"The Big Ice", a 3 hour hike on the Perito Moreno glacier. Although it is only the third biggest glacier in the national park, Perito Moreno is the most famous as its front wall reaches a peninsula separating two lakes and so a viewing platform offers extremely close up views. Size-wise, despite taking the bronze medal it is still 30km long with a surface area of some 250 square kilometres. The front wall is 5km wide.

This was the first stop in the tour, and it really is a fantastic sight. The wall is over 60m high and the air is filled with the sounds of the glacier cracking and breaking. Many of them are very loud, surprisingly so as they echo off the surrounding mountains. Every few minutes a chunk the size of a car upwards will break off completely and fall into the lake causing inordinately huge splashes and waves. Awe inspiring.

We were there for just over an hour. When reading the itinerary we thought this seemed a long time to stand staring at a glacier, but in fact the time flew and we could have stayed a lot longer. It is surprisingly hypnotic.

Next we took a boat over to the other side of the lake and prepared for the hike. After what is actually a pretty exhausting 1 hour trek uphill along the side of the glacier we got kitted out with crampons, split into smaller groups and headed out onto the ice.

The variable Patagonian weather continued, this morning was grey and drizzly. Unfortunately, this meant a lot of the views kind of melded together, it was hard to see where the ice ended and the mountains/sky began. However initially trekking on the ice was pretty exciting. Even with safety always at the forefront of the guides' minds, you are stepping over deep crevasses and seeing all manner of ice formations. The landscape of the glacier is surprisingly varied, deep crevasses, flat expanses of ice, pools, rivers and caves. Walking on crampons was fun, the feeling of 100% grip was interesting. We had to be very careful at the end when we took them off as you really got used to not being concerned about slipping.

As I say, initially pretty exciting but to be honest it did become a little samey after a while. Maybe the dull weather took the shine off things, but we were certainly ready to leave when the time came. A warming whiskey on the return boat trip was a nice end to the day.

All in all an interesting adventure, but I'd say a bit over long and not worth the high price. The highlight was the viewing platform, the sights and sounds were absolutely spectacular.

After the exertions of the day we had a quiet night, eating at the hostel and early to bed. Ahhh!