We flew south to Ushuaia, the southernmost city/town in the world, on Sunday 21st Sept. After 3 weeks of more or less holidaying in the cities we were ready for a change of scenery. A change of scenery it certainly was. The approach to Ushuaia over snow capped mountains was pretty spectacular and the tiny airport was located right next to the sea which meant we were about 10 yards off the surface before we saw the runway when landing. After a very pleasant 4 hr flight (as opposed to a 50hr bus from BA), we were greeted by clear skies and the great news from home of Tyrone´s victory in Croke Park. We spent the afternoon chilling out as nothing is ever open in South America on a Sunday and that night raised a toast to our northern comrades in Red and White in the Galway Irish Bar. You cant go anywhere without findng one, or in the case of Ushuaia, 2 Irish bars. Of course the local barman looked at me as if I asked him where the beach was when I asked if they had showed the Irish football this morning. Bemused he said no, only Argentinian football.
Ushuaia was a pleasant enough spot, actually nicer than we expected given that people were never overly enthusiastic when it was mentioned, it was always....ya its grand. The setting was gorgeous with the snowcapped mountains towering over the town from all sides. We took a trip to Tierra Del Fuego National Park where Route 3, the southernmost road in the world ends. The Park itself was a decent enough way to spend a few hours without being anything too spectacular. We were lucky in the sense that all the mountains and scenery were a novelty at the time so we were easily impressed. Same goes for the boat tour we took around the Beagle Channel where we got to see enough birds to last a lifetime on numerous little bird islands and also a load of sea lions which were pretty cool as the boat pulled right up alongside them.
The following day we decided to go skiing in Cerro Castor, Louise´s first time ever. On reflection the day would be best described as a mixed bag. The first half was not so good, something akin to my first attempts in Bulgaria as we decided to head down the first slope we saw without knowing what was in store and no lessons for Louise. Between that, the fact that both our boots were far too tight (the lack of spanish as usual) and the surprisingly warm weather which meant we were passing out with the heat with all our layers....Not good, it was far too difficult even tho it was a green slope. In my defence the start was very gentle but it did have a steep enough drop around the corner from where we started. Cue the inevitable first morning skiing "this is awful, never doing it again" (a bit the like the ole Sunday morning "never again" hungover talk). However, after a long lunch, we regrouped, found the proper beginners slope and Louise got very good for someone with no lessons and only a cowboy skiier to listen to. At the end of the day we did the first slope again three or four times no bother so it all ended well, phew!
The rest of our time in Ushuaia was spent getting ourselves organised for the long road north to Peru. Our hostel was more like a B n B it was so dead so we looked forward to heading to El Calafate.
Ushuaia was a pleasant enough spot, actually nicer than we expected given that people were never overly enthusiastic when it was mentioned, it was always....ya its grand. The setting was gorgeous with the snowcapped mountains towering over the town from all sides. We took a trip to Tierra Del Fuego National Park where Route 3, the southernmost road in the world ends. The Park itself was a decent enough way to spend a few hours without being anything too spectacular. We were lucky in the sense that all the mountains and scenery were a novelty at the time so we were easily impressed. Same goes for the boat tour we took around the Beagle Channel where we got to see enough birds to last a lifetime on numerous little bird islands and also a load of sea lions which were pretty cool as the boat pulled right up alongside them.
The following day we decided to go skiing in Cerro Castor, Louise´s first time ever. On reflection the day would be best described as a mixed bag. The first half was not so good, something akin to my first attempts in Bulgaria as we decided to head down the first slope we saw without knowing what was in store and no lessons for Louise. Between that, the fact that both our boots were far too tight (the lack of spanish as usual) and the surprisingly warm weather which meant we were passing out with the heat with all our layers....Not good, it was far too difficult even tho it was a green slope. In my defence the start was very gentle but it did have a steep enough drop around the corner from where we started. Cue the inevitable first morning skiing "this is awful, never doing it again" (a bit the like the ole Sunday morning "never again" hungover talk). However, after a long lunch, we regrouped, found the proper beginners slope and Louise got very good for someone with no lessons and only a cowboy skiier to listen to. At the end of the day we did the first slope again three or four times no bother so it all ended well, phew!The rest of our time in Ushuaia was spent getting ourselves organised for the long road north to Peru. Our hostel was more like a B n B it was so dead so we looked forward to heading to El Calafate.
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