Well, I survived the 4 nights squished in a little cabin on the Navimag ferry - didn't even need to go outside as we left the port. Those of you that have been on a ferry with me in the last few years know how brave this was!! Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that it was about 6am, pitch black and approximately -15 degrees!! After the "comedy" of getting used to the swaying motion (not always as gentle as hoped for!) we settled down to lots of sleep, canteen-style food, reading, watching films and listening to information talks (ok, it was only me dorky enough to bother with the last one....). It was all topped off beautifully with a classic game of bingo on the last night, followed by a disco! Woo-hoo.

Awoke to the dulcet tones of our host, Andrea, on the loudspeaker...just like being back at school... only seconds after the "party" music was turned off. Must be getting old! Our plan to stay in Puerto Montt was flumoxed by a national holiday (how many can one nation squeeze into 1 month?!) so headed across the border again, back into Argentina. Bariloche, here we come.... with the largest washing mountain known to man! Spent Tuesday pretty much wrapped in a towel, the only item left I could wear! Went a bit crazy and persuaded the others to go kayaking in the sub-zero conditions the following day. Not sure they've forgiven me for the hiking in Torres yet so thought I'd scrape it in on top of that one.... Had a great day on Lago Gutierrez with Haley, Nicola, Carlos (our new Frenchie friend) and a few others, aided by Pablo and Matteus, our trusty guides. Beautiful! Finished the day with the best steak so far - thanks to George's trusty meat-eating obsession.

Thursday saw Nicola and I climbing a moun-*?*!-tain. Cerro Lopez started with a steep uphill trek through a forest and up into the clouds. After about 2 hours of sweaty, breathlessness we started to see the peaks above the clouds. Very cool to be able to look down on Care Bear Land! We walked up past the refugio and then decided to head for the top. Basically, it turned into a bit of rock climbing and the higher we went, the steeper it got and the deeper the snow. What an adventure! Glad to say, we both survived but won't explain in any more detail what it was like, for fear of giving our loved ones a collective heart attack!

Followed the next day with a relaxing spa day including a deep tissue massage - bliss! Off later to Villa la Angostura for a couple of days then further north to Mendoza (yum, wine tasting!). Hope you're all well and the weather is warming up nicely for all of you in the northern hemisphere!

Much Love, Shona Bonnington x