The Vultures Circle for Henley ! 58 kms - 700 metres climbing !

We'd set out in a search vehicle from our Eco Lodge accommodation - Henley was lost somewhere in the middle of a Volcanic desert ! While he might have had enough water for a day or two the sight of a couple of overhead Vultures suggested that maybe a prime Heney sized fillet was somewhere nearby to be had !

Our final day of cycling started once again on a cool misty day this time only 15c below the days forecast top !

The first 40 kms to lunch were flat bitumen with bugger all to see because of the low hanging mist.

We attempted to amuse ourselves by creating some form of pelotonic discipline but while the POMs held up their end of the bargain by leading out the Aussies wilted citing the typical type of cycling excuses - " My nose is running", "I have to stop and take a picture", "My shoelaces are tied together" etc etc !

With the peloton not working that well we tried some novel uses of the go pro mounted pole while cycling but achieved nothing more than an unco-ordinated version of not so synchronised cycling !

With lunch taken in a lovely ranch style hotel complete with a roaring fire just outside of Melipeuco we re-emerged to find that the sun had finally burnt away the cold mist providing for a beautiful sunny finish to our Patagonian cycling adventure !

The only thing in our way was 10 kms of climbing into the Conquillio Volcanic National Park plus a "bum busting" 8kms across an old lava field landscape on a road filled with ruts, rocks and shifting sand !

With self flying the drone the others had spread out. At the official entrance to the National Park H said he'd go on ahead by himself (always a disaster waiting to happen) indicating that he'd stop for a regroup after another 6kms !

By the time i'd arrived at our accommodation Pommie Kev, Julia and our guides had indicated that H was nowhere to be seen !

H was eventually found 2kms further along the desolate track where he stood emitting more steam than the nearby 3125 metre Liama volcano supposedly the most active in Sth America  !

After calming down it became apparent there'd been a breakdown in communication with our guides and H. So with the overhead vultures disappointed that they weren't getting a meal we took on board H and his bike and headed further into the Park viewing some of its beautiful sights including some amazingly colored lakes.

Back at our Eco Lodge with its sloping bedroom floors and beds we spent the evening reminiscing on a fabulous adventure while thanking our guides Herman and Tolkay for their fantastic support !

A couple of beers later and it was time to hit the sack in preparation for part 2 of our Sth American Journey !!

Add caption

Drone view of Conquillio

Conquillio

Our last day cycling

Beautiful coloured lake

Entering Conquillio National Park

It's bloody cold !

Henley finally found ! 

It's Chilly in Chile !

After a great run of fabulous weather we awoke on a 26c forecast day to a day of low hanging & bloody cold mist (8c) !

We left our Volcano town of Pucon by car transferring to the nearby village of Villarica (even closer to the mist hidden Volcano) where we started our penultimate days ride !

After 16kms of undulating hills on bitumen we virtually climbed directly into the mist this time though on dirt with a mix of rocks, scree and shifting sand !

This was tough going as the climbing seemed to continue forever. !

Pommie Kev and Julia on her mini 4WD (read E-Bike) battled away while self sadistically seemed to enjoy the conditions having been recently trained in Tajikistan ! For H though it was a bit much for his wrist although he had to bite his tongue as no sooner had he jumped in the support van than conditions improved ... well if you call a road turning into at motor cross like track an improvement !

After finally descending we cycled 10kms to lunch in a village restaurant that had all the trappings of eating in someones home !

Our final 16kms to our farm style accommodation in the middle of nowhere were uneventful but remained bloody cold !

On arrival and with no, WiFi Pommie Kev suffered severe  withdrawal symptoms while H and I simply settled back with our respective good books while staring up towards the power points near the ceiling wondering how in hell we were going to charge anything!

Our evening comprised of a few beers a nicely cooked salmon dish and a nice warm open fire that kept our resident Pyromaniac one KT Henley busily occupied !

Only 1 more cycling day to go !

Henley ravishes a salad !

Our lunch time restaurant ! 

Rest Day Pucon !

Beautiful sunset !

Majestic - the smoking Villarica Volcano ! 

The Volcano erupts ! 68 kms - 1100 metres climbing !

We'd been rapt to have scored some great accommodation and meals on our trip so far but our night in Pangapuilli was not one of those occassions! A grumpy Hotel owner, cold water, a cold supposedly cooked chicken and a lousy breakfast did little to suggest that this hotel would continue to stay on the Patagonia tour itinerary. 

Mind you Henley foot stamping on our plywood thin floor while listening to music with his headphones on most likely did little to warm our welcome by other hotel guests!! 

We retraced our steps from the day before this time cycling into a strong headwind. At the 4km mark we turned on to the Chilean version of the 7 Lakes route cycling past numerous beautiful lakes in perfect morning conditions.

At one point we reminisced on how lucky we"d been to remain virtually injury free on tour ! "Self's"'near miss yesterday with a high speed pinch flat, Pommie Kevs fall in the shower, Henley's  sunburn and Julia's thumb injury from repetitively changing gears on her E-bike !!!

At the 40km mark after 2 coffee stops, we entered the business section of the day a series of long grinding climbs (on and off road) that eventually provided for stunning views of the Villarica Volcano.

A dusty stony descent followed taking us to the outskirts of a town (name unknown) where we regrouped and discussed who we should invite to H's funeral which based on the way H was looking on the last section of the climb could be at any moment !

With Kev descended and finally recovered we cycled into town for a late lunch and to end our cycling for the day!

Because of busy roads and distance it was a van transfer to our overnight destination of Pucon with the huge smoking Villarica Volcano sitting right beside it !

 A late afternoon walk showed Pucon to be the adventure capital of Chile with activities ranging from Volcano climbing to White Water rafting to Skiing or just simply relaxing on its black sand lake beach !

Henley need not have worried about death from any Volcanic eruption that night as in making the fateful mistake of eating blue vein cheese with my salad I subjected him to a merciless barrage of eruptions of my own back in our hotel room. Not surprisingly they were met with a torrent of abuse !

Some might say that after having been on the receiving end from H over the years that this was finally payback time !!

We're off 

Lakes before the climb

German ensures we taken the right turn !

Another Volcano en-route

Some drone time ! 

Spread those Cheeks ! 50kms - 400 metres climbing !

The stories being told around the dinner table the night before by our guides about how strict Chilean customs could be (they threatened to fine one group after finding a pine seed on top of their car !)  had us all imagining a difficult day ahead that might include (god forbid) a full luggage and body search although Henley reckoned that by placing his smelly jocks on the top of his suitcase that he would at least get out of the former ! 

What confused us was that we were told that it was easier to simply tick the section on the customs form "Are you bringing in any organic material into the country" as Yes rather than No to avoid any confrontation with Customs !!!

As to what we'd then say if asked what it was that we were bringing in was beyond all of us ! 

We left San Martin by van travelling 30 kms to help expedite what was expected to be a long day and to avoid a long rough downhill section where a number of injuries (included a busted femur) had occurred on recent trips.

Finally let loose we cycled 30 kms on a rough as guts rocky road to our lunch stop on a beautiful lake. Kev was having great difficulty riding on this type of surface because of his arthritic wrist  - no doubt caused by his home based work and excessive use of his middle finger over the years !

Thankfully Chilean customs while being convoluted did not involve any strip searches. The image of H standing naked & spreadeagled while Customs searched his body cavities for any hidden seeds is too horrific to imagine ! 

Once cleared by customs and with our bags x-rayed, we cycled another 11kms on a beautiful sunny afternoon to our ferry pick up point.

After nearly 2 hours of waiting we finally got on board for a magic 90 minute journey along yet another lake with distant views of a snow capped volcano  -a real treat !

All that remained after a long day on the go was a long high speed descent (15kms) on a narrow marked bike path.

The path included a whole range of hazards from large rocks to driveway washaways to horse crap to cars and pedestrians using the path !

I was incredibly lucky when at speed on one of the steepest sections I suffered a pinch flat after striking a large rock hidden in the shadows

I battled like crazy to react in a manner that didn't send me over the handle bars - first centralising the wildly swinging handlebars and then secondly feathering the brakes as my tyre quickly deflated to the rim !

Thankfully luck was on my side as I pulled up shaken but still in one piece on my bike !

With tube fixed I regrouped with the others for our ride into the small village of Choshuenco where we finally arrived at 7pm to complete a huge day !

It was time to celebrate our arrival back in Chile and my survival by taking in a round of drinks and enjoying the lovely lake side surrounds !

Start of the rough stuff !

Back in Chile - Waiting for our ferry 

Another Volcano

Looking back to San Martin

Kev wins Gold, Silver & Bronze !

As far as "one upmanships" are concerned the POM's are pretty damned good with one KJR Thomasson (aka Pommie Kev) certainly no different !

Only a few hours after discussing tour ending injuries over lunch PK decided that he"d go for glory with a double somersault complete with a backward half pike that would have impressed even the most hard arsed Russian Judge !

What differentiated PK's effort though was that his near tour ending performance was not on a bike but on a "non slip"' shower mat in his hotel room - surely an ignominous way to end his Patagonia adventure ! 

Thankfully though PK landed on his LBA (little boney arse) damaging only the shower curtain and his pride !

Our departure from Bariloche was not without its drama with both Julia and Kev reluctant to leave!  Julia because of her like for Bariloche chocolates and PK because of the plethora of micro brewery pubs serving (he reckoned) some of the best beers that he"d tasted outside of the UK - Obviously Australian quality !!!

Our car transfer to Angostura one hour Nth of Bariloche started off like a late night Porno with discussion centering around whether various orifices could be found. In reality we weren"t talking about anything of a sexual nature but about trying to locate our relevant seat belt receptacles in our pretty squeezy so called comfort car !

Outside of the lovely ski village of Angostura we jumped on our bikes to cycle 80kms of the very beautiful 7 lakes Route. The route is also a part of the famed Routa 40 that runs over 5,000 kms from Ushuaia in the South to Salta in the far north of Argentina !

Our journey took in some beautiful lakeside views on a lovely sunny day 

With the distance and regular undulations Julia at indicated that she was worried about whether the battery on her e-bike would last the day . Pk showed why their marriage has lasted 34 years by sympathetically turning around and saying .."Well dear you might just have to cycle" !!!

Lunch put us at the bottom of a steep climb where we spent most of our time discussing various trip ending injuries that we"d come across on previous tours !

11kms of fairly honest climbing followed after lunch before a magic descent (along with a heap of other Sunday cyclists) to Saint Martin alongside a lake shimmering in the late afternoon sun.

Checking into our hotel it was time to head into town via the beach side boardwalk for a well earned ice cream before enduring yet another amazing "meat fest" at night to finish off an incredible day !

Tea break

Beautiful lake views on the 7 Lakes route

 

Close to San Martin

Day end in San Martin

Barriloche - Rest Day !

This has got to be the first cycle adventure that I have been on where the loss of weight has become impossible despite the levels of hard core cycling activity !

It's not the cakes nor the fine Argentinian wine or beer from the numerous micro breweries that we've been to but the size and amount of meat that we"ve been eating in a country where the average person consumes over 55kgs annually !

With a little Henley ingenuity we"d accomplished a reasonable nights sleep prior to our rest day despite our Swedish style sauna ground room floor !

Kev solved the problem by opening our hallway door as well as our patio door allowing the strong breeze from Bariloche lake (about 10 metres away) to rip through our room cooling it down almost instantly ! 

The only problem though was that the resulting force 10 gale took most of our bedroom furniture with it while creating a semi cyclone in the hotel corridor !!!

With our ventilation problem sorted we started our rest day leaving our palatial hotel and journeying by bus with a frustrated Formula 1 driver to the foothill of the Campanario Chairlift. The chairlift took us up to a lookout with absolutely stunning views of Barriloche which we took in while jumping up and down on the spot to stay warm in the ice cold wind !

Back safely in Barriloche with our F1 drivers twin brother we jumped off in town to partake in our other favourite weight gaining past time - having Coffee and chocolate.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing in our lovely hotel before venturing out at night to a recommended steakhouse.

Here the meals were "gi-normous" ! 

After eating my "3 storey steak"" I staggered back to the hotel feeling like I was in imminent danger of giving birth to a cow !

Returning, Henley continued his ongoing education of our UK friends Kev and Julia (in between talking about his prostrate problem) with yet another famous Henleyism. When confirming a fact H replied "Does the Pope shit in the woods" ..."Is the Bear a. Catholic ! 

What hope has the world got !!!

Chocolate time Barriloche !

Main square Barriloche

Chairlift at Barriloche !

En route to Barriloche !

Beautiful views just outside Barriloche