Off to a glacier

Update for tomorrow. We are going to head off at 8am to the Moreno glacier. It is the largest advancing glacier in the world. We have therefore been out to get food and water for the day. It has been raining a little but should be fine again tomorrow.

New Years Day / El Calafate

After 22 hours on a luxury coach we arrived at El Calafate at about 10pm New Years Eve. Left El Bolson at 11pm after much waiting / 17 hours after we had actually got up that morning. We drove down the route 40 and then on to route 20 via Sarmiento to Comodoro Rivadavia on the South Atlantic. Stopped there for 20 minutes to refuel and then south down Route 3 to Rio Gallegos and then noth west to El Calafate.

Total distance was 1630km in 22 or so hours. Some of this was on gravel but mostly good sealed road. The countryside was fairly bleak, just desert / pampas most of the way. Little evidence of any livestock, the odd sheep here and there. There were the odd estancias, or sheep farms. Quite a few lamas and ostrich type birds. While it was rolling countryside in places, most of it for hundreds of kilometers at a stretch was just flat pampas.

The oil industry is quite well developed with dozens of "nodding neddys" pumping oil, with all the associated infrastructure. There were virtually no towns or any obvious habitation most of the way. There was very little traffic, but we did spot two hardy cyclists about 150km south of Comodoro Rivadavia.

The coach was very comfortable with recliner chairs, on board TV and because there were only 21 on a 42 seat bus we all had a spare seat each. There was an onboard toilet and two drivers.

We all had a shower and change of clothes when we arrived and then went down and had a shared new year celebration at the hostel we are staying in. Liz and I are sharing a room in the dorm with John and Lisa, a younger English couple on their honeymoon......

The hostel is nice and quite. Slept in this morning and then wandered in to town for a brunch. The weather here is warm, about 20 degrees and partly overcast. El Calafate is another tourist town. I suspect most tourists arive by plane!! Being New Year's Day nothing was open until around mid day. The town has only been developed in the last few years because of demand by tourists to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is a bit like Tekapo landscape wise.

Tomorrow we are going to the Glacier, which is one of the largest advancing glaciers in the world.

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.

Tuesday 29th December = Update from Barriloche

From our last post....We were in Pucon (26th Dec) and the skies cleared so we had a quiet afternoon, then packed up ready for our departure on the next morning, Sunday.

27th December. We left camp about 7.50 and started driving towards the border. Drove through farmland, gaining altitude fairly quickly. There were views of the Andes, with one of a large volcano. We arrived at the border post to leave Chile about 10am, filled out the necessary forms and drove through. At the Argintine border we arrived behind 2 trucks from another tour group. There was a long wait here, as these trucks did not have the necessary paperwork in order (no liability insurance - this is the only border where it is required) so there were a lot of negotiations before both trucks were turned back to re-enter Chile and return to Pucon to get what they needed. That put them a day behind schedule!
Fortunately we were all ok and drove through, it was now about 12.30. It was very cold & windy at the border.

At the border we pased the Volcanoe Lanin, at 2778m. A beutiful sight with odd shaped clouds at the summit.

We drove on until 2pm when we stopped & set up for a picnic lunch. Quite a job for a crowd of 22, setting up tables and feeding the troops. Having had near zero temperatures at the border luch was had on the plain at 25 dgrees. The drive was through what John calls big country, mountain vistas, lakes and dry arid vegetation. Just beautiful.

Then we continued on to Baliroche, where we arrived about 5.30pm. We stopped in the town to get money changed, then headed for the campsite 13.5ks out of town, on the lakeside. Bariloche is a lakeside ski-resort town. The wind off the lake was extremely cold.

Once we arrived we had our duties to do - setting up tables for dinner, tents to erect etc. John was on cooking group duties so they got underway. We had a meat stew for dinner, which was rather tasty, followed by chocolate custard & fruit.
During the night it started to rain, and was still raining in the morning.

As it cleared a little we took a bus from the camp entrance further out of town to a chairlift. Once up the chairlift there were stunning views of all the lakes and snow-covered mountains around. Bitterly cold winds blowing of the snow covered mountains all around the area. We then caught the bus back into town, where we explored the shops. The town is famous for its chocolate shops, and there were many filled with beautiful displays.

The town is a bit like Queenstown, all focused on liberating the tousit dollar.

Overnight there was rain again. Today, 29th Dec. , we have been back into the town to purchase more thermals - there is a limit to how many days one can wear the same clothes - and socks, gloves, and waterproof boots. The weather is, according to locals, unusually cold. However, it will be cold also further south, so we will be prepared.

John is prepared to admit we should have brought better sleeping bags, boots and thermal clothes - wasn't this supposed to be md summer? Bought a better sleeping bag for JP so Liz can use the other two, one inside the other.

Camp users here seem to have complete disregard for fellow residents, and last night there were groups starting to party at 2am, after another group finished at 1.30. Earplugs are very necessary.

We have an early start tomorrow (breakfast at 6am) with two days driving to get to our next destination, El Calafate, for New Years Eve, where we will be sleeping in a hostel. There we hope to see the world famous Mereno Glacier (sp?).

Christmas and Boxing day at Pucon

Christmas day dawned bright and clear. After breakfast we were picked up and taken off to Huerqueque National Park for a days tramping. The easy walk described the previous evening at the Park HQ nturned out to be a 1400m climb up a steep but well marked trail to some lakes. Beautiful scenery but a tough day after pre Christmas partying the night before.

The views were spectactular form the route on the way up with a view of the Villrica (not sure of the spelling) volcano puffing away in the distance - 9000' high. About 10 of our group climbed the volcano. It looked a bit too technical for us, with crampons and ice axes in use.

The place we are staying is the local camping ground. There are up to 5 overland expedition groups camped out with us, so the night time is very noisy with young ones partying till 4am, including I might add many of our group. Still, lots of fun being had meeting new and interesting people.

Christmas dinner was a grand affair with 3 courses and 4 different desserts, and a secret Santa handing out a small gift to everyone. Pressure on the BBQ's meant we didn't finish dinner till midnight.

Today - Boxing day has dawned wet and raining, it started about 4am. John was on breakfast team of 4 guys and made pancakes with maple syrup. Due to the rain and partying the ranks were somewhat thin at breakfast, even though we didn't start till 10am. We've come down to town to do the blog, have a nice coffee and find a pair of gloves for Liz. Afterwards I suspect we will have an afternoon snooze in the tent if it keeps raining.

Tomorrow we leave for Barriloche in Argentina where we will also camp for 3 nights.

Report from Pucon

After a 11.13 hour truck trip from Santiago we arrived in Pucon this morning about 9.30am. The road was a divided 4 lane highway all the way, so we covered the 800km fairly quickly. There were lots of truck and cars on the road all night, with several toll booths along the way. We left Santiago in 23 degrees and arrived to about 12 degrees, overcast and drizzling.

It's cleared up now and we are all in town doing last minute shopping, including a secret Santa present for 1 other person each. The tents are all up, they are of good quality. We will all be having an early night, because tomorrow it's off to the National Park for a days tramping.

The countryside is very much like NZ with exotic forestry,dairy farming, green grass and lakes. NZ on steriods - just more of it.

Pucon is like Queenstown if you want an analogy.

The truck has 20 of us on board,mostly people from the UK. The average is 40, so we aren't out of place. The driver is from Dunedin and the truck is called Cindy. Everything much as expected, with teams to do cooking and cleaning up.

Christmas dinner at camp tomorrow night with wine and campfire singing.

The stars are very clear, and we can report that the Southern Cross is also still visible here!

Next message from Argintina in about 3 days.

Leaving Santiage

23 December.
We had a very enjoyable dinner with our new travelling companions, Charles & Pat, from England. They are in their mid 60s, so we will not be the oldest on the trip! After dinner we walked around in the very pleasant warm evening air.

We found out this morning that we are leaving Santiago at 10pm tonight - ie in 11 hours, and travelling through to Pucon, the Queenstown of Chile, which is about 800 ks away. So a long overnighter to start. Then we get 3 days there, so will be there for Christmas. No doubt everything will be closed on Christmas day., so may not get to a computer for a few days.

This morning we walked over to the Museum of Fine Arts and spent an hour in the cool looking at paintings and sculpture. Then on to lunch with Charles and Pat to Cafe de la Barres - chicken sandwich for JP and salads for everyone else. Then down to the supermarket for a bottle of water and some red Chilean wine to celebrate Christmas tomorrow evening.

Now back at the hotel at 4.00pm waiting for our 6.00pm briefing.

So we wish you all a very Happy Christmas, will be thinking of you.