A few days ago we departed Trevelin, Argentina and our lovely campsite amongst the fruit orchards that we had all to ourselves (well that was because it was still closed), and headed towards the hills to Paso Futaleufu. Named after the amazing milky green giant river that we followed into Chile, a world renown whitewater destination. We camped at a desserted old campsite, that had a thick coating of fine white grey dust, that we concluded was ash from the Chaiten Volcano (which is currently errupting). Unfortuanately this is as close to the volcano as we got, our ideas of passing [View Full Entry]

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... i want to have a roadside stall, selling goodies to hungry cycle tourists. We passed lots of signs for cerezas before our curiosity got the better of us and we discovered we were in prime cherry growing country. So weighed down with fresh cerezas and torte frita (scone-like cakes of bread) we continued south from the quaint wee lakeside village of Epuyen through the picturesque Chubut region and onwards through Los Alerces National Park. We've enjoyed travelling through this tranquil and stunning region so much that we happy to only do about 50 or 60 km´s a day, making the [View Full Entry]

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So we finally left our cabaña in Bariloche on Friday arvo, with Santiago (our landlord for a week) there to bid us farewell. After a giant hug (like the kind my dad gives me) we waved goodbye and wobbled our way down the drive. Panniers on mountain bikes feel different, plus it was Phil's maiden voyage with the loaded Bob (Beast of Burden Ibex trailer). Our first day was what cycle touring is all about: watching the incredible scenery slowly unfold around us, a couple of swims and a siesta in stunning locations, and the suprise of finding a tiny restaurant [View Full Entry]

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... but it can be a hassle sometimes. The traditional siesta is firmly entrenched here which is great, but makes it difficult to get things done. We spent a few hours yesterday trying to find some info on the best route out of town, but everyone seemed to have a different opinion. It was hard to tell fact from fiction. We have three options by which we can cross from here into Chile: via an interesting pass through the mountains that may or may not be open, covered in snow, non-existent or infested with banditos; a 300km beautiful/boring/flat/busy main road; or [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so Santiago had a point - Bariloche is beautiful. The weather has flipped, the wind dissapeared and revealed a most beautiful lake, rugged snow-capped peaks, massive lakes, crsytal clear rivers, the whole deal. If you´re into the outdoors, you could happily spend weeks exploring and adventuring here, but unfortunately after our week of intensive spanish, we are leaving at the end of the week. Our two rides over the weekend highlighted the dichotomy of this wee town. On sunday we cycled part of circuito chico along the lake, a picturesque, mostly sealed road circuit with huge monstros [View Full Entry]

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Well we managed to sucessfully aquire tickets for us and our bikes for the very long bus ride to Bariloche. Although it was a bit confusing , checking in our bikes at a special location hours before our departure like we thought they asked and then having to get everything upstairs and check them on to the bus ourselves minutes before we left was all very confusing and exhausting. So obviously some of the finer details are still a mystery to us. The 22 hour ride wasn´t actually too bad, a bit like first class airplane seats and we actually managed [View Full Entry]

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You tend to notice a lot of things whe you're on a plane for 13 hours. The uncomfortable seats and lack of leg room were givens, the terrible TV screens disapointing, the broken fittnings around the place disconcerting. The unsmiling hostesses didn't seem to care that the headphones didn't work, but I don't think that audio would have added much to the formulaic hollywood rom-com and budget thriller that passed as in flight entertainment. Muchos Gracias to Amy and Ryan for the magazines! So it was a relief to land in Buenos Aires, albeit in 32 degrees after very little sleep, [View Full Entry]

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the the bowlines. Sail away from the safe habour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain [View Full Entry]

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Well with our wee house renovations almost complete we've beginning to feel like we have time to get our head around our upcoming adventures. Just a few giant to do lists to tick off, an enormous amount of school work for KJ and a kitchen bench to go. Today we survived our final immunisation visit, with no adverse reaction to the dreaded yellow fever jab yet. Really I'm just sussing out how this thing works while I still have a minute. There will be more from us soon. [View Full Entry]

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