Posts for March, 2010

That's what we found out today!

This is a huge camping area. Talking to one of the guys in the admin building we found out that during the height of the summer camping season this place will have as many as 5,000 guests. It must be a mad house, but a lucrative one at A$45 (approx. US$12) per person.

Today we moved on from Camp Americano heading to the coast further north and east near Mar Del Plata, reputed to be the most popular beach resort in Argentina. The guide book says that at the height of summer the beaches at Mar Del Plata are so crowded that one cannot find a place to lie down. Fortunately it is past the high season so we won't have that level of a crowd.

Overnight we had the most amazing thunder storm, the thunder, lightening and very heavy rain lasted all night. But surprisingly this morning the campground does not show signs of all that rain. The sandy soil sure drains well.

The traffic of Buenos Aires came as a bit of a shock this morning. After all the miles of deserted highway going to and returning from Ushuaia we were once again in a large city, and on tightly packed multi-lane highways. And this time we had the added pleasure of crazy Buenos Aires drivers - they do seem a little crazier than others we have met on the trip - and in particular they don't seem to want to stay in their lane, but instead drive straddling the lane lines. I guess this gives them the option to dart into which every lane appears to be moving best when the traffic arrives at the next, and inevitable, accident or breakdown.

New batteries for the Tiger this morning. The batteries that power the Tiger's living area have been showing signs of age for some time now and need to be replaced. Fortunately I found, online, and had communicated with a company that could supply the specialist batteries that are required, a pair of 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. This morning after a bit of a struggle with the Buenos Aires freeway system we arrived a VZH (Van Zandweghe Hnos.). It took Marcelo's team only about 40 minutes to replace the two batteries, and to check out the Tiger's starting batteries and alternator as well. I must say I was relieved that the VZH guys actually did the installation - I was dreading that task.

Over the preceding couple of days we had organized with Cristian of AndianRoads to drop the Tiger off at their facility at 10:30am. Yesterdays test run and Sunday mornings lower traffic volumes made the drive to the facility easy and we arrived a little early. The facility turned out to be a combined housing and vehicle storage compound in a nicely treed neighborhood, and for the first time in its life the Tiger will get to spend some time under the roof of a garage. All in all I feel very good about the security of this place and will not be worried about for Tiger.

This morning we went to the Paraguay consulate to start the visa process. We are not sure we will go into Paraguay, but if we don't get a visa we won't have the choice. In the foyer of the building there was a huge lineup of people waiting for service at a clerks window. It took us a little while to work out that we did not have to wait in that line. We got forms, filled them out, lodged our applications, paid the fees and were out of there in about 40 minutes with a receipt and instructions to come back tomorrow at 9:00 to pickup our passports with the new visa stamps.

We picked up our visas for Paraguay this morning, no trouble.

Its three weeks since the last entry! I will get back into the swing of things with a quick catchup.

The ferry ride to Uruguay was a crowded and tedious exercise. The vessel had a single vehicle deck and three passenger decks. Because of the size of the Tiger we were held back until all other vehicles had loaded. I found this frustrating though it really did not matter. The crossing of the Rio de la Plata (River Plate)took 4 hours. This was slower than the usual three hours and was in part the result of high winds that, the crew said, made maneuvering difficult. The unloading process was a real riot, total chaos. For some reason, perhaps the wind, the vehicle docked in a manner that meant that all vehicles would have to reverse off, and that was a challenge that many of the drivers found was at, or beyond their skill level. Cars wobbling everywhere.

The first order of business this morning was to repair the lighting problem. It took a while but I eventually discovered that at the point where Provan (the Tiger manufacturers) had connected their wiring into the Chevrolet wiring harness one of the connections had failed. A simple reconnection fixed the problem.

We spent the morning lazing around the campground and waving goodbye to Sam and Bernie; we may see then again at Iguazu Falls.

This morning we drove the 170 km into Montevideo. The road was straight, mostly 4 lanes, and in places in need of repair. The country side was flat or slightly rolling hills, green with enough palm trees to give a slightly tropical feel. The towns and dwellings along the way indicated a population that was not particularly affluent. The old cars and trucks emphasized this.

We spent an hour or so today walking through one of the local flea markets, but other than that it was a day on computers trying to finish the revamp of the whiteacorn website.

As you read this, you will no doubt have noticed the site has a new look. That is all thanks to our son Brendon. He has done all the graphic design for the new site (except where I would not let him change something).

We had intended to be on our way today, but during the night I was suffering from a stomach upset of some kind, so we decided to stay at the Days Inn another day.

Driving out of Montevideo today we finally saw the more up market side of the country and the beach side communities and resorts we had heard about. We followed the Rambler (a road and promenade beside the river) north and east out of old town into what I guess is called new town with many high-rise apartment buildings, nice beaches, yacht clubs, and many many people walking, jogging, and walking animals. The weather co-operated with bright sun and warm calm weather. We were seeing Uruguay and Montevideo at its best.