Day 394 Wednesday 11 February Comodoro Rivadavia to Puerto Madryn 447km

Today, 31 years ago I married an absolutely AMAZING Woman. Thea, thanks for being such a wonderful loving wife and mother to our 2 daughters, (and the newly acquired son which you also love just the same.) You are one of the strongest people I know (and I don’t mean weight lifting or boxing.) Thanks for letting me chase my dreams and encouraging me to follow the Rainbow. Love you like crazy. You do complete me. (OK, dry your eyes and read on.)

Last night we went for a walk about town. This is a very Industrial type of city. It has a very big Mining Industry as well as Oil. Funny Fact, in 1906 – 1908 many “Afrikaners” (like my heritage,) refused to stay under British Rule in South Africa after we got Colonised, they hated the British who won the Anglo Boer War, (they beat us with superior weapons) Colonized us and then 1st stole our gold we discovered in the Wit Waters Rand, and then, to add insult to injury, just as we mined the biggest ever diamond, the Cullinan Diamond, the size of a large watermelon, they stole that too and stuck it on the Queens Walking Stick, or maybe on her Crown, (no wonder she always walked funny) but the point I am making is that the British stole our land, our gold and our diamonds and even our women, and that is after they killed our great-grandmothers in concentration camps. So some Afrikaner decided to leave South Africa (just like the French left France to come to South Africa in the 1700’s,) and the Argentinean Government offered them some land, free, as much as they wanted, to come and farm here, in the area we stayed last night. You will recall how I told you there was nothing to be seen on the entire  day’s ride, so how can you farm??? Anyhow, farming on a piece of land filled with stones and sand was better than pledging allegiance to the British Queen and mineral thief, so they came. Then came the next slap in the face, they drilled for water and discovered oil. Sadly that was also taken away from them like the gold and the diamonds, but they persisted and farmed and made a success of it. Today there are still many families in this area that can speak Afrikaans, but it is a strange dialect as Spanish has crept into it over time. Another interesting fact was that Afrikaans only became an official language in 1925, so the language these Farmers took with them to Argentina was referred to as “Kitchen Dutch” as Afrikaans as we speak it today is very similar to the language they speak in the Netherlands.

Back to last night. We took a walk to the beach, 1st we had to walk past the Scateboard and Trick-Bicycle Park which was built and sponsored by the Orthopedic Surgeon and Brain Surgeon of the city.

Then we all had to look at the stranded boat and discuss engeneering aspects of its hull, why it ran aground and when this might have happened. I had questions myself, but more about the Art, or is it Graffiti? And are we as society better off or worse off with Graffiti and should kids like this be shot or applauded. (Just a joke, OK.)

It was another ugly beach, with sharp stones.

There were no real restaurants on the beach, only take aways, and we were very hungry, so we ordered “Loaded Fries.” How desperate is that. Only 50 000 Calories.

Then we went in search for some food with vegetables and stumbled on to a very clever dog. This dog would sit at the traffic light and look at the color of the light, and when it changed to green it would cross. He did this at least 3 times, so it was not that it was a luck-shot when he did it the 1st time:

Today it was another boring, flat straight road, BUT, I am glad to report that the wind, which was stronger than yesterday, had changed direction and was mostly a Tail Wind, pushing us on, dropping our Fuel Consumption and saving our neck muscles (tonight we ca only look at our shoes.) . But the wind is very harsh on Cyclists. On that very 1st day when we 1st encountered the strong winds, I guess 3 or 4 days ago, we saw a couple who were pushing their bicycles down a  hill as the wind was too strong for them to stay on their bikes. Today I saw a cyclist coming from the opposite side, facing the 40km\hr  head-wind, and when I passed him\her the person was leaning over the bicycle, head and body bent over the bike, with the shoulders shaking up and down, like when you are crying uncontrollably. How do you fight a 40km\hr wind head on, no way you can ride, you just have to push and walk.

The distances between places is huge, we rode for 200km before we saw the 1st place you could stop along the road, a Fuel Station, then followed another 177km before the next place, we passed through only one small dorpie, (small town,) and we rode for more than 400km !!!!!!

So stopping for fuel and some weak coffee and a packet of biscuits is great excitement. The temperature was around 10 degrees for most of the morning, so our Heated Handlebar Grips and lots of layers of clothing was back in fashion. And FYI, the other day I posted some photos of guys in shorts and T-Shirts, that was not because it was warm, it was Race To The Laundry Day, and then you wear what is clean, which just happens to be the Summer clothes you packed when you visited Argentina in the Summer, but never got to wear.

After coffee the guys feel energized and on the spur of the moment, without thinking for one second that the Forecourt of a Filling Station is not the best spot, they wax the chains, and boy oh boy, if your chain is too loose, they quickly adjust it tighter, we are all still reeling from the Tex Sprocket Experience, so keeping the chain tight helps reduce wear. Peens saw some Back Wheel Brake Pads in my pannier today, and he is in need of them, desperately,  so all of a sudden he is like my Chief Machanic and Beer Buyer and friendly helper and offers to carry my bag, tighten my chain, pour my drink and buys me Empanadas,

As my blog is lacking some real stories and photos today, I am glad to keep you entertained with some other non-us-stuffs. You will remember the Colombian guy we met on the ferry 5 or 6 day’s ago, The guy on the little 150cc. Well, in spite of his shoe-string budget, and his small motor bike, he has a big heart, he has been following the same route as us, heading North, and we have passed him every day along the road. He camps next to the road, he wakes up early and ride late into the night. I feel very sorry for him. But Peens has a good heart and donated $20 to him as few days ago, and he was very thankful and said this donation will help him to carry on for many more days. Today we found him at the Fuel Station. He told Peens he has now run out of money and will look for work in the town we are sleeping in tonight as he needs to make some money to be able to ride back to Colombia. I looked at him through the window of the Fuel Station “Restaurant,” today for at least 45 minutes (while savouring my Empanada Moment,)  and my thoughts are that if he just smokes half the cigarettes he is smoking per day he will have enough money to buy a helicopter.

But Peens went to chat to him and took these photos. He has a drum of spare fuel behind him on the seat as the distances between places are vast.

Remember I told you his Magneto and Alternator has died and he fitted a car battery, next to the fuel, Health & Safety Rules might have been ignored. So after 7 hours of riding he needs to stop and charge the battery, and as he is camping, he needs to charge the battery along the way. Today we had Front Row Seats to this event, while having our Culinary Gas Station Empanada Moment. He 1st fill his bike and the fuel-can with fuel, then drives around the back of the Filling Station, then he walks around and looks for an electrical power point, which today he found in the Female Toilets, to great consternation to the females in the toilet at that time. Then he unrolls his extension cable from the toilets to his bike and then charges the car-battery while he continues to smoke ferociously next to the fuel can, which had not yet ignited from the spark from the charging battery.

It turns out that he is a qualified medical professional, yes, you guessed it, he is a Psychologist who has been working with people who are a little……. different, and I guess he has been doing that for too long and that they people he has been helping over the last few years might have rubbed off on him.

Then we headed for Puerto Madryn, a little bay. You might know that the Southern Right Whales of Antartica migrate every year North to Hermanus where I am lucky enough to have a Holiday Home. They swim all this way to mate and give birth (the ones that gives birth were part of the group mating the previous year, it is not that everything happens that quick, hope you understand.) They hardly eat anything, then 3 months later swims back to Antartica to eat.

There are lots of Tourist stuffs to do, so much that there is even a Cruise Ship that docked today.

We rode in and found a nice little restaurant on the beach, and the beach had real sand like we have back home. Dog and Millsy (the Face Book Twins and Roommates) rushed off to document the moment while the rest of us enjoyed a beer.

This town reminds me of how Durban used to be.

Then Peens played his GPS like a concert piano and found us a great hotel at a very low price, obviously low season here and far too many hotels, so tonight we stay at a hotel costing us less than the Motels we stayed at in the USA. It has a Solarium (take that all of you that though I was un-educated as a struggled with Yacht, and Tongue.)

Yes, an indoor pool, with the roof vibrating and shaking due to the wind.

Just like Hermanus, the Souther Right Whales comes here from August to November. FYI, the name Southern Right comes from the name the Whalers back then called them as they were the “Right” whales to kill. But other times of the year one can view Orcas here who then comes here to reduce the large Penguin population. So if we wanted to we could go on a tour to see the penguins.

Another interesting fact, if you look below you will see the blue spot where we are, and then you will see the big green front that had passed Ushuaia a few days ago, which we missed, and then you will see another green front, smaller, but vicious, currently hitting the End of the World. Our timing was perfect, pure luck, but all of these fronts are still having an effect on our neck muscles.

Tomorrow we head further North and then turn East, so I suspect we will fight the wind for at least half the day, but the good news is that the scenery and terrain becomes much better after tomorrow once we have crossed the Black River.

I am now going to say goodbye and see if I can locate my “friends” who has been sending me photos of the most wonderful beach-bar in the world, in the freezing cold.

And by the time most of you reads this you will be on the Down-Hill of the week and heading towards the weekend.

XXXXXXX

Fleisch