Just when you think it is getting dull

I had a bit of fun and games getting the bike sorted. Despite being given assuranes that there were professional independet people who could sort the "computerised damper" I ended up at the BMW main dealer. This was about 5 hours later.

They did not look too impressed at having ro deal with a "warranty" issue on a UK bike. They insisted on the Doucmentation to support the service history and the vehicle registration. Funnily enough, I didn't bring the service book with me to South America. Luckily the BMW dealer in Hampshire did their bit and pinged a copy of the service record to the Santiago Dealer. That and a scanned copy from JIS  my new best friends in Santiago (I am not sure they see it the same way) sems to have done the rick. I did ask Andro & Sebastia; Do I got my own office if I came back again next week?

Oh and the replacement Damper, which i told them about when i was in Tierra Del Fuego, will take 3 weeks to arrive! Looks like more Spanish lessons and a few days at the beach for me then!

A few days ago Wilks kindly took me to Liguria, a popular restaurant in Providencia, as an early Birthday celebration.

I went back there this evening, on my tod, as I rather liked the atmosphere. It is Italian in style with the sort of music Wilks sings for his pleasure and our agony.

I got a nice table in the restaurant, surrounded by the beautiful people of Santiago. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the arrival of the diners who took the table next to me. Judging by the look of them, they were the IT department from Bumphuck Computers plc on their Xmas bash.

Little did I realise the entertainment to be had.

Firstly, at no point in the evening were less than 50% of them on their smart phones at any one time. The iPhones only just outnumbered the pony tails and the average weight was double that of the average Chileano.

The head honcho ordered the wine - hats off to the waiter he earned his money tonight.

He got him to the bottom of the last page. The best bit was that , with great aplomb he brought the wine to the table, with a decanter. Uncorked,  then ceremoniously cleaned the cork as if presenting Mass at St Peter's and put a dab of wine in the glass of the guy with the credit card.

He professed himself happy with it and the waiter then poured the top inch, from the bottle, in to the decanter & swilled it around, as if warming a pot for tea!

This he then tipped in to a glass that promptly disappeared in to the kitchen. The Chef must love his job.

Best of all he then dumped the remainder in to  the decanter, lees and all., for the benefit of the paying public.

I was so "impressed" that I asked my waiter if i could see the the bottle. It was a 2006 Cab Sauv.. With a wink he told me it threw a heavy sediment. I am sure the Glass washer will get it all out of the bottom of their glasses in due course..

They repeated this twice in my presence and i thank them for it. I did mention your priorities change on a trip like this when dining solo.

You could tell the diners knew what they were doing when they took photos of the wine & the subsequent bottles. I said to my waiter "they are aficionados?" to which he simply replied "they are Brazilian".

Anyway it amused me & if you are ever in Santiago I recommend Liguria (on Providencia) as a good place to drink, eat and people watch (they make a very decent Pisco Sour too).

By the way, I am sure the Brazilians were saying "look at that sad bastard all on his own". They will never know the entertainment I got from their presence.

Don't expect too many more Bogs for the time being. Santiago is not throwing up many amusing anecdotes.

Will report next time I have something more interesting.

Ciao

ski slopes, swim or both?

The 4 Caballeros that I met in Pichilemu invited me for a ride with them up to the ski area of Santiago. They picked a spot to meet that even I could find. It is a Shopping Mall dedicated to sport. How many shopping malls do you know that have a marina selling boats?

Francisco, Osvaldo and Ricardo made the trip, with 2 others being distracted by work or family. 2 BMW's, 1 Suzuki and 1 Honda.

The road to the slopes is near the city centre and it immediately climbs the mountain sides by way of narrow and tight hairpins for a large part of the journey. They number the Hairpins for some reason (36 to the first ski area). I don't know if it is to be able to tell the Ambulancemen, or more likely the Mortician, where to look for the bodies.

A lot of them are so tight you can not keep to the correct side of the road. There are more than occasional pot holes and a lot of gravel and some rocks that just tumble off the mountain!

There are also a lot of cyclists making the climb to 3,200 meters and doing so in pretty quick order.

I think I described the joy of being in the "High" Andes earlier in my journey. They were not the "High" Andes. These are!

Most higher peaks near Santiago are volcanoes, or what is left of them. Cerro Plomo is 5,400 meters high and easily accessible from Santiago. Apparently it is often used by Aconcagua expeditions for acclimatisation. We are looking at the "Grey" glacier (Plomo) on our way up to Farellones where we had a drink at 2,500 meters. I thought we had earned it but there were about a dozen cyclists who streamed in for a much more deserved beer!

On the Beer front - this week Chile has brought in a zero tolerance on drink driving. I don't believe you get a dispensation for drinking Rusty Ferret or whatever it was called!

We saw about 7 or 8 Condors wheeling above and easily the closest I have seen them. They have 3 meter wingspans, the males being Black and White. Francisco thought the English accent attracted them as they have been known to snatch Brits! I think it was his way of getting me to stop talking Spanglish.

He then led us up to the Valle Nevado Ski area where we had lunch at 3,200 meters.

  That is Plomo in the back ground again.

After a very nice lunch we left and 2 Condors came really, really close. There was a small herd of cattle and they speculated that they were looking for an easy meal. One of them flew straight past us no more than a few meters away.

In keeping with my camera skills - he flew just the other side of this building at the perfect moment! Like the Dolphin, this is a picture I wish I had captured. I don't think it is a surprise that the only decent picture I have taken was of a glacier - not known for their speed of movement!

Condors are fantastic to watch. A call will go up when they are spotted and EVERYONE, stops what they are doing whether cyclists, construction workers or tourists to watch them. I asked Francisco about this and he said " no one ever gets bored of watching the Condors". I can believe that.

We headed back down the hairpins (with Matt Monroe spinning through my head) and got back to Santiago where we went our separate ways. It was a great ride & I am very grateful for taking me up there. They threatened to take me out again - perhaps the coast and Valparaiso?

I took more photos of the mountain range but they just don't do them justice so I won't post them on here. Much better to have pictures of Condors.............ahhh!

I just mentioned to Wilks (yes he is still in Santiago) about the problem with taking pictures of animals. He said "I have bought you a ticket to the Zoo - even you can't f*** them up!

Back to the somewhat warm apartment so I got my trunks on and went for a swim...............did I mention the apartment has a swimming pool on the 22nd floor?

 

I have to take the bike to the workshop tomorrow so I will be without transport for a while. Duncan 9he of the socks) has had about a 2 -3 week wait to get his bike fettled. Looks like I will be improving my Spanglish.

Santiago is nice but I suspect not a lot will happen over the coming weeks to warrant daily blogs. I will report anything of interest but don't expect much more for now!

Happy Mother's Day

Hello Mum!

Sorry I am not there for Mother's Day.

I know you don't like cut flowers so I took a picture of some rather than buy them for you!.

Not sure what they would have looked like by the time they got to you and anyway, I am not going to another Post Office if i can help it!

This rather relies on the kindness of Pam &/or Phil to get this to you - so thank you to them!

All good here (as per Blogs)

Have a lovely day & see you in April

Love

Kevin & Mark (he is around here somewhere).

Santiago - hot (in more ways that one).

I rode up from the cool coast to the hot city. Sorry to spoil the Blog with a comment about motorcycling.

The traffic is a bit hectic as you would expect of a 4m person city. It was not as straight forward as it looked on the map. At one stage i was trying to hold my phone (with sat nav on) in my clutch hand, a glove in my mouth and ride the bike! It wasn't the way Tufty or Mr Badger taught the highway code! I pulled up next to an empty taxi at a set of lights & got him to lead me to my hotel. He didn't hang around either, I was switching lanes like a dispatch rider. Still it was better than trying to look at the phone.

I am right in the middle of Providencia, the equivalent of Chelsea/Knightsbridge. i had been led to believe that Santiago was a poor 2nd to Buenos Aires - well from what I can see that is not the case. It has beautiful tree lined avenues and lovely buildings. The sights aren't too bad either!

(Note to Rick: If you are coming to Brazil for the World Cup, I suggest you add a few days in both BsAs & Santiago).

I had a bit of "fun" trying to extract sufficient cash from the banks for the letting agent on the apartment I am renting. The daily limit from the cash machines doesn't quite cut it. Fortunately the kindness of the Chileans came to the fore again.

Alec, the racer of historics, I was introduced to in BsAs, put me in touch with Andro, a racer of historics in Chile. Andro also happens to be a Lloyd's broker! He and his son-in-law Sebastian sorted things for me & kindly took me for a delicious lunch too! We naturally spent most of the time talking racing rather than insurance. It is somewhat ironic/appropriate that I should spend my last working day (14th March) with a Lloyd's Broker. They wouldn't even let me try to use the Atrium expense account one last time.
Andro has a BMW 2002 and an Elan that he is putting in to 26R spec. A la Catlow! He will be racing his BMW the week I am back in the UK, such pity as I would love to see Chilean racing first hand.

It transpired that they do a lot of business with John Spence i.e. largest fleet of helicopters in Chile and DAP airlines - the airline that got me to Antarctica. That would have been embarrassing if that had gone down. It would have been jackpot on the Atrium insurances! Death in service, Travel Insurance & the Seat liability! Kids you should have a word with Uncle Mark - he didn't work that one out did he!

After lunch, heard from Wilks that he had just arrived in an Hotel two streets away! Shows how much we talk to each other!

We had a few beers, and a noticeable difference between BsAs and Santiago is that we struggled to find anywhere open to eat! We ended up with an unimpressive steak - such things would not occur in Argentina!
As we were eating a cavalcade of push bikes streamed by with banners, posters and police out riders. The restaurant all applauded as the went by. This may well be a reaction to the NUDE cyclist demonstration that David M mentioned in Peru. Sadly they were all dressed!

Took possession of the Apartment today. 18th floor modern office block. As is the nature o such places, i will not be holding the World Cat Swinging contest in it.
It does have a nice view of the city, although the 35 degrees of heat did not make for a good photo until the evening.

That is the tallest building in South America you can see being built - the triumph of ego over common sense! I have been warned to expect Earthquake tremors as a regular occurrence. As such they have poured so much concrete and steel in to this building that it is an economic disaster.

Wilks and i had a drink with Duncan - another solo bike rider doing his thing in SA. he is stuck in Santiago with a broken rear suspension (familiar tale).

Whilst we had a drink a street vendor arrived selling socks (don't ask me why). Rather than pretend not to notice her Duncan began to negotiate with her (much to the amusement of the two tables of chicas nearby). He ended up with 2 pairs for 1,500 pesos £2).

He hopes to collect his repaired bike tomorrow and I may accompany him with a view to taking my bike here rather than the expensive BMW main dealer.

I pinged a few emails to the various people i have met along the way (with Santiago domicile) and have been pleasantly surprised by the number of responses. It looks like I may be drinking more beer with the biking fraternity than I anticipated!

I had better be careful as Chile has just introduced a "zero tolerance" limit on drink driving!

I now need to arrange Spanish lessons, unlike Wilks, who is convinced he is fluent. The locals insist that one of us gets a grip!

A pinch of salt

Still in Pilchilemu so not much to report, other than me catching up on some reading: 15 battles that changed the world. Very interesting as they are not necessarily the battles you would think.

I did go for a ride up the coast on a recommendation to see a couple of things.

Punta Lobos where there is some serious surfing going on. They clamber down the cliff, swim across to a rock, walk around that and then throw themselves in (what looks like the Sargasso sea, there is so much seaweed in there). They then surf some big, fast waves.If you look closely you can see a guy with his board taking "the" route. Was never this hard at Praas Sands.

The waves break along way from the beach so they get a long run in if they want it. The good guys peel off the wave after it has lost some of its height.

All very impressive, especially knowing how cold the water is.

After that I headed a bit further to Chilumi where they extract sea salt from water beds. they lie all the way up this estuary. .

I have no idea how long it takes them to get a pile of salt this big. It wasn't exactly a spectator sport so I took my pictures and wandered back to my book

Although I did spot these signs along the road. Not sure how much they will help in the event of one but it is the thought that counts.

Got back to the battle of Chalons (no I hadn't heard of it either) basically the last major victory of Imperial  Rome (with Goth allies) defeated Attila the Hun and stopped him destroying Western Europe. The date in case you are interested AD451. Where would you be without me?

Whilst reading of Attila stacking his loot in a pile so the enemy couldn't take it or him alive, 2 Kitesurfers appeared on the beach.. I was very impressed as it is monumental surf to clear before getting to the open sea. One did it and flew (literally) over the waves. The other guy didn't get 20 feet before he was dumped off his board. His kite landed in the water and was turned inside out by the waves.
The beach was all but deserted and was I pretty sure no one knew what danger he was in. I did the honourable thing, put my beer down and ran down the beach. There was no where for him to go but onto the large, sharp rocks downwind. The kite hit the rocks first with him at the end of the lines still 20 or 30 meters out to sea. Another guy came and helped me but the kite was being washed in and out on every wave They are about 12 sq meters of material and full of water, impossible to move. The thing was shredded but we managed to get it on to the beach and pull him in by the wires. It was bloody cold too, up to your unmentionables in that water!

That was the most expensive 2 minutes he had kitesurfing - probably £1,000 worth of kite trashed.Worse than that he looked rather shame faced as he watched his mate having a great time.

I think I will wait until the water is warmer and there are no rocks! Sounds like Brazil then..

Pichilemu Surfer dude zone.

I studied the maps and googled everything I could to see where to head for. Nothing sprung off the page. I headed north  more in hope than expectation.

The agricultural zone continues but is on a far more commercial scale than in the south. Large tracts of Logging gives way to Maize which in turn changes to soft fruits & eventually grapes.

As I came to each town I headed to the centre to see what it had to offer, each time i kept going. There was nothing wrong with them, there just wasn't a reason to spend time there.

The harvest is in full flow with lorries laden with Sweet Corn, Plums and Grapes. The slow lane of Ruta 5 has turned the colour of red wine as the trucks drip their way from the fields to the wineries. The smell was intense and any more of it & I could have been over the limit.

I passed one field on the side of a hill being "irrigated", low growing, multi coloured crops interspersed with mown grass. I couldn't work it out until i got closer. It was a cemetery - they can water it as much as they like, I don't think they will bring that crop back to life!

I saw a sign post for Pichilemu which reminded me of a comment from someone a few days ago. It was about another 120kms west but I didn't have anything else on the horizon and Santiago was getting too close. Promisingly the road is called Carretera Vinos. Indeed it is.

Mile after mile of vineyards, heaving with trucks moving the crop. It was a good road but a little dangerous. The trucks moved slowly and it was a challenge to overtake with limited visibility. The plains give way to hills and eventually you come over the top to see the pacific ocean ahead of you.

Pichilemu is a well regarded surfing spot with some big waves. Trouble is the water is bloody freezing. I didn't have an hotel booked and it is a small town strung out along the coast. The weather is good & there are camping sites. I thought I may be pitching the tent for the first time.

As luck would have it, I trundled down a lane towards the sea and found the Surfers Hostel. They didn't ask to see my surfing licence so I got a room. Just what i wanted. Very relaxed people and lovely view of the sea. Praa Sands Chilean style. I know Millie & her friends would love the people & scene here.

 I got checked in (£25 per night kids so no worries there) showered and flip flopped to the bar. 

A couple of American from Las Vegas were sipping drinks and we got talking. Never jump to conclusions, as although they worked in casinos - he is an anthropologist specialising in Third World conflict. Despite writing for National Geographic and Al Jazeera it just doesn't pay the bills! They are down here to see whether they can buy a farm and start the "Good Life". He had some interesting views on all territories but North Africa is his favourite topic. He doesn't hold out much hope for the African continent as a whole.

They have baths on the beach with heated sea water and a wood fire too. All very bohemian but i haven't seen any guitars yet..

The next day dawned overcast and chilly so I went for a walk into town along the beach. High season finished a few weeks ago so it was pretty quiet but there were a few fun sights.

Launching a fishing boat Chilean style. He basically rams the boat into the water. When they come back in they power it up the beach and then attach a chain to drag it further up. Not sure how long their propellers last! They have quite a few fishing boats that seem to bring in everything but fish. Judging by the stalls it is all sorts of shell fish & seaweed. Having heard of two people suffering badly with food poisoning I will give the sushi a miss.

Nothing as dull as a donkey ride along the beach here!

But I can confirm that the surfers lips are the same colour blue as you get in Cornwall and their teeth make the same noise clattering together.

It  wasn't a lovely bright sunny day but I did notice the contrast between the black sand and the white surf. Wilks will be proud of me. The sand is as soft and fine as any white sand you will find, just a funny colour.

I was reading my book in the bar and heard several bikes arrive. 3 BMW's and a Honda had arrived. Four guys from Santiago had driven down for the day. They worked for the likes of Bechtel, BHP Billiton and a Bank and were of a similar age to myself. They came in and had a coffee were great fun & extremely helpful in terms of advice for my ride north later in the trip. 

They headed back to Santiago but not before arming me with their business cards & suggestions of beer in town when I get there! It just adds to the experience of being on a bike & confirms how friendly the South American are.

Pucon to Los Angeles (no not that one)

Not much to report so I will keep it short and sweet;

The hotel Patagonia was nice but had a bad day; no hot water, for some reason they had to fumigate the whole place so we were all kicked out for 3 hours and then a powercut in the afternoon.

 I spoke to some Aussies at dinner the night before and they had done the hike to the top of the volcano - 5 hours. They said it was good but crowded. I am not surprised as the high street is full of people trying to sell you the tour. I don't have any hiking boots with me so was not on the agenda (I don't even have my brogues) & I am no great hiker but i do slightly regret not doing it.

I took another shot of the volcano this time showing a small column of smoke/steam. It last erupted about 20 years ago so the locals are happy to see it gurgling away as it suggests that another eruption is not building.

Pucon was very nice but it was time to head North again.The only road north is Ruta 5, a dual carriageway, not much fun but practical. Bumped in to another couple of bikers from Chile & there were more photos of the bike by passers by (they are not quite as fanatical as the argentinians though).

The scenery is one of agricultural but with the constant presence of Volcanos on the horizon. I don't know how many Chile has got but there are plenty of them. The temperature rose steadlily and reached 28 degrees by the time I got to Los Angeles and i was over dressed for that! From here on, and for some time, it will be sweaty riding followed by cool showers, shorts and flip flops.

It had been surpringly difficult to select a town & then an hotel in this "middle" part of Chile. But i plumped for Salto de los Laja, just North of Los Angeles. It is a quirky place but has one great benefit - the  waterfall. It may not be Iguazu but it is pretty good as a view from the room.

With little between me and Santiago in the way of interesting places to visit, I suspect i will get there slightly earlier than i had intended. I will just have to get some more Spanish lessons, I could certainly do with them!

Delbert goes Camping (well almost)

I wasted a day in Puyehue waiting for the storm that never came to pass. I say wasted as when I found Pucon I knew where I would rather have been.

I tried to make the most of another short ride north by visiting Valdivia. It is on the pacific coast so I thought it would be worth a look.
Apart from the ride through the pine & eucalyptus forest there was nothing of merit (that I could see). It is a rather unhappy looking town and so, having persevered as far as the Plas de Aramas, I did a u turn and left. The only time my feet touched the ground was at traffic lights. Shame as this is probably the first town that I have not found any redeeming features.

I headed back to the highway Ruta 5 - only because it was the only road to where I wanted to go. As luck would have it I stopped for fuel and within a few minutes two bikers arrived, followed by a third. Alejandro I (father) and Alejandro II (son) were on their way back to Venezuela having been to southern Chile.
A bit of broken Spanish & English over a cup of coffee established that they had a friend/mechanic in Santiago who would fix my bike - much cheaper than BMW. They had his card (with a picture of a GS1200 on the front). They gave me their telephone numbers and even called their friend to explain the issue with the front damper.
They also went on to say - avoid Bolivia, dangerous! Senior had been knocked off his bike by a truck and by a boy racer "for fun". I didn't want to hear this as I had been planning my route through Bolivia for the past few days.
Interestingly they said the Venezuela was basically safe for Gringo's, this is the opposite to most comments so far.

As they left I struck up the a conversation with the latest arrival - Max. a Chilean on his way back to Santiago. He was on a heavily laden 250 cc trial bike having been riding in the South for 20 days..
He spoke great English and was on his way to Pucon to put his bike on a truck & himself on a Bus. Seemed odd as Santiago is only two days away of easy riding. It wasn't until I followed him as far as Villaricca that I saw the issue - he could do no more than 70 mph - flat on the tank downhill.


The drive, by the way was just like previously, soft rolling countryside.The road to Pucon lies next to a huge lake, so big it may as well be a sea. The sun was shining & I found my hotel on the first ride by. The Magma. The views of the volcano were obscured by clouds again.

As you can see the "rooms" are curious canvas eggs in the woods right next to the waters edge. I immediately tried to book an extra night, only to be told it was not possible as they were full. Bugger!

I threw my kit in to the Egg and put on shorts & flip flops for the first time since Mar Del Plata (I think).

The beach is black with the pebbles made of pumice, full of holes and as light as a feather. A steak and egg sandwich with two beers saw me to my siesta.

.

You see what I have to put up with? No Rusty Ferret of Ripped Badgers Arse ales here, just Heineken.

We arranged to meet for a beer before he went for his bus to Santiago. He makes commercial videos for companies but used to be a kayak guide in Pucon. We have arranged to meet in Santiago with a map so that he can give me the benefit of his experience in the desert areas in the north. His view was that Bolivia was OK and "anyway - it is meant to be an adventure isn't it"? True but i hadn't put being knocked off by the local youth on my list of things to experience!

 

A sunset view of the Villarrica volcano with clouds on top and another of the lake - no clouds there! I will try again tomorrow!

 When I checked in I got a message that I wouldn't get hot water until 8:00, which was not a problem for me. When i got back from my beer with  Max the barman was saying in an urgent fashion "your hot water is waiting".It wasn't the hot water in the Egg - it was my Thermal bath! The robe was waiting in my egg and i wandered into the woods where they have a few large wooden "barrels" full to the brim with hot water. It was rather nice & got a whole lot better when they bought me a Pisco sour.

I had to pack and move out which was a shame but i had found somewhere in Pucon the previous evening. the Patagonia hotel. I think this is the 6th hotel I have stayed at called "Patagonia" since I have been here!

The view of the clouds, sorry I mean the volcano, from my window is as a good as anywhere.

Earlier, I had ridden up to the park to see it closer at hand, but you actually see it better from further away. It was still covered with cloud but they promise me that there are days when it is clear!

As I had a day of leisure I wandered in to town and found a Hairdresser. she was very sweet and tried to help me with my  Spanish whilst she cut of my grey locks - there was quite a lot to come off after 2 months growth.

The snow goes from white to peach to red as the sun sets.

For the first time on the trip I am struggling to find the next spot to visit. There doesn't appear to be anywhere on the pacific coast worth visiting this far south & the next volcano is about 6-7 hours north. 

..............when i shut the curtains last night i could see the volcano glowing red at the top. I didn't realise it was still active, whats more it was puffing a thin stack of smoke this morning - how cool is that! (Well I thought so).

It could be Somersetshire

 The weather was cloudy but warm and dry so I decided to head further north from Pt Montt, although I would have happily had another day there. I wasn't going far, just to some lakes and volcanos. I used the highway to get out of the town but then peeled off to use the back roads, and lovely sweeping roads they are too.

After all the dramatic scenery of the past few weeks it was a surprise to drive through, what could pass for, Somerset countryside. Soft rolling hills, herds of dairy cattle, old fashioned orchards and the like.

When I say it is like Somerset, the bloody great volcano's on the horizon tend to blow that story.. I passed a lovely place on a lake called Frutillar with the Osorno volcano beyond.

The tops of the volcanos were alwas shrouded in cloud & this is the best shot I could get. It may just look like a white cloud but if you look closely you will actually see that this is a snow capped, conical volcano above the tree line.
I got to Orsorno which is quite a big town, rich on agriculture. I parked in the main square and grabbed a sandwich & coffee. A couple of guys had seen me ride in & came over for a chat - about the bike mostly (as always).
They have this strange Cathedral. I think the builder must have gone bust during construction.

I checked in to my hotel which is just outside of Osorno and on the way to the Puyehue Nat Park. Puyehue is the Volcano that has been puffing out ash for many months. You may remember the blog from Bariloche where i took a picture of the ash half way up the poles of road side signs. This is the culprit.

The weather forecast for the morrow was not good so I headed straight to find the beast. It was a good road but the cloud got thicker the closer i got to the mountains. I drove virtually to the border with Argentina but still didn't get a clear view.

I dont even know if this is the volcano! But the evidence in the rivers was pretty strong. What should have been crystal clear water was a grey slurry

You can see high waterfalls through the almost tropical vegetation. Gunnera & Fuschias grow wild in the hedgerows and of all things Blackberries!

That is one for the Guardian letters; "Picking ripe blackberries in March". That should get them hot under the collar about global warming.

You pass lots of places offeirng thermal baths but by now i was getting wet as it was raining pretty hard so i didn't stop for a warmer version of what i was already getting (for free).

Pt Natales to Pt Montt Ferry

After several beautiful days this one was cold and overcast. It was only a short ride to Pt Natales to meet the ferry so I didn't rush. The clouds moved away and it turned in to another lovely sunny day. This was only the 2nd time I retraced my route on this trip so far. There is not too much gravel on this route but the bike seemed to be fine with it. I do get the odd whiff of an oil smell as a bit more drips on to the hot engine.

The border crossings were fine, just behind a minibus full of French OAP's this time but not a problem. I must be getting good at this as at the Chilean border post they got me to fill in the paperwork myself!

The bike at Pt Natales, before all the backpackers filled the benches making it look like a homeless persons reunion. Pt Natales is slightly bigger than I thought when I rode through it earlier. It looked beautiful in the sun with the water and the mountains all around.

The Ferry check in is at the main hotel (they use one of the conference rooms) and it took about 1 minute to do the formalities. They did however say that the Ferry's arrival was delayed and so I wouldn't be able to load the bike until midnight.


I had some lunch and sat in the sun for a while, amongst the great unwashed backpackers, trying to eek out time. I then saw another Moto arrive - it was Mary, the lady who had given me the contact details of a mechanic in Pt Arenas.

Once she had done her paperwork we found a bar on the waterfront and got a thirst for Pisco sours. I think I have told you about these but just in case -  highly recommended ("brandy spirit", lemon juice, egg white and Angostura bitters).
Mary threw her job in at a laboratory in Washington and has been riding her BMW for 8 months. She is heading back to BsAs to ship her & her bike back home. The tattoos and piercings gave a clue to her Punk teenage years.

We grabbed a steak (I haven't eaten this much in one day since I got here) and went back to the bikes. Neither of us were too sure about getting the bikes on board after pisco's, beer & wine. It was fine but it took some time to get the bikes strapped down securely. This a 4 day journey some of it in open ocean so if they were not tied down well, who knows what we would find at the end?

After we were strapped in the whole deck was filled with lorries full of cattle & sheep. They were crammed in and it is hard to believe they will be like that for 4 days - I didn't see any walking the decks or in the Baaaa!

Cabins are cosy to say the least, I have a Scot Mark, ex music industry - got fed up chucked job in. It seems that it doesn't matter what you do, sooner or later people get bored and look for a change or challenge. We also have a Chilean guy with whom it is hard to communicate. I am pretty sure he had medical problems that he is keen to describe to us - my Spanish is suddenly a lot worse than yesterday. He wears his burgundy PJ's which he folds neatly each morning. The Scot obviously just wears a Rab C Nesbitt string vest.

i manage to snap the  key off in my locker first time of use. A large shaven headed "stoker" gives me a "tut tut" rolls his eyes into the top of his head and wanders off to get another one. he doesn't have a spare so has to fit a whole new lock - more tut tutting but in a nice natured way..

The smell from the livestock below at 1:00 in the morning was enough to send me to my bunk and straight to sleep.

I slept really well and it was hard to tell if the ship was moving in the morning but it was. We were in the Fjords, tight narrow avenues between the mountains. Fantastic sights as we pass just out of reach of the coast (I am glad the skipper isn't Italian).

I was first up, got through the bathroom before the others were up and was in the queue for breakfast at 8.00. Obviously i was a bit too eager to get to breakfast as this key also snaps off in my hand too! This time it is the plastic bit so I can manage (not wanting to incur the wrath of the stoker).
There was a queue for breakfast because the boat is full of student backpackers who haven't had a square meal in weeks. They fill their trays with enough to make up cheese and ham rolls for mid morning snacks (their lunch is at 12:30 for Gods sake!).

Not exactly rough eh?

We then have a mandatory safety talk and info. The skipper and the "entertainment officer" are both bloody funny. Albeit some of us have to wait for the English translation.
The skipper explains that he has read the brochure for Cunard and the other cruise companies where they charge $150 to visit the bridge. "this is a roll on roll off ferry - so it is free & all are welcome".
He then says "Their skippers are tall, blond, blue eyed and they charge $150 for a picture with the Captain". Our skipper is typically Patagonian - short, thick set & thinning hair - no George Clooney.

He looks himself up and down and says............"this is free too"!

We continue to sail up narrow channels with mountains on either side, wandering the two decks and the lounge area, bumping in to people chatting about their trips; where they are going and where they have been etc. The stories are, as you would expect, pretty similar.

Every now and again there is a report of whales - blowing spray as they surface. Their puffs of spray cover a wide area so the schools are quite large. They are too far away for my camera but they keep pace with the boat and we can see their dorsal fins & back as they come us for air. We didn't see any "breaching" which is a shame. We also see some Dolphins but each time I was too slow with the camera. Hopefully Wilks will have better luck next week.

We then get a lecture on Glaciers (the "Ent Officer" is a glaciologist and has a passion for his subject). It is amazing that Patagonia has 1/3 of the Worlds glaciers and most of them are growing, some over 500 meters a year (they think due to the volcanoes spewing out ash in the area. He has some time elapse slides (4 per day for 2 years) amazing to see them grow so fast.
This area gets 8 meters of rain a year - but if cold enough 8m of rain becomes 60 meters of snow - hence the growth of the glaciers in this region.
We then turn in to a Fjord and the skipper takes us up to the Skua Glacier (named after the bird i mentioned in Antarctica) We sail slowly thru the icebergs and the does a 360 degree turn (his party piece I think) right next to the glacier!

We then head back to the channel as the sun sets and minds turn to beer and wine (the back packers have brought up the stock of boxed wine from the supermarket in Pt Natales)!

 Lunch and dinner is taken in sittings (odd cabin numbers followed by even). Food is not bad.

They have films on in the evening but most of us prefer the bar and chatting about travels.  The Scott and I chat to some Americans whilst I throw a beaker of red wine over them! A bit embarrassing but their clothes didn't seem to show the stains. A bottle purchased from the bar was sufficient to remain friends (especially as this stuff didn't take the enamel off your teeth).

Day 2 or was it 3, the ship pulled in to a small town of 127 people in the early morning to let some local people off, I couldn't face getting down from my bunk and getting dressed to see what the town looked like. I don't know anyone that did.

The days all passed pretty much the same, beautiful scenery, chatting, eating and dealing with the smell from the  poor unfortunate animals. Not to mention bloody Don Quixote, i am determined to finish it but I wouldnt recommend it. I did chat to some really nice, bright (more phd's than you can shake a stick at) people who are travelling rather than succumb  to the rat race.
There is a danger that you see so much spectacular scenery that you begin to take if for granted. The one thing that got everyone out of their seats was when someone spotted Whales or Dolphins, there are plenty out there and you see them frequently but not as close as you would wish for.

We had a debrief for docking proceedures, one point of which was to leave our keys in the locks. Ahhhh. Back to my new best friend who can't quite believe it. He gets some super glue and mends the key but also sticks his fingers together in the process! I dont think he will miss me.

We pulled in to Puerto Montt four hours late at about 10:00am. The people who had booked early buses to their next destination were stuffed. If you ever do this trip I would suggest giving yourself a days grace!

We were allowed down on to the deck to get our bikes - which were now behind all the livestock trucks, we would be just about last off. It didn't bother me as I was staying 1 night in town anyway. Poor Mary was hoping to get across the border and well in to Argentina.

The smell was awful and I am sorry to say that you could see sheep laying on the floor in the trucks - not all of them made it!

Then as if we hadn't waited long enough, as one truck is being removed, it smacks the side of the boat and nearly rips the back off. We nearly had 50 cattle running around! That took a fork lift and straps to put that right before being unloaded.

Puerto Montt is town of 200,000 population and not dissimilar to Pt Arenas, I rather like the mix of colonial and modern architecture. From what i can gather Wilks doesn't share my opinion of Pt Arenas so probably won't like Pt Montt either.

I found my Aparthotel pretty easily - very nice & half the price of an hotel. first things first - shower & laundry!

I walked in to town and it is a nice mix of old & new. I tried to put some credit on my Argentina phone. Nope Argentina phones cant be charged in Chile. so another 4 shops and i had a a new SIM card for Chile! As always, everyone is very helpful and friendly - to the point the guys in the 3rd mobile shop gave me the SIM card for nothing.
There is a big German influence here. In the 1850's the Chilean government encouraged Germans to come and work/ farm here. There are lots of German style buildings, with Germans names on the Streets & restaurants. i sat down to an enormous Sandwich in such a restaurant - steak, cheese, pickles, guacamole, tomato & chips! That was enough for three days!

Went back to my room and watched the 40 year old virgin in Spanish.

More photos requested of Cptn Oates

Wilks leading the charge

Wilks trying to perfect the "downhill, filled trousers" position.

This is the lakeside that is 6 meters higher than the other & will break through the Glacier at some point (normally every 2 years or so).

There are lots more photos but trying not to overload you with them.

Will update with ferry ride at next wifi stop