Preparing for the Carretera Austral

[eddiep]

Hi Hubbers,

early part of january im looking to set off south down the austral on my Suzuki EN125. Yeah i know its small but size doesnt matter apparently!

So im going to try and get Knobblies for my bike instead of the road tyres in Puerto Montt - any advice or suggestions? Im hoping its possible to get these fitted as it will improve my bike over the gravel, particularly giving it much better grip.

Im looking to do the shorter ferry from hualaihue to Chaiten. Do you have to book ahead for this ferry and is it expensive? Im really struggling on info for this.

Id like to ride all the way down to Villa O'Higgins but still not sure if you can cross down there yet? I heard rumours on hear posted back in 2006 that they were planning on opening up a road? If i cant cross then where is the best place north of this to cross? Ill have to decide on whether i head down here or not depending on time.

Do people think its possible to ride the austral on such a small bike? Ive been doing ok on the deeper gravel around some of the national parks in Chile, just taking my time and all that. Thankfully my feet have less distance to the ground on such a small bike - plus i can lift the bike fully loaded on my own which has already proved useful on several occasions

Any advice would be great. Many thanks, Eddie!