Happy new year!!!

We last left you on Christmas morning and have now ridden over 2400km! We had a really cool xmas day with good weather, a run and a swim. In the evening we cooked up a feast- roast chicken with stuffing and gravy, lots of veges, salad, wine, bread and a delicious apple crumble for dessert. The following day we headed north from Coyhaique. Our riding since Christmas has been great, some beautiful valleys, lakes, glaciers and fiords. We experienced the rain of the Carretera Austral- making it pretty cold at times, especially on the descents. They have similar rainfall levels as Fiordland in NZ - mucho!!!!
Camp-sites at night had to meet the criteria of flat, sheltered, and access to water- camping beneath a bridge is perfect!! The road itself is in the process of being paved. Progress is a bit chaotic with the surface in various stages of mess. At times it was unrideable and we had to push, but never for too long. Sophie had a record 5 crashes in one afternoon and lost a bit of skin, but stitches weren´t required. One day stood out in particular- we ascended through dense rain forest with trees nearly meeting over head along a narrow section of road. The descent opened out onto a spectacular valley leading to a hanging glacier. We then spent the afternoon soaking in natural hot springs at a flash resort. The owner looked a bit disapproving of the dirty cycle tourists standing in her foyer and politely asked us to leave our panniers outside! We camped close by at the head of the fiord with dolphins feeding in the bay (no lies!)

The next day we rode a solid 90km and camped on a farmer´s property next to a beautiful river- perfect for swimming, washing and reading by a camp fire. The rain finally cleared and we have had five days of sunshine since... Long may it last!!!!We turned off the Carreteral Austral at Villa Santa Lucia, heading back toward Argentina. We found a dreamy lake-side beach- perfect for swimming and chilling out. Nice to have some hot weather and dry everything out...The next day was New Years Eve and we made the short but tough ride into Futaleufu. This small town is located near the world renowned Futaleufu River- one of the top kayaking and rafting spots in the world. We found a deserted camping ground covered in a fine layer of dust that later turned out to be volcanic ash! The ash had blown from the recent eruption of the Chaiten Volcano nearby. The initial eruption occurred in mid 2008 leaving the town of Chaiten virtually uninhabitable. It has continued to erupt and Chaiten is like a ghost town.

We had a fantastic New Years Eve. The evening kicked off with drinks amongst the ash at our campground. By 10pm the rest of the group managed to convince Kate that a mullet would look great on her, and isn´t it a perfect time in her life to have one...travelling, no job etc.. Next thing the scissors were out and 2/3 of her hair was gone. It looks great but hopefully grows out fast! Shane also had a new years haircut - but his is a bit more styley...looks more like Dan Carter´s rather than an 80´s rock star! The rest of the night was spent partyting with some local raft-guides. I think they were pretty shocked by the loud intoxicated Kiwis, but were stoked to get us up on the dance floor. Shane had a bit of crook guts- but pulled through and even managed to bust out a few dance moves.

On New Years Day we decided to raft the famous Futaleufu......It was awesome!! Spot the mullet!The raft guides cooked us a nice dinner at their lodge while we relaxed in the hammocks outside, it was nice hanging out with some different people our age.

On the 2nd, we crossed back into Argentina and biked to a town called Esquel. From there we caught a bus to Bariloche to avoid the busy road. Bariloche is the biggest town we have been in...100,000 people. A bit overwhelming. Hopefully getting a few repairs done here and stock up on supplies. We´re leaving tomorrow and cycling through the lakes district and back into Chile...

Feliz nuevo ano everyone. Happy 2009!

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