Wallace and Gromits Blog
We'll make this a fairly short post, since we are so close to Ushuaia and everything went smoothly the last few days.
End of the road for us in Punt Arenas.....onto the Ferry we go.
The Ferry from Punta Arenas runs once a day, at 9:30am, we had to be there an hour before it left which was no problem since it was only a 5km run from our hotel.
Uh oh - I'm starting to get a sore throat like Jeff had a few weeks ago. Last thing I need - I hate having colds. Oddly, like with Jeff, it feels better I eat.
We've got enough fuel to get us comfortably half way to Rio Gallegos, where we know there is a petrol station at Corpen Aike. There's a queue so we have lunch first. Some Brazilian bikers come and go, and come back again -
Getting out of Azul was an easy affair. We use an App called Navmii on our iPhones which saves us carrying an additional device. Navmii makes use of the iPhones inbuilt GPS, so we don't need an internet connection all the time for navigation.
We head for Bahia Blanca 337km away. We're on Ruta 3 which is part of the Pan-American highway. The road so far consists of long, dead straight sections and a more or less featureless landscape. It makes for tiresome riding. As we will find out soon, this is to continue for another couple of thousand kilometres.
Time to leave Fabio and Yvana in Buenos Aires and head South. We spend yesterday doing the final packing and getting rid of stuff that's not absolutely essential - like 20 pairs of knickers - what was I thinking?! We need a tardis really, but manage to find a spot for everything. The farewell party see us off - thank you Fabio and Yvana for your hospitality and kindness.
It's finally the day to collect our bikes from customs at Buenos Aires international airport. It takes about 8 hours all up and that is good going by all accounts (and compared to three Italians who had been trying for a week to clear their bikes). We had magnificent help from Sandra at Dakar Motos http://www.dakarmotos.com/argentina.htm and it would have taken us a few days for sure, without her.
Fabio offered to take us to where he grew up in Tigre (pronounced Tee-Grey). Turned out to be a lively and vibrant place we thoroughly enjoyed. First there was an impromptu bike meet, seems like it started a couple of Saturdays ago and is becoming a regular thing. There was a really interesting mix of bikes.
I'm standing in the middle of the room, looking around, wondering 'how did this happen', we were so organised, now the place looks like a garbage truck exploded in it. To top it off, I've come down with a bad flu, Sally has to put in 200% because I'm about as useful as a carpet fitters ladder.
It's the last day before we fly to Buenos Aires to start our journey...
