The End Of The World

Ushuaia in Argentina is officially the southernmost city in the world. At a latitude of 54 degrees south, it lies a mere 1,000km from Antarctica (Buenos Aires is a whopping 3,000km further away). To get there driving, you have to cross the whole of Patagonia followed by the often treacherous Strait of Magellan crossing by ferry. In a very odd piece of historical diplomacy, road access to Ushuaia can only be managed by crossing through neighbouring Chile.

Our arrival there in mid-November, a full two months after we began our adventure in Santiago Chile, felt every inch the challenge we had been led to believe it would be. A new home on wheels, tough roads, long distances, sickness, and general adjustments required for family life on the road, all had to be embraced along the way. So it was with great excitement, relief, and exhaustion that we drove into the city and parked up in front of the luxury cruise ships, Antarctic research vessels and fishing boats at the main harbour.

Unsurprisingly, it was cold, very cold in fact. We layered-up as we ventured outside that afternoon into below-zero temperatures. The harbour promenade brought with it an icy-cold southerly wind so we naturally drifted inland to get shelter from the shops, restaurants and hotels all around. This did the trick for the rest of the evening as we nestled for a hearty dinner in one of the local eateries.

We probably delayed our exit a little long as we had a bit of a dilemma with the camper van. Our gas heating system had stopped working a few days previously, leaving us without heat in a vehicle not exactly designed for a trip to the end of the world. Our fears were confirmed that night as teeth chattered long into the bitterly cold night. It appeared that double-blankets and thick socks were just not going to cut it.

Daybreak brought a stark reality that we really needed to fix the heating. Phone calls were made to various handymen or so-called gas experts. With nobody jumping up to help us in our hour of need, we resorted to the very patient, ever-accommodating, previous owner of the camper van for any advice he could offer. A WhatsApp message was sent more in hope than anything else. A couple of hours passed before we received a one-liner back from France. Seeing the length of the response, my thoughts immediately turned to who our next cry for help would be aimed.

“Have you tried changing the battery”?

These simple six words both confused and excited me. “What battery was he talking about”, we asked ourselves in a perplexed manner? This was a gas heating system after all, and there certainly was no evidence of anywhere around the heating system that could contain a battery. Another round of communicarions between Argentina and France was then completed, revealing what most of you gas experts already knew.

There was in fact a battery required to ignite the gas heater, and it was absolutely dead as could be. A mad dash to the local supermarket followed, where we invested the grand sum of €3 for a pack of A4 batteries. This would probably prove to be our best value for money purchase of the whole trip. Putting the new batteries in and trying the much-maligned ignition switch brought with it two memorable sounds. One was a familiar gentle “whoosh” that accompanies the heating coming on. The second was a parental cheer of excitement, embarrassment and sheer relief.

The rest of our week in Ushuaia was a lot less eventful it must be said. Highlights included leaving the money exchange office with wads of cash the size of which I had only ever seen in gangster movies, hiking towards a glacier in the middle of a snow-storm, and very nearly getting the campervan stuck at the bottom of a mud-soaked hill in Tierra del Fuego National Park.

Ushuaia had been earmarked before we began our trip as somewhere we really wanted to visit. It was our first self-defined milestone on an adventure that will hopefully see us pass many more along the way. Given it’s location, it was never going to be easy to get there. But maybe that’s a good thing when I reflect on it. Things that are easy rarely teach us much if anything at all. They do not help us grow. In fact they do the opposite, teaching our brains to expect the expected and balk at the unknowns.

Ignition batteries have only been the tip of the iceberg during these couple of months. We really look forward to what the next few months bring.

Click here to read the “High Winds & A Friendly Truck Driver (Part 1)” blog post