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.
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| The view from our campsite, setting sun |
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