The end of Route 40, but not quite the end

At Rio Gallegos, the hotel was nice enough for 200 pesos each (35 pounds) although the room was the hottest I have ever stayed in. Even with the temperature being around -3 outside, the room was pumping out so much heat I could only (just) manage to sleep with the window wide open. From what we gathered, the town exists largely thanks to the oil industry so my guess is they didn't need to economise on fuel.

If you imagine the letter "Y" upside down, the centre of the character is what Rio Gallegos is - basically, a fork in the road. To (your) right is the final stretch of Route 40. The road to the left goes down much further, all the way to Tierra del Fuego, the island territory divided between Argentina and Chile and our final destination, the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia.

First, though, we were determined to see the end of Route 40, a very rough stretch of gravel, sharp stones and pot holes, 200km long. All the way we'd wondered how, if we had actually kept the Corsa, the little car could have survived the wear and tear. At least two more burst tyres, I reckon. The decision to switch to Chuck, then, far from being a frivolous extravagance, was in fact a masterstroke (of good fortune).

So here it is - the symbolic end to our road trip, if not the actual one. The 0km distance marker and the lighthouse at Caba Virgines. And although Graham had by now gotten over the absence of penguins, that one iota of hope meant he was still a little disappointed when he reached the deserted beach head.