We have been very lucky on this trip, except for the actual breakdown.

A rapid search on the internet located Gonzalo at Motoescar in Punta Arenas who agreed to look at Jean's shock absorber if we could get it to him (240k away).

He then rang back to say he had a friend in Puerto Natales, with a truck, who was going to Punta Arenas the next morning.

Bright and early on Sunday morning we had to use a lot of muscle and ingenuity to load Jean's bike on, especially as it did not fit and the rear sat on the tail board.

All strapped down, we followed Nicklaus, Gonzalo's friend, and his truck to Punta Arenas. There we had the luxury of using a proper ramp to unload the bike into the garage, before dumping some gear and going our separate ways. Us to find a hostel, and Nicklaus to go watch some dirt bike racing.

When we returned to the garage the next day to meet Gonzalo and find out the verdict, prepared for the worst, he was happy to let us know it was not as bad as we first feared and he could repair it.

Talking to Gonzalo, we began to realise we were in the home of a Chilean motorbike suspension expert. More good luck.

After he had disassembled the shock, he did have one question for me. "Why did they fit such a cheap shock absorber on this bike?".

And our luck was still holding out as the repair would only be about £100, it would have cost over £500 to get a new one shipped out to us, with a 10-14 day delay.

Being stranded for a few days meant we could research into penguiness opportunities for Jean, and we had two. One involved a boat, and one didn't. There was a small reserve on the other side of the peninsula that still had 'end of season' penguins reachable by bus.

So Jean has now seen penguins in the wild. I have the photograph, and as soon as we have the bike we can start the journey north back to Europe.

More importantly we can head back to warmer weather. It's starting to get frosty down here.

The end of the road

From the shores of Punta Arenas, Tierra Del Fuego can be seen. It is usual for people who do a similar trip to us to go there and ultimately Ushuia for 'the end of the road' and to visit the 'most southerly city in the world'.

But neither of us really had the urge to go there, after all it is not the mainland (so 'the road' has already ended), and it is now definitely on the tourist route. Also there is another city/town (Puerto Williams) on a Chilean island that is further south which many regard as the most southerly city. Sometimes it is easier not to go with the hype.

Instead we took the time to go to the end of the paved road on the mainland South American continent.

We felt it was fitting that the one bike to make the trip was the "pre-unloved" last minute purchase that had, up to now, given the most trouble. At one stage I didn't think it was going to make out of Mexico.

Then the final 10kms of 'ripio' to a rebuilt outpost, Fort Bulnes, and the 'End of the continent' sign.

For energetic souls, there is a hike to Cabo Forward to stand at the tip of the American continent. Or a boat. But we were happy to stop on the beach and watch ships sail up the Straits of Magellan.