We packed the bikes in drizzling rain and left Perito Moreno with another long day (178 km) including a border crossing into Chile (we had already filled in our SAG declaration and hoped for a quick and seamless border crossing), some ~80 km of gravel roads once in Chile and still enough wind forecasted to make it interesting.

Out of Perito Moreno we took Ruta 43 and we saw the flattest rainbow over the hills I have ever seen – I had often wondered what exactly the physics behind the different curvatures of rainbows are, but this one was almost horizontal – it is faintly visible in the first of the videos. Then we stopped at Mirador Lagos Buenos Aires as the lake is called in Argentina while it is named General Carrera in Chile.

Next stop was the border crossing – always quick and easy to leave the country and we ate our apples on the Argentinian side before heading across to the Chilean side over the first gravel sections. We got all the paperwork done and were told to present to the officers with our bikes for inspection. A female customs officer told us that we have to take everything off the bike and carry it inside to run through one of the scanners – I asked her if she was sure that was necessary and that it would take a long time but she was prepared to wait – she brought a luggage trolley over and we both had to get everything off and scanned. She checked the cooler bag with all our food and confiscated the honey, checked the top boxes, my tank bag and my panniers manually and all was ok and then we had to put everything back on the bikes – as we expected more gravel roads we needed to make sure everything was tightly secured – we were hot and sweaty and all up it took us close to two hours – not what we hoped for and completely unnecessary. While Andrew still secured everything on his bike the customs officer asked for stickers with Australian animals which I gave to her and she made some jokes about men always being slower than women.

We eventually left the border just before 2 pm and still had 105 km to ride with dark rain clouds threatening and a large section of gravel road still ahead. We rode through Chile Chico, stopped for fuel but then continued without lunch.

Shortly after leaving Chile Chico the dirt road started and after only a few km we were riding over a rise with deep gravel through a rock cutting and as I came around the corner a strong gust of side wind pushed me hard towards the edge off the road which was heavily cambered – I warned Andrew to get ready for the strong side wind and the next thing I heard over the intercom was a nonchalant but slightly annoyed “oh no I dropped the bike” 😳 I just managed to let Andrew know that I heard him and that I will turn around and come back to help him – easier said then done as I was on a steep downhill section on a narrow cambered road and I had to find a spot where I could safely turn around without being taken out by fast driving cars and get back to see what happened – I eventually found a safe spot and turned around to ride back to find the bike in the ditch on a steep downhill section just after a blind corner over the rise – one of the worst sections of the road for that to happen – I could not stop anywhere there and had to ride past it and find another spot to turn around and come back – shortly below where the bike was lying in the ditch having a rest, was a section next to the road where I could safely stop and park my bike out of the way of traffic pointing into the strong wind. I took my helmet and jacket off and walked up the hill to assess the situation. Luckily Andrew was not hurt at all🙏 He came around the corner and a strong wind gust pushed him towards the deep gravel in the corner and he managed to reduce enough speed to just step off the bike as he laid it down into the ditch. Andrew had already taken most of the luggage off his bike and I started carrying bags down to where I was parked. At least 5 cars went paar without even braking or any attempt to stop and render assistance, which I found surprising as we were quite remote. Just as we were contemplating how we would be able to lift the bike, a local guy in a Ute stopped and helped us lift the bike where it was – it took all 3 of us to get the bike upright and we were very glad he stopped to help us. Andrew jumped on the bike while the guy and I were holding it upright on either side until Andrew managed to get it started and then ride it down to the spot where my bike was parked. Then we had to re-load everything back onto the bike (for the second time that day) with the wind increasing and very dark clouds threatening to rain any minute. We still had a long stretch of dirt road ahead of us and the last thing we needed was wet and slippery roads.

We managed to leave from there before the rain started and continued along the road even more careful and slowly around each corner. The road climbed up high and followed the lake General Carrera at high altitude with steep drops on the right without guard rails and often too narrow for two cars to pass each other. The rain had caught up with us and we were now riding on a wet road with our fairly worn front tyre – what else was in store for us? Well, next there was a very steep descent with tight switchbacks leading down almost to the level of the lake and we stopped at Mirador Lago where other bikes (Teneree 700s) were also stopped – turns out they were Italians and we had a good chat with them – they were very excited and enthusiastic and impressed that we were on Australian motorcycles. The group included two cars with fellow Italians who drove behind the ones riding on motorcycles and the females in the car were mighty impressed that I rode myself. This break and the conversation was a good re-set for Andrew after the crash and tough riding conditions and as the weather deteriorated with rain turning into sleet, we parted to head in opposite directions. The road took us up steep back high above the lake and we eventually arrived wet and exhausted at -6pm in the small village of Puerto Guadal. The maps told me that our booked accommodation was at an intersection were the local fire brigade had its station. We stopped across the road to double check the address, when a lady came out and told us that it was right there and she opened the gate and we parked the bikes in the grass. She showed us the cabana which had a huge bed and a tiny kitchenette area and a wood fireplace for heating. They started the fire for us in the fireplace which went out and did not burn. We asked them where we could go for dinner and they then re-lit the fire for us in the fire place while we walked in drizzling rain to 3 seperate restaurants which were all closed – we really needed some food after an exhausting day of riding and we eventually found a little pizza place – seemingly the only place in town open for food where we had a pizza each and I got my Calafate Sour – all was well 😉. We returned to our cabin and had to wake up every two hours to keep the fire going throughout the night as it was freezing cold over night.