They are hurling things at me now!

Punta Arenas - what a lovely city. It has a population of 200,000 but feels smaller than that.
You can see the varying degrees of prosperity during its history from the achitecture.

There were clearly some very good times at several intervals. The current prosperitiy is borne out of a Tax Free zone. Industries setting up in the "fenced off Zona Franka" pay no tax (Rio Grande have a similar deal with the Tax authorities), just trying to promote & maintain employment in this part of the world.

Having been "put up" at the Savoy last night I had to move back to my original venue. The man with the lilac shirt was still on reception but I am delighted to tell you he had a different shirt on today.

I  got settled and then went for a walk. I really like PA, it is obviously a port town but has so much more to it than that. There are some beautiful buildings here, hidden amongst some horrors. The current economy has spawned several high rise glass buildings - quite nice as a contrast to the rest.

On Sunday there was not a soul about on the streets until early evening, when everyone seemed to go to the Supermarkets.

I was walking along a road and heard an almighty clattering behind me. An Isuzu Trooper shed a rear wheel & hub, missing me by about 10 feet. The hub came to rest just in front of me whilst the wheel bounded on down the road for another 100 yds. The Trooper came to a grinding halt on its disc brake (well what remained of it). The driver seemed pretty relaxed but I felt a need to help after all the assistance i had received recently. So I went and got his wheel. It was pretty much undamaged which makes me think someone had pinched his wheel nuts as there was no sign of breakage! Clearly wasn't using the Balls Torque wrench technique!
You can get a very fine period house next to a burnt out remains or a beautifully tended rose garden next to an industrial unit.

As mentioned, there have been several period of prosperity, there was obviously a purple patch in the 1920's as there are a lot of Art Deco buildings, reminiscent of some on the front at Brighton.

Magallane gets pride of place in the centre of town, which is fair enough but I can't help feeling it should have been an Englishman (i typed the last bit as a whisper). 

One thing about all towns in Argentina and apparently Chile is that a few heroes got all the streets named after them; Peron obviously but San Martin, Belgrano, Hipoliti Yrigoyen (no i can't spell or pronounce it either), Belgrano, Fangona and a few others including O'Higgins. He was a Royal Marine who was a bit of a hero in the bid for independence from Spain.
From what I can ascertain from the little history I know - not many stand up to too much interrogation as an "heroic figure" in modern parlance!

A surprising feature of Chile is the amount of Croation influence. Apparently it has the 2nd biggest population of Croatians outside of Croatia. You wouldn't know any of this tosh if it wasnt for me! Just think how good you will be in the Pub Quiz after this nonsense.

Having had no success yesterday (Sunday) in finding some technical help for the bike, I padded around Pt As again, with no success. I even got a blister on the bottom of my foot! I did find a shop that sold the correct brake fluid so needing a sense of achievement I bought a bottle. See how one's priorities change on such a trip?
I also found a few Chilean / Patagonian stickers for the bike. I will have to find my sewing kit as I also have some patches to sew on to my riding suit; Argentinian and Chilean flags plus Che! I am thinking of saving that one for my race suit & Le Mans.

The wifi internet is leaving something to be desired down here, not sure why but it is less reliable than elsewhere.
My next road trip is on paved road to Pt Natales and onwards to El Calafate - possibly seeing Wilks. I will see how the bike handles but it should be ok if i take it steady. Given that Pt As is a city of 200,000 people I don't think i will get anything sorted until Santiago.


Just seen a note from Ils, a couple riding down here too, they are in Ushuaia - in snow! I am very glad I got out in time as i was tempted to give it another day or two but a pressing engagement was calling.............................. I have managed to get myself on a flight to Antartica!


It isn't cheap, so i can only apologise to Tom, Millie & Rosie! Hopefully MA is being more frugal with their inheritance than i am..


Had a pre-departure briefing this evening to tell me what i needed to know; basically a King Air 6 seater plane with 3 of us on it. 2.5 hour flight, we are allowed 5 kgs of luggage - ie a small back pack. No change of clothes, wet wipes strongly suggested. You are then told to read the Antartic Treaty which says things like, have a Dump before you leave or take a plastic bag with you!

Neither do i have any appropriate clothing - i wonder if i will be the first person there in a Bike outfit (including the boots)? I will be about as much out of place as I was at the Rodeo, there again i never was much of a fashion guru..
Got to go as having dinner with the other two on the plane and an early start. Hopefully i will tell you all about it with more stunning Wildlife photography when i return.
I hope he has enough fuel on board, I dont think there will be many places to stop en route!