kjp

Last night I slept for about 4.5 hours, good, but would prefer more (body clock not in the correct time zone yet). I've found that the WiFi here is not always present... (I think that it´s on only when someone is at the reception desk)

Today is basically a rest / jobs / organisation day, before the Torres del Paine walk which starts tomorrow (well transport to the national park is tomorrow, walking is on Thursday).

So, first things first. I felt really sick leaving my Beenie at Brisbane airport, and on the flight to Sydney, and after our last phone call at the international terminal at Sydney. Hmmm. :(

Anyhow, so, it's a good thing that Qantas is operating ok (!), but, a catering strike at the Buenos Aires end caused the flight from Sydney to be delayed. There was some other delay getting paperwork through that caused another bit of delay; we left the terminal about 45 minutes after the scheduled time.

The flight to Buenos Aires was uneventful, which is a good thing. Surprisingly, there was an empty seat next to me, which gave me a bit more room to stretch out. I was able to get a few hours sleep, good. They had The Lion King on the in-flight entertainment system - hakuna matata.

After clearing customs, I was slightly concerned when the first ATM didn't give me any money. Second one did. Caught a bus to the domestic airport, which went via the city centre - good to see where I will be getting off on a few weeks time. On the bus (and at the domestic terminal), talked to a guy called Ray from the US. He's been travelling for a while! At the domestic terminal I had, in the food court, my first meal in Argentina. It wasn´t particurily impressive taste wise, and probably wasn´t the wisest (in terms of avoiding nasties - but I´m fine).

The flight to El Calafate was uneventful - good considering the plane that was used was on the more mature side. I suspect my two other flights in Patagonia will be on similar vintage planes. I was told that there is a 15kg limit for checked baggage on flights into Patagonia region (23kg for international flights). At Brisbane, my bag was 15.3kg. This wasn´t an issue for the flight here.

At El Calafate airport, I nearly missed the shuttle bus that I had bought a ticket for because I was absent mindedly standing at the wrong spot, oops. After checking into the hostel, I went for a walk into the centre of town, to buy some water and have dinner.

Some initial impressions:
* El Calafate seems to be poor town on the outskirts (dirt roads, etc), but with a fair bit of development on the centre streets to cater for foreign tourists who have come to Patagonia.
* Theres a random casino on the main street that looks way out of place.
* There are stray dogs on the street - this weirds me out a bit.
* The sun is well into the sky until 7 or 8 pm or so. It's twilight until 10 or 11 pm or so.
* There are a fair few tourists around, although, probably more Spanish and German speakers than English
* My first real meal was yummy. A pumpkin soup (of the day), and a chicken dish, with a Quilmes (apparently the Argentinian standard) beer. I started eating at 9pm, which is late for me, but nothing out of the ordinary. The total cost was 100 Argentinia pesos, about $23 AUD. This was for a nice but not fancy restaurant on a tourist strip. Probably would have been closer to $50 in Australia. I´ll be trying a more local restaurant tonight.
* The hotel is built for cold weather (double doors on entry, wind breaks around the buildings, etc)
* Lip balm is going to be important (very glad to have been given this...)
* It´s windy. The wind is cold. I probably should have taken my beanie in my bag before I left for the evening. Ditto sun glasses.

All ok, bit tired. More details tonight.

So, things are basically pretty interesting, in a word.

So the past week has been very busy. Tomorrow morning I leave for Gladstone, then back in Brisbane early Sunday afternoon, and then early on Monday morning, I leave for Sydney, then Buenos Aires, and then South America / Antarctica for 7 or so weeks.

So, back to the past week. I've had to say "bye, see you later" to two people who I hold in respect. Next year will be different without them directly as part of my life.

Over the past two weeks, I've basically come to the conclusion that I should take my career vaguely seriously (... yes, good... lol). Effectively, I should be more proactive in finding opportunities for myself. This contrasts to the more drifting, 'that looks good' attitude that I've had in the past.

Regarding my upcoming trip: I'm a bit nervous/worried about the emotional separation that will occur. But I'll try to make do with the communications that are available.

Hmmmm.

So the other weekend I was done in Sydney for an Italian food safari, a joint present.

It was particularly good, yummy day. I can't remember to much from it, but a couple of notes that I made:

* Always get meat sliced in front of you at the deli
* Pasta is there for the sauce. There's a difference in types of penee: penne with smooth edges, and penne with grooves in it.

If, like me, you'll be out of town for the next concert "Menagerie", then below are links to the music that we're playing (as played by other groups.

Moorside Suite - Scherzo; Nocturne; March
In the Centre Ring
Rhapsody for Flugelhorn and Symphonic Band
Poet and Peasant Overture
The Rakes of Mallow
Incantation and Dance
Theme from Schindler's List
Stephenson's Rocket
Aegean Festival Overture
Back To The Future

Here are some very yummy chocolate muffins.

I found that the sugar / butter / eggs / milk mixture got gluggy when I was whisking it. This was probably due to the butter cooling down: I warmed the mixture a bit, and it turned out ok - good end result.

Two poems:

Salley Gardens - Yeats.
Sure On This Shining Night - Agee.