El Calafate to Bariloche

So we find ourselves back in catch up mode after meeting up with George's family in Bariloche and getting caught up in the whirlwind of the Quirk Family Circus (George's term not mine...). Apologies, the next few blogs may be brief.

Laughing at George's moustache? You might have to zoom in to find it.

From Torres del Paine we headed for El Calafate, excited to see Perito Merino glacier which we had heard so much about. El Calafate welcomes us with a fantastic sunny day, and we settle in at our hostel to plan more adventures. We have heard a lot about nearby El Chalten and decide to head there to do some hiking the following day. The weather a 3 hour bus-ride away is completely different from sunny El Calafate and we end up nearly running a supposedly 4 hour walk in 1.5 hours - the camera didn't make it out of the bag in the horizontal rain, but it was supposed to look like this (the lake was frozen solid when we saw it though). We spend the rest of the day warming up with hot chocolates until the return bus comes to collect us.

Cerro Fitzroy

The following day the weather is looking good and we are up early to get the bus to Perito Merino. On board we bump into some friends we had met on Torres del Paine. We arrive at the boat to see the glacier and as we are herded onboard, we get our first taste of mass tourism. Having barely seen any tourists for the last 2 months during low season in Patagonia, this comes as a bit of a shock.

Perito Merino Glacier

But Perito Merino doesn't disappoint, it is absolutely breathtaking how big this thing is. The average height of the front face is 74m. Unfortunately we aren't lucky enough to see any pieces falling off as it was such a cold day, but you could hear the ice constantly creaking and crashing down. Again we end up taking shelter with hot chocolates as icy winds continue.

Team uniforms: with Michelle and Tom, Suesanne and Sven

Back on the bus

We steel ourselves for our next long haul - a 28 hour bus ride covering 1841km to Bariloche. Fortunately the only option for this drive was to take a full cama bus - which is supposed to mean a flat bed. This wasn't quite the case, but the journey wasn't as bad as we expected despite our decision to sit in the front row which at times felt like being on a roller coaster.

Bariloche

Bariloche second time around was completely different from our first brief visit. The sun was out, the puffer jackets were gone and we met Georges' parents and sister here. We spent the week exploring the sights around Bariloche and walking through a lot of snow.

The black glacier. A touch underwhelming.

George and Stewart played a much anticipated round of golf at Llao Llao Resort though they were restricted to playing the same 9 holes twice as the ash is still being cleared from the course.

Hard to tell the fairway from the bunker 

A Sinclair victory

The Seven Lakes drive to San Martin

On our final day Harriet, George and I headed up Cerro Catedral for our last day of skiing in South America. After a mild week the snow was quickly disappearing but we had great BBQ chorizo and beers for lunch and the skiing was pretty fun too.

More coming soon...