During the night the run of good weather we'd been having broke as the rain started, initially just gently but with increasing ferocity throughout the night. Thankfully except the lack of sleep worrying about the rain and our leaky tent by the morning there was only the occasional shower and with a strong westerly wind our tent was soon dry. Luckily as well there were no major holes in the flysheet as the little tortie kitten we'd been playing with last night decided to curl up on top of the tent when it couldn't find its way inside. Very cute and thankfully no harm done.
Onwards and eastwards at least we had a good tailwind despite having to wear more layers of clothing than we had for a long time. We had a small climb leaving the lakeside for a while and up there we had our first views of Bariloche across the lake. Not far as the crow flies, we just had to cycle around the edge of the lake to get there.Reaching the eastern edge of the lake we experienced deja vu from our journey to El Calafate as again we turned right onto Ruta 40 and straight into a head wind. Thankfully it wasn't as severe as on the previous occasion but it was still hard work. A rest and lunch stop in yet another newly built bus shelter gave us the energy to continue on to Bariloche. The traffic was getting busier, but this wasn't what caused Gareth to come sliding off his bike as he slipped on some gravel on the side of the road. He quickly managed to pull himself out of the way of the oncoming lorry and escape with only a couple of grazes and a hole in one pannier bag.
It was hard work cycling the final stretch into Bariloche, battling wind and traffic and I was annoyed when a guy in a 2CV travelling in the opposite direction pulled over and signalled us to stop. It was unjustified as he turned out to be a nice Argentinian, offering us accommodation in his farm house a little further back down the road. He appeared and I think he was really genuine, saying that he was a cyclist himself and a few years previously he'd cycled Alaska to Ushuaia. At the time I was feeling a bit apprehensive and we made our excuses and continued onwards. I felt a bit guilty afterwards as I think Gareth would have stopped for the night and I think he was genuine.
Anyway decision made we continued on to Bariloche and the tourist office for a map of roads and campsites on the Llao Llao peninsula. A stop for a coffee was needed to give us the motivation to leave the town and cycle a bit further onwards. We were really glad that we made the effort as when we got out of Bariloche and turned off to quieter ripio roads and it renewed our sanity after all the busy roads we'd been cycling on recently. We found a beautiful 'back road' to Colonia Suiza, officially shut to transit traffic due to rock falls but perfectly suitable for bikes with lovely views.Arriving at the tiny hamlet of Colonia Suiza we found our way to Camping Ser, recommended to us by Alex and Julie. It lived up to recommendations with lovely huge warm showers, apple trees in the grounds and a warm kitchen to use and sit in during the evening. Gareth had an upset stomach and went to bed early but I made full use of the dinning area to sit, eat and read in the warm.
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