Hubbard Motorcycle Adventures

Well it is the Chilean Patagonia. Now it is a turning point in the trip because we leave Autopistas and super highways and sealed roads and now take off onto gravel roads and tough roads and that is going to be the story of our lives for the next few weeks until we get close to Ushuaia. So there is a bit of excitement and a bit of trepidation in the camp and we enter a new phase of our push south. The first week of this Patagonia sector is the Careterra Austral which is about 1000km of gravel road leading down to the most southern border crossing into Argentina. It is roughly like going down the West Coast of the South Island as it is about the same latitude. The similarities continue as the forest is almost identical to the beech forests of the South Island and there are also stunning mountain vistas and views of lakes and glaciers just like on the West Coast. However I am getting ahead of myself. No this is not the road! We start our odyssey South by leaving the flesh pots of Puerto...

Before talking about journeys here is another little trip or what you might call an on the road type observation. When we started the trip in Vancouver Diana found it a little difficult getting on the bike with having to get over the big yellow Ortlieb bags that sit on top of the panniers ( so did I ) There were a few oohs and aahs, the odd wobble and it was a sigh of relief from both me and her when she was finally "installed". It is not easy to mount the fully laden bike with full pannier bags and there is always the worry of an inadvertent "tip over" during the mount. Now what a different story. It is as if there is a fairy is alighting on the back, it is just one quick and deft movement and she is there. Oh so effortlessly! So effortless is it that it is like "Tinkerbell" is arriving on the back. So Tinkerbell it is now on the back! And of course that means I am calling myself " Pita Bread". Why this do I here you ask? Well it is quite sim...

FROM ANTOFAGASTA TO CHILLAN. 1800 km in three days ! However dear reader before we start this post I have a correction to make. If you go to my brief profile to the side of this blog you will see that I state Diana will do some of the trip with me and " how much is yet to be determined". Well the "determined " part is right but in a different context. As you have gathered here in Southern Chile Diana is still on the back of the bike ( at least when I last looked!) and is "determined" to get to Ushuaia also. We are a true team. And I put this as delicately as I can but we might be the oldest couple ever ever to ride "two up" on a motorbike from Prudhoe Bay at the top of Alaska to Ushuaia. In fact I venture to say probably less than a dozen of any age have done the full trip two up on a motorcycle full stop. Anyway first we have to get there and we are not there yet but it certainly seems as if we are on the last leg of this long journey. Anyway ba...

Arequipa was a nice half day stop as mentioned in the previous chapter. But the call of the road is there and it is time to push on south. "Pushing South - literally! " So south it was the next morn as we headed east ( and yet more down ) almost to the coast to the North South Panamerican highway. It did not take a genius to work out that our direction was to be South! It was yet another nice desert ride as we wended our way south. Mid afternoon it was border time ( yet again !)as we saw the Chilean flag arise in the desert distance. And for the very first time in South America and Latin America the border officials spoke some English and were helpful. It was not quite the "Jolly good show I say old chap, having an adventure are you" type of English but it was nice to hear it all the same. Arica is the first Chilean town across the border and therefore the most northern one and a nice welcoming one at that. At one stage in order to get to our hotel I deliberately (...

Well we have had two days "R and R" in Cusco and what a delightful city to have a break in. Cusco was in its time the main religious and artistic and cultural centre for the whole of South America and is probably akin to what Venice or Rome were to Europe. Anyway Cusco is still a delightful mixture of arts and culture and history combined with friendly people, great hospitality and great food. A perfect place for saddle weary travelers to rejuvenate their tired bodies and minds. "Blow,blow,blow your horn" festivities put on specially in our honour! "And when the Saints come marching in". " How I wish to be in their number..........." St Tremblo,the earthquake saint, getting an airing But all good things come to end and so on a Monday morning we saddled up the steads and hit the road down to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The high Altiplano was at its stunning best and there is no doubt that the high altitude air has a visual quality of its...

We like Peru! And now dear reader we are in Cusco, the famed golden city of Inca and Spanish fame. But let us backtrack a little because Peru is big and to get to Cucso we have travelled a long way across it from north to south. Firstly, however, after Machala in Ecuador it was time to leave banana land and head south for a wee distance to the very nice border crossing between Ecuador and Peru. I say "nice border crossing" for two reasons. The first is that even purgatory would be nice compared with the Central America border crossings we did. Secondly, it was genuinely nice. The Ecuador and Peru authorities are all in one building and they sit side by side. I think their computers are linked and I think they interchange. Anyway it was very nice only to have to move one metre from the Ecuador emigration desk to the Peru immigration desk! Very civilised! Then it is Peru. The first thing to notice is the dramatic change in scenery. Suddenly we go from lush tropical bana...