Beginning the Carraterra Austral

We left Villa O'Higgins feeling supremely confident about our cycling ability as we sped speedily past a chainsmoking Frenchman pulling a trailer. With water cascading from hundreds of waterfalls straight from the glacier just above us we no longer needed to carry our body weight in water and it made a huge difference. Sadly this confidence dissolved rapidly in the rain that began to fall and we ducked into an unused house after 40 km to dry off. With the rain falling heavily we managed just another 15km to another refugio in the form of a small wooden cabin where we managed to relight the fire and spend a dry and warmish night.

The rain had only intensified by morning and we resigned ourselves to getting thoroughly wet as we forced ourselves to leave in the early afternoon. The views were beautiful but with our extremities freezing rapidly we weren't in the highest of spirits as we made it to the ferry crossing. We leaked onto the boat and aggressively hugged the two radiators on board for the duration of the crossing. On the other side we joined a Swede, an Argentinian and a German in another purpose built refugio and very slowly warmed our cockels.

The next day brought better weather but with it news of floods further up the road. With the road ahead blocked and running low on cooking gas we changed plans and detoured to Tortel, a tiny village built on stilts beside a lake. With all the heavy rain a section of this road was flooded as well but a helpful fella popped us in a truck and drove us through the worst of it. A dog, soon to be named Yungay followed us the 40km to town and stayed dutifully by our side for the next 2 days before we managed to persuade her to follow another cyclist back home.

We spent a relaxing day wandering about Tortel, and met an awesome Canadian family embarking on their 7 month cycling trip around South America with a 4 and 5 year old cycling in tow. We spent the following morning waiting with them for the almost ever present rain to subside before setting off again in the afternoon.

The road for the next few weeks is unpaved and our skinny tyres have about as much grip on the road as teenage girl has on her emotions. As people fly past us with what seem like bus tyres on their bikes we slip and slide onwards at a much gentler rate. We happened upon an impromptu campsite in the evening and joined the wine, chocolate and campfire provided by our American, Swiss and French neighbours for the night (and Zoro the dog who had followed them for their 60km ride).

A bumpy and slippery journey the following day brought us (and Zoro) into Cochrane where we are loading up on supplies before heading onwards later today.