After waiting for a couple of days for the weather to settle down we headed north and retraced our wheel tracks back through Tierra Del Fuego heading for Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine National Park. The ride north consisted of the usual wind, rain,and snow. Coming over the snowy pass from Ushuaia we came across two riders from Brazil, one of whom had binned his bike on the ice and snow. No damage done to rider or bike but they had never experience ice before, so it came as a bit of a shock.


We spent the night in Rio Grande then crossed the boarder into Chile the next day at San Sebastian. A quick and calm crossing of Magallane Straights and it was on to Punta Arenas for the night. Next day was a long hard whack into a head wind to get to Puerto Natales. A bit of a nothing town, but it is the gateway to the Park. We had been advised to leave the bike and do the trip in the park in a mini van which turned out a good idea as the road was terrible and the winds strong and cold coming off the snowy peaks . In true South American style we were the last to be picked up and ended up sitting backwards behind the driver watching where we had come from and watching everyone else watching where we were going. You had to laugh.

Every vehicle on this road had cracked windows, not from stones but from the flexing of the vehicles on the corrugations etc. At times it felt like a we were in a washing machine. Auto shops do a brisk business over here.

It was a great day out and the park is really something. With  different views of the mountains at every turn in the road. The wildlife was fantastic, Fox, Condor etc, but we have yet to see a Puma. They are about but you would be very lucky person to see one in the wild.

From the park we visited the massive cave where, at the turn of the century, the complete remains of a large, Sloth like creature was found, complete with hair etc, also human remains were found in the same cave suggesting they all lived here at the same time. An interesting place in deed.

Tomorrow we cross back into Argentina and continue north.