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| 2013-12-06 |
06/12/2013 stage 73 Tehuelches - Punta Arenas by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details
First lap by bike second lap in pick up truck!
It
is really hard for me to comprehend the emptiness of Southern
Patagonia. To have to travel 100 km exactly to the nearest green
grocers is just beyond me. There are no trees and hardly any shrubs
over 50 cm high. The landscape is bleak and featureless in the
extreme yet it does have it's own appeal. Every now and again there
is an 'estancia' a kind of farm settlement. Usually surrounded by
poplars to protect it from the wind. It is just so isolated. The
landlady in the hostal in Puerto Natales which was quite a bustling
little town had told us she has planned to move to Arenas 245 km away
a month before the baby is due because there is no adequate care in
Natales and when her baby is due the roads are likely to be blocked
by snow so she has to make sure to arrive in good time. In my head,
living in Bude or Holsworthy is out in the sticks! The road we are
riding on is the 'Fin del mundo circuit' and it feels that way. After
starting in ' the middle of the earth ' in Quito on the Ecuator it
sure feels we have come a long way. It is very quiet and it is still
beautiful riding even though there isn't the dramatic beauty of the
High Andes. However battling with strong side winds is only
attractive for a little while and when we turned into a full on head
wind after 50 km on a clearly much busier road my heart sank. Not for
long however! We hadn't dared to join the main carriage way because
of the amount of traffic and fear of being blown into it when a pick
up truck stopped and offered us a lift to Punto Arenas. It took us
less then three seconds to accept gratefully and we were very glad we
did. The road remained busy,the wind strong and the landscape
remained the same. We sorted out the ferry times to Porvenir and
scouted out the available eating places in Arenas and spotted an 'all
you can eat' That seemed right up my street and the perfect chance to
stock up on calories before we hit the sticks again.
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| As if camping wasn't uninviting enough in this inhospitable landscape |
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