PUNTA ARENAS

Punta Arenas is the most southerly city in Chile and has the title of the most southerly city in mainland South America. It's similar to Puerto Natales except there is less to do. This suited us fine as we were a bit trekked out and craved a bit of nothing. Most people arrive here by plane and either head north to Torres Del Paine or south to the white continent. There is a penguin colony you can pay to visit, however with the breed and price being the same as our penguin trip in Puerto Madryn, we decided to give it a miss. The town centre was getting ready for Christmas when we arrived, Chilean style. In a nutshell this meant Ropa-pom-pom and various other classics played on the panpipes, and a small Spanish carol service in the main square which was gate crashed by an excited stray dog. There were strings of Christmas lights hung across the streets, however we never saw these alight due to the fact it doesn't get dark till round 11pm and is light again by 4am.

Sol de Invierno was our hostel which had only opened two weeks ago. Everything was fresh, clean and new, plus as it had no reviews online yet, so it was really peaceful and quiet. The owner Javier is a lovely bloke with great music taste. I think his gem of a hostel won't be quiet for long.

This will be a short and sweet post as we really did very little here and reading about us watching Christmas movies and drinking coffee isn't the most gripping literature. However we did venture outside twice.

PUNTA ARENAS CEMETERY
One of PA's top attractions is its cemetery. At first it just seemed like a smaller underwhelming version of Recoletta in Buenos Aires with some fun blobby trees supporting bad haircuts. However as we ventured further in this place revealed it's real character. Kind of like a counsel estate for the departed, rows and rows of sixties styled building blocks sat in a modernist grid. Each wall was full of square windows that housed a collection of objects relating to the tenant inside. It was rather fascinating to explore. Rather than your typical engraved headstone of cold grey granite these little windows gave you a small peak into the lives and personalities of the deceased. As we walked the avenues and cul-de-sacs we noticed most of the windows had little key holes enabling them to be opened and decorated for Christmas. Rather than being a sad gloomy place, this cemetery seemed alive with smiling Santas and cheeky cherubs sitting next to photos of grinning grans and grandpas. It was nice to know families would come each year and decorate their loved ones windows. I do hope they remember to take down all the decorations before twelfth night, then again what's the worst that can happen.

St AUSTRAL PATAGONIA CERVESARIA
Throughout Chile you will never be too far from a can or bottle of St Austral. It was founded by an adventuring German back in the late 18th century when he noticed two key things about Punta Arenas. 1. The water was ridiculously pure 2. There was no brewery. St Austral still imports all their hops from Germany and source their barley near Santiago. We turned up unannounced, in the hope of joining a tour and trying a few brews. We were in luck and were lead around by a smiley Chilean lady who said she doesn't drink beer.

Other than sampling their seven beers at the end the highlight was seeing the canning machines rolling hundreds of cans towards two fast fingered employees who were transferring them from the conveyer belt to crates. I also have clocked a possible new job for my brother. This place has a team of white coated beer scientist in charge of making sure the product is up to scratch. One of their more premium beers is called Torres Del Paine and is the only one to come in a 500ml bottle towering over the rest in the fridge. I thought this was a nice little detail.

After the tour we wandered into town with nothing better to do than go for another beer. We got talking to two American scientists who were about to embark on an expedition to the Antarctic to collect raw data about the oceans water. They were both a little bitter to be away over Christmas but that water won't collect itself. We cracked open a few bottles at an uninspiring hotel bar and listened to their stories. They were an interesting pair and kindly paid for the drinks saying it was courtesy of the University of San Fransisco. With no bar on board the ship I don't think this is the first time the university has had large beer receipts from Punta Arenas appear in a pile of expenses.