Another long day today, around 700 kms but the roads were smooth and The Mighty One is flying at the moment. First stop was at the newly refurbished Autodromo de Valle y Mar where we did a lap consistency test which is anorak for driving round slowly. The circuit has recently been upgraded to FIA standards but as far as I could see it was just a scruffy version of Pembrey, that's Welsh as well.
After that we did a regularity section on dirt roads where they deliberately mixed up the GPS waypoints to try and catch us out but we are way too sharp for that. We did however miss the bloke by a tree who we were supposed to drive around the other side of (??) which was irritating beyond belief. The competitive element of this rally is more like a treasure hunt than a proper rally.
Moving on, we stopped at a Welsh tea house for one of our halts where we could have tea with a variety of cakes and scones. I mentioned the Welsh influence before and just to clarify, Patagonia was originally settled by around 4000 people of Welsh descent between 1886 and 1911, they were probably stitched up by the Argentines as the attractions were somewhat oversold. Along the coastal area it is very barren and flat and they only get about 150mm annual rainfall.
Moving inland, as we did today, the landscape improves immeasurably as we made a steady climb westwards into the foothills of the Andes under a cloudless sky. A series of gentle valleys gave way to some impressive cliffs and rock formations and then a mountain area which is stunningly beautiful, like a scene out of Cold Mountain, sadly without Nicole Kidman. The area was home to dinosaurs in prehistoric times, famously a titanosaur sauropod called Argentinosaurus which weighed 60-80 tons, more than all the cars on our rally! I imagine I am losing you now so I will sign off, but just a quick mention about the hotel we are staying in, it's terrible. The bath tub is 3 feet square and wouldn't look out of place in a farmyard and the toilet flushes all over the floor! Esquel is a one horse town with tumbleweed blowing down the street, for every 10 people who arrive only 9 leave the next morning...
PS Managed to get the photos working, thanks to Kate at Brompton Lakes!
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