We started the today with a lovely breakfast at our hotel in Bariloche. I got some supplies from a local supermarket for lunch and for camping which we are planning in the next few days. Today was our longest ride so far covering 284 km and it was another very warm day reaching 27 but certainly felt a lot warmer in the sun. After riding past two more incredible lakes, we found the perfect spot for lunch – in the shade with some benches and an incredible view of mountains with snow capped peaks. A cat with blue eyes came and joined us for lunch. I placed our first sticker 😉👍 today at the lunch spot and we continued on to El Bolsón where we fuelled up and had the first good view of the incredible smoke wall from the burning wildfires – we saw waterballon carrying helicopters and planes landing and taking off to fight the fire which was of such a huge scale it is hard to grasp. We continued and were in hazy, eerie and smoky conditions riding for the remainder of the afternoon for more than 100 kms. It was very hot and we were happy to arrive in Esquel by 5:00pm. We payed extra for secure parking of the bikes and took pictures of the signs in front of the hotel indicating the distance to Sydney 😉 and to Ushuaia. The town has a very nice vibe and felt safe and we enjoyed a traditional slow cooked (asado ) grilled beef with salad and tried our first Don Pedro dessert. We have not yet decided whether to continue on Routa 40 South or head East on 26 until we reach the ocean on the East coast of Argentina. We aim to camp and will be remote for a few days if we go East.