Thur 29 Oct. Chilean Fjords. It has been a rock and rolling night in the Pacific Ocean but when we enter the fjords there is a stillness and spectacular scenery - harsh rocky cliffs covered in small trees and lichens. Behind the cliffs the view of the snow capped mountains depends on the clouds which roll in from Antarctica. Almost the only sound is the throb of the engine as we wind our way through these very narrow passages and there is little sign of life beyond one or two sea birds. There are multiple branches of fjords and we are grateful for the GPS. It would be possible to never find your way out of this freezing lonely maze. We travel down one fjord to view the remains of a "ghost ship" Leonides that was deliberately founded on rock in 1968. Neil reads and I am immersed in a mega jigsaw puzzle - so addictive.

We are promised a rough ride between 8 - 11pm as we re-enter the Pacific on our way south. We all look drunk moving about the ship. The comedian is awful and we propose that Neil and Carol offer to do a show in his stead.

Fri 30 Oct. Chilean Fjords. Today we wake to calm as we once again travel through the fjords; more cliffs, more snowy mountains, occasional showers, occasional sun on brown lichens and ice drifts! About 8 am the chunks of ice are more frequent and larger and we are closing in on the El Buca glacier. The captain halts the ship for 45 minutes about 400 metres from this magnificent sight. El Buca is a tidal glacier 45 kilometres long and still growing. It was first discovered in 1913 but it took until 1998 before a party of Chileans crossed it. Luck is with us and it is dry and cold as we all take our pictures and marvel at the view. A few birds here and one baby seal asleep on an ice flow.

Tomorrow we arrive at Punta Arenas but there are hurricane winds forecast so not sure we will make our excursion which includes a 2 hour ferry ride! A trip to the Falkland Islands in a few days is also weather dependent so we must wait. We have been so lucky with our weather conditions to date but in this part of the world anything could happen.

Sat 31 October Chilean Fjords. Winds gusting to 107 mph and 10 metre waves mean that the ports at Punta Arenas and Ushuaia are closed to us. We also learn that due to adverse weather we will not be able to visit the Falklands as Port Stanley conditions preclude anchoring and tender transfer to land with 30 feet waves expected. This is disappointing however to be expected when we are 56 degrees south. As the news was coming through there was a beautiful glacier out our window.

So we spent the day sailing the Beagle Channel (also known as Glacier Alley). Discovered by Captain Pringle Stokes in the Beagle in 1826- 1830. Stokes however got depressed and committed suicide. His navigator was an Australian, Philip Parker King. The Beagle was taken over by Captain Robert Fitzroy and it returned in 1833 when Charles Darwin was on board and they mapped the channel whilst amateur botanist Darwin fossicked for plants and animals

There are 6 glaciers in this channel: The Espana, The Romanche, The Allemagne (two branches), The Francia, The Italia and The Hollandia. The Hollandia was the most spectacular but the hardest to see as we had a snow storm as we were passing it. The weather was freezing and with snow showers but fortunately our port side cabin had all the views of the glaciers and we would venture onto the balcony briefly for photos.

Sun Nov 1 At Sea. We are now scheduled to visit two new ports in place of the ones we missed, and have booked a tour to the world's largest colony of Magellanic Penguins, so hope they confirm our booking. This will be on Tuesday.

This morning, starting around 4.30 we began our transit of the Drake Passage and Cape Horn. The weather has not improved and the ship is rocking and rolling. High winds, lumpy seas, cloud and rain however we get a good look at Horn Island where Cape Horn is located only 500 miles from Antarctica. (Always thought it was on the South American mainland.) The ship sounded its horn as we passed safely from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean another long standing nautical tradition.

Drake's passage was discovered by Francis Drake in 1581 when he circumnavigated the world in the Golden Hind but his diaries were presented to the Queen and the knowledge initially kept secret of this passage to the Pacific. It was first sailed by a single handed yachtsman in 1898 when Joshua Slocum achieved this feat. There is a large monument on the southern tip, the Albatross Memorial, to all who have lost their lives in this sea. Due to low cloud we were not able to see this but with over 420 wrecks nearby it is a memorial to many. Despite the snow showers and gale force winds we still have little birds (and some bigger birds) feeding in the waters near our ship. We have found it hard to stand in the conditions so these birds do an amazing job staying alive.

The jigsaw puzzle is complete and only 6 pieces missing. I finish reading a fascinating book "Consider the Fork" (no mistake with spelling.) A history of eating and food preparation which sounds rather ho hum but it was a superb written book with so much interesting detail.

Mon 2 Nov. At Sea. We woke to calm seas and sunshine. Amazing how a few degrees further north can make such a difference. It is an eating, reading, sleeping day. We have tickets to the Magellan Penguin Colony and leave the ship at 6.50am for the day tour. Starting to think of the end of the cruise now with only 4 ports to go.

Tue 3 Nov. Puerto Madryn. Today we arrive at Puerto Madryn, Argentina about 6.00am but we have been awake for some hours and are ready to leave the ship as soon as docking is complete. Breakfast was one to remember as we saw pairs of Southern Right whales cavorting. The mothers give birth in this bay and teach the young how to survive before venturing into deeper water. The babies learn how to swim down into the very deep water to avoid the Killer whales that tend to stay a little closer to the surface. No teats to suckle from but the hungry whale gives Mum a nudge and she responds by squirting out a bubble of milk which the baby sucks up.

This port has an interesting history. The President of Argentina offered land to a group of Welsh people in about 1865 and they duly arrived to - nothing. The area is barren with no fresh water and not too much game to catch. (The bears and monkeys disappeared millions of years ago.) The Welsh survived by living in caves on the sea shore (still visible) and finding fresh water about 60 kms away. They coexisted comfortably with the local Indians and both societies have survived. There are still schools teaching in the Welsh language and the BBC Welsh Choir had visited last week to celebrate 150 years since the foundation of this Welsh community and the Indians moved back towards the Andes. From a population of about 7,000 in the 1960s, it is now a thriving community of 100,000 people, many of whom are employed at the local aluminium smelter. Not something we had expected to see in Patagonia.

After missing our excursions at Punta Arenas, The Falklands and Ushuaia and their penguins, we are off to visit the Punta Tombo Penquin Reserve which has about a million Magellanic Penguins arriving each year to lay their two eggs and then wait until they have hatched. The seasons have been poor for penguins in the past two years and many chicks were lost last year to heavy rains which came in Oct instead of Jul-Aug.

We drive through country very similar to the scrub around Broken Hill; saltbush and scrubby grasses dominate. This area was once covered by water and ice and the soil is sandy with some volcanic material thought to have arrived during the passage of glaciers from the distant Andes to the coast. The coastal area is only 1-1.5 metres above sea level with a higher ridge about 10 kms from the coast. The first trees we see are one hour into our drive and here the Chubut River, in the town of Trelew, provides water to irrigate a few properties where they grow vegetables and there is a proliferation of Poplars - unusual after the barren country we have passed through. Fresh water is piped from here to the port and some is stored in cisterns to see through the dry periods. Along the road 15 new wind turbines are sending power through the grid to Buenos Aires 1,500 kms away (not sure how efficient this is) and a brand new jail sits starkly in this wilderness. At one corner is a proliferation of home made red flags around a shrine to El Chito, a Robin Hood type gaucho who was hanged by the Spanish. Many people still make offerings at this site for good health, safe travel, babies etc.

The roads are good but all access to the penguin colony is through the private land of a Sicilian farmer and this section is gravel. When we arrive at least 10 buses are at the site and most have chipped windscreens. We debus and then walk along a designated path for about 2 kilometres and under most bushes we see the shiny back of a penguin lying over the eggs or a burrow waiting to be filled. Some burrows are shallow and poorly protected whilst others are more like rabbit burrows and we can barely see any part of the penguin. The best part though is the number of little penguins strolling about. They are about 60 cms tall and look wonderful in their black and white livery as they strut about either looking for their partner or making the long walk back to the ocean to feed. They need to be alert to the predators - ocean birds, weasels, foxes, ostriches and humans. It is the birds we see lying in wait today. In the bushes we see Yuanacor (s) - a local animal that is a cross between red deer and llamas, sheep and a hare. This was a very rich wool producing area in the 1900s and there are still a few hundred sheep amongst the salt bush.

A packed lunch in the bus is enough to send people to sleep on the bus back to the port but I need to keep an eye on Neil who is about to do harm to a very loud and objectionable American woman who has spent the entire trip moving from seat to seat and complaining about everything. On board we again have a wonderful hour watching the whales playing in the harbor, some around our ship. Photographs will not do this experience justice as our camera skills cannot keep up with their antics but we have tried to record at least a little of what we saw.

We are delighted to hear the result of the Melbourne Cup - go girl!!!

Wed 4 Nov. At Sea. Housekeeping day with only a few days left to get laundry done, collect passports and check forward bookings. John and Margaret have champagne on ice and are ordering up the canapes for a little farewell drink with Phil, Carol and ourselves. We will share pictures and laughs.