14/12/2013 Stage79 Forest wild camp – Ushuaia

2013-12-15 click for more photo's

Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details

14/12/2013 Stage79 Forest wild camp – Ushuaia

We woke up with ice on the tent but there was some early morning sunshine. It is nearly the longest day here and their summer. It seems an inhospitable climate to me, the noise of the cold wind which blows off the ice fields nearly all the time would drive me insane. For three months of the year everything is covered in snow and ice. We learned that the government tries to encourage people to come and live down here by offering much higher wages and no taxes. I don't think I would be tempted.

It was strange to realise that this would be our final day on the bikes. We only had less then 50 km to go so there was no rush. This last stretch had some proper climbs in it which we haven't had for ages. There were some snow capped mountains as well so that made us happy. The road was quite busy though but a lot of drivers gave us the thumbs up which is always nice. We were very lucky because there wasn't much wind and we rolled into Ushuaia by lunch time after just over 4 months on the road and nearly 8000 kms on the clock. I didn't even have one puncture!

It has been an amazing journey and I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to undertake it. The memories will stay with me for a long time to come.

The bad

• losing one wallet in a snack bar
• losing one wallet from trouser pocket
• losing £300 in cash
• losing 3 debit cards
• losing a pair of Goretex overtrousers
• losing an expensive Rab fleece
• losing a woollen hat
• breaking one camera in Cusco
• breaking the second camera with dust, insect repellent and flooding
• breaking an iphone
• breaking a Samsung Note phone [ subsequently repaired for £60]
• breaking a Kindle e-reader
• cracking the last debit card [ kept for safety in a shoe in case of mugging ]

The good

As you can tell from the above nothing bad happened really. We weren't robbed we weren't threatened we just lost and broke some stuff and we are both in excellent health the most important thing of all.

• The bikes have been amazing. No maintenance what so ever. They just kept on going. Malc had punctures on one day. I had none! Hard to believe considering some of the roads we cycled on. The ceramic rims show no sign of wear and the brake blocks are similarly preserved. The Rohloff hubs have been faultless
• No saddle sores.
• We have had rain whilst cycling on less than a handful of days and months of sunshine
• The wind has been kind to us overall
• The incredible breath takingly beautiful scenery we have seen along the way and how good that made us feel. No amount of photo's can do justice to that but it will be in our memories for ever.
• And most of all the privilege of meeting kind and wonderful people in such a diverse and fascinating continent.

THE END