Rio grande to Punta Arenas

just a reminder , spanish spell check does not work on english so your are on your own with the spelling ..:)

I set off after a great rest day with Nancy Perez and her friends in Rio Grande .
I  must say i had a great time in Rio Grande .

Me Martin and Yessica on my rest day in Rio Grande atthe shearing shed  

I was off at 5 am  after a quick bowl of instant oats and wearing fresh clean running clothes .

I set off with a strategy to beat the wind and take advantage of the wind free day , run 2 km , walk 200m  and repeat for as long as possible . The raod seems to fly by  . things are going well ,  the land scape is like the karoo , empty but enjoy it , i do miss home today amd every day butmore so today

i meet a French  guy who is heading for mexico on his bike , lol. i dont know French and he does not know English and nieether of us know Spanish , i should have learned more Spanish

I get through 40 km and see some buildings in the distances . the must be the Estancia Sara .
i head in and ask if i can camp.
Without hesitation the guy who i asked shows me a sheltered spot and disappear.

later the farmer appears to have a look at the camper ( me  )  they speak no english and i speak no spanish . the wind has pick up now and the farmer gestures me back into my tent and disappears .

view from my tent at Estancia Sara

i have a long cold sleep .

up at 4:50 am ,  going to apply the same stratergy as yesterday to beat the wind although  I can feel the wind is up before me today .

I set off , run 2 km , walk 200 meter ,......mmmmmm..not working so well so i adjust it , run 1 km , walk 200 meters  and run 1 km and walk 20 km ...lol.

i expect i will only do 25 km today and stop on the Argentine side of the border . surprise , there is nothing but the border Post on the Argentine side at Sansebastion , the wind is howling .
i decide top take on the 12 km of no mans land . thats the end of the tar it seems, all dirt form now until Punta Arena , butnot to bad .
A bus pulls up next to me and the driver hands me two big sandwiches and some 7 up  .
i stare in and the pasengers stare back out , then they all clap , lol m i lagh and the bus leaves .
what a war .  after 3 and a bit hours , i complete the 12 km and have 37 for the day .

I find  the only b&b but  am shocked to hear they want  70 us dollars for a room that is the  equivalent o a Wendy house , i tell them i will camp , they shrug there shoulders and point out a spot  in the field , camping is free :) sure you would think that i would check the price of a coke before opening it simply based on the Wendy house prices .... well i did not . i did enjoy my 30 rand  500 ml coke though .

a bit chilly out here

i head of early . up to 30 km things go well but rain is in the air . i manage to make it to an abandoned herders hut just before the rain comes done solidly . i sleep for an hour while th rain passes and head on .  SMACK ...the wind hits me full inthe face . there is no shelter nothing  at all . on my map the is farm called peurto nerevo . io decide to keep going , over every hill i expect there will be shelter ,nothing ,

nothing like walking up to a mine feild to warm the blood 

eventually after a 13 hour day and 70 plus km  i arrive at Peurto Nerevo , its gone , its a ruin , levelled , on one tree and some old tanks . i and shattered . my rightachilles is aching and my prams wheel seems to be wobbling . I decide to address both issues in the same manner and just pretend they not there .

one of the only trees i saw in 130 km 

Its cold , i am tired , i am lonely . i climb the fence and take cover behind the old tanker . the wind howls all night and does not stop fora moment ,  i get so cold that i take the ground sheet out from under the tent and wrap it around my sleeping bag ....better ,

hiding from the devil 

the wind howls on the next day and i set off in the gale . i was reluctant to leave my tent , i did not want to go .but i do

i have not seen or heard a car for ages and only 2 cars pass the whole day . I am struggling at about 4 to 5 km an hour . fuck this i am not going ot freeze again tonight  , i just keep going for hours on end . forever it seems .
every last thing  i have said or done   that is hidden in my mind comes to say hello and provoke me into self questioning , . lol. the devil is chasing me in the wind .  iam constantly questioning my self and  my sanity .

eventually its over , i see porviner and call it a day . another 65 plus , 13 hours ,  i cant do these days again , the future must be less

I find a hostel and sleep like a log

next day is better , a hop skip and a jump and then on the ferry to Punta Arenas.

i visit the grave yard in Punta arenas , its fascinating and peaceful and weird . they keep all the kids togtehr in the same area , almost like a kinder garden for the dead children .

Punta Arenas

its immaculately looked after . and fresh flowers on almost all the graves ,even the ones that have been dead 60 years .

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