Travel Log Week 1

Saturday 1.7.00 We have arrived safely in Punta Arenas. Good flights. The weather is wet but we have arrived at last after 30 hours of travelling. So far so good! Internet links are down due to technical problems so we are sending telephone text messages to update you all!

Sunday 2.7.00 No report

Monday 3.7.00 Punta Arenas, Chile (GPS S53.09992/W070.54.020) Spent the day in Shed 4 unpacking and building up the bikes and checking the loading. Much help from Maria and Miguel of S. Etcheverrey y Cia; they handled the Customs clearance for us. Customs were also very helpful as well as the guys in Shed 4 who were brilliant as well. We only wish we had better Castellan, there was so much more to talk about but we got by OK. We had so much interest from everyone it was great, and many wishes for success.

Tuesday 4.7.00. Punta Arenas, Chile The big day at last. The plan was to have an early night, early breakfast, and down to Shed 4 for 8.00 when they open, and away to the Porvenir Ferry for 9.00. The plan went well to start with, as we got us and all the gear in one of the 1000's of taxis (almost every car is black & yellow) and reversed straight up to the bikes in the Shed. This is when the problems started as we had never actually loaded the bikes before with all the gear. Typically, Adam had not got round to fitting his panniers to the bike before packing it, and while John had, he now had loads of extra packs and a pair of tyres; while Paul had not finished his lids when he fitted his back in UK! So, by the time we had tried 18 different ways of packing, plus enlarging various holes etc it was gone 10.00. No problem, we have plan B. Lets not wait till Thursday for the next boat, but run up the coast to Punta Delgada, and cross the narrowest point of the Magellan Straits, as there is a ferry every 1.1/2 hrs. So, all loaded and ready, and looking really impressive with shiny bikes & new kit, and an audience of the Shed 4 guys, John rolls his bike off the stand and crash, over they both go! Never mind, pick it up and have a practice run around the shed, oops, he knocks Paul over with one of his panniers in passing! By this time our hosts are wondering if we have ever ridden a bike before. They'd kindly given us some good luck charms to help us on our way, perhaps they then thought we needed even more. After a small delay while Maria got us the last bit of paperwork cleared, it was out on the open road, 20 metres round the corner to the filling station. A quick tyre pressure stop and fill, then off to find the road out of town, which gave us an unplanned trip round the back streets, then out past the airport, sailing along in a convoy, looking right across the Sound, at the Icebergs, not too many places in the world you can ride a bike with that kind of view! Unfortunately we had not quite made the mental jump between riding in the European summer one minute to being in the southern mid winter the next, and we'd not got 20 miles down the road when our pleasant ride was rudely interrupted, first by Paul going sideways down the road for 20 metres at 50mph before high siding out, John somehow missed Paul and the Africa Twin sliding down the road and just sat tight and rolled to a halt on the gravel, before trying to run back across what turned out to be concrete covered with black ice! Adam meanwhile had been cruising along in the lead enjoying the comfort of SnugGrip heated grips, when he noticed the mirrors were empty. Slowing down, a slight touch of front brake put him off on his ear as well, just as John got to Paul and asked if he was alright, Paul said "Christ now Adam's off as well!" Never mind, we straightened ourselves out,(GPS S52.35.530/W070.26.348) and now with everyone having come off, decided to take it easy for the rest of the trip over to the ferry. This concentration meant we didn't look around much, but once off the concrete, which was virtually unrideable, things improved, and it was superb in the afternoon sunlight alongside the Sound, with Llama's and Rheas, big hawks, silver foxes, and desolate abandoned settlements. The ferry ride was brief and there we were on Tierra del Fuego, land of mystery. Unfortunately the weather was closing in, and it was flat out down the gravel roads towards the nearest settlement on the map, but we didn't make it, and a real blizzard hit. Snow freezing on the goggles, vision right down, and being re-passed by all the trucks, but at least there was more grip on these roads. We eventually made it to Cerro Sombrero(GPS S52.46.320/W069.17.182), an ENAP oil town, and found the only rooms available, in a bunkhouse. However it was warm and with some food from the only shop, just the job!

The Magellan Statue and Us

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Wednesday 5.7.00 Plan A, get up early, load up and head for Rio Grande across the border in Argentina. In reality, up early, spent ages repacking the bikes, having straightened out some bent bits, arrive at the fuel station just after the man went to lunch. We actually got away about 1.00, very nervous about the road conditions after the blizzard, although town was treacherous, once again the dirt roads were actually good, and we rode along through brilliant sunshine and oil flares down to San Sebastian. John really let rip on some of these stretches, touching 80 down the long straights and left handers, with the old speedway reflexes coming in, all that great shale! Taking it a bit steadier, we rolled into the Chilean Customs, got cleared fairly easily thanks to letters from the Embassies and Downs Association, and then on for a super 10k ride through no-mans land in a beautiful sunset, almost a prehistoric setting. The Argentine Customs was also much helped by our letters, though they could not understand why we were going south to Alaska! With the light gone, we stayed at the Argentine Automobile Hostel right next door (GPS S53.17.961/W068.27.358), which was very hospitable, along with the Border Guards from the gatehouse who were very friendly too.

Thursday 6.7.00 This time, plan A worked and we were up on time and almost ready to go with the light, after a nice breakfast with toast toasted both sides, it was off down to Rio Grande. The road turned out to be tarmac and smooth, and we made good time, though again it was breathtaking how few people there are around, and the scenery is so big. Rio Grande was good for the Martins Rubber MasterCard to refuel, and the guys told us where the bank was, to change money. The queue was enormous, so we kept going, after getting lost in the grids around the back of the town, no change there then! Once more treacherous icy concrete was a problem, but this time no falls! A friendly local lead us to the right road, muchas gracias senior, then off at a good pace along great roads further south. Surprisingly, after featureless grasslands, we now began to go through forests of Juana trees covered in lichen, but the slight increase in height meant we also came across snow, and for 20k it was 30mph, while locals on studded tyres shot past, one in a Jeep must have been doing 90!Very impressive! So, time to stop again and we pulled up in Tolhuin, (GPS S54.20.434/W067.11.741)asked at the gas station where a couple of lads on snowmobiles were filling up, they looked at us as if we were mad. The town was only founded in 1972, and there is only one hotel, so that was it for the night, apart from the landlady insisting we parked in the right place, up a snowy slope, just what you need with a 250kg bike fully loaded! The plan for tomorrow is to try the road to Ushuiaia, which is the furthest south it is possible to go by road, and see how far we get, we are told the route is good, and in a car that would be true, but with great big bikes and smooth tyres, not quite so good. We are worried about getting snowed in down here, so we will have to see what is possible. The local time zones keep changing, so we are just going by daylight, and we are told it is better to travel early, before the sun gets on the ice, again, easy in a car, not so good on a bike. Buenos Noches all, and we will be in touch again as soon as we can, hopefully with some more pics, but its a pain getting the PC out and running just for a quick snap when its so cold, got some great video though, we hope.

Friday 7.7.00 Well, now we know, our landlady was definitely "avin a larf", having watched us struggle to park the bikes uphill in the snow, she assured us that the road on to Ushuiaia was no problem, but we would have to leave early to avoid the sun on the ice. She was going that way too, and said that there were a few hills along the way but we would be fine. So Paul & John went to the shop, & knocked up a quick beef & potato meal, after which we retired to our small room, John got the double and we got the bunks! Up early, and out to get loaded, we said farewell to the landlady, who had a kiss for John, and struggled round in the fresh snow to the gas station. The guys there still had the Skidoos, we really should have done a deal. Off down the road very carefully, full of fuel, everything went well till we started climbing out of the valley, past the lake. Funnily enough, everyone coming towards us had snow chains fitted, and as we went along, the conditions got rapidly worse. First Paul came off then Adam, trying to change line, while John did get to the top of the rise, it was impossible to get going once you'd stopped. We had a long conference, and decided that we'd had a fair crack at it, and rather than take a lot of risks to complete the last 50 miles south, we'd call that the start point, (GPS S54.33.175/W067.13.173) turn round, and head for home. After speaking to several truck drivers who had stopped to see what the mad people on moto's were doing, they said the conditions down to Ushuiaia varied from this to even worse, with 2-3' of snow. So we about turned and this proved to be a good decision as the road we had come in on yesterday was now a lot deeper in snow, and any little rut more than 1" high meant the tyres would just follow that rut: John disappeared off the road into a turning, and got stuck, Paul & Adam had a nightmare, and 5 miles down the road things were looking bad. We had to decide whether to press on or go back, but just then we noticed that Paul's front brake had jammed on, no wonder he'd been having such a bad time, and after this, we made slow but steady progress at 10mph. Many thanks to Dave Cross for the strength of the welds, they were well tested today! Eventually we got out of the hills without further problems, though every driver on the road gave us a toot and a smile, which was great, and all of a sudden it was back in the lowland with dry roads and the chance to stop and take a breather. The mountains are very reminiscent of Norway, but the lowlands are like nothing we've ever seen, with lots of wildlife, big Fish Eagles etc, and the quality of the light here is something else. The sun is very low all day at this time of year, and it is quite breathtakingly beautiful. So that is it, we are now on the way back via Alaska, and stopped at Rio Grande for the night, we must admit we've hotelled it without any guilt after the most difficult day's riding since trying to get up the Old Man of Coniston on a CCM with worn road legal tyres! Many thanks to TranAm for the Rukka, Gaerne & Bell kit, it certainly got well tested today, and we have to say it made such a difference being warm and dry all day, in very trying conditions! So, here we go to the top, we will report in as soon as we can, off to the border again tomorrow and heading north to Rio Gallegos in Argentina proper.

Us at start point, just past Tolhuin, Argentina	Punta Arenas, Chile
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Saturday 8.7.00 No report

Sunday 9.7.00 Rio Grande to a small house in the middle of nowhere. We left the luxury and very kind staff of Jose Finocchio at the Posada de los Sauces Hotel, thoroughly recommended, especially if you are serious about coarse fishing, some of the best Sea Trout anywhere in the world live here, email [email protected] for your reservation! They serve a great chilled chocolate cake for breakfast, with toast, fruit salad and coffee! John also highly commended the Hot Chocolate, almost as good as his all time #1 which was after a very frosty Bromsberrow Enduro. We stopped at the State Sign for a quick photo session (attached), then headed north back the way we had come. The tarmac roads were fine though you had to be careful about shaded areas which were still covered in black ice, a couple of oilmen we met in the bar told us that this would be the case for the next 500 miles or so! We made good time back to the Chilean border, and filled up at the ACO station before crossing. We filmed the run through no-mans land to catch the superb scenery, and then cleared customs back into Chile. We knew the last ferry across the Bahia Azul left at 6.30, which would have been plenty of time if the roads had been the same as we had ridden down a few days ago. However where John had been rallying the big Africa Twin around the bends at 80mph, there was now a nice layer of packed snow, so it was once again time for discretion. No problem though, at least on the gravel roads you always have some grip, not like the concrete sections. We made fair time at 30mph, avoiding trucks stuck on the hills and other motorists, but the light was fading and we had to decide whether to stop at Cerro Sombrero again. We decided to push on as we knew the road reasonably well, and by now we were off the ice. Riding wise this was a good decision, we'll never forget blasting along gravel roads looking at the fantastic sunset, in one of the remotest places around. We got the ferry with 15 minutes to spare, and apart from John almost baling off the ramp on the way up into the boat, job done! Except that the ferry terminal on the other side does not have rooms, and it was now VERY cold, and the road was now the dreaded concrete slab type, complete with ice coating. We reluctantly headed off towards the next border crossing, where we had seen a Hotel sign on the way down, however when we got there it was closed for business. So, riding the gravel hard shoulder we pressed on and came across a small Restaurant which looked like someone's front room; we stopped and asked if they had any rooms, but they did not, and when we asked for a menu, they said tonight's specialty was Chicken Soup and Roast Lamb, and that was it! So, for once not a difficult decision, and the meal was excellent, very welcome. One of the staff then offered us a room back at their house for a small fee, which we gratefully accepted. It was small but warm, and they had very cute twins aged 3, which got Paul all gooey! So, ultimately a successful day which saw us back off Tierra del Fuego, and ready to cover some miles on the mainland.

Big Fish at Tierra del Fuego

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Link to next update: Week 2