San Carlos de Bariloche

We headed north via another larger ferry for Puento Arenas with lots of gravel roads which Dave is not enjoying due in part to more high winds. We drive along the edge of the Magellan straits looking towards the end of the Andes.

We arrive in Porvenir, Chile about 1815 and try and buy fuel with Argentinan Pesos ( Ar$) which are not accepted so we move on to try and find the local bank in the small town and soon give up when we see a sign saying 5kms to the ferry. We arrrive as the ferry is being loaded and are immediately ushered aboard after I tell them we only have Ar$ its OK and Roly rushes back to buy two tickets while the bike are pushed to the back of the lorries and we are left to tie them down for ourselves with what ever we have. The crossing is 3 hours and Dave sleeps while the locals are sick into bags all around him. The ferry ( landing craft) was built in Miami in 1964, after a brief stop in mid channel to recover the bow line we arrive in Puento Arenas at 2130 after photos of Albratross and sunsets during the crossing

We find a nice clean hostal at US$60 ( all prices are total for both of us) and stay 2 nights and finally we manage to get some Chile Pesos (Ch$) At the ATM we realise we are now millionaires as GBP 50 = 245,000Ch$.
Roly is sleeping so well and now often lies in till 0930. We now have a kitty for all trip expenses as we spend the same except Roly´s bike uses a bit more fuel and Dave likes cakes at fuel stops.
The following morning we to go to visit the penguin colony (37kms of gravel) and then back to Puento Arenas where Roly gets attacked by three large dogs while driving though town.
Roly completely runs one dog over and manages to say upright , we don´t stop but amazingly the dog runs off. Chile is much more expensive and more western feeling with better cars better buildings, some awareness of H&S and lots of tourists and therfore more English is spoken on the streets.
01/01/08 0930 leave hostal heading for Puerto Natales, very cold trip with very strong winds and screnery all much the same. We need to stop several times to warm up in bus shelters but also stop for 10 minutes sleep in the sun till Dave threw stones at Roly ( its so tiring riding in these conditions and you can fall asleep as soon as you lie down if it warm)
In Puerto Natales we find a little tin shed restaurant serving good hot food which was most welcome Gravel roads again and Dave has his 1st punture and after a repair on the side of the road we meet at a cafe about 6 kms ahead so Dave can clean up. We arrive at Torres del Paine National Park at 2010 hrs and have to pay US$15 each for entrance. The roads within the park are terrible gravel and we do another 15kms to the camp site. We pitch tents and decide to go up to the large hotel further up the mountain ( on foot) We discover beer here is 9 x the price we paid in Puerto Natales and the hotel and bar are full of tourists who seem to be mostly from USA. We inquire about the Glacier bus/boat trip and are told it is full for the next 4 days and cost US$80 each. Torres del Paine is very expensive and very much caters for the top end of the tourist markets with campers taking a very much 2nd class place which we had not found before.
02/01/08 Heavy rain overnight and we set off on a 4.5 hour walk to see the three peaks of Torres del Paine. The going up is very slow as we are both poor walkers and Dave is wearing a motor bike jacket. We get fantastic views on the way up until we get near the top where it starts to snow and finally once we reach the top the snow is too heavy we can see nothing and its very cold. We head down to be met by winds and driving rain and walk again for 4.5 hours back to camp ( down hill which is bad on the knees) Back at the tents Roly lights a fire so we can dry out and warm up and we cook using stream water ( we are now both drinking filtered water).

03/01/08 We arrive El Calafate and the Hostal (YHA) is expensive (again the town is full of Tourists). We stay 2 nights in El Calafate and book onto a Coach/ boat trip to the Moreno Glacier for the following morning. We set an alarm and wake to have a rushed breakfast as we discover the clocks went back in Argetina 5 days ago and we didnt know. We are collected as the last pasengers 45 minutes late and set off with the feeling of we are 2 dozy Brits. We had a good trip but were pleased to get out of the coach after one full day. The Glacier was 40/60 metres high above the water level and 120 metres below. We just had no idea it has so huge. We met Danny (Brit travelling around for over 12 months) who had come down from Peru and he gave us lots of tips on where to visit. Its Friday and Petrol goes up tonight and the queues at all petrol stations and banks are excessive, we nearly buy 2 Indiana Jones leather hats but manage to refrain. Roly has far too much stuff/weight on his bike and may need to send some stuff home or give some stuff away. We both urgently need new tyres Roly`s back has no centre tread and Dave dislikes his knoblies. We try to get Dakarmotos in BA to send us some tyres ahead to San Carlos de Bariloche.

05/01/08 Over sleep again and we don´t queue for petrol ( don´t do queuing) we drive north with no signs of petrol and with no communication between us due to bad moods between us and we are both stubborn (1st bad day) We arrive at Tres Lagos having used all our fuel and there is no petrol at the petrol station. We manage to buy 2 x 5 litres in bleach containers but this will not get us to any where north where we can buy more as nearest fuel may be 300 kms away. In the end we manage to buy 30 litres from the local handy man for 200 Ag$ and we set about syphoning it out of his Renault 12. By the time we finish refueling we decide it is too late to push on and travel 2 kms to the local camp site where we cook our standard meal of Pasta, frankfurters and bolognase sause + soup and red wine of course. ( we always eat this as it is easy to cook and carry). The following morning we meet 2 Argentinan bikers who have camped on the side of the road and as they are packing up we use their fire for our breakfast of coffee and spam sandwiches. We chat and use mostly sign languange and they leave 2 up on their Honda Tranalp.
We are now well up on Ruta 40 with miles of gravel behind us but with little to no fuel. We can both do about 330kms including our reserves. We arrive in town by 1930 and book into a hotel and again there is no fuel at the petrol station. We met 2 guys from Sweden on 2 Africa Twins and have supper with them and swap maps as they are going south. The following morning at breakfast we meet a couple who have been travelling the same route as us in their Chevy pick up truck, they have been waving to us many times ( something most people seem to do to bikers) and they help find us some fuel from a 45 gallon drum belonging to a local and this costs us 150Ar$ for 10 litres. We now need a bank. We also met a lady from Scotland who has a farm in Chile and she told us of a nice farm/ camping site about 90 kms ahead where they speak Spanish, Dutch and English and she highly recommended a stay there. We pay for the Hotel meals etc with US$ (93) as we have little Ar$ now.

After 58 kms in very strong winds Roly has his 1st fall after crossing a small bridge and going up a steep hill with a large hole in the gravel road, the bike goes over and one of the extra fuel tank support brackets punches a hole straight into the main fuel tank. Immediately Roly stands up turns off the fuel tap and puts a finger over the hole (having just paid about 4 times the correct petrol price for this tank full). Very soon 3 more bikers turn up and help us lift the bike and shypon out the fuel which we put into Dave´s bike and spare fuel tanks. Two bikes also fall over after they stop in the same hole due to the strong wind. We point the bike up hill and patch the hole with duct tape and then manage to drive with about 1 litre in the tank on reserve. We stop when this runs out and fill up again from Dave´s fuel can but the wind makes this extremely difficult and its difficult enough just to hold the bike upright let alone refuel at the same time.

We head for El Tolken and arrive to a fantastic English reception. We pitch tents under poplar trees now shedding their pollon like cotton wool. At El Tolkein Cocco helped us lead solder a patch over the hole in the fuel tank after we had removed and washed it out with water. Cocco also shorterned the side stand on the Yamaha XT 600. We were offered a formal sit down dinner for US$30 each including wine and Dave grasped the chance while he could ( Roly also very much enjoyed the evening and agreed it was a good idea in the end). The wind does not die over night as it normally does and we have a very windy time which means we need to stay another day.

On Gravel roads Roly generally travels at 60/80 kmph (top gear) while Dave is doing 30/40 Mph and therefore we often drift apart. Roly is on Dual Purpose tyres and Dave is on Knoblies which he now dislikes. Roly is getting very impatient at the slow progress north.

We tried Mate (Local tea drunk via a straw from a sharred pot) and found it tasted like old stale bitter strong tea and sawdust. This evening we cook 2 huge fillet steaks which we bought for GBP3 over a camp fire.

09/01/08 we leave camp by 0810 and do 30 kms on tarmac + 100 kms on Ruta 40 gravel which in places is very sandy and then very deep gravel which makes progress slow. We finally reach Rio Mayo by 1300 and discover Roly´s pannier is cracked. We managed to buy fuel and get the pannier frame welded for 11 Ar$. We set off again and soon decide to turn back due to strong winds so book into a horrible hotel with a room with no window and a smell of cigarettes, now we are both travelling at about 60 kmph on gravel ( Roly has slowed down after fall).

10/01/08 We decide to do lots today so leave hotel by 0700 hrs, it is very cold and cloudy and 2 degrees C. but all tarmac on Ruta 22 then Ruta 40, Again there is no fuel at the next petrol station so we stop again for one of our now famous meals ( frankfurkers, onion hotdogs and soup). We reach Gdor Costa and Dave is now wearing 3 pairs of gloves so finding it difficult to pull in the clutch. At Esquel we find a good camp site and we are surronded by mountains with a fresh fall of snow from last night.

11/01/08 Nice drive through mountains of about 200kms + more fresh snow in the high pass, we manage to buy fuel at a petrol station along side a huge blue lake only 30 kms from San Carlos de Bariloche. We soon discover the tyres requested were not sent from BA so we struggle through town to try and buy tyres and manage to get one rear tyre for the Africa Twin which now has a bald centre line. The following morning we met up with a welder who does a better weld on Roly´s pannier frame as it has cracked again and while we are about it we strengthen it with a length of studding welded in between the two sides, but high up above the new tyre. ( fingers crossed this time).

Having only managed to get one tyre for Roly´s bike and so we are now having 3 more tyres sent by bus to Mendoza from BA for Thursday. We are now in the mountains region and although a little cold the scenery and roads are much nicer. So far we have had three punctures. The spare fuel tanks have been great and we could not have got this far without them even though it was a spare fuel tank mounting pipe bracket which went though the main fuel tank. There are long queues at all petrol stations and Banks on Friday afternoons.
The food and wine are excellent and the locals extremely helpfull to two half wits from the UK who speak no Spanish.

Border crossings have been OK usually taking no more than one hour and often only 30 minutes. We do however often get stopped at Police checks when entering towns and have to show our passports.

We have done miles on Ruta 40 and had enough of gravel for now and Dave is often down to 30mph while Roly was doing 50 to 80 Kmph ( until his fall and has now slowed down) The side winds have been as much as 120 kmph and make riding nearly impossible sometimes, we ride along at 10 degrees.
1 litre of Vino Tinto cost about 60 pence which is more than bottled water so guess which we drink more off!
At present we have done about 4500 kms (Roly on kilometres and Dave in miles).
If we get up early 0630 hours we have managed 430 miles in a day as it does not get dark until about 2230 hours. we normally do about 250 miles a day unless we get gravel roads.
Lots of German bikers here and where ever we go we are assumed to be German 1st.

Using internet cafes normally means very small cramped hot and stuffy places and spanish key boards and not good for writing English at the best of times.