Rio Grande to Punta Arenas, Chile

Departed at 07:00 but with no highway signs and a faulty GPS reading took 45 minutes to find the highway north. $19 for me and the bike.

Had to wait from 13:00 to 19:00 for the ferry so am staying in Punta Arenas tonight. Don't like to ride after dark - 22:30 here this time of the year.

175 mile day. So, tomorrow it'll be a long day to El Calafate via Rio Gallegos. Part of the Adventure.



Came up the coast and took the ferry over to Punta Arenas, a three hour crossing.


Six bikes crossing.




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Antarctica

Greetings:

It's 3 January and we're in the Drake Passage, just passed Cape Horn. Tomorrow when we wake up we'll be back in Ushuaia. Sara will fly to Buenos Aires and the next day fly home.

My trip will resume and I'll head for El Calafate to see the glaciers, then down to Puerto Natales to catch the ferry to Puerto Muntt. From Puerto Muntt to Santiago is a three day ride. I'll air freight the bike to San Francisco and then I'll fly home on the 19th arriving on the 20th.

SPOT has problems hitting the satellite this far south but I'll turn it on.

Rgds./Doug




Bringing in the New Year with s swim in the Antarctic Ocean along with ice and penguins.




Cape Horn.

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Change of Plan

Meeting with the trucking company folks yesterday they advised that due to a backlog of cargo and the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s Holidays they wouldn’t be able to truck the bike from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires until mid January, and that it was a four day trip.
We return to Ushuaia, from our cruise on 4 January. Although Ushuaia is a fine little city the though of sitting there for a couple of weeks killing time waiting to truck the bike wasn’t appealing. What to do?

Although many have warned us of problems with the police in Argentina coming down to Ushuaia from Bariloche we had no problems. Talking with locals they say the real problems with the police are in northeastern Argentina up around Buenos Aires. This was a factor in planning a route to Santiago, Chile. I don’t want to ride roads already covered to came up with a new plan.

On 4 January we dock at 07:00 in Ushuaia. Sara will fly on the charter back to Buenos Aires and I’ll get the bike at the B&B where I left it and head for Santiago. The new route will allow me to re-cross the Straits of Magellan (another 80 miles of gravel and sheep to get there) and continue over to El Calafate and see the glacier. I’ll then drop down to Puerto Natels and board the Evangelistas and cruise to Puerto Montt (4 days) . From Puerto Montt its another three days to Santiago.

With luck I’ll arrive in Santiago on Sunday the 15th of January and process the bike to be sent air freight to Los Angeles (LAX). Hopefully this can be done in a day or two and I can then fly to Reno.

Again, the Adventure is teaching me patience and improving my ability to make changes ‘on the run’.

While on the MS Fram we cannot send photos as there isn’t enough band-width on the satellite connection. We’ll send out the Antartic photos when we return home or are in a port with Wi-Fi having the band-width to send photos. Many places say they have Wi-Fi, which they do, but they don’t tell you that its dial-up so pretty much useless in today’s world.

Also while I’m on the Evangelistas (10-13 January) there is no satellite connection or cellular coverage.

I’ll resume my blog (http://DeadhorseToUshuaia2011.blogspot.com) on 4 January. Those of you following me on SPOT are probably aware that we’re so far south that it has a difficult time connecting to the satellite so many times there won’t be waypoints for the day and very seldom an “I’m OK” message. This will pretty much be the case as I travel from Ushuaia to Santiago.

Sorry for such along explanation but I thought it would be a good idea to bring everyone up to date on what is happening with Doug and Sara.

Rgds./Doug


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Location:Jorge Cafrune,Ushuaia,Argentina

Rio Grande to Ushuaia, Argentina

We were truly blessed with a perfect day today. Left at 07:30, the three of us excited to get to Ushuaia and the 'End of the Road' at Tierra del Fuego.

About forty miles out of Ushuaia the mountains really get dramatic. Difficult to take it all in and negotiate the twistees.

We got to Ushuaia about 10:00 but continued on to the end of the road. The last eight miles or so on pretty well maintained gravel. Got to the end about 11:00.

The trip from Deadhorse was 15,492 miles in 84 days, 60 of which we were riding.

Impressions! Central America for me, is a one-time only trip. Didn't care for the bad cops and border officials. The people were fine. I feel sorry for the way they have to live because those in power are so corrupt.

Mexico is still the favorite, followed closely by Colombia and Ecuador. That said, Chile and Argentina are nice too but way too expensive. $5 US to fill the 5 gallon tank on the GS. $34 in Argentina. Thus they all drive tiny cars, and probably not unless they have to.


Some great twistees starting about thirty miles from Ushuaia.



Ushuaia, Argentina



Truly 'the End' of the road.



The very end, by foot.



A cruise ship coming in to port at Ushuaia.

The 19th of December to the 4th of January Sara and I will be on the MS Fram on a cruse to Antarctica. Limited E-mail and not enough band-width on the satellite for photos. We'll send some out when we get back home.

A special thanks to Sara for helping make the trip possible and for joining me from Bogota, Colombia to Bariloche, Argentina - 5,000 miles, many of which were twistees, not her favorite thing. She was a good sport and got to see a lot of the world that can only be seen by 'moto'


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Location:Gdor. Manuel Fernández Valdez,Ushuaia,Argentina

Rio Gallegos to Rio Grande, Argentina

We grabbed coffee and rolls at an all night bar and hit the road at 07:30.

Caught up with Gilles, the French fella we met in Rio Gallegos yesterday, so rode with him.




Gilles and me on the Patagonia, crossing the Straits of Magellan. We had a calm day. Not usually the case here.



Coming in to port, Argentina to Chile.


Hit the 80 miles of gravel in Chile. Well maintained. Just let the front wheel drift and cruised at 55 to 65 mph except in the sharper corners.



Held up by sheep.



Motel in San Sebastian closed but restaurant open so we stopped for lunch before crossing back in to Argentina (and pavement). Confined on to Rio Grande, arriving at 15:15 with 222 miles behind us.

Ushuaia is only 168 miles so tomorrow, Wednesday, will be an easy day. Rain predicted but maybe our luck will hold.




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Location:Av Manuel Belgrano,Río Grande,Argentina

Puerto San Julian to Rio Gallegos, Argentina

They served breakfast starting at 06:30 at the Bahia Motel so we were on the road at 07:30, again trying to get miles in before the wind pucks up.


This is pretty much the type of terrain we passed through today. The temperature ranged from 57 to 73, no rain. Rain predicted Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe that's why we see the clouds building to the south.


Came upon this restaurant and one gas pump station in the middle of nowhere on Ruta 3. Run by a couple of Austrians, probably why it's the cleanest place we've seen on the trip. Had to stop to 'reward' them for being there. Had a fine cup of brewed coffee. They don't brew coffee in South America, the give you a cup of hot water and instant, even in nice restaurants. Strange. Also had their apple strudel which was very good.


As the stickers show, we're not the first Adventure Riders to stop here.



Saw a couple of ostrich along the road. Couldn't get photos as they take off running.

We ended up in Rio Gallegos at 12:30 with 225 miles for the day, and found a room at the Hotel Nevada. It's probably a two star, giving them the benefit, the sort of place guys stay in. But they have Wi-Fi and secure parking.

Two days of real Adventure begin tomorrow, and with luck we'll be in Ushuaia for dinner Wednesday.

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Location:Zapiola,Río Gallegos,Argentina

Comodoro Rivadavia to Puerto San Julian, Argentina

We left this morning at 06:40 to avoid the afternoon winds. At least that's the theory. I think it's probably true. The winds weren't as bad as yesterday except for one ten mile section. A gust caught me and moved me one lane to the left. On a two lane highway this is not good. Fortunately there were no cars or trucks in the oncoming lane.


We stopped for gas at Tres Cerros, a half block town with s gas station and restaurant. And to our surprise they had free Wi-Fi.


If you look at the windows in the previous picture you'll see a lot of stickers. This is a closeup of one of the windows. For the most part they're from motorcyclists.

We got to Puerto San Julian at 12:45 with a 266 mile day. Found a decent little motel with a restaurant and Wi-Fi. What more could a moto tourist want?

Tomorrow is a 222 mile day to Rio Gallegos. After that two short mileage days but with border crossing, gravel crossing Chile and of course the ever present gale force winds. (For you Reno motorcyclists, the winds in Washoe Valley are tame to what we're getting on Ruta 3.)

Limited pictures today because when stopping the bike to take a picture it's very difficult to keep from being blown over.

Not too much further but I suspect we'll earn it.

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Location:Ruta Nacional 3,,Argentina