The Mayans predicted (or some thought they did, anyway) that the world would end in late-December 2012. 

It didn't, of course, but did you know that there is a place they call 'the city at the end of the world'? We visited there and found a frontier town with guts and history.

"It was the smoke," Rosa, our guide, tells us first-off, "from the fires of the people. Everywhere, there were fires. That's what the explorers saw." so that's why they called it Tierra del Fuego - 'the land of fire' in Spanish!

A nation of cooks? Hardly! These fires were in every home - even on their boats - and primarily in order to melt fat from the seal lions the people had caught. It was then rubbed onto their bodies, all over them, to keep them warm in the freezing climate.

Rosa hands around a book with a photograph of smiling locals, buck naked and greased up, as they lived a century or so ago. Some skinned animals and fashioned warm fur garments, but others simply preferred to use fat.

Today's Fuegians keep warm in a more accepted way. Shops in the long, long main street of Ushuaia (population around 50,000 except when a massive cruise ship swells the town's numbers) are cosy with fleece jackets, down vests, and woollen wear for every part of you. 

There are ponchos, shawls, gloves and caps - and leather goods in abundance as Patagonia, with its lambs wool and leather, is just a ferry ride away across the Magellan Strait, on the north of this wedge-shaped island.

In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan, that savvy Portuguese explorer, was amazed when he located a connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Sir Francis Drake, a few years later tried to do the same thing, but was blown off course, and that much rougher southern route, the Drake Passage, named for him, was actually discovered by others.

The British wanted to stake a claim to the southern oceans, and grabbed the chance with this treacherous stretch of chilly waters, punctuated by the notorious Cape Horn, a rocky islet (not a cape at all) responsible for putting a fullstop to many a journey. Cross this, and a thousand kilometres later you could land on Antarctica.

Although Ushuaia sounds like a sneeze, its name actually means simply 'bay penetrating west'. A glance at a map shows the Beagle Channel doing just that, with the deep water port of Ushuaia, founded in 1884, cosily situated at the far end of a narrow tongue of water flanked by Argentinian land on one side and Chile on the other.

The world's southernmost city has the look of a frontier town. The architecture is eclectic, with buildings in progress, some half finished, and many roads pockmarked, obviously damaged by the severe weather. The warmer season, roughly from November to March, seems hardly long enough to catch up on all the jobs which accumulate during those colder months when, in the depth of winter, there are only seven hours of daylight each day.

Yet tourism has sparked new life into the place. At the port at the bottom of the hill, cruise ships berth, and others depart for Antarctica. Penguins abound in the shops. Not the real ones of course, but sculpted and painted ones, drawn on mugs, laminated onto keyrings, or embroidered on thick sweaters. There are mate mugs from which you can sip the astringent tea that Argentinians love, and jewellery fashioned from the local pink rhodocrosite rock.

The town has plenty of places to relax too. Coffee lounges such as Tante Nina's and Tante Sara's offer warm havens in which to enjoy freshly baked pastries and pizzas, and slurp down a reviving coffee or hot chocolate

Or there is Restaurant Kaupe - hidden away up a side street.

"This is the best food you will have anywhere," we were enthusiastically advised by one of the staff on our ship. We went, and the food was amazing, but the view over the sparkling town and bay stole the show.

Likewise the accommodation ranges the whole gamut, from spartan two star hotels and guest houses to exclusive places such a Las Hayas Resort. The latter, located high above the town, and with a forever view across the port and down the Beagle Channel, has the ambience of an elegant alpine hunting lodge.

But for those who wish to see more, and do more, Canal Tours offers 4WD treks into the hinterland. There is skiing and snow sports in winter, fishing, cycling, hiking, kayaking and sailing, even simple sled rides pulled by huskies, bred specifically for the purpose.

A narrow gauge train trip 'to the end of the world' leaves from near Ushuaia chugging along a loop through fir forests. In town, there is the Museum of the End of the World, a Maritime Museum and a wealth of day tours available from the port to take visitors out through the islands of the archipelago.

Ushuaia - it's a tongue twister of a name, but it feels good to say it. Especially when you have actually been to the ends of the earth to see it. 

FACTFILE:

GETTING THERE: Aerolineas Argentinas (www.aerolineasargentinas.com) flies to Buenos Aires from Sydney, on Thursday and Sunday with an additional Tuesday flight in peak season (December to February). There are daily flights from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia on either Aerolineas Argentinas or Austral Aircraft.

ACCOMMODATION: Las Hayas Resort (a member of Leading Hotels of the World),  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.lashayashotel.com

EATING OUT: Restaurant Kaupe, Roca 470, Ushuaia, www.kaupe.com.ar

CLIMATE: Average winter temperature is -2C; summer maximum up to 30C.

THINGS TO DO: Visit the Museum at the End of the World or take the Railway to the End of the World (details at the local Tourist Information Centre in the town). Take a day tour on the Beagle Channel, or go trekking, horse riding, mountain bike riding, fishing or skiing 15km out of town on Krund Hill.

TOURS: Canal Tours,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

MORE INFORMATION: Contact your travel agent or log on to www.patagonia-argentina.com