No - that wasn't our plane we missed, just some plane watching with James and Tim before we left Brisbane!

We enjoyed an afternoon being tourists in Sydney and improving our selfie skills before boarding the plane for Santiago, Chile.

On the plane to Santiago after a couple of hours delay, allowing me to follow the tennis for a while longer! 😀 For the first time, we are travelling Premium Economy- seems great so far!

It looks like we came close to flying over Antarctica on our way to South America! We didn't fly west to South America as the Journal map is suggesting- I just haven't worked out how to fix that yet! Luckily Qantas lived up to my biased view - smooth flight, great service, food and entertainment- the 12+ hours went quickly!

First walk in South America- following our driver/guide to his car.

Our second upgraded room - many things didn't work in the first but this one is great!

The park across from our hotel room. It is hard to portray how large and crowded this was, with mostly young people playing Pokemon Go. Others lined up for selfies with members of a boy band, while still more girls took part in dancing/singing competitions!

Great spot for dinner!

Lively area to walk home after dinner.

Interesting markets.

But we didn't try the biscuits on the right!

Gabriel pointing out to Peter some of the buildings in Old Town Santiago.

The old and new of Santiago.

The city with the Andes in the background.

Just for James - look at all the exciting different modes of transport! I found being in the middle of a working port was exciting. Embarkation on the Seabourn Quest was quick and efficient, despite San Antonio being a large cargo port with little in the way of passenger ammenities. Until recently the beautiful old port of Valparaiso (similar distance from Santiago) was used by most cruise companies for embarkation, but a series of industrial action has resulted in the swap.

Peter, as always, was just checking out our departure from the pier. Not sure why the tape was there nor how useful it would be??

We were early for breakfast and although cool, blankets and heaters made for a delightful meal. The tables around us soon filled up!

Delightful weather for cruising- about a 1 to 2 metre swell - just enough to always know that you are on a ship, but not enough to cause any problems!

This afternoon we enjoyed an informative bridge tour - and as always were amongst the last to leave.

Towering over our approach to Puerto Montt were these wonderful snow covered volcanoes, Osorno and Calbuco.

The houses in Puerto Montt were always overshadowed (or 'enhanced and beautified' as Peter says) \240by poles and wires!

Seen in this park in Puerto Varras are many widely seen Chilean sights- beautiful flowers and trees, unrestrained dogs, people cleaning outdoors and pop up eating vans!

One of the volcanoes overlooking Lake Llanquehoi at Puerto Varras.

Gum trees and hydrangeas dwarfing Peter in Frutillar.

The gardens surrounding a German Water Mill now a museum in Frutillar, with Lake Llanquehoi in the background. (For James - we travelled in the orange double decker bus. After being warned about the poor standard of buses in Chile, this was the most luxurious bus I have ever seen!)

Busy beach at Lake Llanquehoi - was a little cool with darker sand than what I am used to! Frutillar's world famous Music Performance Centre is in the left background.

We approached our ship just as the threatened rain showers arrived - great timing.

Walking around Castro on Wednesday 16th January (Day 4 of our cruise).

Beautiful wooden church and as everywhere the police are not far away.

Timber was everywhere- and often off centre - apparently allowing for movement in the many earthquakes that occur here.

Lace and wool are common in Chile - including decorating statues in the timber churches.

Looking down on some of the coloured stilted houses.

Tsunami warning signs, sirens and speakers are common.

A variety of sea craft at Castro.

And back to the Seabourn Quest! As many of you know, one of my favourite culinary indulgences is ice cream - well here I am being made an ice-cream sundae at our table! Much walking and swimming will be required to compensate I feel!

Part of our seadays track. Not sure why we did the little dogleg out to sea but Peter is keen to find out. We were watching the tracker at the time - he had plenty of scary reasons to suggest to me!

After dinner as we headed back out to the Pacific from Castro - with an easy moon to find for James!

From our veranda - our first snow viewing!

Peter found a warm spot to view the fjords (and continue working on his computer).

And another spot closer to the front.

But as we approached the El Bruno Glacier we braved the cold with many others.

It was quite spectacular!

There was little wind so although it was cold it was quite pleasant outside.

It looks like we really only saw a small portion of this large glacier.

As we continued on our way there was much ice in the water.

This ship didn't travel so well through the Sarmiento Channel. The SS Santa Leonor was originally very active in WWII but then sold to a private company. She sank in 1968 due to the 'momentary error of the Chilean pilot'.

The late afternoon pool caviar party in full swing.

Peter tasting the caviar with Sue and Kerry from Australia!

We spent the day in Punta Arenas, our last Chilean stop.

We won't forget where we were!

Working harbour but much bird life!

Most of the competitors were part of tour groups moving from location to location to compete. A finisher in the half marathon whom we spoke to had just came from Antarctica where they ran on gravel roads around the Russian base. He fell and cut himself as it was very rough - they then had to camp while waiting for their return flight. He had been extremely cold!

Beautiful park - now which direction will we walk?

Punta Arenas walking highlights- street markets,........

.....a huge cemetery with unusual tree trimming........

.....and colourful buildings with murals.

Then back to the ship for formal night.

Early morning rise - about to enter Glacial Alley.

We cruised past many glaciers at different stages of melting.

Just spectacular!

Whenever we are scenic cruising or there is wildlife around, the expedition staff (in yellow) are always near by to give information and answer questions.

There was also a champagne breakfast to enjoy while watching the view - we resisted (just too early!)

But I did find a much better way to enjoy the view! (No champagne- maybe next time!)

Docking at Ushuaia, Argentina.

Our veranda is immediately above the gangway - made for interesting viewing as these men put it together - if only we understood Spanish to know why they were laughing all the time.

We decided to walk rather than take the bus tour.

We spied our ship while walking the hills of Ushuaia.

The Argentine Navy wasn't far away.

Lucky we didn't need to walk on this pier!

Our boots arrived today so I decided to try all my gear on - here I have my thermals plus middle layer.

Now I have my double layered parka and waterproof pants as well. Just missing my double layered gloves, neck gater, sunglasses and double beanies🤣 I've decided I should be warm enough and can still move BUT how am I going to get out my phone let alone take photos??

Now just over 550 nautical miles to Antarctica!

Half way across the Drake - with an apparent wind speed of 5 knots - very lucky!

I went for a swim -the water was warm but the air was cold - perhaps why I didn't have any company!

There were others in the spa though!

Poolside lunch cooked by the chief chef (he did put on a jacket not long after this - the air temperature was hovering around zero!)

Ice in the water of Yankee Harbour, but the zodiacs are off!

Our first Antarctica selfie - now we are off to explore!

We were able to observe a large breeding colony of Gentoo Penguins.

This one is still sitting on a pebble nest, which keeps the eggs dry.

These three seals kept adjusting their positions - all trying to be on top!

Our ship's track as it heads out of Yankee Harbour and we head to dinner!

After dinner we braved the cold to look at this impressive ice berg - A57A it is called!

But very quickly we realised the need for warmer clothes!

It measures over 40 metres tall and with only 20% above water this is a huge iceberg. It has actually broken off from a 26 kilometre iceberg!

As we were watching from our veranda a section broke off the end.

We then went past this very different looking sheer iceberg.

The view from our balcony the next morning - this is the Argentine Camara Station on Half Moon Island.

A colony of over 3000 breeding pairs of Chinstrap Penguins enjoy the magnificent views of Half Moon Island as well as various birds and seals.

They are gorgeous!

My first attempt at including a video! (It seems to work even though the arrow may be hard to see - just to the right of the penguin!) We were drilled about not crossing orange ropes, but this penguin missed that lesson!

This fur seal emerged from the water just as we were walking by.

We were on our way to see these blue whale bones which were over 100 years old from a whale that was at least 100 years old when he died.

We followed the red flags for our walk in the snow.

Heading back to the ship - we had stayed longer than most in our group and hence had a zodiac almost to ourselves!

Our warm gear was also needed for our scenic cruising of Deception Island that night.

But there was always food and drinks on offer!

This penguin has found a sheltered spot from the snow.

We rounded the corner of the Island, which is actually an active volcano and entered the sheltered caldera centre, one of the safest harbours in Antarctica. The black land is ash left after the latest eruption in 1969 which destroyed some bases and also the remains of an old whaling station. The entrance was just wide enough to allow us to slowly move in \240- and out!

The next day was quite rough with winds gusting to 55 knots - made for some interesting movement of both people and furniture around the ship (notice the snow on the veranda).

While all zodiac trips have been cancelled for today, the views are still great and extra talks and entertainment have been added to the ship's activities!

We woke Friday to brilliant sunshine, anchored off Torgensen Island. We were the first group out on the zodiacs and although it doesn't look like it in this sheltered bay, over 20 knot winds made it borderline as to whether we would go out. It was bumpy and we were soaked - but I loved it! Funny Adelie Penguins and lazy seals were abundant.

The colder it was, the easier it was to do laps because no one was sharing my space! My 60 or so laps each time mightn't have added to much distance, but it felt like I was at least doing some exercise- needed to counteract the delicious bountiful food and drinks!

It wasn't just the caviar that was on ice for our afternoon pool party! (Jan, our cruise director is on the left).

That night as we cruised the Lemaire Channel, daylight sailing sights turned into.....

colourful night light......

that continued to change colours as we watched.

Just unbelievable to witness.

And later again from our veranda!

Australia Day saw us cruising past spectacular icebergs to...

....the Chilean joint navy and airforce base - Gonzalez Videla.

It was too hard to pick one or two Gentoo Penguin photos so here are a few!

Penguins are noisy and smelly but oh so cute and funny.

This fellow is fine - it was just such a hot day that he was cooling off!

This almost white (leucistic not albinic) penguin is very rare but has been coming here to breed for over 10 years.

There has been an obvious Christian influence in each place we have visited - even in Antarctica!

This yacht has a major problem - on the left there are men in the water trying to fix it so they can sail back over the Drake Passage.

I much prefer our ride over rough seas!

Heading back - note the red carpet put out by the base - but the Chilean navy lady next to Peter was checking us carefully!

This was in our room when we got back (koala?). They also had 'Australian' food all day and hosted a Cocktail Party just for the Aussies. All good fun!

That night we headed off course because there had been whale sightings not far away - we cruised for hours with whales all around. Great to watch - just hard to photograph with an iPhone in freezing conditions!

Sunday morning saw us stopped near Enterprise Island, a spectacular area and rich in whaling history. It was calm but cold and snowing!

This bird decided to do a low fly over our zodiac!

This used to be a whaling factory ship - the Governoren, but it caught fire during the processing in 1915.

Today it was sheltering numerous private yachts - note the divers on the yacht immediately to the left of the wreck - too cold to swim I think!

Amazingly some whales decided to check us out! They came right up to the other zodiac - the driver, a whale researcher, was retiring after decades of studying whales in Antarctica- it was as if they were saying goodbye!

I was so in awe that I stopped taking photos, but Peter managed this video.

As we departed Antarctica later that afternoon, we were invited to do some cold swimming ourselves. The pool was filled with sea water and the air was freezing- we resisted but over 40 passengers and staff took the plunge, followed by the hot spa and drinks!

These delicious shortbread biscuits were left in our room as we started our Drake Passage journey north.

Green was quite okay for our trip north, not as good as blue but for many days of late, waves in the Drake Passage have been in the orange to red range!

Well on our way to the Falkland Islands.

It was just like swimming in waves!

We anchored on the calm side of New Island and then walked to the extremely windy side.

The bay where we again had a wet landing (love those boots!) was just beautiful!

It was a lovely walk....

....but it became steeper and windier!

The view was worth the climb. This rather large albatross walked along the path and thought he needed to stop at the orange rope too!

Hidden in the rocks were Penguins and Albatross chicks trying to shelter from the wind.

These penguins were aptly called Rockhopper Penguins (this one is airborne - should really have taken a video!) and.....

...had these really cute hairy heads!

And back we headed to our ship!

Overnight we cruised around the Falklands and anchored at the capital Stanley.

These dolphins with large white stripes across their backs were abundant and friendly, following our tenders from ship to shore.

It was a very friendly place.....

.....and very British!

We took a cross country 4wheel drive trek.....

....to see these delightful fellows. (We were lucky with the weather- it was fine and sunny while we were out of the vehicles. Just before we arrived here there was a hail storm that others were caught in.)

It was really these King Penguins that we wanted to see as we hadn't seen any previously.

The 'bump' at the bottom is actually a chick that has yet to walk around. We did actually see one stick its head out to be fed. The lady overseeing the colony (or maybe just watching us to see we did the right thing) got very excited as this was the first King Penguin chick they had viewed for the season.

What was over the hill where we were told to walk?

English morning tea!!

Rather than head back to the ship after our tour, we walked around Stanley.......

......visiting monuments and a museum (the best we have seen in a long time) to learn about the Falkland history.

That night we of course had an English Pub Party!

Now we have 2 days at sea before visiting Uruguay and leaving our ship at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Heading north to Uruguay before the westward trek into Buenos Aires.

Heaters and blankets have disappeared to be replaced by swimming costumes and sun baking!

Peter walking the deck!

Lunch on our first day away from the Falklands was a special Galley Luncheon Event. Set up throughout the large Galley was a complete array of food served by the chefs. How they managed this without being able to restock for 12 days was amazing! It was delicious and fun. Indeed the food (and service) onboard this ship has surpassed any other we have been on - and we have been more than happy on our previous cruises.

The captain's farewell the next night was great!

We have returned to the tropics with our stop in Punta del Este in Uruguay.

As in other countries the Catholic Church was located on the only real hill - next to the Meteorology Station.

There was definitely a touristy beach feel!

We walked the 'rough' Atlantic side - very windy with choppy brown water.

We came across many sandy beaches filled with people - not many in the water though.

And as is common in South America, a shrine to Our Lady.

We found the popular sculptured fingers - couldn't really find out why they were built.

The calm side (where we were anchored) was quite different.

There were boats of many different types. The fishermen are cleaning and selling their catch under the roof on the right. Where the people have gathered there are three large very friendly seals in the water eating the scraps! At one point they were up on the boards.

The busy waters can be seen as we head back on the tender to our ship. We watched many children taking part in a sailing race!

Our track to our final port of call - Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Tricky hedge trimming!

To us, the architecture and many gardens give it a feel of a mix between Paris and Barcelona in many parts.....

.....with their own Argentine features.

The 14 lane wide boulevard makes it easy to see the police convoy - not sure what was happening here, but there are police on most corners throughout the city. It makes you feel safe rather than being scary.

There are colourful areas, such as this in Boca, that seem exciting during the daytime but you are warned not to go there at night. Note the policeman in the acqua vest.

At one point, we took an interesting walking tour. Our guide is the lady in black. We thought she should have had more comfortable shoes for cobble stones!

Statues everywhere, often with one of the Pope in the middle.

We noticed this through one open door in the alley way - there were street restaurants everywhere, most selling traditional Argentine steak.

Eva Peron's (Evita) mausoleum in the famous Recoleta Cemetary.

Peter found some friends to have afternoon tea with at the \240iconic Cafe La Biela.

That night (very late for us) we went to a Tango performance with dinner.

Just a few more things we saw as we walked today.....

A beautiful shopping mall,....

.....exquisite navy building in the middle of the shopping area,.....

......and a common occurrence- fixing the broken down car on site, regardless of location.

Flying over the Andes on our way to Santiago was a little scary......

...but very impressive.

We are about to board our Qantas plane home via Sydney. We have been blessed with an outstanding holiday in South America. Thank you to all who have been following us and for your enthusiastic replies.