10th November 2011.
It was a bit embarrassing at breakfast this morning as Sue and I sat next to guys who were discussing the large portions some people order at meal times. As I am working on gaining weight I had ordered a short stack of pancakes with Maple syrup and some bacon. I then decided I should have an egg on top. This was before Sue and I overheard this conversation.
Unfortunately due to some sort of language mix up between me and the waitress I was delivered 2 breakfasts on 2 large plates. One with my pancakes and one with 2 eggs, potatoes, mushrooms and spinach. Before I got over the shock a 3rd plate arrived full of bacon. It has to be said the conversation on the table next to us changed very quickly and yes before you ask I did manage to eat the lot.
We were picked up at at around 11am, Sue by mini bus and me by crane and taken to Santiago airport to catch our flight to Punta Arenas. We have been looked after by Pro Tours on this leg of our journey and their service has been fantastic. Jose who was responsible for getting us to the airport knew from our arrival we had a lot of kit and so excess baggage would be a problem. He stayed with us all the way through the check in process and I am certain our excess baggage cost was much cheaper because of his assistance.
The 4 hour flight to Punta on LAN Chile went on time and we were through baggage collection and picked up again by Pro Tours who took us to hotel Diego de Almagro where we stay for one night but will return to next week and meet up with the team on my Polar Expedition. It has been a good idea to use this hotel as the manager was very happy to allow me to leave all my expedition kit here when Sue and I travel 5 hours by car tomorrow to our hotel in the National Park. This will make the next part of our journey so much easier not having to carry so much kit but also it means all of my Polar gear is in place for when we meet the team next week.