Torres Del Paine is a spectacular national park north of Puerto Natales. Famed for its three granite peaks which rise up majestically from the middle of a mountain range. We arrived by lunchtime and had already taken loads of pictures of the mountains, even before we got in the gate.

We found a sheltered spot to camp and after a short exploratory walk I had a kip while Peter ran 12 miles up and down a mountain, to a view point of the three peaks. (Complained for days afterwards about aching legs!)

We had a bit of a worrying night as gusts of wind shook Gerty and the temperature dropped considerably. In the morning we awoke to a light snow shower which later turned into a blizzard with gale force gusts of freezing wind. So much for my idea of a nice sunny holiday in South America. In fact the weather got so bad that after visiting a glacier in the park we headed back to the shelter of Puerto Natales.

On the way back to Puerto Natales, we visited a cave where in 1895 an eccentric German found a piece of skin that turned out to be from a Milidon (a giant extinct Sloth). I say eccentric as he made himself, amongst other things, a suitcase that turned into a canoe.

That night, after camping in Puerto Natales I was so cold that the next morning we went and bought a Polar Expedition quality sleeping bag. We then drove down to Punta Arenas which sits on the Magellan Strait and is even colder than Puerto Natales. Worse than the cold is the wind, which is relentless, gale force and icy cold. It cuts through you like a knife, even well wrapped up. Beginning to wish I had packed some thermals.

In the afternoon we visited the Sena Otway Magellan Penguin colony. It was brilliant but very very cold and windy. The penguins all seemed oblivious to it all and were jumping in and out of the sea.

The next day we caught the ferry to Porvenir in Chilean Tierra del Fuego. This was just as cold but peter went for yet another run!

The next day we drove to the border with Argentina. We were a little nervous as had heard tales of luggage being unloaded and examined and sniffer dogs going through your belongings. Well, none of that happened and they hardly even looked at our paperwork which we had diligently collected together in a folder specifically for border crossings. Perhaps it will be different at later crossings. Lets hope not..

We continued driving down to Ushuaia were we propose to stay a few nights in hotels, as too cold for camping, before heading back north- to hotter climes.