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Carreterra Austral Day 9 Free Camp At Glacier To Caleta Tortel
A hook up to the unreal world through wifi in Puerto Traquillo we checked emails and weather, the latter being more important.
As no one had died the email front was quite, lucky cos the wifi was slower than a BMW (runs for cover:rofl), the weather was looking +/- ok with some shit and some good stuff....were off!! :clap Saying goodbye to Juan and Alice on the 250 Advespa they headed to Chile Chico and out to Argie, we opting to challenge the weather gods of the Carretera Austral. Cochrane was well within our grasp and Caleta Tortel reachable without issues or very bad roads. Personalised bridges :D https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8656/...8eaa29c8_b.jpgP1230787 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr As it turned out the road to Cochrane was very good condition allowing us to keep a good pace and making it ahead of time, deciding to get to Caleta Tortel we stocked up on supplies then onwards to the south. Road works galore, won't be long and it will all be tar sealed. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8634/...f825a289_b.jpgP1230804 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The road was an interesting mix of corrugations and loose stuff making riding pretty interesting, then shit happened again, the was a crack, bang and a chunk of black metal flew off into the veges, it turned out to be the other half of the LED light bracket had failed in exactly the same place, this time the front wheel grabbed the light and part bracket posting it into the veges at a great rate. Lucky the Rigid Industries lights are bomb proof as it too a hell of a launch https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8657/...f6ba1e2f_b.jpgP1230825 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr I stopped as quick as I could given the surface was loose, we backtracked and it took about 10 minutes to find the light with the part of the bracket attached, you would think it would be easy to spot eh but no it was quite a mission. With the light back in hand and packed away in the tank bag we were now down to the factory candle....lots more power use and lost less lighting. Continuing on down we followed the Rio Bakar, said to be the most beautiful river on the Carretera Austral but we think in Chile complete….stunning colours. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8565/...2d9ae9ce_b.jpgP1230802 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/...b4df9a2d_b.jpgP1230820 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our luck with the weather was running low as we rode into mist, fog then light rain then to steady rain, the last 25 -30 km it was cold and very wet, arriving in Caleta Tortel we decided to try and find a hostal as the tent was still wet, it was raining steadily and it was very cold, lucky enough the cheaper place was not far away so we softed out and had our first hard roof and sheeted bed for 8 days. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8596/...0ebbd6fa_b.jpgP1230888 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Dreary and wet https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8665/...6a90d42f_b.jpgIMG_6499 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We did a heap of washing, had an epic shower and sat on a flush toilet AND had a log fire to warm and dry ourselves too, saweet.:clap Caleta Tortel has an interesting array of timber boardwalks which it is famous for, we an almost slight reprieve in the weather so we took the advantage to look around. One of the main boardwalks down from town to the sea https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8627/...6f87b8cb_b.jpgIMG_6489 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8674/...04ae8c5a_b.jpgIMG_6495 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Beautifully crafted places you can stop out of the rain, really neat place :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8626/...d93ba1db_b.jpgIMG_6496 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The boardwalks go for a couple of km :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8561/...cfb11e88_b.jpgIMG_6497 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The rain continued all night and at various points was quite noisy on the roof bringing that warm cosy feeling of $$$ value.:D Having to catch a ferry at 10 am we needed to head away earlyish so a hot shower before bailing then to the ferry we go, mum nature still being mean with crap weather and very low temperatures. The road up and out of Caleta Tortal ,very nice ride indeed https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8613/...d34836c3_b.jpgP1230882 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Heading up the gorge to the pass https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8633/...9979fe10_b.jpgP1230834 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr |
Carreterra Austral Day 10 Caleta Tortel To Villa O’Higgins.
The ferry sailing was extremely quiet, three cars and Maya, Maya having the full 2/3’s of the deck to herself, poor we girl was lonely.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8654/...f9647c5a_b.jpgIMG_6509 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Tightly packed in to make space for all the others :rofl https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8575/...311d26c2_b.jpgIMG_6511 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr 45 minutes later we were on terra firma again, the road from the Ferry to Villa O’Higgins taking on a new lonely feel, this part of the road is way way less travelled, the up side the road was far better condition.:clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8642/...dd3fd7a9_b.jpgIMG_6520 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The waterfalls were all showing off after the rain and dust was a word of yesterday, finally our new MT21 having something to bite into allowing us to keep a good pace and sure footed.:clap Getting into Villa O’Higgins just after lunch left us plenty of time to explore the roads to the official end of the CA 1237 km from the start.....WOH HOH the end (of the CA) https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8618/...378391d1_b.jpgIMG_6529 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr First up the finish line 7 km south of Villa O'Higgins. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8638/...c32590b9_b.jpgIMG_6534 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Back to town then up to the pass, great scenery and beautiful hanging basins watching down on us the road took us up to almost an altiplano where we accidentally made it to the border of Argentina to Passo Rio Mayer. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8636/...fcb477f3_b.jpgP1230840 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr At the pass with my new found mate who was really happy to see us and have someone to talk to, very nice guy.:clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8578/...6c8f6c54_b.jpgP1230847 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8582/...f7b1becf_b.jpgP1230845 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We realized how close we were to the other side, if we could sneak through there it would save a 500km round trip, unfortunately no way through here or from Villa O'Higgins with a moto. On the way back we met two other border guys on horses so we stopped for chats and they wanted their photos with us, one of their horse dwarfing Maya making her and me look little. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8613/...6d436ef5_b.jpgP1230850 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Cool doods, good times.:clap Stopping down the valley we dawdled our way back take the place in :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8678/...830bf300_b.jpgIMG_6540 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr An old bridge making a nice we point of interest https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8609/...e4ebe998_b.jpgIMG_6547 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Exiting back out of the valley we made it back to town, checking a couple of hostels the price was too high at $40 for a crap room, it was also $20 for a camp site … seriously??? WTF.:huh When we put our tent down we do not pay for it, we opted to head out of town to a small spot we saw earlier (always on good camp alert down here) making a nice fire, having an epic view and a nice quiet spot without party goers and dogs barking, we did however have an orchestra of local Chilean frogs singing to us which was kinda nice. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8678/...9f728ba7_b.jpgP1230855 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Big day to a Glacier is on the agenda for the next morning so bed early for us. |
Carreterra Austral Day 11 Villa O’Higgins To Lagos Pasadas
Having planned to go to the glacier we packed camp down early and we had organised to leave our gear at the tourist office at 10.00am when they opened.
10.00am rolled around, 10.15, 10.25 …no sign of anyone…WTF ….no tourists on this day please !!! Needlessly consuming our time we shot around to the Police station and talked with them, one guy an experienced climber and said to Ellen we had been misinformed about the time, distance and degree of difficulty.:cry Also by this stage of the game the changeable weather making its presence felt with a bitterly cold winds laden with chainsaws cutting straight through our clothing. All in all an epic fail of tourist office people not turning up and Policeman saying don’t go we disappointingly had to can it, as there was no Plan B we had to rethink a new plan of attack. It was decided to make a break and head out so we did, still enjoying our time in Villa O’Higgins and very worthwhile going there. Beautiful road to follow https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8597/...c62239b9_b.jpgP1230858 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The wind was nasty cold and had bits of cold water in it making for a cooler ride. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8610/...d66b64b7_b.jpgP1230867 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr As we progressed to the ferry it started to brighten which was welcoming. The ferry came in right on time and Claire from Australia (who we had met a few days earlier) rolled off the boat so we had a quick chat with her before she headed south and we boarded the boat. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8680/...ca299772_b.jpgP1230874 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Reaching the land again on the other side was dry and a small breeze but still very cold, all rugged up we decided to make the most of our day, back up to Cochrane then over Passo Raballo to Argentina, the southern most pass on the Carreterra Austral. Passo Raballo was beautiful and a neat ride, the border crossings very simple and quick, we had ended up doing way more miles than we thought and the winds was howling, next town 64 km away down a very secondary road that had suffered bad rain damage and was soggy in places. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8661/...f4e20971_b.jpgP1230963 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A nice dry section https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8566/...6464d943_b.jpgP1230970 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We were both tired, cold and hungry now, so leaving the pass we had a quick munch, drink then hits it to Lagos Pasadas. Heading down east into Argentina https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/...7213458e_b.jpgP1230984 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The wind giving us a push or two sideways and the soggy sodden ground breaking our traction in between the dusty parts so we had a real mix of everything. The wind whipping the shallow muddy waters from the rain https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8613/...fd1f252f_b.jpgP1230990 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The previous rain had made some fairly big channels across the road around 400 wide x 400 deep kinda thing which kept up on our toes, a couple of them hidden in the diminishing light and almost catching us out. Finally reaching Lagos Pasadas after about 470 km of gravel roads, ferry crossing and border crossing we were spent, the wind by this stage enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, the only sheltered camp site was a paid place with a proper room not a lot more. Given the ferocity of the wind, cold and lateness we got the cheapest place we could find, good timing too for charging everything back up....and they had a heater :D Next up.....the southward leg towards Ushuaia :clap |
Lago Pasadas To Tres Lagos
Back To Argie
Wind. :huh https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8658/...1cca05e5_b.jpgP1230999 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Highlight of the day was no fuel in Gobernador Gregores, we met about 10 Brasilians who had already been waiting for two hours, we were there about an hour all up then the tanker was due in another two hours so their day was spent, we had filled up everything on the Mayan supertanker prior so had 39 liters on board which enabled us to get to the next fill station at Tress Lagos. Tar... a slight bonus to stop flying off the road in the wind https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8641/...6cea8899_b.jpgP1240031 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The sign on the fuel pump at Tres Lagos said max $300 and the lady filled up the front and rear not expecting to be anywhere near the $300, the pumped blazed past the max so I just kept my mouth shut looking the other way while she was concentrating on filling. Wasn’t till she finished she realized she had just filled up a supertanker over her maximum, the look on her face was “ouwh ****” but too late, I screwed the tops down and we paid her for our overfill which we were stoked to get.:clap:clap Back into Tres Lagos town the wind was howling through hard, my poor old bod saw from pushing hard against the bars despite dropping our speed to reduce the anger. Our payoff for what turned out to be a pretty arduous day was a very nice piece of meat Ellen had bought at the supermarket where there was no fuel, after Pasta and Tuna etc for a few days a nice piece of animal was a win. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8602/...bc9eff4c_b.jpgP1240023 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr While scoffing down our animal we watched out the window as stones rolled past and trees fought the breeze, to bear in mind the wind chill factor was ugly and bitterly cold .... this is summer!!! :huh https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8575/...db5f9f43_b.jpgP1240022 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This report short and swept ....I mean sweet ...next up, more wind :rofl:rofl |
Tres Lagos To Cerro Sombrero
From Argie To Chile
Wind :huh Highlight of the day was meeting up with Clint and Rosie heading north, they had been waiting two days Esperanza for fuel … seemingly a normal thing to queue for hours or have to wait until the station actually gets fuel in Argentina. Good stories of their travels and some good information swaps before we both headed off on our ways. As it turned out there was a music festival at El Calafate so the road was choca with arseholes trying to get ahead, when we arrived at Esperanza you could see why as they were all waiting in a line for fuel, the line was right around block and out onto the road and down a bit, seriously, and two attendants doing ALL the pumps, filling and money…..these guys really need to get their shit together, 1000’s of man hours wasted sitting waiting for gas on a main route?????!!!! :eek1 Again happy to be on the supertanker we had our pre-organised lunch so we did not have to line up 10 deep to get crap food for a big price, setting off to Rio Gallegos was hard work, very cold and blowing like hell coupled with the racing car drivers racing from fuel station to fuel station. :huh Tanking up in Rio Gallegos we headed to the border with very unfortunate timing of a couple of buses, 20 odd trucks and 30 plus cars in front of us … Although there was many people on deck the usual re-entry in to Chile was long and drawn out, 2.5 hours later we finally made it out, the early evening wind hard and stark. :eek1 Down to the Ferry we jumped to the front of the queue in front of everyone who had pushed in front of us at the border, we where only there 15 minutes when the Ferry arrived and we were loaded on and taken across, finally something working in our favour. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8581/...f76131dc_b.jpgP1240045 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The short crossing was ruff with the wind whipping up the waves and swells. Maya was rocking around too much for comfort so we choked her into place to stop her falling over. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8599/...71705819_b.jpgP1240047 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Heading to Cerro Sombrero was the next point of civilization for us, again we opted for a hostel after some 560 km and yes the furthe south your go the quicker it cools off......and fast. Getting in late we opted to buy our dinner, usually in Chile this is a no-no because of the $$$, tonight was the exception and for $11 we had mashed potatoes, spiced veges and two big chucks of steak, this fed the two of us easily.:clap Hot showers, hot food …..simple things make life so comfy. The morning rolled around (as they usually do) ((unless you die)) (((which we didn’t))) and the hostel owner shouted us breakfast so our choice of places to stay worked out to be a huge win all round and a nice simple place. Todays mission ...Ushuaia :clap |
Cerro Sombrero To …..Ushuaia
Fin de Mundo - End Of The World :clap:clap
Wind, not too bad today, what a great reprieve.:clap Another border crossing, this time back into Argentina which is always so much quicker and easier. Not much to say, only a small day of about 420 km, partly paved partly rippio, all easy going What wind ... trees always grow sideways :rofl https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8609/...f7de38e6_b.jpgP1240050 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr For the last 86000 km our heated grips worked fine, today they decided it was enough :huh …you’re shitting me :huh:huh …..your not :eek1:eek1:eek1….. damn, seems that the last lot of rippio loaded with corrugations had seen the brake line wear through the cable to the heat controller unit …. great day for this to happen with such low temperatures..…and literally on our final day to the bottom of the world. ...good onya Murphy still cadging a ride with unsuspecting moto riders :rofl:rofl Are we there yet? https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8634/...ba84bd96_b.jpgP1240057 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr No ....but not far now https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8603/...18a5ec1b_b.jpgP1240063 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Hauling out my winter gloves I had to suffer cold hands (i have bad circ to my fingers) but the prize was an almost rain free day into Ushuaia finally 2 years and 10 months after leaving on our 1 year trip from Alaska.:clap My mind was going overtime, very joyous having finally arrived but also some sadness realizing our finish line was even closer than I wanted …and my hands were cold.…poor wee princess :evil So, we did the Ushuaia entry photo, arriving at 4.07pm 25th February 2015. Are we there yet?.....YES :clap:clap:clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8643/...c2204b6f_b.jpgP1240089 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Finding our friends at Momos Hostel we finally got to get off the bike and relax, our welcoming committee waving us in the door, outstanding. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8636/...51f17300_b.jpgP1240092 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Ushuaia the update coming up … and the famed park sign. |
Ushuaia
Finally, 122449 km after leaving Alaska 2 years and 10 months ago, three motos later, 85809 km done on Maya from Phoenix Arizona after the less than ideal start there all has been great since.:clap
A huge thanks to everyone along the way who helped, were involved, gave us shit, joined our ride, read our blog and generally participated in this part of our lives, it has been very cool for us. A special mention for special people would be a list as long as a toilet roll but some main names of Bevan and Claire from Phoenix helping with the sale of the 2 DR’s and the MAJOR assistance of helping get Maya sorted out after the dreaded deal with the honest lawyer, many other people along the way could well do a mention but you guys would fall asleep. There are always turning points in your trip but for us this was nearly a turn around and go home point which we did not want. Moving on down, way on down to the end and we are finally here amidst happiness of making it here and sadness knowing that in about 2 months we will be back home in New Zealand and back to work :eek1. To finish off we did the usual celebration at the famed sign at the end of the road, having been mostly proper all the way and done everything by the book for the borders we decided not to do a stuffed muppet photo of “we were here”.:norton Having ridden out to the park with Andrea after 8.00pm so we didn’t have to pay we were rebelling against the system with the wind in our hair (well rain cos it was pissing down). :rofl:rofl Making it almost to the end the sun came through shouting us a cool sunset for a few minutes. Andrea on her DRZ 400 (from Becktastics motoventuring) behind me https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8616/...ea0f6910_b.jpgIMG_6552 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Reaching the famed sign it was time to think of something different and having a mad photographer at hand the ideas started flowing.:evil Naturally not being allowed to roll the bikes through the bollards to take photos we obeyed the rules like everyone does and ignored this being on our rebellious ending. For sure we were not going to take this long to get down and not get to take our photo there!!! :lol3 Tonight was the stuffed muppet on top of the bottom of the world pic https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8578/...7c3db5b3_b.jpgIMG_6568 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The on top of the bottom of the world :evil https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8683/...a8bd1476_b.jpgIMG_6563 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr And the today is so hot despite the last snow shower look, I know I should have worn my helmet for safety ..... :rofl https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8618/...df9467ec_b.jpgIMG_6574 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr After finishing the shoot we headed back 4 km to our home for the night to camp out in the park. 3/4 bottle wine between us we sat on the bank chewing the fat and watching sky TV evolve. The following morning we woke to a stunning warm dry still day … thought we were still dreaming or had been beamed up to another planet but it was nice. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8614/...d22c6a5f_b.jpgIMG_6578 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The buses full of gringosheep had not been past so we took the opportunity to get some more pics in the daylight.:clap Back to the sign we took photos with our Brazilian T shirt give to us by Remi who had been down to Ushuaia and up to Alaska, we said we would take the T shirt down and photograph it with us at the sign. An honour to meet you Remi & Luisa and a pleasure to wear your shirt :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8637/...e290185c_b.jpgIMG_6579 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Given it was so hot we had to take a layer of clothes off, Andrea didn’t notice that we accidentally took everything off…she could told us :rofl So, stuffed muppet naked photo, dangerfreeks with no helmets :rofl https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8680/...5db90e31_b.jpgIMG_6584 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr And Ellen doing her witchypoo maneuver flying past the bike https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8610/...45ff42fc_b.jpgIMG_6588 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Finally, the two bikes with our intrepid photographer with the famed moto sign, clearly we misunderstood thinking you were only not allowed to be there on a red moto, spanish is hard to understand.:wink: https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8589/...a0a5376e_b.jpgIMG_6598 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr That my friends is what 2 years and 10 months travelling on a moto does to your head .....I am so looking forward to the next big one already :rofl:rofl To follow, Ushuaia, NOT just Fin De Mundo turn around and go |
Ushuaia, Time To Relax And Hang Out
Finishing our pics at the sign we rolled the bikes out to ”the legal side” sighting we may have misunderstood the sign. :evil
Breaky was in order so we had coffee with cold meat from the previous nights asado. The bus loads of sheep started arriving soon after and we became the subject of photography from innocent bystanders wandering what they were seeing. Wasn’t long and yogi bear turned up in his hilux, we had a chat and he asked that we park our bikes in the parking area so the buses could get in and out easier and so our bikes would not get knocked over.....no worries :clap Taking in the walk behind the sign out to the sea was cool, we then headed to the big hill climb. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8587/...48980d28_b.jpgIMG_6612 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr It was supposed to be 4 km to the top however at about 2 km in we then started at the 4km mark :huh The walk was neat starting in forest then through swamp and out on the bald zone of the harsh part and up to the top on shingle scree and rock. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8677/...f485e25b_b.jpgIMG_6643 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Up through the weird trees https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8596/...266e8e34_b.jpgIMG_6636 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Out onto the last of the grass plato https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8571/...c9f8d3d2_b.jpgIMG_6616 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Up onto the steeper scree, same lake in the first pic https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8592/...b9be1075_b.jpgIMG_6621 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This is what my arse looks like with shorts on :rofl https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8639/...cf2ae7a5_b.jpgIMG_6620 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We all blazed it pretty easily being super triathletes … a few puffs and stops along the way but no one walked past us. The view from the top every bit work the grunt of the climb, the weather being kind let us see past Ushuaia and across to Puerto Williams and right up the valleys behind us, epic. Puerto Williams in the background https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8663/...6a211dc5_b.jpgIMG_6625 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Andrea at the final steep to the top https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8564/...ceb92901_b.jpgIMG_6628 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr It was however bitterly cold at this elevation 1 km up so we took shelter just off the ridge to have some lunch. Ushuaia is in between the big and the little hill at the waters edge https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8682/...f9533cb3_b.jpgIMG_6630 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Heading back down was hard for me with my old knees so the first steep section off the top was slow. Making it down to the tree line was welcoming as the wind was over the top of us and the wind chill lowered considerably. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8584/...3a6e567e_b.jpgIMG_6641 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Back to the start line we were all good, finishing the track 2 hours ahead of their posted time….return to the Hostel tonight for a shower etc ….wicked cool day spent in the park playing.:clap The following few days we decided to bunk down in Ushuaia as we had managed to bag a decent head cold each, I think with all the riding, hard winds, long days and finally getting to the southernmost finishline our bodies went OK ….enough.:cry What a great place to be sick ... excellent!!!:clap:clap |
Ushuaia Around And About
Talking it easy saw sleep ins to 10 -11 am and breakfast time interrupting lunch hour, a few short walks around town to take in Ushuaia and the local surroundings.
I also fixed my heated grips which was a worn/chaffed wire From this https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8668/...ae9c9bec_b.jpgP1240093 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8675/...99369b2a_b.jpgP1240094 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr To this, I thought there was only two wires in there but no there was seven :rofl when then taped everything back together nicely :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8595/...ba7e601c_b.jpgP1240095 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our BDCW bracket had also broken and as luck would have it right across the street from Momos there is an alloy welder, 3 pieces back to one means a one complete smile again https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8566/...18c27973_b.jpgP1240096 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We enjoyed several days of meeting moto riders in and out of the hostel and meeting the famous Noah Horak and his girlfriend Lucy. I also helped Andrea and Becks get their bike sorted for sale, some starter motor and flat tire stuff and some wiring fixes. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8592/...273156de_b.jpgP1240104 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Was cool to meet a fellow traveller that has travellered so far and many places on his moto a KTM690 Enduro, the more capable smaller brother to our SE. His reward for turning up here was to take Lucy out for a ride on Maya, Lucy has never been out on a bike before so it was all new for her, sunset at Ushuaia. Recognize this dodgy dude?, pictured with Lucy his chickie :clap:clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8607/...85ba407f_b.jpgP1240106 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We have thoroughly enjoyed Ushuaia, it is a great place, not just a destination to turn around quickly and hit it north. For us, certainly a box ticked but another box opened up and ticked by way of spending time taking in the parks etc. Ellen loves flying past these signs on her invisible broom :rofl https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8575/...235623d0_b.jpgIMG_6682 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8591/...bce25d06_b.jpgIMG_6675 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr No pirates :evil https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8614/...d3670b7f_b.jpgIMG_6665 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our plan now is to head down Road J to the end and camp out so we will be off grid again for a few days. |
Awesome job kids, Congratulations on making it to Ushuaia!!! - We had a great time there, enjoy!
Hugs from me & Lisa |
great Job
I have been following you guys since you started your journey. What a hell of a accomplishment. Hopefully it/s all downhill till you get back to New Zealand. Hat's off to an amazing ride. Continue to a safe end.bier
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Great hearing from you guys, yeah we finally made it which is totally cool, loved Ushuaia and had a great time there too so for our Fin De Mundo was magic. Back up in Punta Arenas now, then Torres Del Paine etc. Cheers and love to you two. Andi & Ellen |
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Thanks for you kind words, much appreciated. Still got two months (which I am hanging onto) so yes hope for plain sailing to a degree. Cheers Andi |
Ushuaia To Road J
......lets have a look :D
Saying goodbye to Becks, Andrea, Noah and Lucy we headed for Road J. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7288/...2128e3b3_b.jpgP1240113 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Road J heads out 130 km southeast of Ushuaia and takes you to the southern most tip of Argentina. :evil ouwh argh one more box to tick :huh We had great weather considering the beginning of the day was very wet, as the day unfolded so did the clouds allowing us a nice ride. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7608/...650c6241_b.jpgP1240116 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Exiting out of Ushuaia was typical Argentina, first the monster lineup for fuel with two attendants walking around slowly and cars lined up ten deep :huh, it took us about 25 minute to get gas…WTF!! Heading out of town we then sat in a long queue with the police check only to be flagged on by anyway so all in all an hour to get out of town.…hmmm glad we didn’t arrive at siesta time it would take all day.:rofl Finally out on open road we made it to our turn off then out to freedom, traffic was sparse other than a MTB race on. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7593/...b6a11520_b.jpgP1240123 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Estancia Harberton (Harberton Station) out half way to the end was a point of interest, a friend of our asked if we wanted to stay there and offered to put in, even with the put in it was still a little exotic price wise so we opted to camp, couple with that we had a beautiful day with a beautiful camp site.:clap We took a few photos of the place and headed on our merry way out to the end with the road twisting and turning along the waterfront, a stunning but lonely place. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8718/...840aa69e_b.jpgP1240134 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7584/...869b4559_b.jpgP1240135 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Stunning setting https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8653/...2018acb7_b.jpgP1240149 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8568/...7ecb4f0d_b.jpgP1240140 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The station from across the bay https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8660/...1a71577a_b.jpgP1240166 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The road followed along the sea line through open and trees. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7651/...7b2882f4_b.jpgP1240190 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7603/...16769f9b_b.jpgP1240188 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr See the tree, evidence we are in Patablowia but not today :clap:clap https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/...17b0061e_b.jpgP1240192 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Reaching the end we were greeted by a lonely little black dog who pulled a stupid smile after a welcoming hello and click of our fingers so he was curiously keen to see us with a cautious approach paid off with a pat and smile, I think we made each others day. Photos and standing looking out across the southern ocean was in order, smiles of appreciation from Ellen and I feeling lucky to be there and even luckier to be there on an excellent weather day and trust me you see the trees and know it can be extremely savage down there and very inhospitable to warm blooded creatures let along exposed moto riders. Looking back towards Ushuaia in the late afternoon sun. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8729/...0120602d_b.jpgP1240200 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We were here, the end of the road. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8679/...c526f356_b.jpgP1240201 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The road on the way back allowing epics views https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7633/...8702166f_b.jpgP1240212 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Making our way back we hit it to camp, undecided on which place to stay as we had a choice of three great locations with us opting to do km today as we needed to make ground tomorrow. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8651/...9e84f79b_b.jpgIMG_6691 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr New asado grill made from wire we found on the ground https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7604/...dae6855d_b.jpgIMG_6692 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Have meat :clap will cook https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7588/...3926eb06_b.jpgIMG_6693 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Cooked ... now where is that wine!! https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8647/...bb811f9d_b.jpgIMG_6695 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A scoff of bar b q meat, some salad with an Argie Malbec and no one else around ...saweet!!! Our choice as it would turn would be great other than when we went to bed a herd of bulls came through our camp grizzling, roaring and mooing hard out.:eek1 I ended up getting out of bed (from no sleep) and chasing them off and make them moove elsewhere. Luckily they were offended by me and my bright LED in their eyes so they scattered, I didn’t even have to scare them with taking my clothes off however my undie run was proved to be scary enough.:rofl:rofl |
Road J to Punta Arenas
We woke to a bitterly cold breeze and some clouds but mum nature soon removed the blanket and the sun was shining through making our ride north up and over the pass excellent and for a hour of so we enjoyed almost no wind.
On getting to Rio Grande we meet 8 - 9 Brasil Riders and they too were heading to Punta Arenas. We headed outa town prior to them but it was only a few km up the road they all came past us at true Brasilian pace. Pulling up behind them at San Sebastian (the border) we did paperwork and managed to sneak out ahead of them somehow, once hitting the dirt Maya excelled and did what she does best and ti add to todays mix heavy rain, a road that was flowing like a river and some wind. Perfect conditions not to ride we knew we only had 137 km of torture but mum nature was doing her darnedest to make life hard for us. It seems as soon as we said bring it on and give us your worst the weather cleared leaving us just a muddy section of road to navigate, the layer of puffed clay with mud and gravel making about 50 mm plus layer of semi sludgy semi dryish cake mix....which was interesting. The rain cloud behind us where we had come from, we rode out from the storm and to the left so it was nowhere as wet here :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8677/...3e48a9b1_b.jpgIMG_6702 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Where we were going ...nice !! https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7634/...f01653a9_b.jpgIMG_6699 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The sea in contrast with the sky and clouds making a nice mix that was pleasant to the eye https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8657/...50d90a65_b.jpgIMG_6705 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr I was stoked to have the MT 21 on and I know it was making life easier for us however well still slid and wobbled a lot on the greasy paste. One of the 1200 GS's and a Tenere 660 were owned by the mud both biffing there bikes, not too bad damage just a reminder of biting real estate. Arriving at Porvenir we had an hour and a half up our sleeves and were very grateful to see the ferry there and with and open door as the previous days had no sailed due to wind. Maya looking like a dirty girl and the wharf https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8606/...caac1a98_b.jpgIMG_6706 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The Ferry took 2 hours and we arrived in Punta Arenas about 9.30 pm safe and sound. Next is Punta Arenas, town and about, don't just race through you will miss it. |
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