As I rode my bike south for what might be the last time, I remembered as a child of 9 diving into the deep end of the diving pool with the aim of touching the bottom. Here I was 40 years later in near freezing conditions driving my bike to the bottom to touch the end of a continent. It was now time for us to return to the surface for air or in our case head north again to warmer weather. For some of us Ushuaia marks the end of the missions objective to ride as far south as we can. We have touched the bottom, we have the stamp and sticker, now we head home.
Ushuaia claims to be the southernmost city in the world and today we have reached this destination. There are certainly points south of here that one would claim to be the southernmost settlement, such as Puerto William (Chile) the main marine port for those hardy yachties that sail around Cape Horn. The lonely planet (Chilean version) recommends a visit there however the logistics of doing this are not easy with further border clearances complicating this.
Ushuaia (Sadly) also marks the point in which our team splits, Gareth and Jo are only half way through their schedule, they continue with their journey up the east coast exploring the various settlements of Argentina. Brendon, Tony and Chris now head north to the bike loading spot of Santiago. Santiago was the original export location but this changed along with our plans to ride Chile when the earthquake hit. In the last day or two we have had clarification from our friends in Santiago and fellow riders that all services are operating again in Chile and route 5 is open. This has now swung from what was a Buenos Aires exit point back to the original Santiago exit point. The chopping and changing of an exit point and even routes have at times been frustrating for the team especially when you have some specific interest in mind, however that is the nature of an adventure of this kind.
Still I am writing this as if it is over, it is far from over as we now have 3330 km to cover, many of these kms in similar conditions to those that we have hated the most. So I can’t promise you too many new photo’s as we head north but please enjoy the latest shots.
Regards
Tony A
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