The Towers of Pain from Raphael Jordi on Vimeo.

Short trailer of our "W" circuit trek in the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia. An amazing setting with beautiful landscapes but first and foremost a very enduring week. Follow us on discoveringpachamama.com.

Nada mas llegar al parque Las Torres (tres montanyas altas y estrechas) nos dieron la bienvenida. Es muy raro que se puedan ver debido a la neblina constante en sus picos, asi que nos consideramos muy afortunados al poder tener una foto con las mismas con un día tan espléndido. 

Los primeros dos dias subimos y bajamos colinas imposibles con una mochila de casi 20 kg a la espalda y con un terreno horrible. Debido a un incendio provocado en la otra parte del parque (hay distintas historias de como comenzó, pero lo seguro han sido las terribles consecuencias). Arboles arrasados completamente calcinados descansan en las laderas, los ríos han perdido su cauce y conquistan lo que anteriormente formaba parte del camino. Cruzando el rio, escalando rocas y lo peor de todo con un viento de hasta casi 80km por hora en alguna ocasion extrema superamos nuestros limites llegando al campamento. Tengo que asegurar que ha sido una de las marchas mas duras que jamas he hecho nunca (el peso fue una tortura). Sin embargo el glaciar Grey fue realmente impresionante desde cerca. Mirando a ese increíble bloque de hielo azul gigante nos hizo olvidar todo aquello que habíamos llevado en la espalda. Algo superespectacular!!

Our first day brought us straight into the thick of the action, a 5h walk with the worst path ever, 60-70km winds, horizontal rain and about 20kgs on our back. No need to say we were challenged from the start. Celine's poncho which she bought for 5 Swiss bucks the day before just about survived 3h of that trek before coming into pieces by the sheer power of the wind. However, we pushed forward and we've managed what I believe is the hardest trek I've ever done as we had to guess our way around with the path flooded and some bits seriously steep. Exhausted, we set up our tent and ate like animals. Next day, we overslept due to our state of tiredness and went to the look out point (called "mirador" in Spanish) of the glacier which was spectacular with immaculate blue and heaven like lights emerging from the clouds. 

We found ourselves again fighting against time although the weather did improve thankfully. I expected us to arrive by night unfortunately and with the end of walk looking like Mordor in Lord of the Rings, it was going to be bloody crap… and it was. With everyone exhausted, we gathered the last ounces of mental and physical strength to stick as a group and find our way to the light of our meagre headlamps. We arrived at 8:30 to the refuge and thank god didn't have to camp or cook!

El tercer dia fue el mas light. Muchos kg en la espalda pero solo tres horas en un terreno mucho  mejor. Tambien es alucinante la forma de las montanyas. En esa zona veiamos  los Cuernos (se llama asi por su aspecto). Nunca he visto montanyas tan bonitas e increibles. Son superpuntiagudas y tienen un aspecto mistico con la neblilla entre medias. Quiza era el cansancio tambien.

The following day, we had an easy walk to the next campsite called "campamento Italiano" with splendid views of the mountains "Cuernos" which looks like horns (as the name says in Spanish). 

Next morning we managed to leave rather "early" around 9:30 to head to the end of the French Valley. We left with a light day backpack, leaving the bulk of it at the campsite. The walk was steep and enduring and Veronica with terrible blisters had to head back early with Alex. My sister reached the first mirador after about 2h of uphill walking.

Berta and I continued alone our way to the end of the French Valley until campamento Britanico to see the Cuernos closer. I started to fell pain in my right knee (the one where I had the surgeries obviously) and within 1h, it was clear I had a growing tendinitis. The pain got worst on the way down and slowed us. Once back at the campsite, we still had to walk another 3 hours to the next refuge. As a result of my painful knee, Berta had to carry the 4kg tent and my sis took Berta's 2.5kg sleeping bag. We finally left at 4:30.

Although the walk was not difficult and with unbelievable landscapes, the extra weight and the morning effort, plus the previous days, added up to make it a really challenging day. Alex and Veronica had wisely left beforehand and Alex reached the refuge first. He then went back to pick up Veronica's bag (still with bloody feet despite the help of the compeed) and finally as a real friend and brave man, did another return trip to pick up my bag where we were still only half way through! It was again a very long (17.5km - 10h) day with Berta becoming Robocop and digging deep in her resources. She didn't even had the strength to go to the nearby hot tubs and stayed in bed… poor little one.

El cuarto día, Raphael y yo fuimos los unicos que logramos llegar al campamento britanico. Meterse dentro del valle. Ida y vuelta 5 horas sin mochilas. Al volver al campamento italiano (donde habíamos dejado la tienda y nuestras pertenencias) desmontamos todo y nos dirigimos durante otras tres horas mas (esta vez con mochilas) a Los Cuernos. Fue muy duro pero con vistas preciosas de los Andes y de los lagos del alrededor. Disfrutar de las fotografías porque de verdad que las vistas son increíbles.

With the strain of the effort now taking the toll on our body, we were left with no decision but to take a day rest although we initially opted to go on the next day. However, as many times in our trip, the decision was made for us by Pachamama when the wind was shaking our little cabin all night long and we woke up to a deluge. We really enjoyed that day of rest next to the lake and at the feet of the Cuernos. Our only outdoor activity being our cooking ritual of pasta and salsa. However, that day of rest also meant that the whole "W" circuit achievement was put in jeopardy time wise and would become the "F" circuit!

Al día siguiente llovió a jarros y el equipo decidió descansar un día para recuperar fuerzas. El sexto día fuimos decidimos no hacer la W y quedarnos con la F. Sin embargo, cuando había que hacer la decisión final para coger el atajo al Campamento Chileno… decidimos ir a por todas. Esta vez solo Raphael y yo. Con lo imprescindible en la mochila, emprendimos el camino para conquistar la famosa W. Llegamos a las 6 de la tarde al Campamento las Torres donde cenamos fuerte para recuperar energia y nos metimos a la cama (Thank you Celine for the warmers.. we dont even want to think how cold it was). A las 6.45 de la manyana sonaba el despertador recordandonos que teniamos que dar nuestro ultimo aliento (gracias por tus palabras de apoyo, Raphael. Podemos llegar a la cumbre) para el maraton del ultimo dia. Unimos las fuerzas que teniamos para alcanzar la cumbre y poder deleitarnos con la maravillosa vista de las Torres del Paine. En primera fila, con sus primeros rayos del sol tinyiendolas de rosa. Madre mia… se me ponen los pelos de punta solo de volver a recordar ese momento. Después de unos minutos disfrutando de la belleza de la naturaleza ante nuestros ojos, volvimos al campamento para recoger la tienda y comenzar el descenso al albergue. Una hora antes de lo previsto llegamos al albergue donde devoramos una hamburguesa cada uno. Una de las mejores hamburguesas que he comido nunca!!Lo logramos!!! Hicimos la W y ademas vimos el amanecer rosado en las montanyas mas espectaculares del planeta!!! Hemos sobrevivido al frio, viento y al peso!! Merecio la pena!!!

The sixth day meant theoritically our last day of trekking with the last leg of the "W" being left for another visit and heading straight to the last hosteria where the bus would pick us up the following day at 2pm. With my knee sore and walking most of the time on one leg but Berta still looking strong (so fast that she even came back to pick up my bag), there was a last chance at the back of my mind to accomplish the "W": head onto the campsite at the feet of the Torres (4h uphill walk deep into the valley), wake up next morning at 6:30, make the 1h walk up to the mirador, head back down to the campsite and rush to the hosteria in 3h just in time for the bus. With this idea roaming in my head during our 3:30 walk until the split towards either the campsite or hosteria, I finally put the idea forward to Berta. She immediately adhered to it. We were on a mission. We took the last provisions, the smaller/lighter tent, unloaded the unnecessary to my sister and Alex and went towards our objective with the others heading down to the hosteria. With the determination of achieving that bloody "W" and seeing those Torres close, we went uphill with no stopping for 2h and then followed the up and down trail until the campsite to finally finish another long day at 6:30.

It was a freezing night and we both slept terribly. We were determined to get the job done and waking up at 6:45, we didn't eat breakfast and went straight for the mountain. That mirador really needs most than any to be earned. The Torres and its beauty only shows itself fully at the very top of the trail and can only be reached by the steepest of walk. As if the elements were with us, it was a stunning day! Barely any clouds and no wind or rain while the previous day it was horrible. The mountain is unpredictable but we've been on the lucky end so far. With the excitement of achieving it, I felt great while Berta struggled at some point. A few words of encouragement and setting a clear target, we pushed on. With the point of the towers appearing in glimpses, there was no way we would now head back. The final steps were endless and there, finally the last rock climbed, it stand majestically in front of us! The Towers of Pain(e)! Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!! WE DID IT!!! It is one of those great and amazing feeling to be there finally after so many kms and effort. We were rewarded by one of the most gorgeous sun rise ever illuminating the towers of pinkish flavors! Absolute beauty!

After 30 min at the top, it was time for the race back down. We were slightly late but were confident that it was feasible. Run down for Berta, do the crab for myself (as I had to walk down sideways to avoid the strain and pain on the tendon), pack up the tent and off we go. We were flying! we reached our first stop and out of the valley just as planned. We barely ate anything besides power bars and dried fruits and after 2h, it was clear we had… spear time! So we took our time to admire the scenery and take it all one last time. We arrived at 12:30 to the hosteria meeting up with the others to tell each others tale, order a massive patagonic burger and a pint. At 2pm, it was time to leave a place we will never forget and might also never see again. With the sun shining, the faces smiling and the bus riding, we said goodbye to Torres del Paine and to trekking in the Chilean Patagonia… next stop Ushuaia!

Christchurch was our first stop in New Zealand. On February 22nd 2011, an earthquake changed the life of thousands of people. 185 people died. Still today the city center is closed to the public. The buildings are empty and some of them are cut in half. The main problem is the earth is not stable so they cannot either destroy it or rebuild new buildings. As a result, one third of the population moved to different areas of New Zealand.

Once we got our van-home, we drove to Kaikoura where we swam with seals in 10 degrees water (just to put it in perspective a few days in advance, we were snorkeling in Fiji in 30 degrees water… brrr… what a difference!). Really really cool!! They are Speedy Gonzalez in the water and they get close to you with their massive round eyes fixing you. They are totally fun and crazy, swimming upside down, jumping in and out of the water and swirling around you.

The best of sleeping in the van is the chance of seeing the sky full of stars with no light pollution… millions and millions of them spreading like a carpet of dust. 

In the north of the south island we could enjoy wonderful pies (highly recommended in NZ -  so yummy and cheap). We discovered the Tasman Park testing our gear we purchased for Patagonia. Gorgeous beaches surrounds small hills. Ferns are really big which can be confused with palm trees.

One of the highlights of the trip was a long drive along the West Coast. Black endless beaches with windy roads. A mandatory stop were the two glaciers: Frank Joseph and Fox. Unfortunately, not really impressive after living in Switzerland but even so less now after having been in Torres del Paine.

Again, a little bit disappointed with Wanaka as we lived in Luzern for three years and that's without doubt the nicest town next to a lake I have ever seen in my life (Berta). Although we didn't really had a lot of time there as we needed to drive to our next stop… Queenstown, the adrenaline town by excellence. We met up again with our lovely friends… the Swedes!! We enjoyed that amazing burger which was pure bliss and excellence!

A wonderful drive was from Te Anau to Milford. You feel you are entering into wildness. Wonderful and imposing mountains opens up, plunging into fjords.

My favorite area (Berta) was Mt Cook - Aoraki and Lake Tekapo. Even though, the first day was raining and windy we changed our hike plan for a visit to the Sir Edmund Hillary Center. He was a mountaineer, explorer and NZ's most popular figure. He is the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest along Tenzing Norgay.

We could literally see Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings) around that area and understood why Peter Jackson opted for his home country to film the epic trilogy.

Our Grand Finale of our South Island trip was to camp on our last night next to the beach with cows and fields on one side and the beach with wonderful sunset and sunrise on the other end.

Back in Auckland we split as I (Berta) wanted to discovered more about the Maori culture visiting the Auckland museum and Raphael rent a car to visit Rene in the north of the island.

Our cruise boat "Spank me" was our next house for the following three days (quite naughty name but the only dirty part was actually the weather). We exchanged the charm of sharing a youth hostel with 10 more people with the smelly 30 cabin corridor. From the first moment we stepped on the boat until the last one, it almost didn't stop raining. We really appreciated the tent/roof we had under the sails so at least we could enjoy our food "outside". As a pirate of the Great Barrier Reef, we discovered the amazing beach of Whitsundays. On our way to the lookout, a huge spider gave us a high-five. Over there, we saw a wonderful fight between sea and sand giving an incredible view of emerging islands in the middle the sea. Lemon sharks and sting rays were swimming in the clear water.The sand is silica which cleans jewelry and is a fantastic exfoliant but it can also destroy all your camera gear. Some couple stated to have seen a big turtle but it wasn't our time yet (in Fiji we swam with them… but this is another story).

 El segundo día hicimos nuestra primera y ultima inmersión en aguas australianas… fracaso! problemas con el regulador y la perdida de uno de los miembros del equipo nos hizo cancelar la inmersión después de media hora. Visibilidad baja y escasa variedad de peces a partir de 7 metros…. Sin embargo, proseguimos con el snorkeling… ahí fue cuando realmente descubrimos el porque Australia es tan famosa por su fondo marino. Corales infinitos como alfombras marinas eran la casa y comida de peces pirata y pez payaso entre otros. Pero lo mejor estaba por llegar cuando ante nuestros ojos apareció Elvis.. si.. si.. Elvis (un Humphead maori wrasse de mas o menos 1 metro de longitud - debajo del agua todo parece mas grande…). Increible! Se le llama Elvis por el gran tupe que tiene en la cabeza. Después de casi dos horas disfrutando de los peces y corales de la zona volvimos al barco donde justo debajo nos esperaban cuatro enormes bat fish y un cod fish. Resultado final.. aunque la inmersión fue un desastre.. el resto del tiempo en el agua fue realmente extraordinario.

After three days at sea, we went on with our wonderful trip in Australia. Bye bye The Germans, See you in New Zealand The Swedes. We arrived to the Koala Santuary in Magnetic island. In the morning, we learned a lot about different exotic animals as crocodiles, snakes, koalas, parrots, wallaby, wombat and lizards. We even got a picture with one of those adorable koalas. Such a cute little thing!! Their skin is really soft and muscly even though they chill out all the long due to the lack of energy in their body. In the afternoon, we walked in the National Park where we spotted five wild koalas.

Closing the circle, we came back to Sydney where very kind Brooke and Tom hosted us once agin in their lovely house and cooked a tasty Ozzie Barbee with a delicious pavlova dessert. Thank you so much again for your hospitality.

Estas son nuestras aventuras en Australia. Espero que os guste.

Muchas gracias por todos vuestros comentarios! Nos sentimos cerca, aunque estemos lejos.

Oz from Raphael Jordi on Vimeo.

A quick trailer of our Australian adventures. Follow us on www.discoveringpachamama.com

Australia marked our arrival to the next continent Oceania and to our 10th country! Our landing point was Sydney where we would be hosted by Brooke and Tom, friends from our Lucerne time. Thanks again you guys for allowing us to stay in your lovely little home where we felt so good and had some amazing sleep in that seriously comfy bed! Also, that crazy pizza is still making me drool. As ex-TEAM members and Accounties, I have to say that we wammed it pretty well.

Sydney was a charming town with a hint of America's Boston, a touch of Englishness and some obvious Aussie cool factor. After a visit to Manly Beach, a harbor cruise passing by the Opera and a stroll around the city, we felt we fulfilled our touristic duties. Also, we tried one of Sydney's delicatessen at Harry on Wheels. A tasty hot dog with mash pies sauce… definitely interesting and surprisingly very yummy!

It was time for us to move on and start our journey along the Eastern Coast from Sydney to Cairns (about 3000kms) with several stops along the way. The first of them was Byron Bay the chill out surfing town with 2 streets, a hippie vibe, bare foot inhabitants and a chill out atmosphere. However, what stunned us most after a week in Australia was the cost of life which brought us straight back to reality after living way too long in SE Asia, the land of the cheap. With a dorm bed at about 24€ or 30 CH per person, we felt the strain on our budget even if it did get cheaper the Northern we went. Therefore, the first step taken was to say bye bye to restaurants (too expensive) and street food (inexistent) and go grocery shopping with our cool bag (by cool, pls understand that it keeps the food cool) for the first time in 6 months and cook in the common kitchens. This was actually pretty neat to cook with everyone in there although the cleaning policy was obviously not respected by all which led to filthy looking kitchen by the end of the day.

Beach beach beach and more beach, that's how we could summarize it. Endless and beautiful, wild and deserted stretches of pristine sand… whether at Byron Bay, Noosa or Hervey bay. In Noosa, we did a small hike in a national park in search of wild koalas which were "often seen" as per the brochure. What they probably meant by "often" was that once every few months the 2 koalas sleeping somewhere might be seen if you were not on the track. Needless to say, we didn't see any.

After another long bus journey where we slept overnight (hate it by now after way too many hours spent in them), we arrived in Hervey Bay where starts the tour of one of Oz main tourist attraction: Fraser Island. An island made only of sand but with rain forest having managed to grow onto it and with the most important number of perched lakes in the world. Our group of 12 (Swedes, Germans, Dutch, Danes, a Canadian and another Swiss or Basler) was split in two 4x4 cars and after some early morning grocery shopping we headed to the ferry to reach that famous island. We then took turns to drive and I (Raphael) got to drive on sand for the second time of my life and along an endless stretch of beach for the first time. Wicked.

What was less wicked was the bloody flies who bit like an angry donkey and were perpetually there, wherever you were. Also, there are 3 of the most deadly spiders in the world living in trees and they are not big but small and discreet. Furthermore, massive plants hang in on the trees' side that can fall off and kill you since they weight almost a ton or dingoes who might just become aggressive because your face looks ugly (according to dingo standards) so basically be careful. There's also huge iguanas, but they're alright and don't harm. Good beast. On the other hand, the landscapes and lakes were just incredible with beautiful taints of blue, green and yellow. Strange feeling to have fresh water when you're sitting in sand though. Much better actually! 2 Nights and 3 days later, we were back in the hostel with pouring rain suddenly coming from nowhere, which would entertain us for the next week or so.