bags from the supermarket which meant a taxi was required to get us back home!

At this point we were very hungry and so headed for Lynne's Birthday meal at the Mercado del Puerto. This is an old Iron market which houses many Uruguayan steak / barbeque houses, the place was alive with music, locals and the bars were bustling!! We read that the steaks here are obscenely large and so once we had selected the restaurant where we'd eat (i.e. being the first one we could find a table at – the place was heaving) we ordered one Lomo to share with some fries and a salad. Not as cheap as Argentina, but just, if not more amazing! We proceeded to have one of the most enjoyable meals we have ever had, not only due to the quality of the food but the general buzz of the place; after the meal we moved to one of the bars also indoors to supp back a few more drinks amongst the locals who were mostly pie-eyed by 5:30pm!! It was just like being in London on a Saturday! It didn't take long for us to find the reason for this...Roldo's; a Uruguayan sweet cider, £2 a bottle and 10.5%. The Market closed shortly after and so we headed out onto the street with the rest of the crowd where we witnessed a small carnival with a procession of African Drumming bands circling the market with massive flags denoting the groups filling the immediate area. There were people dancing in the streets and the music was brilliant. We saw the last 3 groups of who knows how many and then before we knew it, up pop a local band onto a temporary stage next to us who proceeded to play a type of upbeat Latino reggae (best description we can come up with). The streets were filled with people dancing off the effects of several bottles of Roldo's and of course it didn't take long before Mrs H was throwing some of her own Birthday shapes in the mosh area! Once the set was over we dispersed with the rest of the crowd into the surrounding streets before deciding to head home for a relaxing evening in the apartment. Considering there was no plan to the day, it proved to be so much fun, befitting of the occasion, and a day that has convinced us that we want to stay in the city at the weekends.

Sunday: Having read of a large Sunday Market in the Centro district we headed there for lunchtime and found a huge market where you could buy anything there, including some extremely cute puppies and kittens!! The whole place was fairly manic and so after an hour of browsing we decided to cut loose and head to the beach in the Pocitos district. This is a decent sized beach with white soft sand; a place we will definitely be visiting more often! David was a bit puzzled to find that the locals here tend to opt for swim shorts rather than speedos, but it didn't stop him being true to the speedo tan lines!

We walked back from the beach, all 8km of the way and thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the local way of life; so far we can identify that the Uruguayan (well the Montevideo) culture is based around, mate, boozy Saturdays, lie-ins (the streets in the morning are dead!), fishing and family. All down the coast, which is either beach, grassy park areas or fishing clubs the area is packed with families, couples or group of friends sat on deck chairs or the path wall supping mate whilst the men (usually) fish. The evening was relaxed to ensure we were fresh and ready to begin our college course in the morning.