The End

It is the end. The end of the journey, even the end of the world... as Ushuaia likes to call itself. In fact it is the second time we have arrived at the end of the world, after passing through several days ago on our way to Tierra Del Fuego National Park.

The end of the road for us was literally a dot on the map at the end of Route 3 called Lapataia... supposodly the southern most road in the world... if you ignore that fact that the Islands to the south have roads, but they are part of Chile so they don´t count... if your an Argentine that is.

It was only 25km from our camp site in Ushuaia to Lapataia and it didn´t take us long to get there, and quickly take the obligatory photo before the heavens opened and tried to freeze us on the spot in a very Arctic downpour. After it had passed we took ourselves off on several short walks before setting up camp in a beautiful glade of forest. That night a large fox kept pacing around our tent and both of us were more than surprised to see the size of it when we looked outside to see who was stomping around. We later found out that this particular fox was endemic to Tierra Del Fuego and was known for its large size.

The weather was kind to us in the park, and despite the constant biting wind, the sun was largely out and the rain kept to a minimum. Yesterday we took advantage of it and hiked up a 1000 m peak to glorious views of the Beagle Channel and Islands further south. Today we half-heartedly attempted a coastal walk but our bodies were weary after a hard two months travelling and we spent most of the time lying on the grass eating. It was time to head back to Ushuaia.

So here we are, eating good food, drinking the glorious Quilmes Stout, I´m seriously thinking of importing several dozen to New Zealand. We have one more day tomorrow to clean and pack all the gear - ugh (that´s women´s work isn´t it?), before we begin our long journey home via Buenos Aires and Auckland and next Monday it´s back to that terrible W word.

It´s been a great journey, the cycling has been challenging but absolutely supurb and the Argentinians and Chilelians have been very friendly and welcoming. Over the next few weeks we will endevour to tidy the blog up a bit, replace the cat with a picture of a bicycle and of course upload some of the many thousands of photos we have taken. Thanks for following our adventures and look forward to seeing you all soon,

TIM and Tina

Ha, the cat stays!!! And my Surly rocks...
Tina :)

As a compromise, a cycling cat, so Tim stops complaining. Maybe we will add a bike as well when we get home ;)

I´d just like to point out that seen as how Tina set up this blog, I have no editorial control over anything apart from my posts... and even then Tina can overide them. How stink is that! Stupid cat!

Ha!! The cat stays... :)