by Ian | Sep 10, 2018 | Mont Blanc 2018, News
I write this having found accommodation at the last minute due to discovering our planned refuge for tomorrow night failed to get a permit for this season (that would explain the lack of response!). With typical Swiss efficiency, the errors in our email were highlighted and corrected and we were told that we weren’t lucky to get a space, but it was unusual for us to get beds at such late notice!
To give you all a quick update, over the course of yesterday a couple of the team members picked up injuries which meant that they withdrew at various stages of the route. Meeting in Courmayeur (Italy), the team split with 3 of them crossing back into France via the Mont Blanc Tunnel, they then proceeded by train, tram and bus into Switzerland and onto Champex. The transport officials surprised the team by their laid back approach to tickets (I think we saved about half the travel fair as a result!). Our final leg on the bus was clearly the drivers last journey of the day and he had better places to be, his driving lessons were clearly conducted on a rally course!
While the walking team crossed from Italy into Switzerland this morning, the team carrying injuries booked accommodation and sourced lunch for the next day (while taking the opportunity for a refreshing dip in the glacial Champex Lac!).
As I type, the team are arriving at the hostel in time for dinner!
Jamie
by Ian | Sep 5, 2018 | Mont Blanc 2018
I’m writing this from over 10,000m up as we travel at over 800km/h across the English Channel on our way to Geneva. Geneva is just the start of our adventure!
As We’ll then travel onto Chamonix, which is the home of Alpine adventure before we start our trek on Friday morning.
However, just a few hours ago after we met up last night at the new home of the newly married Mr & Mrs Robinson (bearing in mind that Mrs Rosemary Robinson is spending her honeymoon with us and without Mr Robinson) we were on the M25 queuing in traffic to get to Heathrow airport. A coffee and bacon role later and here we now are aboard this BA flight.
Anyway, Friday we’ll start our six day trek of the Trail du Mont-Blanc. Staying in a mix of Alpine Refuges and wild camping as we cover the 170km distance and 10,000m of height gain through three countries.
Have fun..
Alan
by Ian | Jan 1, 2018 | News
Today we woke up early to be out the hostel by 6:00 and had a quick shower before heading out to the tourist centre to get on the penguin tour. We were on the boat by 8:00 and headed out.
We had a quick brief about how the tour was going to happen but halfway through we were interrupted by some of the crew members calling for everyone to look as there were whales. It was a large female and her calf and we saw a few flashes of the fins before going back inside the boat. It was such a great experience to see something so unusual, as they were swimming quite shallow, so close to the end of our trip.
The guide finished the talk and we settled into the rest of the 45 minute journey to Mangella Island. Once there we were given an hour to walk around, admire the penguins and take pictures. The penguins are raising their chicks at the moment so there were lots of little fluffy chicks and busy parents. Including Happy Feet!
We got back in the boat and warmed up while cruising towards Sea Lion Island. The Sea Lions were abundant. They varied in size as they too were raising their young. There were some very sweet fluffy ones as well as Mamouth adult males fighting. We continued back and arrived safely back to shore by 12;00, although Tilda did get enormously splashed by the sea spray while outside admiring the ocean.
Back at the hostel we all had a snooze and a relax after such a early morning. The participants were in dinner duty and after a bit of a situation with the shopping we sat down to a lovely last meal in Punta Arenas. We shared some drinks and played some games before heading out to the beach where the city had gathered for the New Year. Although there was no count down and it was all a bit different there was lots of whooping and smiles as we made the into 2018 HAPPY NEW YEAR! The firework display on the beach was great and after that Tilda hurtled into the freezing sea for a midnight swim. It was a cold walk back for hot chocolate and star gazing. And then bed before an early riser to catch the flight on New Years Day.
by Ian | Dec 31, 2017 | News
We’ve had a busy few days since we last updated you so here we go.
Christmas Eve started with a trip south of the city to Fuertre Bulnes. This was the first settlement in the area and we found it fascinating to see how the settlers survived the harsh conditions. Montserrat also led us on a walk around the area to several viewpoints where we could look out over the Magellan Strait. On the way back we stopped at a small family owned café for some amazing empanadas.
Later on in the evening we gathered for Christmas Eve. Rob and Rich were at their house and everyone else was at Jonathan’s house. At Jonathan’s we feasted on some of the best food we’d ever seen until we were stuffed full. In Chile they celebrate Christmas at midnight on Christmas Eve so the house was full of anticipation, counting down the minutes. Eventually it came and we joyfully opened our presents. We played a few Christmas games and then hit the sack.
Christmas day was a lazy one. We had a nice chilled morning calling our loved ones and eating more food. In the afternoon we headed to Nomadesk for more Christmas celebrations. We had a huge traditional barbecue with a whole lamb spit roasted over the embers. We gave each other our secret santa gifts and had a good laugh.
On Boxing Day we went on a overnight camp to Montserrat’s scout groups campsite. We did a day hike down to the southernmost lighthouse on the American continent. On the return walk a pod of dolphins came close to the shore and played. Ellis though it was so cool that she started crying.
In the evening we relaxed around the campfire sharing stories and eating marshmallows. We also celebrated Ellis’s birthday with some cake.
The next day we did some community projecting by clearing up the campsite. The amount that people litter shocked the team but we managed to clear up a lot of it to make a difference. For lunch we had a barbecue on the beach and then headed out to sea for kayaking. After the tiring day the team headed back to their respective homes for a good night’s sleep.
Today was a other community projecting day. We headed to a local school where we cleared up their gardening patch. It was hard work but by the end there was a huge improvement. After the gardening, we went to Nomadesk where we did a presentation to scouts and parents. They asked lots of questions and it was a really good night.
We said our emotional goodbyes to the families we had been staying with and went to our hostel. We then went to a local museum about the history of Punta Arenas. The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping before we went back to our hostel and had a water fight.
Today we went to an awesome boat museum with 1:1 replicas of the ships that the first explorers used. One of the boats had a litter of kittens in it which meant that it took us about half an hour to get Ellis away from them. Rob and Dan then wrestled Jonathan on some grass. They both lost. Afterwards we went to meet another local Scout Group in the city, swapping stories and discussing the similarity (and differences) between Scouting in Chile and the UK. In the evening we went to Bar Bulnes, a restaurant which sells pizza by the meter. The 4 guys made a fatal error and ordered 2 meters of pizza between them. Needless to say, there was a lot left over for breakfast the next day. We rolled back to our hostel and prepared ourselves for a busy following day.
Today we had quite an early start at 5:30. This is because we went on a penguin tour at a local island. We also saw a whale and sea lions which got us all very excited. We had a cheeky siesta back at the hostel before heading out to prepare for dinner. 
by Ian | Dec 25, 2017 | News
Tuesday 19th Dec
This morning we got up relatively early and got ready to walk along lago grey to refugio grey. The weather treated us well and the walk was quite flat at the beginning. Before we hit lago grey, we stopped to view lago pato which means duck lake in Spanish. The walk today was 11km in total, and we were very keen to get to the campsite because later that day we wanted to walk slightly further on to a grey glacier viewpoint.
Once at the campsite we set up our tents in a mosquito ridden wooded area. After this, we then carried on to the glacier viewpoint which Nico had been raving about all day. It was spectacular, the view was indeed phenomenal! We could very clearly see the huge chunk of ice that had broken off the glacier just 2-3 weeks previously. The glacier itself and also the icebergs were insanely blue to our surprise, which contrasted with the grey lake. The best view was in the middle of a suspended bridge, which was 150 foot above the ground! It was here, by the glacier, that we officially finished the w trek.
Wednesday 20th December
Today we just walked back to Paine Grande campsite, next to lago Pehoe. When we arrived it was super windy and we rushed to erect our tents in the sporadic 5 minutes of sunshine. As a team, there was definitely a sadness in the air, as we knew we would soon be departing from our new friends, Nico and Pablo. We spent the afternoon playing pictionary and cards.
Our last dinner as a team of 10 was……. Controversial. New HSX rule: never mix cous cous, tomato sauce, tuna, salami and ham!
At around 10pm the participants decided to go and sit on a hill to watch the sunset. The only problem was, there were clouds in the way! Nevertheless, a good team experience.
Thursday 21st December
We woke up early this morning and packed our tents away before breakfast so that we wouldn’t miss our catamaran across lago Pehoe. Our guides had managed to use their charm to get us some extra breakfast food which was much appreciated! When queuing for the catamaran, we saw a family of geese entering the water which was just adorable. The water was incredibly clear and a turquoise blue colour. At the other end, we were picked up by Manu. The bus ride back to Punta Arenas via Puerto Natales was a sleepy one. In Puerto Natales we gauged ourselves in the famous Masay pizza shop. Most of us had the highly recommended sandwiches which were huge!
It was then time to say goodbye to our friends/guides. It was so sad as they had become a big part of our expedition family. We wished them well and a merry christmas before continuing our journey to our hostel in Punta Arenas.
For dinner, our scouting friend Montserrat joined us for steaks as big as our faces! We were so happy to be eating different food to cous cous!
Friday 22nd December
This morning we had breakfast at the hostel and then headed over to Nomad Desk. We went here in order to be picked up by our scouting families. We are in 3 groups, each with a member of the local Punta Arenas scouting unit. After settling in for a few hours, we all met back up again at the main square, along with some other local scouts, and Montserrat. Together we visited the regional museum which had lots of stuffed native animals and an abundance of information about the indigenous people of the South of Chile. We discovered that due to the introduction of Europeans, unfortunately none of the indigenous people survived because of disease and alcoholism. It is very much apparent that there is still a very strong respect for the indigenous people of South Chile.
We said goodbye to the local scouts after our museum trip and did a little bit of secret santa shopping before heading to a Christmas party for people who worked at the Nomad Desk. We all had a completo, which is a hot dog with traditional fillings, and also joined in some magic tricks!
Saturday 23rd December
This morning we had a relaxed morning at our houses and then met up in the late morning to do some charity present wrapping at a local supermarket. We were raising money for the local scout group so that they can buy tents and supplies for the unit. The supermarket was absolutely huge and had many smaller shops within it. Tilda was named the master gift wrapper!
In the afternoon we all headed out to another Christmas party! This time we were celebrating with the local scout unit, the same one that our hosts are a part of.
This was the most crazy event, ever. There was a lot of loud singing, stomping and dancing! There were scouts and guides of all ages and each troop had their own chant that was often shouted out. We took part in some of the games and songs, and were welcomed by the whole unit with drumming of hands on the floor. Ellis also stood in the middle of the room with a couple of other scouts whilst the entire room sang happy birthday!
The event finished with a nativity fancy dress, a leader dressed as santa who gave out presents, and some beef mince wraps. As well as this, every body was given a small circle of paper, and a crayon to write a new years resolution on it, and these were collected in a yellow paper bucket.
We then all headed back to our homes for the evening to socialise more with our Chilean families.
