Sunday, April 4, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Day 20 - Our Grand Arrival....Sort of....
Again sorry about the long time between posts - we have had a combination of challenges - including Wifi, iPhone and lazieness....We are about 8 days behind and we have a few hours off so will try to catch up (cause I am such a fast typist Tan!). Jeff will be back in Perth soon and will update as soon as he can. Also as I am doing the blogs on my own now they will get a little shorter until I have caught up.
Day 20 started with a great sense of anticipation and anxiety - today we were to take on Santiago - the capital of Chile and final destination point for all but Dad and I. After waking about 10 times in the night to go to the bathroom due to the constant sound of the waterfall (Jeff will tell you more) in our backyard and last night's over zealous dinner we were all a little tired and while not manly to admit a bit worried about the traffic were were going to face.
Breakfast was a sombre affair as we all contemplated the end of our adventure and the challenges we had faced as a group. Today was also special for Bruce as it was his birthday! What a way to celebrate it! Not a bad achievement on your 68th birthday!
We set off and made it past the over zealous guard at the gate to the hotel. As we got onto the first road we started to see the real first effects of the earthquake from last month - despite the fact we were over 200km away from the epicenter the damage was unbelievable - all the roads were cracked, there were sections of road where Chile's main highway was diverted onto a gravel side road and we saw at least 15 bridges that had totally or partially collapsed - we were all praying for no more aftershocks as we crossed the still standing bridges.
Today was a long ride - over 500 km - a tough day normally but with all of the diversions it was becoming a very long one! We stopped for lunch at one of the service stations about 200km out of Santiago. For most of us this was the last of our Troopy (the name of our support truck) picnics - these were one of the key reasons we have all put on holiday kilos - bread rolls, meats, salad, chocolates, pastries and many other goodies - while riding has been tough it has not yet quite managed to burn off these lunches!
As we set off on the final stretch we were all excited and Dad, Jeff and I set off in front - all good - great roads again, intercoms and cue the memories. 30km down the road Jeff slows down and veers off the road - Oh No! Jeff's bike has done what Steven Bradbury's competitors all did - fallen down just short of the line.
After a 10 minute wait the Troopy caught up and Leo our fearless tour leader came back - Jeff's trip was over! Battery problems strike for the 4th time in 2 weeks! But wait - Jeff's bike gets my old battery and - It's Alive! I am not sure if Jeff was Sad or relieved when it broke down - but when it was alive I am sure he was happy - deep down, way deep down!
So the final stretch started again! After such a big build up the ride went very well - despite some hairy moments - including some crazy Chilean truck drivers we arrived at our hotel! After 18 days and over 500km through some of the toughest road this continent has we had all made it - all riders and bikes safe and sound! Amazing!
The best news was still to come - as an great surprise we all had our own rooms - after nearly 3 weeks in the same room this little moment was a moment for more celebration!
Dad, Jeff and I went shopping for groceries and after a shower in our own rooms caught up for a pre-Dinner drink.
For Dinner we we joined by Mick - One of Compasses's owners - who had flown over ear;lier to join our next tour - with over 60kg of spare parts in his luggage! Dinner was a great event as we all said goodbye and a few speaches were made to laugh and thank the crew! What a great experience!
As dinner wrapped up a few of us headed for a drink at - yes that is right the local Irish bar - yet this one had a twist - Karoke! Luckily were we able to keep Dad away from the microphone and we laid our heads down at 4am - What an adventure!
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