Live feed from woollypigs.com a pootling tourist's point of view on cycle touring
Battling with Mother Nature, and a wheely annoying surprise
Posted on Sunday February 05, 2012
Porvenir, Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales 30th Jan – 4th Feb 2012. 60Km (Total 690Km cycled) Highlights: Steak, wind, broken spokes, veggie curry, cake and meeting other cycle tourers. Day 18, 19, 20 – 30th Jan. to the 3rd Feb. 2012 – Goodbye Tierra del Fuego. We had two days off in the little town of Porvenir. But, since WiFi wasn’t working in the town at all and there wasn’t much to Porvenir in terms of amenities, we decided to jump on the boat to Punta Arenas. We arrived rather too early at the tiny port only to find that the restaurant we’d planned to wait at was shut. Undeterred, we set about cooking up a storm on our trusty Trangia, and were soon eating some hot rice. While waiting to embark we met an American couple, Christi and Tauru, who were cycling almost same route north as us and who who enthusiastically forced biscuits on us (we like them). They are both legally blind and riding a tandem with a trailer. They’re a very inspiring couple who entertained us with tales of their ride from Ushuaia. They’d taken the same Bella Vista route as us, so we had fun comparing notes. Their excellent website ...
Hilleberg Kaitum 3GT
Posted on Wednesday February 01, 2012
We may not have used this tent for long, but with one week on Exmoor and two weeks in Tierra del Fuego, it's already been through quite a lot of what nature is able to throw at it weather-wise.
The Fuegian Road Less Travelled
Posted on Wednesday February 01, 2012
Highlights: leaving Rio Grande, the flight of the condors, wind, guanacos, Chilean border crossing, wind, illegal garlic, epic night-riding, wind, never-ending ripio, wild camping, and did we mention the wind?
Sporked
Posted on Wednesday February 01, 2012
This post is in homage to our friend Emily who is making her way from London eastwards around the world. The last time I heard she was cycling her way through Iran, mostly staring glumly at her morning porridge, since she has lost her trusty friend, the Spork.
Leaving Ushuaia
Posted on Thursday January 19, 2012
Ushuaia – Tolhuin – Rio Grande, 14/01/2012 – 17/01/2012. 297Km (Total 297Km cycled) Highlights: great views over Ushuaia as we left; our first passport control; wild camping and tasty camp food; meeting other cycle tourists heading south on the last leg of their journeys; heeding warnings about the wind and learning about what’s ahead. Heading out of Ushuaia isn’t the most scenic route, but after the police checkpoint it all changed. Rolling hills and great views of the mountains made it a pleasant ride, though a bit hard on our untrained legs that haven’t seen much cycling in the last few months. So much for going to a training camp. Not many miles into our ride we spotted Lucas from Switzerland zooming towards us and Ushuaia. He’d started in Quito and was sad to be reaching the end of his wonderful bike ride. It is great to meet such friendly faces on the road with whom you already have so much in common, and to share information about the route ahead and places to camp and eat. We climbed over the Garibaldi Pass which we found quite tough so early in the tour, but if you had some miles in your legs ...
