OverlandSphere » Going Overland

Youth Culture

Going Overland — Wed, 29 May 2013 23:37:25 +0000

A rare occurrence, I was reading the Sky Airlines in-flight magazine as I flew from Punta Arenas to La Serena, when I noticed the majority of the significant events being advertised for the South American countries served by Sky Airlines celebrated somewhat earlier generations. Charles Aznavour, aged 88, was scheduled to perform; at the age of 90 lead singer Omara…

The last ten days ….

Going Overland — Tue, 28 May 2013 23:30:13 +0000

… we have been occupied in Puerto Natales, getting ready for Paul to visit England during June and sourcing and ordering the parts needed for Landy’s repairs. The weather has been mostly overcast so we haven’t had the opportunity to see the nearby lake at its best – we hope to get the chance to do that when we come…

Crane Day

Going Overland — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:26:04 +0000

Heart in mouth time The bad news yesterday was that the recovery truck couldn’t recover Landy as it was not possible to winch him back on to the road. So the challenge increased to having to use a crane to get him back to town for repairs. Paul went off in the crane this morning at 8.30. It was a…

Axle woes

Going Overland — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:19:11 +0000

Driving in Torres del Paine National Park After being lulled to sleep by the wind crashing through the trees and mercilessly rocking our Landy below us it turned out to be a fairly warm night. This happy state continued this morning as we watched the sun rise over the mountains of Torres del Paine, the thermometer bravely reaching 9.7C. It…

Closing in on Torres del Paine

Going Overland — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:11:14 +0000

camping in Torres del Paine After returning to El Calafate we took advantage of the excellent local laundry to get our duvet jackets washed and post some postcards. This morning (Tuesday) we packed up and headed out of town, following Ruta 11, 40, 5, 7. 40 (again) until we crossed the border into Chile. The scenery along this route had…

Starry starry ….. morning?

Going Overland — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:07:50 +0000

Perito Merino Glacier We awoke and arose to stars in the sky – not how I normally like to view them, I much prefer to admire the stars before I go to sleep! Still, it did give us the rare opportunity to admire the sun rising on the snow capped mountains around us before the clouds settled over us firstly…

A mild case of piles

Going Overland — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:59:55 +0000

Landy gets his front diff piles from the welder. Well, the works’ done – the big hammer sorted out the steering rod. Paul fitted the diff back in place, put the wheels back on, etc, etc. On Wednesday we took Landy to the local soldadura, Roberto, who proudly told us he was of Italian descent. Anyway, the diff casing now…

It never rains but it pours in El Calafate

Going Overland — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:57:44 +0000

When we arrived at the campsite on Sunday afternoon we checked it was OK to do servicing and maintenance work on our truck. We were encouraged to see evidence that others before us had done the same. We were less encouraged by the campsite owner telling us El Calafate gets lots of rain. Parked up on site Paul set to…

Through the Rainbow

Going Overland — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:52:33 +0000

It had been a relatively quiet night. Nestled in the hollow of the campsite we would have been protected from the strength of the Patagonian winds – except overnight there were none! Typical!! The plan for today was to leave the campsite at 10.00 (the time we had to be out by) and then stop along the roadside for Paul…

Good luck, bad luck – who knows?

Going Overland — Sat, 04 May 2013 22:06:23 +0000

After an extremely restless night in which the car, tent and us inside, were buffeted and rocked by the legendary Patagonian high winds, the local farmer came along just as we were packing up this morning and told us we had camped on private property. Without any fences or signs we had no way of knowing that last night but…

The straight road

Going Overland — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:43:00 +0000

On the road to …… Leaving the Cave of Hands our next main destination will be the Perito Merino calving glacier near El Calafate, detouring on the way via nearby El Chalten to see the mountain scenery that makes this a popular summer tourist destination. From the town of Perito Merino Ruta 40 has been good straight tarmac, much of…

Cave of Hands

Going Overland — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:32:35 +0000

Cave of Hands First job this morning was to take advantage of being in town and stock up on some food. The small supermarket just about had what we needed and we were soon out on the road again. Our first planned stop was Cuevas de Manos – Cave of Hands – about 85 km south of Perito Merino. Turning…

Is there anything more frustrating ….

Going Overland — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:42:13 +0000

… than someone taking over reading your book? There I was, happily reading my copy of Margaret Attwood’s “The Blind Assassin” when Paul starts flicking through the opening chapter. At first I thought nothing of it: I usually read his books after he’s finished reading them – ex-SAS (or similar) hard man does good for society using his skills in…

What a difference a road makes!

Going Overland — Thu, 02 May 2013 22:22:26 +0000

Kicking up some dust. It was a cold morning, with evidence that temperatures had dropped below freezing overnight. However, the sun soon warmed us and the land and we set off from our campsite, marvelling at the rugged yet beautiful scenery. Even so, by midday there was still ice along the edges of the steams and, in one place, on…

Bronzed mountains

Going Overland — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:40:02 +0000

Carretera Austral scenery After our exploration of the southernmost part of the Carretera Austral, down as far as Puerto Yunguy, we headed back up to Cochrane again for the night. Leaving Cochrane today we pointed north again and then quickly turned east towards the border with Argentina. Another crossing, another set of stamps in the passports! As soon as we…

Little ripples

Going Overland — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:49:27 +0000

On the Carretera Austral The Carretera Austral continued to please us by being in a much better condition than we had come to expect from previous travellers. Sure, there are points where the corrugations get distinctly worse, notably on the corners, and in some places the corrugations are a little more like ruts and potholes, and the road is often…

We’ve made it!!!

Going Overland — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:00:53 +0000

We have reached our second antipodal point, with a massive cheer. We left Cochrane around mid-morning. Reading our map suggested it should not be too long a drive, although the narrow winding roads made it difficult to get a good time estimate. And then just a couple of hours down the road we made it. We were delighted to find…

Moving targets

Going Overland — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:09:24 +0000

Way back in the spring of 2010, when we were planning our ‘final’ circumnavigation route we used Google maps to locate two points exactly opposite each other to be our antipodal points. One was in north eastern Mongolia, the other on Ruta 7 in southern Chile. Imagine our horror in December 2012, when, having already visited our first antipodal point,…

Toyota attachment point

Going Overland — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:33:50 +0000

Toyota attached! “Toyota attachment point” I was reminded of this sticker today, usually seen on the back of a Land Rover, as we pulled up in front of an old Toyota truck, heavily laden with straw bales for animal feed or bedding, wedged into the ditch at the side of the road. The small man with the weather-beaten face was…

Closer still ….

Going Overland — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:03:29 +0000

…. to our second antipodean point that is. We have reached Cochrane, a small town of perhaps 1,000 people. Next stop – our second antipodean point. It seems we have been looking forward to this for so long. It’ll be relief and celebration all wrapped up together. First antipodean point – achieved September 2010 (was it really that long ago)…

Steer right!

Going Overland — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:50:03 +0000

Bush mechanics We woke to bright morning sunshine, welcome after a very cold night that had left our noses chilled as they poked out from under our duvet during the night. Our campsite proved to be just as delightful in the morning sunshine as it had been in the fire and moonlight. A few horsemen passed us by during the…

Fire by moonlight

Going Overland — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:30:12 +0000

Cuesta del Diablo After our brief stay in Coihaique we continued our route south, down the Carretera Austral, stopping briefly to take in the scenery overlooking the Cuesta del Diablo. Although the autumn leaves were falling thick and fast just a few hundred miles north east in Argentina only a week or so ago, here the colours of autumn are…

Getting closer

Going Overland — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:01:59 +0000

Scenery along the Carretera It seems to have been forever since we passed our last significant marker on our attempt at a true circumnavigation overland, which was our first crossing of the equator back in Ecuador. Within a few days we are due to be at our second antipodean point, and tonight we reached Coihaique, the nearest main town to…

A dusty house?

Going Overland — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:19:46 +0000

Even the car on the drive still remains buried in the ash at this house. Having stayed the night in Chaiten we took a look around the streets and the remains of this once provincial capital. Destroyed by volcanic eruption in 2008 it now stands as a sad shadow of its former glory. Many of the houses still stand as…

Reaching the Carretera

Going Overland — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 22:14:47 +0000

After our glorious autumnal campsite at the Argentinean border last night the border crossings back into Chile were quick and painless (the Chilean customs didn’t take any more of our food supplies), before we headed west towards the Carretera Austral. Where we joined the road (Ruta 7) at Villa Santa Lucia we decided we had time to head north first…

Two and a half years ….

Going Overland — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:31:00 +0000

…since I last saw autumn. Colours of autumn I am standing in the Rio Grande campsite, just 100 yards from the Argentinean border crossing that will take us back into Chile and on to the renowned Carretera Austral. In the background I can hear the steady sound of the turbulence of the river, no more than 30 yards away, while…

Back on the road again

Going Overland — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:34:31 +0000

At least we had a beautiful place to camp while Paul did his repair work. After our second attempt at leaving the El Bolson campsite we made it. We spent longer there than anticipated thanks to a little ‘bug’ which hit us both. However our first attempt at leaving was delayed when we stopped to get some printing and posting…

Miracles

Going Overland — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:17:32 +0000

The miracles of overlanding and LR contacts Well, we’re on the road again. After Paul’s return from work in the UK (and my stint in the laundry at Puerto Octay), and armed with new parts, Paul first caught up on some outstanding maintenance. Some things you just can’t anticipate. A couple of hundred kilometres down the road and there was…

Normal service will be resumed ….

Going Overland — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 01:20:31 +0000

Apologies if things have been a bit quiet on the blog front of late. We’ve been offline while we have been transferring hosting providers. Things have been a bit quiet here in Chile but we should be moving south very soon and REACHING OUR SECOND ANTIPODEAN POINT!!!!! *Big round of cheers*…

Vote NOW

Going Overland — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:20:32 +0000

Check out the 12 winners from 2012 and vote – you can ‘flick’ through the books online and get a good look at them all – the books are all great but obviously we hope we’ll get your vote! http://www.bobbooks.co.uk/bookshop/book-of-the-month…