#30 Move over Star Trek, here comes the W Trek - Puerto Natales

After El Calafate I was treated to one of the hardest day's riding yet.

Where were we heading, Puerto Natales, why you wonder, the 'W Trek' (notice the excellent use of W in the last sentence, feel free to praise me in the comments section).

#29 Walking on thin ice - Perito Moreno Glacier, El Calafate

While friends we had met along the Careterra Austral were able to cross the border from Villa O'Higgins to El Chalten, the path not being suitable for vehicles meant we had a long ride all the way back round. That meant a few long days on the road to make up some of time we had lost. We crossed from the mountains, lakes and forests of the Careterra Austral to the the vast expansiveness of the pampas in Argentina surrounding us on either side and the occasional sighting of wildlife.

#28 Boardwalk Empire - Caleta Tortel

I won't keep you in suspense for any longer - what makes Tortel so special is that the entire town is constructed of boardwalks; you cannot drive into it or around it - all cars are parked at the entrance to the town. Very cool. Someone described it later like this; it's not exactly pretty but it's uniqueness makes it interesting.

#27 One night in Cochrane....

The idea behind our return to Cochrane was to take up the offer from Aldofo of a horse riding expedition in Villa O'Higgins, the last stop on the Careterra Austral, with a stop in Caleta Tortel on the way. The narrow and windy road was also something we weren't prepared to tackle so soon post-accident so to Tortel by bus it was with the hope of taking another bus to Villa O'Higgins the following day (a possibility we had mixed reports on). With the sun shining in Cochrane it seemed fitting to celebrate our return with a beer but finding a pub open late afternoon proved difficult but in the end well worth our efforts.

#26 Stories from the Careterra Austral

While Reece was getting our bike back on the road I was befriended by a one-eyed, gaucho visiting Cochrane from Villa O'Higgins, the last stop on the Carretera Austral, with the sole purpose of using the bank (as there is only an ATM machine where he is from). Aldofo was his name and he took quite the shining to me, offering me mate (tea), which I new Reece would be very jealous of, showing me photos of his horses, chickens, and children. To be fair he wasn't really one-eyed, its just that one of his eyes was bloodshot and ruined from an accident. By the end of our day together he had invited us both to dinner and a stay in Villa O'Higgins with the offer of a horse riding expedition.

#25 A Tale of Two Cities – Repairing the Bike in Coyhaique (Reece's first blog)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. On our epic adventure, but marooned in Cochrane. We awoke the next day gloomy and apprenhensive, Charlotte was bedridden, well actually sitting in the lounge by the fire, so it was up to me to solve our woes. Problem numero uno (that's Spanish for number one) was that Charlotte is the linguist in our team, and I'm not. I get us from A to B, but she does the talking. So sorting out the mess in Spanish was not going to be easy.

#24 The Incident

I woke up not in the mood travel, a feeling heightened from being woken up in a tent by rain falling. We had planned on a boat trip at 8 that morning to visit the Marble Caves Rio Tranquillo boasts. This was to be followed by a trip on a newly constructed road out of Rio Tranquillo providing access to more glaciers, including possibly a trip to the large San Rafael glacier depending on price and time constraints. But with the weather packing in all that was dismissed in favour of simply riding on to the next town. If only we had braved the conditions...

#23 Villa Cerro Castillo to Puerto Tranquillo

Our guide - this is indicative of the height
difference between Reece and Chilean men.

The warmth we felt towards Cerro Castillo was only heightened by our trip first thing in the morning to 'The Cave of the Painted Hands', an historical site a few kilometres down the road. It wasn't a recommended spot, in fact people had told us there were better sites across the Argentinian border. But for NZ$4 we had a guided tour of a site indigenous Teuhulche people had marked their terrirtory with painted handprints on the rockfaces. The highlight of the excursion had to be our sweet guide, name forgotten, who also took the opportunity to help us with our Spanish, providing slow and simple explanations and offering encouragement while we set about crucifying his language.