Posts Tagged Ushuaia
Posted on April 11, 2012 by angela
We had grand plans of driving all the way north off the island in one day. We had a long way to go and a short time to get there (for some reason, we watched Smokey and the Bandit in Ushuaia so this is in our head). And, we had 2 borders to cross. Still, we made time for a long detour to see the shipwreck Desdemona.
In the end, it was an amazing find. We only had an hour or so to explore before the tide came in. Dangerous, holey and tetanus-y. But really, when there is a rusty old shipwreck to climb all over, who isn’t having fun?
In all, our little detour took us at least 4 hours. Needless to say, we didn’t make it off the island.
Posted on April 10, 2012 by angela
We were really excited about reaching Ushuaia, but didn’t commemorate it like our friends. Between the mohawks and the Tierra del Fuego foot tattoos, they’re sure not going to forget this accomplishment.
We celebrated our arrival at El Fin del Mundo and M.C.’s birthday with a fancy dinner. Bode talked us into celebrating his birthday a few weeks early, too.
Those who had done most of their journey on 2 wheels left on a flight to Buenos Aires. The Volkswagens headed north for the first time in a long while.
Posted on April 9, 2012 by angela
Ushuaia is the southernmost town on our route – and the destination we’ve been telling people for years. But, it’s possible to drive just a bit farther south. “Ruta J” leads out through Estancia Harberton. But, what we were after was literally the end of the road.
Since it’s still fall here, the colors were vibrant. Despite rain at the beginning of the drive, the sun finally came out and the day was clear enough to look south and imagine we were looking at Antarctica.
It took us about 2.5 hours by the time we finally got to the end of the road. We imagined there would be some sort of sign or marker indicating that this is the southernmost motor-able point in the world. Nope, just a small naval station. About the size of a house. Also, there were a lot of barking dogs chasing Red Beard. So, we turned around and headed back to a more serene ‘end of the world’ stop.
We made lunch, picked up a few shells and tried to hang out. Turns out, the end of the world as we know it is really windy and cold. So, we loaded up the bus and headed back to Ushuaia.
If you don’t have a dream, how can you have a dream come true?
– Jiminy Cricket
Posted on April 6, 2012 by jason
Posted on April 5, 2012 by jason
We made it!
Posted on March 30, 2012 by jason
A few towns back, Paul and Camille had run into some cyclists they had originally met back in Panama. When we were in Punta Arenas, they sent him an urgent email requesting help and wanting to know if he was still traveling with the VW’s. Natch, we extended an offer to help out.
Thank you, Jason, for you email.
Trying to reply right away. The thing is, I don’t know if Paul told you, but I am 8 weeks pregnant and cycling does not seem to cooperate with me anymore. From this point we decided to split with Zilvinas till Ushuaia. Zilvinas wants to finish the trip cycling and i was going to take a bus to Ushuaia. And then i remembered your fun company, so I thought maybe you still have some room for me and my loaded bike? Please, let us know if you are on line, otherwise we will try to come tonight and talk to you at the port.
Diana
Zilvinas and Diana are a Lithuanian couple (via Chicago) who have been cycling for 18 months. They’re on an multi-part trip around the world, but for Diana, this part ends in Tierra del Fuego.
We met up for the first time the next morning on the ferry to Porvenir. Diana walked her bike off the ferry and we started loading up. Her bike went on top of Red Beard under some brand new bungee (pulpo!) and tarp, and the rest inside. Zilvinas and Diana hugged and said their goodbyes, and now we’re at 4.5 passengers for the bus ride to Ushuaia.
After a quick run around Porvenir for groceries, we took off to go look for more penguins. We drove a few hours and ended up camping on the ocean, near a sheep-herders refugio. It was windy and cold, but we had good company and the dirty shack kept us all warm.
