Back in El Carafate after one and a half day detour to the Perito Moreno Glacier. The weathergods were kind to us, and we had a nice ride there yesterday with sunshine and, yes, no wind whatsoever! Approaching the glacier slowly on bikes was pretty amazing and the views from the mirador (on top of a steep hill of course) were just spectecular. The glacier is huge, the front in the lake is about 5 km wide and 50 m high, and you can see the blue ice streching up into the southern icefield for at least 30 km. We were told that it is one of the most beautiful spots in Southern Argentina, and it certainly is. Saying that being able to walk up to the glaciers of Mt Fitz Roy (from El Chalten) was pretty spectecular, too.
We were real lucky with our timing as we were riding back to El Calafate today in the pouring rain and would have not had much of a view of the glacier today. Still not much wind though. Since leaving Cochrane on the Carreterra Austral it has gone noticably colder, and we are riding with our warm layers on nearly all the time. I am grateful I brought my booties, warm fleece top and winter riding gloves!
We will head towards Torres del Paine in Chile tomorrow, it will probably take three days to get there, and two to get from there to Puerto Natales. If the we weather permits, we will go hiking for up to three days in the park, so it may be a while till the next blog entry. Also the internet is not always relibably available in those small places along the way. Hope all is well!
PS Calafate is a type of blueberry growing on bigger bushes; tastes good. Apparently if you eat them once, you will return to Patagonia in the future. I could handle that, I think ;)
Thursday, 27 January 2011
My version of events... Wind, wet and wild!
We had to wait a couple of days at the end of the world - Villa O´Higgins for our ferry and when the day dawned we were both itching to get going again.
The ferry crossing was a reasonably straight forward affair and we were both glad to simply be on the go again and have the knowledge that once we were across the lake we were drivers of our own progress again and would not have to rely on the whims of ferry companies... the joys of cycle touring.
On the southern side of Lago O´Higgins we were stamped out of Chile together with 5 other cyclists and Argentina bound we went. The 4-wheel drive track on the Chilean side was pretty straight forward but the track on the Argentinian side involved pushing our bikes through ankle deep mud, a few small portages of the bikes and gear and ended up being very wet. It would have all been great fun on a mountain bike (without gear) but was a bit of a slog with a fully laden touring bike. Nevertheless, we descended to a small lake in one piece, got stamped back into Argentina, surprised a boat load of clean dry tourists when all 7 of us slung our bikes onto the stern of the boat and shredded wet smelly layer after wet smelly layer inside.
The rain actually did a pretty good job of cleaning our bikes as the boat chugged the 30 minutes to the other side of the lake and freezing to death, we made short work of the few kilometres to the nearest campground, hot showers and great hospility by the young guy who ran the campground and didn´t mind us all cramming into his cabin to defrost extremities and cook our dinner.
The next day Tina and I went for a short walk up to a nearby glacier and then hit the road towards the touristy town of El Chaiten. It was to be our first experience of the famed Patagonian winds. Luckily behind us, they still managed to nearly clean us out on a few exposed corners as we tried to find the correct balance between viewing the tall ice sculputered mountains all around and concentrating of the rough ripio road.
We made it in one piece though; to a campground that looked as though it was been smashed to pieces by a hurricane. It was actually quite comical seeing tents bend to the ground as the wind continued to increase all day long. We found ourselves a tiny bush which afforded some shelter and apart from the noise of the thing thrashing around all night, it stood the test and appeared to survive its first Patagonian thrashing.
The next day, the wind was horrendous. Tents sat flat to the ground where they had been abondoned during the night and every thing that was removed from a bag, pocket or pannier had to be extracted with care, as one small fumble and it would have been whisked away to some other land. You could barely walk and the thought of riding was a joke - we wouldnt have lasted a second. With not much to do we made full use of the cafes around the strange town - seemingly constructed overnight and bided our time until we could see the mountains again and either a) go for a walk or b) go for a ride.
The next day dawned calmer. We doned the hiking shoes and hiked the famed trails up to view points of the towering Cerro Torre and Mt. Fitroy with huge icefields and glaciers spewing forth down into the valleys below. By the time we had returned to camp and lined our stomachs with grub, the wind was finally abating and we hoped that the following day we would be able to make some progress.
The wind again died down in the morning but by the time we got going after another short walk for one last look at the towering peaks it was increasing. We wern´t overly concerned by this fact as we were heading 90 km east (with the wind). We cruised it in the easiest 90 km touring I think I have ever done with the wind physically pushing us and all our gear up the hills. I broke my 7th (maybe 8th) spoke of the trip. My rear wheel on this trip - despite being new is a lemon. Luckily we have managed to source spokes at many towns along the way, in fact I have just purchased another 5, which I hope will be enough to get us to the end! Anyway, after 90km the right swung directly into the wind. We were both dreaded it, but we were still not prepared for what hit us. We went from barely pedalling and cruising at 35-40 km-hr to nearly nothing. At times I struggled to make 5 km-hr as Tina attempted to draft but the worse was the controllability of the bikes, they were all over the place. Luckily the road was quiet and after we both threw a few tantrums we turned again and had a brief respite. But the worse was still to come as we hit the side wind and at times rode at such an angle I wondered if our panniers might not hit the ground. It was with much relief to find an estancia (farm) that had a small campground were with no hesitation we hunkered down for the night and hoped things would be much calmer in the morning. Stats for the day: First 3 hours = 90km, second 3 hours = 20 km!
The day dawned calm, with not a breath of wind and we were on the road early to make the most of it. The landscape was dry and desolate, such a change from the towering mountains and their wetness we had experienced in the last few weeks. As the day wore on the wind picked up and we struggled the 30 km into El Calafate, but compared to yesterday it was literally a strong headwind, not quite of hurricane proportions.
So it was then, that yesterday we set off for Puerto Merino glacier, one of Argetina´s most popular tourist spots. Again we left early as we were heading west (into the wind) but again our early morning start payed dividends as we had a quiet ride out to the glacier. In fact, the sky´s cleared and it turned into a stunnung day, the wind seemed to forget to come out at all. It is a testamount to how far south we are though, to what I was wearing. The sun was actually baking hot yet I wore to flecces as I rode as the wind was bitingly cold. Whenever I stopped, I actually took clothes off and had to put them back on again before we left, a strange thing I reckon as usually it is the other way around.
The Puero Merino Glacier. Wow. I´ve seen a lot of glaciers on this trip but nothing even comes close to this one. The face, at 60 m high and 5km long is viewed from above and directly in front as it actually splits a lake in two and on a small peninsula, a road twists its way down to this junction. As the day wore on, the blues of the ice came out in force and we watched chunks of ice peeling their way off in the sun. We were both in awe at its force and it is definately one of the most amazing natural wonders I have ever seen.
Happy to have made the 200km detour to see it, we started pedalling back to El Calafate and spent the night camped out in the forest before making the rest of our way back to El Calafate in driving rain and cold this morning, very glad to see the hot showers of the campground as snow fell just a few hundred metres above the town.
So from here, we will head back to Chile, to Torres´De´Paine National Park. Hopefully the weather will be conducive to some walking before we set off on the final leg to the bottom of the world - Ushuaia, a few days holiday if we lucky and our flights home.
Ciao, Tim
The ferry crossing was a reasonably straight forward affair and we were both glad to simply be on the go again and have the knowledge that once we were across the lake we were drivers of our own progress again and would not have to rely on the whims of ferry companies... the joys of cycle touring.
On the southern side of Lago O´Higgins we were stamped out of Chile together with 5 other cyclists and Argentina bound we went. The 4-wheel drive track on the Chilean side was pretty straight forward but the track on the Argentinian side involved pushing our bikes through ankle deep mud, a few small portages of the bikes and gear and ended up being very wet. It would have all been great fun on a mountain bike (without gear) but was a bit of a slog with a fully laden touring bike. Nevertheless, we descended to a small lake in one piece, got stamped back into Argentina, surprised a boat load of clean dry tourists when all 7 of us slung our bikes onto the stern of the boat and shredded wet smelly layer after wet smelly layer inside.
The rain actually did a pretty good job of cleaning our bikes as the boat chugged the 30 minutes to the other side of the lake and freezing to death, we made short work of the few kilometres to the nearest campground, hot showers and great hospility by the young guy who ran the campground and didn´t mind us all cramming into his cabin to defrost extremities and cook our dinner.
The next day Tina and I went for a short walk up to a nearby glacier and then hit the road towards the touristy town of El Chaiten. It was to be our first experience of the famed Patagonian winds. Luckily behind us, they still managed to nearly clean us out on a few exposed corners as we tried to find the correct balance between viewing the tall ice sculputered mountains all around and concentrating of the rough ripio road.
We made it in one piece though; to a campground that looked as though it was been smashed to pieces by a hurricane. It was actually quite comical seeing tents bend to the ground as the wind continued to increase all day long. We found ourselves a tiny bush which afforded some shelter and apart from the noise of the thing thrashing around all night, it stood the test and appeared to survive its first Patagonian thrashing.
The next day, the wind was horrendous. Tents sat flat to the ground where they had been abondoned during the night and every thing that was removed from a bag, pocket or pannier had to be extracted with care, as one small fumble and it would have been whisked away to some other land. You could barely walk and the thought of riding was a joke - we wouldnt have lasted a second. With not much to do we made full use of the cafes around the strange town - seemingly constructed overnight and bided our time until we could see the mountains again and either a) go for a walk or b) go for a ride.
The next day dawned calmer. We doned the hiking shoes and hiked the famed trails up to view points of the towering Cerro Torre and Mt. Fitroy with huge icefields and glaciers spewing forth down into the valleys below. By the time we had returned to camp and lined our stomachs with grub, the wind was finally abating and we hoped that the following day we would be able to make some progress.
The wind again died down in the morning but by the time we got going after another short walk for one last look at the towering peaks it was increasing. We wern´t overly concerned by this fact as we were heading 90 km east (with the wind). We cruised it in the easiest 90 km touring I think I have ever done with the wind physically pushing us and all our gear up the hills. I broke my 7th (maybe 8th) spoke of the trip. My rear wheel on this trip - despite being new is a lemon. Luckily we have managed to source spokes at many towns along the way, in fact I have just purchased another 5, which I hope will be enough to get us to the end! Anyway, after 90km the right swung directly into the wind. We were both dreaded it, but we were still not prepared for what hit us. We went from barely pedalling and cruising at 35-40 km-hr to nearly nothing. At times I struggled to make 5 km-hr as Tina attempted to draft but the worse was the controllability of the bikes, they were all over the place. Luckily the road was quiet and after we both threw a few tantrums we turned again and had a brief respite. But the worse was still to come as we hit the side wind and at times rode at such an angle I wondered if our panniers might not hit the ground. It was with much relief to find an estancia (farm) that had a small campground were with no hesitation we hunkered down for the night and hoped things would be much calmer in the morning. Stats for the day: First 3 hours = 90km, second 3 hours = 20 km!
The day dawned calm, with not a breath of wind and we were on the road early to make the most of it. The landscape was dry and desolate, such a change from the towering mountains and their wetness we had experienced in the last few weeks. As the day wore on the wind picked up and we struggled the 30 km into El Calafate, but compared to yesterday it was literally a strong headwind, not quite of hurricane proportions.
So it was then, that yesterday we set off for Puerto Merino glacier, one of Argetina´s most popular tourist spots. Again we left early as we were heading west (into the wind) but again our early morning start payed dividends as we had a quiet ride out to the glacier. In fact, the sky´s cleared and it turned into a stunnung day, the wind seemed to forget to come out at all. It is a testamount to how far south we are though, to what I was wearing. The sun was actually baking hot yet I wore to flecces as I rode as the wind was bitingly cold. Whenever I stopped, I actually took clothes off and had to put them back on again before we left, a strange thing I reckon as usually it is the other way around.
The Puero Merino Glacier. Wow. I´ve seen a lot of glaciers on this trip but nothing even comes close to this one. The face, at 60 m high and 5km long is viewed from above and directly in front as it actually splits a lake in two and on a small peninsula, a road twists its way down to this junction. As the day wore on, the blues of the ice came out in force and we watched chunks of ice peeling their way off in the sun. We were both in awe at its force and it is definately one of the most amazing natural wonders I have ever seen.
Happy to have made the 200km detour to see it, we started pedalling back to El Calafate and spent the night camped out in the forest before making the rest of our way back to El Calafate in driving rain and cold this morning, very glad to see the hot showers of the campground as snow fell just a few hundred metres above the town.
So from here, we will head back to Chile, to Torres´De´Paine National Park. Hopefully the weather will be conducive to some walking before we set off on the final leg to the bottom of the world - Ushuaia, a few days holiday if we lucky and our flights home.
Ciao, Tim
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
El Calafate
Just a quick note. Hungry and tired after a long day of battling the wind. The crossing into Argenina was fun, 7 km of pushing the bikes through the mud in the pouring rain, but definitively an adventure and not as bad as we thought. Getting to El Chalten was like landing on another planet after the quiet Careterra Austral. Real tourist town, but kind of souless. We were grounded there by crazy winds and rain, then it cleared and we went for a wander to lakes right below the glaciers of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Couldnt see the very tops, but still real impressive and stunning. Flew out of El Chalten at 35 km an hour without much pedalling the next day thanks to an incredible tailwind, but the fun ended when we turned on the routa 40 and into the wind. Spend the night camping at a nice estanzia. Still morning today, nice riding though the barren and slightly rolling pampa. Unfortunately the calm did not last, and the last 35 km into El Calafate were right into the now reasonably strong wind again. But we made it and looking forward to a good dinner now. Perito Morreno Glacier tomorrw. Lots of love Tina
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Early Sunday morning... Villa O´Higgins
We have reached the end of the road... literally. South of here is by boat only, tomorrow we have a two and half hour boat ride, followed by a 6 hour bike push (to do 7 km)! In the process we re-enter Argentina and after another boat trip across another lake we will reaquainted with a road to take us further south. THat of course is tomorrow...
From Cochrane we headed south west towards the coast and like west coasts all over the world, we also headed towards the rain. Despite the rain, the riding was bliss on virtual traffic free roads, through dense forest, so many amazing waterfalls I lost count and past quite a few cycle tourists as well. We ended up falling in rhtymn with a cycling swiss couple - Pierre and Anita who we have been sharing wine and beers and stories from the road with the last few nights. The first was in the tiny fishing village of Tortel - a town with no roads, just walkways which involved a bit of a nightmare gear portage to get to our accomadation. After day in reasonably heavy day of rain, we were pleased to feel the warmth of Maria´s (landladys)kitchen. She was a pretty eccentric wee woman and was trying to convince Tina that I was too old for her and that she should find someone younger. Her motive was discovered the morning when I was taking the last of our bags out of her room and she tried to convince me to stay with her. Now, Tortel is nice, but I think it must rain there constantly and with one bumpy road in and out of town, the cycling is terrible... so I decided to head on.
We had more rain that morning, but it kind of felt right as we ascended steeply through a narrow gorge, waterfalls thundering all around us. So neither of us minded in the least - which is odd when touring in the rain. On the other side howevere, the weather cleared and we basked in the sun while waiting for an army run ferry to take us to the other side of the fjord.
THe ferry arrived at 7pm in the evening and a nice shelter saw the four us - Tina, Pierre, Anita and I showing little hesitation in using it as a hotel for the night - ironically the driest night we have have in a few days.
The day dawned clear but soon clouded over as Tina and I left early in the big push south yesterday. Pierre and Anita cycled at a very similar pace but their biological clocks were about an hour later than houw so we seldom saw them during the day so we had the road all to ourselves, apart from the few cars that passed us. It was cold... incredibly cold as we ascended and descended a series of hills and cycling through open moorland like countryside with towering mountains ad snow and glaciers not that far above us, we could have been high up in Tibet or Nepal, but we were barely 400 metres above sea level at the most. 100 km is not usually a huge day on the road for us, but on ripio (rough dirt / gravel) roads it was a monster. We were even more determined to make it Villa O´Higgins as the rain started and late that afternoon we rolled in exhausted and very hungry. We found ourselves a nive place to pitch our tent within a hostel in the knowledge that if it rains all day today (it did all last night), we can relax and stay dry in the lounge without been cramped up in a tiny tent....bliss.
So tomorrow we head back to Argentina via ferries and tracks, should be an adventure. The Carettera Austral ends here though. It has been an amazing road to cycle down. I have often heard cycle tourists saying it is the premier cycle route in the world. I don´t beleive in ´the best´, ´the world top ten´or other such catergorised but meaningless ranks as you can never go everywhere and the same place is different for everyone depending on circumstance, but it was an amazing journey and in my books is high up in the list (that doesn´t exist) of places I have been cycle touring.
Next update Argetina... until then... Ciao
From Cochrane we headed south west towards the coast and like west coasts all over the world, we also headed towards the rain. Despite the rain, the riding was bliss on virtual traffic free roads, through dense forest, so many amazing waterfalls I lost count and past quite a few cycle tourists as well. We ended up falling in rhtymn with a cycling swiss couple - Pierre and Anita who we have been sharing wine and beers and stories from the road with the last few nights. The first was in the tiny fishing village of Tortel - a town with no roads, just walkways which involved a bit of a nightmare gear portage to get to our accomadation. After day in reasonably heavy day of rain, we were pleased to feel the warmth of Maria´s (landladys)kitchen. She was a pretty eccentric wee woman and was trying to convince Tina that I was too old for her and that she should find someone younger. Her motive was discovered the morning when I was taking the last of our bags out of her room and she tried to convince me to stay with her. Now, Tortel is nice, but I think it must rain there constantly and with one bumpy road in and out of town, the cycling is terrible... so I decided to head on.
We had more rain that morning, but it kind of felt right as we ascended steeply through a narrow gorge, waterfalls thundering all around us. So neither of us minded in the least - which is odd when touring in the rain. On the other side howevere, the weather cleared and we basked in the sun while waiting for an army run ferry to take us to the other side of the fjord.
THe ferry arrived at 7pm in the evening and a nice shelter saw the four us - Tina, Pierre, Anita and I showing little hesitation in using it as a hotel for the night - ironically the driest night we have have in a few days.
The day dawned clear but soon clouded over as Tina and I left early in the big push south yesterday. Pierre and Anita cycled at a very similar pace but their biological clocks were about an hour later than houw so we seldom saw them during the day so we had the road all to ourselves, apart from the few cars that passed us. It was cold... incredibly cold as we ascended and descended a series of hills and cycling through open moorland like countryside with towering mountains ad snow and glaciers not that far above us, we could have been high up in Tibet or Nepal, but we were barely 400 metres above sea level at the most. 100 km is not usually a huge day on the road for us, but on ripio (rough dirt / gravel) roads it was a monster. We were even more determined to make it Villa O´Higgins as the rain started and late that afternoon we rolled in exhausted and very hungry. We found ourselves a nive place to pitch our tent within a hostel in the knowledge that if it rains all day today (it did all last night), we can relax and stay dry in the lounge without been cramped up in a tiny tent....bliss.
So tomorrow we head back to Argentina via ferries and tracks, should be an adventure. The Carettera Austral ends here though. It has been an amazing road to cycle down. I have often heard cycle tourists saying it is the premier cycle route in the world. I don´t beleive in ´the best´, ´the world top ten´or other such catergorised but meaningless ranks as you can never go everywhere and the same place is different for everyone depending on circumstance, but it was an amazing journey and in my books is high up in the list (that doesn´t exist) of places I have been cycle touring.
Next update Argetina... until then... Ciao
Monday, 17 January 2011
Villa OHiggins!
We made it to the end of the Carreterra Austral, Villa O Higgins. It saved the best for last, in terms of spectecular scencry and great rideing. Long day to day and dinner is ready so more later or tomorrow.. All well..
Friday, 14 January 2011
Ripio, ripio, ripio....
Not going to write too much as Tina is also updating and a big lunch in waiting for us to eat.
Sending this from the small town of Cochrane deep in the Patagonia wilderness. The riding has been very hard but the scenery has been incredible with turquiose lakes surrounded by snow capped mountains and fast flowing rivers flanked by lush green forest.
The weather has been kind... it is getting ditinctly more cold as we head deeper and deeper south, the bikes are holding together, we are holding together and the road is very bumpy.
Hope all is well in the rest of the world.... until later,
TIM
Sending this from the small town of Cochrane deep in the Patagonia wilderness. The riding has been very hard but the scenery has been incredible with turquiose lakes surrounded by snow capped mountains and fast flowing rivers flanked by lush green forest.
The weather has been kind... it is getting ditinctly more cold as we head deeper and deeper south, the bikes are holding together, we are holding together and the road is very bumpy.
Hope all is well in the rest of the world.... until later,
TIM
Cochrane - Chile
Since leaving Coihaique the riding has been getting harder and the landscape more impresssive. We have had a first taste of the famous Patagonia winds and rain, and the road surface is getting pretty rough. The day before yesterday Tim broke 3 spokes in 10 km, but it all seems ok now and we still have a few spares. From Coihaiye we went through Cerro castillo National Park, stunning with the highest poin of the Carretera (1200m) and mutli-coloured bare mountains. Then past Villa Cerro Castilla were the seal ended and the road got rough and very hilly, nest was beautiful braided Rio Murta, then lovely vistas and lots and lots of short sharp hills along Lago General Carrerra, the second largest lake in South America. We are meeting 3-5 cycle tourists a day now, among them a lovely retired couple from the UK on their "vuelta the jubelation", journey of celebration or retierement. Camped in the valley on turquis, large Rio Barker last night. Next stop Villa O Higgins, the end of the carreterra austal, 230 km away, so stocked up on lots of food. From there it is the ferry to El Chalten in Argentina. Next bit of road is supposed to be stunning, so looking forward. Hoope everyone is well, Tina :)
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Rest day Coyhaique
Having a lazy day today sorting out stuff and giving our bikes some much needed attention. The hostal were are camping at is very cosy and comfortable, it will be hard to leave tomorrow morning. But we have our ferry for the tansfer from Villa o higgings to El Chaletan booked for the 17th, that gives us six days for the next 600 km, so we better hit the road again. Coyhaique has a museum on the construction of the carreterra austral, but it is under re-construction unfortunately so we could not see it. I did not realise that the first section of the carreterra austral, i.e. between Coihaiue and Chaiten, was only completed in 1982. Amazing how much this region has already changed in the past 30 years. Apart from the national park most of the land along the road sides has been cleared for farming, and it feels like tourism has already become a major source of income.
Sorry, we cannot post photos yet, we may have to do that from home or if we come across a super-modern internet cafe. Saying that I did not expect the high speed internet and wifi everyone seems to have here..
All the best for now..
Sorry, we cannot post photos yet, we may have to do that from home or if we come across a super-modern internet cafe. Saying that I did not expect the high speed internet and wifi everyone seems to have here..
All the best for now..
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Coyhaique
We arrived in Coyhaique today, the capital of this region and the biggest town (45,000 people) we have seen on this trip by far. Did a big shop of fruit and veg in the supermarket, since they are hard to come by in the littlel towns and usually in a pretty sad state. Not surprisingly considering the roads! The hostel / campground were are staying at is real nice, so we will probably hang out here for tomorrow as well and rest up. Chiliean campgrounds in the national parks were a nice surprise so far, cheap and spacious and usually very quiet. In most we had our own private shelter and fireplace. Over the last days we made good progress thanks to the tarseal from the Puerto Cisnes turnoff onwards. We also did some walks in the Queulat national park, to the "hanging glacier" and "enchanted forest", both impressive in their own way. I loved the moss covered trees and humming birds. We saw a pair of condors cruising over our heads as well. It was kind off bizarre to hit perfect tarseal with a big shoulder and brand new fancy lookouts and picnic areas after the steep, ruggered, switchback climb just before, especially since there was hardly any traffic. Seems like Patagonia is getting ready for more tourism. Over the last three days we saw six other cycle tourer, so it seems to be quite popular for cyclists already. We had the first little taste of the famous wind yesterday, but only for a few hours and it was only a strong breeze. From tht we have been told there is worse to come, but we shall see. Our bikes seem to deal real well with the rough conditions, so far we have a few broken supports on the carriers and a broken spoke (all fixed). The weather is still warm and sunny during the day, thankfully not as hot as before. It gets quite cold at nice, and rained last night, but we were cosy in our huge luxury shelter that was actualy big enough to put the tent up in. So much for the moment. Hope you had a good start in the new year! :)
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Carreterra Austral La Junta
Tim is writing the main blog today, but I want to write a few lines as well... The hot days are gone, we are in the west now, with misty drissle and much cooler temperatures. And it is actually a nice chance after the heat of Argentina. Please forgive any typos, half the letteres are gone on the keyboard. The landscape has been from nice to truely stunning pretty much the whole way from Bariloche. The road surfaces ranged from sealed to riverbed like gravel roads, deeply corruclated washboard to quite smooth gravel or clay on the Carreterra Austral. The rainforest is petty amazing, looking forward to doing some walking tomorrow. Most impressed by those huge leaved rhubarb-like plants. I just see that Tim is writing a major novel, so will stop here not to double up to much. Just want to say that we are well, eating too much and mostly enjoying ourselves (yesterday an exception obviously). Lots of love from Tina
The Carretera Austral
Happy New Year from Chile!
Since El Boson, Tina and I hit the ripio (gravel) roads of Argentina. They were a bit of a shock to be honest and it had me thinking wether we had seriously underestimated the next two months as most of way south will be on rippo. The road was bearly rideable, a mix of fist sized rocks and deep sand together with scprcing heat slowed out pace to a crawl. Luckily, it seemed to save the worst for first (well we hope so).
We meandered past the gorgous lak es in Los Alerces National Park on virtual traffic free roads, went fo a few short walks and made camp on the side of a river for New Years. The scenery was supurb, small rememnant glaciers hung high in the Andes and lush forest led all the way down tot he lakes, and there was barely ever a cloud in the sky. One thing I found interested was the flora. It resembeled the mountains of New Zealand closely. The forests were dominated by Nothofagus sp. (beech) with the odd podocarp intermersed for good measure. Even some of the birds were similar, I saw a bush wren looking bird (long since extinct in NZ) running around the bush!
We toasted the New Year in with a few beers with the fellow campers (early though as we were in bed by 11) and were up at the crack of dawn on New Years day eager to avoid the heat of the afternoons thats had been getting worse by the day. Just as we left the park we were astonished by a cavalcade of cars (that lasted all day) coming in the other direction, loaded to the hilt with various camping apparatus. Everyone had been telling us that Argentinians did not go on holiday until the New Years. We didn´t actually think that this meant that EVERYONE went on holiday first day of the year. Nevertheless, it was gret timing for us as we enjoyed a 20km strectch of ´pavimento´ before being thrust back into a hinesouly rough gravel road once more.
The route over the Andes to Chile strangely did not involve any major climbing, we simply slipped though a gap in the mountains following a river bed. The last day in Argentina was very hot.... up to 40C. The locals we met were astonished by the heat too.... one person told us it was the hottest day in December in living memory. It felt like it!
The first small town in Chile was Futaleufu, a mecca for white water kayakers and rafters in South America. It was a lovely little town in a stunning setting in a bowl of mountains. We spent a large portion of the day waiting outside the ATM while they tried to fix it. Eventualy they did, we got our all important Chilean Pesos and were set for the long strectch of wilderness ahead. We stayed the night at a peaceful little camp site on the river and jumping in for a swim pulled up a huge hunk of Didymo from the rocks... not pretty stuff.
Yesterday we hit the famed Carretera Austral. A road built with forced labout by Pinocet in to 70s to open up access to the southern portion of coastal Chile. The ride to it was stunning, through steeped gorged ravines, waterfalls and towering snowy peaks. It was also cloudy, slightly cool and there was even a touch of rain... it was bliss after the long wee of sun and heat we had had. Unfortunately during the descent we were one of the first on scene at a nasty traffic accident. We did what we could to help and after more help had arrived, we cycled on. I can´t really explain how it felt to leave after that.... just on with our holiday while behind us lives had changed for ever.
The ripio of the Carretera Australis is bliss compared with the rippo in Argentina... it is rideable, sometiomes fast and enjoyable. The road basically disects a wet forest with small farmletts here and there and the odd small town. The weather is damp but pleasant and we are looking forward to the road ahead.
I hope everyone is well and is enjoying the New Year... more updates from the road soon...
Since El Boson, Tina and I hit the ripio (gravel) roads of Argentina. They were a bit of a shock to be honest and it had me thinking wether we had seriously underestimated the next two months as most of way south will be on rippo. The road was bearly rideable, a mix of fist sized rocks and deep sand together with scprcing heat slowed out pace to a crawl. Luckily, it seemed to save the worst for first (well we hope so).
We meandered past the gorgous lak es in Los Alerces National Park on virtual traffic free roads, went fo a few short walks and made camp on the side of a river for New Years. The scenery was supurb, small rememnant glaciers hung high in the Andes and lush forest led all the way down tot he lakes, and there was barely ever a cloud in the sky. One thing I found interested was the flora. It resembeled the mountains of New Zealand closely. The forests were dominated by Nothofagus sp. (beech) with the odd podocarp intermersed for good measure. Even some of the birds were similar, I saw a bush wren looking bird (long since extinct in NZ) running around the bush!
We toasted the New Year in with a few beers with the fellow campers (early though as we were in bed by 11) and were up at the crack of dawn on New Years day eager to avoid the heat of the afternoons thats had been getting worse by the day. Just as we left the park we were astonished by a cavalcade of cars (that lasted all day) coming in the other direction, loaded to the hilt with various camping apparatus. Everyone had been telling us that Argentinians did not go on holiday until the New Years. We didn´t actually think that this meant that EVERYONE went on holiday first day of the year. Nevertheless, it was gret timing for us as we enjoyed a 20km strectch of ´pavimento´ before being thrust back into a hinesouly rough gravel road once more.
The route over the Andes to Chile strangely did not involve any major climbing, we simply slipped though a gap in the mountains following a river bed. The last day in Argentina was very hot.... up to 40C. The locals we met were astonished by the heat too.... one person told us it was the hottest day in December in living memory. It felt like it!
The first small town in Chile was Futaleufu, a mecca for white water kayakers and rafters in South America. It was a lovely little town in a stunning setting in a bowl of mountains. We spent a large portion of the day waiting outside the ATM while they tried to fix it. Eventualy they did, we got our all important Chilean Pesos and were set for the long strectch of wilderness ahead. We stayed the night at a peaceful little camp site on the river and jumping in for a swim pulled up a huge hunk of Didymo from the rocks... not pretty stuff.
Yesterday we hit the famed Carretera Austral. A road built with forced labout by Pinocet in to 70s to open up access to the southern portion of coastal Chile. The ride to it was stunning, through steeped gorged ravines, waterfalls and towering snowy peaks. It was also cloudy, slightly cool and there was even a touch of rain... it was bliss after the long wee of sun and heat we had had. Unfortunately during the descent we were one of the first on scene at a nasty traffic accident. We did what we could to help and after more help had arrived, we cycled on. I can´t really explain how it felt to leave after that.... just on with our holiday while behind us lives had changed for ever.
The ripio of the Carretera Australis is bliss compared with the rippo in Argentina... it is rideable, sometiomes fast and enjoyable. The road basically disects a wet forest with small farmletts here and there and the odd small town. The weather is damp but pleasant and we are looking forward to the road ahead.
I hope everyone is well and is enjoying the New Year... more updates from the road soon...
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