Saturday, December 23, 2006 

Merry Christmas

We're in Villa Angostura for Christmas, holed up in a warm dry log cabin along with Ryan, an Australian cyclist.

We'll be doing our best to make it a traditional Christmas as the idea of a parilla went out the window when the rain arrived 10 days ago. So rest assured we'll be over eating and drinking far too much wine, and we won't be cycling anywhere.

We've had a fantastic 6 months of adventures, but now our thoughts are with you all back at home. We're going to miss you, our friends and family, over the next few days more than ever.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement over the recent months, it's really helped.

Lots of love to our Mums & Dads, sisters, family & friends.
Richard & Sarah.
xxx
x


We'd like to say a special thanks to Andres & Luis without whom our families wouldn't have recieved their Christmas presents!!!!

Santa has finally seen sense and found the best way to get about.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 |

 

Cerro Tronador.

The main glacier can be seen at the top of the cliff on the right hand side.

The hanging glacier is pure white, however once it's fallen off, crumbled and crushed a few rocks it emerges on the lower slopes black, heavy with sediment and ground up rock. It then calves and the bits float around in this little glacial lake.

We were stood on the moraine so we guess at one point the glacier's snout was much closer.




The wind blowing the fresh snow around on the top.














Seraks ready to fall.

True to form within minutes of arriving falling ice and snow filled the valley with thunderous sounds.











Cravasses in the lower glacier.













A huge granite wall and scores of small waterfalls, some of which were so high they never reached the bottom.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 |

 

Angostura to Bariloche.

The port on the lake at Angostura, looking across to some beautiful mountains.












Lago Nahuil Huapi 100km long, we had to go around it to Bariloche.












Fortunately the wind was on our backs for all but the last 20km.












The Scotch Broom provided some welcome colour on an otherwise grey day.












A view across the lake over to Cerro Tronador, Catedral and with Bariloche tucked into the bay to the left.












The wind whipping up the waves.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 |

 

Siete Lagos. San Martin to Angostura

Everyone reassured us the dirt road would be 20km, as the maps weren't clear. The dirt or mud lasted 55km.












 A sneaky peak of the surrounding snow capped mountains.












 Another unusual warning sign.

We would be sure to watch out for these strange martian vehicles.












 Taking shelter at some road works.













 Arriving at Angostura.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 |

 

Volcano Lanin

The pass and the border was marked by Volcano Lanin, I think the largest volcano in the lake district standing at over 3700m.

Unfortunately, despite looking for it all day we failed to find it.








Sarah back in Argentina and on the descent to Junin de los Andes.

Still no volcano.










 Arroyo Partido.

This little stream split at this point, right on the top of a hill. The stream on the right goes to the Atlantic and the one on the left to the Pacific.










A beautiful road and a moment of relative clarity.

Unfortunately the low lying cloud cut off the top of the mountains.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 |

 

Pucon to Paso Mamuil Malal & Argentina

Milo wouldn't leave Pucon until all the ducks were well fed.














A road sign warning of the hazard caused by extremely radical dudes.













 A viewpoint and a few moments of sunshine.














The clouds descending.













Almost at the top of the pass.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 |

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 

The Siete Lagos.

Since we left Pucon it's rained.

We took the Paso Mamuil Malal past Lanin the largest Volcano in the lake district. Unfortunately we didn't see much, only mysterious slopes leading up into the clouds.

We've now arrived in Angostura about 200km into Argentina along the route of the Siete Lagos (seven lakes), arguably the most beautiful road in Argentina. Unfortunately all we saw was rain and clouds with the occasional roar of a waterfall hidden in the mist. I suppose the weather added a certain atmosphere and drama but sunshine would have been nice, we could have imagined the darkness & misery.

The rain also made it difficult to photograph anything as each time the camera came out it got a soaking. We did however, manage to get a few pictures which we'll upload when we arrive in Bariloche.

We'll be leaving today for Bariloche and cycling along Lago Nahuil Huapi for the next 90km. Once in Bariloche we'll buy some more wet weather gear and head for Cerro Tronador (Thunder Mountain, due to the number of avalanches and a creaky glacier). We'll then return to Angostura ready to head back over to Chile and Isla Grande Chiloe for the New Year.

I can't think of anything else to say to avoid going out in the rain. So I guess we'll have to go out and get wet.

Oh and Happy Birthday to Lisa. x

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 |

Monday, December 11, 2006 

Some pics...

Sarah's front pannier rack has snapped and we've had a shocker trying to get it welded. So while I wait for someone to strip off the attempted first repair and try again, here are some pics of the last few days.

Volcano Villarrica at sunset.







Lago Villarrica.













Sledging on the Volcano.













Valdivia. A day trip to the seaside.
The sealion wants some popcorn but doesn't have any money.











An overfed sealion sleeping off a lunch of fishheads at Valdivia´s colourful fish market.












A sealion posing for it's photo in the estuary at Valdivia.












Sarah enjoying a hot bath at agua termales Pozones, nr Pucon.














Monday, December 11, 2006 |

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 

Villarrica.

Volcano Villarrica.













Lake Villarrica.

Villarrica, Villa Rica, Vilaricca. It's all the same.











This fisherman had caught a number of large fish and eaten them all... with several portions of chips..

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |

 

The road to Villarrica.

A view of Volcano Llaima through from the top of a horribly steep incline.












The rolling hills and green fields reminded us of England in the summer time.












A bee collecting pollen.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |

 

Volcanos and lakes.

Once through the forest this green valley with waterfalls either side led us into Chile, it's lakes and volcanos.

The road was steep and as we were to find out over the next few days the surface was terrible. It added another day onto our journey to Vilaricca.







Volcano Llaima, stradling the Chilean Argentinian border.













A little pig.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |

 

Paso Icalma and into Chile. End of stage 5.

Leaving Argentina, crossing over to Chile via Paso Icalma gave us spectacular views of the lakes.

Stage 5 from Aconcagua to the Chilean border. A distance of 1129.61 km over 18 days, an average of 62 km a day with a top speed of 77kmph.

Hopefully this is the end of the desert for a while. We can now enjoy touring the lakes up until Christmas.



The forest thickened on the Chilean side of the pass making for a great camping spot.

The Chilean customs are fairly strict, they emptied all our panniers in search of fruit and veg.

They found an apple I hadn't declared but luckily rather than sending me to prison they said I could eat it.





 The view from our tent.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |

 

Lago Alumine

The lake was lovely and warm, having been recently topped up with snow melt.












Swimming to the island, encouraged all the way....from the beach.












A nice cuppa seemed like a much more sensible way to pass the time.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |

 

Paso Pino Hachado to Villa Pehuenia

As there was no snow to clear Miguel was happy to let us stay the night at the campamento.

During the winter there are upto 20 men stationed here, charged with keeping the pass to Chile open. 4 metres of snow is not unusual!








As we left the warmth of the campamento we met two cyclist camped just up the road. They set off from Buenos Aires 2 months ago heading for Mexico.










Monkey Puzzle trees lined the mountains either side of the pass.









Villa Pehuenia, the start of the long awaited 'Lake District'.












 A place to relax for a few days.

It would have been the perfect place if it wasn't for the campsite guardian who had a taste for strong liquor and loved nothing more than lying beside our tent at night listening to our breathing.

His face was a picture when we jumped out and caught him. He didn't object when we refused to pay for that nights camping.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |