Click here for photos from this day. End of first long day in Argentina. It’s been an interesting one, culminating in me sitting in a bean-bag chair working on my 3.40 peso beer – A delicious 1 liter bottle Quilmes Cristal. That works out to about $1.25 CDN. That’s more like it! In the room, a german, couple Scots, and a Dutch guy, all enjoying a couple bottles of red wine. Flashback to arrival in BsAs. No problem getting through customs. Off to baggage claim. World’s slowest conveyor belt. Time passes. I finally get my backpack. Wait another eternity, no 2nd backpack! Oh shit. Yup, somehow, Jody’s bag never made it. Bad news. Sadly, not a hell of a lot we can do. Report is filed, but I’m not holding my breath. We manage to navigate buses downtown, and check into our hostel. the tiredness doesn’t help. We shower and re-group. Personally, I say it’s all part of the adventure, but with no clothes and toilettries, Jody may not agree. Luckly, stuff is relatively cheap. I think the new plan is to replace and move on. We’ve got the toilettries replaced, which is a good start. We move on to a preliminary exploration. BsAs is a big city. Compared to Lima, Peru, BsAs clearly has more wealth. I’ll reserve additional comparisons between the two nations until I see more of this country, but at first blush, it would appear Argentines are a bit better off. That’s if for now, gotta finish my beer and hit the hay. It’s been a long 29 hours.
You may also like
08/02/08
Hello friends from around the world. Today I made my way over Haast Pass, the lowest of the passes from west to east over the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Whew, it had some tough parts. Although the overall pass was only 564m, the first section was a killer, as everyone I encountered has agreed. I’m glad that I opted to do it in 2 days rather than only one, as now I can enjoy a leisurely ride in to Wanaka, and hopefully be there by mid-day. I’m hoping that once there, I can find a bar televising the Coast to Coast race, and I’ll then proceed to drink and cheer on all the local athletes rather than competing in it myself 🙂 I chose to play a bit of a tourist myself today, opting to do all the side trails on the way to Makarora, in order to break up my day and not finish off too early, which believe me, would be boring here in Makarora. Know what’s here? Nothing. Just the ‘resort’ I’m staying at, and a DOC information center, which I spent 40 minutes at already chatting about tracks around here. Anyway, read on for a bit more about the day and what it held for me. I also have a pile of pictures on the map for you to check out.
03/02/08
Hello everyone out there! SuperSickSteve here reporting again, this time from his sick bed. Yup, I’m still going downhill. Today, I’ve had a nice little fever and aching joints and running nose and plugged throat all day! It’s really fantastic! Not! In spite of this, I managed to post my longest day yet, clocking over 105km on the bike to get to Whataroa, where I’m reporting to you live from a caravan, or RV if you will. Yup, for 23.50 (I got a deal) I have a little aluminum box all to myself for the night. Two beds, a toaster, a water pot, and electricity. Sadly, no Internet. However, given the on and off pouring rain and the cold temps outside, I’d say I’m doing all right despite the fact that I’m in a little tiny village along the glacier highway. Today was a good riding day for the first 75 or so km, then it got really tough for me. Not just because of Mount Hercules, but due to a group of cycle tourists known as Pedaltours. Read on for more, and check out the map.
17/03/08
Yes, I realize that it’s St. Patrick’s Day, and you may have been expecting an appropriately themed blog post from me as a result. Well, sorry to disappoint, but after the weekend debauchery, I haven’t touched a drop on this, one of the holiest beer days. I just didn’t have it in me. Rather, I was carrying on with my trip, now heading back into the mountains of Arthur’s Pass. Tonight I’m staying in NZ’s first hostel for the night, and tomorrow I’ll be doing a full day of hiking before getting back onto the train bound for Christchurch. The journey today took me right from one coast to the other, in what would probably have taken me at least a couple days. The train was quite comfortable, but I’ve gotta be honest, doing nothing all day is a pain in the ass. I was nodding off several times due to lack of stimulation. However, I’m getting ahead of myself. Do read on and check out the day’s map for full gory details of the trip, and my attempt at physical activity at the end of the journey.
19/02/08
Just thought I’d let you all know that for the first time in the entire trip, there are no pictures, or maps, or really any stories to tell you for the day. Yup, I took the day off. Fully. I did laundry, did lots of Internet-y things, ran some errands in town, and even hired a movie to watch. Popped up some popcorn, and watched it in the late afternoon before the kids got home. Once Julia and Mark got in, I took them out for some Mexican food for supper. Tomorrw, I start the day with a ride on the historic TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamer to get to a gravel road that will take me to the Mavora Lakes where I plan to camp for the night. Day after that, on to Te Anau, and my day trip to Milford. However, you’ll read about those things in due time, so there! Hope you all enjoyed your day off for Family Day as much as I did for my Recovery Day!! 🙂