mum has discovered a much better way of writing her blog, and hopefully i have discovered how to insert the photos...read on MacDuff....
(and if you want a closer look at the photos just click on them to open in another window, hopefully!!)
2006-02-03
We went to the island of Chileo then onto the town of Encud planning a visit by zodiac (boat) to the Penguin breeding ground on a small off shore island. It is a very important place because it is the only breeding ground where 2 different penguins live together. The Megellanic (which we have seen by the 1000’s in Argentina) and the Humbolt which was very nearly extinct, but life for a Humbolt is improving! Anyway back to the boat we had to be at the pick up point at 3pm we had a long lunch that took an age Alex was eating very well but very slowly, so I went back to the truck for her stuff for the boat; in my rush I forgot the sick bands, remember the elephants, remember the whales, 
do we wish to add penguins to the list? 'NO' says Jack, 'I will go back for you'. She had my flip-flops on and kicked the curb with baby pig! Came hobbling back with tearful eyes, “I’ve broken my toe” she said. Her toe was growing before our eyes and was by then very blue and bleeding, she did however still want to go on, the bus was 25mins late she actually had no need to run!!
On the beach we put fisherman trouser style waders on and life jackets
Jack with a broken toe, Olwyn with her broken heel, me with a plastic hip, we had to wade out and climb into the zodiac. Getting out was easy they just tipped the boat up at one side - the lame and the want just fell out. Poor Jack was in so much pain. The penguins were as cute as ever we also saw several sea otters; one just laid on his back at the side of the boat washing his face and strutting his stuff; Alex was enthralled.
Back at Camp Womble I am in charge of cooking tea, getting Alex ready for bed and looking after poor Jacks toe. First things first - give Jack a bucket of water and some soap to soak her foot in, she sat on the bed with the bucket on the floor. Next I put Alex’s little white socks and a new white blouse into soak. It is very windy in Patagonia. After a few minutes there is a crash the wash bucket had some how fallen out of the truck, we are also in a volcano area so the ground is like coal dust, great on wet white washing 
, my shower reaches outside so I run the water over the very grubby, white washing, putting each item on the step, crash, they all fall off back into the *** coal dust. I also have to tell you water is at a premium. At last I get all the clean, white washing back into the bucket, with more water, soaking, phew.
Now for tea. I have to cook pasta but, as all my children know, I do not 'do' pasta and if I have to it is under strict instruction, the last time Jack left me in charge of the pasta it was very al dente. So under Jacks guidance I am boiling the water, I think it was at this point that Alex (my table and seating in this truck is raised some 2ft from the floor) chose to fall off the table floor and into the bucket that Jack is soaking her foot! Water, which is at a premium, everywhere. But don't worry the pan for the pasta is still boiling. When that little hiccup is over I am told to add the said number of hands full of pasta to the boiling water, then I’m told to add salt “how much” “you know just a bit” well I don’t know. Trying to cheer Alex up I am shake, rattling and rolling over the pasta with a 1kg pot of sea salt. Alex is laughing…… The lid falls off and the whole 1kg (it was a new pot) falls on top of the pasta. I have a purple moment 
( my grandsons name for when one cannot breath for laughing) AND now I have to rinse the pasta I don’t know how many times, of course water is at a premium, to get rid of the salt, then start all over. Phew again. You will be pleased to know that the tea was lovely. Olwyn even shared our spag bol; Alex was bathed and got ready for bed; the socks and blouse were washed nice and clean. Peace rained again. Next day we went to hospital and thank goodness they put a pot on jacks foot which enabled her to get some relief from the pain it was also better for coming home. I think and hope.
2006-02-08
Today we put Jack and Alex on the plane to go home to Dan. I was very sad, but we had such a lovely 2 weeks, I am very grateful for the time we have spent together, it was lovely to have them both. We had such a lot of fun everyone loved Alex.
From the airport we went back to Puerto Montt. We needed a supermarket, we also were going to meet up with Les and Margaret, then to catch the boat and travel back down the beautiful Fjords of Chile to enable us to drive back up again to Puerto Montt via the Carretera Austral (I am very excited about this) which covers some of the most stunning scenery in Chile. When we booked the boat we were told there were only 4 berth cabins, I said I would go in with some other folk but asked that I did not share with men!! Not even drunken Russians!! However when we came to pick up the tickets I had to share with 2 men and another lady. No way, I am not giving my lovely comfortable bed up unless I am happy with the alternative, I stayed in my own truck, in my own bed for the night, I had 2 sea sick tablets which put you to sleep any way and I was asleep before the boat left the harbor.
2006-02-09
I woke today sometime around 10am; had a lovely cup of tea; a shower; then my breakfast, after which I went in search of the others and to buy my lunch ticket. The boat trip is very beautiful passing some of the most amazing scenery in Chile with birds and sea creatures, we saw penguins swimming, well fishing for their young as they still have young not yet ready to swim, we also saw a couple of whale spouts and a head. The boat was not very comfortable, which made me pleased I had stayed put in the van last night. After watching a documentary about the area we spent the rest of the time in the trucks. It took ages to get us off the boat because we were on the top deck and went up and down by lift, which was a little scary. Whilst we were waiting our turn Carl’s voice came over the CB he and Mary were waiting for us at the dock and had found a night camp for us, which was great, to have a night camp and to see Carl and Mary. we did not clear the dock until midnight.
2006-02-10
The night stop was in a supermarket car park, we had a lovely late start with lots of tea and chat with Carl and Mary, we were also able to do some shopping I could stock up on heavy stuff that I do find hard when we have a bit of a walk because of parking. I also got a new kettle - I put mine on the BBQ and it set fire and looked a bit crummy! Now I have a new shiny one. Whilst we were all stood outside in the lovely summer sunshine chatting, a gas truck came to fill up the gas tank at the supermarket. Les went over to them and asked if they would fill our tanks, yes they would which was great.
Here is Womble receiving to your door gas, with Les giving instruction to the gasman and Margaret supervising, John is checking that his tank has not been over filled, which can be a problem, because your truck blows up!!!!! Of course we would all have gone up as well!!!
Carl got plenty of brownie points or should I say scout points not only did he find us a night camp, we had a supermarket, which had a toilet, we also had gas to the door.
Sadly we left Carl and Mary around noon heading for Coyhauque and Lake Buenos Aires. From there we intend to travel the Carretera Austral a road of immense beauty most of which is rippio. The book says “Glaciers, rivers steppe and mountains, lake and fjords unfold at every curve” So watch this space …….
2006-02-11 and onwards.
We are now traveling along the Carretera Austral.
The road is appalling but not as bad as I thought it would be, but then I do have Tibet as my yardstick (see China 2002). There is also not as much traffic, as I believed there would be. The Scenery is just awesome, and worth every bump on the road - which is covered in stones, it is like riding down a river bed. We are moving very slowly, around 20kph, we make very little dust at that speed. Unfortunately most other traffic we pass is going much faster and drowns us in a cloud of dust.
The first day we took a detour to try and see a “Cueva de las Manos” (cave with hands painted when the paint has been blown from the mouth) the road up to the cave was very narrow, sandy and on a bend at the top had very deep pot holes and some very sharp looking rock. Les was behind me I thought the risk of a “P” was very high, we had to reverse back down this twisty sandy road. It took ages my 4 wheel drive came in handy. Over a cup of tea we did wonder why we do this? But no damage just the odd scratch
We have 345k to go to the first place Chatten that we can come off the road and get a boat to Chiloe at the moment I am up for going all the way to Puerto Montt
The weather is very good yesterday lunch time it was 52 in my cab, because the sun was on the windscreen I could only get it down to 42 all afternoon that was a bit much. Yesterday I took 104 pictures. The mountains, streams, rivers and the trees are awesome. We are so lucky to be able to be here. Did I ever in wildest dreams think I would be driving down this road it is a road of WOW around every corner.
2006-02-14
We have taken a another detour to Puerto Cisnes which is 35k west off the C.A. we spent last night on the shore of the river Cisnes I could hear it when I was in bed and when I awoke this am. Wonderful. The drive down to the port was amazing - huge rock faces where the road has been blasted through. Each side of the road the trees and shrubs are so lovely. It is summer, the colours and flowers are beautiful. 50% of the village make their living from salmon. There is a cottage industry making purses, key rings etc from salmon skin. There is also available in the restaurants salmon deep-fried in a very light batter it is to die for!! Ask Jack!!
Well it is now the 19th February I have been pretty sick. The dust I think has finally got the chest. I had a really bad asthma attack. We had gone to see a glacier, another side trip, the path was very steep, also it had been raining and everywhere was very damp, this is rainforest, the cloud was low everything was dripping, the rivers were awesome so much water, I could hear the water very loud and figured there may be a water fall, there wasn’t but a suspension bridge over the rushing water, well I had to go take a photo, I was very scared but did it!! I was on my own, coming back I think was the last straw I could not make it back up the hill I had to sit on the ground to get my breath. Luckily the others had not been so we were a while before we left by which time I was a little better, but of course it doesn’t just go away I was not well for a couple of days and then of course I get the old chest infection, by the way we could not see the glacier because the cloud was too low, but the melt and the river were worth everything.
However, we have been plodding on slowly, I find once again that I am lost for the words to describe what we are seeing here. The road is most definitely crap, but, the mountains, trees, shrubs are all so very very beautiful, the birds have been very interesting we have managed to see humming birds which I was very excited about also a bird with a red eye, Les will tell you the name, we have also seen some lovely flowers. When we were planning to come here everyone told us how awful the road was all in varying degrees but no one told us not to come every one said it was worth ever bump and rattle, they were all right
Let me tell you what the Carretera Austral is.
Carretera means road, This road was built or ordered to be built by Pinochet, in the 1980’s the road runs from the south of Chile from Villa O’Higgins almost to Puerto Montt, this is Chilian Patagonia through the Andes and kind of along and above the fjords on the west and Argentina on the east, it is “rippio” and its reputation goes before it. We were all rather nervous but it is something on the backpacking/overland list of “must do’s” I also could not see why this project that took 10 years, 11 lives and over 300 million US$ had such a reputation and yet such a draw to so many people to visit, I guess I just wanted to go see.
This whole area was first settled around the 1940’s when people were given a grant to clear land, cultivate rear cattle and sheep, to clear the land forest fires were lit some of which ran out of control and for decades fires burned, the result now is a huge amount of dead wood, but the recovery of the fauna looks good. In the 1960’s when the earthquake, tsunami and volcano erupted scattering its dust, then again in 1991 Volcano Hudson erupted devastated the whole area again, alot of the live stock was killed or died off and from that the very large salmon/ fishing industry arose. Then the towns that had grown were linked with a good river system. Then, of course the road brought with it tourists - mainly at first backpackers who hitched their way down or up this immensely beautiful, dusty road that passed through the most amazing scenery. It has it all - lakes, islands, fjords, glaciers, raging rivers, waterfalls, rainforest and Patagonia steppe. Over time the road I believe has been improved, also I think the traffic, the Lonely Planet says ”Trucks tend to barrel their way past almost knocking oncoming traffic off the road” we have actually seen very few trucks and the ones we have seen have been very kind and waited or slowed right down in passing us. So, now along with the farming, there is a large tourist industry that covers Sports fishing, horse riding, trekking, kayaking and boats of all shapes and sizes you can even go wild boar hunting (in the season)
The road is aprox 1200K in length to date we have covered nearly 800K which take’s into account our side trips. This has been a wonderful adventure, breath taking and I believe we all have enjoyed every bumpy bit of it. I am so very pleased we were all brave enough to start the journey.
One thing I have forgotten about are the thermal’s along the way, which come of course from the volcano’s yesterday we played a visit to the “Termas de Amarillo” what a wonderful experience sitting/swimming in this lovely warm/hot water the minerals in it giving a kind of cozy feel.. It was great. Jack having read up about the Carrerera said in her text that she was jealous, she had every reason to be it has been just mind blowing!
No comments:
Post a Comment