Day 39 Exploring Rio - Christ the Redeemer & Sugarloaf

Tour day and it is bright and sunny!

We were to undertake a tour to Sugarloaf via their cable car, then to Christ the Redeemer statue, which we did, after a start at 9:45 where we found we were actually part of a tour with about a dozen others. The local guide, Marcos spoke good Portuguese and very average English. He also used a whistle to round us up, which did not go over well with me. Despite this, our tour that was supposed to finish at 13:30 did so at 14;45.

Sugarloaf is a huge rock on the north side of the city and has a double cable car runing to its top since about 1931. This means that you start in the middle of the naval academy near Red Beach and do a short walk amongst trees and squirrels to join the second cable car to the summit. Before we took off, we marvelled at about 20 rock climbers scaling a huge wall to the north of us, on a different rock. 

The cars and pulley system have had three generations, and in 1972 the first cars were replaced, then again in about 2009. Now the system is both far quicker and also carries a lot more people, about 70 per car. 

The view is incredible across all parts of the city in all directions. This includes the airport, harbour and bridge, plus many of the local Favellas or shanty towns that are so famous.

Next we drove for about 30 minutes to the south and up the steep Morro or mountain to the huge statue of Chris the Redeemer that is so famous in Rio de Janeiro. It is quite a process to get there as we needed to take a second van then a lift to the summit among many other people on Easter Sunday. Again the view is incredible and speaks volumes about how pretty and spectacular this city is. 

After that, our van dropped our team at the hotel then inched its way south parallel to Copacabana Beach to drop off others and me near to the Copa Fort where Sheryle was waiting patiently for me for a late lunch right on the water front. The view and food was first class. We then ran our Zoom meeting with the kids at 5pm and walked back the 6km to our hotel at the northern end of the beach. 

Day 38 Paraty to Rio de Janeiro

The forescast for this important day was for pouring rain, but as it happened, the weather was fine and sunny. Plus it was not too hot, given that the temperature had been up to 41 C in Rio over the last few weeks.

As we headed out from this beautiful town and the local gas station, I took the place behind JC into the magnificent Route Verde under all the trees and winding around many corners along the coast. It was truly a classic ride!  I loved every minute of the first 120 km of 290 for the day.

We stopped for fuel and coffee and met Daniel who is a Rio local and lead the ride into the city via a slight circuitous route but one without too much traffic. This still did not stop much lane splitting and sudden stops, much of which I recorded on my GoPro, fitted to the chin bar of my helmet. I was quite happy with the footage. We eventuall arrived and drove along the famous Copacabana Beach to our hotel that was one block back. After some argy-bargy on the room, we were given an excellent one on the top floor (to replace the disable access one we were given first).

Sheryle and I then walked along most of the beach and I went for a swim in the Copacabana surf which was really rough. There were thousands of people on the beach, mostly young and families and they all appeared to be having a good time. We walked back and listened to some of the bands playing. 

I took a break and walked a short distance to a self-drive Lavaderia (Laundry) and cleaned some clothes that had been really stinking out our room, so pleased Sheryle. 

The two of thus then walked close by to the Marius Restaurant that appears in the book "A Thousand Places you Must Visit in a Lifetime". The theme was Pirate and the decor was completely over the top, with the bathroom urinal full of ice, and a Ford Model T car hanging from one wall! The food was first class with lots of seafood and fine meats, plus a huge smorgasbord of salads and dessert. It was the best meal that we have had in South America so far. 

Now we are praying for fine weather tomorrow, Easter Sunday for our tour. 

Day 37 - Boating in Paraty

Well the rain stayed away for most of the day and Sheryle and I went out for our first full day together on this tour on a boat to the Rio Islands with JC, Rahn and Paul. Jeff came along for the walk and returned after forgetting his phone.

There are litterally hundreds of wooden boats at the dock in Paraty from small two-person ones, to very large ones that take hundreds of people. We were sharing on a large one, that had a singer who was very loud, a full kitchen and toilets. We started on the upper deck, then came down to the lower one once they stopped for swimming, as they did in three locations. 

The first was near a rocky island and the second two were near beaches. Other boats were present too, and I wondered how the residents on each island, of which there were one or two houses, managed to deal with the daily onslaught of visitors. Sheryle and I swam at all three sites and I took my GoPro ashore on the last one to make sure that it was waterproof - which it is to 5m. 

We decided to have lunch later in the day which was fine, but managed to get to the food and a couple of beers just before the rain came pouring down and cleared the top deck very quickly. JC and Rahn slept on the deck most of the day and Paul sat with his earplugs in, to avoid the loud and constant music. 

Overall, we really enjoyed the swimming.

When we returned, we did not have dinner which was a good thing. But I did
manage to set up my new iPhone 15 which will take all night to download 10GB of data!

Day 36 - To Atmospheric Paraty

 People were a little mixed on this day, and JC had gone off to find a driver to bring our bags to Paraty and leave the van with Willy to try to find some parts in Sao Paulo. Each of us packed the minimum for two days, which was easy for me to do, as I (and Rahn) had panniers. 

I headed off early in light rain to take the "high route" on the main road. The rain continued and poured down, resulting in me missing the turnoff to the north, and heading to Sao Paulo which was 40km away. It took me most of that to find a "retorno" (U Turn bay) on the pristine six lane expressway, to turn about and head north.  Once I had started down the Caminho du Oro (Golden Road) towards the UNESCO town of Paraty, the road became steeper and very wet, and I stopped at a beautiful waterfall for photos. Later, I stopped again for fuel and again for photos of the animal nets that are built high above the road, for them to cross safely. 

The road down the hill was incredibly steep and tight, and I passed a female cyclist lying out on the cobbles after a crash into a municipal van heading up hill. Soon afterwards, there was a pair of ambulances racing uphill at a rate, and leaving me a metre of road to pass on, followed by a fire engine!

I reached Paraty to meet with Sheryle for the first time in a month and a half, a separation that was longer than any we had had in 38 years of marriage. We went for a delightful walk around the old Portuguese gold and slaving town and had dinner together at the Banana del Torre restaurant. Just lovely it was.

Day 35 - the Good the Bad and the Ugly - to Bertioga

We had expected a "transport day" to the coast for 491 km. Our plan had been to arrive by lunch, have a swim and enjoy a few drinks. How plans come undone.

However, there was a bad slip on the main road that slowed all the traffic to a crawl, so we decided to take the mountain route which added more than 100 km to the ride. We were not impressed!

However, it turned out to be a blessing, with the best riding day yet, on perfect surfaces with thousands of curves. We hammered away with great joy. In the end, there was a road marked on the map that we took through mountain passes and it turned to dirt. Again, I wasnt up to that, but it turned out not to be 30km as a local said, but just seven, then poor hard-surfaces. However, the view was incredible and so was the movies that I made. This was the best video day ever too. 

Having reached the nice but slightly weird hotel, I just had enough time to have a swim in the pool which the lady said was "frio" (cold) but in fact was delightful. No one else came in as they were imbibing with whiskey.

Willy arrived unexpectedly late, in a destraut state, having had the tie-rod on the truck break completely. He had just managed to get off the road before a serious accident, then managed to tie it together with wire, and limp to the hotel. Plans for tomorrow will be challenging!

Day 34 - The Long Road East to Campo Largo

Trucks, trucks and more trucks to pass, and to avoid.

We were heading due east towards Rio de Janeiro, with our stopover being at a town called Campo Largo (a large field it means). Over 620 km of good road and driving that required the most care and judgement, was required. The Brazilian roads are in far better state than the Argentinian ones, with few potholes or gravel sections. The challenge is that this is the main road west and south to the productive areas of Brazil for agriculture and the area looked much like country NSW with the rolling hills and green in every direction. There were also huge factories for grain processing and others for poultry management. 

We road sections with stops for coffee and lunch. Lunch today was "included" that is paid for by Compass as part of our deal, but I was not aware of that and chose a light sandwich at our stop, which I am actually glad I did as I wanted to keep the quantity of food manageable. There is plenty of food available in Argentina and Brazil, but overall it is pretty average - never cordon bleu!

We rode sections of 140km and one of 212 km, but these are manageable given the higher quality of the road. In some sections there were passing lanes and even double carriageway for sections, but in those areas where this did not apply, it was slow with hundreds of trucks. The challenge is to pass them safely, especially where there are two, three or more in a row. This requires a long straight road or a risky manoeuvre that may require a quick pull-in between vehicles - easier on a bike, but still more risky riding, especially if you are tired. I was glad of all the stops for coffee and fuel, as this gave us good time to recover our attention. 

At two sections, there were road workers cutting grass or repairing the broken fencing barriers, and the queues were about five kilometres long - we overtook, undertook and lane split to get to the front of the queues regularly, although I have no idea how Willy managed this in the van, but he was rarely more than ten minutes behind us.  

Tomorrow we reach the coast. 

Day 33 - Itaipu Hydro Scheme, Paraguay Shopping and Bike Maintenance a Pico

My whole life I have been a worrier. 

I guess it comes from being the eldest child - my aim was always to do better, be fairer, to win. Sometimes that was a good thing to do, but mostly not. Right now, with 33 days or one third of this trip done,  I have plenty of time for thought and reflecction and I dont want the ride to either hurry up or finish. Moreover, I am not too concerned where it goes or how fast it will be - I will know I am in that delightful zone when I dont mind being the last bike or riding really slow.

Today we took a very touristy bus trip inside the closed area of the Itaipu Dam and Hydro Electric Scheme. It is huge and was started in 1973, to be the largest in the world. Right now it ranks 3rd after two others in China, one being the Three Gorges Dam. Nonetheless it is huge at 1400 Mega Watt Hours. We drove around the diversion tunnel, then under the face of the dam, then up to the top to see the huge over-flow channels, where the water flows at 140km/hour! While we say most from the top deck of an open bus, they stopped three times for photos which are excellent given the sheer scale of the thing.

But to me, the most interesting fact is that it is Bi-National. Paraguay and Brazil agreed to split everything 50/50 in terms of cost and getting the power from it, which really helped both countries that sit either side of the river. This included an animal thoroughfare and we saw Tapirs walking with their kids along the side of the canal!

In the afternoon we did a "Shenny" after Shenzen shopping in China, but just across the border in Paraguay. It is an "open border" - you just drive through, but the car queue took 1 hour 10 minutes to get past "immigration". Our driver took us to "Shopping Paris" a six story building totally full with stores selling just about any thing, but cosmetics, clothes, technology and alcohol were top sellers. I was DELIGHTED to buy a bright red suitcase with rolling wheels to replace my awkward softbag provided by Compass. This one was cheap and has all the right zips, pockets and expansion options. It also wheels along with ease. I also replaced my very scratched sun glassed with a smick pair of Tommy Hilfiger ones for about $100, probably a quarter of the price in Australia.

The last thing for the day was to pick up our bikes from the Service Centre at Pico Motors (a Yamaha dealer) who did a truly outstanding job on my bike - two new tyres and an oil service, but nothing wasted on brake pads of air filter which were "fine" they said. Very glad to save that little bit, so the service was 40% cheaper than in Australia and the tyres were 30% more expensive!

Dinner was at a superb Bistro Buffet which was paid for by Compass.  I tried not to eat too much.

Day 32 - Iguasu Falls & the Bird Sanctuary from Brazil

We are staying three nights at Foz, Brazil which is literally a short walk to the Paraguay border! Here they have a cross-border shopping experience like they have at Shenzen in China (from HK), so we will take advantage of that and I will buy a rolly suitcase (at long last!).

No one at this hotel speaks English. They also don't speak Spanish (or very little), for which I know a few hundred words now, so trying to explain what I want is a pain, however they are patient so lots of hand signals usually sorts it out. This morning I was trying to find the Cambio (money exchanger) to get some Brazilian Reales and it was right next door - as in RIGHT next door and I walked past, much to the amusement of the desk staff. I also asked for the laundry price list which was hidden under the desk - no wonder the prices were incredible at US$100 to get a few items done! I will walk elsewhere or do a few things in my room. 

Ditto for a plug for the sink (one of my "is this a reasonable hotel" tests), as there is none here - so be it, the shower cap will do the job for my shave. Similarly for the power adapter - they have the normal three thin pin plugs as seen elsewhere in SA, but the middle one is offset somewhat, so none of my (many) adapters works - photo below.

I have upgraded my iPhone to the next software release last night, which has caused all sorts of issues today with my GoPro camera software called QUIK. Some extra time this morning is required to work that out.

The tour was supposed to start at 09:45 but there are too many busess going as it is Sunday, so we will wait until 10:30am! Anyway we head off in a van with Daniel the driver, to what turns out to be a big day. Drive 17km to the National Park of Iguasu and buy a ticket, which in our case was a ViP one so that we avoided a kilometre long queue to get in. Then walk almost a kilometre on a concrete track with hundreds of others and wait patiently at the best lookouts to take video and photos. It is truly spectacular and earns the title for the widest falls in the world (with Niagra having the most water and Victoria being the highest). The track is quite different to my memory to handle the number of people and to get you right up under the main fall. After that I walked up the track to the top, but you can catch an elevator to a restaurant which is marvelous but expensive. 

We had a considerable buffet lunch and looked out to the Argentinian side where a long board-walk collapsed under heavy rain last week and killed a few people. Though I cannot get confirmation of that. 

We were quite hot, but determined to go to the Bird Park a few kilometres up the road, and it was well worth it, with a two k track winding in and out of cages with double doors, so that the parrots and mccaws dont get out. There were also some animals and a butterfly cage. Overall it exceeded my expectations and was beautifully built and managed. And I got to see some birds that I had never heard of at all.

Day 31 - Obera to Foz in Brazil.

This day was not a huge distance, being 280 km, but did involve a complicated border crossing from Argentina into Brazil near the falls. 

The early part of the ride was through winding hills in a tropic forest which was unique and quite brilliant. It also had signs to Uruguay which was literally "just over there" to the right.

As we were so close to Iguasu Falls (widest in the world and crossing the borders of three countries), the tourist coaches and tours were obviously increasing, as was the sheer scale of the border crossing infrastructure with individual boothes on the Argentinian side. There, the people were very efficient both for immigration and for customs. The six of us were through in 20 minutes. 

We drove across the bridge to Brazil, and the immigration persons were also prompt. I did not need my new visa, as they had delayed introducing the mandatory one for Australia until April which was a blessing for Rahn who did not have one anyway! However the importation of all our bikes and the truck was a totally different process taking more than four hours and a pile of paperwork for each vehicle, rather than just an inspection of our Registrations! We were fairly tired by the time we made it to the hotel, and had a great "lunch" here with a full-on smorgasbord of everthing. 

The hotel people had our keys ready when we arrived and parked in their secure compound across the street, but my room had a single bed and was so tiny that there was little room to even put my bag down. So I objected and they sent me to another room that had been alread rejected by one of my fellow travellers. It had a double bed, but no light as the window looked onto a wall about 2m away. Anyway I finally accepted room three with a larger space and bed, but it looks directly onto the pool deck at eye level which is not ideal either given that we are here three days! Lets see how it goes. Right now there is loud music coming from the deck!

Day 30 - Chajari to Obera

 This was slated to be a fairly long day, but I work feeling great .

So we hammered out sections from 124km to 180km with ease. There were some sections with all vehicles running at 140km/hr, and I was very concious of taking care with overtaking all the trucks at speed.  Bascially you need a lot more room! I was also very well aware of the police road-blocks every hundred kilometres, and was actaully pulled up at one. 

We ended up in a nice hotel in an obviously wealthy town.  The road had followed the river and boundary with Uruguay and when I asked JC why we had not visited that country, he indicated there was not much to see! I need to research that as the scenery has been changing by the hour and becoming more lush and almost tropical. 

The Hotel had both a cinema and a bowling alley within, and my room was huge, with a great view. I enjoyed it immensely and slept soundly after a long shower.

The bikes were parked securely about 1.5km away in the hotel shed which happened to work out well as it happened. I walked across the street and bought some water in the evening then had dinner in the hotel restaurant at 8pm with the others. It didnt open until then!

Day 29 A Hectic Exit to BA, then Thermal Pools at Chajari

I was woken about 5am, not knowing why, but was later told that there had been a small earthquake in Buenos Aires so that probably explained it! Any way, it gave me good time to get well organised.

Our accommodation was at the EFE Hotel in Paraguay St, right in the centre of Buenos Aires and we were advised to be careful with out belongings and valuables. Specifically we were to meet downstairs at 08:45 with our bags but NOT to leave them un-attended in the foyer, for Willy to collect and load into our van. As it happened the place was a zoo, with hundreds of people there for the traditional Argentinian breakfast which I am not a great fan of. It normally consists of re-constituted juices, lots of fruit (good), weird liquid yoghurt, large numbers of pastries most of them sweet and sometimes scrambled eggs - which I do enjoy and were offered. 

As it happened Willy arrived in perfect time but had to block the single lane street, so we loaded it VERY quickly and he drove off! Then we went to the basement to get the bikes, where I drove off first and made a real hash of the very steep drive and very low concrete beam at the start, then a hard left hand turn. I needed assistance, but we all got out alive in the end!

Leaving Buenos Aires in peak hour was chaotic, and JC lead us a different way to that indicated by our pre-planned GPS routes. He zigged and zagged and at one point on the five lane expressway, suddenly turned right, just as a car pulled between the two of us, so I almost missed the exit. Anyway, care and consideration worked and I did make it ok as did everyone else.  After that, we had to go through two Peage's (toll gates) where sometimes we paid and sometimes we knicked around the barrier - I have no idea how he worked out what to do when. 

On the last one, everyone headed off before me, but three guys in a Toyota stopped me before the toll gate, and we had a very funny conversation, both of us using our shitty Spanish. It dawned on me and I just said "how about we try English" and they all laughed and launched into an extended conversation in the middle of the expressway! As it happened they had no Pesos to pay, but did have a US $1 note, which I happily exchanged for 350 pesos - a very good rate for me. They were delighted and asked me where I was from - Australia was met with "Austria" from them - wow.

The speed limit on the expressway was generally 120 km/hour, but with a few police stations as usual, and this time they actually stopped me! This is rare as moto's generally get waved through. At high speed we rapidly made the town of Chajari, where our hotel is linked to a group of thermal pools, all eleven of them - so  I had a good swim. Although 39 degrees is not that hot, still it was enjoyable none the less. 

Day 28 - Just Hanging About

This morning dawned with pouring rain as had been forecast. We were glad we were not going to be riding this day, especially as the TV was saying "Urgent Warning" regarding the storm around Buenos Aires.

We all just relaxed and did our own thing. I woke late, and then watched the various videos on YouTube, from "Itchy Boots" (Noraly Shoenmaker) on how to make short compelling videos using  my GoPro. They were simple but very useful, not withstanding her huge investment in GoPro and DJI Drones (neither of whom pay her for her "advertisement" or provide free goods!) - unlike the clothing and motorcycle gear companies who fully understand that having 2.3 million followes on YouTube has some value!

After the rain eased at lunch time, I decided to do a long walk in a loop up our street and right to Park St Martin (pronounced Martine) then down the 9 July main boulevard (which is over 100m wide) to the famous Obelisk that forms the centre of Buenos Aires then back up one of the shopping malls to try to find a "gaucho berret" without success, but I did manage to find a small Japanese sushi shop for lunch then went to an Italian place for dinner. 

All in all, a very relaxing day.

Day 27 La Boca, Recoleta Cemetary Buenos Aires

 For this day in Buenos Aires, we had a three hour tour of the three main features.

They are the May 18 Square, La Boca and the Cemetary at Ricoleta, where Eva Peron is buried. 

The Square houses all the main government buildings for Buenos Aires for the three levels of Government, being Federal (Tax, military and intelligence), Provincial (tax) and Municipal (Mayor and city).

La Boca is famous for its coloured buildings of iron, originally the poor quarters, now very much alive and famous for the CAFJ (Club Athletico Football Juniors) the club of Maradona the most famous Argentinian player ever. 

And lastly, the Cemetary which was built in the early 1800's and is now not the main one, but holds 15 Argentinian Presidents and Eva Peron in a very elaborate Mausoleum from her illegitimate fathers family, Duarte.

Day 26 - Tango!

We had only 320km to ride to Buenos Aires this day but overnight the rain had poured down and continued in the morning. As a result, we waited until 10:30 to get started by which time it had stopped - then we caught up with it again and became super-soaked on the way into the Capital.  The roads in, inlcuded a number of expressways which gave us up to three lanes to dodge the worst of the traffic, this being very welcomed. We were stopped twice to pay 150 pesos in cash (efectivos) as our expressway fee.

BA has only 3million people in its CBD but the greater area includes 17 million persons, most inside the new Province of Beunos Aires City and the rest in the surrounding BA Province, their equivalent to a State of which there are 24 one being the "Federal District".

Argentina was settled by the Spanish in about 1520, but they had to have another go at it 40 years later. It was on the River Plate, about 200 nautical miles from the Sea, and without its own mineral wealth nearby, unlike other parts of Argentina. However, people from many other countries also contributed in partiular Italy, France and England. Now, most of their buildings have been lost or removed by various Junta's and only some have been rebuilt. 

The big event for today was to attend a dinner and Tango Show, which turned out to be truly amazing. Dinner started at 20:00 and the show at 22:30~ so I was still awake until 01:30 in the evening. Due to the rain we could not get a taxi and eventually ended up with two Ubers which had to be paid for in cash (unkike anywhere else in the world that automatically takes a card).

The show was classic Tango, with a local band led by a pianist, plus cello and violin. Dancers recreated the steps from three eras, early, traditional and modern post 1955, and the routines were spectacular feats of timing and practice, combined with dancers in special costumes and shoes. 

We walked home to the hotel under clear skies, after a superb evening. 

Day 25 - Rodeo Magic at Azul

Azul means Blue in Spanish, and sometimes those blue magic days just happen when you least expect it. 

Our family calls this "trail magic". 

On this day, we had been talking about the gaucho (cowboy) hat that is so common in northern Argentina, and also in Brazil and Bolivia. The hat is made of felt, and looks like a French berret, but is larger to keep the sun off. It is worn in about three different ways depending on the weather and the owners desires, and it also comes in every colour of the rainbow.

One asked a local in the gas station that we had stopped at, where we could buy such a hat, and he told us about a rodeo that was on, right now about 5 km away. We had to see this! So we drove over, to witness the most fantastic carnival. Initially it was the show parades for groups to dress up in their cowboy finery and included tours by boys and girls, men then women and other contraptions such as horse drawn carts. Some of the saddlery and bridles were incredible, most made of leather but some of long chains of gold and silver, often more than 150 years old. 

Of course food was a big part too, with "asado" carne meat cooked over an open fire in many kilograms of all types of meat, beef, chicken, pork, lamb etc. Then the crowd turned up in large numbers, and cars were four deep around the arena. The competition started and included what we would call buck-jumping - these young guys and girls were exceptionally good at it too.

Evening, we stayed in a very smart hotel made for conventions, just outside of Azul. Willy took us into town in the truck and we had the best steak and fine wine that we have had on the trip. Thank you Jeff!

The taxi home was driven by a man from "Deliverance" and he took us to the wrong hotel, but a few pesos fixed that and we ended up in the right place, just before a huge lightning storm lit up the sky for most of the night. The next day is somewhat delayed, and not only by the terrified dog that took refuge in my room!

Day 24 - Big Miles, Big Trucks, Big Food and Big Bikes!

 Today was billed as the largest mile trip of the whole expedition of 100 days, being 675km and so it was.

We took the scenic route out of Port Madryn and headed up the highway north towards Buenos Aires in perfect weather, with little wind and warming sunshine. So the speeds improved to an average of about 140km per hour. And still cars were passing us! However the challenge at this speed is that the vehicles coming the other direction are also "moving" so that a lot more space is required to pass safely. Luckily the road is almost dead straight, enabling very good visibility and plenty of time for decision making. In a few places there were double lanes where the road became more sinuous through a river valley for example. 

We scooted along to pre arranged stops, being at 140km and another 230km - the gasolina stations are well apart here, so many vehicles including motos, were carrying extra red fuel drums. We had a coffee at the second stop and lunch at the third in an Argentinian meat restaurant  - very traditional and very good, with lots of salad and pleny of water. 

At the last stop about 20km before Bahia Blanca (the city of White Bay) there was a group of about 10 veteran cars, all restored and all being raced off-road (in other words very well used) which gave us some real delight, as had a 1962 Renaut 4, at the previous station. The latter had been all fitted out as a camping van for one person and was covered in stickers of locations he had been, and in keeping with the theme and time had some period pieces such as an old leather clip suitcase on the roof!

As we came to end of our days journey, the road traffic increased considerably with larger trucks, making passing a chore, but it included one car overtaking in the opposite direction to me, continuing on the right side of the road as if I didnt exists! So I pulled into the tiny verge lane and let him barrell by - some people simply dont care and that means that I need to think very carefully about my "Plan B" if this should happen again. Luckily a motorcycle is a fairly narrow vehicle.

Here, we are in the middle of the Bahia city, fairly industrial in a regular average hotel, fine for one night. The evening entertainment was to change both of JC's bike's tyres in the parking lot, to which we all pitched in, mostly with comments rather than practical help! To break the bead and get the tyre to sit correctly in the rim, so that the pump could actually get it started. Oh joy!

Day 32- Valdez Peninsula UNESCO World Heritage Area

The reinforced patch on the toe of my left boot is polished smooth from thousands of gear changes. I have been riding for so many years, that these become automatic and perfectly timed to the clutch dis-engagement. But today, was one day off the bike and a good rest it should have been.

On a recommendation, we took a tour out to the Valdez peninsula, which is both a huge Estancia for sheep, but now a world heritage area to protect the seals and elephant seals present on the coast, but also the unique action taken by Orcas, when they beach themselves to attack the seals. This happens rarely and only at high tide, so we did not see it, but the YouTube videos on it are very graphic.

The scenery is beautiful but the gravel road was washboard from start to finish and the trip over 400 kilometres was mostly on this gravel. Paul had decided to leave the tour just 5 km after the start, as a promised boat trip was not part of the plan. He made the right decision but Jeff and I proceeded anyway and it was what is was. We saw our last guanacos and I finally got a photograph of them before they ran away. 

Dinner of soup and prawns was perfect, as was this hotel, the Territorio in Peurto Maydrin, which is by far the best we have stayed in, with a perfect room design. 

Day 22 - Tengo Frio!

I am cold but the wind is not as strong as yesterday. 

In fact by the time we made Port Madryn, it was decidely warmer and it tempted me to a swim! But the water is only 14 degrees.

Port Madryn is on the way to Buenos Aires, so today was the last ride in Guanaco country, the Steppe of Argentina. I only saw four. 

This town was founded by the Welsh, who still have about 40% of the population. Their "big thing" was that they built a perfect workable relationship with the native people, which lasts to this day. So Madryn with it aluminium smelter and fishing fleet was the only town in Argentina to survive the recessions (two) without going into recession. 

Tomorrow we go out on a boat - Im not sure what that will actually intail!

Day 21 - El Pampero

 We are travelling as rapidly north as possible, towards Buenos Aires on a fairly good all-sealed highway, and today was from St Julian to Comodora Rivadavia, and fairly large town. 

We had breakfast in the hotel as usual, at 7am but only Rahn and Paul were there and they were not in a mind to be particularly communicative at that hour, which is fine of course. As a result, I decided to leave on my own ( as JC said we could here ) and rode out at 07:30am. This turned out to be a wonderful decision as there was no wind for an hour! "El Pampero" the eternal wind that blows across the Steppe here, and the Pampas further north did not get really started until about 09:30am. 

Then it seriously blew. Gusts were clearly over 60 knots at many points, and to make matters worse, there were a lot of animals on the road. After I fuelled up, I ran swiftly out of the YPF gas station and almost directly into two wild horses in the middle of the road! Later I passed large mobs of guanacos and actually had to stop twice for very large groups. I also saw hawks on a kill, and bin chickens (nunods) like small emus plus larger hares. 

I stopped at the rare and second YPF gas station, filled up and had a cortado and an empanada. It was very peaceful out of the wind. Our hotel had changed over night, as I later found out that the previous one had cancelled one of our rooms! Apparently this is a common problem in Arentina. Anyway we stayed at the new WAM Hotel which had a pool and all - and a good restaurant, where most of us sat and whiled-away the afternoon. I had a one hour sleep as well, which was very enjoyable. Unfortunately my washing did not get done as planned so sits in a bag stinking the place out until I can get is all done tomorrow night in Madryn. 

Day 20 - A long one

 Day 20 we left Cerro Sombrero in company with Tracy Charles and her dog "Roo" who rides on the back of her bike in his cold weather gear and a harness. 

Our first stop was the ferry, which would not leave until there were about 30 cars present - and we were just a bunch of bikes! Soon busses turned up, so they agreed to go. I had a cocould not eat lunch and was bent over double with the pain for about 10 hours. 

So we are late from the ferry and also need to navigate the border from Chile to Argentina again, but this one is the second most travelled border between the two so gets a lot of attention from the police, checking for drugs coming into Argentina. For the first time (border 6 I think) our bikes were searched. Tracy came through too, as did Carlos from the USA. Tracy has special papers like a passport for the dog which include notes on her being "chipped" and having all the right vaccinations etc. My "moto plaka est numeros" is much easier and quicker!

Still, we are very late at the ride is long in the stronger wind. Eventually we reach San Julian, a nice port, and I go for a walk, ending up having a truly wonderful tour on my own, of Magellan's ship "Victoria" the one that made it round the world. This is of course a replica. The tour lady was about 25, and wanted to try her limited English, which was actually very good. She was truly an insperation in terms of knowledge of Magellan and Sir Francis Drake, both of whom used this harbour. We discussed the differences between a rudder, tiller and a whip-staff for example! She also gave me a home view of the Malvinas (the islands reknowed for the war in 1982 with the British under Margaret Thatcher. The UK calls them the Falkland Islands of course. 

Then sleep!

Day 19 - Sucking Gas to Cerro Sombrero

 This day was the reverse of the one two days back, but this time the weather was near perfect with no rain! So we hammered along, as the winds became stronger, causing the smaller bikes to suffer petrol shortages.

We had to return through our fourth border crossing from Argentina into Chile and back again tomorrow! Our fear was that they Chileans would want to search all our luggage as in the past, but it was not to be. I had finally got a copy of my actual visa printed, so it was also smooth for me. When I had filled the customs declaration online with Willy's help, I showed the Aduana lady who just said "Perfecto" so all was good. 

Then to some invigorated riding under blue skies but with some wind. We had lunch at the border cafe just 100m beyond it and was served by a young man with a perfect British accent! It turns out he was born in Kent to an English father and Chilean mother and was now back in the "home land".

My riding was somewhat limited as my rear tyre was going down again and again, and once we took it off back in Cerro Sombrero, we realised that the longitudinal crack in the tyre was now extended from a couple of centimetres to about 10. Tonight it will be replaced with my slightly used spare TKC70!

At our hotel there was another surprise with a very well known bike parked out the front, visible due to its hundreds of stickers and a very obvious dog-mounted frame on the back. This is famous world traveller by motos, Tracy Charles who has just returned from Antarctica. We have arranged to meet at dinner time!

Day 18 - In Ushaia Museo and NP

 We were glad to have a rest today, after the trials of yesterdays ride in the rain wind and cold.

Much time was taken to drying out all our kit overnight. For the first time ever, I had wet feet in my favourite boots. They stank.

In the morning, Willy took the wheel off my bike to patch the inside of the tire but it did not work, so we just replaced the plug. 

I ran for a late breakfast and we headed off to the National Museum in the Presidio, the old Jail built for recidivist convicts based on the Tasmanian version, in 1902. It took nearly 20 years to finish, but the museum is a gem of history, particularly regarding shipping around the horn and through the Beagle Channel where Fitzroy went in the Beagle with Charles Darwin onboard. I recommend a visit.

At 2pm we rode into the National Park on the Chilean border, the end of the Pan Pacific Highway, Ruta3 which runs 17000 kilometres from Prudoe Bay Alaska to here. The sign is 24 kilometres west of Ushaia.

In the evening I had dinner with Jeff and also Carl Notfors who was on my ride in Tibet, and is originally from Sweden. He is married to a chinese lady and retired to Singapore now. 

Day 17 - End of the World, Ushuaia

This was billed as the coldest day of the trip. 

Well it did not get above 6 degrees. But the real challenge was the continuous pouring rain plus a strong wind. This pushed us to the limit in ride skills and endurance. 

The first hurdle was just 129 km down the road where we had to cross back into Argentina at a post re-knowned for being adverserial. But the border turned out to be straight forward but not fast. 

Then we arrived in Ushuaia, the most southerly city on the planet. Through the great gates we rode onto a thriving city based on tourism, fishing plus oil and gas. I have a lot of clothing to dry out!

A 25 year dream is realised. 

Day 16 - Crossing the Magellan Strait

 I always feel that the last day was the most adventurous yet, then along comes another, even better - and more demading!

We knew that today would both start with 50 km of mixed gravel and holey tar to get away from Serranova Village in the Tower del Paine NP, but added to 440km of driving AND pouring rain for the first couple of hours, it proved to be a real challenge. And at 52 degrees south, its also getting cold. 

The ride goes through the town of  Puerto Natales then heads south and east eventually meeting the ferry across Magellan Strait. But immediately before that, is a ghost town, that was a huge Estancia in the 1800s and effectively the gathering point for all wool in the area from where it was shipped to Tierra Del Fuego and onwards. This place was truly fascinating with a monster mansion still occupied up in the hills. However the estancia buildings are all now vacant in the main street so we explored them.

The ferry had three ships running and we left at 2:30pm with a very strong tide running through the Strait. It takes about 20 minutes and carries all manner of cars and trucks. A bike is about $14 each. 

Our nights accommodation, just prior to crossing the Argentinian border tomorrow, is at the tiny mining town of Cerro Sombrero, where we are staying in the only and nice hotel. 

Day 15 - Hiking Torre Del Paine National Park

 My stomack bug of a few days has finally cleared up (thanks to Flagyl) but after the big dinner, I was not so keen to head out on the bike again. Besides, the Hotel De Paine at Serranova is in such  a brilliant position, I could just see here on the lawn and gaze at the view! Which I did later in the day.

So we met our local Chilean guide, a women called Josepher (as in Josephine) who described where would go, up to Lake Gray, then she rode on the back of JC's motorcycle 15km to the walk. The workers were repairing the road in sections, so it was either very good, or a little exciting when they put a lot of water on the gravel!

There is a large restaurant there, and JC stayed while we went walking for a couple of hours to a lookout over the lake to the glacier and mountains. The walk took us through a 300 year old Beech Forest with three types of deciduous Beech's which was very peaceful. None of them are the same species as the one in Tasmania, but all look very similar. 

We then walked along a kilometre of beach to a lookout high enough to see the glacier and Towers. It was overcast but there was no wind at all, apparently a very rare thing. It was incredibly quite and I felt very relaxed, despite the temperature being about 5 degrees on the hill top (and about 10 down near the hotel). When we came  back we had soup for lunch in the cafeteria.

The others went on to another site under the Towers, but it required another 50km of gravel riding, which I was pleased to forego. On my return, I just sat by the river and thought about life, and how it had brought me to this magic place.

Day 14 - Calafate to Torre del Paine National Park

 This was a Border Crossing day, so JC was as always, a little hesitant.

We were heading back into Chile, so that we could visit the Torre Del Paine National Park and stay here for two nights. It is about 250km south of the Fitzroy Group and Cerro Torre around Chalten.

Calafate had been a beautiful little town, with many tourists, all heading for the Moreno Glacier (that is supposed to hold more than a third of the world's fresh water), so there were lots of restaurants and hotels. However, it was impossible to get cash from the ATM's as the fee was about $7 for less than 10,000 Pesos (about AUD$12) so were glad we had cash. Still I managed to post a card to my Father. 

It rained overnight, but we headed out of town easily and the road was dry. The border crossing was fairly un-eventful, but I finally found what had caused me issues when I first came into Santiago. What I thought was my visa, was actually only a copy of the receipt that showed that I had paid and the visa was ok. I DO have an electronic copy but needed a paper one, which shows my face. Anyway, I was able to show it on my phone when they gave me access to the government WIFI.

We headed into the park, and about 40km of gravel, all straight forward except for a very few steep turns and many tourist cars and coaches. The views are breathtaking of the Towers of Paine, and also some water falls and many lakes. We stopped often at the miradors for photos, which can be seen on my YouTube channel.

Our accommodation is at the Serranova Town and Hotel, right on a bend of the Serranova River, formed from the ice water from the Gray River coming in above. The rooms were roomy with good heating and water and NO Wifi - you have to be in the lounge to get that, which seems deliberate. Anyway. Dinner was four courses and one of the best we have had. I had Llama Steak.

Tomorrow to more hiking.

Day 13 - Rest Day in Calafate

Now in Calafate, I am finally making best use of the excellent internet speeds, which are many times the quality of those in Chalten!

My stomach is not truly fixed yet after some bad empanadas I think, so a genuine rest day in the picturesque village was well appreciated. 

After a limited breakfast of black coffee, yoghurt and plain toast, I walked outside to find Willy taking the smashed lenses off the rear lights of the truck, and replacing them. They were damaged by all the flying stones on Ruta40 - and we still have some way to go on gravel to Torres de Paine!

I walked around looking for signs that I didn't understand and made notes of the words in Spanish for my daily lessons. I also posted a Post Card to dad, which cost me 50 cents, but the postage was $6! I think it will go via courier. I also dropped some washing across the road at the Lavadero, and the nice lady worked through my Spanish with me - Hoi means "today" so I knew I was going to get it back in time!

Day 12 - Chalten to Calafate and Mereno Glacier

 I was quite tired after our long hike yesterday, so glad we would be only doing a short ride today. 

However JC had other ideas. After we stopped on the way out of Chalten, to take some truly fantastic videos and photos of the group and individuals, with the mountains completely clear behind us, we rode quickly to Calafate. It is a very touristy town of about 5000 people all of whom seem to be visitors! There are even some signs in English although almost no one speaks good english here.  

JC's idea was to continue in the good weather to the National Park and onto the boat that took us to the front of the glacier on the edge of the lake. Yes, it was very pretty but nothing compared to the one that Sheryle and I saw in Greenland. 

This one was calving in the heat, and the 70m cliffs were crashing down. More impressive was a huge berg in front of the restaurant, suddenly lost its top and rolled over making quite large waves. Overall the National Park was impressive, but the winding road into it was rather more to my liking!

Day 11 - El Condor Pasa

Chalten means "smoke" in the local language so that "Cerro Chalten" now called Monte Fitzroy means the mountain that smokes. In actual fact it is cloud that is blown off the top much of the time, not a vulcano. It is truly spectacular and even better up close. So for this full day in the town of Chalten, we decided to go hiking. 

Chalten is a tourist town formed on a small Estancia by the Argentine government in the early 1990's. Land was offered free to anyone who was prepared to build a house in two years. Now the lots are worth a fortune, and a few larger hotels have been built, along with hundreds of restaurants. It is the quintessential climbers and walkers town and is very cute. 

Rahn and I left the Infinito Spur Lodge just after 08:30am and walked about a kilometre down the main street to the start of the hike and also the gravel road up the valley which others would follow on their bikes for 40km. The track is very clear and heads uphill for some 300m of altitude achieved, via a zig zag track that climbs gently for about 2km. We walk through the bosque forest made up almost exlusively of Nothofagus - deciduous Beech the same as found in Tasmania. 

The first "Mirador" or lookout appears soon, and you are beckoned onwards. We took the left loop at first to the first campsite at Lago Capri (lake Capri) which was absolutely stunning. 

We continued on, and went to other lookouts and branches. There were many walkers from all over the world, most in pairs or families  and a few in large guided groups. At one point we heard tapping and stopped to observe a woodpecker at work. But we were really looking for a Condor. 

And as we sat in a bush sheltered area and just watched the peaks, mesmerised, there appeared a huge condor, balanced in the breeze and sweeping back and forth maybe 800m above us. It then just sat and hovered, with that full four metre wing-span spread for all to see. It was just magic!

We returned on the same track to Chalten having had a brilliant day in perfect weather. The peak of Fitzroy finally came out of a few clouds to make the day. 

Day 10 - The Big One on Ruta 40

Frankly this is a day that I feared. 

It turned out to be "Fantastico" on the core Ruta40.

The descriptions of the gravel over two sections of 43 km from the Estancia to the main route, then the 73 km gravel to join the sealed section to El Chalten, sounded "challenging" especially if it became windy. 

We had been warned of loose river-stones gravel, in particular a 10km section in the middle with high piles of loose rubble on each side of the track and a similar section for just 300 desperate metres before the seal.

I have never had off-road motorcycle training unlike all of my colleagues. However, they individually gave me many suggestions, and I listened with interest and care (which is not like me usually). These ideas litterally saved my bacon;

1. Make the bike lighter - so I removed the panniers and top box.
2. Switch to "Enduro Mode" so that the ABS and traction control would not stop me powering-on (with no wheel spin) when I really needed it. And I did.
3. Adjust the tyre pressure carefully, so that there is enough pressure to deal with the stones but low enough to form around the irregular surface. I chose 32 psi rear and 30 psi in the front.
4. Stay in the wheel tracks where possible. This required me to change and automate my counter-steering method considerably, and drive this through the pegs not the handle bars. I practised this religously as I rode and it saved me when the wind blew me sideways. I would definitely have been "off" with out it. 
5. The most useful advice came from Willy the night before, for riding where there was ONLY loose gravel and no tracks. Lean backwards to take the weight off the front wheel so it "floats" on top of the gravel. This worked brilliantly.
6. Lastly, dont grip the bar tightly - let it ride with the variations in the road. This takes some real mental commitment, but it works well.

So I did not fall on this section, despite some wild Llamas and other bikes coming the other way, one of which drove right across in front of me at high speed and totally out of control. Others did fall and I felt for them.

We saw many other intersting things such as a wild armadillo, and some Guanacos (llamas) that had tried to jump the fence, and been caught in the barbed wire, a horrible death.

Then the last 90 kilmoetres were head on into a full gale. Petrol usage went from 4.2litres/hundred kilometres to 7.9!

All together a brilliant and learning day.

Day 9 - Guanaco's & Estancia

This place speaks to me.

It says volumes for the wild places, for the commitment of the peoples, their love, hard work, trial and family. The are also eye wateringly beautiful. 

We are at the incredible ranch, Estancia Al Angastoura in the very heart of Patagonia. It would be called a sheep station in Australia, with land as far as the eye can see totalling more tha 27,000 acres. That is a medium size by Argentinian standards. 

Our day started in the tiny town of Perito Mereno, named after a famous Chilean who worked out where the border was going to be, between Chile and Argentina. This saved a lot of battles time and worry for the officials. Our road headed up the hill out of town, when I remembered that I had left my GoPro batteries back in the room, plugged into a high power point on the wall where the TV was normally anchored. So I returned and chased down the mob. Generally the roads out here are very good, and average speeds of 140km/hr are quite common with higher speeds possible, until the "Baches" signs are seen - they are potholes of great depth and severity and everyone slows to a literal crawl. In our case it is to save our bike rims! A replacement here is US$2500 each.

At one point JC observes a family of Llama (called Guanaco's here) when suddenly and very un-expectedly the male charges across the road and misses him by just inches. I am riding right behind and am sure there is going to be a might crash. But no, he survives. Guanacos are clever and I have never seen a carcas on the road, so I think this was a rare instance. 

We are headed south as always, and now more than half way to Ushuaia. For coffee we stop at a very old hotel made very famous by Chalie Boorman and crew, on their "Long Way Up" movie trip. Here attached to the side wall are two motorcycle charging stations - probably used by them and no one else ever! The stone building is called Bajo Caracoles and is quite an interesting joint. The coffee is not bad but not great either.

We ride further into the Patagonian plains and I stop to take various photos, videos and to pee. I absolutely love it here and could have sat by the road just looking at the view for an hour or so. After a couple of hours we reach the 43km turnoff to the Estancia and a batch of gravel road  (called ripio) that has me at my best concentration, as it is the toughest yet for me. I strain with fierce concentration and all my strength to manage it. At one point on a hill there is a car in my path, with the owners changing their tire in the wind and sun. I MUST move across to another rut, and do so with a wild tank-slapper wobble that very nearly sends me off my bike into the dust. But I am VERY determined to stay upright and I do. I am every so pleased with my slightly improving gravel-riding skills. 

Eventually we turn off again and head down into the valley where the ranch sits behind a small hill. It is over a 100 years old, and we stay in the old house, with the family residing in a new one next door. It is a real working farm, with all the cats and dogs and horses that you would expect. Also the solar panels and microwave tower that gives me access to the internet and the ranchers, to safety. As you would expect, the kitchen is huge with multiple fridges, supplies of gas bottles outside and all the implements that you would expect in a remote location. I absolutely love it. 

In one of the little sheds next door, the son has killed a lamb and has skinned it for our dinner plus hung it as you do. This is going to be a great night, so I open a bottle of the local Riserva Malbec. Perfect.