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Perito Moreno Glacier
Heading to the park early we wanted to get sunrise photos of Perito Moreno but our day started rough with the ****ing yogi bear not letting us in because the ticket people were not there, we said no problem here is our money and give it to them when they arrive but no he was intent on being an arsehole which he did well.:huh
At the park entry waiting https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/...93fc1d4a_b.jpgIMG_7067 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7645/...b00d392e_b.jpgIMG_7071 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Finally the ticket people turn up and **** me if they didn't say you will have to ask the yogi bears, re-ask the yogi bears and they said it is up to the ticket people, what a bunch of retards who all need new jobs away from customer service or dealing normally with people. :eek1 Finally on our way we still made it but not quite with sunrise pics, never mind the glacier still well worth seeing up so close. We were riding along quietly enjoying our ride when these other guys came up on our right hand side so I nailed and cut them off before the corner :rofl https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7594/...0e885210_b.jpgP1240386 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The first glimpse https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8701/...56d40240_b.jpgIMG_7076 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr As the day progressed we heard very loud cracks and bangs followed by large chunks of ice dropping into the water https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7591/...2ab5e317_b.jpgIMG_7116 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8682/...44a46767_b.jpgIMG_7117 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Enjoying watching and listening for most of the day we felt we got our moneys worth as the park entry fee was very expensive Read the sign on the right hand side about the people killed :eek1 https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7615/...380fbdb0_b.jpgP1240396 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The far side of the glacier https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7603/...df96af7e_b.jpgIMG_7133 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A large lump breaking off https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7594/...2a010428_b.jpgScreen Shot 2015-03-21 at 8.56.10 AM by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A stray lump of crystal ice .. beautiful https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7605/...a51a4a32_b.jpgIMG_7106 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A small vid I knocked up last night as this explains for more than the pics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CiPN6Azw7U <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8CiPN6Azw7U" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe> Back to the hostel we stayed at the previous night and get ready for our El Chaiten assault. |
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That's ashame I could have done with that haha No Andi, not this time, just done one, link is in the signature block, I am just going to chill with friends this time. Wayne Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Hanging on
Hey Guys hanging on to every picture and jealous of every moment you are experiencing. Hopefully everything will continue to be a plus for you. I'm sure when you get back to NZ it is going to be hard to get back in the groove. You will start plotting a course for a new adventure. HANG IN and enjoy.
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Yeah I tried :innocent: Will check out your link, should have wifi for nexxt few das and maybe the appropriate weather :stormy: too Good man, go chill and have a few jeigerjeiger, have fun mate. Cheers Andi |
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Thanks mate appreciate your kind words, yeah not looking forward to going back although I love New Zealand and keen to see mates I am still keener to look around the next corner. So yes time to plot the next one, many plans in the pipeline but time to regroup and save. Cheers Andi |
El Calafate To El Chalten
With a promising weather day we waved goodbye to El Calafate and bolted for El Chalten.
Given the previous weather we had been given we lined up at for new good weather tickets from the weather gods booth and yes we got the winning ticket..…almost no wind at all. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8734/...80843a8e_b.jpgIMG_7199 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr With an easy day we made it later afternoon and headed to the top of the valley, the road from El Chaiten to Lago De Desierto was potholed and boney so it took an hour to do the 36 km. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/...8b330cde_b.jpgIMG_7232 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr No biggy as there was a lot to look at along the way as well and gringo cagers everywhere. Getting to the top of the valley was nice but all along the way says no camping, no fires and they wanted 100 Pesos (10 bucks) each just for camping … I don’t think so. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8750/...6577d891_b.jpgIMG_7224 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We headed back to El Chaiten, just as we entered back into town we spotted Tony and Sabana in the Unimog (met them in Punta Arenas) so we swung a right and went to say gidday, we also met Rob who was camping beside them in a Dodge truck. We asked the local constabulary if we could camp with them and they said no problem!!!…..saweet https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7641/...2a1c2d82_b.jpgIMG_7234 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr No camp site is free of Murphy tho :rofl:rofl....never set your tent up from the other end first, always start from the other end :huh :rofl https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7645/...5fa05643_b.jpgIMG_7233 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This then necessitated the purchase of grapes in a bottle to sit there and chat about life. A nice lineup of travel hotrods :rofl https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7592/...b5f0cab8_b.jpgIMG_7237 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The following day was the famous Mount FitzRoy which looks similar to Torres Del Paine so bed at a reasonable hour. :clap |
Mount Fitz Roy
A reasonable start saw us with what can only be described as exceptional weather, with 11km each way to do we set a good pace and were graced by the beauty of the giants ahead of us.
Leaving camp, the rock on the right looking like a Lions head at the peak. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8724/...ca97b966_b.jpgIMG_7244 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The first view point https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7598/...209a6467_b.jpgIMG_7250 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The valley all the way up offering stunning picturesque scenery https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7646/...f98a1f81_b.jpgIMG_7254 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr One creek crossing https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7622/...e993ec7d_b.jpgIMG_7259 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Making it to the lake was another WOW, massive hanging basins, glaciers, a lake and massive spires to go…..wicked.:clap Up in the snow https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8693/...7c2d23c3_b.jpgP1240418 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7584/...03a74212_b.jpgIMG_7268 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Lunch was the go at what can be noted as one of the coolest lunch spots we have ever had on the entire trip. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8742/...8c3626d7_b.jpgIMG_7277 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The funny thing was we had riot gear for wind and freezing conditions …..a waste of time carting it up for our one out of the box day, very unusual to have such calm weather here so we made the absolute most of it spending nearly 2 hours taking in the stage of beauty in front of us. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/...a7234b19_b.jpgIMG_7287 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The part that I hate, the return down hill section with the first km being a killer drop it was not promising to be good for me so we took it quietly until we hit the more level ground to preserve my poor old knees. All in all an outstanding day of epic rewards in the scenery category and two very happy campers. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7611/...b7a4f4cf_b.jpgIMG_7296 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The monsters in full https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8738/...5afd46e9_b.jpgIMG_7265 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8686/...16168430_b.jpgIMG_7267 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr On our way back down Ellen wanted to cool her feet off :eek1...mine were fine :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8741/...9ecc7667_b.jpgIMG_7309 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The final part of this walk was Lago Capri, a nice spot it was too. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7599/...ccd888f5_b.jpgIMG_7312 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr That night Paul from Holland arrived on a 1990 Tenere 600, he had a stator issue but we could not help unfortunately, we chatted for a while and he ended up camping with us too. More wine, good times.:clap |
Rest Day & Laguna Torres
Organizing to move to a hostel for a shower and sit down toilet was our mission for our rest day, we had all but packed up when some other Police came along and said hey you can’t camp there …. typical left and right hand not knowing what is going on after being told we could camp there :huh
Given it was a relax day we packed up headed to the hostel, got our beds sorted then returned back to camp for an asado with Tony and Sabana, all of us taking turns at throwing half a beast on the fire to treat the taste buds…arrh an afternoon eating meat and drinking red wine …. hard times…all of this backed by a balmy hot day seeing us sit around in shorts and tee shirts. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8752/...b629ce36_b.jpgIMG_7340 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our plan for the next day was Laguna Torres (Lake Torres) so it was not a late night. Laguna Torres is the longest of the big tracks and we managed to get away around 9am. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7610/...d77b5b52_b.jpgIMG_7352 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Again we set a pace but took the time to take in our surroundings as they changed with our elevation. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7587/...b33910a8_b.jpgP1240438 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8698/...6a346a21_b.jpgIMG_7363 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Reaching the lake at the top we had again and extremely nice day with virtually no wind, some locals saying you could not plan it for 20 years to be like this….thank you weather gods. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7601/...b44f1a8d_b.jpgP1240442 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr To make the most of this we sat in the sun….this time shirt off weather (at least for me anyway Trevor:rofl), Talk about glam, ice and heat and a room with a view. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7617/...86e93f57_b.jpgIMG_7371 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/...467df7b1_b.jpgIMG_7376 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The peaks providing some epic viewing ...something we can't get sick of :clap https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7654/...f546d12d_b.jpgIMG_7384 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The spire up close https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7612/...d912123d_b.jpgIMG_7378 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The head of the glacier https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7590/...3802de76_b.jpgIMG_7377 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Eventually we hauled our eyes away from the aggressive spires, abrupt ice and soothing sun to head back to our hostel, will note at this point our hostel with a sheeted bed, hot shower, sit down dunny and wifi was the same price as it was to camp in our own tent up the valley …. go figure. :huh Ellens final look to appreciate the last of what is the serious mountain stuff https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7632/...53dce421_b.jpgIMG_7380 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Having completed everything and some it was time to move on, we had been given four days of still warm days in Patagonia … nearly unheard of :clap North to Carreterra Austral to try and see some stuff we missed on the way down. |
This is unbelievable
It is hard to comprehend what you guys are being able to view with the normal weather problems for that location. Your pictures are just extrodinary. I am considering of making a couple as background pictures on my desktop if that is allowed. Will continue to follow your ventures even after you get back to NZ if you continue to post info. Take care and safe journey.
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Mate we still can not believe how still, calm and sunny, not to mention warm :thumbup1: Only three days earlier a girl got blown off the ground and hurt!!! You can use any of them as you wish no problem at all, our photos are for anyone who wishes to enjoy them. Yes we will be posting for sure but will probably start a New Zealand adventure thread as opposed to this one. Cheers Andi |
El Chalten To Lagos Pousadas
Given our want to get a big travel day out of the way to get north on the boring 40 up to Lagos Pousadas we “took the money and ran” so to speak with the promise of light winds from the weatherman :clap.
On our exit we came across the Unimog again, he was pumping his tires up but we stopped just to make sure all was good.:clap https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7599/...a1a58694_b.jpgP1240461 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Further up the road w pull in for fuel at Tres Lagos (yes they had some) and they drove past in mog again so we were playing leapfrog adventure style :rofl...well they had style :evil. Nearing lunchtime we pull up behind them, thinking of food they also pull over to a nice flat area so we did to, a joke was had about who was stalking who but I guess we pulled in behind them :rofl This time on a quick inspection while airing down we discovered the left hand taillight assembly had lost its nuts and was hanging so we fixed that. Grateful it was an easy fix cos we prolly couldn't tow him :rofl https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7585/...26a0c36d_b.jpgP1240463 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr In an uneventful day we managed to belt out 550 km in a virtually still day, a huge reward after the punishing winds we had gone through previously and very welcomed on a day we wanted to make some ground. A funny worthy of a mention, we saw a F800 at El Chalten filling up with gas, they blazed past us going north and waved, we waved back. Further up the road we took a shortcut and popped back out onto the main road cruising along again quietly and they came up behind us again, he looked, waved then realized it was us again :huh …. in front of him :huh :huh, he could not work it out how we managed to pass him without passing him ... some funny shit:lol3.....take that bloody F8 off the main drag bro!!! 8-) :D Our shortcut, we were going to wait for the traffic to clear but we didn't have a coupla days to wait till someone came along :evil https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8691/...76e7983b_b.jpgP1240465 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Getting to Lago Pousadas the steering was heavy and we had a front flat tyre, the MT21 strong enough to stand up nearly by itself, mighta been cos it was bloody cold too.:eek1 Looks like a nail had gone through the top and gone out again ….sneaky :wink:, thankfully with the 4 mm HD tubes it just made a hole and did no other damage and luckily the tube did not pop cos that could have changed the day. The front tyre was due for a rotation as the hard Patagonia winds had really shaved the tyre off quickly due to essentially ploughing along on the road so I took the opportunity to multi task. :eek1 The changing (multi) task was made hard by dropping temperatures making a stiff tyre even stiffer and our repair kit which made itself extremely stealth when we needed it which didn’t help so I swung in our (new) spare tube and we will fix the old tube in the Coyhaique and put it back in when we put on our final front tire of this trip. Patagonia photo of appreciation ....just ta show ya how tuff we are ....thankfully it was a calm day :rofl :clap:evil https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8710/...eb00a3d0_b.jpgIMG_7403 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr |
Lagos Pousadas To Valle Chacabuco
Yes our tire stayed up so the mid evening fix and not pinching of the tube was great and a success.:clap
Away we went on our merry way, first off to fuel up, round to the YPF petrol station … closed???, hours of operation 8.30 to 12 noon …. being 10am we are in the middle…. no-one….place locked up … WTF??…at least we won’t have to wait in a queue here (ouwh and yes it was Thursday, not Sunday afternoon :huh). We had enough to get to Cochrane so no biggy but this is the whole reason we have been riding heavy using both tanks in Argentina, when we get petrol in Argentina we fill up everything cos they keep running out for up to 5 days or have queues for an hour or more :cry …seriously Argentina wake up (literally) and get with it on a main route in tourist season.…no other country in South America does what you do ...or don't do!!! ..how can a state owned petrol supplier be not held accountable to holding the country to ransom in a time when the locals make their money particularly down here, someone needs their nuts kicked….nuff said :jjen We split to the border and exited Argentina no worries and re-entered Chile with the same border guy, very easy and pleasant.:clap A small lake on the way to the border ... even still!!! :eek1 https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7648/...a35df5c9_b.jpgIMG_7417 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Some neat clouds wicked up by the wind above https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7641/...93c478a9_b.jpgIMG_7423 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr In no mans land in the middle, stunning countryside https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8718/...09a1c274_b.jpgIMG_7430 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Lunch spot :clap https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7606/...6091708c_b.jpgIMG_7438 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our destination today is a little unknown, for most it looks like a $700 USD per night place ….that's cos it is but they also have free camping for the upperclass moto riders such as TMK. :rofl Valle Chacabuco has everything (except puncture repair kits), they will accommodate you from $0 to whatever you wish, the free camping is a meca and has hot showers, flush toilets and shelters to set up in, wicked cool place.:clap The reception of Parque Patagonia owned by Tomkins of Patagonia and North Face brands https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8710/...4bd7002d_b.jpgIMG_7445 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Unfortunately we arrived on the final night of the season so could only stay one night which was a shame as we had planned to do the big valley hike….will just haf ta come back.:evil We took a short walk, not sure why but I was feeling second hand with a headache (headaches are not my gig) Look past the good looking guy above and you can see autumn claiming the new seasons colours https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8693/...078294bf_b.jpgIMG_7457 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our camp and the setting ... awesome and thank you to the Tomkins for providing a beautiful place :clap:clap ...may many more follow your footsteps :clap The green part is the camp in the valley, sheltered, secluded, special. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8694/...a58063ff_b.jpgIMG_7455 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our camp https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8747/...a6de60d4_b.jpgIMG_7467 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The setup for the place, pretty cool https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8724/...c7cbbdd2_b.jpgIMG_7478 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Just some normal pics to share now. Some cool shrums https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8728/...7d0b30b1_b.jpgIMG_7479 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Bumblebees https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7603/...09a20f08_b.jpgIMG_7504 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Back to the Carretera Austral now WOH HOH :clap |
Valle Chacabuco To Chile Chico To Puerto Ibanez
Waking to a pearler morning we did the usual camp pack down, muesli and coffee, dropping into reception to say thank you and goodbye.
They (Parque Patagonia) are rebuilding the road and putting calcium chloride on it to bind it (similar to Prudhoe Bay) so we had some road works to sneak through and around, the road works team being very respectful for our slower pace in their work space and giving us big cheers as we went past. Over to the 7 road which is the main drag we turned right up Rio Baker which was half the reason we came back this way, given our stunning day we were rewarded with brilliant blues and views to go so totally worth coming back for ….this of course lined us up directly for the Chile Chico road which we had missed due to heading down to Villa O’Higgins. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8693/...5df9daef_b.jpgIMG_7553 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7628/...70292579_b.jpgIMG_7557 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Many say the road is stunning and many are right, again making the most of the day we gorked out the window loving the tasty views our eyes were feasting on, again so well worth taking the effort to go this way. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8703/...3516e1d0_b.jpgIMG_7561 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8710/...8cbe7297_b.jpgIMG_7565 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8692/...c7c35010_b.jpgIMG_7585 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7286/...e3d142db_b.jpgIMG_7597 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Rather than do another border crossing we opted to take the boat across General Carrera Lake to Puerto Ibanez, getting to Chile Chico at 1.30 and the sailing at 4.00 pm we had plenty of time up our sleeve. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7609/...192d4b6f_b.jpgIMG_7615 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The sailing across was good but 3/4 the way across we hit big winds and the lake chopped up very rough causing the boat/ferry to thump really hard onto the oncoming waves sending sheets of water flying over the top the boat, if you stood on the top deck you got wet in seconds. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8701/...15c9ea08_b.jpgIMG_7627 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The tied Maya down tight, they knew something we didn't :rofl https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7635/...a5979e24_b.jpgIMG_7622 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Disembarking we were late due to the big winds slowing the big tub down, this also put us into “look for a hostel” mode as it was spitting to rain and hairy winds, a hot shower was on the list too. Finding a hostel that would let us cook was impossible so we picked the cheapest place then bought a meal between us which was tonnes of food anyway, turns out they had great wifi so we uploaded all the photos we could to make the most of it and their beds and sheeting were excellent, one of the most comfortable down this end of the island. The great thing with wild and woolie weather is it provides with amazing sunsets, the angry skies dragged everyone out of the hostel to check it out and photograph it as the whole area took on the orange reflection, pretty cool finish to a great day :clap https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8715/...da788b13_b.jpgIMG_7637 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr |
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