Last evening we gave our soulless hotel a miss and went back into town to eat at a cafe Mike had seen on the way in.  It was the first time we had seen anywhere with outside tables and chairs so we settled in as the sun started to go down and chatted to a few people who came over to check out the cars .  Dave was interviewed by a young lady from the local paper who had seen us come in and she later called by and gave him a box of locally made chocolates.  Our waiter was a young chap who seemed to take in the entire order for drinks and meals from our table of 8 without writing anything down – the Argentinian way. We ordered a Sauvignon Blanc and a Malbec but were presented with a Rose.  Tried again and got a little closer before we finally worked out that they didn’t actually have anything on the wine list and he was just checking what we might like instead.  It worked out ok in the end but after most of the meals were delivered he told Lorraine that Tuna salad was off and what would she like instead.  Another half hour passed punctuated by John going inside and reminding him that Lorraine’s meal still hadn’t been delivered.  I had also made sign language through the window whenever he went past and he gave me the thumbs up.  Finally her meal arrived but by this time it was blowing a gale and we realised why outside dining was a bit of a challenge.  We paid the bill including a less than usual tip as an encouragement and as a parting gesture he presented John with a bottle of Chardonnay!

Today we have what looked like a straight forward 420 kms run to Mendoza.  Just one potential hiccup, we decided to take what looked like a paved detour around San Rafael which is a fair sized town.  Sure enough there was a Garmin moment when we were lead down ever more minor tracks until we came to a group of houses.  I asked one of the residents whether the road would take us through to Mendoza to which he replied no, we needed to go back and take another road but my Spanish wasn’t quite good enough to be sure where this was.  Then another chap arrived and said no problem, the track would take us to Mendoza.  Just like one of those stories about asking directions in Ireland.  Being trusting souls we took his advice and headed down the track through the tip to find a fast flowing river blocking our way.  Of course all the locals had a big laugh when we had to turn around and come back.  We were just pleased we had given them something to brighten up their lives and talk about for years.

Our lunch stop was in a town where we rejoined route 40 – this also by-passed San Rafael but looked like a pretty rough gravel alternative so we had given it a miss. Everyone heard we were in town and came over for a look.  One guy was particularly interested in the engine in Pete’s car so I asked if he was a mechanic – no he said piloto de carreras, which I took to be a race driver.  I showed him some pics on my phone of Fangio signing the wall of the garage in Albert Park we had come across recently which had been used by many of the Grand Prix drivers in the 1950s.  He was very excited and pointing at me said  ‘Alan Jones’.  He was even more excited when I panned through a few more pics from the garage and found Alan Jones signature – Alan must have been a boy at the time.

Today we have 333 kms to cover including around 100 km of roadworks and unpaved roads. By day’s end we will have travelled nearly 3000 km along  Route 40 from Rio Gallegos and can’t help being impressed by the investment being made to make it a first class tourist road.  It doesn’t appear to carry much truck traffic, most of the trucks use the highways radiating out from Buenos Aires and the other major coastal cities.  Route 40 just happens to link all the interesting old towns following the path taken by the original settlers who arrived from Peru and Bolivia.  They and the new towns which have sprung up as ski resorts and bases for adventure on the eastern side of the Andes are a tourist mecca.  When the road it fully completed it should attract tens of thousands more tourists which should be good boost to the local economies.  For people who love driving, the roads are among the most exciting and challenging in the world especially where we are today as we get closer to the Andes.  In some distant future landscape, the government may spoil the fun by enforcing speed limits and other road rules but for now all speed limits and double lines are treated by the locals as discretionary only.  Fortunately most Argentinian drivers are pretty sensible and way ahead of the standards of driving expected as we head into Bolivia.

Volcanic activity has formed an extraordinary landscape which is so different to any we have encountered so far.  We climbed up steadily winding our way around treeless hills covered in stubbly salt bush interspersed with rocky outcrops to around 2000 meters. In the distance we would glimpse views of the Andes proper.  Unfortunately we also discovered the unpaved roads which included some of the most tortuous so far.  Occasionally we came to an oasis marked by tall poplar trees as the Rio Grande wound its way through the valley.   We kept criss-crossing the Rio Grande for a half an hour or so until we got to a small bridge over a deep gorge with steep cliffs formed from black volcanic rock.  Nearby there were half a dozen small shrines, in one of which a candle was still burning.  Another featured a battered number plate from a car – was the driver careless enough to lose his life at this spot or is there another story?  At mid-morning we said goodbye to Patagonia and drive into the province of Mendoza.

At one of our photo stops we met biker Ron, a Californian who told us he learned to ride his BMW when was 68. He is still 68!    Ron wasn’t a big bloke and struggled to keep his bike upright on the steep gravel surface.  He said he had lost count of the number of times he had dropped it. He is travelling a similar route to us and has seen us a number of times along the way.  Ron had owned two MGBs and a TD, then changed to Triumphs which he said weren’t much more reliable.   He thought we were totally crazy!. We thought the same about him!  We hope to catch up again as he would have some stories to tell.

Malargue is described in Lonely Planet as “a mellow little town that is a little rough around the edges” and is a base for Las Lenas, one of Argentinia’s more upmarket ski resorts.  Our hotel is a little up-market and uninteresting compared with recent nights but perhaps we are just being prepared for the Park Hyatt in Mendoza, our next stop.

We organised a late checkout from our hotel Hue Melen so that Blue B’s fuel system could be sorted. Peter, Ken, Mike and Ross worked the early shift starting around 6.30am. They replaced nearly everything in the fuel and ignition systems and by 9.30 all was back together again, Ross had lost his concerned look and better still, Blue B was purring away again. We were ready to hit the road for Chos Malal only 190 kms away, still not sure what the real problem was.

The stark desert like landscape we were now travelling through was such a contrast to the chocolate box landscape of Bariloche.  The temperatures in and outside the cars were soaring but fortunately we had smooth paved roads to travel on, side windows were open and life was good.

And no breakdowns today – fingers crossed, touch wood!

Chos Malal is a pretty little oasis of a town which pops up out of the desert and was a welcome sight. We arrived around1.30pm and we were hot.  Could we push our luck for an early check in?  We were in luck, and this provided the perfect opportunity for Navy Car to have its master cylinder rebuilt.  Ian and Pete pulled it apart, cleaned everything, stretched the spring to help the piston return and put it all back together.  Hopefully now the brakes will be consistent and not alternating between a full pedal and a half pedal – we may even get rid of that annoying squeal which happens when it’s hot and the brakes weren’t releasing properly.  Maybe now I will be brave enough to drive to give Ian a break!

Some of us discovered the ice cream shop which was part of our Hotel Don Costa Hosteria.  Argentina is famous for its ice creameries – and such a luscious treat on a hot day!

Not a challenging day today (we thought). A scenic drive along the seven lakes route from Bariloche to San Martin de Los Andes, winding our way around aqua blue lakes, the Andes always in the background and as a bonus the roads were paved.

Blue B had other plans for us.  For a few days Ross has been having issues which he felt he had resolved after long hours working under the bonnet whilst we were enjoying the sights of Bariloche.  Blue B hummed along nicely for the first 100 or so kms when we heard Ross’s posh British voice announce over the CB “Sorry guys I’ve lost power – am pulling over”. Fortunately there was space for our convoy on the side of the road just outside San Martin de Los Andes.

This time it looked more like a fuel blockage, the experts gathered and Blue B was again the centre of attention.  It was decided to split the group and we, along with Peter Carthy (Green Car) and the Herlihys (Shiraz) stayed back to assist whilst the others headed off to Zapala.

The day was beginning to heat up and this was the first of many road side pauses as Blue B struggled to get fuel through.  The guys rocked her from side to side, cleaned filters, replaced fuel pumps, topped up with spare fuel, got rid of old fuel and various other attempted fixes.  In the end after gallantly struggling another 100 or so kms it was decided to get out the tow rope for the last 60 kms.   Navy car took on the role and together we made it to Zapala a good two hours after the first group.  Ian said it was a little unnerving looking in the rear view and seeing a blue car tailgating him at 100 km/h.  The last long hill was really steep so it was back to 2^nd gear and keeping a watch on the engine temperature.  Daytime temperatures have been in the high 30s and expected to get hotter as we head North.

After all the work on Blue B the problem was not resolved and some refreshed drivers would need to look at her again in the morning.

At our debriefing that evening there were two groups, those who were trying to understand Blue B’s problems and provide a fix, and the rest of us who wanted the answer to the more important question “Where were we going to eat!”

We wandered down town with Ros and John Bastian and were assisted by a helpful local who discovered us studying a map on a street corner.  We explained we were looking for dinner (at around 8pm which is far too early for most Argentinians) but he provided us with a name and location and off we went.  Los Familias Restaurant was empty when we arrived, but we were welcomed, and soon we were tucking into traditional fare of grilled meat (and chicken), potato chips, salad and washed down with  a very satisfactory local Malbec.  The vegetarian of the group was very happy with her vegetable crepes and mushroom sauce.  By the time we departed at around 9.30 the restaurant was beginning to fill with locals and really buzzing.

A short drive tomorrow – but first Blue B must have her fuel problem sorted out.

After our ordeal yesterday the thought of spending a relaxing day wandering around Bariloche and the picturesque Lago Nahuel Huapi was appealing.  Beautiful clear skies, ideal temperature and no pressing schedule to meet.

We ventured out to explore the town and stock up on some provisions to discover that all the holiday makers were in town, every second person we passed was a tout who could offer the best exchange rate and if you liked chocolate then you were in luck. Bariloche is Argentina’s chocolate capital!

In the afternoon we teamed up with John and Ross Bastian (Goldie) and Mike and Kay Herlihy (Shiraz) to drive the recommended lake route which Ian had learnt was used for Argentina’s Millas 1000 – their version of the Mille Miglia . We hadn’t gone too far when John was pulled over by the local police. It turned out that earlier in the day the Bastian’s had had a minor altercation with a local car and its driver had become very aggressive so they made a hasty retreat. The other car had been in the wrong but they weren’t prepared to stick around and discuss it  It appears that the driver was a cop so there was a general alert out  to find a mustard coloured MG.  As John was questioned more and more police arrived, some with lights flashing, greeting each other with the traditional handshake, hug and kiss.  They all seemed to be having a good time, except of course for John and Ros.  Those looking on would have thought it was a major drug bust.

Unfortunately John had left his car insurance papers at the hotel and this was causing the concern.  As there were three cars, we left the Herlihys there to support them and went back to retrieve the missing insurance papers.  This solved everything!  The whole ordeal took about an hour or more and John was imagining a lonely police cell.  All they wanted were the insurance papers so their mate could make a claim.  A good lesson to us all to have our insurance papers in the car at all times.

It seemed appropriate to have a chocolate fix to restore blood sugar levels and put a smile back on John’s face.  After several hot chocolates, some Argentinian chocolate cake (filled with caramel) and delicious chocolates we all agreed Bariloche lived up to its reputation.

Our accommodation Design Suites came with its own spa. Generally we don’t have the time in the evenings to have a good long soak – with fixing cars, evening meeting/ debriefings, washing all the smalls, etc. so we decided to dine in and make use of the spa. Champagne seemed appropriate too!

Over breakfast at Canela B&B we learn more about our hosts Jorge and Veronica. Before moving to Esquel 20 years ago Jorge Miglioli managed a large sheep property near Los Antiguos. Veronica is now a painter and Jorge an author and photographer.  His books include one on the history of the Welsh immigrants in Patagonia and another on La Trochita, the narrow gauge railway we travelled on yesterday.  Unfortunately now out of print but we found a couple of copies on Amazon.

We had a lunch appointment about 180 km away in El Bolson with Klaus, the German guy who had organised insurance for our cars just when it all looked too hard.  He is a motor bike adventurer who looks right at home in El Bolsen which has a reputation as fairly alternative.  The lunch was booked at Otto Tipp micro-brewery, just a pity we had to drive further and had to decline the beer tasting option to accompany the rather generous meals. As we were leaving an even more alternative lady drove past in the world’s most battered 2CV van. An absolute barn-find (the van, I mean)

For the final 140 km into Bariloche we are surrounded by serious mountains in the shadow of the Andes and the sky ahead was ominously dark. RIP stopped to put up the hood and then the rain came down. Lightning, thunder and incredibly heavy rain. Casper and Shiraz decided to pull over and we followed as the tail car. No let up for at least half an hour before Kay let out a shriek – ‘get moving, there’s a mud slide coming down the cliff right alongside us’. We just got the cars out in time before the mud and rocks blocked the road.  Fortunately the rain had eased slightly so we covered some distance before coming up behind a couple of cars blocked by another mud slide. Mike decided we could make it through if we could dodge all the rocks and tree branches but just a few more kms on there was a long line of cars blocked by another slide. This one was a bit more serious, a roaring torrent of rocks and mud more than a metre deep right across the road and more than 30 metres wide. Even a Landie wasn’t going to get through this.

Around 6 pm the police and emergency people started arriving telling everyone it could be 5 or 6 hours before the road could be cleared.  The thought of driving down the mountain in the dark wasn’t very appealing but we didn’t have a lot of choice.  A grader turned up and made a few attempts to start clearing but it wasn’t up to the task at all.  Finally a low loader arrived with a front end loader and the police said it would only be an hour, two at the most.  We settled in for another wait when suddenly everyone in front started moving and we were off – Lorraine hardly had time to get the iPad out but managed to get a few quick pics before we were through.  Meanwhile down at Bariloche the other five crews received mixed messages – from our end Mike had managed to get a message through before the others were out of range so at least they knew we were safe.  Then they heard that we had been diverted back to El Bolsen and wouldn’t make it through until the next day.  Everyone was very relieved when we finally arrived around 10 pm but we were a bit late for the complimentary welcome drinks and had to buy our own…

It’s all my fault for suggesting to Sue over breakfast that the trip was starting to get a bit too easy and we needed some excitement…

Hotel accounts resolved we got way after coffee and croissants at the local servo for the short drive to Esquel.  The plan was to get there in time to book tickets for the 2:00 pm departure of the “Old Patagonian Express” .  This title was bestowed by Paul Theroux, one of our favourite travel writers on his trip from Boston to Patagonia.   The local name of the train is “La Trochita” but the new title also now appears in some of the Argentine documentation.

La Trochita runs on a narrow gauge railway running from Ingeneiro Jacobacci in the north down to Esquel.  Construction started in 1922 and completed in 1945 it ran for 402 km, initially just for freight but later as a passenger service taking 15-20 hours connecting with the broad gauge service to Buenos Aires.  Tiny hard seats and rattly windows with the only concession to comfort being a small wood stove in the centre of each carriage.    The locomotives in use today were built by Baldwin in the US.  In 1990, all railway operations were closed in Argentina as an austerity measure but somehow La Trochita survived and today it operates as a tourist service from Esquel to the next town, Nahuel Pan, a round trip of 21 km.  There is a small museum at the Esquel station showing videos of the train in its heyday battling snowdrifts and winds – at some stage the entire train was blown off the tracks by the Patagonian winds but they managed to resurrect it and get it back into service.

Tonight we are staying in a bed and breakfast called Canela with our generous hosts Jorge and Veronica.  A green oasis with beautiful gardens and comfortable rooms on the edge of the Patagonian pampas.  Very welcome after some of the more austere accommodation recently.

Hooray, the sticking accelerator is fixed at last.  The sticking throttles in each of the carbs were finally fixed with liquid metal but the cable was still binding.  A brand new cable fitted just before the car was shipped turned out to be faulty so I re-fitted the old spare which had already completed the Cape to Cairo trip and it was much better.  Feels like a new car!

Still in Patagonia and still fighting side winds all the way we stop off at a tiny settlement called Los Lamariscos in the middle of nowhere.  There were all the signs that it was once a fuel stop but now they depend on travellers stopping to see their modest museum or to buy a snack.  The lady who owns it is the granddaughter of the guy who founded it in 1938 – she was very excited that a bunch of classic cars had stopped and came out with photographs of a group of rally cars who had visited a couple of years ago.  Tough gig!

Our destination at Gobernador Costa is described as “a one-horse town” or a “small barren windswept settlement”.  A bit harsh but our biggest challenge was that the receptionist said there was no record of our booking.  A bit more probing and it seemed that there was an enquiry but no money had been transferred from the travel agent. Sunday night and no chance of talking to the agent so lots of haggling finally resolved by me handing over a credit card as security.  What made it really tricky was that the town has no mobile phone coverage, no internet and the hotel had no ISD dialling facility so we couldn’t call the 24 hour hotline to our travel agents in Chile.  Things didn’t seem much rosier in the morning until Ken found a guy who could speak a little English and we established that the money had been paid and we were free to go with credit card untarnished.  Just another one of life’s little challenges in South America.  Amazing that we had few problems with internet of mobile coverage right through Africa and on the previous trip through China and Central Asia but South American communications are still back in the 1980s.

A beautiful rainbow across the mountain greets us as we leave Hotel Lunajuim and its very helpful and enthusiastic staff – they were all quite emotional when we left and wished us safe travels.

This was a fairly long day with nearly 600 km to cover most of which we remembered from the trip south.  This time we took the long way around through Gobernador Gregores to miss the gravel section we had taken to get to the Estancia and from then on it was all sealed.  The government is progressively sealing the entire length of Route 40 presumably to attract more tourists but in these southern sections there are still long periods where we see no other cars.  There are long, long straight sections, up to 20 km or so which become mesmerising after a while.  We were just reflecting on the risk of nodding off and drifting off the road onto the rough gravel verges when we saw a Fiat pick-up well off the road with windows and roof smashed – new skid marks and a body lying beside the car didn’t look good.  The woman driver was in shock and wanted us to help the guy who we assume was her son and appeared to have been thrown out.  Luckily he only appeared to have a cut on his head and grazes but no breaks.  The next to arrive were German tourists, one of whom was a doctor who confirmed the diagnosis.  We found a bag of clothing in the Fiat and made sure he was warm and shielded from the wind and left him with the doctor and the woman.  No mobile signal for miles around and the next town with police and a hospital nearly 300 km away so the best we could do was take her note to the nearest stop off with phone service – fortunately we found a local guy who had also seen the accident so we were able to leave him to sort it out.  Very sobering and we had a good discussion at our evening briefing to remind everyone of the need to rest or change drivers if they felt tired.

A surprise awaited us at our Perito Moreno hotel – another Australian traveller, Giles Cooper, was there to greet us.  Giles is a friend of Ross and Shez and on his way south through Chile so he popped across the border to catch up and share experiences of his trip from Alaska through the US and Central America.  This time he is driving a Land Cruiser but his previous trip north to Alaska was in a Lotus Elise.  He wanted to be the first to drive a Lotus to Alaska but after the trip took it straight back to Australia afterwards to buy something more practical.  Lots of good advice from Giles about crossing borders without having to pay bribes and minimising risks of accidents with the crazy tgruck drivers in Central America. Sounds just like parts of Africa…

A ‘rest day’ today so a group of us head up the hill for a 3 hour walk to Lago Capri.  One for Bob Watson, as we are heading our of town there is a pretty reasonable Renault Dauphine parked by the road.  And not far away a nice 404 along with some very beaten up 504s.

Great to stretch the legs after 3 days of driving and spectacular views as we wind around the side of the mountain.  Long open stretches with views up the valley towards Lago del Desierto where Dave and Laurel have driven to see the glacier and then back into thick forests of Antarctic Beech.  Finally we climb over the saddle to look over Lago Capri with Mt Fitzroy shrouded by mist in the background.

We were lucky to beat the rush because there was a steady stream of climbers coming up as we descended and the wind had really picking up.  Here is one for Milly and Jack – a couple were using a llama to carry their hiking gear up the hill.  They weren’t making much progress because everyone wanted to photograph them.  By the time we reached town there was a gale blowing down the main street and we were expecting the tin roofs from the many half finished houses to start flying around.

A few car repairs this afternoon.  Our hopes of shipping parts into Ushuaia fell in a big heap when with the help of Billy Boorman from the MG Club in Buenos Aires we tracked down why the parts were still held up.  It turned out that tighter restrictions had been imposed on the importation of auto parts from 1 Jan and importers had to be either licensed or use a broker.  The costs to use a broker and pay the import duties were prohibitive so Simon and I decided to send the parts back to Australia and hope that they would arrive before he left to meet us in Lima.  Fortunately the master cylinder problems are proving manageable but we need to find another solution to the sticking carb throttles.  I hadn’t picked up that the throttle shafts were a little worn when we left Australia but became much worse with all the dust over the past weeks.  In Ushuaia, I attempted a cure by building up the shafts with Araldyte but this didn’t last and the drive up to El Chalten became pretty difficult.  Mike Herlihy to the rescue with his very expensive liquid metal made by Wurth.  Miracle stuff which hardens in ten minutes and sets to a rock hard surface overnight.  I finished the job off this afternoon and on the short drive down to get fuel this afternoon it seems to be working well.  We’ll find out tomorrow whether this is going to last the distance.