The penguins were amazingly cute and we had a great time over there looking at the babies in the burrows and watching them diving in and out of the sea.
On our last evening in Punta Arenas I dragged Ian to stand in a big queue, we weren´t entirely sure what it was for, but you never know. We stayed in it for as long as Ian would let me (about 10 minutes as he was ready for his dinner). Went back an hour later just as the presidents of Argentina and Chile arrived. We had no idea why they were in Punta Arenas but everyone else was very excited. Except for the poor army band and 100 troops that had been stood for 2 hours doing nothing.
The following day we set off to start cycling to Puerto Natales. We decided it would be a fantastic and fun idea to start cycling at 4am. Which was nice. Fortunately this meant there was no wind and no traffic. We made good progress for a a fair few miles but after a short break the winds arrived. Struggling to cycle at just 5mph was not much fun so we gave up and camped at some abandoned estancia. We had a lovely view over a lake and a friendly fox to entertain us. The following morning was another 4am start and we should have talked about this more quietly. The winds obviously found out and started promptly at 4:01am. It took us 4 hours to cycle 17 miles and then a nother 8 hours to push them a further 10 miles through 100mph winds.
During this torturous time Gemma had decided to go home, to divorce me, to kick the hell out of the bike and to have few tumbles - which made me laugh. I was punished for this by being quite literally thrown off the bike and dumped in a heap on a nice pile of gravel. Gemma laughed back.
After being punished enough we were rescued by "Juan Tres". This lovely man drove us all the way to Puerto Natales in just 2 hours. Saving us about 8 days of pushing, crawling, dragging and cursing.
Having finally arrived in Puerto Natales we have decided not to tackle the wind any more, there is no point. We are now going to spend a week trekking around Torres del Paine and then try to hide our bikes on a couple of buses to get out of here.
Thanks for all the comments!
Lots of love gemma and Ian x
5 comments:
oh you poor pets, I hope you can pick up the pace soon. Have a great week off hiking, love AMS$F
Thanks for the email. Sounds like the winds are really bad. Is that normal or just cos you're there? Glad to hear that the natives are freindly and offer lifts - hows the spanglish coming on? Are you able to talk or mainly sign language? Take care both of you. Keep up the postings! Love Dad(2)
Hiya you two!! I hope the winds calm down soon and you can get some miles in without such a fight! Love the pics! Keep your chins up! Love and a hug
Sarah and Joe xxx
Thinking of you both - it's great to see your pics topo - more video please! All my love, Mum (2)
Hi Ian and Gemma hope you are having a great time and that you got our email please could you bring me a penguin back they are so cute!!!love Ella
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