El Calafate to Puerto Natales, Thursday, 31 January 2013, Day 212

Minors memorial for me Dad!

Day began with left overs for breakfast which is always nice and I was going to ride with A & A to La Esperanza where they would turn left in search of sprockets and chain and I would turn right because I did not want to do the same road again and we would meet up in Ushuaia or before.

It was very windy even in the sheltered campsite so I was a bit concerned how it would be on the open road but as we headed to La Esperanza it was not as bad as I expected but that was mainly due to the fact that we had the wind in our backs for most of the way. When I turned right I was heading straight into the wind and had it on right in my side, which made life for Daisy and me considerably more difficult so fighting with the wind for the rest of the day. Another border crossing the problem today was I could not find the road and my good friend the GPS was playing up as I was only about 30km away but when suddenly it was 130km away Homer Simpson Doh!

Very few photos taken during the day as I was to scared to stop just in case we got blown over by the wind and could not get back upright again!

Yet another Border crossing !

I finally find the road, which is not a road but a dirt track, and I find my way to the border. I am the only one there so get out of Argentina easily and another 14km of dirt road very windy and a bit of rain just to try and finish me of completely and I am trying to find somewhere where Daisy will not get blown over and I am going through Chilean customs. No one there either so chatting with the customs guys who are telling me that the winds have been gusting up to 100km an hour and idiot boy was out in that will he ever learn. You may have noticed that not many pictures have been taken today that is because my official photographer has gone of the other direction and that I was to shit scared to stop just in case Daisy and I got blown over in the middle of nowhere on me own and that I would not be able to get her upright due to the wind. So I was not surprised to hear about the strength of the wind, as the evidence of this was in me underpants! As I been kacking myself for most of the afternoon. So back in Chile again a short run to Puerto Natales and to the Hostel I had the name of and i checked in and did my usual wander around the town or today I was blown around town as the wind was still quite strong then to a short presentation on the national park of Torres del Paine which looked great but I had a date with the bottom of the world so no time for distractions as I am getting closer and closer to my goal.

Gorgeous wind related sculptures very appropriate!

I went for a nice Pizza where there was one long table that you joined and I was sitting and chatting to a nice German couple who had been traveling for 2 years and doing South America by bicycle and had also been defeated by the wind today. I like this set up as it is sometime difficult to talk to folks strangers whilst on the road especially for a shy bloke like me 🙂

Back to the Hostel and the never-ending chore of updating this blog and it is like the wind relentless!

Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, Friday, 1 February 2013, Day 213

Middle of no where !

Shorter run today the wind is not as strong as yesterday but still blowing reasonably hard so I could stop every now and again but I had to pick my spot carefully out of the wind somehow to avoid me and Daisy ending up on our arses. Scenery is bleak and desolates both negative words but it has something special about it where bleak and desolate actually is very interesting and nice to be travelling through. I rolled into town or was that blown into town and found somewhere to stay I have been on a good roll recently and todays was no different. I got chatting to a chap called James who had been there for a month waiting for some spare parts (bearings) for a BMW he had left in Ushuaia and he had been on the road for 2 years in the Americas making my trip seem rather quick. The problem in Argentina is that you cannot import any foreign goods everything must be a manufactured in Argentina (assembled!) so that is why he was trying to get this done in Chile rather than Argentina. I do hope Alex made the right decision on going to Rio Gallegos, as it may be easier for parts in Chile.

Nice colours

I went for a wander round town and grabbed some food in a great interesting sandwich place huge meat sandwich no idea what I ordered and I was none the wiser when it arrived but it hit the spot.

Thought they where penguins till I saw one fly seemingly they are black and white cormorants John R correct me if I am wrong

That evening my computer or rather my computer power cable finally died so I am no longer able to charge my laptop as the connector to the computer which had been on the blink since Santiago finally gave up so tomorrows plan of getting the longer ferry to Tierra Del Fuego at 9am in the morning was shot and a new plan to go to a Tax free Zone just outside town to see if I can find a replacement cable! As I will be completely dead in the water without me PC, Daisy and my PC are my prize processions whilst on the road at the moment and I have no idea what I would do if either of them broke so I need to get the PC working as priority number one or maybe it is  just that I did not want to do an early start and the shorter ferry route with regular ferries is an easier route down south we will never no.

I got the PC fully charged by using someone else is cable (thanks James) so I had a good couple of hours left in the old girl if I was not successful in sourcing a new power cable.

Yellow House