Tuesday 31st July

We left 4 more overlanders behind today - they are flying to Buenos Aires. The remaining 9 of us drove further south back into Chile to stay a night in Puerto Natales, a small fishing town situated on one of the many lakes. The fish is good here but difficult to buy as it is practically all exported! Puerto Natales is also the starting point for visitors to the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine which is 112 Km north.

Wednesday 1st August

We spent time stocking up on supplies this morning as there are no shops in the National Park where we are spending the next 3 nights. We drove on dirt roads into the park through the mountains and lakes and got our first view of the Torres del Paine, three 3,000 metre high granite spires, which give the park its name. We camped beside Lake Pehoe at a proper campsite, but we were the only campers! Few people visit this area in winter. This afternoon we climbed to a viewpoint near the campsite - warm up for tomorrow's hike! We had a great campfire tonight, enjoyed several bottles of wine and sang along with Robert on the guitar.

Thursday 2nd August

We set off on our hike to the Mirador Las Torres at 9 a.m.. We climbed about 800 metres to the Mirador which is at 1,000 metres. The ascent took just under four hours, through varied terraine - mud, shale, rocks, snow, streams, frozen waterfalls, rickety bridges - with extremely high, gusty winds at times. The last hour of the climb was scrambling up over boulders which were covered in snow and ice. The view at the top was spectacular and so peaceful. The descent was easier but still took about 3.5 hours. It was a tough hike but we were pleased to reach the Mirador and see the Torres in sunshine as they are often hidden by cloud! We only saw 2 other walkers that day, the only people we saw during our entire stay in the National Park.

Friday 3rd August

Started to rain after breakfast today - something we've seen little of. Later the weather improved and we drove to Lago Grey to see the Grey Glaciar. We walked down to the beach and saw a dozen or more blue icebergs floating in the lake like ice sculptures. It was a fantastic sight with the Grey Glaciar in the far distance at the end of the lake. There were also lots of smaller chunks of ice floating towards the beach and washing up there. When we returned to the campsite the clouds had lifted a little so David and I climbed up to Condor Point which overlooks Lake Pehoe looking towards the Torres del Paine, and watched the condors soaring over the mountains. This is a very beautiful part of South America.

That evening we used the campsite restaurant to feast on the whole lamb that Brad cooked over the fire and after a few bottles of wine we were practising our salsa with the aid of the staff on the campsite.