AT el BOLSON

4.30pm - Well, the truck has thrown the drive shaft and we´ve been in Hicksville all day. THE CHOICES ARE THE OVERNIGHT BUS - FOR 1100KM TO EL CALAFATE OR (sorry about the capitals)wait for the truck to be fixed. The destruction of the shaft follwed hours where it was driven with a severe vibration. I suspect poor maintenance of the 1996 Mercedes is at fault. The joys of overland travel!!

The noise when it let go was impressive, quite apart from large pieces of truck driveshaft being thrown along the road into the path of oncoming traffic. There were two main pieces, each of which must have weighed 50kg. I´m pessimistic about the ability of local mechanics to fix it quickly on News Years eve.

9.30 pm - Well, our tour operators have found a bus and hired it with 2 drivers for a long night and day trip south to El Calafarte, which is at 50 degrees south. Currently at 42 degrees south for those interested.

El Bolson is a one horse town, with lots of traffic going through on Route 40 which runs the full lenght of Argentina from Usuhaia in the south to Boliva - about 5200km in all.

The landscape is really impressive and make the Remarkables in Queenstown look rather small by comparision. I´m sure my father Denis would be impressed by the size of the mountains.

So, the next post will be from ElCalafate, as long as the bus doesn´t break down. About 1/3 of the route is gravel.