Day 2 – 28/12/12 - Santiago to Punta Arenas

OK, today I am tackling differently, as this is proving very tricky to find time to write a diary and blog and photos etc etc. So now I think I’ll tell a bit of a story and just put in some pictures to capture the day…as best I can.

Even though we have only had ONE day out, already there is so much to see, do and talk about.

We had a great breaky at the San Galerias, then caught our pre-arranged taxi to the Aeropuerto. At the airport we met up with Karen, Nicole, Leanne and Gary, who were on the same flight to Punta Arenas.

The flight down was amazing…heaps to see out the windows, lots of mountains, volcanoes, snow and Lago (lakes)  

We arrived at Punta Arenas, a port town in the south of Chile. An interesting town that is very spread out and diverse in terms of housing etc.

Some of the challenges for the day, were about the language, eating lunch, we had trouble getting understanding about what the menu meant, Mary and Kate were keen to try a local beer, so they got that sorted and I chose a Chilean wine. Then we tried to translate the menu. We ended up with a hamburger ‘sandwich’ which was really tasty and hit the spot.

At the supermarket, Kate unfortunately had her wallet pinched, luckily the security guards were confident of having it returned and they bailed up the bag packing lady, who had it in her pocket. Kate was very lucky, as this wallet contained both cash and two of her cards.

We also stumbled across the Intituto Antarctico Chileno building, which had a great sign of the Antarctic, which we took photos at. It wasn’t till we were waiting for Kate to sort out her wallet, that we realised the model of Antarctica was actually ice…very cool!!!!

Out for dinner with the rest of the Vic Teachers Antarctic tour group to a little place up theroad called El Merado Chilote,we had Centolla – which is the local King Crab, it had been recommended by the eccentric poet in Santiago, it was very nice and light and refreshing.

Again the strangeness of daylight lasting late into the night, caught us on the hop, it was 10.30 when we left the restaurant and walked home, a bit cooler tonight, and some shops and bits and pieces were open on the way back, quite unusual.

Back to the hotel to do our laundry, we were going to put it in at the hotel, but got a bit stingy…so we used the bathtub and our clotheslines.

Yet again it was late to bed after a long day…tiring as all get out.

 View of a snowcapped mountain from the plane - Santiago to Punta Arenas.

 

Arrival at Punta Arena Airport, while we were not off to Antarctica tomorrow, it should be in a couple of days.

We negotiated a shuttle bus to the hotel for the bunch of us...here we are, all aboard waiting for our driver. L-R. Nic Riley, Karen Bowker, Gary and Leanne Edwards, Kate Crellin, Mary Morgan.

Whilst looking for the supermarket, I stumbled across the Chilean Antarctic Institute, later in the day, we discovered, that the Antarctic bit, really WAS ice.

Finally we got around to stopping for lunch, no idea what the menu said, or what we were ordering, but I got around to my first wine of the trip.

Cheers, with Mary and Kate.

Here we are out to dinner in Punta Arenas, at a place up the street. L-R. Nic, Gay & Rob Higgins, Karen, Leanne, Gary, Mary Kate, half of me.