We are becoming accustomed to the long range bus journeys here. Our latest, the 16 hour hop from Bariloche, near the Chilean border to Puerto Madryn, on the Atlantic coast, followed the pattern that is developing. We get on the bus late afternoon/early evening and are treated to a couple of pretty decent films, in English, with Spanish subtitles. However, the volume is always at an annoying low/medium level where action scenes and arguments can be heard easily, but intimate conversations can't...as a result, following the plots can be difficult. So if anyone can tell me what happens at the end of "Under Suspicion" with Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman, Id appreciate it. I gathered that big Genes character confessed to the 2 murders, but then there was a bit of a twist, and I think someone else confessed instead with inconclusive proof, and so Gene was lying to give his wife a new life...so I thought, anyway...he was walking out of the police station at the end, but Id like a confirmation, please.

Anyway, after the films, we get a reasonable meal, then its up with the leg rests, out with the blankets, and back go the chairs for a night's sleep. In the morning, the arid, featureless Patagonian steppes haven't changed at all, so they liven up the journey with a bit of bus bingo, with the prize of a bottle of wine. This is a great opportunity to practice my Spanish numbers. I actually came pretty close to winning...ironically enough, I was in need of a 69, but it never arrived.

Anyway, we had a few days in the coastal town of Puerto Madryn. This was founded by Welsh settlers in the 1860s, and nowadays is a popular town for people visiting the wildlife extravaganza at the neighbouring Valdes peninsula. The land is dull and featureless, with no water, so the odd ostrich, guanaco and armadillo aside, it isn't really worth a second life...but the sealife...now there's a different thing. We went on a whale spotting trip...it was the end of the season, but a few mother and calf sets were still about and we headed off under a scorching sun hopeful of seeing these Southern Right Whales. Well, we weren't disappointed...a young calf, very inquisitive, came up literally 3 feet from the boat to have a look. We were in the right position to be sprayed by his blowhole, and watched in amazement as this huge creature swam around and under the boat. After a while, his mother came along as well, and was huge...17 meters long, and weighing around 40 tonnes. Quite a sight.

There he blows!: Whale calf, Puerto Madryn

Being well chuffed at seeing the whales, we then headed for a seal colony, then a penguin colony, and got really close up with these creatures. Finally, we headed to the north of the peninsula, where there is a sea lion colony. This place is also home of one of the most spectacular sights in nature...you may have seen the BBC or National Geographic footage of huge 9 tonne killer whales (Orcas) riding waves onto the beach where they snatch a seal or two for dinner. That was filmed here, and apparently, its the only place where Orcas do this. Anyway, suffice to say that the Orcas were having a day off from beachside seal massacres, and we didn't see this. And I didn't even have the consolation of watching the seals amuse themselves by balancing beach balls on their nose...apparently they don't do this in the wild. But still, it was a great day.

Magellanic Penguin

We also had time in Puerto Madryn to take stock of our finances. The advent of internet banking has made things really easy for me to see what's going on, but until now wed not really looked in great detail at our expenditure. Anyway, it turns out were spending a bit too much...we have done loads of relatively expensive trips, treks and other exciting stuff...paragliding, mountain climbing, scuba diving, and a host of sightseeing trips to exotic and inaccessible places. And having to buy 2 extra flights and 2 weeks in the highlife of Rio and Buenos Aires didn't help either. So now we had to cut back a little...we don't want to compromise on sightseeing and doing cool stuff, so we started with agreeing to buy most of our breakfasts and lunches at the supermarket, rather than at cafes...this bit was easy. Rachael was good at picking out cheap stuff, and the cheapest brand of chocolate milk had a picture of a chimpanzee on the front of the carton, so I was happy! We are also going to stay in dorm rooms in the more expensive places now. Not big changes, but it will save a bit of money, and with Tahiti and Fiji coming up, we will need to save a few pennies!

With time moving on, we had to get going, but we took a day to go and visit Gaiman, near the town of Trelew, again, near the Valdes peninsula. This is a really "Welsh" town, apparently, though I didn't see a single teenage mum in a shell suit, shaven headed youths sniffing glue, or even a souped up XR2i being driven by an ear-ringed young man in a muscle top...(sorry mum!). Gaiman, like a few of the other Welsh towns is a bit touristy, and attracts daytrippers to sample Welsh teas, and we didn't disappoint. The tea, with scones, homemade bread and plum jam, was actually pretty reminiscent of my mamgu's (grandmothers). The scene was completed by the naff "map of Wales" tea towels on the walls. We strolled around the town, and saw the tiny cottages built back in the pioneering days, the chapel and school, that also looked typically turn of the century Welsh. It really was like I was back in my uncle's house looking at the faded black and white photos.

Chapel, and oh look, it's 1890...all black & white, like

Anyway, we headed to the tiny Welsh museum, where a lovely old lady with a beautiful Welsh/Spanish accent told me how there are a few families that still speak Welsh, and showed me around the museum - again, the faded old photos, the thrones of the Patagonian Eisteddfiod, and other trinkets, furniture, and bits and bobs that really took me back to my childhood. I told her all about Cwmllynfell, and it actually made me homesick for a place that Ive never actually called home. It must have been really hard for the hardy souls who ventured here 140 years ago. There was also a young guy from Wales there, who had arrived a week ago, and hadn't been allowed to leave, being asked to dinner by most of the families in town, appearing on local radio, and generally being fussed over. He was loving it, but the town was more comatose than sleepy, and he looked as if he could do with the bright lights of Buenos Aires. It was hard to leave the lovely little town of Gaiman, but we had a plane to catch - although we were already further south than all of Australia, and most of New Zealand, we had another 1400 miles to go even further south...to the place they call the end of the world.

Ushuaia lighthouse

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world. It is 3500 miles from the Bolivian border, in the north of the country, and only 600 miles from Antarctica, and as a result, it is the base from where Antarctic expeditions and some tourist boats leave. There is one going on Wednesday, but its $2500 for 10 days. If I had time, I would definitely go to the one continent I haven't been to, but as it is, were on a budget now, and Ill have to make do with Tahiti. Oh well...

Tierra del Fuego National Park

This area of Patagonia is Tierra del Fuego or land of fire - named after the fires of the indigenous Indians by Magellan when he sailed through the straits that bear his name just north of here. We are actually on an island, not mainland South America anymore, and administratively, we are in the Argentinian Antarctic. Ushuaia itself is a busy little town nestled on the slopes of a mountain overlooking the Beagle channel, the cut through that ships used as an alternative to rounding Cape Horn, 30 miles south, and generally a graveyard for all kinds of ships. This channel bisects Argentina and Chile, and the snow covered mountains on both sides, bleak islands, and general remoteness give it a real feel of being at the end of civilisation. The trees growing sideways because of the incredible winds coming off the south Pacific and the 11pm sunsets and 3am sunrises only add to the atmosphere. Its real Lord of the Rings stuff, and stunningly beautiful.

Big daddy alpha male with harem, Ushuaia

We took a boat trip out to the Beagle channel, where Darwin sailed in the 1830s, and visited sea lions, cormorants, saw albatrosses, walked on the islands where the native Indians once lived, and generally took in the empty enormity of the place. We also trekked in the Tierra del Fuego national park, where we took the southernmost road in the world to its final car park, and also visited the excellent museum here that chronicles the settlement of this town (it was a penal colony once) as well as the Antarctic expeditions. We took advantage of the kitchen in our hostel to cook our own food, which made a nice change (and saved some money), and our only regret is that we didn't have more time to explore this incredible landscape at the end of the earth...again, a place to return to, after all, there is that 7th and last continent to cross off the list!

End of the Road: The end of Ruta 3, the last road in the world...only a short trip to Alaska, then

This travelogue was originally published here