On the road - at last

The 2CV Tango - David Hall and Helen Brookes - BroughtonHouse - 27/10/17

If you want la aventura

Then take a tip from me

The proper way to travel, is by 2CV

If you ever need to fix it, it shouldn't be too hard, 

Just use a bit of string, or a piece of biscuit tin

And the hubs are greased with lard

There's more where that came from - but I'll drip-feed it to you! 

When I last wrote, I was very fed up. I had no car, and wasn't sure when I was going to get one. All that changed (I like to think it was the crying) on the morning of the 10th November, when I was summoned to the docks, Osvaldo opened the container doors, with a flourish, and there was little Modestine, looking as good as when I last saw her in September 

Looks can be deceptive, however, and she wouldn't start. Turned out to be no fuel, but that came with a price: a dried out fuel pump. Most of you - via the wonder that is Facebook - will know that the 10th was a long day, and that el mechanico was my saviour, fitting a new fuel pump (electric, I'll have you know!) by teatime. Too late for me to leave, but at last I had a working car. Ecstatic doesn't come near to describing how I felt

The 11th dawned wet and gloomy - time to leave. I filled up my two jerrycans, and the tank, and we finally left Ushuaia for good. Tierra del Fuego is enormous, but we were soon at the border with Chile, and - after a false start due to me not getting enough stamps on my important piece of paper, I encountered my first "ripio". This is earth, set like corrugated iron, with gravel strewn over it. It is shocking stuff, and I thought my teeth were going to fall out, and Modestine's wings fall off, so severe was the rattling. It went on for miles and miles, and it was raining, then - out of the mist, appeared three 2cvs, going like the clappers - on some sort of rally, I think. It was bizarre. It ended eventually, at the ferry across the Magellan Straits, and that was it for day one

Since then, I have covered 1000+ miles, across some of the most amazing scenery I have ever encountered.. Ruta 40 is long, undulating, straight, and almost completely empty, so there is plenty of time to enjoy the views. The skies seem to go on forever, in a very strange 3D way that is difficult to describe, the lakes are a vivid turquoise, and the rivers are large, and pale blue. The landscape changes all the time, but today I saw the reddest soil I have ever seen, with silvery bushes, and guanacos strolling through it. Awesome! The best bit was coming round a corner, on the 11th., to the Andes, viewed across a huge valley, stretching across the entire horizon - majestic, snowy, and - words fail me! 

El Chalten was a highlight - Cerro Torre, and Fitzroy both completely cloud-free, towering over the village. The following morning there was low cloud, and no one could have guessed that they were there. I was so lucky

Last night I stayed on an estancia, owned by a frenchman. We ate in the shearing shed, surrounded by puma pelts, and all sorts of sheep paraphernalia. The food was delicious, the wine flowed freely, as did the conversation, and I slept like a log in my antique french bed, with the wind howling outside, and the horses grazing a few feet away

Today I re-entered Chile, and, exiting  through the Argentinian customs, I was shown a photo of Modestine, in Ushuaia, with her bonnet up, that had been texted to them by a colleague there! They'd  been waiting for me - I think I'm their version of Where's Wally?!! 

Tomorrow morning is my first day on the Carretera Austral. It is all ripio, across the Andes and down the other side, which is apparently tight, safety barrier free,  hairpins. It will probably take forever. It sounds fantastic, and I can't wait to get started. I am hoping for a puncture free day!

Ben is joining me on the 20th., having put his arrival off by a week, so I'm looking forward to that, but - For now -  la aventura continues, sola ......