Blogs from Monte San Valentin, Aisén, Chile, South America

This short episode brings us to the very end of the Australian chapter and ushers in a new chapter, a new continent and a new half-century. As expected we cruised into Sydney by train. All very cycle friendly. No need to ring the Punjab 28 times trying to get an affordable train ticket and make a booking for one of the two available bike spaces. En route we stayed with fellow touring cyclists: Tania and Pat; currently planning a tour in Europe and Canada and now in possession of numerous tips and a shopping list of indispensible articles they will probably never use; David, of welsh extraction and self-confessed francophile (never mind on both accounts) and demolition expert- his home presently resembles the before stages of an episode of Grand Designs; and finally, before removing ourselves ... read more

After our 12 hour flight from New Zealand we made it here safely, to a warm welcome from Casey´s AFS host family. They wisked up to Los Andes and fed us our first yummy chilean meal. It was then decided that due to it being Saturday we needed to experience the local nightlife. We had a great night out in a discotech, (chile´s nightclubs) and made it home about 6am, being about 30 hours after we had our last real sleep. Not the best jetlag treatment! The next day Carlos and Sandra took us up to Portillo, which is a skifield on the road over the Andes to Argentina. This was the first closeup to the massive Andes, and they are hugely impressive! On Monday Casey and I walked up Cerro de la Virgen this is ... read more