Wednesday, November 28, 2012

the road between somewhere and nowhere

Pleasase remeber to have a look at www.richardsrun.co.za and think about making a donation or pledge to the ithembaletu home or the ethembeni school .



Ok , so after my near break down on arrival at EWñcalafate i was feeling much better the next day and went off to see the Perito Moreno Glacier .
I took as bus and when the bus stop on the way there and we were told that there was an optional boat ride  we had to wait an hour for the boat to return . there were only 5 of us nthe bus would opted not to do the boat ride as it was not reallly in our budget so we went on our own hike .
from let to right , Ricky , alec,amber ,shaun and luke 





 we had a great time . turns aut they were all from the Uk and shaun was the very sam e guy who had passed me on his bike on my forst day . he had to take a break as he had sprained a wrist. thanks for a great day of english company guys .  th eglacier was spectaculer and we were lucky enough to see a huge chuck fall off .
Perito Moreno


I set off from El calafte the following day and had to back track 32 km to get on the correct route again .laterthe morning when i had done about 40  km i had the shit scared out of me when  shaun arrived on his bike , i did not hear him coming at all becuase of the wind and he came right up behind and and said " HEY Rich" . i nealy jumped outta my skin .

Lake Argentina in the back ground
I got my last view of the lake Aregentina  and headed on . i spent hat night on the side of the road  . i had just had enough of looking for a spot to camp so i set up my tent right on the side of the road and climbed inside and went to sleep . lol. i left my pram just standing on the side of the road . i drew a couple of hoots and waves but was pretty much out for the count .

next day was anothe hual from somewhere to nowhere and another night next to the raod but at this one i was lucky enough to find a bush , not a big bush but at least it was more than a meter tall .

The day after that was a spectacular beautiful run , th ewind turn and was behind me , it was joyous , happy and i loved it , 57 km in no time at all and i was at La Leona which was a little roadhouse in the middle of nowhere but on the way to somewhere ,maybe .

i decided to camp there but had to pay a fee but for a hot shower and a chance t sit insde for a bit i decide i would .
I met two french girls and an argentine guy who could speak some english so we had a good chat and i spend about 4 hours nursing my cold cup of coffee.
he reason for the roadhouses exsistance was the fact that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had hidden out here for 5 months after robbing the bank in Rio Gallegos befor ethe fled t Chile . what i didn´t know was that Butch Cassidy´s girl friend , ethel page , was with them , i always assumed with names liek Butch Cassidy and Sundance kid that hey were .......well ....lets move on 
My camp site at La Leona





My friends at La Leona , Louise , ricky , leticia and verlimo
Leaving La Leona the next day
.

 my goal for the week was Grobernador Gregores but i still had a long way to .

At tres lagios the tar ended and i was battling the wind . a car pulled up and after a long windswept conversation , in languages that none of us understood i establish the the man in the car had a Argentine flag in his boot tht was 2000m long and had 5 million signatures on it , its a patriotic kind of a mission i think . we swapped pics and i got to sign the flag .
Abel and I at out flag signing in the howling wind



It took anothe rfew days for me to get to Grobenador Gregores and i met some interesting popel on the way

Nelso the lonely farmer in th emiddle of nowhere

my spoty at nelsons farm

Neslons farm house , wher ehe lives alone and seems to only eat meat .

richard the motor cyclist from Newyork

Old truck at Estancia Siberia
The two frencha bicycle guys

Estancia Siberia wasa starange place , . i ran out of food this night but although the farm was deserted it was defintely not abandoned , i could see a whole pile of fresh potatoes through th ewindow but just could not get near them . i camped in an empty outside store room and kept thinking someone would come but alas i remained alone ,

The next day i decide to mke a big push , 70 km , to get to Gribenador Gregores as my food was done .

I was running alone after about 40 km  when a convoy of trucks carrying sand passed me , it was the wierdest thing ever.
As each truck approached it slowed and each driver held something out of the windows
truck one  - 4 cream biscuits and 2 slices of apple pie
truck two - one orange
truck three - a packet of cream crackers and two liters of water
truck four - a styrofoam plate with steak and <mash .

thanks Guys .

grobenador gregores people
Eventually i got to Gobernador gregores and wa shelp to get accomadation by Mabel , Lukki and not sure 


just in a quick summary .
things that are missing so far ....lol

1 phone -  i lost  it
bike lock , sleeping bag inner an 3 tent pegs - confiscated by the Chilean police
1 wrapp around - no idea where it went
1 pair dark glasses , hanging on a hook in a farm barn ,  .. sorry arnold
1 buff  - gone with teh winfd ...sorry again arnold .
1 towel - left in calñfate
1 solar charger - abandoned after i stood on it .....sorry  rob
1 book , - it was annoying me so i tossed it .
 . i am sure there is more o just have not noticed yet 


ALSO  HAPP IRHDAY TO STEVE FOR THE 26TH NOV .

IF YOU IN JHB AND PLAY GOLF CONTACT IAN LEASK IF YOU WANT TO PLAY IN THE DAVID GOODHEAD GOLF MEMORIAL CUP  THIS WEEKEND




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