Today started off in pouring rain, the temperature had plummetted towards zero as we headed off around the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi, that well known Lake. Our first stop was at the Hotel Correnso at the far end of the lake where they had laid on a fantastic spread of coffee, tea, croissants and pastries for ourdelight, less than an hour after we had just finished a magnificent breakfast but Peter tucked in regardless. The next stretch of the route was "The Seven Lakes Drive", it would have been quite a treat if not for the driving rain.
The competetive stuff started just before lunch, yes all we do is eat, there were several really good regularity sections which went quite well, in fact we came 6th overall which is good for us. The last one was a particularly tricky sequence of hairpin bends not disimilar to the famous Stelvio Pass in Italy. Our arch competitors and good friends Jon and Chris in an MGB V8, (albeit a much more modern and powerful car)won the day which was totally depressing.
We are quite close to the Chilean border now and at one stage we reached an altitude of 1600 metres which felt really high until we realised that next week we will be three times the altitude!
Tonights resting place is Zapala, a desolate and dusty provincial town in the middle of nowhere,but it has an impressive snowboard shop(?) and our hotel, by far the biggest building in town, has a massive casino with hundreds of fruit machines, it is very comfortable and would probably be the best hotel in Darlington. Argentina continues to surpise us.
Your blog is really well written and interesting. So much so, that the editor of the Darlington and Stockton times contacted me and wondered if you would be interested in a job when you get back.
ReplyDeleteHe thought that with your new-found skill, reporting on the Reeth sheep and flower show would be a breeze.
Let me know, and I will put you in touch