This cow gate had a surprise in the middle for some reason, and Brando had the misfortune to ride into it and get the bike hung up on the bash plate--luckily he was going slowly and no damage.

Caiman could be transplanted from the English countryside.

Petrified forest at the end of 30 miles of dirt.

Brando and a petrified tree, there were thousands and no guards, and no one else there.

Lots of overlanders have obviously passed by this way in a Tierra del Fuego gas station.

Queues for gas are common, especially on the first day of a 4-day long weekend, note the 6WD Scania camper from France, a single woman driving this beast around the world and she said it cost her over 1 million to have custom built!

The Welsh settled village of Caimans, Argentina is a little bit of Wales, they even speak Welsh after many generations, similar to the Amish communities preserving their roots.

Long way home from Ushuaia.

Cold and wet, but satisfying to make it to Ushuaia, on the famous Beagle Channel.

Tierra del Fuego landscape.

Puerto Madryn, Argentina

December 8

It's been a quiet few days since I last posted any updates, primarily because, a) I have been stuck riding in the support van with my bike while riding with the group vicariously; and b) there has been very little of note to see or comment about on a daily basis.

Since my last posting on Dec 3rd, we have been heading north along the coast for a few thousand kilometers heading towards Buenos Aires. Gas continues to be hit or miss because of the distribution problems here. Often stations are completely out, or they have long queues if they have any. Today being the first day of a holiday 4-day weekend, many stations that had fuel had long lines.

The coastal Ruta 3 in Argentina is mostly barren, gravelly landscape with the odd glimpse of the ocean. The road only occasionally bends. The winds on most days are very strong and the pavement has deep depressions on the travelled portion where the heavy trucks have squashed down the asphalt. They don't seem to build much of a base, just pave over the sand. The highway is all paved but bleak.

We have seen many guanaco, larger cousin of the vicuna which we saw in the north. They roam in herds and would be the equivalent of deer at home. In addition, there are lots of big, orange billed ibis, pink flamingos, flocks of emus, and sheep, thousands of sheep nibbling on the sparse grasses.

The hotels we have been staying in have been quite plain, usually the best and only ones in town. The towns are hundreds of kilometers apart and usually exist to support the oil industry or sheep farming. They are actually windswept, dusty places where few tourists stop, and if they do it is just for a place to sleep.

Alan and Brando decided to go off route a bit and visit a petrified forest 30 km west of the road along a gravel track. They only saw one other vehicle on the road and when they arrived at the park they were the only ones there. They said it was amazing, thousands of large trees in the middle if the barren plain that had turned to stone. No one was guarding it, the relics seemed to be just taken for granted. This could be a major tourist draw, but you really had to look around to even know it is there.

We also visited a Welsh village called Gaiman which was settled about a century ago by Welsh immigrants. The houses are brick of typical Welsh style, the streets all have English names and many of the signs are written in the Welsh language. Apparently the kids there still learn it as a second language in school. Brendan the van man is from Wales and had a great time talking to the locals while we were having high tea at one of the many tea houses there.

The tires on the bikes are getting very close to the end of their life, about 5 have already been replaced. We are down to using the used tires from earlier on in the trip that had issues with them to get us the last 1400 km to Buenos Aires. There is a glimmer of hope we can scrounge some tires at the Horizons Unlimited South America meeting in Viedma on Saturday, but no guarantee. Marks clutch seems to be holding up as he is only using it now for first gear while pulling away. Peter and Rhonda's servo issues have had a temp fix by bypassing the sensor switch which seems to be faulty. So right now, after we spend two nights here, we only have two long days of riding to get everyone in. The van can only carry two bikes and any more and we will need to rent a truck to get bikes home.

Tomorrow six are going out in a Zodiac to go killer whale watching in the bay. This bay is reputed to be one of the best places in the world to see them. We are told that there is a beach a few miles north of town where the whales actually surf up onto the beach to catch a sea lion and then slide back with the next wave which is unique in the world. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to witness this for ourselves.