AUSTINS TO ARGENTINA 2009

Four Austin Sevens in a challenging South American adventure

The pointy bit at the bottom of the South American continent is a bit of an unknown area to most people but a group of Austin Seven enthusiasts including the ''Mad Motorists' from the Peking to Paris run of 2008; Vince Leek, Stan Price and Chris Parkhurst will get to know it rather well over the next two months.

The seven epic adventurers are touring the southern tip of South America in four Austin Sevens travelling from Buenos Aires in Argentina down to Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world and back again in a loop that takes in a large chunk of Argentina with the occasional foray into Chile. The journey is expected to take about 57 days. To follow their progress click on the map to the right.

The main party departed from the UK on 4th January and headed to Buenos Aires to meet up with their Austin Sevens that had been shipped over previously. The vagaries of the Argentinean customs and dock authorities were handled with the usual mess of paperwork and the group set off south on a 125 mile first leg to Las Flores in Buenos Aires province.

After an overnight motel stay the group set off on the second leg of the journey to stay with a friend at a remote ranch near to Benito Juarez. The town was named after the President of Mexico in the second half of the 19th Century as a token of Friendship between Argentina and Mexico and it is from this same person the Mussolini's parents took the inspiration for his name. The group camped overnight before moving on to Bahia Blanca a city of  a quarter of a million people over 200 miles further south.

After a rest day in Bahia Blanca the group set off south to Viedma, the oldest settlement in Patagonia travelling the 150 miles with only brief stops to arrive just after lunch.

Wednesday 14th January saw the intrepid band battling headwinds as they took on a 286 mile journey to Puerto Madryn a town that was founded by the Welsh!

In 1865 150 Welsh immigrants arrived on the clipper Mimosa and called the town Porth Madryn after the estate in Wales of Sir Love Jones-Parry. The group relaxed for a day to draw breath and got cleaned up. That sand gets everywhere.

The 18th January marked day 14 of the journey and the group make their way the 200 miles from Puerto Madryn to Camores on the coast, known for it's penguin colonies. The trip was a little fraught with dirty fuel problems probably at their root but by 8:30 in the evening they finally arrived.

The trip from Camores to Comodoro Rivadavia was uphill and into the Patagonian wind. Comodora Rivadadia is a town of nearly 200,000 people whose oil industry makes it the 'Petroleum Capital of Argentina'.

The roads from here get rather tougher so the 200 mile trip to the Mont Natural petrified forest was testing but they forged on and by 21st January had reached Puerto San Julian. By this stage in the journey the cars are suffering a little in the adverse environment but are making headway.

Thursday 22nd January was a scheduled rest stop in Puerto San Julian and a chance to look at the dolphins.

Day 19 saw them on the 206 mile leg to Rio Gallegos, the Capital of Patagonia and an important Argentinian military base during the Falklands War. However, not all went to plan and a failed clutch release bearing saw them having to remove the engine of River and Diana's Chummy.

On the 24th January they make their way to Cerro Sombrero, their first dip into Chile and a trip of 100 miles with a valuable lesson in queuing learnt at the border. Things were brightened up later by the antics of a pod of dolphins in the Magellan Straits.

Rising early on the 25th of January the group endured 5 hours of travel on the rough dirt and gravel roads of Tierra del Fuego. They managed to get to their lodgings in Rio Grande and prepared for the last push to Ushuaia the most southernmost city in the world.

The group enjoyed a rest break until the 30th January when they started on the road back to San Sebastian and the border with Chile. The trip was not without it's events as a noise from one of the cars late in the afternoon heralded the failure of a rear spring and wheel bearing. Another interlude of roadside repairs ensued but the group managed to arrive at their rest stop and had a solid night's sleep.

Starting out early on the 31st the group made for the ferry at Punta Arenas and then on into the town of Punta Arenas (or 'Sandy Point' as it literally translates into English) for a short rest stop.

Day 29 saw them on the 150 odd mile trip to Puerto Natales in Patagonia.

On Tuesday 3rd February they entered the Torres Del Paine National Park with its glaciers and snow capped peaks and acquainted themselves with the local drink of Chile 'Pisco Sours' a cocktail of local Brandy, lime juice, egg white, syrup and bitters.

Day 31, the 4th February saw the group travelling the 190 miles to El Calafate and a two day rest. El Calafate is a small Patagonian village that acts as a tourist hub for the Los Glaciares National Park and Monte Fitz Roy.

February 8th was a trying day for the group battling with the road conditions and winds to make headway the king pin on River Dukes' Chummy worked loose and the wheel ended up at an awkward angle. Another roadside repair put this right and they soldiered on.

The following day they viewed the cave paintings in the Cueva de las Manos and after wrestling with the steering on the Dukes' Chummy managed to get to their stopover late in the evening.

Tuesday 10th February saw Vince Leek's car take the same nosedive as the Duke's Chummy so the spare day that the group had gained by being ahead of schedule was earmarked for heavyweight servicing of the cars.

The Group had an extended layover in Rio Mayo whilst repairs were done to the spring on Rusty but on 12th February they were heading north avoiding potholes and other road users. Making good progress the group bypassed their planned stopover at the rather unimpressive Gobernador Costa and pushed on for Esquel a total days driving of 267 miles! Not bad for  four rather battered Austin Sevens and their inhabitants. A bit of local difficulty with the hotel was overcome and the group settled down for a well-deserved night's sleep.

The following day the group decided to declare it a rest day so that they could recoup and make repairs. They spent some of their break on the old Patagonian Express ' La Trochita' and in an old general store that firmly justified the term 'general'.

The 14th February saw the group making for the Parquey Nacional Los Alerces. After a detour enforced by a closed road the group sought out the oldest trees in South America, at 4000 years old and the Estancia reputed to have belonged to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for a photo opportunity. The evening was spent sampling the output of a microbrewery next door to the hotel.

The following day the group were accompanied for part of their journey to  San Carlos De Bariloche by a group of interesting local cars including a 16/45 Wolseley, a 1929 Ford A Tourer and a 1970 Porsche 911.

The group spent some time on Monday 16tg February exploring the town of Bariloche and catching up with laundry. The following day they toured the locale.

Wednesday 19th February saw the group celebrating a birthday and heading north on the last stretch of 'ripio' (unsurfaced gravel road). before stopping for a maintenance and rest stop.

The Argentinean adventurers have set up a blog and are posting reports and pictures to it whenever they can. You can find the blog HERE

They also have another website that gives a more detailed account of their progress and experiences HERE