We are a few days away from leaving our comfortable home in this beautiful part of the world , Hervey Bay Queensland, Australia. Our car, Margo2, is going on a cruise in a container in Brisbane all the way to Long Beach, California. We should get reunited by the end of May. During that time, we will visit the grandchildren in Darwin and then fly to the US, and visit the other grandchildren in New Mexico.
Margo2 is a 2005 Toyota Landcruiser Trooper, with a Trakka camper conversion.
Our plan is to drive towards Canada and Alaska. Then return to the US before heading to Central and South America.
We arrived in Darwin on the 21st of April, the weather was still hot and humid . Kaelan and Harrison kept us busy, Harrison started to ride his bike with trainer wheels and he was keen to go all the way to school with Kaelan most morning! Pa went along on a bike at Kaelan's speed while I was able to follow Harrison on foot, while Gaetane was helping out a neighbor with driving lessons!
We went to watch Kaelan play soccer, he likes to run! I went along to playgroup with Harrison, as well as play gym, lots of fun!
The time went by fast, and we flew back to Brisbane on the 5th of May, flying out of Australia on the 6th, to Los Angeles. We had a slight delay in Brisbane, due to a technical fault. It was hard to get any sleep on the way to Los Angeles, then we had a few hours before catching the flight to El Paso, Vis Phoenix. That flight was delayed so then we missed the connection in Phoenix to El Paso. We got on the following plane and arrived in El Paso at about 9pm!
Gwenael and Louis were there to drive us home to Las Cruces. It was good to find a good bed!
The first week end, we went to White Sands National Park, had a picnic lunch after having some fun going down the dunes. You really need a pair of sunglasses here!
During the week, the children got used to have us around and there were no problem the 2nd week while Gwenael and Anne went on their planned holiday in Costa Rica. Daniel got to do the driving, taking the children to their normal activities, swimming lesson and Child care for 2 days.We did lots of playing trains, puzzles, playdough, painting etc..Just like the old days of Family Day Care!
Daniel is doing odd jobs around the house this week, the ship arrived this morning in Long Beach so we are going there on Monday. We know that the container has to be inspectd by the customs so not sure how long this will take, days, weeks...But in the meantime, the weather needs to warm up as it is still cool for us in California
We arrived in Los Angeles flying from El Paso yesterday Monday the 30th of May. We took the SuperShuttle to take us to Long Beach where we are staying at the Inn of Long Beach, close to downtown and the beach. As it was a public holiday, there was no traffic in the streets and not many people around. Most of the shops were closed. We found a small cafe nearby to get lunch, then we walked to the beach. After an overcast morning, the sun came out and it is a pleasant temperature.
This morning Tuesday, it is overcast and cool. We go for a walk towards the Convention Centre and the Shoreline village near the Marina. There is hardly any people around. This really feels like a quiet beach side town, that gets very crowded later on in the summer months.
We have a message from our shipping agent, the container is going for XRay by tomorrow, hopefully if it does not required to be open by customs, we should find Margo2 in the next day or so.
We have a message on Thursday morning, 2nd of June that the container containing the car was released by the customs after being x-rayed by the customs and is ready to be unloaded at a transport company used by our shipping agent. We are ready to get there by 9am. The container is opened in front of us, they cut the seal with a bolt cutter. It is great to see Margo2 still attached to the anchor points.Daniel connect the .main battery and it starts . All the workers are taking photosWe organise our bags and are ready to go. Our shipping agent was brilliant, she kept us informed eberu day of tje clearing process, and had all the documents ready.After stocking on fuel and food, we are on our way to Joshua Tree National Park. It is good to get out of the heavy traffic, 6 lines of traffic eachway.it is good to find a quiet place. After 319kms, we are all set up for the night.The next day we visit the park, see a rattle snake along a walking track. Friday pi night we stay at the northern part of tne park, camping among the Joshua trees.very pretty. Saturday, we drive North to the Death Valley NP. There is a heat wave warning. It gets to 52 degrees.we stop and visit a few spectacular spots and found a camping at Furnace creek .Today Sunday, we visit some parts of the park, many French tourists, some doing a motocycle tour on Harvey Davidson bikes. Meet some Vendeens from Grobreuil, they exchanged their house with an American family .Tonight we are camping in the southern part of Sierra Nevada, along Lake Isabe
We visited teh Sequoia National park, did some walks in the forest, and tehn went on to Kings Canyon National Park. An amazing road, some of the forest had been damaged by fires last year but still very pretty. We drove through citrus plantations and wine region and oil rigs on the way there. We are now heading back towards the coast to follow the Big Spur on our way to San Francisco. So far the weather has been great, just a bit hot in the Death Valley!
We have followed Hwy 1, from Morro Bay, going North towards San Francisco. As we left Kings Canyons, we drove through miles of fruit trees plantations,, vines, vegetables. Along the coast , it was very panoramic with lots of turns and up and down the hills. A very rugged coast line. We did a few stops for photos as well as many other cars. It was windy and cool, so not too pleasant for a walk on the beach where they were some. We stopped at Half Moon Bay and bought Crabs direct from theboat and had it cooked at a small restaurant nearby. It was good, but not quite as good as our muddies...we drove on to San Francisco going over the Golden Bridge early afternoon as well as lots of other cars.we camped alo. Hwy 1in a red wood forest state Camp. On Saturday we continued North alon.g the coast and then went inland towards Clear Lake.yesterday we went to Tahoe Lake, very beautiful .
We are now heading to The Grand Tetons and Yellow Stone National Parks.
Life in Margo2 is pretty good, we have been cooking with our methylated spirit stove as we cannot find a.y gas bottle to fit the support built for it. We could not bring a bottle from Australia. We have been using our Dreampot and as new users, it is like a dream when you stop at night and the cooking is done! We have been campin.g mostly in State Parks.
Photos will come when we can load them up.
we have visited the Glacier NP, in the US before entering Canada. The road across the park was very spectacular and lucky for us, it just reopened the weekend before. We did a good walk to Avalanche Creek. It had rained the day before and the forest was very pretty early morning, before the crowd arrived. The second part of the road was very beautiful with glaciers all around, waterfalls. We saw some mountain goats with the big horns. The weather was good. We drove out of the park mid afternoon and went across to Canada at the Carway border crossing. No need for exit stamp from the US. At the Canadian entry, we only needed our passports to be stamped and that gives us a 6 months visa. They did not checked our fridge for fresh food, we had eaten all the bananas and cooked all the vegetables ahead. We drove to Cardston for banking and groceries. The first person I spoke to to ask where was a bank asked me for $5 dollars as she was hungry....good welcome!.We found a camping further and the next day we drove towards the Banff and Jasper NP.the weather is cooler as expected being in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. We did some walks in Banff, the famous Lake Louise was very pretty. Some of the canyons were also spectacular. We stopped at the Althabasca glacier which has shrunk a lot in the last century, mainly in the last 40 years.we had some light rain last night, and now we are in the town of Jasper. We went for a walk around Lake Beaulieu, very famous as the Queen and Many other celebrities have stayed at the lodge across the lake! And now us......we are now going to leave the mountains today and going towards Grande Prairie, and start the Alaska Hwy!
The construction of the Alaska Hwy started in 1942 and took 10 months to complete. All the towns along the way have Visitor centres with display of photos and videos about the construction. We stopped at Grande Prairie, Watson Lake, Whitehorse, Haines Crossing, and now at Beaver Creek, close to the Border with Alaska. Along the way, we followed montains, rivers, lakes, forests. We saw black bears, bisons, elks, and this morning a mama grizzly bear with 2 cubs, just on the side of the road. One of the little one stood up and took a look around, amazing! The weather has been great, sunshine and just cool at night. the days are getting longer, not sure when it gets dark as we are asleep... and it is day time when we wake up. Yesterday we happened to be in Whitehorse, a city on the banks of the Yukon River. There was the start of the yearly worldwide known river race. different sizes of canoes, Kayaks, paddleboards. They go to Dawson City, 750kms away, finishing on Saturday. They have 2 compulsry stops along the way. And all sorts of security regulations of course.
We are now close to the Alaska border, and planning to go to Valrez first and then on to Anchorage. This is a busy touristic seasons, lots of people and cars, Rvs of all sizes. We feel small when we park next to some of them ...but we have everything we need!
We arrived in Valdez Friday afternoon. As we drove towards Valdez, we went pass the Worthington Glacier, Then the Thomson Pass with spectacular views of the spotted icy mountains, then some pretty waterfall! We booked a cruise on the Lu-Lu Belle.So we did that yesterday, the weather was good. The boat took us to the Columbia glacier, on the way we saw the some otters, playing around in the water, some sea lions, and then the glacier as we got very closed was very spectacular.Some pieces fell and we could hear the loud sound as it dropped in the sea. The boat really got very close to it, we were amongst ice blocks... Some sea lions were laying on some big block of ice,may be i should say iceberg! we stayed outside at the front of the boat all the way there, it was cold but really too nice to be inside! we were prepared with all the warm clothes. Today we are going towards Anchorage, there are lots of people camping as it is a long week end , Monday is the 4th of July. People buy fireworks at stands on the side of the street and let them go whenever...
we Since Valdez, we have travelled to Anchorage, going through the small town of Palmer. This is where they grow the biggest vegetables in the world they say,because of the long day lights, good soil and good farmers! Great display at the visitor centre 's garden! In Anchorage we walked to the Earthquake Park, interesting to see how the 1964 earthquake affected the region. Then we went south east to Seward, a pleasant town, As it was raining, we had lunch in a cafe, And enjoyed the local seafood . We did found a free card mp in a Wildlife refuge area, on the edge of Kelly Lake. Still raining the next day, we drove as planned to the West part of the Kenai peninsula, This is big fishing territory, salmon, halibut. Most of the tourism activities are based on water, fishing, kayak, etc. Pretty region as we were driving along the Cook inlet. Yes Captain Cook was there too , in 1778!
There are some little town that have kept their Russian history, as Alaska was part of Russia until 1864.It was then bought by the U S for 2cent an acre.....
We went to the the town of Homer, all the way to the end of the spit. Interesting place.lots of souvenir shops, fishing trips offices and cafes. Lots of RVs everywhere. As the weather was not improving, we came back to our camp and the next day, we found the sunshine as we were driving back towards Anchorage. Our next main stop was Denali National Park. On the morning of my birthday, the sky was clear and we could see Denally, the highest peak in North America, 6190m. Only 30% of people see it during their visit, so we were lucky! We arrived at the N P and booked The Green Bus tour for the next day. We choose the full day , as the cars are not allowed in the park past the 13 miles. The weather was fine yesterday and we started our trip at 7.45am. We saw the mountain from a few sections pf the road, but not as good as the day before. We saw some grizzly bears, , dale sheeps, caribous, young mooses, a fox who went to bury 2 squirrels. Pretty scenery. A long drive but well worth it. We came back at 8pm. Then drove north to a very nice little free camp. On our way there, a big mama moose with a young was half way crossing the hwy, then quickly retrieved back in the bush. We thought it was a horse , as we were following a caravan. Lucky escape for all of us!
We are now in Fairbanks, it is warm weather. Then will be on our way to Prudoe bay, via the famous challenging Dalton
Photos coming as well as update of the map....
When we left our camping on Monday, we were surrounded by heavy fog, but soon it was clearing along the way. The Dalton starts at about 124kms from Fairbank. We went over The longest bridge crossing the Yukon River in Alaska. The raod had sections of dirt, bad bitumen with gravel and potholes and some really good bitumen. The truck traffic was not that bad. We stopped at the famous Artic Circle post. There a group of bike riders from Mexico were taking photos and also an australian from Sydney with his imported bike. The Coldfoot visitor centre was well worth a stop, with displays and history of the north. We had to book in advance a tour to go to the Artic Ocean as they need time to check us for security reason ... We camped at the Goldbraith Lake, near a river and still some remnants of a glacier. The weather was warm. The next day we arrived in Deadhorse, the name of the town at the end of the road. Here population is 0, as all teh workers are Fly in , Fly out , so the place is just contractors yards with equipments, and all the workers camps. Nothing is for tourism, exept the Artic Ocean Tour. So we went to the airport to use the facilities, bathrooms and wifi... We camped near a lake, and were back to the airport early the next morning... The Tour started at 8.30am, the driver took us around the oil field, a very interesting place, and then to the Ocean. out of all the 18 visitors, only 2 had a swim, a young girl and me! The weather was great, did not even shiver after all! Daniel wen tin up to his ankles...So we left town after that and back on the road, with 2 nights stop along the way before arriving back to Fairbanks. We went to the local farmers market this morning, lots of fresh vegetables as they grow well at this time of the year, and the local honey was so expensive! There are not many bees here and actually the mosquitos are the one doing the polination so the berries can grow to feed the bears. We also just visited the Ice Museum, a very interesting place where they show a movie about the World Ice Art competition that takes place every year in March. They have some statues in a very cold room, -10c, and we could have a ride on a ice sleigh....lots of fun! They gave us a big jacket and Daniel,s nose was starting to freeze ....Great visit. Now we will be haeading towards Canada.
After visiting North Pole, we headed south to Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaska Hwy. We had not caome this way earlier as we drove south to Valdez. From there we went to visit a small town, the last one in Alaska, called Chicken. An old mining post and now depending on the summer tourism and gold panning. We had plan to do that but it was raining and cold so not for us right now. From there we drove The Top of The world Hwy , passing the border to Canada. Same here lots of fog and mist so we missed what would have been a beautiful drive on the perfect day, but that is the mountain weather! Then into Dawson City, had to get onto a ferry to cross teh Yukon river again, to arrive in town. They have preserved all the old style buildings , it adds a lot of character to the town. We stayed there overnight, hoping to do some gold panning again but same weather half way through the morning.Then we drove the Campbell highway , are now back in Watson Lake, on the Alaska Hwy.
Here we are, all going well. We have done a few kms since our last update. We drove down and across British Columbia, going to Stewart along theWest Coast, and Hyder, the most southern town of Alaska. We got to taste teh very famous fish the Hallibut, there, really nice white flesh and very tasty. On the way , we saw the Bear glacier, and some black bears. we always get exited when we see some wildlife, in the security of our car...Further East, we stopped in teh town of Moricetown, where there is a small canyon and the First Nations people fish for the salmon. they tied themselves up from some rope anchered to the rocks, and use a very long handle fishnet. We saw some salmons jumping up against the current , amaizing. We had some overcast, drizzling weather, but then it cleared up and got warmer as we got further south. We finally found a gas bottle to fit our stand in the larger town of Smithers. Then we headed East towards Prince George. Just East of the city, we stopped at the Ancient Ceddar Forest. They recently discovered this small pocket of very old ceddar trees and the local wanted to preserve it so they form a volunteer group and built a wooden pathway to allow people to appreciate this very special forest. Then Jasper, and . then drove into Alberta, stopped in Edmonton but not much too exiting there. We followed the Hwy 16 for a while and decided to head north on smaller road to go to Prince Albert National Park. Along the way , we were really surrounded by farmland, wheat, canola, oats. We stopped and visited a local museum and went to a local agricultural show., very much like ours in Australia, with some huge machinery on display. W e arrived in the NP and it was Friday just before a long week end so we were lucky to find a campsite. We did a few walks, always pleasant in the forest. We then drove into Manitoba, arriving in a small town called The Pas, and went to Clearwater Lake Provincial park. It is supposed to be the clearest lake in the world at his deepest point. Very pretty and warm enough to have a swim in. We stayed 2 nights and are now on our way south. Manitoba is renowned for its lakes and its farming. The weather is warm , had a few thunderstorms in the evenings. The mosquitoes are a bother at times.We have been on the road now for 2 months and have done about 18000kms! We meet some very nice people along the way and always enjoy a chat of course. This is a big country!
It has been a while since last update, well it is a big country and lots to see! We visited the Spruce Woods Provincial Park and did some good walks in the sand dunes for a change. We had a good thunderstorm again and that made it easier to walk in the wetter sand the next morning, going up and down the hills, it was like on Fraser Island exept that the sand was not quite as clear. We then avoided the capital of the province Winnipeg and went north to the West side of the lake Winnipeg, to a samll town Gemlin. There was a nice long beach, people walking along the boardwalk, fishing from the marina jetty. it is easy to forget that it is all along a lake; there are small marinas, private jetties. Then we went to the other side, on the East side of the lake to Grand Beach. it is a provincial park so we have to pay $5 for the day pass. I am not sure how this would work in Australia ! We entered the province of Ontario, first town of Kenora. Fishing in lakes is a big passtime in all those places and the amount of boats was amazing! Camping, canoeing also are very popular at this time of the year, being the summer school holidays as well.We like to stop at farmers market , the vegetables and fruits always look fresher than in the supermarket. Past the town of Thunder Bay, overlooking the Lake Superior, is the monument of Terry Fox, a very nice set up. We camped at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, right on the edge of the Lake. The granite rocks are pink and the sand is almost pink, very pretty. The next morning we went walking in the area. It is all pretty along the lake, there are houses and nice ones too in many places along the lake. Teh southern part of the lake, Agawa Bay is very sectacular with its very clear turquoise water. We keep going East, South East, have found some pretty beaches along the way. In one place called Balm Beach, people were so tied up on the beach, just like in France in August! We then headed south to the Niagara Falls. We had seen them from the US side 8 years ago but all teh canadians have been telling us that we must go to see from their side ! And it is true, much more spectacular! We went up the revolving tower and had a good view all around. The next day we drove to Niagara On The Lake, a very charming town, with some tree lined streets and beautful houses and small shops. There are lots of wineries and fruit growing farms in this area. We really enjoyed the fresh peaches. Next , we took the freeways to go through Toronto, did not feel like stopping there!
We visited Ottawa, the capital of Canada on Sunday. I t is a good day to drive in cities. We arrived on time to watch the change of the guard on teh Parlement Hill, at 10am. The old part of the city nea r the river has lots of older buildings, some of them in restauration. We walked around, pass the Canal Rideau, watching yatchts going through the locks. The inside of the cathedral was impressive, we arrived at teh end of the sunday mass and heard the organs, always pretty. We then drove over a bridge and there we were in the Province of Quebec. Everything is wrtitten in french, even the stop signs have become Arret! Bizarre.We visited la Vallee de la Gatineau, and today we arrived in Montreal. We parked at the Old Montreal and did our walking tour before it started to rain. And more rain is forecast for tonight , hopefully it will clear before we visit the city of Quebec.
we have visited Quebec city, mainly the old Quebec. We had a beautiful day, good weather. We did a lotof walking through the small streets, up the hills, up the remparts of the old Citadelle. All very pretty. We stopped at the Marche du Port, and bough some good fresh food. We pretended to be guests in the hotel Le Chateau Fontenac and used some of the facilities.Mucisians and singers were performing at some of the plazas to give a good ambiance. We camped not far from the city and the next day, we visited the island d,Orleans, in the middle of the St Laurent River. It is all farming, lots of fresh produces, art places, museums, small villages with the church like in France. The Canadian singer Felix Leclerc had lived on this island. From there, we came back to cross the city of Quebec and go over the south part, going East to visit the Gaspesie, a very charming coast line. We are having a lot of fun with the french language and the accent, it sounds more like the local dialect where we come from in Vendee, France. Today we have entered the New Brunswick Province. And we have some light rain so we are going to slow down and wait for the sun to come out tomorrow.
We are in New Brunswick and the weather tested our Margo2. During the night, the wind was so strong that we had to put the roof down and squeeze down in the bottom with made up beds. The rain stopped but the wind kept blowing, it was nice to drive away and find calmer places. So the long beach walks we had planned did not eventuated, even so we followed the coast for some time. We were in the Acadian territory, the acadians descend from the french in the late 1600 with plenty of history between them and the english. They havae kept a lot of their language, some of it we recognise as patois from where we come from in France. It can be very funny at imes. They also have their flag, similar to the french flag with a yellow star in the top of the blue section. Every year they have a festival and decorate their houses and gardens with a lot of things the color of the flag. we stopped at Escuminac and bought two lobsters for dinner good prices here. The next day we walked along the Bouctouche Sand Peninsula, the sun was out ,all pleasant. We arrived in Novia Scotia passing through Shediac and Sackville. There is a very pleasant and well set up Information centre, very welcoming. We spent some time in Pictou, pleasant renovated warf aera , with a replica of the ship Hector which transported over 200 scottish migrants in the early years of the settlement. On the way to Cape Breton, we stopped at the Cape George lighthouse. There is a causeway between the mainland and Cape Breton. The beach at Inverness is very popular, a golf course is along the beach , in the dunes. At our campng ground, in La Pointe St Pierre, there is a tennis court, free to use so we borrow the tools and have a few hits, good to be on the court after a drive. The Cap Breton Highland National Park is very famous for the rugged coast line and the wilderness. But we hit the fog, light rain... We manage to stop at teh Bog, where a male moose is in the water, not far from the road. We do the little walk around the Bog and see it coming out of the water and closer to us, then the rain is heavier and we have to move on, but we are very excited as this male moose was missing form our list of animals to see! Wedrive all the way north to the Bay of St Lawrence, very pretty, up and down, close to the shore. We ended the day in a sheltered campground on the Est side of the Cap. We walked on the beach after dinner and participated at the NP ranger activities around a fire cooking some local tradition food in the ashes. Very interesting. The next day, we stopped at Ingonish Beach, walked around the lake behing the beach. The sand is all pinkish color, the bay is very calm, like Hervey Bay! We drive on to Louisbourg National Historic site of Canada, where they have rebuilt a 200 years old fortress that was all in ruins. they now do some craft demonstrations, replay the history with music, dances, cooking bread in a wood oven, showing the way of living of the days of that era. There is a street parade with the workers all in costumes of the era and to finish , a fire of the canon! Since that we had to stop to do the oil change on the car as the kms are adding up. Today, we visited Halifax for a few hours, walking around the quais and the streets downtown, up to the ruins of the Forteress, overlooking the city. Thisafternoon,we arrivead in Queensland, yes there is a beach called Queensland West of Hlifax, and it is the best beach we have seen so far, with white sand and clear water. We also drove through a city called Sydney a few days ago. The weather is still warm enough, . We have now arrived in the Old Town of Lunenburg that is listed by UNESCO.
Well, it has been a while and i have to get back to my hand written diary to remember where we were...The Town of Lunenberg was very pleasant to visit, with a camping ground at the Visitor Centre . Some of the houses date back to the 1700,s, and are well looked after. They are either private homes or little shops, lodgings. We then drive across the peninsula and stop at Port George for the night, right onto the ocean.A group of about 20 sea lions are on a small rocky point that get covered as the tide comes in, all fun to watch from the shore. We are back through New Brunswick on the 1st of September, going West . Along our travel we met a guy from St Andrews who told us that it was aplace to visit, so we do that. Pretty little town, with charming houses, a busy main street with Antiques shops, cafes and restaurants. On the 2nd of September, we cross into the US, bye bye Canada, that was a very pleasant and interesting country to visit. All together it took us about 6 weeks. At the border, just have to show our passports. The custom guy is very friendly. Then we head on to Acadia N.P, in Maine. Acadia is famous for its pink granite rocky shores. We do the one way drive, with a few stops along the way, at the Sand Beach, the Thunderhole. It is a very beautiful day and as it is a long week end it is getting very busy. We drive out as there are no camping avalaible for the week end. We must do a lobster lunch before we leave this aera. There is a place where they sell them alive and cook them for you, so that is great. Then we aim at getting to Boston to visit on Sunday as there will be less traffic and easier to find a parking. So we do that and walk around the warf aera, the Heritage trail, very pleasant. We then drive to Wells State Park where we stay for 2 nights. We catch up on little jobs and do some walking in the forest. very relaxing. We have been across Maine, New Hamphire, Massachusset, and Pensylvania. Now we are in Maryland, and yesterday visited Washington D.C. We stayed at the Cherry Hill campground where we can organised day tours and shuttle pick up from the park all very practical. We did the bus and train into the city thursday afternoon, visited the Air and space museum and the Native Indians museum. And yesterday we did the day tour, only 5 of us in a big bus. We visited the Capitol, were the Congress members came out on the steps for the comomeration ceremony of 9/11. Then the tour took us to the Whte House, and some of the Memorials. Very pleasant city to walk around, lots of parks. It was very warm, ok for us . Now we are heading west, have to put some new tires on Margo2, and then go to St Louis . Photos will come at the next stop...
Just a quick update, we are now in the U S,, there are not many Tourism offices along our way with WIFI, so we will upfate soon All going good, weather warm, . We are in Pennsylvania, going to Washington DC in the next day or so.
From Washngton DC, we headed west, Through the states of Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentuky, Illinois and Missouri. Lots of forests, farming along the way. The main farming is corn, soya beans, some tobacco. We camped most of the time in State Parks or State Forest campgrounds, all very shaded. We visited the town of Bardtown, the Bourbon capital of the world. You can smell the distilleries all around the town. We visited one of the Bourbon museums. Very interesting history and a lot of the distillery process is similar to the rhum distillery, exept that they use 75% corn, 15% barley and 10% rye. We then went to visit the Mammoth caves doing a lantern tour. Very pretty.We arrived in St Louis yesterday afternoon, to a great reception from our son's in laws family. Today the weather is cooler and had some rain, we went out to lunch and had a lovely tour of the different parts of the Old St Louis with beautiful houses and buildings. Tonight we are meeting up with other members of the family.
We had a lovely time in St Louis, catching up with our son's inlaws , family and friends We had a Xmas style dinner as a very wellcoming event on the first night. It was good to sleep in a real bed, but it was raining on the Friday so we did not take any outdoor pictures, but we went out for lunch in a nice cafe and enjoyed some of the St Louis specials, mainly the desserts..
From St Louis, we crossed the mighty Mississipi river again and back into Illinois. We stopped at the Fort Massac State Park, on the edge of the Ohio river.There is still some barge traffic on the river. From there we drove to Nashville, Tennesse. We walked around after trying to find a parking . There was a ceremonie taking place outside the Capitol, to celebrate the Constitution as they do every year at the end of the Constitution week. They do the ringing of the bells. Then we were on our way to Rocky Island State Park, where we walked to see some very pretty water falls, near an old cotton factory.The next stop was in the Great Smoky Mountains N.P. We walked 8kms to the Abrahams..Falls, a lovely walk along the river, kept looking out for black bears but did not see any. on the way back, i almost stepped on a Copper Head snake that was crossing the path...a bit of luck there! We had some rain at times but real warm weather most of the time. The next stop was Charleston,. a very pretty old style city, with some cobble stone streets, a pleasant craft market, lots of small shops and art galleries. This is a cruise stop, so lots of tourists around. We visited the McLeod plantation, very interesting history. Some of those white oak trees are very impressive by their shape and grandeur. We went camping in the Edisto Beach State Park. Nice to see the beach again. There is a lot of beach erosion and some of the houses along the beach are getting pretty close to the edge of the water! From there we drove a small section into Georgia then into Florida.We camped in the Ocala State forest for 2 nights sot that we could catch up with the house duties...The NASA Space Visitor Centre just south of Titusville was next on teh list of things to see. Very interesting and some impressive displays. We stood next to the Atlantis Shuttle and spoke with a lady astronaut. She was in charge of the blanket sewing on the shuttle! We got to touch the material that they used., and Daniel got to check the welds...
From there, we were getting closer to Miami Beach, We did a few stops at some othere beaches along the way, just north of it, which were no so crowded and more accessible!Now we feel like we are in Darwin weather and vegetation wise with some ponciana starting to flower. W e then drive to Keys West, the furtherest south point in Florida. A long drive over many bridges. The guy at the visitor centre tells us that at the beginning they imported the cement from Germany to build the bridges, amaysing. Then they made their own. We walked around the old town of Keys West, then drove back to Mile 37 and stayed at the Bahia Honda State Park, where we enjoyed a swim at the very pretty beach, real sand and clear .water. The next destination was the Everglades NP., we camped in Flamingo camping ground. The name Flamingo was given long ago when then they were there but as they are migratory birds, they did not always come back. we saw some other birds, and kept looking out for the.alligators, but did not see any there, but saw some the next day in the north part, in the Tamiami canal. This NP reminds us a bit of Kakadu , during the wet season. We are now on the West coast, went over the Skyway bridge over the Tampa Bay, very impressive construction. We are now in the Manatee Springs State Park. Very pretty. So, we are just over a week away from reaching our goal to be in New Mexico to meet up with the family ! New Orleans is next on thelist after stopping at some beautiful beaches in the Golf of Mexico.
The Manatee Springs are very pretty, reminded us of Mataranka, but not hot springs. From there, we did a few stops along the Gulf Coast where the beaches are white, and the water so clear. The sugar like white sand here countains only one material, evenly sized quartz cristal that originated millions of years ago from teh Appalachian Mountains range. you can check www.MexicoBeach.com .We had a swim at the St George State Park, and went camping for 2 nights at the Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park. We visited a few different beaches and bought some great seafood, shrimps as they call the prawns here, and some snapper.Today we left Florida and drove to New Orleans. the number of bridges that we have travelled on is umbileavable! So tomorrow we are going to visit some parts of the city and try the food!
From our camping in Bayou Signette State Park, we drive to the suburb of Algiers where we park the car and take the ferry across the Mississipi River to Canal St. From there we walked to the French quarter, where houses built over 200 years ago are still giving a pleasant character to the area, with shutters, ironwork balconies. The whole French quarter is a National Historic District.What makes the atmosphere here are the different small groups of musicians playing in the streets, around the cafes, and shops. As it is a very touristic place, the souvenir shops, art galleries, antiques shops are busy. We stop and have the special of the Cafe du Monde, which is the Cafe au lait, made with added chicoree, served with the beignets! Very nice, and later for lunch we have some of the typical creole food. As we feel rather full, it is good to be walking around.
The next major stop is at Houston, Texas, visiting the Johnson Space Centre, where the shuttle Independence is on top of the big jumbo . We went into the shelter that houses Saturn V, and the tour took us to visit the building where the astronauts do some of their training. This is where our son Gwenael did his zero gravity flight in 2012 and came here for all the preparations so that made it more special to visit for us. We ended the day camping in Galveston, south of Houston, backing on the beach. This region is full of industries, refineries and also so many big houses are built so close to the shore, all on very high poles. Lots of people are fishing all around here, i am not sure if i would like to eat some fish coming from this aera... The next day we followed the coast, then went towards San Antonio. As it was Sunday, It was busy with visitors around the downtown aera . We followed the Riverwalk for a while and visited the Alamo where there is a lot of history with the spanish, mexican and texan troops. We are now getting closer to Las Cruces where we should be with all our family tomorrow.
We arrived in Las Cruces on Tuesday the 11th of October, where all the family was waiting for us. We timed it so Gwenael was home from work and Marcelle awake from her nap. They were all very exited to see Margo2 arriving on their driveway. It is great to have all the grandchildren together and they are having a ball! Since then, we have visited some regional landmarks like the Gila Cliffs dwellings, camped overnight at the Faywood Hot Springs, then visited theCity of Rocks State Park, north of Deming. Saturday mornings the Farmers Market is on in the Main street of Las Cruces, with plenty of fresh products, craft, music. The belgium waffles were a big hit.The annual Mesilla Valley Pumpkin Fair was also a hit with all, lots of activities for families. The children picked their pumpkins in a pumpkin patch, going on a hay ride all the way! Only a few days left here for Gaetane and family as they are heading back to Australia on Saturday.
We had beautiful weather to visit White Sands National Park, just 100kms north of Las Cruces.Going down the sand hills in a capsule was a hit by all. Another day, the children drew faces on their pumpkins to be carved then we lighted them at night. There was also two birthdays to celebrate , Gaetane and Harrison . The two weeks spent altogether were full of fun time. Now Gaetane and family are back in Darwin. The car registration expires on the 17th of November so we think it will be better to enter Mexico with the new one. In the meantime, we are going to visit a few places around Las Cruces. The weather has been warm so far, but cooler temperatures are expected soon so moving on to Baja California, Mexico, will be our next move.
We went visiting the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about 200kms East of El Paso. We did some nice walks, and as always met some interesting campers. The weather was good, slightly cooler than in Las Cruces. Then we moved south to the Big Bend NP, which is right at the border with Mexico. The Rio Grande River has made the natural border, through some very high canyons in some places. Some mexicans cross over with small wooden boats and come and sell some souvenirs in the lower parts. The park is divided in three main aeras with camping facilities. There are also back country camping for which a permit is required. The campings were busy as many people were escaping from the election. All the people we talked to were really worried and so upset about the result. They could not believe how it could have come to that result. We are now back in Las Cruces were we are getting ready for the next part of our trip. We are planning to leave on Sunday and cross over the border in the middle of the week, at Tecate, then drive into Baja California.
We left the family in Las Cruces after some big squeezy hugs. We drove through Arizona, passing by some very arid regions and some others very rich in agriculture.Where there was water, there was some intensive farming, pecans, walnuts, dairy farms and vegetables.We spend one night at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation aera, where other campers were; most of them come here to have fun in the dunes with their 4x4 buggies.We watched the Supermoon rising from behind the dunes, and during the night it was almost as light as in Alaska in summer...We made our way to Tecate, in California to cross the border into Mexico. The paperwork for our Tourist card and the car Import Permit was done smoothly. The immigration officer was offering some honey and hot sauce for sale...From there we drove to Ensanada, on the Pacific Coast. There we visited ""La Bufadora"", which is a blow hole, a notch in the rocks that sprays waves upwards. It was a nice day, calm water, but it must be impressive on a bad day!.As we walked to the Bufadora from the parking, merchants aligned the street trying to sell their souvenirs, food, drinks, yes even beer and Tequila of course.Lots of tourists from the cruise ship anchered in Ensenada do the trip there by buses.Further south, the road took us past the undulating hills of the wine country to San Tomas. The Baja4x4 rally was on in the region so there were lots of off road vehicles . One night we camped at the back of a restaurant called La Cavia del Pirate where we met a guy from Brisbane following the rally. All the fuel station in Mexico, Pumex, are owned by the governement and are very modern with clean restrooms. So in the towns we can see the older stations have been put out of business. We visited the Baya de Los Angeles on the East side of the peninsula, stayed at the Duggett campground where we met some other travellers. Further south, on the main highway, San Ignacio was a very pretty place , like an oasis with date palms. The old church was built by the Jesuites in the 1700's, using the local volcanic rocks . The plaza in front of the church was surrounded by old trees to give shade to the locals enjoying the relax place. Baya Concepcion was another very pretty stop. Here camping was along one of the beaches in the small baies. The water was very calm and clear. Some people with a kayak saw some whale sharks. Further South, Loreto has a pleasant esplanade and a pedestrian street mall, with nice hotels and cafes. The south state of the peninsula is very clean compare to the north. The tourism is very developped and that entice the locals to keep their surrounding clean. Many Americans and Canadians owned properties and come to spend most of the year in warmer climate. In La Paz, we checked out about the ferries to cross over to the mainland Mexico at Mazatlan. So we booked for Sunday and went to visit the south part of the peninsula. On the east side, it is still undeveloped with lots of land for sale but the acces road is only corrugated dirt. Cabo Pulmo is knowned for its diving and snorkling and there were a lot of tourists there for such a little town. We camped nearby a fisherman camp. San Jose de Calbo is very developed with all the modern facilities , same in Cabo San Lucas. We saw the Natural Arch from the road,at the end of the peninsula . We stopped for lunch at a Playa Publica (Public beach) to find that at the end of the road there was a gate, near a water desanilisation plan, to supply water for the nearby huge golf course and resort development. Security guards are there.So we had our lunch on the side of the road and then walk over the hill to the beach. How public is that? It is happening in other places where resorts are taking over the local fishermen beach where they earn their livelyhood . We arrived in Todos Santos, on the Pacific side, on the Tropic of Cancer and camped on the beach were the surf brings lots of keen surfers. This morning early we saw some whales at a distance. We are now in a camping in La Paz, with Wifi, and we will take the ferry tomorrow afternoon to arrive monday morning in Mazatlan . The weather has been beautiful, it gets dark early at around 6.30pm. The mexican people are very friendly and with the little spanish we have, we manage.
The ferry crossing went smoothly with calm water. We were on a commercial ferry, so all the other cargo were trucks. I was the only woman passenger, with two other ladies working on board. The journey took almost 16 hrs, overnight. We had dinner and breakfast served, all local food, just about the same menu for both meals. We drove around Mezatlan,had the car washed after the sea breeze and the dust it had collected over the last few weeks, and then drove south and stopped at the Color Marino Hotel and RV park, right on the beach. It was windy but quiet. A beautiful set up with a large swimming pool. The region is very rich for agriculture, vegetables, mangoe plantations, and furhter south lots of sugar cane. IT reminds us of north Queensland with the mountains and the sugar cane, and all very green. The next day we stayed at the Koala Bungalows & RV park. yes we thought it must have some connection with australia, and the owner established this camp about 30 years ago, on the edge of the Laguna Santa Maria del Oro. A very deep lake was formed in a volcano crater. Now the hills are very thick forest, and we walked for about one hour, doing only part of it around it. lots of small restaurants on the edge. We drove along the volcano Ceboruco, the rocks around the aera were all black. Yesterday we hit Tequilla country with the algave plantations all along the highway, and also very close to the edge of the road...can,t miss a space for that. In the town of Tequilla, there are several distilleries, and along the main street, you have a big choice of vendors from bottles to barrels...It is a very busy town. Last night we camped at the Chimulco Aquatic and RV Park, in Villa Corona, south west of Guadalajara, the 2nd biggest city of Mexico. We are now heading towards the Mariposa Monarca reserve where butterflies come to spend their winter here from north america!
Well, Mexico is abig country and it is a while since i have updated. Yes we did find the Reserve Mariposa Monarca, after some more driving into the mountains. And it was really worth it, a good walk into the forest led us to this aera where some trees, of the pine family, were covered with the butterflies, all of the same orange color. when the sun was shining on them, they started flying around, quite a sight.
We had to do a few Pemex camping, at the back of some large fuel station opened all night with security. Sometimes we have found some small hotel with a locked in yard where we can park. Most of the time we find other travellers on a web site with indication to camping places.
We bypassed Mexico City, and went south est to Oaxaca, were we camped with other travellers. Some were a french family with 3 children, and then an australian couple from Brisbane on a motorbike, all surprised to see a Landcruiser trooper from Qld ! While in the city, we visited around and also did a bit of maintenance work on the car, changed the brake pads as it is necessary to brake at all the speed bumps everywhere and also driving up and down the mountains. In Santa Maria del Tule, where our camping was, there was the oldest and largest tree recorded in the world, hard to imagine it on photos. It was a very pleasant little town just outside Oaxaca. At this time of the year, the locals have a lot of religious celebrations with firework at any time of the night. on the 12th, it was the Virgin of Guadalupe, and along the roads, were many trucks full of people some running with a torch, some walking along, all going to some main celebration. We drove through some towns were the alcohol Mezcal is made from the agave plant. they have a horse pulling a huge stone wheel crash the pine, or middle of the plant, then it is distilled.
We drove south to the Pacific coast to Salina Cruz, it was a very windy day so not pleasant to stay along the coast. We drove to visit the Sima de las Corteras, aplace where there is a huge sink hole, 160m wide, 140 m deep. There on the rocks, at some level, some hand printing like the aboriginal paintings, interesting. We camped there , very quiet, away from the fireworks...
The next day we visited the Canyon of Simidero, by boat. the highest part of the walls were 1000m, A very spectacular place. There was a formation like a natural Xmas tree along the wall, made from water dripping slowly from the rocks. very pretty. Another pretty town along the way was San Cristobal de las Casas, we drove through at the time of their religious celebrations, very colorful. Here it is now in the Maya country. People dress in very colorful clothes, mainly in the purple colors with lots of embroidries.
We are now in Palenque, going to visit the ruins tomorrow.
During that time we are organising to ship our car from Belize to Cartagena as the country of Costa Rica is not allowing right hand drive vehicle to drive through, we have found an australian couple needing the same so we are going to share a container early January. We also have to find somewhere to go during that shipping time of 2 weeks....so life is not boring on the road. it helps when we get a good internet connection ....
The Maya ruins in Palenque were interesting to visit. A lot of stones were used to built such structures in those days, some nearly 3000 years ago. From there we went north on the coast, stopping one afternoon right on the beach at a small local restaurant, asking if we could stay for the night in their place under the palm trees . They were so exited to have visitors paying a small fee for that! Lovely people of spanish descent. We visited some more ruins in Edzna, always so impressive, and then in Itzmal. There was also a Chocolate museum to visit, very well set up with some Maya ceremonies and free chocolate drink, and chocolate to taste!In the next days we visited the Reserva Biosfera Ria de Celestun, west of Merida. There we took a boat and saw the pink flamingoes, very special place. We camped near a salt lagun, where they farm the salt, collecting the cristal in the water with sieves and then loading some flat bottom boats and dragging them along to the shore to be emptied in a large pile.Some people do work hard! We then drove along the coast from Progresso to Dzilam de Bravo, staying another night right on the beach surrounded by coconut palm trees, a camping all to ourselves! We have made our way to Cancun and today visited a travel agent to book flights to Cuba for something to do while the car will be shipped from Belize to Cartagena! So now we need to find somewhere to spend a few days over Xmas, may be along the beach or near a lake further south.
Merry Xmas to everyone who reads the blog!
After our one night stay in Cancun, we went south, stopped at Playa del Carmel, the upmarket tourist place. We manage to find a parking spot in the main street, walked to the beach which was packed with very tanned bodies. They had some beach volley ball games going. The water looked beautiful. The pedestrian mall was very busy with vendors. One guy had his feet in a glass cubic container filled with water and some little fishies swimming around and cleaning his feet....always some new ideas for business! We stopped futher at the camping at Xpu-Ha, a nice beach but not so crowded, and stayed there for 3 nights. Other travellers were there as well, some we had met along the way. So Xmas was spent with a large gathering of crazy people like us, about 30 of us, french, argentinians, mexicans. A couple from Argentina entertained us with their guitar and singing, all fun. We shared the food, and as the camping was rather small, all the vans and tents ended up being very close d to each other. The weather was a bit on the wet side at time but still warm. A few days later, we drove south to the Laguna Bacalar, a fresh water lagoon with a white sand bottom and turquoise like water. A very popular spot for the tourists and locals. We are now in Chetumal, at the border of Belize. We are staying in a nice campground near the Baie of Chetumal, with palm trees around us and beautiful water. A couple of coconuts have fallen nearby today.. We will drive into Belize on Monday, and meet up with the other people who are sharing the container to Cartagena. Hopefully all will work out on time as we have plan to catch a bus back to Cancun after we leave the car, to fly to Havana, Cuba, on the 14th of January. I am spending some time here doing some research and booking flights to Australia and back for February. quite a few things to do.
Happy New Year to Everyone!
We spent five days at a nice camping near the coast at Chetumal, just before the border with Belize. New Year was quiet apart from the local fire crakers. There was only one other traveller near . So we did some catch up on small jobs and booking the travels to come. We went over the border on Monday the 2nd and are now in Belize. The border crossing was quite smooth once the office had the internect connection working. From there we went to the first town, called Corozal, did some shopping as we could not take any fresh products across. The shops are owned by chinese people, and the choice of food is limited. We have to get the fresh fruits from the local markets. Then we drove to the East side, to a small town Sarteneja on the coast. To get there we had to go over two wooden ferries,hand cranked . There the water was beautiful, and we spend a night camping. Then we drove to Orange Walk Town, passing through lots of sugar cane growing aera. They still burn it and cut it by hand with a machety. We have been on a river tour today, the Lamanai River echo tour. Very pleasant and interesting as after 25 miles, we arrived at the Lamanai Maya ruins. Tomorrow we are going to Belize city to finalise the shipping.
We arrived in Belize City and went to the Marina campground, Margo2 was between boats instead of RVs this time! The marina facilities were great. We met a couple from Cairns on their way to Brezil by car, going to teach english. Interesting to hear what people are doing in so many different parts of the world! Then the young couple who are sharing the container with us arrived, so we had to finalize all the preparations for the shipping, cleaning, sorting out what we need for the next weeks. As planned, we drove the cars to the port facilities on Tuesday morning, and by 1pm, it was all done. We were homeless....We took the overnight bus to Cancun where we have a couple of days to relax before flying out to Cuba on Saturday for a week. We will fly direct from Havana to Bogota then Cartagena on the 21-22 of January. The shipping time is usually 2 weeks. So we do not expect to have much internet connection in Cuba so we will update in Cartagena while we wait for the car to arrive!
So we said Bye Bye Mexico on Saturday the 14th of January. It has been a very friendly and diverse country to visit. In Cancun, we caught the bus to the airport and boarded a Cubana Airline plane, Antonov 158, for La Havana, Cuba. It is only a short flight , 1h 20m. As we fly over the island, we can see the farming of sugar cane, with red soil. At the airport, the process is very smooth and then we are on our way to the hotel Neptuno. Our room is at the 21st floor, only one lift is working out of 4! Then there is only one light working at the entrance of the room...There is dinner avalaible downstairs, buffet style. More like a canteen. That will do us for tonight as the hotel is away from the city centre. We are right on the coast, and can hear the sound of the waves. There is a huge swimming pool and a tennis court. The next morning, after a good breakfast, we go to the Old Havana . This is a very nice part of the city. The buildings are beautiful all around the plaza. We walk around, go to a Bureau de Change to get some local money , the CUC.There is 2 sorts of money, the local CUP and the CUC for the tourists. While in the queue, we talk with other tourists. Three korean girls are also looking at going to Cienfuegos, so we all go by taxi to the bus staion where we can buy the bus tickets, but there is no seat avalaible for the next 2 days. We organize a local taxi to take us there the next morning , it is a 1960s landrover with a jeep willy front and a misubitshi diesel engine, without any 4x4! It takes us about 4hrs to do the 220kms or so, with a rest stop near a place called Australia...All good fun! In Cienfuegos, we stay at a Casa , with breakfast and dinner service, all very nice and friendly. We visit the aera, doing lots of walking and also going to the Punta Gorda with a bicycle taxi. Then we took a bus to go to Varadero , on the north coast. The beach here are just beautiful. Tourists come from all over the world, but there is still room on the beach! We spoke with a french couple coming from the region where we were born, so funny...a small world. After 2 beautiful days , we have to go back to La Havana to catch the flight with Cubana airline to Bogota, Colombia staying overnight then to Cartagena. Cuba has been a very surprising place, as we did not know much about it before leaving. The old cars are a spectacle on their own, the people are very friendly and we felt very safe all the time. The casa system is really great as you get to know more about the local life and meet local people. We are not rhum drinkers so cannot say anything about that but the local beer was good! We had only one week but 2 weeks would have been better as there is lots to see. We are now in Cartagena after flying from La Havana to Bogota and getting to Cartagena here on Sunday. Yesterday we went to the city and met up with a couple from Bogota who have offered their place to store Margo2 when we go to Australia next month! Lovely couple , they showed us around the old city and we enjoyed a nice dinner together at one of their favourite bistro as they come here often. Now we are in the process of waiting for the boat to arrive, should be tomorrow and do all the paperwork necessary to get Margo2 out of the port and on the road again! The other young couple sharing the container have arrive here too. We are staying in an hostel near the port aera.
The week started with all the paperwork necessary for getting the cars out of the container and of the port. We met with the shipping agent on tuesday, the boat arrived as scheduled on Wednesday morning then Daniel and James were the only ones allowed to go to the port offices with the shipping agent. after a few trips, booking appointment for the customs inspection, they drove the cars out of the container on thursday late afternoon, and friday morning we all went to the port to collect them. Great feeling to have all this done, without problems, it just needed time and patience as there was a lot of paper work. yesterday afternoon Belinda,James and us went to the old city and did a walking tour which was very interesting. Then we had dinner there and a beautiful italian ice cream. An nice way to enjoy the city at night. During the week we also met with a couple from Bogota, Ricardo and Sonia who have offered their place to leave the car when we come back to Australia mid february. They were on holiday here for the week so it was a good oportunity to meet them. Now we are leaving this nice little hostel which was near all the offices for the shipping so very practical and will be driving north towards Santa Marta, visiting the coast and the mountains.
It was good to find ourselves back into Margo2, and to get back on the road. From Cartagena, we drove to Santa Marta on the north coast, and stayed along some nice beaches. It was very windy at times. There are lots of young travellers from everywhere in this part of Colombia. From there, we went to Minca, a small town into the mountains. We did some good walks to see some waterfalls and on the way early morning we heard some toucans and saw some flying, but they just did not pause for the photo! We have just driven south now and across to Medellin, a large city built in the mountain. The traffic was just crazy and we manage to find our way to a nice camping ground up the mountain at 2600m. The young guy running it has spent some time in Qld. Always easier to find someone who speaks english....and there are other travellers here. Along the way we drove past some huge banana plantations, where they have small planes for aerial spraying. There was also some african buffalo farms. We meet some young people travelling and doing some volunteer work in different places, farms, animal shelters etc in exchange for cheaper accomodation. On the side of the road, local people sell fruits, fruit juices, lots of bananas, pineapples, citrus. We have seen fresh meat hanging out for sale, but not very tempting for us. We still manage to find some shops with fridges to store meat! And we do our own cooking, doing some good combinations in the Dreampot! Bread is not that great as it is not really part of their diet. It was good to find a small bakery in Minca where a young french baker from Vendee, was busy supplying the travellers! Funny small world!
The road south took us through miles of banana plantations. Then, the city of Medellin was a challenge to cross to reach the camping up in the mountain. The traffic was crazy and the gps took us to the road where the new tram line goes. So we asked a young guy on a motor bike to show us the way around, people are very friendly and helpful. The young man at the camping had been in Australia, around Brisbane and Bribie Island for 18 months, so his english was pretty good. It was pleasant to be up the montains, the weather was cooler. In the morning the valley was covered by fog. After a couple of days, we drove south towards Manizales, and the start of the coffee growing country. We visited the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquita, the number one tourist attraction in Colombia. The cathedral was built by the miners inside the mine tunnels. The town itself is also very interesting to visit.The gold museum of Bogota was worth the visit, where the piece of gold sculture representing the raft which is part of the legend of El Dorado is on display. The following day, we camped near the Laguna de Guatarita, and did the walking tour around part of the Lagune.The country side was a very rich farming region, with dairy farms and diverse agriculture. As we had enough time before leaving Bogota, we drove to Villa Leyva, a spanish colonial town, established in the 1500's. All the houses are white and covered of tiles, with nice wooden balconies very nicely restored. The main plaza has retain its original stone pavers, and is the largest plaza in Colombia. All the buildings around it are now used by different businesses, shops, restaurants, banks but have retain their original characters.Then it was time to drive back to Bogota and leave Margo2 in good hands, at some friends place and fly back to Australia for a month. Our itenary took us to Houston, Los Angeles, Brisbane and Darwin where we are now for two weeks before going to Hervey Bay for almost another two weeks.
Our stay in Darwin was busy with lots of play with the grandsons. It is really nice to watch them grow and changing, no babies any more! We followed their weekly activiites, swimming lessons, karate, soccer and had some trampoline sessions in the backyard...Harrison challenged us with some 60pieces puzzles , not bad for a 3 1/2 years old ! The wet season has been a really good one so everything is green and the grass is very tall in the bush. We still experienced a few good storms which were always welcome to cool down, but for a short time. The 4th largest cruise ship in the world docked in the harbour for a day. Most of the 4500 passengers did find it too hot and were walking back to the air condition comfort of their cabins by lunchtime. This is the tropical north! Our friends from Qld did ask us to bring some rain back with us and we did on Saturday. It has been very hot and dry in the Hervey Bay region all summer and Saturday night there was a good storm! We enjoyed a good morning of tennis on Sunday, are busy catching up with friends and doing some planning for the next part of our trip.
We enjoyed our short stay in Hervey Bay, busy catching up with friends, sorting out our personal things and playing some tennis! We reassured everyone that it is safe to travel in South America, so far... We are now in Santiago, Chili, after flying from Brisbane to Sydney then Santiago, good flights with Qantas. We are staying here overnight before flying to Bogota tomorrow morning where we will reunite with our Margo2 and be back on the road, driving towards Equador.
We had a good flight from Brisbane - Sydney- Santiago, Chile, where we spent a night before flying to Bogota. The plane was a Boing 787, almost new and a very smooth flight. Our private chauffeur sent by our friends who were looking after the car , was waiting for us. After a nice lunch in their place, it was time to start Margo2 , say Good Bye to a very special couple and get on the road. After spending the first night in a camping nearby, we drove across Bogota the next day which took us more than 3 hours. We headed towards the Tatacoa desert, near Nieva, in the South . We found out that it was a long week end so that explained the amount of visitors there but it was still very pleasant. We enjoyed doing some good walks . Most of the tourists were from Bogota, coming to breathe some fresh air...We are now going towards the border with Ecuador after driving along the Panamerican highway for the last couple days, past some very lush mountainous regions of coffee, bananas, bamboo. Everything is so green! So our next update will be from Ecuador.
It was time to say Good Bye to Colombia, it has been a very interesting country to visit, and everyone we met has been very friendly and helpful. We entered the border with Ecuador mid morning and after all the formalities, about 2 hours, we drove on and stopped for the night at the Grotto de la Paz. Another camping car arrived to share the parking lot , we had met them at the border, a lovely couple from Argentina and their dog, in a 1984 VW combi. The grotto was an unexpected surprise, a very special religious place for the locals. Thenext day we drove on to Ibarra , a larger centre, and cam[ed for 3 nights near the Laguna Yahuarcocha. The camping was busy with Overlanders of differents countries. Lots of exchange of itineries took place. Always interesting. There was a moto-car circuit nearby and we watch some local racing. From there we drove along the Panamerican highway and arrived at the Cotopaxi NP, where we drove up and walk some small parts as this was high altitude country. This time of the year is the summer season they call it, it is their rainy season, so we were very lucky to have a view of the top of the snow peaked volcan, at 5897m, between clouds. The road system so far has been surprisingly good, the amount of work done in this mountainous region is huge. Today we drove south and arrived in El Tambo. All along the way, every little parts of land is used for agriculture, up and down the mountains. It is very rich black soil , mainly worked by hand as the slopes are pretty steep. They grow all sorts , have milking cows, vegetables patches. So far we have found it a modern and clean country.
We left Ecuador with a lot of rain. This is a shame as it is a very friendly country with lots to see, but we were at the wrong time being the wet season. No point getting on small dirt roads to visit things as no one can really tell you the road conditions further...So we entered Peru on the 1st of April, after filling up the car with diesel which cost less than 40cents a litre on the Ecuador side. The border crossing was easy, just the basic formalities of Immigration, Customs and Insurance for the car. Our first night in Peru was in a camping with a pool, just north of the town of Piura which had been flooded not long ago. It was good to find this peaceful campground away from the city. Here in Peru, they use motorbikes which have been transformed into 3 wheelers for people and goods carriers, and there are many of them....going in all directions! As there as many roads closed along the coast, going south, we were advice to take the inland way. We arrived at a river crossing near Naupe and there was a waiting queue of mainly trucks to go across as the road had been washed away. It had just started to move again and did not have to wait too long. Then we visited Chachapoyas, a lovely spanish town, with many interesting sites nearby.So we took the new Telecabinas Kuelap to visit the ancient citadelle of Kuelap. This new project was built by french, colombian and peruvian enginers, quite impressive ride. The next day we visited the Sarcofagos Kurajia, after camping in the main street and using the toilets at the house nearby. lovely people. There was a long walk down almost the river and there, on the side of the cliff were the sarcofagos, being there many years! Not much informations about it. From there, we drove to Tarapoto, and then going south, along the east side of the Andes. Very dense vegetation, some rice farming near the rivers, small villages, good roads and some bad ones...We had to cross a couple of rivers, after watching others, and avoid some landslides that were just getting cleared enough for one way. When we arrive in Villa Pica, it was good to have a wide and dry road. we are just camping now at an 100years old farmhouse, Hacienda La Florida, which is mostly converted for tourists accomodation. There is a vegetable garden and we can use what we want. Lovely. Then we will go towards Cuzco and Machu Picchu, but still a long way over mountain roads!
We left the city of Tarma and there we were going up the mountains, finding fog, and slight drizzle at times. As we were going close to 4000m altitude, we stop at a small local shop and ask for some coca leaves, the remedy here for altitude sickness, just in case. we put some dry leaves inside the cheek and leave them there. Not sure if it works but we felt all right all the way. It is legal in Peru. The road was pretty good most of the way. Good Friday here is a very important religious day for the Semana Santa, and it is a public hiloday. The blue sky appeared and it was warmer. After the city of Abancay, the road took us along a very scenic farming valley were they grow quinoa, the white and red one, lots of potatoes, some with dark pink flowers, corn, broad beans, luzern, oats, and dairy cows, sheep.So the locals are very busy working their land. In other valleys further they grow avocados, pawpaws, citrus. so plenty of fruits to buy along the way. We arrived in Cusco on Easter Sunday and went looking for the Information bureau right in the middle of town! Most of the cities have one way streets as they are too narrow, so it is always a challenge to find the way as the mapsme apps does not recognise the one way sign...eventually we did find a private parking and walked to the centre. That was a very different sight as the one at the city. Lots of tourists from overseas and from Peru as it was the mass time in the huge churches around the plaza. A nice city centre to walk around. We had lunch, trying the alpaca and quinoa risotto, all very nice. Then we drove to the well known camping by the Overlander travelers, in the hills overlooking at the city. We organised our trip to Machu Picchu. The next day, we drove towards the town of Ollantaytambo, stoping at a local textile community display and shop, and further at the Salt farming in Maras. The next morning we caught the first train out to Machu Picchu, also known as the town of Agua Calientes. From there, after 1h30m of train following the river, we took the bus to the entrance of the ruins. this ride was really going uphill, very narrow road, only some wider section for the buses to cross as there is a constant traffic both way. Then it was walking uphill, going up some stone stairs, and there was our first view over the ruins! What an amaising sight! We had cloud cover at times and they seem to move fast so the view changed all the time. We certainly did lots of walking up and down and around and spend the whole day there, making the most of it. There is a mountain much higher, the Huayna mountain that only 200 people can climb a day, but only for the fitest! The lamas wondered around the site as they eat the grass on the terraces, they are very friendly and used to people around. Well a long way to get here but well worth it. We are now on our way south, arriving along the lake Titicaca yesterday. The last few days, the sky has been really clear and it is nice to have some sunshine but the nights are getting really cold. The months of May, June and July are the coldest here. We are going into Bolivia tomorrow. So will update from there when we can, may be not that much internet in many places!
This feels like a long time ago since I updated. Well, we have travelled in the south of Peru, along the lake Titicaca before entering Bolivia. All very straight forward at the border. We visited the ruins of Tiahuancu, then went in the Valley around Sorata. We drove through La Paz, city built on each side of the mountains , all of red bricks construction. The main centre is in the valley of the river La Paz. We did stay in a little Colibri camping overlooking at the river, near the Valley of the moon. There is a télécabin system to see the city. Then we drove south to Uyuni , the base to visit the Salar de Uyuni. , the largest and highest salt lake in the world. We slept one night in the middle of the Salar, amaizing. The night sky was very illuminated by the millions of stars. The Dakar rally came this way in 2016 and there is a monument at the entry of the Salar. Then we had to come back to the town to have the car washed and treated. The following destination was the south West , visiting the Réserva National Eduardo Avora with high mountains and coloured lagunes. All the roads were dirt and lots of corrugations in places. This is called the Lipez road. It took us 5 days to arrive in Tupiza and around 800 kms. but it was an amaizing trip. A lot of tourists in 4x4 Toyota Landcruisers doing tours of this region, mainly young French travellers! We experienced very cold nights, having frost on the windows in the car as we were over 4000m most of the nights. We appreciated the good mérinos thermal underwears from Australia! We now are in Tupiza, nice little town in the valley, and it is a lot warmer, so today has been a no driving day, washing and cleaning....we are planning to go towards Tarija, where they grow wine before going to Argentina. I cannot connect my laptop to the internet to add photos at the moment, but they will come....
The road from Tupiza to Tarija was a good dirt road, Faniel enjoyed driving along this region with more spectacular views and no traffic on the way. In Tarija, the wine road , La ruta del vino, is mainly in the Valle de la Conception, nice green valley. The wine produced here is mainly sweet red wine, not really our favourite. it is autumn here so the leaves are getting brown and droping.The road to the border with Argentina was following a river, another scenic drive. At the border crossing all went smoothly. In the border town there is a huge traffic of clothings all household items as the prices in Argentina are really high, they come across the river by small boat and load up then cross back avoiding the officials... Here in Argentina it is difficult to pay with a card, only Visa Debit and can only withdraw small amount at a time from the ATMs. Prices are much higher than in the other countries we have been . it is more modern, have municipal campings in small towns which are ok. the weather has been cooler in places. We are now visiting the wine region of Cafayete, drove through some very scenic places along the way. Internet access is rather slow . We are a
We are in Andolucas Municipal camping, with good WiFi, and free camping. The wine country of Cafayate was interesting and pretty in autumn colors, so far have not tasted a wine as good as the australian wines....They also produce walnuts and olives in the region. The region north East of Cayafate had some very scenic mountain colours. The weather has been dry with cold mornings and very sunny days. We are making our way south to Mendoza so we can arrange a parking place for Margo2 while we fly to Santiago, Chile and then to Madrid and Nantes in France for some family reunions! While doing this update, we are watching a local soccer match as there is a whole sport complex around the camping.
we are now in Mendoza, we have parked Margo2 at some friend's of a family member. We are flying to Santiago, Chili and tomorrow to Madrid then Nantes in France. We are having some family gatherings, Gwenael and Gaetane are joining us next week with their families and we will celebrate my mum 90's . Will return in Mendoza at the end of June to continue our trip, going towards the Iguazú Falls and the south part of Brasil while the winter is on in the southern parts of Argentina. While around Mendoza, we visited the Chandon winery and the Laur olive oil factory. All interesting of course!
when we flew over from the Andes from Mendoza to Santiago, there was fog the first section then we had the great view over the snowy Andes. We spent the afternoon walking around the city, It is a pleasant city to visit with some nice parks and a lot of pedestrians streets. The next day we flew to Madrid and connected to Nantes in the west of France. We hired a car from there and it was a bit of adjustment to be in a small Renault Cleo and to have the steering wheel on the left side after our 62000kms on the right hand side in the Landcruiser!
We are now enjoying sharing our time with the family.
From Mendoza, we drove on some pretty straight roads, along cattle stations and farms. It reminded us of some parts of Australia. Past Santa Fe, we drove through a tunnel under the Parana river. From there we headed to the Ibena Parque y Reserva Carlos Pellirini. This is a swamp aera, where we saw many birds, big and small. From a distance on the track, we could see some animals and they were Carpinchos. To us they look a bit like a wombat but bigger and they also go in the water, and come to eat the grass. They do not move when we walk past as they were all around the camping ground. We did some local walks in the forest area where we saw some monkeys up in the tall trees. From there we rejoined the main highway, after about 200kms of dirt road, to Puerto de Iguazu, the town at the border with Brazil. We visited the argentinian side of the park yesterday afternoon. The falls are really spectacular and the infrastructure to get there is also massive,, a little train takes you to walkways above the water to different view points. This is mostly rainforest and some toucans flew above the falls, very pretty sight.Coatis are animals that live in the region and are very keen to look for food from visitors. Today, we have driven over to Brazil, catching up with shopping, washing, cooking as we are camping in the International camping. Tomorrow we plan to visit the falls on this side of the river Iguazu. Here the vegetation is tropical, with mango trees in flowers, poncianas, palms. So we can put away the winter clothes for now. Then we will be going to explore the Pantanal region .
After a month of celebrations, family reunions, great weather , we are back on the road in Argentina. We have reunited with Margo2, left in good care of a friend of a family member. Now we are going towards the Iguazu falls, in border with Brazil and will visit some southern parts of Brazil while it is winter in the south part of Argentina.
We entered Brazil yesterday and visited the Iguazu falls from this side. It gives a different perspective of the lenght of the falls and the amount of water flowing through. The weather was perfect and lots of rainbows! In the afternoon, we visited the nearby Itaipu hydroelectric powere station. Daniel was checking out the welding jobs of course....It is the biggest in the world production wise, is constructed at the border between Brazil and Paraguay, on neutral land. Impressive. Portugese is the language here in Brazil so with a mixture of french, english and a bit of spanish we should manage.....
Since the falls of Iguazu, we have have done the service on the car, stopping at a huge truck stop and using the pit facilities, making the job a lot easier. After that we headed towards Paraguay at a border town to get 2 new tires as everyone here said that they were a lot cheaper just on the other side of the road. It was an interesting border at Ponta Pora, on the Brazilian side and Pedro Juan on the other side of the street in Paraguay. We did not have to do any paperwork as they was no control office. Brezilians come here for shopping at the super big discount stores of all the main brands that we find in the US or Europe. Interesting. And the tires too were a lot cheaper. So after all that, we continued the road north towards Cuiaba then South to Pocone, the start of the Transpantaneira road. Along the way, we spotted hundred of caimans, birds, and at the end of the way, we stopped at the Jaguar Camp. Today we went on a boat tour on the Piquiri river to look for jaguars. We saw 4, not easy to see amongst the trees and grass on the banks of the river, but exiting. Saw 2 walking along, too fast for my camera, and 2 lying down, but with quite a few boats around as the skippers share the information when one is spotted, hard to get the camera in the right position but it is all in our head now for ever.....Next direction now is Brasilia!
On the way back from the Transpantanera, we came across a group of ten cowboys moving a herd of about 700 heads of cattle along the road. We asked them as it seems to go on and on...Then the caimans were basking in the morning sun piled on top of each other, could not count them...From there we drove north of the city of Cuiaba to the National Park de Chapata dos Guimares, the red rocky landscape reminded us of the Kimberleys, beautiful in the afternoon sun . The nearby waterfalls were pretty, nothing to compare to Iguazu but still a nice place to walk to. Further, the towns of Goais and Pirenopolis are listed by Unesco as Worldheritage, a remnant of the portuguese colonisation. Now they attract tourism for their charm , ancient churches, paved road and the artisanal creations. We arrived in Brasilia this morning, staying at the Youth hostel camping, sounds good...Tomorrow will go on a visit around the main parts of the federal capital.
We visited the capital city , driving to the TV tower,and getting into the lift at 75m heigh to have a good view of the main avenue. From there we walked down the avenue to the cathedral and also visited the museum which is more like an art gallery. The cathedral is of a very different modern construction and very pretty inside. The gardens in the middle of the avenue were very dry and not well maintained. The driving through this part of town was really fluent and there was plenty of parking places. After that we, drove towards the coast going to Guarapari. On the way, we stopped at a town called Venda Nova do Imigrante, where a lot of italian settled. There we met a lovely family of italian origin, the teenage children happy to speak in english with us. In Guarapari we stayed in a pleasant little camping right on the beach and did some good walking along the beach, talking to the locals.We are now in Armacao dos Buzios, nice coastline and little beaches. Yesterday we were walking along the promenade where Brigitte Bardot lived at some stage of her life with her brezilian boyfriend, and now has her statue!..We are now going to Cabo Frio and getting closer to Rio de Januero.
We enjoyed the coast north of Rio for a few days before arriving in the big city. We booked a hotel and parked Margo2 in a safe parking nearby while we visited the city, mainly the Macarana stadium which was always a dream of Daniel to walk over this famous sport ground. Then we took the little train up the Corcovado mountain where the famous statue of Christ stands overooking the whole bay of Rio. Great views from the top. We walked along the Copacabana beach, pretty beach but not great esplanade full of high rises. We tasted the famous Caipininhas, local drink made from sugar cane alcohool and lime juice. pretty good but pretty strong too! Then Margo2 was waiting for us to take her out of the big smoke and find the way down the coast. . The colonial town of Paraty was a pleasant sight, and further down the coast we watched some surfers hitting the big waves. We stopped in a camping in Penhas, full of Rv,s and we were quickly surrounded by all those very friendly welcoming brazilians...they wanted to know more about the car as they do not have them here and also wanted to share their barbecue lunch. All very pleasant! After many photos, we left the next morning and kept driving south. We have now left Brazil and entered Uruguay yesterday in Chuy. And we have left the sunshine behind....strong wind and rain here.
Overall, Brazil was a great part of our trip, meeting very friendly people, and visiting interesting places. Then we entered Uruguay. In Chuy, the border town, there were discount outlets on both side of the main street , one side Brazil and the othere Uruguay. At the customs office they had a fire going in the large chimney, as the weather was cooler and very windy. We visited the Forteress of Santa Teresa, huge construction of granite stones, overlooking the valley and the approch from the sea. We camped in a parking at a fuel station, the wind was so strong that we opted to park right next to a high bus, hoping that it will stay there all night to shelter us , but at 5.30 am it left and we were very exposed... so it was a quick early breakfast before putting the roof down! We visited some parts of the coast but the weather spoiled the views of the lovely beaches. This summer holiday region is very popular with the people from Argentina and Brazil, with high rises and mansions along the esplanades. The colonial town of Colonia de Sacremento which is situated just opposite Buenos Aires, across the bay, was very pleasant to visit with its walled remparts and paved streets. Uruguay is a very small country, with lots of farms and cattle, 4 heads of cattle per habitant! The young people we spoke to said that they feel rather isolated from the rest of the world. So we re-entered Argentina and are going south, depending of the weather at this time of the year.
we arrived in Ushuaia yesterday afternoon. Snow on the mountains all around, 0 degrees in the car this morning but sun shining now! We are enjoying a King crab in a local restaurant for lunch. More details about the last section of the trip later! Now there is only one way, going north.....
The surroundings of Ushuaia were very pretty, but still plenty of snow and ice around so we could not drive into the NP. We only spent one night there, very cold with only 1 degre in the car. The local king crab was very tempting for lunch before heading back north, and very delicious , just special to celebrate the arrival in the most southern town, from Alaska last year to Ushuaia! The Beagle bay was very pretty with the sun out on Sunday. As it is out of the tourist season there was nowhere to stay in the car except the fuel station...So we headed north, back to the border with Chile and to Punta Arenas, the most southern town in Chile. A pleasant place to visit with some beautiful older buildings. We visited the museum which had some interesting displays. From there, we drove on to Puerto Natales, the start of the Torres del Paine National parc, famous for its 3 pink granite towers. Some beautiful sceneries along the way and we camped two nights, did some nice walks, despite the very strong cold wind and now we are back into Argentina.In this part of the world, we need to zigzag between the two countries but border crossings are simple enough. The next place will be El Calafate and the Moreno glacier.
We are now in Chili after crossing the Andes a few days ago. The pass over was very beautiful, with lots of snow but luckily the road was cleared and the traffic was flowing nicely. We were very surprised and exited to see the greenery on this side after days of brown pampas. And the weather is a little bit warmer! We get around 10 degrees in the car in the morning! We are visiting the lakes and volcanoes region in the south east. Very pretty! Yesterday we drove to the West side, to see the beach! Here it is all volcanic country so the sand is black but the water very clear. Too cold for a swim....
We have been going West and East of the main highway. The north part of the lakes region is very pretty, still plenty of volcanoes some of them puffing smoke, like the Villarrica, the locals are used to it and don't seem to worry about it. We parked at some cabanas, as the campings are still closed at this time of the year. The owner went out his way to install the gaz water heater so we could have a hot shower! How nice! Along the main highway the petrol stations are well equipped with clean bathrooms and hot showers. We drove west to the coast, along many forests. The logging industry is strong, but the plantations are plenty. The beaches are still with black sand from the volcans but the water is very clear.In a town affected in 2010 by the earthquake and tsunami, they are recovering and have build a very pleasant esplanade even with some stainless steel exercise machines! This week end is the National Day celebrations. Lots of flags and decorations on cars, like in Australia for the 26th of January. Now we are in the fruits and vineyards region, all pretty with the fruit trees in flowers. we can see that spring is about here, with daffodils, camelias and wattle trees in bloom.Day light is about 7.30am and sunset about 7.30 pm, so we enjoy the beautiful weather that we have the last few days.We now plan to drive to Valparaiso, organize the shipping and then go north until the time to ship .
We had a short stop in Valparaiso, too early for shipping paperwork, so we continued going north, first along the coast then inland, going to Ovalle and visiting the Elqui valley. We are back in the mountains driving along the oasis, small towns and lots of vineyards. As we are moving north, the vineyards are growing leaves, and the desert is in flowers. lots of cactus, but very scenic drives on the small roads. This region is famous for star gazing, with many international big telescopes up high in the mountaians. This is also the end of the week of school holidays with the National Day caelebrations. Only one month to go before we are due back in Hervey Bay, still plenty to see!
As we realized that we should have enough time to go all the way to San Pedro de Atacama, we moved on from the coastal region. The desert is in flowers as they had a lot of rain in the winter and this phenomena only happens rarely. So the road from Vallenar to Copiaco was the most colourful one we had done for a while with fields of pink, purple flowers covering the hills. People were stopping all along the way to take photos, it was a busy time as it was the end of the school holidays. So a lot of children enjoyed this view for the first time.
From Antofagasta, we drove towards the Atacama Desert, busy road with a lot of mining activities around , all the way to San Pedro de Atacama. We are just on the other side of the Bolivia border where we were a few months ago! Yesterday we visited the lagunes and volcanos region in the south. The landscape is unreal and the colours too, a very beautiful part of the world. Today we will visit the area around the town. Sunset is the time to be for a lot of places for the colours, but hard to be there always.
Well, i have some writing to catch up with...
The landscapes of the Moon Valley and the Death Valley around San Pedro de Atacama were spectacular with colours and natural formations. From there we stopped in Calama and took the opportunity to do the free tour of the biggest open cut copper mine in the world. The mine will go underground in 2 years time. At the beginning, the town Chuquicamata for the workers was built by the company very close to the mine and as the mine grew, the health problems caused by the dust became too much and the town was closed and families relocated in the town of Calama about 20kms away. They have left the empty town as it was to be the museum of the mine. Even some Christmas decorations were still there in the middle of the plaza! From there we drove west towards the coast. The highway descended for about 20kms before reaching the coast and we experienced the thickest fog ever as the mist from the Pacific ocean stagnates over the mountains. The highway south followed the rugged coast line and every morning we had the foggy misty conditions. The sun seems to come through in the afternoons. The Natural Arch of La Portada , north of Antofogasta, was pretty. We did some nice walks in the LLanes de Challe National Park and the flowers were in bloom. We were lucky to see some famous ones, like the Garra de Leon. There were some nice beaches too along the way, but the weather still too cold to enjoy a swim...We made our way south slowly as we were in contact with the shipping company. First we thought we will ship from Valparaiso then it changed to San Antonio and finally it all happened in Valparaiso! So we spend the last week on the coast between the two were we had internet connection and did find a pleasant little camping. We stayed there for a week so we could clean the car inside and out and sort out our things before driving into Valparaiso. The loading into the container was done yesterday. Margo2 did 86000kms a in the Americas and can now enjoy a cruise for 2 months! and now we are enjoying visiting the city. Today we did a 4 hours walking tour and will do more tomorrow. It is a very interesting place, colourful with the grafettis and the different buildings. Valparaiso is a Unesco Heritage site for humanity.Then Saturday we will go by bus to Santiago, and fly home on Sunday! It is hard to imagine living in a house again as Margo2 has been great for this kind of travel for us. And it is impossible to say how many pictures have been taken of it along the way, as it has been noticed and admired by many!
It looks like i did not save my last update written when we arrived back in Australia, so i will do a short story...
We arrived back in our house in Hervey Bay as it was vacant after having tenants for most of the time. We had always plan to do the inside painting before moving furniture back so we camped inside so that was a gradual move to a normal life....We also did some tiling after removing the carpets in the bedrooms. All this kept us busy while we waited for Margo2 to arrive. It was good to have warm weather, catch up with friends and being able to skype more freely with the family, even so it took 3 weeks to get connected to the phone and internet again! The shipping vessel arrived in Brisbane on the 15th of December as plan, but being just a week before the Xmas New Year break, after many contacts with our shipping agents, we finally got a call on the 2nd of January that Margo2 was ready to go ! So after a bus trip in the middle of the night, we arrived early in Brisbane and were at the unloading depot by 7.30am. It was a good feeling to see Margo2 parked inside the depot, looking very clean after the necessary extra washdown required by the customs. The customs inspection must have been very thorough as we found all our things spread out on 5 pallets around the car. The workers there were offering their help to pack it up, but we had to take our time and remember were everything fitted... After checking the battery connections and the all the lights, we were ready to go. The first stop had to be at a fuel station nearby as the tanks were almost empty as required for the shipping. Then it was over the bridge and along the highway north of Brisbane. When we stopped at a busy highway stop, one lady was waving to us and wanted to take a picture of our car! For a while we thought that we were back on the Overland trail as Margo2 has certainly being a hit with the photo takers! We think that we had an extraordinary trip, going all the way to the most northern point in Alaska reachable by car, then to the eastern part of Canada, down to the most southern point in the USA, at KeyWest. From there, we made our way to New Mexico and had a family reunion with our children and grandchildren. After that very special time, we were back on the roads and to California from where we crossed over into Mexico and from there we had to get our spanish going.... I was glad to have attended lessons at our local University of the 3rd Age and used Duolingo online to learn some basic spanish. From Mexico, we entered Belize from where we shipped Margo2 to Cartagena in Colombia as we could not drive through Costa Rica with a right hand drive vehicle! We took that opportunity to fly over to Cuba, a very interesting and friendly country before rejoining Margo2 in Cartagena. From there, it was all the way south to Ushuaia, the most southern city in South America. Margo2 drove just over 86000kms, used just over 12000 litres of diesel and with basic maintenance along the way, never let us down. Daniel did an amazing job at driving on the right side of the road and as his co-pilote, i had also an important part to watch out for the traffic on the left hand side.....What a team! For the moment we are quite happy to plan some camping trips in the region; we will see if we will get ichy feet again for another continent?Thank you to all of you who followed our adventure and we hope that this will give some inspirations to some of you to venture around the world!