Some photos to wet your appetite....

11 Days on the 'Antarctic Dream'..... No words can really describe the experience. Very very special and one of our best trips ever... Pristine whiteness, nature, animals and one of the few places where you can really enter an isolated continent. No gadgets or connection with the rest of the world.
Maybe tomorrow I can describe it better, for now a few photos to give you a taste. Really to experience the real Antarctica and feel it with all your senses you just have to go there.

The end of the world

14th Feb. Ushuaia.

A lovely day in Ushuaia, the 'town at the end of the world'. We're staying in a lovely hostel and after a good nights sleep we had a good self service breakfast (they obviously don't get too many hungry cyclists) of coffee, bread and medialunas (croissants) and jam. We put a few clothes through the wash as we have free use of the washing machine, but were certainly both wishing that we hadn't recently spent a morning hand washing all our clothes at the campsite in El Calafate.
We then wandered into Ushuaia itself to pick up a pair of ski trousers each that we are borrowing for tomorrows trip to Antarctica. Then a quick cafe stop before beginning a hike up to Glacier Martial.
We had about 7km walking along quiet roads and using paths to cut corners as the road went round hairpins, quite a few people miss this out by using a taxi, but it was a nice walk. After passing club Andino and what looks to be a winter base for cross-country skiing we opted to continuing walking the next km instead of the 50pesos each to take the chairlift. Not a bad walk and from the top of the chairlift there was about a 45minute trail up to the base of Glacier Martial at 825m. This gave us stunning views of Ushuaia and the port. We had good clear weather all day, which is lucky as it can change very quickly here. The wind is usually blowing a cold westerly wind that can bring all sorts of weather with it including rain and snow. Sometimes you get rain, sun and snow all in the same day in quick succession even in the summer. Today it was cold, especially when the sun went behind the clouds for a while, but apart from a few flakes of very fine snow as we approached the glacier the weather stayed clear.

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Back at the hostel now and my face is glowing. I feel like I've spent the day outside skiing, probably all the wind chill. One more night on land then the next 11 nights will be at sea on our way to and from Antarctica.

End of a chapter and start of a new one...

13^th Feb, Flight El Calafate to Ushuaia

The next chapter, or the end of the present one. That is certainly what it feels like as we leave our bikes at a hostel in El Calafate and fly down to Ushuaia. As usual travel days are tiring, but we had relative luxury on the flight today as we’d paid for business class. This was only done to allow us 30kg of luggage allowance to take the bikes with us on the flight without charge. As it turned out our plans have changed again, but not our flight booking so today was relatively easy and luxurious travel without the bikes. From the airport we arrived at a lovely hostel called La Posta in Ushuaia. The tent is packed but on holiday for a while as we have 2 nights of hostel then 10 nights aboard ship.

Relaxation and stress monkeys

9th/10th/11th/12th Febuary 2012, El Calafate
Now really having such a long break in El Calafate so soon after El Chalten was a little bit of a bad thing to do, but we're on holiday and here is the only place we can get a flight down to Ushuaia so here we stayed. In the 4 days here, we did little else than take it easy and be dis-illusioned with the possibility of the trip back from Ushuaia on the bikes. This came about after talking to a women called Holly from Alaska who had just ridden up the route we intended doing. Her stories of head winds and very little to see sent a cold chill down our spines and started the cogs turning. What should we do? Sticking with the plan of taking our bikes on the plane with us on Monday would mean a very hard cycle back and one which potentially was not as scenic as we hoped. Or do we change our plans and leave the bikes here, get a bus back here after the Antarctic trip and then cycle down with more chance of tail winds. STRESS MONKEYS!!! Neither of us are the best at making quick decisions and we scratched our heads for a fare while, the final straw which swayed our decision was a conversation with another couple who pretty much told the same story as Holly. 
So, our plans have changed again and at this point certainly aren't set in stone. The bikes are staying here at a hostel and we are flying down then busing back up. On arrival we will spend another couple of days in El Calafate then cycle south to Torres Del Paine where we will spend sometime hiking. The next part is a little hazy as it depends on what we see of the scenery on the way back from Ushuaia. All in all our stay has altered our plans, but probably for the best.
We did get away from the whole decision making with some clothes shopping, bread eating and chilling at the hostel we where staying at. It is a really nice place with small numbers in the dorms, resulting in a good night sleep. Here at the hostel we shared a room with Tyler, he was on vacation with his girlfriend Steph (she arrived a day later). It was so nice to have someone who's first language is English to speak to. Although with my colloquialisms I'm sure I lost him occasionally. They are both in the US air force and were having a holiday in South America. Steph had just finished an Antarctic cruise and we were looking forward to picking her brains and hearing about some of the things we are likely to see.  Unfortunately we burnt much of our time sorting things out and never got the chance to really sit down and have a proper chat, but maybe our paths will cross again and we can compare stories. So, if you are reading this and if your ever in our neck of the woods your more than welcome to come and stay.

Once eaten, always to return...

8th Feb. La Leona to El Calafate (67M)

We’d set the alarms for an early start in the hope that we’d at least beat the wind for part of the day, but as it turned out neither of us actually heard the alarms as the wind was making so much noise! Our pitch was sheltered and it didn’t really matter that we’d overslept as the wind had been relentless all night with no morning respite. At least the tent was dry and could be packed away easily. Porridge, lots of coffee and we were off again.

The initial 47 miles were OK, some tail wind, occasional very strong head wind and gusty side wind but generally OK. The road was quiet, we were back on good old ruta 40 and we often had views of Mount Fitz Roy over our shoulder.

After 47miles ruta 40 met a T-Junction with the westerly road into El Calafate. Up to this point, the 47miles had taken just over 4hrs, it then took us another 3.5hours to ride the final 22miles into El Calafate! No Joke. By turning west and straight into the ongoing head wind our pace was reduced to 3-6mph. The road was busier and although we tried our best to draft off each other to gain at least a bit of rest time, the gusty wind required constant attention. It was incredibly tiring, but really we had no other option, we needed to get to El Calafate. It was a very long 3.5hours. 

Eventually however we arrived in El Calafate, named for the berry growing in the area, which is said that once eaten will make you always return to Patagonia...we will see (it also gives you a very purple tongue). We found a nice sheltered campsite very close to the centre of town, that had been recommended to us by a few other cyclists. Hot clean showers, shelter and a few other cyclists (both new and previously encountered on the road) to catch up with.

Heads and Tails

7th Febuary 2012,   El Calafate to La Leona (71M)

After the nice civilised break in El Chalten it was now time to hit the road again, the destination was El Calafate, which we planned on reaching in two days. We were banking on a glorious tail wind to propel us to our first halfway destination, which we had, sort of.
Let me explain. The wind primarily comes from the west, which is true, however when there is a valley to funnel said wind it can change direction a little. This is exactly what happened about 10 miles from El Chalten. Here we started to cycle along side a large lake and we felt the full force of the wind. We weren't cycling into it, we were cycling with it coming in on our right side and it was so strong that at times we had the bikes lent over at nearly 30% to keep pedalling! A couple of tourists in a car, who were coming the opposite direction were so amused by our cycling technique they took a photo, and shouted for us to stop, but not in that wind!

Away from the mountains....

....and back to the sun..

We did stop at one point to put some more layers on and just before this one of my rain covers for my pannier bags blew off, so I quickly dumped my bike and went running after it (wind assisted, I'm sure it gave me a PB for 100m). We carried on for a little while and then turned a corner and the wind was on our backs again and with it came a lot of relief. It was to be short lived!
We covered 90km in 3 hours 23mins, which we were really chuffed with, but with every up there must be a down or with every head there must be a tail and when we turned right at a junction to join ruta 40 again, the down was waiting for us! A constant westerly head wind was blowing, which then kept us company for the next 20km. The 20km was to take 2 hours and even with sharing the load we found it hard to make any head way. My cracks started to appear and on a couple of occasions when I wasn't concentrating the wind took me off the road and onto the not so smooth gravel at the side.
We plodded on and soon saw a sign saying 3km to La Leona and our campsite. It may as well have been 30km as this section seemed to take an age, but eventually we made it! We staggered into the hotel and found it had a nice looking cafe, where we had a welcome hot chocolate, then the owner showed us the camping area which was very sheltered with hot showers. The tent was pitched and food was cooked, we said our prayers that the wind would die down (who ever lives upstairs must be off travelling too, as it was still very windy in the morning)!!

Walking uphill horizontally

6th Feb, El Chalten.

Wow, sun on the tent this morning to wake up to and a lull in the wind for at least 30mins. The sun continued throughout most of the day, although the wind soon built back up to it's normal ferocity. Our plans changed again with the improved weather as we decided to stay on in El Chalten and get out into the mountains for a walk. We knew that it possibly meant that we'd miss out on nice weather for cycling out of here, but neither of us wanted to miss a good days hiking after waiting out the wind and rain for so long.

There was a choice of a few day walks that the really helpful tourist office gave us and we decided to walk up to 'Lomo del Pliegue Tumbada' in the hope that we could see Mt Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, the 2 largest mountains in the area, often hidden in the clouds.

It soon became apparent that we weren't going to see Cerro Torre, notorious for remaining hidden in the clouds the majority of the time, but we were soon gaining great views of Mt Fitz Roy from a different angle than that we'd seen it before. As we ascended, we were also soon walking at a different angle than we'd walked at before as we were bent double fighting ever increasing westerly winds! The views were definitely worth it, although we didn´t hang around long at the summit, just enough time to admire the view and get a couple of photos. Then it was a quick turn around, literally, backs to the wind, and double speed back to the shelter of the woods at a lower altitude.
This evening we decided yet again to treat ourselves to a meal out instead of cooking in the freezing cold semi- shelter provided at the campsite. Not quite our usual budget but sharing a huge steak and salad was certainly good value by British standards.

Gareth carving up...

Washed away

5th Feb, El Chalten

Gareth was wrong yesterday about not a lot happening.  Not very interesting things but trauma enough for us. After finishing writing the blog yesterday Gareth went to pick up our washing from the laundrette and realised that we were a glove, and 2 socks (from different pairs) missing. He returned to the laundrette and was asked to come back later while the owner had a look around for them. Over a coffee, I asked Gareth whether  my blue trousers had cleaned up, then began the realisation that there was actually a lot more than just 3 items missing. In fact about one third of what we'd taken to the laundrette was missing! A big problem when you only have a couple of changes of clothes and when the missing items are your thermals, cycling leggings and shorts.So back we went to the laundrette and were greeted by an apologetic owner who couldn't find the original 3 missing items. We soon made ourselves understood that there were a lot more things missing and that they were important and necessary for us. Thankfully there was an English speaking guy in the shop at the same time that made the translation a lot easier. No extra bag of clothes in the shop anywhere. He asked us to list and price the items, which we did and we watched his face drop as the cycling specific clothing prices were added. So it was left to revisit today (Sunday) at 12 noon and hopefully for all of us someone would return the clothes given to them by the mistake, as that is where we guessed they would have to be. Thankfully a happy ending to this as today we were reunited with our missing clothes. Worn and beginning to look tatty they might be but comfy and very precious to us. Happy laundrette owner and happy Sarah and Gareth.
Our plans to walk today had been put on hold waiting for our clothes, but as it was I doubt we'd have ventured out anyway as the wind and rain were relentless. So we joined the groups of climbers and walkers waiting out the weather in the numerous coffee shops and restaurants in town. El Chalten isn't cheap anyway but keeping warm and dry is turning into a very nice but expensive art.

Strong winds and horizontal rain

04 Feb 2012

It's not the end of the day yet, but I really don't think anything exciting is going to happen so I will write todays entry now.
First thing we moved the tent to a more sheltered pitch after enduring a very sleepless night with strong winds (not us personally). The new pitch seems much better. We are now bring the blog up to date and intend doing little else. We may fit in a short hike later, but that is still looking very weather dependant.

Civilisation again

03 Feb 2012

 
It rained all night!!! I really wish the weather would improve as I'm starting to get webbing between my toes. Yet another boat to catch today, this time though not until 11:30. We had a leisurely rise and had breakfast with very little urgency about us. This changed when we realised it was 10:45 and we hadn't packed and the tent was still up. We de-camped in record time and as we were doing this we could hear and then see the boat getting closer. All of our hurrying was a bit of a waste as when we had loaded our bikes aboard we then sat around waiting for it to leave for 15/20 mins. It did finally leave and we made the trip to the other end of the lake, stopping occasionally to admire little waterfalls and hanging glaciers.
The one thing I forgot to mention is the sun has come out again, so our 37km to El Chalten was dry and wind assisted. On route to the town we met a few other cyclists who were heading north. It's always the same, you stop to chat for awhile, exchange knowledge of the road ahead and never exchange names. The end result of chatting was legs that stiffened up and longer in the saddle than it should of taken. One very important bit of information we gained was the position of the best Panaderia (bakery) in town and it was here we head first for empanadas, fresh bread and some small sweet cake things, which were very nice if not a little naughty. After filling our faces we found the ATM and the information centre where found out where the campsites were.

Approaching El Chalten, Argentina

We chose the cheapest option, but found it very difficult to find anywhere sheltered from the very strong wind blowing. We did pitch in one place, but then decided it was too exposed so moved to another which proved to be almost as exposed. We got to the point that we didn't care, so it would do. The time had sailed by and I wasn't in the mood for cooking or shopping, so we went out for a beer and a meal both of which were delicious!

Return to Argentina

02 Feb 2012

Lie in this morning, we have a ride in front of us, but we weren't in any rush to do it. What was especially nice about this morning was that we were woken by sun on our tent, which hasn't happened for a week or more, it felt really good and was a good omen for the day. So with our bodies fuelled with porridge and bikes loaded we started the ride to Argentina.
1km up the gravel road we arrived at Chilean border control, we had to stop to get our passports stamped to leave. There was a little confusion and we ended up with entry stamps instead of exit stamps, so we pointed out we were leaving Chile and we had to fill in other forms and everything was OK. The guard was very helpful, although if he had bothered to read the stamp already in our passports he would of seen the word Entrada. This done, we headed on.
The first 17km was a sort of gravel road, which in places was smooth, but also loose, rough and hard going in places. We wound our way up enjoying sunshine and lovely views back across the lake and at one point a Condor came drifting over the horizon in front of us, I always think this is a good omen, as what respectable Condor would fly on a crap day? We pedalled and pushed our bikes up the road and finally got the first view of Mt. Fitz Roy it was a very special moment as we both knew we were getting closer to our next goal, Argentina. Not to far from here we crossed the Chilean and Argentinian border limits (we had Argentina Customs yet to come) and the end of the road.
The next part was nothing more than a foot path though forests. Now I'm no mountain biker and certainly no mountain biker who could manage to ride my bike loaded down though some of the terrain we encountered. River crossings, tree roots and parts of the path had been worn away so much a whole new way of riding our bikes had to employed. The bits we did cycle were fun that was until I saw Sarah rapidly going down hill, at first I thought she was still on the path then I realised she was running down a bank with her bike cartwheeling down behind her! By the time I had got there the bike was still and Sarah was standing over it. Thankfully nothing came to any harm. It turned out that she had decided to go one side of a rock, but hadn't had enough momentum to clear it, she leant the wrong way and ended up down the bank. We started pushing the bikes a bit more after that!
Not one to be left out, I also came a cropper and ended up sitting in a shrub, which as much as I tried to I could not get free of. Whilst in this distressing position Sarah though it more helpful to get the camera and take photos rather than helping me up. 
 

Once released we pedalled on and came to a river where for the only time we unloaded the bikes to keep the bags dry. The next hurdle was the trench path and like many other cyclists before us we employed the straddle position and wheeled our bikes though. The final bit gave us view of the lake and more views of Fitz Roy and plenty more fun on and off the bike.
At the bottom by Lake Desierto we came to the Argentinean border control, we went in and got our passports stamped with entry stamps! The guard who stamped them must of had a moment of job realisation and started acting a bit more official and asked a few questions about our plans in Argentina, even though he had already stamped our passports. There was free camping here, so we scouted around for a sheltered pitch as the wind was whistling up the lake. We found one, pitched our tent and then went and washed the bikes in the lake before another meal of mushroom pasta.

Whisky on the rocks

01 Feb 2012

We had an early start this morning as we had a ferry to catch, we seemed to have spent a lot of time on board boats going from one place to another. Anyway, we packed super quick and loaded the bikes with the panniers, then we had a very nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toasted cheese sandwich and lots of bread. There was a 7km ride to the port which was along the shore of the lake Villa O'Higgins. It's really strange, but the lakes over here are so huge that they could be mistaken for part of the sea and this was especially true today with the huge wind driven waves breaking on the shore line.
We covered the 7km super quick due to a tail wind and when we arrived we were loaded onto the boat (which had looked bigger in the brocher). After making ourselves comfortable at the back of the boat, we watched the small bus arrive and unload the day trippers and once they were aboard we were off. The first part was pretty calm, but as we got further out the swell got bigger and the little boat started swaying this way and that way. The crew came around with complimentary coffee and biscuits, it was OK, but very sweet as they seem to love putting sugar in everything. The boat made slow progress across the lake, the captain pointed out a few bit of interest, but it was much of the same as we already seen, but the rest of the passengers seemed happy  and Sarah occupied herself and I read the Kindle.
As we exited the little cove (probably not the right phrase) the boat was hit from the side by strong winds and the swell got bigger and rougher. It wasn't long before the first person made their way to the back of the boat and outside to fresh air. They looked pretty bad, so did the next and the next. Us though, were made of stronger stuff. At one point one of the crew came out of the wheel house and asked everyone to stand on the right side of the boat as the waves where making the boat lean to the left, this was a little un-nerving, but hey, it all adds to the adventure. It was here that Sarah went an interesting colour, I enquired if she was "OK?" the reply was "I'm going out for some fresh air". After awhile she came back , but frequently visited the rear "for some fresh air". I carried on reading and finally finished my book, so the next thing was to have something to eat. This wasn't the greatest plan as after a couple of crackers and half a pack of biscuits I too needed some air. So, out the back I went. I soon recovered though and returned to my seat.
We docked across the lake, to drop off some hikers and pick up some more passengers, here they unloaded our bikes as we would also would be returning here after we had been to the glacier. I became a bit alarmed when they were unloading the bikes because this meant they would be felt unattended and left to the hands of thieves. I then realised that there was only two houses and probably very few bike thieves in the area.
The boat was cast off and we now where ploughing straight into the wind and the metre swell (which on the odd occasion was 2 metres)! This part of the trip was very much more scenic and as we got closer to O'Higgins glacier, the mountains around became snow peaked and had smaller hanging glaciers on them. The roughness was really taking it´s toll now and there were a lot of people in the small outside area at the back of the boat. A few people ventured up on the top deck, but were soon ushered down. Sarah was coping and found lying down helped alot. She had asked me to wake here if anything of interest could be seen, so when the first ice burgs appeared I gave her an nudge. We went out back to take some photos and whilst here the boat hit a rather large wave which sent everyone off their feet and broke one of the rear windows. I retreated back inside as I thought it might be safer.

The reward for the putting up with the rough crossing were the amazing views of the O'Higgins glacier and the surrounding scenery. You could actually hear the glacier moving and occasionally a bit came crashing into the lake waters. We spent about an hour drifting up and down in front of the face of this monster block of ice. We took our photos and then we where approached by a man carrying a huge tray of drinks. We were offered either juice or whisky, both of which had ice from the glacier in it. We did know about this, but thought you had to pay for it, so seeing it was free we both enjoyed a whisky on the rocks!
 The trip back to the second port was very quiet. Once we arrived at the port we where unloaded and whilst we were leaving a lady asked Sarah what the road ahead was like and then where were we from? It was very stange, but it turned out that she knew some people that I knew back in Monmouth. What a small world! Bikes loaded we made our way to the campsite where we pitch our tent had a hot shower, tea and then climbed into our sleeping bags.

The view from our campsite, setting sun

 

End of the Line

31^st Jan, Free Refugio to Villa O’Higgins (34.8M)

Pre-race stretching

The wind and rain definitily sounded worse on the tin roof of the hut than perhaps it really was. It certainly wasn’t a tranquil nights sleep, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain about this refuge from the elements last night. By the time we’d had breakfast and packed away our kit, the sun had come out, so we continued on our way. Beautiful and remote scenery. It did however become very apparent that our genarosity of last night (we made the small mistake of giving a stray dog a small amount of our food... he was sitting there shivering)  had gained us a new life long friend and Pedro (the name we decided on) started following us. We at first thought he would soon get fed up so we cycled on with the occassional glance over the shoulder to see if he was there. He was and we started to feel a bit guilty, but there is no place on our travels for a dog so we pedelled a bit faster and soon lost sight of him.

The scenary was stunning and the waterfalls like yesterday were amazing and numerous. We finally came to the second free refugio and stopped for some food. Opening the door to leave, who should be there but Pedro! Now we both really felt guilty and he definitely would have burnt off any benefit our small amount of pasta soup would have given him. Stern Spanish and English words were said and I think we convinced Pedro not to follow us. We continued onwards, the scenery getting ever more desolate and isolated but very beautiful. Generally we had a good tailwind and made very good time. 

There was some interesting near horizonatal cycling as we turned a corner at the head of Lake Cisnes and had to contend with huge gusts of side winds, but we were soon on our final bit of the Carretera Austral with a tailwind again. 30M of cycling and a short food stop and who should appear at our sides, Pedro! I think Gareth was more upset that he hadn´t attached a tow rope to him if he was going to run all this way. I was upset as his marathoin time was far better than mine!

Gareth and Pedro...

Four more miles and we were at our goal, Villa O’Higgins, the end of the Carretera Austral, Gareth, Pedro and myself. A tiny desolate town, it really feels like the end of the world.

Gareth and I went and found a coffee shop, Pedro looking remarkably spritely after his 34M run continued to hang out near us but introduced (probably re-introduced as I think he knows the town well) himself to the local dog population. We then found ourselves a bed in the El Mosco Hostel. Lovely place, owned and run by cyclists so very very helpful. A couple of swiss cyclists heading North were also stopping so an evening of chatting, dinner and beer completed the day and the Carretera Austral.