Hitting the tiki trail in Queenstown for a one-hour energetic hike through the snow and ice to the peak overlooking Queenstown was a super feeling, well almost!

The legs got weary as it became steeper, our breath was visible in front of our face as the temperature dropped, but the feeling of achievement on arriving at the top, well I know how it feels to climb Mt Everest now….just teasing, it would have been easier for us to spend some money (ouch) on the cable car but definitely far less fun, besides we were inspired on seeing all the Antarctic Expedition gear from Capt RF Scott and Roald Amundsen.

The best was yet to come when we saw the pick axe that Sir Edmund Hillary used to climb Mt Everest, this was at the charmingly free Auckland Museum. Not free, unless you have a bit of English charm and a cute smile for the lady that is! Never lost that smile….:)

So hearing of a small hike up to the top of a small mountain in the middle of Santiago was no big deal for our intrepid explorers. La Virgen on the peak and some one-hour hectic hike, we were there, Cerro San Cristobel, stopping on the beaten path for water breaks, as much to catch our breath at the beauty of the surrounding Andes Mountain range, which makes Santiago the basin city that it is.

Checking those views is quite something, just sad to see the low layer of smog hanging over this grey city.

The views are always worth the walk, the bus, the train, the metro, the language barriers, the heat, the cold and so on….but the fun is always the chatting we have climbing upwards and sharki3 never saves her breath on any hike, never! Dunno how she does it that amazing lady of mine! Maybe we would get up faster if she did not talk so much, then again would be half the fun!