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+ Log & Blog December / Dec 20

 Progress log and blog report

20 DECEMBER 2005 - The long road takes its toll

After the best breakfast of the adventure so far (yes there was still ham and cheese and juice, but it was all better – even the yogurt was home made) we said goodbye to our hostess and set off on Rn 26/20. We were leading the 3 cars and I was navigating (not my strongest suit) so when we hit a gravel road where there was meant to be tarmac, I was a little worried. It was pretty loose gravel and once again the sound of stones hitting the underside of the cars could be heard. After about 70km the blacktop came back and we were indeed on the right road. We waited for the others to catch up and then re-formed the convoy. Within minutes we noticed they were not there again, so we stopped and then Chris noticed a trail of petrol behind us. The last lot of gravel had hammered the drain plug on the fuel tank so much it had torn its self loose and petrol was flooding out. There was no risk of fire, but a real risk of being stranded as we only had 3 gallons spare, that is assuming we could fix the tank anyway - and as the other cars were not in sight they must be in trouble too.

And-the-road-goes-on

Just-a-hole-in-the-petrol-tank

Luckily I had packed some ‘fuel tank sealer’ a kind of putty. The instructions said ‘leave for 24 hours before use’. We gave it 15 minutes . Two lorry drivers had stopped and told us fuel was only 10km away, so we reasoned we should get there even if it kept leaking a bit. Julian then arrived, Ivor’s overdrive had gone wrong AND when he pressed the brake it engaged the clutch and visa-versa. They were working on it now. We agreed we would go to the petrol station and await reports there. We set off, the patch held (thanks Halfords) and we waited for the others.

The-end-of-the-railways

In the station a young lad was pleased to see us, filled up the tank, and we went into his mother’s restaurant for a cheese sandwich. The Christmas decorations were up, a plastic Santa’s head, and a Christmas tea towel. Out of the window we saw lorries laden with railway sleepers. We had seen huge stems locomotives in scrap yards and abandoned railway stations. For such a huge and long country, surely railways make sense? What was happening? Before we had time to finish our roll the others arrived, and had some too. Ivor would now have to run with no overdrive, no cooling fan and keep greasing his pedals.

We even saw a group of about 5 or 6 Rheas. I think I managed so just get a photo of one and lots of photos of empty scrub.

A-Reah-honestly
A Rhea (honest)

Our next stop for fuel was at Esquel, and a man in a huge Mercedes coach proudly came over to us and announced it was his motorhome. I pointed to my Healey and said that was ours. He looked blank for a second, until he realised I was joking.

A-mobile-home

Not long after this, and now on Rn40, the road started to get more interesting. Hills, curves, white peaks in the distance. Less wind. Warmer. It actually reached 30 degrees C and we were able to shed a few layers.

Last-few-miles

It was then Rn258 to El Bolson where the next problem arose. Ivor’s alternator at some point had stopped charging the battery and now the battery was completely dead. All we could think of was to give it a boost with jump leads and Julian revving his engine for about 15 minutes and see how far they could get.

Battery-problems

The roads now became beautiful. Broom in vivid yellow. Thousands of lupins everywhere, leaving their peppery perfume in the air. Aaron’s rod in their hundreds (like a yellow foxglove), wild roses in their thousands – and all the time magnificent mountains in the distance tipped in white.

Lupins-everywhere

Fuel-problems

But now it was Julian’s car’s turn for a problem. A fuel pump problem we guessed, we followed as his car coughed and spluttered and stalled time after time. It came down to either continuing like this, or trying to fix at the side of the road, or having a tow from the Westland. Julian decided on the tow. It was an interesting experience towing Julian’s 100/6. The brakes are so good that when he applies his, there is no need to apply mine. I am not absolutely sure who was towing who! Once in town we decided that he would be Ok to continue off the rope, as the slow speeds and relative flatness should be ok. But where was Ivor and Alan? They should have run out of power before now. In a way they had. The alternator had started working again, but the car had overheated. So they were stranded in town waiting for her to cool.

Again we led and by stopping at a number of places (hotels were either closed or full of students) we found a nice place, the Concorde hotel. Good parking area, flat, concrete and with electric gates – an ideal garage workshop… By now it was late, we were exhausted. Chris led Ivor and Alan in, Ivor decided to crash out while the rest of us went for steak and chips before bed.

There-at-last

A rest day tomorrow.

A-days-driving

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 Getting-there
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