If you want to go trekking in Torres del Painne (TDP) National Park then its more than likely you will go to Puerto Natales first for provisions and transport to the park. So that's just what we did. We checked into the 'Big Bang' hostel which was far better than our digs in Punta Arenas. Communal clean kitchen, dining area and lounge - comfy sofa and movies in English! When trekking in TDP generally people either trek the 'W' which is a 4 or 5 day trek carrying tent, food, etc and the trail is in the shape of a wonky W or people trek the 'O' which is 8 or 9 days and it encompasses the W trail - so it's not really in the shape of an O! Unfortunately, everyone that travels South America even if they have never trekked / hiked before feels that they have to at least trek the W. As a result, it has become so popular that since 2017 you have to book all your campsites or refuges (basic but expensive mountain hotels) in advance. You cannot enter the park without your bookings unless you are going in with just a daysack for a day hike. It's recommended you book at least 3 months in advance, the problem is we really didn't know how long we would spend elsewhere before we got there. The other complication is the campsites are owned by either CONAF (Chile National Park) or one of two private companies. There is no central booking system, there is no online booking system, it's all done by email and they can take weeks to respond. You could end up paying for some campsites with one company to then find that the sites you need with the other company or CONAF are full. If you want to do the 'O' the next problem is there is a big pass to hike over and CONAF close this in bad weather, so if you don't make it over the day you planned then the rest of the campsites / refuges after the pass may tell you they are full when you arrive a day or two late or they may charge you again. I had been kicking all this about back in February wondering what to do when I was informed that all the campsites can be booked directly in Puerto Natales and invariably there are slots available at the last moment as the private companies keep a quota of pitches back to sell as 'packages' with camping gear and guides provided. When they haven't sold enough packages, they open more camping pitches up to independent trekkers - US! We arrived In Puerto Natales on a bad day - Saturday. We wouldn't be able to enquire about campsites until Monday morning. Boy was it windy when we got here. Besides great scenery Patagonia is also famed for it's vicious winds. On Sunday we were going to kayak or horse ride but when we enquired on Saturday nothing was available - it wasn't all booked up, it was just going to be too windy for either of these activities. Instead we edited photos, updated our blog and took advantage of the free 3 o clock briefing at Erratic rock - one of the longest established guiding / rental establishments. There was some useful info but a lot of it was aimed at people who didn't know the top from the bottom of a trekking pole and some of the info / advice was incorrect or questionable. Monday morning, we found out all the CONAF sites were full until the end of March, Donna was relieved as that meant we couldn't do the 'O'. Then we found out that the sites half way through the 'W' were full. Don't tell me we have come all the way to South America and we are not going to be able to trek in TDP!!!!! In the end we managed to book two sites, first a pre-pitched tent in Torres Central for 2 nights from where we could do a day hike out and back to make an 'I' (the end of the W), then transfer by bus and boat for 3 nights in our own tent for 2-day hikes to form a 'U' (the first half of the W). Well a U & I trek was going to be better than no trek at all. The good news is we would reach the 3 major view points on the trek and the bit we would have to miss out is the least interesting. Day hikes would mean not having to carry the camping gear all day but then the walks would be longer. With the plan in place we booked our transport to the park and back and also out of Puerto Natales once our trek was over. We shopped for trekking food, lots of pasta. Donna hates pasta so we did take instant mash, bangers and gravy for our first night. Yes, we bought gravy here - although we do have one packet left from England. This might seem quite random but there are some great litter bins here in the form of metal sculptured people, Donna couldn't quite believe I wanted to photograph them all. There are Tsunami warning signs here but on talking to the hostel owner the locals think they are a joke. The sea is so far away through a maze of Fjords that they believe a tsunami is impossible. The weather before our trek wasn't exactly encouraging - pouring with rain or windy as hell. On Sunday the mountains in the distance of TDP had disappeared in the clouds and on Monday they were white over with fresh snow. Keeping our fingers crossed that it's dry for us and we get to see the great views. The free drinks bottles from our cruise have come in useful (we were going to discard them), donna has filled them both with whisky for our trek!