Day 386 Tuesday 3 February El Calafate to Puerto Natales 385km

Yesterday I said we would head for Puerto Arenas today, well, all the Puerto’s had me confused, today was Puerto Natales, tomorrow is Puerto Arenas. FYI, I decided to take more time on the blog and proof read it before I send it, and guess what, this bloody AI changed the name above from Puerto Natales to Puerto Natalie !!!!!!! Stupid A.I.

We were all witness to Peens changing his oil yesterday, and with some help of Pie, and our moral support, he managed to un-screw the lower sump oil filter, the one where there is a magnet that catches the metal shavings that ends up in the oil, which has been un-opened and cleaned since Texas.

The oil change was done by a plumber:

Then we went out for a light meal and a glass of wine and  to look at some of the other Adventure Bikes parked in town,  laden and packed to the MAX !!

This morning we decided to not leave very early as the temperature increases with the hour of day. At 8h00 the temperature was going to be 8 Degrees, at 9h00 it was going to be 9 Degrees, and so it went up up to 2pm when it reached 14 Degrees, and then at 15h00 it would still 14 degrees before going down again. So we left at 9h00 after a frustrating detour past the Fuel Station. The oom that works there wanted us all to enter from the one side, we entered from the other side as there was a big truck delivering the fuel. So after we stopped he told us to all get back on our bikes and ride it to the other side of the fuel pump and line-up from the other side. Then he demanded we get off the bikes and refused to help us unless we took off our helmets????

Looking at our RSA Flags which we fitted when we started in Mexico, it is clear that Rocky and I are not Hooligans, but Millsy, nothing left of his flag, he should slow down!!!!!

Mine:

MANIAC !!!!!

The road was boring for the 1st 100km as it was as if we were riding through the Karoo, flat, dry, semi-dessert. Only us and a few Alpacas with no other traffic. But the others had stickers.

But then we turned off Route 40 onto “The 7” which was a gravel road which some other Adventure Bikers said was the “worst road” which we should avoid and travel an extra 80km to stay on the Tar road. It was really a bad road, the type of road that dentists love (as it shakes loose all your fillings.) Not dangerous, as you could not get out of 4th gear for long stretches, lots of embedded stones, like a Roman Cobble Stone road. At some sections you had to go down to 2nd gear and choose a line that would shake you the least. but we had fun and stopped for a drink of water and photos a few time. It was only 75km but it took almost 2 hours.

The farmers love dressing up something at their cattle grids, maybe it lets the people slow down. Mostly they use bright orange clothes used by construction workers. The one above where Dog stopped has been bleached by the sun and is in need of a re-dress.

Below is a beautiful bike with some old farts in the back-ground.

Dog below :

Below: Note the road in the front of this photo and the snow capped Andes Mountains in the background. And old farts in the middle ground.

Our road today:

Note my nice Orange Sport Equipment protecting my hands that was fitted to my handlebars :

How beautiful is DadAss not !!!!!

Then we got back onto Route 40 and had about 40km to the next town at the border where we stopped for fuel, coffee and…….yes, and Empanada each.

Millsy broke some poor kids bicycle while trespassing:

The border crossing was a breeze and we were out of Argentina and into Chile in less than an hour. To get to Ushuaia, which is in Argentina, you need to 1st cross into Chile as the part of Argentina on which Ushuaia is,  is like a separate island below Chilean territory.

When we got to our town for the night it was chaos as I made a booking for our hotel on Booking.com, and when I put in that we are 7 adults wanting 7 beds, their website allocated 8 beds for us, in 4 rooms, 1 single, one double (with “Matrimonial bed, which is a double bed,) and then a triple Room and a quadruple room. ) When we arrived we tried to communicate with receptionist and asked if we could pay extra and get 7 single rooms, which would cost more than the 4 rooms we booked. But, no, we had to take the rooms as we booked them and no changes. So when we eventually gave up fighting and even Google Translate begged us to stop, we accepted our 4 keys and discovered all 4 rooms had 1 double bed and three single beds. So you would think there were enough beds, but, Millsy just sneesed once today and almost coughed, so we decided he should pay extra for another room and sleep on his own as we did not want to all get his sneeze and his cough.

Tomorrow we start heading East before we turn South again in 2 days time.

Hope you will ride along.

XXXXXXXXX

Fleisch