Ushuaia

Getting closer..........got to the airport in Buenos Aires on time (leaving your hotel in Buenos Aires at 3am really does pose the question of whether that's getting up early or staying up late), got through the very long check-in queue (even though we had already checked in online this did not seem to confer any advantage) on time, had the luxury of a very nice coffee at the gate, the flight left "on time" (at least that's what was announced as we were invited to board at around the time we should have been taking off), the flight made it to Ushuaia, and landed, we survived blasting polar winds in the taxi queue (waiting for the five local taxis to loop around again while ferrying a full planeload of passengers into town) and we have made it to the cruise departure point! Our part of the deal is complete. Now we wait for the ship.

Well Ushuaia is just a lovely little town to pass some time in. Snowy mountain views, a bay, ships and fishing boats coming and going, a couple of small piers for the completely crazy people who sail here in their own boats and a view that is constantly changing with the constantly changing weather - sun, shadows of quickly moving clouds, smatterings of rain, reflections on totally calm water, choppy waves blowing up, forests, glaciers.

So I'd forgotten how cold cold is. It makes your ears hurt and feel like they might fall off. It makes your fingertips tingle as they re-warm when you come back inside. It makes your nose dribble constantly. But I have come prepared with the entire Icebreaker range of woolly everything.

Our time here has been quite similar to our time in Buenos Aires - strolling, lingering in cafes, lingering in bars. But with higher levels of "We're Going to Antarctica!!!!!" excitement. All the tourists here add to the holiday feel, all with shiny hiking boots, brightly coloured jackets, woolly hats with bobbles, the occasional hiking pole and lost, questioning looks on their faces. A recent study over lunch (at the old "Galway" bar which is now just called "Bar Ideal" but still has a big Galway crest on the wall) proved that 80% of tourists do not close the door behind them when entering an eating establishment despite the obvious blast of polar air coming in behind them. We resisted yelling at them "CLOSE THE DOOR!" which is what happened to us in a little Italian place in Boston during the great Polar Vortex of 2014.
Breakfast with a view - just waiting for our ship to pull up.

This is the Dublin bar which we haven't managed to find open yet but remain hopeful as I remember this happened last time too and then one day it was magically open and very cosy.

Karl wishes to note at this point that the coffee in Argentina is always pleasantly hot and definitely served at a higher temperature than in Australia - are the Argentines less worried about you burning yourself? are they happy to sit and linger over a gradually cooling coffee? is Australian coffee (blasphemy alert) just not as good? Ponderings to karl_oneill@yahoo.com.

Other things to do in Ushuaia: walk along the coast, walk along the docks and peer insight the yachts, wander around the little airport/naval base. And most importantly......track the progress of ship back from its last trip to Antarctica to make sure it's actually going to make it here.

Dragging photographer Karl back down the pier requires this particular look.

An actual official sign at the dock letting you know that "English Pirate Boats" are not welcome (there's still a little bitterness here over the Falklands/Malvinas including a very impressive memorial).

You could remove old, wrecked boats or just paint them.

Karl squeals with delight - an old DC3 that was the first (or maybe just first Argentine plane) to fly to (or over) the South Pole.

Current favourite past-time - tracking the position of our ship online to make sure it keeps coming this direction.

The small seafood platter, all forms of aquatic life included.

Last minute update: our ship has (literally and metaphorically) come in! Surely nothing can stop us now. See you on Valentine's Day in New Zealand.

Let's play find Karl & Kara's ship. See the big cruise ship? And then the little white one with the pretty yellow stripe? And behind the little white one is a littler navy one? That's ours!