Woke up this morning to the boat rolling a bit and realised we must have emerged into the Pacific from the Magellan Strait. Sure enough, outside there was a nice swell and quite a cold wind. Well, let's be honest: a very cold wind LOL. We were due to enter the fjord leading to the Amalia glacier at around 10am and knew it would calm down after that.

The Chilean fjords are just amazing. Great soaring cliffs, some are bare rock, some green and thickly wooded. Snow capped peaks behind. Lots of little islets, some scarcely a rock, some much bigger. All completely uninhabited. This area is part of the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. He was the founding father of Chile, born to an Irish father and Spanish mother hence the slightly peculiar name!! We cruised steadily up the fjord with it narrowing as the day wore on. The ship was going slower than usual because of the confined channel and also because there is always the danger of icebergs around here as great chunks break off (or calf) the glacier and float away.

We tried to stay out on deck as much as possible and just enjoy the glorious scenery. We walked round and round the promenade deck quite a few times and found the odd place out of the wind to sit down. Decided not to go to art class today because the timings coincided with our passage through the most picturesque part of the fjord. At one point I was walking across one of the rear decks when my nose twitched and my feet took me on the trail of a gloriously spicy aroma mixed with something else enticing. Amazingly, it lead me to the terrace bar where two lovely Goan chaps were mixing up an urn of hot mulled wine. Oh yes!!!! Just the ticket. I took Bob one too. He looked a bit surprised to see me coming with what appeared to be two glasses of red wine so early in the day (it was about 2!!!!) although I can't think why really….. But then his nose twitched…… I have to say they were soooo right in that cold wind.

At around 4pm the captain announced that the glacier was just around the next bend. The Amalia Glacier is an ocean glacier meaning it falls into the sea. It's around 23km wide and 1500m high. Glaciers have blue ice because of the compression of air in them apparently. Anyway, the ship which was at dead ahead slow by now crept around the bend in the fjord and there it was right in front of us, an immense cliff of blue ice stretching back up to the snowy mountain slopes behind. Just an incredible sight. And definitely blue. There were some small icebergs floating in front of it which must have broken off but they were small. The ship came pretty close but obviously not as close as you could get in a yacht or a RIB. Still impressive handling. They turned it in different directions so that everyone got a very good viewing time no matter where they were. We were right up on top by then as the wind had miraculously died away and the sun came out. Honestly, someone up there is definitely on our side at the moment. The P&O Tourist Information woman said that she had very rarely seen it under such ideal sunny conditions as we had today. Often it is shrouded in mist and grey.

Currently on our way out of this fjord and into another one so that tomorrow morning we will visit the Piu XI Glacier just a little further north from here. So far very impressed with Chile. An incredibly beautiful and diverse country that knocks spots off anything we've seen in Europe.