We met the rest of the group at breakfast: two Aussie guys called Craig and Troy (shame the Ashes were on while we were with them... and even more of a shame that England lost) - small group of four. At 7am we got a minibus to ourselves to the airport, but when we checked in noone could get seats next to one another. We pretty much got straight on the plane, and the man next to me agreed to swap seats with Alex, who had the window seat behind. The views from the plane were stupendous - snow-capped volcanoes aplenty! They gave us a really good breakfast before we landed at Puerto Montt, where the nice man was replaced by another man who would not swap for the seat behind and therefore made the hostess wake Alex up and get her to move! He then fell asleep for the rest of the journey, and even more ridiculously, the guy next to Alex was his mate! Well it didn't matter too much, and happily they fed us again. Four hours after taking off we arrived in Punta Arenas.

We had to wait at the airport for an hour and a half for the public bus to Puerto Natales, and so we bonded with our new buddies over a beer. The bus arrived around 3pm and we had a pleasant 3 hour journey where we saw rheas and guanacos, and mountains on one side and the Straits of Magellan on the other. At Puerto Natales we took a taxi to our hotel, which was really nice, and then went for a walk around the town. The town is also really nice - kind of like a posh tourist town and therefore somewhat tasteful.

At 7:30pm our local guide for the Torres del Paine - Nico - came and gave us a run down of the five days we were going to spend camping and hiking in the national park. Then us and the Aussies went across the road for a rather indulgent dinner of roast lamb and red wine. In the night Alex tells me I slept talked for the first time in 5 months, and claims that I actually said the words "Mary and Joseph" out loud. I cannot think what I was dreaming about!

Day 141 - Taxi to the bus station at 7:15am, but once we got on the bus we found only 3 seats left for 6 of us (including guides). Instead Nati organised a private minibus for us, and when it arrived some other pushy tourists tried to get on and Nati actually held the one girl back by her arm until our group had all got on!

It took 2 hours to reach the entrance to the national park and on the way we saw more guanacos, some flamingoes and some real Chilean cowboys herding cows across the road and chasing horses around a field. I made a bet with Craig that ostriches are black and emus grey... something that wouldn't be settled until we got wifi in 5 days. Still, I was confident.

At the park entrance we had to watch a 3 minute video on the rules of the park - this was introduced after an Israeli managed to burn most of the park down by setting fire to some toilet paper two seasons ago. Quite what him being Israeli has to do with it I don't know, but the whole nation has not been forgiven for his error! It seemed to be a running 'joke' that if anything negative happens in the park it was probably down to some Israelis! We finished our journey back on the larger coach to Lake Pehoe, and here we waited some time for the catamaran to take us across the lake to our campsite. The wind was absolutely crazy and I cannot tell you how rough the crossing was... people were screaming! We thought it must be normal since Patagonia is known for being windy, but Nati and Nico both later told us how scared they were. The trip lasted 30 long minutes and finally we arrived at the windiest campsite in the world to find our tents already up. I sat at the mouth of our sturdy tent and watched all the other people trying to put their tents up in galeforce winds. At one point I heard a scream and a tent flew past me, followed by a guy in hot pursuit. It was quite a sight.

At 1:15pm we met in the refuge and had a sandwich before taking our first hike on the left leg of the W-trek. The walk was only 3 hours return trip, but impossibly windy so that photos were nearly impossible, and holding yourself up was a serious challenge. The views of the mountains were fantastic, and in the lake we could see bright blue icebergs that had broken away from the glacier. Finally we arrived at the lookout of Grey Glacier itself, and as we sat and admired it two condors flew around us.

We hiked back to Paine Grande campsite and in this time the one thing we did learn is how soft Aussies are to 'cold' weather - averaging 6 foot 6 but whinging like little girls! At 6pm we all met up in the bar (did I mention this campsite is better equipped than most hostels) for a welcome pisco sour and a tupperware full of snacks. We then had some time to take a warm shower and return to the restaurant for dinner. We stayed there until 10pm, and it was still totally light by the time we went to bed. Despite being warm in the tent, I wasn't able to sleep until gone midnight.

Day 142 - Apparently some people had to sleep in the refuge overnight because their tents broke in the wind... Nico seemed to think they were Israelis, since they always buy cheap tents apparently. After breakfast we hiked the other way, into the french valley. Once again the weather was fair, and the wind was much calmer than on the other leg of the W. The hike was 21km round trip as we walked past Paine Grande to Campo Italiano, and then up the valley to the lookout of French Glacier. We sat and had our lunch - an amazing salami and cream cheese sandwich - while watching the avalanches fall from the hanging glaciers of Paine Grande and fall into the valley below. While doing so, a bunch of people showed up and started standing right in front of me, between myself and the view. This happens to me a lot. And guess what... they were Israeli too!

On the hike back to the campsite we passed a girl who had, for some reason, decided to squat down and pee in full view, right beside the path. The six of us passed her in silence, as she covered her face with her hand and looked away. Afterwards we all had a good laugh about it - poor girl!

We got back to camp around 4:30pm and Alex then decided to take her socks off and expose the inside of our tent to her flakey feet! As yesterday we shared our tupperware of snacks, took a shower and met for dinner. Then we all played cards - a game that would be played a lot in the coming days entitled s***head.

Day 143 - A slow wake up today as we don't have much to do before taking the catamaran at 12:30pm. More s***head.

The boat journey was markedly calmer than on the way over. A public bus was waiting for us at the other end, so I quickly ran to the toilet and as I came back the bus was already departing and I ran to get on it... this is not the first time that's happened to me. We were dropped off at the park entrance and lay in the sun waiting for our next transfer. I managed to convince Craig that I petted the lone Guanaco at the park entrance, and watched as he chased it around holding out grass, unable to understand why it wouldn't stand still for him.

The transfer took us to Las Torres campsite, which is really lovely and much more modest than the last place. The wind here was nearly non existent, and it was so hot that we all changed into shorts for our afternoon hike. At 2:30pm we set off for the 6km roundtrip back towards French Valley from the other direction. The end was a view of Lago Nordenskjold and as we sat and enjoyed the view the weather changed from hot to windy.

At the camp we had a big dome tent to ourselves where we took all our meals. Another welcome drink - this time pisco sour and El Calafate, which is a local berry. We then enjoyed a shower that was superior to almost all showers we have encountered in hostels in South America, at this campsite. Dinner courtesy of Alex the cook, followed by s***head of course. When we went to bed we heard some grunting coming from the Aussie's tent (there wasn't a lot of extra space in theirs) and Alex took the opportunity to comment that they were "probably getting changed" - think back to the Inca Trail... we never thought we'd find a chance to use that again!

Day 144 - Woke up to find that overnight the weather had completely changed for the worse - outside it was raining and once again, very windy. Today we were hiking to the Torres del Paine - the last section of the W-trek. We decided we would set out despite the weather, and see how far we got. I must say, I was extremely pleased with my decision to borrow Mum's waterproof jacket and trousers... the others were less well equipped. Even so, the hike uphill towards Campo Chilean was fairly miserable. Not long before the camp Nico informed us that we were about to cross 'Windy Pass', which didn't bode well since we were barely able to stand for much of the rest of the hike that did not have such a name. As we entered the pass I have honestly not felt winds like it. Two girls came the other way and one got caught by the wind and flew towards me and the cliff the other side of me on her back! I basically threw myself at her to push her to the ground, and she looked terrified! Nico made the call to turn around, and although I was really disappointed, it was the right call; even if we made it past the pass, the rest of the trail would be closed and the Torres wouldn't be visible anyway. I guess this is what Patagonia is about - I'd feel ripped off if it was easy trekking in glorious sunshine. On the way back we saw a flock of ducks trying desperately to make a V.

So back to camp for an afternoon of s***head! Yey! Throughout the afternoon we ate a lot, drank a bit, and played cards s***loads (as Troy would say). After dinner we went to the refuge, which was really cosy with a log fire. I sat in a hammock and started falling asleep.

Day 145 - The heavy rain woke me in the night, and I started the day thinking it would be a repeat of yesterday. We packed up and left our bags with nati, while the rest of us took a transfer to the entrance of the park to start our final hike. This time we walked to some caves that had ancient paintings from the whelches that used to live there. The weather was a lot better than at the campsite and we saw lots of condors and guanacos - male guanacos fighting; guanacos mating... we saw it all!

At the cave we went to the top of the massif for views of the storm heading our way. Nico recommended a good spot to go to the toilet, and I has only just pulled my trousers up before a group of hikers came my way. The rest of my group found it hilarious, especially after that one girl on the second day.

We returned to the park entrance, where Nati turned up with our bags, and we took the public bus back towards Puerto Natales. We got off half way, into the wind and rain, and had to say a reluctant goodbye to Nico. We then got a private transfer across the border to Argentina. It was another 3 hours of driving to El Calafate, where we all fell asleep in various scrunched up positions, despite taking a gravel road to save 1 hour in journey time. At one point the rain started coming in through my window.