Final day in Argentina

A cold drizzly morning greeted us, very reminiscent of Scotland, as we got out of the tent ready to head back to 'civilization' mostly a shower and clean clothes!  It was a long walk out down the valley, from the map it looked flatish and not nearly as taxing as the day before, which was a relief as I don't think my legs could have coped. We stomped off, slowly to begin with, eased into the day's walk by a flat section interspersed with short steep sections (not appreciated).  We found a refugio guide wating for us at the first river crossing, which was reassuring as my legs were wobbly and balance was worse than usual!   Luckly there was also a rope strung across the river at shoulder height to hold on to.  After we crossed the guide sped off into the forest and we continued our plod, passed a guide and refugio dog coming in the oposite direction carrying wood (just the guide).  This must be good exercise as we were a fair distance away from the refugio. 

Steep switch-backs carried us quickly down the valley side, some slippy corners made it more speedy!  Continued stomping as legs woke up and felt the homeward call, chatting to Heather about GSC passed the time.  Still the bridge crossing that signalled half-way was a long time coming.  Very happy when it came into sight, all covered in mulit-colured flags, it was also lunch time, a good morale booster. Sat by the river and had crackers with cheese and peanuts, sadly the pitta bread had gone mouldy so that was a little dissapointing. The midges took this chance to have their lunch at the expense of my shoulder.  We continued along the path by the river enjoying the flat sections.  Navigation had gone out of the window by this time, since tributaries seemed to be more numerous than the map suggested, so it was a pleasant surprise when the path became a track and we came to the settlement at the end of it.  The settlement was more of a goat guarding hut, the goats were very cute but the 'Private Land' signs seemed to suggest the owners did not like visitors. 

At last we reached the road and had a well deserved sit down and munched the last of the cashews mixed with parmesan.  After a few unsucessful tries to hitch-hike we picked up our bags again and started to walk in the direction of Bariloche.  Happily a few minutes later a van stopped to give us a ride.  We sat in the back and got taken almost to the door of the hostel.  The owners of the van had invited us to dinner, which was very kind but we wouldn't have been good company and were at this point more interested in a shower!

I got to look at the damage the midges and buzzing flies had done to my shoulders, not a pretty sight.  The mosquitoes had left me with some good bites on my legs too.  Time to hang the tent up and wash some very smelly socks, although the rain did not allow for rapid drying, how inconsiderate.  The next task was food shopping for the long journey to Chile tomorrow and my first empanada (I kept calling them enchilladas, not the same thing at all).  Empanadas are a bit like pasties and very popular in Argentina.  They smelt and tasted very good and gave me a new burst of energy for packing.  Had to pack strategically so that I had everything for Torres del Paine in one bag, this took a while, but I was able to fit all I needed into my smallest bag!

Had to wake up a sleeping Heather so we could go out for dinner.  The decision of where to eat took a while, but in the end we were sold on the idea of curry and went to La Bomba, the bar where we met the auzzies on the first night in Bariloche.  I was told I had have a certain drink while still in Argentina, but I cannot remember the name, I think it begins with an 'f'.  It tasted very medicinal, but went down easily and almost straight to my head.  The curry was very tasty and spicy, which didn't go well with my sunburnt lips but I did my best to eat it all, unsucessfully.  Since it was my last night in Argentina the plan was to party the night away.  In an alternate universe where I was not half asleep this would have been a fantastic plan.  Heather chatted to some Argentinas while I looked on with a dazed expression on my face.  Got to bed eventually, sleep was not so easy due to chatty Swiss people in the dorm room who stopped shining torches around only after I snored.

Half way! (ish)

I've been away for a month and its almost halfway through the cruise (tomorrow).  We are about to cross some interesting regions of the Southern Atlantic where the ocean currents mingle and phytoplankton benefit.  The aim is to sample in the middle of an ocean eddy in the middle of the great calcite belt.  Hopefully there will be many happy coccolithophores living here, if the satellite image is anything to go by, assisting the export of organic carbon to the deep sea.  With any luck they will have formed aggregates (marine snow), which I can collect and photograph and then attempt to measure their sinking rate.  So far the sinking rate experiments have not been very successful, marine snow is easily lost in the blink of an eye and sinks faster than you would expect!  I caught a few particles in the most recent cast of the snow catcher, but not as much as in the first two casts, so I will be playing with them later. 

Its getting windier and colder, but the sun came out again today and improved the mood on board.

New Year's Day

Woken up by the morning sun and had to get out of the tent before we cooked.  Very tempting to go for a swim, but there was a long day ahead and we wanted to get going before the sun got any hotter.  After a breakfast of porridge and rasins, taking picutres of a small wooly llama and packing the bags, we set off. I felt like we had only scraped the surface of what Frey had to offer, but the next leg of the trek was calling and I had a bus to catch (in a couple of days, but all the same). 

The walk round the edge of the lake was boggy, not too hard going, but I understand why most people were walking on the other, more bouldery, side the previous evening.  Stopped to read a sign about the giant tadpoles and take pictures as we made our way to the base of the steep route out of the corrie. Absoultely clear skies outlined the jagged peaks very clearly, some climbers had just started up a route as we left. Up we went following the red blobs painted on the rocks to guide us up to the next section.  It was steep, getting toasty and we were still being followed by a very persitstent buzzing thing.  However, we were rewarded by another meltwater lake at the top of this stomp and some shade under a big rock.  Snack time and picture time.  A condor flew close overhead but I was too busy watching it to take a picture.  The next section was covered in snow and the route was not entirely clear, no obviuos red blobs!  We waited to see which way two more walkers were going, which was towards a red blob hardly distinguishable from the orange rock it was painted on.  The walking on snow was a little scary, but I followed Heather's foot placements and kicked in and we got to the rock.  Looking back the lake we had left the colour of the water created a bathymetric plot effect and if you squinted it was shaped like a heart.

Up and over the ridge we went, scrambling here and there, waving goodbye to the pointy rocks. Could now say hello to some new ones, this time big mountains in the distance, including Tronador on the border with Chile. Now it was time for the first steep descent of the day, long and slidy, luckily not too chossy but still a pain to go down.  After a what seemed ages I finally reached the bottom of the loose stuff.  Heather had gone on ahead, I must learn how to go down steep slopes faster! It was still a long way to the valley floor and almost demoralising to look at the next ridge we had to get up and over.  However, the buzzing thing had returned so we had to get down a boudery chute as fast as possible without injury.  This descent got boring after a while, down down down with no end in sight.  It was a relief to get to the flat, but boggy, valley floor. 

Lunch was definitely on the cards, but finding a place to stop was tricky and the buzzing things would descend on us when we stopped.  Eventually we found a log and had our picnic of pitta bread, olives and cream cheese with sprinklings of cashew and peanuts, which was very tasty.  We were overtaken by a couple who were kind enough to tell us that there was still a long way to go! The path meandered in and out of woodland and bog for a while.  The uphill got closer.  It was good to see the valley floor fall away again, but the top of the uphill was still non-existent.  To add to the atmosphere, distant rumblings of thunder were getting closer.  The path flattened out and the little red blobs led us along the top of a spur, time for legs to relax before the final push uphill.  There were some very cool rocks scattered around, wiggly patterns in pink and white, some big forces acting around here!  It had started to pitter patter with rain and the thunder was getting louder, so we had to press on. More red blods guided our way up through another snow patch.  This time it was a bit steeper and more scary with the weather closing in.  Got there eventually and went over the ridge quicky, lightning was very close by.  Another steep descent to finish off our day.  Not Helen friendly, loose rock and a long way down.  Got overtaken by the helpful couple from earlier, which did nothing for my morale.  The end of this slope was very welcome.  The next challenge was to cross a swollen river, there was a marked crossing point, but I wanted to find a place higher up closer the the refugio hoping for a narrower bit. After a few minutes trampling in the mud along the bank of the river, it was decision time and back we went to the marked bit.  I got nice wet boots, but it did wash the mud off. 

Home straight now, where we were met by a girl from the refugio who had seen us coming down the scree slope and come to check to see if we were ok. Reassuring.  We were invited inside for a cup of tea, which was immensely welcome and warming.  The tent went up and midge repellent went on.  The big buzzing things had been replaced by mosquitos and midges, not sure which is worse!  Dinner was again a combination of soup and pasta with added nuts and parmesan, tasted good after such a tiring day.  The sunset kept me entertained taking pictures for a few minutes.  A saddle at the back of the corrie allowed the light to perfectly reflect the ridge line on the lake and turned it a wonderful orangey pink colour.  We sat in the shelter of the refugio and relaxed as everyone else was served dinner by candle light.  Was not keen to go and sleep in the tent, but I was so tired it didn't matter.  Had a small issue when the ground sheet decided it was going to keep the ground dry but let the rain between the tent and it.  Rapid removal was required.  The base of the tent did a good enough job on its own! Fell asleep listening to the rain on the tent, hoping it would be gone by the morning.

New Year's Eve

Very rudely awoken by someone else's alarm! Fair enough really for rustling around the night before.  Quick trip to the bus station to get a ticket to Puerto Montt for the journey South.  Got the bus to Villa Catedral, obviously geared for the snows of winter, when it is a bustling skiing village, not so much for the summer. We decided to take the longer, but gentler route up to refugio Frey.  The other option was to walk up under the ski-lift, not so scenic.  The skies were clear and blue, very blue, and shade was non-existent.  Almost immediately we had a mob of buzzing, biting things following us, not pleasant. Had great views of Lake Gutierrezdown to the left, deep blue in the middle and lighter blues and greens around the edges with the occasional yellow beach.  Could see where we were climbing the day before, and route 40 stretching off to Bariloche. Our route took us through the 'burnt forest', the white and occasionally charred trunks and branches of tall trees appearing out of the low green shrubbery.  As we turned up the valley towards refugio Frey we had a glimpse of the Catedral peak, very impressive and a long way up! Had lunch at an unmanned refugio, part rock part wooded structure, lovely and quiet and also a short break from the buzzing things.  The path began to get steeper and hard going in the sun, any bit of shade was pounced upon!  We were passed by a trio of horses and dogs, plus riders of the horses, taking supplies up to the refugio. This answered the occasional pile of manure in the middle of the path.  One of the guys stopped to chat for a couple of minutes, the lack of teeth and a strong accent didn't help Heather when trying to talk to him! Seemed to think he hadn't seen many British people since the Falklands, or thats what we thought he said.  A bit further on we were overtaken by a man and his dog, with a very nifty carrying set up.  Obviously the dog had to carry his own food up the mountain too!  As we let them pass, a flash of red combined with a rat-a-tat-tat caught our attention, it was a red-headed woodpecker.  We stood and watched these birds hop around the trees for a while, amazed a the noise and speed of the tapping.  The plod up the hill continued and gradually more rocks came into view and we could see coloured blobs perched seemingly precariously on the mountainside. As we got closer these became tents and small ant creatures climbing up the rocks became people.  After a damp river crossing we arrived at the refugio.  The best location you could ask for. On the edge of a lake with high rock walls 3/4 of the way round, topped by pointy rocks and scattered with snow patches, some reaching down to the lake.  Turning around you can look down the green valley we just walked up. IT was a great feeling to be there.  We had a vey warm welcome including a cup of juice, very much needed.  The next challenge was to find where to put the tent.  Frey is very popular amongst the climbing community and more so at New Year, the flat areas were few and far between.  Each pitch was protected by a stone wall, however we did not have enough energy to build our own, so we went a bit futher afield and found a spot.  After a day walking in the heat, it was too good to pass off a swim in the lake.  The sky was clouding over and there was distant rumblings of thunder but the clouds were happily passing us by.  The best swimming pool I have been in I think, complete with giant tadpoles!  Had a cup of tea and sat on a rock to take in the views, it felt very surreal to be in such a beautiful place.  We took our dinner of soup and pasta to took next to the refugio, hoping to be a bit more sociable.  Great atmosphere, people sitting chatting with the strumming of a guitar in the background.  Gradually it got dark and the asado bonfire got going sending sparks up into the starry sky.  There were so many stars! The party began and the asado was served, we could only watch though, it was very expensive!  New Year in England flew past without us noticing, realising at 10pm Argentina time that we had missed it! I think Argentina New Year lasted for 10 minutes or so as there was much confusion as to when it actually was, but the champagne was uncorked, mostly sprayed over people and 2011 began.  We were included in the cake and champagne rounds that followed, a lovely way to celebrate.  Very happy times :)

Climbing and ice cream

I felt very lazy becasue Heather had been up and out to buy lunch for the day before I had woken up.  Had a good breakfast and packed bags before 10, when our lift was supposed to arrive, but this is Argentina and things run slow.  Two Canadians turned up in the meantime, more of Heather's internet climbing contacts.  It was again time to play three in the bed in the back of the car and this time I could see out of a window!  We stopped off to get some facturas, Argentine pastries, for elevenses.  On the drive to the climbing rock we glimpsed the slums, hidden away in a valley behind the main town.  Always in view were the mountains ahead, Cerro Catedral, a ridge of tall spiky rocks.  Exciting to see where we were going to be walking the next day and a little daunting at the same time.  After a short scramble up to the crag called 'the window' (in spanish), named because the top of the longest routes reach a large hole in the rock, we settled down for some climbing.  The local bird life came to check us out breifly, includung a condor and a falcon (very rare) but were too quick for a camera.  I did a couple of routes then decided it was too much like hard work in the midday sun and became photographer.  The scenery was amazing, more lake and mountain pictures, blue green, brown and white all together in a perfect postcard setting.  Could see the tallest point of Cerro Catedral peeking through a dip in the ridge after the clouds had cleared, the view from the top of this must be breathtaking.  Lunchtime introduced us to buzzing waspy things, very perstistent and resiliant, not easily put off and very interested in the food, sitting in the shade helped slightly. Soon, everyone began to tire and talk of ice cream became more frequent and too tempting.  Back to Bariloche in the car again, passed the police who only care if headlights are on so several people lying in the back of a car didn't matter! The next big decision was what flavour ice cream to have.  Having had passionfruit in Puerto Varas, I went for a scoop of passionfruit and kiwi and a scoop of dark chocolate, a very tasty combination.  We parted ways after ice cream.  We had a lot to sort out for the next few days, mostly re-packing bags and finding a place to stay in Punta Arenas then Torres del Paine, oh and actually getting there! Kept dorm awake packing bags, oops. Glad that the big bag of science could stay behind at least!

Bariloche, Argentina

Into the second new country in almost the same number of days by bus.  Luckily the rules for taking food over from Chile into Argentina aren't as strict as the other way so our very tasty avocado, tomato and cheese sandwiches stayed with us.  The avocados are amazing (if I haven't already mentioned this)! Funky rock formations and great views of Tronador (the volcano on the border) entertained us on the journey.  However, for the scenery coming into Bariloche itself I was asleep, occasionally waking up to see mountains in the distance as the road wound round the edge of a lake, but obviously this was not fantastic enough to keep my eyes open! I wish I had been awake!  Still armed with the bag of science, we 'hopped' on a bus to the centre of town.  Luckily the bus stop was only metres away from the hostel.  Stayed at Hostel 41 below.  After the cumpulsory faff and e-mail checking, we went to meet a couple Heather had neen in touch with.  Australians who had come to Bariloche for a little while and ended up staying for two years, interspersed with trips to El Chalten (more mountians including Fitzroy) and Bolivia.  We were invited to an asado, an Argentine barbeque which involves lots of steak and not much else, that evening and even better a lift out there.  There was also talk of going climbing on actuall rock outside the next day, which made Heather very happy!  After a trip to very expensive vegetable shop (so Heather had something to eat) and the supermarket for drinks we were on our way.  The ex-seven seater now had two seats at the front and half a bed in the back, perfect for a travelling couple but not for any more!  It was a squash, but seven fitted in.  I had a floor seat, which prevented me from seeing any scenery, however I was promised I would see it again tomorrow en route to climbing.  Asados do not normally get going for a while, it takes time to get the fire going just right and then the meat has to be prepared properly.  The fire was already going at 9 or so when we arrived, which is early, I was told.  Met the many cats that the neighbours had, including a very cute, ginger kitten, who was pracitcing pouncing on anything that moved or even stayed still, nothing was safe!  A rather large labrador was also trying to get some attention, apparently the kitten had rather stolen the spotlight! We all sat and chatted for a while, mostly in Spanish, which made me feel rather isolated but it was only polite as the family was Argentinian.  Food started to appear off the grill, very tasty steak, yum yum.  There was still meat appearing as we left at midnight, I was very full and was struggling to eat any more even though each piece was tastier than the last.

Science starts soon!

Just a quick one to say that the first science station is 10 minutes away! It is a practice CTD cast, just to make sure people know what they are doing.  Then tomorrow things kick off properly. 

Puerto Varas

After an extortionate taxi ride, where the diver got lost and in actual fact I was only going 200m, I arrived at the hostel Heather had found in Puerto Varas.  After travelling from snowy England, I was wrapped up in thermals and many layers, it was exciting to feel external warmth again!  Very happy to see Heather after planning and planning again.  I think the other people in the hostel thought we were a bit strange! After a much needed shower and some faff we set off on an exploration of Puerto Varas.  The ice cream shop was about 15 m from the hostel door, which was very dangerous as it was perfect weather for indulging.  However, we decided to abstain for the time being.  The challenge was what to do the next day, canyoning seemed to be a popular choice and was advertised in the hostel and about town.  This involves jumping into waterfall plunge pools and sliding downstream very fast, something my risk assessment for uni probably doesn't cover, so keep it quiet, although I did survive, so no paperwork this time!  We could see lots of people (children) swimming/paddling in the beautiful and calm Lago Llanquihue. Not so far away Volcannoes Osorno and Calbuco preside over the surrounding landscape.  Osorno, a perfectly conical shape with a snow cap reaching one third of the way down its flanks, the kind of snowy mountain I drew as a child and didn't think they actually existed.  Lots of pictures taken of the picturesque setting as the clouds disappeared from the mountain top.  As it was so warm and toasty, we decided to go swimming, hurray! We thought that as there were so many people in the lake, it couldn't possibly be cold....how wrong we were, even vigorous swimming didn't help.  That idea was short lived so we sat and dried ourselves in the sun.  I was happy to sit there until the sun went down, however this would have been several hours and I would have turned into a lobster.  Things to do and food to find!  Somewhere in the next few hours we ate ice cream (passion fruit flavour is amazing), decided we were going canyoning the next day and got a student discount, did some food shopping and took more photos!  Lots of faff probably crept in there too.  Puerto Varas is also known as the city of roses, so lovely smells followed us around, as did the many wandering dogs (not so nicely fragrant).  As dusk approached, the snow cap of the volcano turned a delicate pinky orange, which I tried to capture with my camera, but I will have to rely on my memory for the best picture cameras never do these things justice.  Dinner was a massive pan of soup, constructed with pink potatoes, a squash type vegetable, carrots and other veg, topped off with some herbs.  Very tasty, and enough to eat the next day too.

Canyoning was in the afternoon, so we decided to follow in reverse order the tourist trail around Puerto Varas.  Saw the cathedral up close, red and white outside and a lovely blue on the ceiling inside.  The houses are made of wooden flap type things and are painted in many different colours, very pretty.  In front of the cathedral was a garden full of Christmas trees and Santas decorated by different businesses in the town.  I had forgotten it was Christmas only a couple of days ago, warm sun and no snow gives it a whole different feel!We then hurried back to the hostel for lunch and got to the canyoning office for 1pm.  However, South America runs on a slower day, so we didn't go anywhere for a while, a chance to nibble on the tasty avocado and tomato sandwiches Heather had put together.  Nine of us, plus two instructors, climbed into a rickety old minibus and we set off.  The road soon turned into a gravel track and the minibus felt at times as though it was going to shake itself to pieces!  We reached the national park and climbed out where we were presented with our gear.  Lovely wetsuits with inbuilt hood, very hot in the sun, but probably very useful in the river.  Here a picture would help, I am working on the uploading issues.  After a sweaty stomp up a hill and past a tiny birds nest, complete with tiny baby birds, we reached the starting point.  The river was an amazing blue colour, which indicated temperature too! However, the snuggly warm wetsuits kept out most of the chill.  So began the slide down the canyon, into plunge pools forwards and backwards, jumping in and out, swimming under waterfalls, generally having a fun time!  The instructors kept themselves amused by throwing themselves off the tallest rocks and doing back flips, very impressive!  The final jump was preceded by an abseil next to a huge waterfall, all very beautiful.  The plunge pool was in the shade and so wasn't so inviting to jump into, so I took a long time to leap.  It was also very high! I wont have a go at guessing because I'll over exaggerate.  Stopped for a beer on the way back to Puerto Varas, very refreshing, but went straight to my head! Back to the hostel to sort out things for the next days travel to Bariloche, Argentina.  Decided getting some form of four wheel transport was best to get to the bus station, as my bag of science was not uphill friendly!  Another late dinner as the light faded on the volcano and sleep!

The story so far....

I'm on the R/V Melville in Punta Arenas, preparing for 5 weeks at sea, with a bunch of American scientists.  Concern is mounting because some of their crates have yet to arrive and we need to leave the dock in less than two hours.  I'm here as my first data collection cruise for my PhD, but more about that later.

The title of the blog really should be "One ship, two continents and some science".  Here's why....

Earlier in the year I had agreed to assist with an air-sea interactions cruise across Drake Passage, on the James Clark Ross, and make oxygen measurements.  This had nothing to do with my PhD, but it sounded like a great opportunity so I weaseled my way on. I was meant to be heading to Antarctica at the beginning of December, but the Fates intervened and it was sadly canceled for all but the principal scientist.  This was due to a faulty propellor on the Dash 7 plane, belonging to the British Antarctic Survey, not something you want when flying over Antarctic waters!  All the forward planning went up in smoke. I had organised a week on the Falkland Islands, visiting Sea Lion Island and Saunders Island to see seals and penguins, not amused.   Thats the last time I plan ahead!  Hopefully I will visit Antarctica in a couple of years time.

So, plan B-Z evolved.  I was still determined to have a holiday before my cruise from Punta Arenas, Chile to Cape Town, South Africa.  I was hoping that the Fates would be kind and this one stayed afloat.  A good friend, Heather, was (still is) travelling through South America at the same time so we started to concoct a plan for the 10 days or so I had allocated for pre-cruise adventure.  I had hoped to meet her for Christmas, but sadly due to disorganisation, not on my behalf for once, I could not leave the UK until 26th December.

After an excellent Christmas dinner and frantic packing, I was  ready to embark on the 22 hour journey to Puerto Montt.  Flight across the Atlantic was uneventful for a first crossing of the equator, I wanted a party popper of something equivalent to celebrate the right of passage, instead I slept through it!  I was very excited to see some mountains and the flight from Santiago to Puerto Montt did not disappoint, snow capped peaks dotted the horizon. Then on to Puerto Varas by bus, fairly easy connection for a bumbling English woman with not much Spanish, I think the bleary eyed and confused look helped, particularly for heavy bag transport! Puerto Varas is a town an hour and a half South of Santiago, next to a couple of very impressively pointy volcanoes and a very inviting lake. 

As I'm writing this many days after events (and I'm supposed to be setting up my table in the lab) the holiday bit will come shortly.