New Year in the Deep South

Happy 2008 Everybody!
I have finally recovered from my excesses of New Years Eve and am in a position to give you a bit of an update!

I travelled from Mendoza on the evening of the 26th back to Buenos Aires for one night. As ever in BA, the night was long and alcohol fuelled but it was really nice to meet up with lots of friends made there.
Next day I got a flight from BA down to Ushuaia and settled into the B&B I´d booked.

Ushuaia (http://www.e-ushuaia.com/ingles/index.htm) claims to be the most southerly city in the world and sits on the Beagle channel. The port is the main base for ocean cruises to the Antarctic and Falklands. The town itself is a little disjointed due to volumes of tourists and others passing through. As a result their is little character or atmosphere but it makes up for it with great expense. The biggest shock to the system however was the temperature. Even though its summer here the temperature is similar to that of the UK, a noticeable change from the heat of BA/Mendoza.

I have enjoyed many activities, including visiting the prison (wouldn´t want to stay there!) and a cruise up the Beagle Channel to see Penguins and Seals. The cruise was very good apart from the journey back in which conditions on the catamaran got a little rough. 70% of the people inside disappeared with sick bags and the smell wasn´t very pleasant. I managed to keep it together but still felt giddy hours after disembarkation.
This episode somewhat put me off the idea I had of trying to join a 10 day Antarctic cruise (well that and the $6000 price tag!).

New Years Eve was celebrated at a hostel with a large group of friends and a BBQ being cooked by the Kiwis in the rain. The meat once again was good and the beer flowed (perhaps a little too well). I then was volunteered to "do a funnel" which involves drinking liquid though a hose and large funnel (as the name would suggest). The main problem was that the beer had run out by this stage and so I was given Whiskey and Coke instead; this would have a great bearing on the whole evening!

I remember at 22:00 (local time) we opened the bubbly to celebrate the UK New Year; following this everything gets a little hazy and the rest is witness testimony!

I apparently saw in the New Year but en route to the nightclub downed tools and refused to go any further so I was kindly taken back to the hostel where I awoke the following morning with little recollection of any other events. Thankfully I was not ill but my self abuse led me to feel so awful that I did not get up till approx 18:30.
Big thank you to individuals involved for making my New Year so special and ensuring that I got home in one piece, you know who you are!

I am now greatly looking forward to my month free of hangovers and liver regeneration prior to leaving South America and heading to NZ. I moved hostels last night and met an English fireman who is going to be on the same flight. On arrival in Auckland we plan to watch the NZ vs England Twenty20 Cricket and celebrate my dry spell ending! (I don´t learn!).

Heading north (as the only way is up) to El Calafate on Sunday for some glacier spotting and trekking. So until the next time this is JP signing out and wishing you all well for 2008 from the bottom of the world (and my heart!)