Julie and I live in Australia.  My parents live in California.  We both travel a bit, which is great fun, but none of us had ever been to Buenos Aires before.  So what do you think are the odds that all of us would be in BA at the same time, and over New Year’s Eve to boot? And more so, what are the odds that we would later both be in Ushuaia, the Argentinian town at the southern end of the continent, and both starting our respective cruises on the same day?  You couldn’t make this up and yet that’s exactly what happened.

After returning from Iguaçu Falls we met my parents for drinks and dinner that night in Buenos Aires, really one of the most amazing coincidences of all time.  Completely unbeknown to each other, we had planned South American trips which happened to cross here in Buenos Aires and later in Ushuaia before our  cruise to Antarctica and their cruise along the dramatic coastline of Patagonia.  So what a great chance – if not a little surreal – to chum around together for a day or so in BA and Ushuaia.

We spent the next morning  exploring some old historic Jesuit churches, the best of which was Santo Domingo, before making our way to the bohemian, artsy crafty area of San Telmo.  We hit a few shops, walked through the veg and meat market, had a relaxing coffee in Plaza Dorrigo.  After lunch at a sidewalk cafe on the famous walking street of Avenida Florida we caught a taxi to the amazing Recoleta Cemetery.

Recoleta Cemetery is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world, if that’s something special.  It is the permanent home of many famous people, including past presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, even a grand daughter of Napoleon.  The cemetery contains almost 5,000 above ground vaults, some of them as huge mausoleums that house generations of wealthy families.  The architectural style and elaborate art work of these vaults show how families would compete to outdo each other.

Most family crypts had stairs down to where caskets were stacked up plus the main caskets above ground.  It was a little ghoulish but mostly just fascinating to see how during 150 years of BA history the elite would bury themselves.  We saw national presidents, doctors, poets, engineers, athletes, numerous presidents of the Jockey Club (wow!), and most famous – Eva Peron, wife and emotional leader of three time president and national hero Juan Peron.

That night was New Year’s Eve so we joined my parents’ travel group in a little theatre where we sat in the third row and saw an outstanding Tango show with music and singing as well.  The dancers were very impressive – athletic, strong and graceful while dancing at a furious pace in beautiful costumes.  Excellent stuff.  The Tango show was followed by a great dinner upstairs, champagne at midnight, a little dancing (not Tango!) and a great celebration to welcome in the new year, Argentinian style.

The next morning the four of us visited the neighbourhood of BA known as La Boca and the famous Caminito (little walkway) area where the residents have painted their homes in bright colours and in some cases added murals or even large life size characterised people hanging from windows or on balconies. Again, such a unique and special place, nothing like it anywhere else in the world.

It was great fun, photogenic and relaxing to wander amongst those cobblestone streets enjoying the local art and colour.  We enjoyed a coffee at an outdoor café before saying good bye to my parents and catching our three hour domestic flight to the southern port town of Ushuaia, gateway to Antarctica.  Were we pumped or what?

Ushuaia is known as the southern most town in the world and from our window seat appeared through the pillowy clouds, smallish and desolate between the water and snow capped mountains.  With one lavish circle around the airport we landed at a small but nice modern airport (still partly under construction).  We were met by a girl from the cruise company and whisked off to our hotel.

Ushuaia has a mountain frontier feeling with beautiful snow cap peaks to the north coming right down to the town.  The Beagle Channel and off-shore Chilean islands are spread out to the south.  Some buildings were new and modern, others old and run down, like the town wasn’t sure of its identify.  But you could feel the remoteness of the place, the grand setting squeezed between mountains and sea, the crisp air, perfect daylight despite being almost 10pm.  After all, we were on the tip of South America!

We used that first night to grab a meal and explore the town, putting on an extra layer as we strolled around in the fading southern light.  We stood on the wharf between the fishing boats and cruise boats in the harbour and the snow-capped mountains looming tall behind us.  We ambled along the main street and window shopped from one end to the other, just pinching ourselves that we were on the edge of the world and will soon be embarking on the trip of a lifetime.  This is what travel is all about.

We hired a little VW for the day, as is our way, to give us full freedom to explore the nearby region.  A quick fun drag of the two main streets and then we headed out towards Tierra del Fuego National Park on a cold overcast day.  We also quickly learned a local driving rule in this unique town where the cross roads were usually quite steep as they came down the mountain towards the water.  The traffic travelling downhill had right of way across busy intersections, no matter what.  It took a little getting used to and a couple of tooted horns before I was on top of it.

As it happened, in comparing itineraries with my parents two days prior we learned we would both be in Ushuaia for one night before our different trips south, us way south, them around Cape Horn and up into the Chilean fiords.  Unfortunately they had flight delays and other logistical problems prevented us from catching up as we had hoped.

We drove out on dirt roads to the Tierra del Fuego National Park which marked the southern tip of mainland Argentina as the rain started to come down.  The track was muddy and the visibility was low but we were keen to see whatever we could see.  We had a whale of a time, exploring every road to its end, stopping for photos amongst its water inlets, tall thick trees, towering mountains.

At Bahia de Ensenada the sun came out, the bay was sparklingly beautiful and the snow-capped mountains peaked through the clouds – unbelievable.  We took a short walk along the shoreline through the thick twisted wind-swept pine trees covered in moss with the great views across the water.  This was our first of many weather lessons in this part of the world – it changes all the time, don’t take it for granted and don’t worry about it.

More exploring by VW, a few old bridges, twisty turns and scenic lookouts before we arrived at the end of the road on Lapataia Bay.  This was the terminus for the southern-most road in South America and the end of National Route 3, a total of 3,079 kms from Buenos Aires and an amazing 17,848 kms from Alaska.  Now that is a serious road trip!  Do you think we took a couple of photos?

From a nearby boardwalk we took the Sendale de la Baliza walk further up the western coastline through soft peat fields (like walking on a waterbed) and lush grasses to a long creek area which was an active beaver colony. Beavers are a controversial imported animal to the region and arguably have done great damage to the environment.  All around us was evidence of same, a field of gnawed tree stumps up to the diameter size of a basketball and dams in the water.  It was a bizarre surreal scene (Argentina or Canada?) but we didn’t see any beavers, despite having a picnic lunch amongst the stumps on the bank of the dammed creek.

We did a few other short walks in the park, including one along the shore of the bay to as far as we were allowed to go, as evidenced by old signs and rusty barbed wire down to the water’s edge (is this the Chilean border?).  Overall it was great fun and the whole park deserved much more time.  But we’ve got bigger plans on our agenda and the day was coming to a close so we hoofed it back to Ushuaia.

The next day we had a few things we wanted to do before meeting our fellow cruisers and boarding our mighty vessel for Antarctica.  We did a bit of shopping, bought last minute supplies, visited The End of the World Museum (very good) and a enjoyed a slow lunch.

We made our way down to the pier with the other Antarctic explorers, through customs and then down on the wharf.  To our left was my parents’ smaller sleek modern cruise ship, very impressive.  They would be travelling in comfort through Patagonia and the Chilean archipelago.

On the other side of the pier the mighty Akademik Ioffe was waiting for us, larger than any other ship in port, freshly painted white, tall and square like a container vessel, not very attractive at first sight.  Zodiacs and kayaks were piled up on the back, a large crane was still loading food up in the bow, a hive of activity all around.  This was going to be our home for the next 16 days.

Up the gang plank and into our little cabin with our two bags safely waiting inside for us.  It was both cosy and roomy if that was possible – two bunk beds, a writing desk with overhead shelves, a lounge under the two portholes, ample cupboards and shelves and hanging room and a sink and mirror.  We shared toilets and showers down the corridor with other travellers.  Not too bad.

We raced up from our Deck 3 room – conveniently opposite the dining room and close to the bar – to the very top above Deck 6 for a great view of the harbour, pier, other boats, the town and the surrounding mountains.  The air was still and relatively warm and the sun was shining.  It was not a view I will soon forget.  I took a hunch and rang my mother who was now on their ship across the pier.  In one of the most bizarre and coincidental moments of all time they came out on deck and we waved to each other and spoke by phone from our respective decks.  From the pier in Ushuaia Argentina.  As you do.  It was a fun way to end our unique time with them in Argentina.

We pushed off from the pier at about 7pm, slowly but grandly motoring down the Drake Passage, past little settlements on both the Argentinean coast (port side) and Chilean (starboard) coast (already getting into that nautical talk).  We couldn’t get enough of the scene from the top, eventually spotting some Magellan penguins in the water nearby and a sea lion on a little rock island.

Dinner was served at 7.30 pm in the communal room, a place we would come to know very well over the next 16 days, then back on deck to watch the Argentinean pilot leave our ship at 10.30. We eventually went to bed by 11.30, reluctantly to say the least.  We constantly had to almost pinch ourselves that this amazing adventure was now beginning.  It was an dream come true for both of us, started by great first day!