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Day 3 and early risers' coffee again. Another boat trip to walk to Aguila glacier, then the obligatory hot chocolate and whisky. There is a German couple on board visiting Argentina and Chile for a month to do plenty of trekking. When I asked them where in Germany they were from, I was surprised when they said 'Berchtesgarden, you know Adolf Hitler, Eagles Nest'. They have a small fluffy penguin with them called Pingu who they place on random bits of ice for photos, he has proved very popular with many of us trying to get his photo for our own collections. Briefings on the afternoon and tomorrow mornings excursions. Then lunch - great news, the quiz sheet normally appears on your table at lunch time but there wasn't one. Our quiz captain Elodie had already completed the first two question sheets, although David did know the answers to most of the questions on sheet two. How would we fare in the competition? The afternoon trip out was an hour on the Zodiacs with no landing so we were given a time slot for our turn. Whilst waiting we watched penguins swimming down the sound. We weren't certain that they were penguins until someone kindly lent us their binoculars. Then our trip to visit yet another glacier but the Zodiac driver took us closer than we had ever been before - maybe an overused word but it was amazing. On the way out there was such a loud bang from the propeller - one of the hazards in this area, a large chunk of ice went under the zodiac. Fortunately, we still had a propeller and our ride went unspoilt. As this was the last night on board before the 'Captains Dinner' we had the farewell toast and a speech from the captain. Then the results of the quiz were revealed - 'and the winning table is number 5'. Elodie had done it again, we won. We motioned Elodie to collect the prize, especially as Donna and I hadn't answered any questions, but we all went forward to be congratulated by the captain and each presented with an 'Exclusive' Australis lapel badge. No free cruise but it was great to shake the captains hand as everyone else cheered and applauded us. Next on the agenda was the auctioning of the chart used to sail to Cape Horn with all the ships positions recorded on it (they don't use GPS). Bidding started at 100 US Dollars! David came in at 160 only to be outbid by Elodie at 170, but it finally went for 320 US Dollars (that's a very expensive nautical chart). Our last dinner and our waiter had it easy as 5 out of 6 of us had gone for the lamb shank (and they seem to have big lambs here, I had to help Donna with hers). One more night in that comfy bed but not before a nightcap.
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