Photo Album: Two Hands-Full Days
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It wasn't a good omen to start the day with a trip to the police station, to collect the police report, for the theft of our properties from our car the day before.
Other guests in the hotel offered us solace over breakfast, and we felt a whole lot better, and determined to push ahead, after all, we still have more than 3 weeks ahead, and great places to visit.
By the time we fueled up, replenished the lost foods and snacks from the supermarket, it was after 11. We got onto the 90Km dirt road to rejoin RN40 continuing north.
RN40 from here onwards, has turned into a dirt road, simply stone dirt, very hard on the tyres.
130 Km out from El Chalten at Tres Lagos, I was debating whether to refuel, the next known fuel stop would be Gobernator Gregories, 170 Km away, which was well within the range, then another drink at Bajo Caracoles, 180 Km later, would see us through to our intended destination for today, Cueva de las Manos, an UNESCO Heritage site for ancient hand prints. So I thought !
Then this bikie turned up, just coming in from the north, and announced that there were no fuel at the Gobernator Gregories I was thinking of, they ran out ! He came through with the last fill from Bajo Baracoles, only just!
He saved the day, So the decision was simple, fuel up here would be absolutely necessary, then refuel at Bajo Baracoles, before heading into Cueva de las Manos. No brainer, right!
The big cross wind picked up again, making aiming very difficult if you know what I mean. It was a 5 hour hop to Bajo Caracoles, all on RN40, no discount.
And this is absolutely wilderness, not a soul to be seen other than the odd pass trucks or cars, usually SUVs or 4wds. Also, quite a few bikers.
And the road condition continued to be challenging for the inexperienced, fortunately my Australian outback skill came into handy.
Before arriving at Bajo Caracoles, I was still debating whether it would be necessary to fuel up for Cueva de las Manos, as it is only a 100 Km return trip, and I would be back here tomorrow sometime to continue north on RN40.
When I saw the queue of bikes and cars waiting at the fuel pump at Bajo Caracoles, I decided to pull in and find out. Then a bikie with a German accent ran towards me yelling at something, knocked on my window and almost in a gesture of begging, asking if I could spare a few litres of petrol for him. What ?! No fuel !!??
Before I can promise him anything, I went in to the Hotel to enqire.
At that point, the German had disappeared, someone must have gave him something, only a few liters would last them a long distance.
Another bikie approached me, this time an Aussie . Rick and I talked and I told him honestly, I had to weight up my options. We both agreed to stay for night and to work out what's best.
I actually did not mind giving a few liters away if whatever I had would not be able to get me anywhere anyway.
We checked into the only local hostel, which is really a shanty hut anyway, the shower was leaking and no hot water, the doors creaking etc., but the boss was very friendly and tried his best to please, which was excellent. A couple of 4x4 and campers stayed and camped next to the bowser, hoping to pickup fuel and leave in the morning too.
This place, in the middle of western Patagonia, looked every bit like the set of a Clint Eastwood western movie, all it needed was some gun slinging cowboys, instead of fuel deprived motorists.
Rick called in early in the morning to tell me that he's got some from some other cars that stayed, though I was ready to surrender mine to him. With that, then I decided to skip Cueva de las Manos, and change my route to cut into Chile from west of Bajo Caracoles, instead of from further north per the original plan.
Cochrane of Chile is only 200Km from here, with the remaining fuel, it is possible, but just. Assuming that the road condition is not worse than that of RN40.
It was still all quiet at the fuel pump front, then I learned from one of the other camper drivers, that it is not usual to wait for a couple of days for fuel when they ran out, he has resigned to that already, that's why he was giving them away to bikies. The fuel pump manager did not even turn up !
So it was decision time, I took the gamble to run for Cochrane, the shorter alternative, but still tight. And we left, took on Rt 41 gong west towards Chile.
The first few kilometers was newly sealed road, which gave me more confidence.
I was in bliss with the snow capped Andes in the distance.
Then the road went back to dirt, and corrugated. My heart sank but still optimistic, driving with fuel economy in mind, steadily.
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| Lago Ghio coming into view.
As the car was descending the steep, narrow and winding roads along side Lago Ghio, suddenly a herd of Guanacos dashed from the hill top, and crossed in front of my car. I had to brake hard, the car swerved and the front wheel hit a rock hard. After righting the car, I continued down the steep hill, and felt the drive was not right.
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The decision was made to drive the car the 2 or 3 km down to level ground, before anything could be done.
By the time I reached safe ground, the wheel had become like a Mad Max prop, totally wrecked.
The first thought that came to my mind, was, we were half way between two remote places, god knows how far the border post could be, and in the two hours since leaving Bajo Caracoles, only one car overtook me, and none came from the opposite direction. Looks like we are going to be cooked under the sun, whilst waiting for help.
On the positive side was, I could use the Satellite Becon to signal for help, which was what it was brought for, and who knows how responsive the Argentinian would be, and what resources they may have nearby, and how near ? And fortunately we had some snacks and water to last us through the day, but nothing for the cold night !! And it could be quite cold at this late summer time.
The I calmed down, first thing first, let me trying changing the wheel if it is possible.
And miraculously, the wheel came off easily, so far so good, then the wheel axle or bearing should be fine, nothing seemed bent.
After putting on the spare wheel and drove on, it was fine, no funny sound or difficulties. All that left was the question, would this last until Cochrane, with no spare wheel? plus the possible fuel shortage?
I certainly had my hands-full at this stage, with the theft of our bags just the day before, now this !!!
All very perplexing, but onward we must go.
And the beautiful scenery help to off load these worries.
It took over an hour to get to the Roballo border post of Argentina.
While being stamped out of Argentina, another two cars arrived, a Canadian group which carried their own jerry cans. Upon explaining to them, of our predicament, they agreed to not overtake us until Rt 7 on the Chilean side, so if we were in trouble, they could lend a hand.
A few kilometers down the road, we got stamped into Chile without any problems, except, they were very thorough and strict with quarantine searches. There were no issues as we were now, experienced !
It must be said that on the Chilean side, the road condition seemed a fair bit better than the Argentine side, dirt road, but less pot holes and corrugations.
We waved goodbye to our trailing companions, the two SUVs with Canadian travelers which followed us from the border post, just in case we needed help, when we reached Austral Rt 7, the main north-south highway in Southern Chile.
With 18 Km to Cochrane, I now know that fuel should not be a problem, as the warning night only just come on intermittently for a couple of Kms, from experience, I know we should have enough fuel for another 50 Km or so with careful driving.
We were now driving along side and above Rio Baker towards Cochrane.
Half an hour or so later, we were there, the "Ultimate" ( Last ) Frontier, gave us a taste of what to expect.
But the first order on arrival, was to look for a replacement spare wheel. After a couple of false starts, we finally ran into an army officer, who pointed us to the direction of a mechanical repair shop.
The shop looked like a junk yard, but there was a 4wd camper being worked with, with a couple of people crawling underneath.
A young boy came out, and tried to understand what I wanted, he went in and came out a few minutes later, with an old wheel. We measured it up, NO, the size was right, but there were 5 bolt holes instead of six. I think he was trying to explain to me, that it was impossible to get a new one here in this town.
Soon, he went underneath the 4wd camper and asked, probably the boss and chief mechanics, who was too busy and wasn't too interested. I got a little worried !
But out come from underneath the car another man of about 30s, who introduced himself, in English, as the owner of the 4wd camper, which he took from Canada to here over the last eight months. a Canadian himself and his partner. They were having trouble with their suspension, and he was helping the mechanic to fix it.
He was happy to be our translator, and explained to the boss what we needed. The boss then went searching around his pile of old wheel rims, after a few tries, came up with one, that fitted but wider by an inch. I thought that shouldn't be a problem as a spare wheel at least.
So the young assistant and us went to a nearby spare part shop, and bought a new tyre, just before it closed. It was the best possible solution at this "Last Frontier" location.
After it was fitted, we thanked our Canadian friends, and went searching for our lodging for the night, with only a vague plan for the next day.
The new wheel seemed to work well, despite being an inch wider than the rest.
So we ended this two days of one hiccup after another, plus the theft from our car in El Chalten just two days ago, it certianly was hands-full.
But that's part of the fun of adventure traveling !! One takes the good and the bad.
On the positive side was, I could use the Satellite Becon to signal for help, which was what it was brought for, and who knows how responsive the Argentinian would be, and what resources they may have nearby, and how near ? And fortunately we had some snacks and water to last us through the day, but nothing for the cold night !! And it could be quite cold at this late summer time.
The I calmed down, first thing first, let me trying changing the wheel if it is possible.
And miraculously, the wheel came off easily, so far so good, then the wheel axle or bearing should be fine, nothing seemed bent.
After putting on the spare wheel and drove on, it was fine, no funny sound or difficulties. All that left was the question, would this last until Cochrane, with no spare wheel? plus the possible fuel shortage?
I certainly had my hands-full at this stage, with the theft of our bags just the day before, now this !!!
All very perplexing, but onward we must go.
And the beautiful scenery help to off load these worries.
It took over an hour to get to the Roballo border post of Argentina.
While being stamped out of Argentina, another two cars arrived, a Canadian group which carried their own jerry cans. Upon explaining to them, of our predicament, they agreed to not overtake us until Rt 7 on the Chilean side, so if we were in trouble, they could lend a hand.
A few kilometers down the road, we got stamped into Chile without any problems, except, they were very thorough and strict with quarantine searches. There were no issues as we were now, experienced !
So far the car traveled well, fuel seemed to be in the range as estimated.
We are are approaching the Andes that sits along side if not dividing Argentina and Chile, the scenery slowly became more mountainous, but we did not see any flamingos as promised for the this stretch of the road, perhaps it was not the season for it. With limited fuel, we did not dare venture off the side roads to look for them.
It must be said that on the Chilean side, the road condition seemed a fair bit better than the Argentine side, dirt road, but less pot holes and corrugations.
With 18 Km to Cochrane, I now know that fuel should not be a problem, as the warning night only just come on intermittently for a couple of Kms, from experience, I know we should have enough fuel for another 50 Km or so with careful driving.
We were now driving along side and above Rio Baker towards Cochrane.
Half an hour or so later, we were there, the "Ultimate" ( Last ) Frontier, gave us a taste of what to expect.
But the first order on arrival, was to look for a replacement spare wheel. After a couple of false starts, we finally ran into an army officer, who pointed us to the direction of a mechanical repair shop.
The shop looked like a junk yard, but there was a 4wd camper being worked with, with a couple of people crawling underneath.
A young boy came out, and tried to understand what I wanted, he went in and came out a few minutes later, with an old wheel. We measured it up, NO, the size was right, but there were 5 bolt holes instead of six. I think he was trying to explain to me, that it was impossible to get a new one here in this town.
Soon, he went underneath the 4wd camper and asked, probably the boss and chief mechanics, who was too busy and wasn't too interested. I got a little worried !
But out come from underneath the car another man of about 30s, who introduced himself, in English, as the owner of the 4wd camper, which he took from Canada to here over the last eight months. a Canadian himself and his partner. They were having trouble with their suspension, and he was helping the mechanic to fix it.
He was happy to be our translator, and explained to the boss what we needed. The boss then went searching around his pile of old wheel rims, after a few tries, came up with one, that fitted but wider by an inch. I thought that shouldn't be a problem as a spare wheel at least.
So the young assistant and us went to a nearby spare part shop, and bought a new tyre, just before it closed. It was the best possible solution at this "Last Frontier" location.
After it was fitted, we thanked our Canadian friends, and went searching for our lodging for the night, with only a vague plan for the next day.
The new wheel seemed to work well, despite being an inch wider than the rest.
So we ended this two days of one hiccup after another, plus the theft from our car in El Chalten just two days ago, it certianly was hands-full.
But that's part of the fun of adventure traveling !! One takes the good and the bad.
Next Post : Day 20 - 21 Austral Rt7 Chile - Tortel to Coyhaique
Other Posts: Index - 2013 Argentina-Chile self drive.
Other Posts: Index - 2013 Argentina-Chile self drive.
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