London to Alaska - via Ushuaia

March 2017

Now in Ushuaia  

News from Nigel and Sharyn

Well we made it to the end of the world. Now in Ushuaia we are getting ready to head North and up to Alaska.

We are raising money for Portsmouth Samaritans and Samaritans Central Charity so please give us some encouragement by putting some money in the VirginGiving site, as we face the infamous Ruta 40. “La Cuarenta” is notorious as it winds north on unmade roads 3000 miles up the Andes.

We are shopping for additional petrol cans as we have been told that vast stretches have no fuel for days. We are pretty sure that we can do 500 kms between re-fills on the bike and so we need another 5 litres to give us 100 kms extra.

It’s cold in Ushuaia. Cold and with a biting wind that is relentless. It's not a great place to live but there is Big Oil here and so it's a bit like a frontier town with vast stretches of nothing except for the iconic nodding donkey oil pumps every few kilometers.

We packed for tropical heat in Brazil when it was 30C by midday and our bags were bulging with all the clothing that we took as all we wore were our tee-shirts. Now in Tierra del Fuego we look like the Michelin Men. The bags are empty as I have about 5 layers on against the cold.  

The roads have stretches where it is unmade. Just rocks and gravel.  We headed off to a car wash place today as the bike was just a brown blob and we were brown blobs too. The panniers are empty of our clothing as we are wearing everything. Anything to keep the biting wind out and the cold rain. We cheer ourselves up by remembering that in a few weeks time we will be north and in the mountains  heading to the Chilean coast.

Tea in Wales

In Argentina in a town called Trewen is a thriving Welsh community speaking Welsh and with Bryn Tyrvl on the sound system and the sainted Aled Jones as well. No Tom Jones though. We have drop-scones, welsh tea-cakes and a lovely pot of tea. Menu in Welsh. They have a Chapel in the town and a Welsh speaking school for the kids.

Apparently they came as miners and sheep farmers and never left.

You can follow our progress and see where we are on the SPOT website here.

We have a blog so that you can see how things are going on this 6 month trip and you can find it here.

Our next message will be from the Ruta 40 as we head up to the Andes through Chile to Peru and on the Alaska.