Northwest Patagonia

Skiing in El Bolsón, Argentina.

The bus left El Calafate in the afternoon and, though its destination was north, it shot east across the country to Rio Gallegos (that weird town of not very much) and then northwest towards the top of Argentine Patagonia. The famous Ruta 40 that runs up the west of Argentina, dissecting Patagonia in two, is closed to buses at this time of year, so there’s no choice but to zigzag across as we did. The scenery, as described previously, was bleak and grey, with only the occasional scrub sprouting life out of the infertile soil. On the horizon appeared the Andes once again, and after a comfortable night we arrived in the small town of El Bolsón.

Southwest Patagonia

Cerro Fitz Roy, near El Chaltén, Argentina

I left Ushuaia behind, starting the long journey up north to who-knows-where. Still, ahead of me for now was a lot more of Patagonia, a lot more mountains and a lot more snow.

Ushuaia: the city at the end of the world

Ushuaia: the city at the end of the world.

After our extended bus journey from Rio Gallegos, we arrived in Ushuaia, la ciudad del fin del mundo, at the very bottom of Argentina, in the early afternoon. As the bus pulled into the town, the white world gave way to a shoreline flanked by mountains. This is the Beagle Channel, named after the British ship that passed through here on a surveying mission in 1828. In 1832, Charles Darwin sailed arrived in the same ship on his famous five-year round-the-world voyage. For me, however, this is as far south in the world as I will get – on this trip at least.

The Argentine Atlantic coast (and a bit of Uruguay)

A tail of a Southern Right Whale in Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

South America. A new continent. I’ve dreamt of coming here since forever, and now I’m here. It feels as like I’m starting travelling all over again, as if the last seven months through Asia and Australasia were another adventure entirely. Here is a whole new world waiting to be discovered.

New Zealand

View over Lake Wanaka from Treble Cone.

I looked down from the plane across the magnificent Southern Alps cutting a rift along the length of New Zealand’s South Island and thought, I’m going to enjoy this country.