A Merry Biker Xmas!!

After departing the Navimag in Puerto Natales in the eraly afternoon, we stopped in for a quick lunch with Chuck and Malcolm, 2 of the other motorcyclists we had met on the boat, then it was straight on to Punta Arenas. We had decided to head to Ushuaia for Xmas, which meant that we would return to Puerto Natales later to do some hiking at Torres del Paine. This meant we had a few days spare so we decided to visit some of the sights around Punta Arenas on our way down South.

The wind was bitter on the way down and made riding interesting despite the good roads. After asking at a few of the cheaper hotels in town and finding them all full, we settled on a slightly more expensive place and got comfortable.

The next day we both jumped on Dot and went for a spin down to Fuerte Bulnes and Puerto Humbre. The scenery was beautiful down along the coast and we were relishing being in the cooler weather. We saw a few sea lions on a rock on the way down as well. The fort itself was interesting. It has been partly restored to show what it would have been like. Puerto Humbre is a small settlement that was created in the 1500´s, but the settlers starved because the land was no god for growing crops hence the name, Port Hunger. Now there is very little left except a few stones from the ruins and a monument... with looks strangely like a stone picnic table... interesting.

The next day we packed our gear again, but headed first to Seno Otway where there is a small Magallenic Penguin colony. You had to stay on a boarwalk, but could still get incredibly close to the penguins who were very used to the tourists by now. It seemed stange to me to see the penguins waddling around on the grassy peninsular with theirnests in burrows down in the dirt. There were even some rabbits in amongst them. There were quite a few ¨babies¨that were almost the size of their parents by now, but with a brown and white, fluffy coat as opposed to the sleek black and white of the parents.

Once we´d had enough of the penguins it was back on the bikes and to the ferry from Punta Delgarda to Bahia Azul (on Tierra del Fuego). We arrived to the ferry cold and tired from the relentless wind and the occassional rain shower and were treated to the roughest boat ride I´ve ever been on, made worse by the fact that we had to try to ride our bike around to the other side of the boat while it was moving. We stood there for the rest of the ride clinging to the bikes for fear of them falling over while the ferry soared then crashed down the waves and got sprayed with water as the sea came almost over the top of the front of the ferry. Once we arrived on the other side we headed for the nearest town (Cerro Sombrero), which was little more than a mining community and booked into the only hostel for the night.

The following day saw a long ride on gravel road with high winds and our first border crossing in the Argentinian section of Tierra del Fuego. All went smoothly and we rode most of the day and finally set up camp at an incredibly scenic campsite on Lago Fagnano near Tolhuin.

We woke the next day to relatively calm conditions and set of for the final 100km to Ushuaia... and what a ride it was!! The most scenic I have ever experienced... the beautiful lakes, mountains with patches of snow on the peaks, then a line where the thick forest started and ran right down to the road... stunning! We arrived in Ushuaia on the 22nd and decided, since we were going to be camping for Xmas, we´d splash out and stay in a nice hostel for our first night.

Ushuaia itself was larger than we expected and quite touristy. I guess this should be expected since it is the departure point for all the high priced cruise ships to Antartica. It sits on the beagle channel and is surrounded by beautiful mountains. The weather, however was something else! You could literally have 4 seasons in 1 hour, not 1 day. When it wasn´t windy or raining or hailing or snowing and the sun was out it was nice and warm, but that could all changed in minutes.

After our night of luxury we headed down to Camping Rio Pipo, just a few km´s from the center of town and the meetup spot for motorcycle travellers from around the world. We arrived to find that this was luxury camping... a huge fully equipped kitchen, heated common room, bar, computers with internet... the only reason to go outside was to go to bed (or go check out someone´s motorbike).

We met many other motorcyclers. Surprisingly most were German or Swiss, but there were Americans, Singaporeans, and Italians thrown into the mix. Chuck, our Texan motorcyclist friend from the Navimag also joined us for a German feast with gluwine and all on Xmas eve (that is when the Europeans tend to celbrate Xmas)!! Thanks to all those who were there for a fantastic time! Sara, myself and Chuck also whipped up a BBQ on Xmas day, just for a little taste of home... yummo!

After 3 or so days of lazing around and eating far too much (as you should round Xmas) we decided that a little exercise was in order, so on boxing day, Sara and I headed up the back of Ushuaia and hiked up to the Martial Glacier. The glacier itself wasn´t much to look at as it was covered in snow and up behind some unwalkable rocks, but we greatly enjoyed the walk up allongside the river in the forest and then mucking around in the patches of Snow (including SM´s 1st EVER snowman). The view was also absolutely spectacular when the clouds cleared long enough, back down over Ushuaia and the beagle Channel. It rained most of the way up and even hailed lightly on our way down, but it could not dampen our spirits.

That evening we joined a couple of other bikers in the ride to the National Park and the end of ruta 3. It is obligatory that any motorcyclist visiting Ushuaia make this journey to take a photo at the iconic sign at the end of the road. It was also a beautiful ride and we left feeling like we´d have liked to stay and do some trekking in the park. Our ride back though was the coldest I could remember being and on the way it actually snowed! Yes... that´s right, Sara and I can actually say we have ridden through snow now.

The next day we decided to set off once again and head back to Puerto Natales so that we could do some trekking, so we began 2 days of solid riding. The first morning we were both the COLDEST we had ever been (yes, even colder than the evening before!), the wind and rain combining to make us absolutely freeze. My riding gloves, which allow my hands to get cold in winter in Brisbane, were proving to be of virtually no use against the cold and I practically had to pry my fingers off the handlebars after the first couple of hours when we stopped in Rio Grande. I had visions of us packing it in there for the night, but we pushed on and the afternoon afforded us much better conditions. It was amazing the difference when the sun is out and your riding predominantly with the wind!!!

Anyway, 2 days on and we´re in Puerto Natales and gearing up for the hike at Torres del Paine.

We hope everyone had a fantastic Xmas and gets ridiculously messy for New Years!!!

CIAO!