We decided to cycle over to Cucao today to visit the ´wild and mystic national park´on the west coast of the island. I confess to having expectations of arriving at a coastline similar to Tasmania's wild and isolated west coast as I set off that morning. The ride over was mainly enjoyable but had a few horridly steep climbs half way along the lake. Christie´s knee was pretty sore again at the end of the ride. We walked down to, and then along, the beach with wind and sand blowing in our faces. I managed to get lost cutting back through [View Full Entry]

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Christie´s back on the bike. Yay!!!!! We did an easy 20km back-tracking into Castro where we spent about three hours mooching around the cafes, two hours fixing my bike (again), and then another 20kms to Chonchi where we are staying in a beaut little hostel (though it appears to be under serious reconstruction) right on the beach. Chonchi is a beautiful little fishing town (ex-pirate stronghold) which reminds me very much of what Strahan would be like without the rain and tourists, but with lots of dogs to keep Christie happy ... In short a paradise. Big news of the day [View Full Entry]

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It was 35km from Ancud and I was just coming up to two hours on the bike. I had just reached the top of a little hill and ´pling´... I heard a sound I dread. It´s a hard sound to describe but unmistakable ... the sound of a breaking spoke. Suffice to say the rest of the day did not go as planned. It had started out so well! This morning when I first looked out the window it was perfectly calm with some blue skies and even a rainbow. Sure it hailed 10 minutes later, but Chiloe is pretty much [View Full Entry]

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Had the best breakfast so far on this trip at Mundo Nuevo with the yummiest bread, and fresh fruit and yoghurt. I could have gone for seconds. Good news is that a room became available so we´ve moved (upstairs of course) and I´m taking a rest day. Christie´s knee got really inflammed last night which isn´t a good sign, but a nice English lady (Jane) at the hostel has given her some anti-inflammatory tablets so hopefully they will work better than the cream. Bad news is I put my tent up this morning to dry, and discovered a big tear in [View Full Entry]

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Woke up this morning feeling completely unmotivated. Spent the first 30 minutes just lying in bed thinking of ways to convince Chrisitie to pack her bags and head back to Tasmania. When I broached the idea at breakfast however, she would have none of it though, so after procrastinating for an hour or so more looking up ferry timetables and airline schedules for a quicker, easier way down south, I eventually resigned myself to the inevitable and got on the bike. 9.30am ... not a good time to be starting a 100km+ day. Today was just a day for getting to [View Full Entry]

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I was up early (I think mainly thanks to the large bag of dried fruits I ate last night) and had a scrummy breakfast enjoying the views out the dining room window to Volcan Osorno which looms above the town. I was off on the bike by around 8.30am and it was a pleasant mornings ride to Puerto Varas, 46km away. Passed a group of about 15 cyclists strung out over a kilometer or two as I was coming into Puerto Varas. They all had the latest cycling gear and these nice small handle bar bags with their gear for the [View Full Entry]

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I tried my best to get my $US90 worth at breakfast, and I think I almost made it. Breakfast almost made up for what dinner lacked. It absolutely poured with rain all morning, so we just sat lounged around in the hotel reading, had a late lunch and kileld time until the scheduled 2pm ferry departure. I cycled the 1km down to the ferry and got absolutely drenched in the process ... It has rained for 7 days straight now. Ferry trip was nice, and would have been spectacular on a clear day, then at the other end, everyone else jumped [View Full Entry]

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I was up, packed, and on the bike by 7am this morning as I had to make it to the ferry by 9.30 and it was 25kms away. Five minutes on the bike and I was feeling the cold, by the time I´d ridden 2km my legs and feet were completely numb and when I pulled into the ferry terminal ... the very empty ferry terminal ... I was so cold I could barely get off the bike. Turns out it only takes an hour and a half to get to the terminal, even with a cold headwind, so (as the [View Full Entry]

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Our second day of rest in Bariloche (Christíe´s knee is no better) and it was a day to spend some money. We´ve booked on the ¨Three Ferries¨which is a trip from Bariloche to Puerto Varas via three lakes. Christie is paying for the full works (ie. bus and boat) costing a whopping $US160 whilst I´m going to do the hard yards on land by bike saving myself ... absolutely nothing. It´s also costing me $US160. We also have to pay extra for food and accomodation. Ruddy rip off, still gotta do it plus it gives Christie three extra days of rest [View Full Entry]

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We´ve just had breakfast in Baraloche. This place is so chocolate oriented we ordered a hot chocolate and cappuchino for breakfast and the hot chocolate was literally melted hot chocolate (at least it tasted like it), and the cappuchino had more chocolate in it than coffee ... basically it´s the perfect place to rest for a few days to let Christie´s knee recover ... Just planning on doing a bit of shopping and uploading of photos today, then visiting my favourite chinese restaurant again ... [View Full Entry]

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