El Bolson
 

Free trade they call it, fair and reasonable pricing for goods and services, we soon discovered that means extremely fair for the vendor and a rook for the people.:huh

Some prices exceeding Europe pricing like a simple icecream, I don’t know how long they can hide behind that charade before someone says ” WTF how much”?

Determined to see the better side of El Bolson we applied for a couchsurf and he replied promptly with a yes … perfect.:clap .... the local zone ALWAYS much better.

Carlos had a small yard so we could look at Maya, turns out he was a little over 200 meters away so we pushed everything around there.

Getting sorted first we then attacking Maya to try and sort the dreaded and unwanted noise.

We removed the tank, checked a few items and discovered the rear hydraulic cam tensioner had died, a coincidence or not, I do not know?

Replacing that (cos I had a spare) we sealed everything back up, the noise was better but still there, as it warmed up it got worse.:huh

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7605/...29942c7b_b.jpgP1240618 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

It can stay like that until I do some more research, by this time I was very deflated, going home on my mind, will Maya get us there?, will she blow up?, will the end of our trip be boredom waiting for the organized finish line, will an arsehole Argie smack us off the road?

My head hurt, to be fair I was upset and angry, I wanted to kill someone or something cos everything had turned to shit.:cry

I had a cement pill and got on with it and told myself of the beautiful place we were in with great company, although part of the family Maya is a machine and like humans all get sick at some stage so at the age of 90 (000) she clicked over on the way I had to cut her some slack, not her fault the rogue rock did its thing.

Given she has never left us on the side of the road or in a bad place and had waited until El Bolson to get a in cavity her teeth wasn’t too bad to be fair so one would have to say we are lucky to have it happen there.:clap

On some positive notes I forgot to mention a cool guy we met at the hostel (non Israeli) who rocked in on XT660R.

We talked about stickers and we give him a TMK sticker which he has said he had seen so was happy to meet us, we gave him one for his bike, gratefully received :clap

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7705/...0246e5bd_b.jpgIMG_7945 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

He saw our blog with our windy tree picture and showed us a sticker he had bought, I was gutted now knowing you can get the sticker cos I think it is cool even tho there are no palm trees in Patagonia.:rofl:rofl

A n y w a y long story short he had a spare and gave it to us, he took the honours and put it on our case, the tree even blowing the correct way :clap:clap

Onya dude, really made my day and being at a bit of a low this was the travel spirit I needed, little things mean a lot.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7691/...e3c2261c_b.jpgIMG_7943 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

El Bolson - Piltriquitrón … And Around, Part 1
 

.....sounds like a trańsfòrmercöñ or something cool :rofl:rofl

Be warned this report contains titi and pussy .. right on the side of the road :huh

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/...76fd89ff_b.jpgIMG_7992 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The planned climbed, 12 km up a gravel road, big motos on the short list for theft we opted to hitch a ride to the carpark then hike the rest.

Walking along the road to the turnoff we then thumbed a ride, first car came along, she said I can take you about 1 km ….no worries good start.:clap

After she left the sum total of one car went past :eek1 and didn’t stop :eek1:eek1 so we ended up walking the entire distance other than 1 km ….not quite what we planned, good chance to sweet out the bad doodoos that had been plaguing us.

On the way up there is a place called El Bosque, Tallado which has caving in trees that have fallen, neat work.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7665/...c6c9454e_b.jpgIMG_8114 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7638/...1ecb17ea_b.jpgIMG_8113 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Arriving at the Refugio Piltriquitrón we had great views of El Bolson and the valley.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7616/...a612600c_b.jpgIMG_8109 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Organising to stay the night there we got sorted and enjoyed our food which we had carried up (knowing the refugio food was extremely expensive), the weather although ok has some bad looking intentions

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7600/...46c9e339_b.jpgIMG_7998 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Our dinner, yes an asado with wine, worth every bit of weight :rofl

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8781/...20119d41_b.jpgIMG_8013 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8805/...e5ab341b_b.jpgIMG_8008 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The bad weather intentions were realized, El Bolson by night through a wet window, nice to be inside :clap

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8757/...ef295288_b.jpgIMG_8018 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

A good night was had with chats with Italians and Argies all of them astounded that we had ridden from Alaska for the last three years, we told them there were a lot of riders doing similar trips (maybe not so long on only two islands tho :D)...I also had a wee mate who was happy to trade warmth

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7686/...504b9b4f_b.jpgIMG_8017 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Next morning the assault to the top :clap

Hang in there
 

Hang in there Andi and Ellen. At least you have shaken off the rain. You can be wet, and you can be cold, but cold and wet where you are must be the limit. I am sure you will nut out the mechanical issue and roll on again. If all else fails 2 x DR650s could get you over the line! I reckon Maya wants to be there though.


Thanks for 3 years of inspiration and entertainment. Your can-do and positive attitudes and love for each other got you to this place and will see you home. you always find the positive and I get that it not easy at times.


I totally appreciate that you do not seem to hold much back, if it is happening, we will hear about it. Best of all there is no delay. If there is, it is because I don't read every day.


This blog is a great resource for those who follow and I am one. thankyou.


All power to you both


Ross

Mount Piltrquitrón To The Top
 

The next morning we woke to a chilly start, no surprise at 2500 meters in autumn at this latitude, the ground was frosted and the air clear so looking good.:clap

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8807/...84849de4_b.jpgIMG_8027 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The day was fine so we were in with a grin, setting off shortly after nine they said 2.5 hours to the summit.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7714/...b2b8f539_b.jpgIMG_8039 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The fog and wind started to pick up which wasn't in the game plan :eek1

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7599/...a828dd88_b.jpgIMG_8048 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

1.5 hours we reached what we thought was the top, we were not sure though cost the fog was racing over at 40 - 50 km with a wind chill bite beyond belief....yeap winter is upon us.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8756/...9a7dfe35_b.jpgIMG_8047 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The fog was coming over and sticking/freezing to the plants and rocks ….. wind chill a killer.

Frozen fog sticking to the rocks

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8802/...fb778e3d_b.jpgIMG_8049 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

From our lunch rock we could watch the freezing fog growing on this wee plant :eek1:eek1

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8771/...7d4bf71f_b.jpgIMG_8071 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Rugging up with everything we had some lunch behind a lone rock when the cloud suddenly cleared, we left the pack etc and gunned it the last 100 meters, by the time we reached it the bloody fog had nearly come back in but it allowed us some view for short time.

Our victory we were here pics, check out the closeup of the blockwork, it is not paint but fog freezing so that gives you a feel for it.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7642/...3a3dcb82_b.jpgIMG_8053 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8738/...dbc20327_b.jpgIMG_8055 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7617/...9a07dcc0_b.jpgIMG_8055 - Version 2 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

With our victorious shots, were we here pics and snotty noises we scampered back down to the safety of our half rock....last view from the top

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8696/...bd7ba279_b.jpgIMG_8074 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

A quick exit along the top and down the first steep section saw us drop maybe another 100 meters vertical into a totally different climate which was not trying to kill us.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8796/...59e05e60_b.jpgIMG_8088 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

From here we enjoyed a leisurely walk back to the refugio for lunch before setting off for the decent to the car park this time hopeful for a ride down.

Back into the tree line it felt like summer :rofl

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8701/...c9a7633b_b.jpgIMG_8103 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

For me with my weak knees I would rather go up and be brought back down, today was my lucky day, a couple behind us had come up in their car, we politely asked if we could get a ride down which they were more than happy to do WOH HOH

I couldn’t believe my luck as a 12 km slog down the road would have very slow and the end would have been swollen knees so yes yet again we were lucky for when we REALLY needed it.

Of course arriving back early to our hosts place he was surprised to see us thinking we had not been to the top so we filled him in on the finer points, great day.:clap

Heya Ross

Yes with winter chasing us hard we are on the edge of it so just have to be mindful for sure.

Funny thanks is with Maya is she has outreliabled the DRs 3 -1 and had a much harder life, she will see us through I am sure.

Yeap 3 year and 2 week done and dusted, seems so fast too, trials and tribulations, goods and bads it has been epic.

Bein Kiwis we speak our minds, no sugar coatings, one thing we see on some reports is everything is perfect, the bike never fails, they never crash, have perfectly white teeth and everyday is awesome ....when you break through that crust you find half of it to be ill reported and fake which I find plastic and cheap.

I think RRs should be as it is, cold ,hot, frustrating, great, heartbreaking, heartwarming etc....just my view.

Thanks for coming along with us.

Cheers Andi

El Bolson To Completion
 

While staying with our couchsurf we took turns at various cuisine, another lady from Spain arrived too, she cooked a neat spanish meal, Ellen did a night of Chinese pies, interesting our host is a vegetarian, such was the smell of Ellens pies tickling his senses he tried a pie with meat (noting Ellen made vegetarian and meat), he was so impressed he actually had 2 pies admitting he preferred them to the vege pies (which I will add were bloody good).

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8805/...1c968737_b.jpgIMG_8118 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The great thing with couchsurfing both hosting as we did in NZ and being hosted on our travel is the ground level great people and cultural exchanges you get, far nicer than hostels etc.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7678/...7f3ac81b_b.jpgIMG_8125 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The only bumma of our stay is Rachel (from Spain) and Ellen left their hiking boots outside and some miserable ****a stole them, Ellens not so bad as 3 years on they were fit for the bin in 5 weeks but Rachels were virtually new.

Our host is a talented man too making lights with LED strip and cut bottles, pretty neat stuff.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7665/...e9515f6d_b.jpgIMG_7989 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

While in town the local hotrod club made an appearance too :lol3

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7661/...a76e6b34_b.jpgIMG_8126 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Our final day was a walk up Rio Lindo but nothing that froze our arses off, in fact Ellen went skinny dipping.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8765/...cc1c5ef6_b.jpgIMG_8134 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

A nice spot we had all to ourselves

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8813/...c433f32b_b.jpgIMG_8140 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The small walking bridge which lead us over and up :clap

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7653/...024a8635_b.jpgIMG_8130 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

With everything done and dusted, Maya running but noisy and ligther by one pair of boots we headed north to Bariloche.

Tougher than nails
 

You guys are tougher than nails lol. Every little adventure seems to give you new challenges. I am checking constantly to see what the next challenge is.

Heya lectron

Mate we are getting soft as the grey hairs sneak in :rofl:

We seem to have had a few challenges of late but the season, weather etc all put their 50 cents worth in so ya never know what you are gonna get

Cheers Andi

El Bolson To Bariloche To Meliquina
 

Tarseal at least for the most of it.

The road through to Bariloche was stunning, autumn colours coming out in full swing so something to take my mind off Maya for a while.

Knowing that Bariloche has become pretty the No 1 hotspot for big moto theft we were not that keen on staying there, coupled with that the over touristy spot was not our gig and be fair to say not No 1 on our list.

Approaching Bariloche a van pulled straight out across the road from the left hand side in front of us, we having to hit the brakes hard to avoid an impact …FFS are we invisible or what?:huh

It wasn’t two minutes later another car came ripping out of a side street on the right hand side and nearly cleaned us up:huh:huh, too close for comfort, like for Bariloche dissipating fast.

Our saving grace, we had met some rider at the Bolivian border a year ago, swapped stories, swapped stickers shook hands and carried on our ways.

Well turns out he has been following our SPOT and watched us getting closer, he invited us to stay with him and his family in Nuequen which was looking like an option, we get another email back saying they have a railway wagon in Lake Meliquina which is in the seven lakes district so right on our path and we would be welcome to join them and stay longer if we wished.

Perfect, out of tinsel town full of arseholes without eyes and into a quiet place to enjoy the real Argentina.

Food up, tank up, take off.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8694/...95ef9da5_b.jpgP1240654 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8772/...a15061d0_b.jpgP1240646 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The GPS coords a little suspect but the place is only a few hundred meters long.

Turning off the main drag the scenery changed in an instant and we were back into what we love.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7673/...b5e1c848_b.jpgP1240668 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

La Ventana in the distance, hole in the rock

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8825/...f27c2c0e_b.jpgP1240687 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The entry the the wagon proving interesting with all the volcanic sand and dust making for a slidey ride in

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8712/...fcbdcb83_b.jpgP1240688 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Arriving easily at the carriage we were greeted and welcomed in, an asado on the go, our red wine quickly removed and set out on the table ti help pass what can only be described as a beautiful sunny day …. shorts and t weather.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7717/...9e784b25_b.jpgIMG_8153 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

An absolute feed was had couple by discussion of motos, travel and this time family, work, their kids etc so a really neat afternoon.

Check out the asado, you would need resource content and have to advise NASA in New Zealand :rofl

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7707/...8f487c51_b.jpgIMG_8156 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7695/...766ef10f_b.jpgIMG_8168 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

No photos of the meat for some reason, I think it was hoovered faster than the shutter speed on our camera :rofl

Meliquina .... The Lunch
 

That next morning was yet another fine day, all the bad weather vibes etc behind us, today lunchtime was a special feed prepared by dad at daughters request …. we like the way the daughter thinks :D

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7588/...6c99996b_b.jpgIMG_8162 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Prepping

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8780/...f00e5041_b.jpgIMG_8165 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Finished and ready to scoff :clap

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7661/...9989abe0_b.jpgIMG_8172 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

They would not have a bar of us putting in for it as they had everything needed, given they were heading to Chile for business we made an agreement to help them get away that after the lunch they could hop up and leave us to, clean, sort, stack ….they thought that was a bloody good idea….win win

While the asado was on the neighbours came over and joined in with the cooking and chats, extremely nice people to say the least.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7634/...94690428_b.jpgIMG_8169 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

With lunch done and dusted, bellies hanging out they relaxed for a short while until the exit button was pushed allowing them a timely getaway.

The boss and his lovely lady relaxing before the big takeoff

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8790/...27cc41c8_b.jpgIMG_8154 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

I had started feeling off shade in the morning, achy, stiff neck, headache etc …. argh not again. :huh

Victor said no problem to extra days and make ourselves at home so at least we could probably sit it out for a couple of days. :clap

Melquina, Plans, Illness, Natural Disasters
 

No more room in the title and that is only the start of it :huh :clap :eek1 :cry

We had plans to ride the seven lakes ride and hike around the valley taking the place in, a neat part La Ventana which means window in spanish, that is a huge hole in the rock near the summit so that was on the cards too :clap

My health got worse, this time no snot, no cold, no cough ….hmmm, bed for me was it plain and simple nothing else was even on my list.:cry

Me being me I hate missing out so determination saw the key put in the ignition, as it would turn out this was the only thing I would do is the seven lakes ride, 2 hours and I was just spent after the first hour.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8693/...8a821743_b.jpgIMG_8193 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7678/...32c30855_b.jpgIMG_8194 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

It would turn out that this clean water photo is diamond

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7694/...0a97dd1d_b.jpgIMG_8198 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Maya seemed to take control of everything she should and quite a bit of what I should….kinda weird feeling sorta floating alone along a road enjoying the view and feeling almost like in the passengers seat, not sure it was entirely safe of course but we are still alive.

Passo Cordoba providing some nice views on the way home

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7586/...c861d810_b.jpgIMG_8215 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

As time went by (a couple of days) nothing improved, no sleep, sweating in the bed then shivering my arse off (normally do that at the top of the mountains).:clap

We had limited meds and were out in the sticks, we had a log fire which I had a love hate relationship with cuddle / open the doors / cuddle / open the doors …..I could not win. :cry

5 days on no improvement so time to look at things more seriously, the good ol Kiwis sit it out and harden the **** up did not work..I needed some serious shit…

This was the only fun I had.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7679/...af319852_b.jpgIMG_8314 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

I put all my symptoms into a search, narrowed it down again and again, ruled out some and kept others, from my best knowledge it looks like I have viral meningitis. :eek1

Nothing else fits the bill, I wasn’t dead so that ruled out a seriously case of bacterial meningitis but still I feel very bad, to be ill here is relaxing.

We are very lucky to have been handed such a cool place to stay and the timing of being very crook right here, in a noisy hostel or tent would have made it far worse and as you guys well know (at you olda fellas with grey hair like me) home comforts % must go up when one is down and crook.

My highlight was the saving grace called Andrea, neighbour and Doctor, she could see right through me.

Pneumonia .....:cry ... no wonder I was not feelin the best

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5468/...39da2775_b.jpgIMG_8323 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

More to follow, Ellen will write what happened cos I wasn't really there :rofl

Hope you get yourself sorted fella, take it easy

Wayne

Take care of yourself, old boy, you have to stay alive to keep telling us the story (oh wait: Ellen could do that!).
Your photo of the freezing fog on the plant brought back a memory of freezing fog at (wait for it) Wanaka. On a SPIDERWEB! A long time before I was a competent photographer.
Rob Hall

Heya Wayne

Thanks man, think I am on the mend now with some hard drugs, hoping they will kick in today bier

Cheers Andi

Heya Rob

I am happy to still be a alive and bore you guys to tears :rofl:

If you learn Chinese you can read her version of what happened too :innocent:

Yes Wanaka can get extremely cold and frosts with fog make for some amazing shots, extremes of conditions always do but yeah ...a little uncomfy when you are down.

Cheers Andi