It all changes at the rivers

Woke to another hot day (how is the snow?) and tapped the next destination in to the Sat Nav: "In 20 meters (ie the hotel was next to the road)  join Ruta 22 then continue for 482 kilometers! Certainly not complicated then.The rule book says never pass a Pertol Station if you have half a tank or less. So I filled up just before I left the town. It is very comforting to look down and see the gauge full.

The Pampas continued much as before with a good straight road to follow.. Then you cross the Rio Cordoba (about 100 meters wide) and the Pampas gives way to harsh gorse. No trees, just gorse and tough bushes about 5 feet high. The change is immediate and it feels that bit more intimidating. There are no cattle, no horses, no Estancias (farms). Even the birds change. Along the Pampas you see Birds of Prey (medium size, brown, white & black) every few miles hoovering above the grassland. Here you see large black "vulture" like things picking at road kill & sitting on Telegraph poles (reminded me of the Disney vultures in Dumbo).

Oh and at the river/provincial border was another Food inspection! Luckily this time, a very bored lookng guy couldnt be bothered with me so just waved me through.

Then you come to a small town called Cheole Cheol. you drop down a small incline, marked with a "steep hill" sign at the top. The Argentians like to put dramatic signs on the roads "Sharp bend signs" when (& I kid you not, the change in direction is less than 10 degrees). The incline was so slight you would happily have gone down it on roller skates, in fact there was a guy on a pushbike and he was pedaling down it! God knows where he had been because I had just covered several hundred kilometers at 80 ish and there wasn't anything there!

It is an Oasis in the middle of a sea of gorse. There are large green trees and lush vegatation - a bit like England without the snow. I got more fuel and was given directions to a cafe on a river. The Rio Negra is obviously responsible for the change in vegetation and local beauty spot.

I pulled up at the little cafe there, took of my jacket and hung in on the back of the chair. The trouble was that the jacket is heavy and there chair was not very substantial. I turned to enjoy the view as i sat down, but hadn't heard the chair fall backwards under the weight of my jacket. Well the locals enjoyed that! Like a Salmon I leapt back to my feet as if i normally do that sort of party trick. I thought i had got away with it (well sort of) until i couldnt find my glasses. They had spun backwards about 20 feet and were handed back to me by a smirking waiter! Anyway it was a very nice ham & cheese sandwich.

Back on the road (feeling a bit of a prick) i did a few more hours of bleak wilderness but eventually the ground starts to rise and becomes greener. In fact it turns in to a major fruit growing region so gorse gives way to apples and grapes. As with everything in this country it is by the mile & there were miles of fruit. The local town Neuquen looks very prosperous on the back their produce.

It was another hot one and there is nothing like a cool shower after a long day in the saddle, so I have had my shower, obviously kept my socks on and now they are drying on the back of the fridge.

Tomorrow i should be getting in to the lake district and hopefully will use my fishing rod for a day or two.