Our Photos will be loaded once better / faster internet connection is available ... stay tuned. PS this photo is not ours ... ours are better

Day 5 - Flight to El Calafate and bus to El Chalten

We got up at 4:30am, packed our last things and headed to the airport. On the way we saw the final attraction of BA that we thought we had missed. An enormous moving metal sculpture of a flower that closes at night and opens during the day. We saw it, semi open with a light coming from the stamen in the centre. It was pretty cool. We high fived on the completion of BA top tourist sights.

We walked in to the airport and looked at the board, Aerolineas Argentina Flight ARS2870 Buenos Aires to El Calfate - CANCELLED. GREAT START! We were put on the next flight which left at 8am. It got to 9am and we were still waiting to board with the flight changing status between 'delayed' and 'ask agent'. The airport allowed Mia to try some much needed moisturiser and perfumes and catch up on some Spanish phrases and for Brendan to finish his book and ...

Finally we got on the flight made our way to El Calafate. We stepped off the plane to cold, crisp air and got a local transfer 3 hrs to El Chalten. Arrived late evening into the Hostel, met some great people who we have already teamed up with and planned a hike for the next day ... Andes Beware

Day 6 - El Chalten (Day Trek to Lago de los Tres)

WWWW- Windy, Wild, Wet and Wonderful

We woke up several times during the night to the hostel room windows pulsating due to the outside wind. It hadn't eased up when we rose in the morning to get ready for the hike.

You know you are in for a tough day of hiking when you are walking back from the bakery at 7am, carrying your lunch, and you are leaning at 45 degrees into the wind to stand up ... no lie.

This place is insane.

We completed a hike today for over 8hrs with 2 other Aussies and a Pom, 3 woodpeckers, some interesting walking bird, very little human contact ... and 4 extreme seasons in a day. The hike started with us being dropped by a bus in some place in Patagonia, greeted by sideways rain and wind that would burn through the sail of a ship. We trekked uphill, downhill and crosshill in water, snow, woods, marshland, rocks, grass and mud ... but one thing that didn't change was the spectacular colours of the autumn scenery, oh and the gusty wind (and not from Mia).

We were also fortunate enough to never be too far away from Rainbows ... yes plural ... some photos even show the rare double rainbow experience which was something to behold ... who would have known you could find so many pots of gold, or leprechauns, in a single day.

It was a brilliant introduction to the true Patagonia, none of this clear blue sky crap you see in tourist brochures or on postcards. We strolled past the "Man V Wild" Presenter doing his next show of how to survive a day in WWWW Patagonia.

There isn't too much more to say about this other than we are pumped to do it again over the next few days and perhaps include trekking on glaciers with crampons and doing some introductory glacier climbing ... weather permitting.

Off to finish the San Telmo 2008 Malbec and our home made Chilli.