Cape Horn - The End of the World!.

Polly and I did it! We got to the end of the world. Polly paddled in the Antarctic Ocean and I left my DNA on Cape Horn!!!!!

"Before the construction of the Panama Canal in 1914, the only way for ships to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was to brave the southern ocean (Also known as Antarctic Ocean). Cape Horn is the most extreme southern tip of Chile and the seas there are as rough today as they were hundreds of years ago. Sailing around the Horn is considered by some to be the Mount Everest of sailing"

We all donned our life jackets, had a quick safety briefing and waited patiently for some of the crew to nip over to see what the waves were like on the island and if it was going to be possible to get on there. RESULT! We queued up to get on the wee dingies. The weather was overcast but pelted it down with hail and snow the whole way across to Cape Horn. Quite appropriate I thought. And much more memorable. We climbed some steps then walked to the monument, which apparently wasn't there 2 weeks ago. A couple of months ago the wind took one half, then the other half went! They've rebuilt it though as in January it's 400 years since the discovery of Cape Horn. The left half signifies the Atlantic Ocean and the right half is the Pacific. The albatross in the middle signifies all the soles of the hundreds of people who lost their lives at Cape Horn.

So I waited patiently for the 130 other people to leave and then got my pic. Can you believe the sun started to appear? Patience is a virtue. Polly and I sipped a wee dram of desaranno from the flask we've been given and the glass I stole from the bar last night, and then stood quietly taking it all in.

We then walked across to see the old lighthouse. We were told there was a gift shop but I asked the guy where are all the gifts when all I saw were only a few key rings. Oh well sorry guys you're getting nothing lol!

I desperately needed to pee and there was no toilet so as we were almost the last on the dingies and hardly anyone around I took the opportunity to dive behind a bush. (with one of the other passengers Karen, as lookout. It wasn't until we were halfway down the steps that Karen's husband exclaimed that I had left my DNA on Cape Horn and how cool was THAT and it would be there forever and that's such a better claim than just paddling in the water, as I was intending to do! Polly still wanted to claim she went paddling at the end of the world so I let her.