In a way we were happy to be leaving Ushuaia...I think the relentless wind and cold weather was starting to become somewhat of a nuisance and the prospect of getting to some warmer temperatures up the coast was high on everyone´s priorities.
After spending some time at Hostel Argentino in Rio Grande we took off north with the aim of reaching Buenos Aires within 8 days...this meant that we had to harden up our behinds and pump out some serious long days of riding. We split from two of the other bikes who had be riding with us over the past 2 weeks, Alex and Stuart, who were heading up on the west coast, but spent the next two days heading up Ruta 3 (major route up the east coast) with Helmut, Martin and Lauren before heading off further north on our own again. The time spent traveling with the other bikes has definately been one of the highlights on the trip so far...who knows purhaps we´ll meet some others as we continue up through Brazil, Boliva and Peru.
Estancia Paloma
The long days on the road tested both the riders and the bikes, but both seemed to handle the conditions quite well. New tires where fitted in Trelew, as well as a suspension lift for Matteo and Kate´s bike which was the first big purchase for the Kawa´s but I think everyone was happy with the effort the old Dunlops had put in! The shop that sorted us out for all this was a called Adventura Motos. We would all recommend swinging in here if you need any work done in this area, the crew was very helpful and the prices quite reasonable.
Adventura Motors crew
10mm shorter swingarm link...35mm extra clearance
Puerto Madryn and the near by Peninsula Valdes/ Puerto Piramides was a great resting spot for a couple of days before continuing north. Long hot days, beaches, and cold beers was bliss after coming from Tierra Del Fuego. A day spent riding around the Peninsula was definitely a highlight with large numbers of penguins, sea lions, elephant seals and fur seals around for viewing...we even caught a glimps of some passing orcas. In this area, they are known to beach themselves on shore to capture sea lions and elephant seals...unfortunately we weren´t so lucky to seen this.
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Piramides - Penninsula Valdez
Leaving Peninsula Valdes we put in a solid 720km days riding to reach Bahia Blanca, a town of 300.000 people. We pulled up in a small hotel here to rest for a few days and soak in some of the Argentine city lifestyle. From here the next stop is Mar del Plata, a popular sea side holiday spot for locals, before heading up to BA to meet up with Dave´s family for christmas.
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