When looking ahead to this part of the trip we thought the only choices were

1) Ruta 40 - mainly dirt road and high (very high) winds, tracking the east slopes of the Andes.
2) Ruta 7 - the Carretera Austral, 1200kms of dirt on the very scenic west slopes of the Andes, with ferry crossings, followed by Ruta 40.
3) Cross to Argentina by the Chilean lakes, go to the Atlantic coast and take ruta 3 south, then the same road back north.

Option 1 and 2 and been ruled out a long time ago.

Option 4, did not even exist. Until Santiago.

A cruise. And surprisingly I've not been bored.

Unfortunately, the experiment with the expensive anti-sickness drugs failed for Jean, however I would say she was not as bad as normal.
While waiting for the next ferry to Puerto Natales, which only leaves once a week, we had a diversion via a small ferry to the island of Chiloe, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. This was a bit better than the wooden ferry in Bolivia, it even had WiFi, but my bike didn't like the 1st lurch as we left port and decided to lean against the bulk head.

As one wheel was still on the ground I left it alone, and helped Jean hold hers upright.

It rained on Chiloe, a lot, so we sat around in our hostal with sweeping sea views, talking to other travelers, drinking coffee, eating cake and watching the rain sweep across the bay. The rain fairy has left us now and the clouds are in the ascendancy. It's nearly autumn here, I suppose summer had to end at some point.

We were awoken on the Friday morning with concerned texts from friends because of the tsunami warning for all Pacific coast countries after the massive earthquake had struck Japan. So sensibly we left the island and the coast, and went to a lake next to an active volcano.

It is "Hobson's choice" when in the "ring of fire".

Our ferry to Puerto Natales, near Tierra Del Fuego, was a four day crossing between the coastal islands and fjords of southern Chile with a short 12 hour section in the Pacific.

Boarding was a long drawn out affair, we arrived at 09:30 to be told we had an 8 hour delay due to the tsunami. Once the ship started loading we got to view all the cars and cargo being loaded, then the other passengers via the cargo lift and finally us.

It felt like we were part of a Thunderbirds epsiode as the lift slowly raised us and the bikes to the upper decks.

On the 2nd night we had to leave the shelter of the islands and enter the Pacific for twelve hours, Jean took her pills and assumed her usual position at sea lying on a bench. Later I found her curled up dozing on the cabin floor because "It was nearer the bathroom".

On board the crew entertained us with lectures of what to look out for: whales, seals, dolphins and penguins. Yes, at last, penguins.

We have now seen a large number of penguins swimming past the boat. But apparently this did not constitute the "seeing penguins in the wild" which would trigger a return home as it appears we have to be ''stood next to them" and "they have to walk up to us".

The captain decided we had all been good passengers, so he detoured and took the ship right next to a glacier as a treat.

I enjoyed being able to shout "ICEBERG!'' as some small ones floated past.

The ship is more freight than cruise ship, but carries a few passengers. Of all the vehicles on board only 4 belonged to passengers, the rest were driven on by dock hands.

One of the ship's tasks is to supply the town of Puerto Eden, isolated on an island. There are no roads in or out.

As we approached and dropped anchor, a small flotilla of boats came out and clustered around the back of the ship. The rear doors were opened and an exchange of goods and passengers followed.

The cruise between islands and channels was one long scenic session as we watched the Andes slowly get lower until finally we turned and passed the end of the range we had been following for so long.

As we approached Puerto Natales the channels got thinner, and everyone on board watched carefully as we neared the narrowest. Especially as the larger ship in the line had been damaged 3 weeks earlier when they managed to hit an island.

We got through unscathed.

Clothes

Something we don't have a lot of, except I have more than I started with.

In Charlotte, USA, my friend Jason gave me two T-shirts.

In El Salvador, Jean made me buy a cotton shirt, to wear in mosquito zones.

Before getting on the ferry I bought a nice pair of woolly socks.

Then to make matters worse, I unpacked a bag I had carried all the way round believing it had warm clothes in it. On opening it I found 2 T-shirts, 1 sleeping bag inner, my (thankfully) warm winter hat and another hoodie. Jean is quite jealous of my copious wardrobe.