Standing on the furthest point of the spit of sand that pushed out in a bay, I turned to Christian."Impossible," I said. We looked at the river, more of a lagoon really, with crashing waves about 30m wide. And, having a track record with rivers, I knew it was out of the question.The most dissappointing aspect of this was that we (myself and...
Cycling up and down hills in forests. Often overtaken, a little too close, by great long trucks full of tree trunks. I looked for a place to camp between the rows of pines. Then I thought. Screw it, I'll go to Caranilahue. I cycled around a bit and struggled to find a campsite or hospedaje so I asked for dirrections in a bike...
There were a few options. The big roads: Ruta 5 in Chile and Ruta 40 in Argentina. Neither really appealed. So instead I headed out to the coast. First beside Lago Villarrica, with Volcan Villarrica behind me I arrived in Villarrica (the town). Next I headed into a westerly wind to Freire and up the motorway (shudder) to Temuco where I stayed in...
Going round-the-world is something that has appealed to people sinse it was discovered that the globe wasn't flat. Here are some of the significant Firsts in the history of RTW adventures: 1519 to 1522 Juan Sebastián Elcano is the first person to circumnavigate the globe. He was second in command of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition with 5 ships. Magellan was killed in 1521, in...
Knowing that I would spend the day today climbing a volcano, and that I had to be at the minibus for 6.30am, I got an early night. Trouble was the neighbours didn't. Got about 4 hours sleep before the alarm clock beeped.So, a little bleary-eyed, I bundled into the minibus with the other punters (mostly Israelis). Then the choice: walk up to the...
I was hoping to find a guide to climb Volcan Lanin in Junin de los Andes but everything was shut between 1pm and 5pm. I arrived at 1.10pm and I didn't want to waste that much of the day there as it was a fairly grim spot. I did however stop at a roadside cafe and have a platefull of empanadas which are...
From Entre Lagos it was back on a paved and winding road that led to the Argentine border. It also led through a fantastic national park. I camped with Chris (he's just toured Route 66 in the USA and now finds himself down here...) in a great little meadow off the road behind some trees. The next day we set off up the...
This post focuses on some close shaves. So, I suppose it is appropriate to begin it by announcing that after over 70 days of trying I have abandoned my facial hair experiment and shaved the pathetic beard away. Damn it feels good. I will warn you now that this might all get a bit dramatic later but, if you are of a nervous...
Arriving in Quellon fresh off the boat from Chaiten was a bit of a shock. Despite only being small writing on the map it was bigger than any town I've been to sinse Punta Arenas. I took it slowly along to Chonchi. The whole way along there were houses by the road or barbwired farmland. There are gently rolling hills but that's not...
Ok, I've not posted many of my recordings for a while so I thought I would upload a bumper issue. Firstly a snippet from a long, rambling and highly amusing interview I made with the very wonderful Seth and Kirsten. I first contacted them through Warmshowers looking for somewhere to stay in Santiago. They have a blog at thespokenword.blogspot.com. The whole interview is...
(Note for Facebookers: There is a flickr slideshow of my photos from Chaiten that can be seen on the blog or here.)From the 30th April 2008, Chaiten, a port town towards the north of Patagonia (and for me the end of the Carretera Austral), was hit by a series of low and medium intensity earthquakes. The 7000, or so, people of the town...
You can't travel far on the Camino Austral without seeing chipped windscreens, mangy barking dogs and the car sticker saying "Patagonia sin represas". Meaning Patagonia without Dams, the campaign is aimed against a multi-billion dollar project to build dams on several of the rivers in Chilean Patagonia. The company which wants to build the dams, Hidroaysen, hopes to provide hydroelectric power to cope...
I think its a good idea to use the excuse of the calendar clunking around each year to reflect on what you would like to achieve for the next year and make some firm commitments.Resolve to renew all your old resolves,And add a few that are new.Resolve to keep them as long as you can,What more can a poor man do?Okay, here are...