When we woke up the morning, the rain had finally stopped and the sky had cleared so we could see the mountains all around Puerto Natales. Breakfast was pretty good in the Singing Lamb, they served freshly made eggs with all you can eat homemade bread.

We had no great plans while we were here, the town is really just a gateway to the Torres del Paine National Park and we had to wait an extra day before we could start the 5 day walk. It did give us time to buy bus tickets to El Calafate in Argentina for next week.

With the main chore of the day out the way, we took a walk around the waters edge which gave us a great view of mountains but it was very windy. We headed back into the town centre to try and escape the wind and came across the restaurant, Afrigonia, which was rated highly in Lonely Planet so we thought we would try it for lunch. We were so glad we did too, it was a sensational meal. It started with a shared platter of King Crab 3 ways, a gratin, a mousse and finally inside smoked salmon roll. Maria decided on locally inspired lamb shanks while David went with a South African inspired stuffed chicken breast smothered in a curried lentil sauce. Absolutely divine!!

We wandered through town to help walk off lunch and went past the fire station, which ironically had burnt down. We would have laughed but seeing a flag flying at half mast outside suggested it was more tragic than comical.

One of the stores in main plaza had a giant wooden sculpture of a Milodon, it was a prehistoric bear-like animal that once roamed the Patagonian area.

With the recent heavy rain and a less than favorable forecast for the week ahead, we decided to buy some ponchos for the trek. We already have waterproof jackets and trousers, but the poncho is more about keeping the backpack dry if we have to walk all day in the pouring rain.

On the way back to the hostel we stopped in at Fantastico Sur to pick up our vouchers for the W Trek from Patricia. Everything was in order and we are all set for our trip into the park on Monday.

We'd been thinking about the bus journey we would need to take from El Calafate to Ushuaia, about 16 to 18 hours on the bus, and ended up buying a flight instead. We figured time is running out and the price difference was not that huge.