We left Bariloche in the brilliant sunshine and drove north on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (seven lakes). A very scenic road mostly paved (yipee) that skirts seven large crystal clear lakes between Valle La Angostura and San Martin del Andes. The weather was so great, yes it was a hot 33 degrees, sunny and no rain, that we camped for 4 consecutive nights !! The Ruta runs along the Cordillera of the Neuquen province and is much favoured by the Monkey Puzzle Tree ...

After two nights camping in the garden of the El Bolson microbrewery we left El Bolson and headed north again on Ruta 40. Ruta 40 is the Argentinian equivalent of the Carretera Austral but with less rain and more dust. Like the Carretera Austral it is part paved and part ripio and runs the length of Argentina through some amazing scenery. It is affectionately called 'La Cuarenta' (the forty). We will remember it, but maybe not so affectionately, especially the ...

I feel we should start this entry by stating that whilst we have looked with envy at motorhomes and Peter has checked out prices on Ebay we do love Gerty, especially after our recent challenge leaving a camp site. On driving to the exit we were faced with a rather large collapsed cattle grid with deep mud either side. The grid was balanced precariously below the height of the road on some old logs. In an attempt to bring the worst side to the level of the road ...

Back in Chile to do the Carretera Austral (Carretera 7) The Carretera Austral is the name of a road in Chile, which unsurprisingly runs north / south. Until the 1970s, the bottom third of Chile was unconnected by road, with boats or horses as the only means of communication. In the early 70's, fearing war with Argentina, the Pinochet regime decided to build a road to the southern lands. It cost a fortune in both money and lives to build. The road passes through ...

The Patagonia Steppe is huge!. We drove for 9 hours between two towns on Route 40. Actually the second town was about 5 houses and a petrol station/shop/bar/restaurant and hotel all in one. We intended to camp but the site was shut and it was blowing a gale, so for yet another night we had to retreat to a hotel. The roads in Patagonia are 20% tarmac and 80% gravel or 'Ripio' as they are called here. There are many variations of these gravel roads, which we are s...