Tuesday 11 December 2012

Day 157: Caleta Olivia to Sierra Grande, Argentina.

Hi everyone
Getting close now! It was another tough day in the wind today. We left Caleta Olivia with no regrets and headed north along a very poorly maintained road (a new one coming!) with a buckety rumpity westerly bashing us around. The air dam from the trucks as they rocket past in the opposite direction is physically punishing. We must have been in mad rush hour because we were sitting on 110-120kph and still being aggressively passed all the way.

We stopped in Comodoro Rivadavia for breakfast at a petrol station. We thought we were getting a toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and egg but we didn't. Something was lost in the translation because we got cold stale bread with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese. I could only manage half of mine it was so stodgy.

Not much else to do but head on up the road. Our petrol consumption is through the roof with the wind so we found ourselves stopping quite often for gas. The road was long and straight. The vegetation was pretty sparse and the wind was relentless.

We stopped for lunch at Trelaw which is supposedly a touristy sort of town with a Welsh heritage but we were in go-mode and just stopped for lunch. Just before we stopped I had a problem with my Nolan helmet. I tried to raise the chin piece as i rode along and as I lifted the lever it broke off and disappeared. As a result I can't get my flipface helmet to open. It is a real struggle to get it off and on. My poor ears! :-) so I am battling on with it and when I get to Buenos Aires it will go in the bin.

Ebony clocked over 50,000kms this afternoon and right on cue the headlight bulb blew. I should be grumpy with Mr BMW but to be fair the bike has gone brilliantly so far. Fingers (and other appendages) crossed.

So here we are at Sierra Grande, in a hotel and have just been out for a meal and a beer. I did my washing before we went out and it is now on the dryer. Whaddya reckon?


Got to us a ceiling fan for something! It looks quite nice up there slowly turning around.

So that's it folks. Hopefully a more gentle day tomorrow as we turn East and the wind is more behind us. 750kms tomorrow and then we should be in a good position to make Buenos Aires on Thursday. Bikes cleaned and with the shippers on Friday. A day of being a tourist in BA and then off to Orstralia early in Sunday. Arrive back in Welly at some terrible hour on the Monday. Goodie.

Today's run: 650kms
Cumulative: 40,554kms
Tipovers: 5

Location:Sierra Grande, Argentina

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