Sometimes four days can snap by in minutes - sometimes it feels like months. In this case it's arguable. There was a lot of busy busy, then a fair bit of hurry up and wait. With a solid dose of utter misery and a doctor's visit thrown in for good measure. Big four days. Huge.

We, and our veritable shed load of luggage, taxied over to the Hilton Buenos Aires around 11.30 am on 12 Jan, We did the checkin paperwork, left all four pieces of big luggage with the porters and went to visit the room set up for Hurtigruten arrivals. Our day was made almost instantly when we found out we didn't need to do a Covid test - sanity is finally prevailing! And it saved €130/A$200 between us. On a trip like this - it all counts. We got the briefing and found out the news about the no longer required Covid test was just to soften us up for the 3.20 am departure time on 13 Jan. Other good news was the 'strict' limit of one 23kg bag and one 8kg cabin bag hadn't mentioned that a 'handbag/underseat bag' was also allowed for - yippee! With the ipad/kindles/powerbank etc - that takes about 3 kg out of our cabin bags and gives them and us room to breathe. We gathered up our bag tags, finished a coffee and croissant for lunch then went to pick up our room key.

Once settled in we did our final checks and balances and delivered 2 massive bags into Hilton's safekeeping to await our return on 29 Jan. It was a quiet afternoon and evening after that was accomplished and, with a view to getting up at 2.30 am for a cup of tea and psyching ourselves into gear for the day ahead, we put our remaining two bags outside the door for collection and tried to go to bed about 9 pm. I was asleep instantly but woke up at 12.30 am and James took awhile to go to sleep and was awake at 2 am. Shiftworkers we definitely are not. Having woke up 2 hours earlier than need be and too excited to sleep, I read. About 3 am (still not happy about seeing the 'am' in print), we went down to the foyer to find it a hive of activity. More coffee, more croissants and met a couple of Australians also from Sydney joining the Antarctic Circle Expedition with us. All of us were on the same charter flight heading to Ushuaia and there were four buses queued up outside ready to whisk us to the airport. Whisk being a strong word - 5 people somehow mislaid themselves from Bus 2 and had to be searched for and found before we could leave. Would have thought an announcement of go and get on your bus and the lobby simultaneously emptying out would have been the hint they needed to be somewhere, but who knows. We eventually headed off only 20 minutes late. Buenos Aires traffic at 3.50 am is really very pleasant.

We were given boarding passes on the bus which was the height of efficiency, so just had to get through security and then it was time to sit at the gate and hurry up and wait for our flight down to the tip of the South American continent. Was a perfectly nice flight in the end, some nibbles for mid morning and we were both nodding off as the plane crossed the Andes. The scenery coming in to Ushuaia airport was gorgeous - snow tipped peaks and blue sky as far as the eye could see. We were about row 12 but with a full plane, nothing happens fast and our luggage tootled out in its own sweet time. Once more we handed it over to the crew, confident it would be waiting in our cabin when we got there. We on the other hand had an excursion to enjoy and we jumped in the coach for our drive through Tierra del Fuego National Park (TDF NP). Fun fact - Tierra del Fuego translates to Fire Land as a result of Magellan seeing the smoke rising from the natives' fires when he was first down this way. And from the 'learn something every day' department, this part of Argentina is actually an island, with no connection to the mainland at all. H'uh. We immediately made plans to look at the map more closely.

The drive to the park was over in a flash and the brisk air from the time we arrived started to warm up. We were both dressed for the forecast and average day time high of 15 odd degrees. It got to 24 in the end - very much a heatwave in these parts. The scenery was stupendous and they even have one of our favourite wild flowers dotted around the countryside - lupins - providing splashes of colour amongst the road dust.

Our first stop was a crystalline bay and the Post Office at the End of the World. We poked our heads inside for a look but it was really just a closer view of the queue that stretched out the door, waiting to post things home with a great post mark. We had been up 12 hours by lunch time and it was a long day already so when we pulled into the next stop with outstanding views over the water to Mount Condor, we were well and truly ready for a stretch and lunch. Nothing flash - a lunchbox with a filled roll, a muffin and some fruit and water, but enjoyable after the early start.

After lunch we reached the end of National Route 3 which runs from Buenos Aires all the way down to Tierra Del Fuego - more impressively it is part of the Pan American Highway - which runs from the top of Alaska to the bottom of South America - almost 18,000 kms and very popular with cyclists and motor cyclists apparently. We reached Lapataia Bay and took ourselves off on a short hike to a lookout, quite warm by this point, given we were dressed in black and resembling solar panels in the unseasonable hot weather. Great view and too many photos taken of course. We were on and off the coach like tired little jack in the boxes and the next stop was a drive up Avenue San Martin - the main drag of Ushuaia with it's utilitarian but brightly coloured buildings - some going back to the days of prisoner labour. In fact, as a penal colony, most of the early buildings were built by the prisoners and the entire town is a tribute to the toughness and utility of corrugated iron. No chance for a look in the shops at this point though they looked tempting. Next stop (off and on the coach again) was the big sign of USHUAIA in case anyone had taken a wrong turn and arrived here accidentally. From here we could see the ship!

It was past 3 pm when we drove the last, very short leg of the trip onto the dock and proceeded up the gangway to our new home away from home, Hurtigruten's MS Roald Amundsen. Just beautiful. The Gods had smiled upon us and upgraded us from the base cabin category to the next cabin up - but allocated us our larger cabin at the very stern of the ship - guaranteed to have much more movement than our original cabin in the middle. Fortunately they found us another upgraded cabin in the midships on deck 4 (the first passenger level) - super! We settled in and then made tracks to find our big bags which had ended up being delivered to the initial upgrade cabin. We carted them to their new home and started to unpack. There is an infinitismal chance we may have brought too much gear with us - with it all unpacked in one place. It appears we could outfit another couple, but we'll see how it goes. Given we'd been up since 12.30 am, the day was still go-go-go and our next job was picking up our snazzy red and fluro yellow expedition hooded jackets. We added our boatcrew patches, read the info sheet, got on the wifi and before we knew it it was time to change and have our first (of many) dinners on board - thankfully a buffet in the main dining room. Our day was huge and after dinner we couldn't resist whipping on our jackets and heading up to deck 7 at the bow to watch our departure along the Beagle Channel and into the great unknown. We figure it was about 10 pm and a 22 hour day when we finally hit the sack. All was well.

As sure as night follows day, the Beagle Channel is followed by the Drake Passage and then things were not well at all. Despite taking all my very efficient sea sickness medication (which has seen me over the Irish Sea for 22 hour stretches in massive seas), I was suddenly wide awake at 4 am with the urgent message from my brain, stomach and everything in between… GET UP AND RUN! Like your life and the state of the bed and carpet depend on it. Better out than in eh. Then there was number 2, followed at 20 minute intervals by numbers 3, 4 and 5. Entrails would have been next. Then came number 6 and a phone call to reception who initially explained sick bags were available. James made it clear it was long past sick bag time and 'yes it's an emergency' doctor time, despite it being out of hours. Within 10 minutes the lovely ship's doctor and nurse were on the doorstep and preparing a god-awfully large syringe. Which worked a treat, stopped the agony and put me to sleep until about 10 am. Even had a follow up visit later that morning to ensure I'd been taking the rehydration salts and made it back to humanity. Ended up with a massive lump from the injection for days - but who cares, it worked. We had no idea what the bill would be - it was irrelevant and we'd find out at the end of the trip.

So that was our first night onboard. Happy Days… Saturday dawned and it was a packet of crackers for me and more rehydration salts at about 10 am. We had 'Rubber Boots' on the daily programme at about 11 am and I was still very lurchy-rolly at that point, but managed to go down to the Tender Pit on Deck 3 to choose a pair. My judgment was a touch impaired and I ended up back there on Sunday for a pair one size larger but they ended up being an incredible pair of footwear. Comfy, cosy, warm and waterproof - even when jumping out of the Zodiac and into the water and walking ashore. Turned out during the course of the expedition that most landings are in fact 'water' landings. Miracle boots - was a shame to have to give them back. After the boot excursion it was back to our cabin for some focussed sitting down with my feet up and we watched a movie. James brought burgers back to the cabin for lunch and I had a blueberry milkshake and a small, plain baked potato for dinner - but made it to the restaurant. It was very much 'rumours of my demise have been overrated'. It's not that the Drake Passage had suddenly calmed down - the miracles of modern medicine meant I was suddenly impervious. The seas weren't just big - 4-5 metre swell. The seas weren't just rough - heading in all directions simultaneously. They were big and rough. This notorious part of the world has multiple identity issues and seemingly many personalities all roiling around together like an enormous washing machine on the verge of a planet-ending service call

Sunday 15 Jan (AKA Drake Passage Day 2) was a very full 'sea day'. We think the crew are quite happy to be able to focus peoples attention for these 2 days. Definitely a chance to get a lot of admin out of the way but also lectures. We freely admit that we had not planned on partaking of many of the onboard lectures… but we did. Especially since they were streamed to the cabin TVs and also recorded for later viewing at one's convenience. Birds, seals, whales, expeditions to the South Pole, Ice, Arctic vs Antarctic ecology. More birds. Smart Phone Photography Tips & Tricks from the professional photographer on board… Endless and endlessly interesting. We visited the ship's shop and bought some MS Roald Amundsen badge for our bags - huge bargain. Sunday also saw us go to the one and only kayak briefing. There were three possible extras to do on the cruise - snowshoeing, overnight camping in Antarctica or kayaking. And the kayak briefing was compulsory if you wanted the chance to sign your life away in a waiver and put your name into the Kayak Chook Raffle (equivalent). We were surprised to see close to 100% of the passengers in there. Only 320 odd onboard, vs the possible 500 odd - but still. I had been concerned I wouldn't be fit enough, slim enough or strong enough. When looking at the folks who apparently thought they definitely were all three, my concerns evaporated. We put our names down and 'lo and behold at dinner time on Sunday we saw our cabin number had been drawn in the very first group 'A' and that groups A, B and C would be kayaking Day 1 in Antarctica. In the end we only reached group K and we were on the longest possible expedition - but wind, weather and water conditions play a huge part in whether they launch kayaks - so super lucky to get the chance. There were 8 people per group so 84 people in total were able to kayak during the expedition. The day still refused to end. After the evening briefing we went down to the Tender Pit to get our kayaking gear - more than you might imagine for 2-3 hours on the water. We needed a thermal/fleece onesie to go on over our own merino first layer and socks, then a full drysuit, then neoprene booties over the drysuit feet. We had a try-on session in the cabin afterwards. Finally we turned our attention to Priority 1 - putting our gear in one pile each for the morning landing and making sure it was ready to go. Merino tops and bottoms, thin socks, thick socks, sheepskin inners for rubber boots, ski pants, ski jacket, handwarmers in pockets ready to go, expedition jacket, balaclava, ski mask, ID card into pocket on sleeve, life jacket. Tick, tick Tick. One very big pile each - suddenly didn't look like we brought too much with us afterall.

(Pictured is Mount Condor in Tierra del Fuego National Park - TDF NP - on Friday 13 March 2023)