Navimag Boat trip
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2006
1
29
159
Trip End
May 27, 2008
Puerto Natales, Chile
Friday, October 27, 2006
Checked out my room which was tiny and i was sharing with a Dutch guy, american girl and an Oz guy from Sydney. Chatted a bit more to the Swiss guy (Niels) and turns out he is also on the same flight as me to NZ. He was doing a round the world trip in 3 months! 3 weeks in Japan, then home to Switzerland, then South America, New Zealand and back to Oz - what a hectic shedule! We were bth heading for the Torres del Paine national park after the boat so we decided we would maybe walk the circuit together.
Tuesday morning I woke at 7 and we were finally moving. I had a geat breakfast on the boat then went back to sleep as I was really tired. Went out on the deck for a while and was lucky enough to see dolphins jumping out of the water which was really cool and some albatros. Ran into Dominic and Gina from the hostel in Bariloche and chatted to a Kiwi guy and is Canadian girlfriend. At lunch I decided I couldn't stand the silence on my table so made conversation withn a Dutch girl and a French guy. He was taking video footage in Chile of the Indian history for a documentary which sounded quite interesting.
The Oz guy from my dorm asked me if I'd been running in Puerto Montt - him and his friends were the other 3 runners I'd seen that morning. Watched a good documentary on the Patagnian ice fields which looked amazing, then watched March of the Penguins mvie which I loved and now want to see some Emporer pengins (although can't quite afford Antarctica). Had a great tea then watched a Chilean film called Manchuka or something wich was quite good and i think was based on fact. The staff on the boat announced we would hit open sea in the Gulf of Penas (yes we all tried not to laugh) at 4am so take sea sickness tablets if necessary - I did just that as I'd never been in rough sea and went to bed......
Sure enough, around 4am I woke to find my bed rising and falling around 2 metres each time, like I was lying on a giant's chest while he was breathing deeply, then on ocassions, moving up in an arc and crashing down in a circle, like being in a slow spin in a washng machine. At first it was a bit scary then fun when you got used it it.....until I decided to walk out to the bathroom....standing up for a few minutes made me feel so nausous so i hit my bed again for a few hours. I tried to get up for breakfast but as soon as I stood up I felt sick so I took more tablets and stayed in bed (along with 2 of my roommates!). Made it to lunch feeling OK which was a fun task as my tray was sliding all over the table. I heard that breakfast had been pretty empty as most people had stayed in bed feeling sick, or in the bathrooms being sick.
Watched ´the Girl Next Door´which halway through I realised I'd seen before but its a good film, then 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' which wasn't as good as the hype I've heard.
Saw sme orcas (kiler whales) in the distance outside and a shipwrecked boat, appaently belonging to an english guy who wanted to make money from an insurace claim - he sold the sugar it was carrying on board then tried to sink it - it didn't sink too well and when asked about the sugar he said it melted in the water, however the hessian sacks didn't seem to be anywhere so I think he was caught out and ended in prison....
That afternoon I chatted to some Aussies from Melbourne, Mark Denisse and Emma who were part of a group travelling by truck through Chle and Argentina . After chatting for a couple of hours the girls gave me their e-mail and offerred to take me out in Melbourne. They were shocked when they asked my age which was really nice as they thought I'd also just fnished uni like they had!
That night we had a bingo game and if you won, the staff mae you dance in front of everyone to collct your prize....of course i won and did the supidist dance I could thin of which was pretty embarrasing but i got a baseball cap of the Torres del Paine national park (yes mum you can have that). We then had a fiesta and a disco and I had a bit of a boogie and a couple of Piscos and coke with Emma and Denisse.
We were supposed to arrive at 10am the next morning but due to our late departure that didn't happen. I watched Flight Plan which was an OK film, watched the captain get the boat through an 80m gap which was quite impressive. We arrived at 5.30pm but they said we could stay on oard and have dinner and breakfast for free which seemed a good idea. I played cards with the Aussies and wached Pink Panther which was a poor film. I was just going to bed when I noticed they had started to let some people on the boat who were headng back up North. Someone shouted at me and it turned out to be a guy from the BBQ in Mendoza. He was with some other Americans and they'd been in Torres Del Paine camping and said it was hell and I shouldn't do it! There was a kiwi guy and his spanish girlfriend with them and they were all pretty drunk as it was his 29th birthday - his girlfriend brought out a cake and some champagne and gave me some which was really nice! There was also an English guy with them who'd just met them in the boarding lounge. He was from Bristol, just graduated in Engineering and about to work for the army. Funny enough he is a member of the army ountaineering association and one of the guys from the EWR team took him up Mont Blonc years ago! Small world again...
Friday morning, the Oz in m dorm (Peter) gave me his e-mail and invited m for a run in the bush with his group which should be great. We all got off the boat and Niels told me a Swiss girl Suzanna wanted to camp wit us which was great so we all headed to the same hostel in Puerto Natales (Erratic Rock). I didn't have a booking unlike them but needn't have worried as the hostel wasn't quite ready to open. It seemed a lot of money for a dorm bed in somewhere that only had 1 shower working at the time and the internet hadn't been reconnected since last season, however when i was offered proper coffee and some home made bread and heard about the breakfast i was sold. He explained the Torres del Paine park W trekking circuit to us and we realised we'd have to camp as a bed without sheets or food was 35 to 40 dollars a night in the refugios! (see www.patagoniablacksheep.com for hiking info on Torres Del Paine). Niels and Suzanna decided they wanted to go for 5 days but I was pushed for time so paired up with a girl from the boat (Sandra, who I hadn't actually spoken to before) and we planned to do it in 4 which was a tougher hike but necessary for us. We sorted out camping and cooking gear and food for the trip and bumped into Dominic in the supermarket - he gave us a lift back to the hostel in his truck as he was looking for Gina who ended up at my hostel along with many others from Navimag!
Packed my stuff and crashed - last time I have a good matress for 3 nights as we could only hire those crappy 1cm thick cheap nasty foam things!
