Left Chaiten for an early ride to catch the ferry to Puerto Montt that I understood left at 9am. It doesn’t, it leaves at 14h00! Anyway, the ride on the Austral from Chaiten to Caleta Gonzalos through the Pumalin National Park which is at the foot of the volcano that erupted in 2008 gives one a real sense of the extent of the damage. The trees are all dead, the rivers still run grey with veins of a blood red earth that comes down from the mountains. The road itself is a mess too of volcanic pummel stones and rocks. It will take decades, if not centuries for this place to recover fully.
Pumalin National Park
The hours waiting for ferries and sailing on ferries was spent reading, writing and snoozing. The upside of this little detour to find tyres is I get to complete the Austral which is a great feat and I am glad that I have got to do so. The ride into Puerto Montt is a beautiful coastal road and Puerto Montt is an up and coming town/city that offers first world facilities for the first time since Buenos Aires.
Waiting for the ferry at Caleta Gonzalos…I was early!!!
My ride including ferries today..
Tomorrow the hunt for tyres begins but right now, I am exhausted as hell!
And the beautiful vistas just don’t stop along this stretch… People are going to start to wonder if I have a thing for boats because they are in so many of the great shots..!!
