18 metrolifeextra Tuesday, October 6, 2009 metro extralife OutofOfficeToadvertise call(01)6375979 It will melt your heart P atagonia is not a comforting place: awe- inspiring, yes; cold, certainly; but not comforting. Its fabled end of the world status and extraordinary geography have drawn adventurers for hundreds of years and still despite its increasing popularity as a holiday destination induce a shiver of the pioneering spirit. Spliced by fjords and channels, its a contradictory country of wetlands, ice sheets and glacial lakes combined with forest, scrubland and Andean desert. Its a land of penguins and pumas, where you need thermal underwear and SPF40 sunscreen, often at the same time. Our entry point is Punto Arenas, the hub of Chiles staunchly independent-minded Magallanes region a four-hour flight from the capital Santiago. Perched on the Magellan Strait, Punto Arenas is the worlds most southern city and was once its busiest port (before the Panama Canal was opened). Now you almost expect tumbleweed to blow through this frontier outpost, which once thronged with international spies and explorers such as Ernest Shackleton. A lowering sky and ferocious winds (which can reach 150kph, our guide tells us) dominate this huddle of late-19th century, once-grandiose mansions, and corrugated-iron- roofed houses. Although there are 125,000 inhabitants, it feels strangely abandoned, its outskirts given over to hulking processing plants for the large-scale lamb and fish industries and echoing duty-free shopping barns. Heading off again, a diversion through the sandy scrubland where giant ostrich-like rheas wander hautily and condors wheel overhead takes us to the penguinero at Otway Sound. The Magellan penguin colony here numbers about 10,000, were told, though we only see the edges of the group. Guarding their nests in the scrub or waddling off through the howling gale for a dip in the sea, they remain supremely unconcerned by our presence, apparently because theyre too myopic to see us. The landscape that rolls past us on the long journey to Puerto Natales is startling: huge cloud banks tower over a stark countryside dotted with Lost World-like promontories of volcanic rock, far-off clusters of flamingos and trees so blasted by the winds that they are growing almost horizontally. Large expanses of twisted wood and stumps are all that remain of a forest. Puerto Natales is the gateway to the Torres Del Paine national park, the heart of Chilean Patagonia. Set on the poetically named Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Sound, the town crouches low to the ground, buffeted by those relentless gales. Our hotel is suitably bunker-like, set into a low hillside and covered with peat. An early morning boat trip takes us to the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers: sadly much reduced due to climate change but hypnotic nonetheless thanks to their eerie blue light. They offer a taster of the imperious, 40m tall Grey Glacier in Torres Del Paine, which merits its own boat ride. The power of those vast, ancient ice sheets is evidenced all around us in the surrounding sheer cliffs, scattered with waterfalls, which provide a home to cormorant and sea lion colonies. From the Serrano glacier, the good ship Zodiac deposits us (not a moment too soon) at our hotel on the edge of Torres Del Paine. Flinging back the curtains reveals a breath- taking, window-filling view of the distinctive Cuernos Del Paine mountains, clouds caught on their twisted granite faces like snagged cotton wool. No time to nurse our sunburn down here youre directly under the hole in the ozone layer 181,400 hectares of untouched wilderness beckon. And with not even a shop in our partly unfinished hotel, theres really nothing else to do. Holiday by car Destination: Cyprus with Holidayautos.ie Price: Care hire from just 11 per day in Cyprus. Details: Drive away from it all this Autumn hit the beach in October with holidayautos.ie. Summer may be over but thats no reason to throw your bikini away. Just jump on a plane, hire a car and catch some autumn rays in a variety of hot locations. For example, Holidayautos.ie has fantastic daily car rental rates in your favourite hotspot this year... Cyprus! You can cruise around Cyprus from just 11 per day but you must book your car hire before 31 October 2009. Prices listed are correct for bookings and pick-ups until the end of November 2009 and are based on from rates for a mini car. Log on to www.holidayautos.ie to view all the discounts on offer this October. Skiing Beginners ski free if you book for March 2010 Pay brochure price and receive free lift pass, beginner tuition, skis and boots. Austria: Zell am See, Kaprun, Seefeld France: Courchevel, Tignes, Val Thoren Switzerland: Saas Fee, Zermatt For January 2010 Austria: Seefeld (half board) 655pp France: Courchevel 459pp self- catering Switzerland: Saas Fee & Zermatt Contact: Specialist Holidays, Tel: (01) 433 1071 Thailand Destination: Thailand with lastminute.com this October. Price: Seven nights on Thailands beautiful island of Koh Samui (four-star from 863) Details: Make the most of the last bank holiday of 2009 and that annual leave you have stock-piled with lastminute.coms use it or lose it section. There are fantastic seven-night holiday breaks on offer including this amazing island getaway on Koh Samui just off the coast of Thailand for just 863 (4- star accommodation). Also online are amazing long weekend offers at home or abroad so move it or lose it by logging on today. Log onto www.lastminute.com to check out the use it or lose it seven-night holiday offers and other long weekend breaks this October. Blue planet: The Grey Glacier in Torres Del Paine national park and the peaks of the Andes (below) DEALS OF THE WEEK Bare essentials Magallanes is the southern-most part of Chile part of the legend- inspiring region known as Patagonia and at its heart lies the vast, Unesco-protected Torres Del Paine national park, one of the worlds last pristine wildernesses. Currency: 1 = 796 Chilean pesos Language: Spanish Patagonia: Its everything its cut out to be an awe- inspiring wilderness BY SIOBHN MURPHY lastminute.comsleep around for less index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html