Today was (another!) big travel day. We were up early to finish packing and have breakfast before setting out on the four-hour drive to Punta Arenas airport. The quality of the roads on the way out was better than those on the way in from El Calafate, which made the ride a little more enjoyable.

We got to the airport in plenty of time and just relaxed while we waited for our flight to board. The usual organised chaos ensued as people tried to work out what line they had to get into in the boarding area. As much as we have loved most aspects of South America, it’s fair to say that airline travel here leaves a lot to be desired! We certainly won’t miss the regular battle of wills at check-in regarding the allowable weight of bags. On numerous occasions, we were told that our bags were simply too heavy to be checked in. In all cases we stood our ground and our bags eventually went on. But it does make the travel here more stressful, knowing that there’s a fair chance that there will be push back at check-in regarding our luggage. Still, we’ve now completed all of the domestic flights here so we need not worry any more about that.

The flight to Santiago took about three and a half hours and wasn’t too bad. We were met at the airport by a driver, who got us to the Ritz-Carlton hotel at around 7:30 pm. We checked in and had some dinner and are now heading off to bed. After eleven and a half hours of travelling today, we’re ready for a good night’s sleep.

Sweet treats in the hotel.
Sweet treats in the hotel.

Tomorrow we head to the airport around lunchtime for our flight from Santiago to Sydney. We found out today that this flight has been delayed by a couple of hours, which means we’re now on a later flight from Sydney to Melbourne and we expect to get home around 1am on Sunday morning.