We finished the packing yesterday so there was a fair whack of chilling out by the time Friday dawned. We watched movies, we limited movement for my sake and ate a lot of takeaway in the cabin - thanks be for Fredheim's fried rice and chicken satay. Saturday proved to be much more agreeable as the captain had gently diverted us further north as we crossed the Drake, keeping us ahead of the weather front moving through. We definitely missed the worst of it due to leaving after lunch on Thursday rather than delaying our departure. We spent Saturday afternoon travelling up the Beagle Channel. Dolphins were keeping the ship company and we even saw the occasional penguin out swimming. It was a stunning day and there were many people in shorts sunning themselves on the pool deck (though honestly… it wasn't that hot!) It was however too sunny to be out roasting so we lurked in the shade and tried the chef's empanadas for the first time. A bit of a freshen up in the cabin (six decks down, and six decks up again) and we were back on deck 10 for the captain's farewell drinks party.

It was a fabulous review of the trip and we saw the inaugural screening of the voyage video which will make its way to us in the next 6-10 weeks - it will be quite the memory. The expedition crew also got to say what their best moments of the voyage were. I was chuffed that the skipper of the zodiac from the day I spotted the crabeater seals chose my picture to put up on screen as her 'best moment'. My 30 seconds of fame! The minute the video concluded we shot down the stairs to Fredheim for our final dinner onboard. By 7.30 pm we were waiting impatiently for the gangway to be lowered.

We set foot once more on the continent of South America and we were lucky enough to have the chance to spend a couple of hours in the shops of Ushuaia. It seems covid didn't hurt enough as shops were shutting on schedule at 8/8.30/9.00 pm. Only one was staying open till 10 pm despite our ship having docked and other ships disgorging walking wallets desperate for some Argentinian souvenirs. With an obsessive focus and a definite shopping list, basically Antarctica badges for our bags, we shot up and down the main street of Ushuaia and got some bargains. With our shopping accomplished, just in time, we walked home via the waterfront and enjoyed the sunset - just beautiful and a rarity - not a lot of sunsets right down south at this time of year.

Once back in our cabin everything was ready to go, clothes for the morning laid out, our luggage was already removed and stacked near the ship's entrance to go to the airport in the morning. It was well and truly time for sleepy bloody bye byes - we had walked 8000 steps for the first time in a long while.