January 25th, 26th Valparaiso, 27th

Thursday, January 25th. Last evening after dinner we went into the casino where I played ‘Craps’ (such a lively game) for the second time learning a bit more, in fact after half an hour I had tripled my stake (now I am ahead again) so I cashed in and went to the theatre with Alan. We went to see a comedian, Lenny Windsor, who used to write for Benny Hill, he was very amusing and this afternoon we went to hear about the life of Benny Hill, who was a very sad and lonely man. This morning I went to a lecture on emeralds whilst Alan went to a lecture on our next port, Valparaiso. It was only 12 degrees outside and the sea was like a mill pond with good visibility as we were in sight of Chile. There was a lot of enthusiasm because over the last three evenings the comet, McNaught, has been clearly visible crossing the night sky, we haven’t actually caught site of it yet, but we will keep trying as it should be around the southern hemisphere until February 9th. (This comet was discovered in Australia at the Siding Observatory, NSW, on August 7th, 2006 by Robert McNaught.) Because it was Burn’s Day today, we ordered our haggis to be served tomorrow evening instead of tonight. The haggis was paraded around the Golden Lion pub for all to see at lunch time, but there were far too many folks there so we avoided the event. We invited Wendy and Gray McHanlon for pre dinner drinks in our room before we all went to the Lotus restaurant for an Asian 5 course dinner, which was most enjoyable. Then we retired to the Commodore Club for drinks whilst the pianist entertained us. Friday, January 26th and we arrived in Valparaiso at 8.00am having cruised a further 1895 miles since Cape Horn and in total since leaving Southampton 12,908 nautical miles. This is Chile’s main industrial and naval port so we had to take a shuttle bus from the ship to the port gates and go through customs before we joined our tour bus. The Chilean immigration officer who had been on board since Puerto William left the ship here. There were three other ships in port and the Chileans had all come to town to stand and stare; it was so busy there that I was pleased we were moored a mile or so away at the breakwater next to the old Naval School and Academy. There were plenty of war ships opposite our balcony and we had small tour boats circling us all day. Our tour to the vineyards at Vina Mar in the Casablanca area began at 2.00pm with a half hour journey through the town of Valparaiso. The temperature was 26 degrees and very sunny. It was an amazing sight to see the avenues of grape vines en rout; they stretched for miles surrounded by beautiful mountains. We sampled only three wines and had a tour of the distillery, which was most informative. Prices began at $4 a bottle and we bought three bottles of Vina Tarapaca 2001 Gran Reserva cabernet sauvignon for $40! We will enjoy those sometime when we dine in our suite.

On our return journey we visited the popular Chilean summer resort of Vina del Mar. It is high summer here and school holidays so the beach was packed. Buskers do their acts in the middle of the road when the traffic lights change! We saw jugglers and acrobats three people high! We have been so impressed by the cheerful and friendly people of South America; they are all really pleasant and certainly not pushy. We returned to the ship just before she sailed at 7.00pm so it was a long day, and we were amongst the ‘few’ who bothered to dress and go down to dinner! We did so because that evening was the unveiling of the emerald collection!!!!! We did have an early night though. We set sail for Acapulco and I am looking forward to more sea days, I can’t get enough of them! The sea is so soothing and sitting on our balcony is a tonic. (With a gin and tonic!)
Saturday, 27th January and a quiet day at sea, with temperatures about 28 degrees
So I have been on the balcony watching the ocean and looking for dolphins, which everyone else seems to catch sight of except us. We have watched our DVD recordings to see what they have come out like, and talk about being an amateur – well I do need some practice! Anyway, I can only get better! Tonight we are at another champagne reception and it is formal again. We will be passing Easter Island and crossing the Tropic of Capricorn at 8.30pm this evening (we are still 3 hours behind you.)

January 22nd, 23rd Cape Horn, 24th

Monday, January 22nd was a lazy day. We started off our day with a lecture about Cape Horn to tell us about the new route we were taking. The Captain had negotiated with the Chilean authorities that after we had rounded the Horn in Drakes Passage (at approx. 9.00am) we could take an alternative route that involved turning the ship around and heading in a northerly direction again before joining the Beagle Channel where we would cruise westward to Puerto William for Chilean clearance (about 2.00pm) and then continue through the fiords past the ‘hanging glaciers’ leading to the Magellan Strait before reaching the Pacific Ocean. Cape Horn is the greatest sight of ship loss in the world (approx. 800 wrecks) – and at least 10,000 sailors have died there. Apparently, it is the westerly winds that mainly prevail and create the havoc where the ocean is extra deep and has undercurrents from the Drake Passage. Up to 1910 cargo ships were still sailing around the Cape. Alan rested after lunch and I spent the afternoon at the casino and then the gym before dinner on another formal evening.
Tuesday, January 23rd Cape Horn. Overnight we had sailed between the coast of Argentina and the Falkland Islands. At 9.00am we were on our balcony as we sailed toward Cape Horn with the wind in an easterly direction, which was amazingly in our favour as it meant that the sea was calmer than usual. The mist hovered above the mountains as we approached the Horn and the sun shone down on the many gigantic rocky projections from the ocean. We could clearly see the light house and penguins on one of the trajectories. I took lots of DVD film as we sailed around Cape Horn (seen in the photo) it was a magnificent sight to see and we were fortunate that we were on the starboard side for first sighting.

The south face of the Cape is called ‘the face of the Devil’ because sailors fear it so much; we sailed very close due to calm seas. After a half hour viewing, ballast was released to port side as the ship was turned for port side passengers to enjoy the views too. We then sailed northwards towards the Beagle Channel (named after Darwin’s ship ‘Beagle’) passing between enormous mountainous ranges. At 1.00pm we entered the narrow channel and a half hour later we were in the McKinsley Passage. At 2.00pm we stopped at Puerto William for Chilean clearance; (picture right) this is a small naval base with ice breakers and is the most southerly town in the world. The sun was very hot (too hot too sit out in) but the breeze had a chill and so the air temperature was 10 degrees centigrade, which must have been a delight for the locals. A large old wooden two mast yacht past en route to her next heading via the open seas, the sailors waved and shouted to us (it looked like Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl.) We delayed a while to drop off the immigration controller who had joined the ship in Montevideo before continuing our voyage through magnificent scenery toward the ‘hanging glaciers’

The passage narrowed and we were only a short distance from amazing sights when we arrived at 5.00pm to spent 45 minutes photographing the five incredible glaciers as we sailed past. Each one in turn had its own degree of beauty but one particularly magnificent glacier cascaded down bringing oxygenated ice from a great height turning the sea an emerald green. It was three hours of unforgettable experience and we were extremely lucky with the brilliant weather. A small sailing boat past our ship about 5.15pm and the captain announced that he had been in contact with the English loan sailor who was en route to South Africa and had sent us his best wishes. By 7.15pm we were entering the Canal O’Brian leading us through to the Magellan Strait. We had spent the evening in the ballroom after dinner because the casino had to be closed whilst we were in Chilean waters. It was fun because we were sitting with four of our fellow diners, Geoffrey and Jill from the UK, and John and Mary from Charleston, SC. and I was able to have a few dances.
Wednesday, January 24th At 2.00am the QM2 cleared the Cockburn Canal and entered the Straits of Magellan until 7.30am when she reached the Southern Pacific Ocean. When I awoke we were already on a northerly course running parallel to the Chilean coast towards Middle Chile en route to Valporaiso. It was a dull and rainy day so all passengers were relaxing or doing laundry! Alan attended a lecture about ‘Shackleton’s Triumph’ by Capt. Richard Hayman, who had given commentary as we progressed around the Horn. He has been wonderful throughout our cruise, but is not the ship’s captain, he is Christopher Rynd. I spent most of the day sorting out my lap top because it had big problems, but as you can see it is OK now so I am going to get this blog off right away!!! Alan is at a Malt Whiskey tasting!!!! It is a formal evening tonight.

Just to confirm that the news in the UK is wrong - There is no sickness on this ship - it is QE2 that has the Norovirus not us. Thank goodness.

January 20th Montevideo, 21st

Saturday, January 20th and we cruised very slowly with only two metres of ocean beneath the ship as we entered the harbour at Montevideo through a very narrow channel. It was incredible steering by the pilot as he slid us into our mooring sideways churning up vast amounts of sand from the ocean bed as he did so. We all stayed on deck to watch as this took almost an hour. It was a very hot and sunny day with temperatures over 30 degrees again but as there was a nice breeze it didn’t seem too bad - my hat wouldn’t stay on! We hadn’t booked a tour of the ‘old city’ so we decided to take the shuttle bus into the city centre, which was a beautiful place with tree lined avenues and plenty of shops. En route, ‘street boys’ were approaching both drivers and pedestrians carrying very large kitchen knives - to sell - and had several more stuck into wooden crates by the kerbside! We thought how unusual!! Anyway, when we got to the city I bought a pair of sandals for $13, I couldn’t believe how cheap things were. In an arcade we found a barber’s shop so Alan grasped the opportunity and had his hair trimmed. When I asked how much? It was $2!! I gave him $5 and he thought it was his birthday. (We didn’t take pesos because dollars are accepted here.) Spanish is their language and few speak English so it was fun, but the people are charming and very friendly. The barber suggested a nice restaurant so we went to eat lunch at El Fogúm, which had a huge barbecue in view (more like a log fire!) Alan had suckling pig and I had moules provéncal and both dishes were superb and only $16, so he got $20 as we didn’t want pesos in our change. We had trundled the streets with Alan pushing his wheelchair for long enough so we got a taxi back to port. The wheelchair was hanging out of the trunk and the tail gate left wide open – I kept looking at our reflection as we past shop windows to check we hadn’t lost our baggage! His charge was $5 so I gave him $10 (it was good to see his big smile!) We had time to shower before our 5.00pm departure to the Hippadrome for our evening at the races. It was a very impressive ‘dirt’ race track, and the elegant marble buildings had been renovated during the last three years. We were able to walk past the open stables as the horses were being groomed for the parade ring opposite. We had arranged to go with Jill and Geoffrey, whose company we have enjoyed since we sit near each other in the Queens Grill. We had tables reserved by the window, each with their own tv, and the dining room overlooked the track and winning post.

There were 9 races starting at 6.00pm and it was more luck than studying form as we didn’t know any of the horses or jockeys, but it was great fun anyway. The three course meal was unusual and we didn’t eat very much, but we drank plenty of Uruguayan wine!!!! The evening ended with a deck party around the swimming pool with lots of music and dancing and a midnight buffet (which Alan was soooo…looking forward to!) What a super day we had.
Sunday, January 21st at sea. Bliss again, we have five days cruising to look forward to before Valpariso. It doesn’t seem like three weeks away from home – I hope we still feel this way in another month! We are finding so many extra complimentary opportunities available to us as ‘world cruisers’ that were not advertised and all worth accepting. The latest is a black tie dinner in Athens. By noon today we had travelled 160 nautical miles from Montevideo and were still in shallow waters (only 100 metres beneath our keel) but increasing our speed in the afternoon. (I sat on the balcony typing this while Alan went to a lecture on the Falklands War by Air Vice Marshall Ronald Dick.) We expect to reach Cape Horn at mid-day on the 23rd. Tonight clocks go back for the first of six hourly changes before we reach San Francisco (so we will be three hours behind you tomorrow) and we are currently 40 degrees south of the equator on a level with New Zealand. I expect this afternoon will be gym, Jacuzzi, evening dinner, show and casino before bed so I will close now and meet Alan for lunch.