Herr Bertie vs Larry the Lamb
Thursday 23th - Friday 24th November
Leaving for El Calefate today. It's quite annoying that you actually get a better view of the spectacular Torres del Paine mountains from outside the park. Again, doh.

We got hit for the same expensive food at the border back into Argentina again but this time we shared a burger to save money- well times is hard you know.

Getting on the infamous Routa 40 then, we encountered yet more crappy gravel to ride on. As some of you may know, these roads require a heck of a lot concentration to avoid running into the deep patches of gravel so a lot of the time, you don't really have time to take in the scenery or whats going on around you.

Just in front, a couple of sheep and a lamb have narrowly avoided being turned into asado fodder by a truck which had no intention of slowing down. But out of the corner of my eye, I see another lamb quickly running from the same side, obviously trying to catch up with its mum. I try slowing down gently but its running straight for me so I have to jam on the brakes which results in me and the bike hitting the deck rather swiftly. As I pick myself up off the ground, I see the pittiful sight of the wounded lamb, quite clearly in it's final moments.

What to do? I'd read that if the animal is clearly in pain, you should put a rock through its head and I briefly scanned the roadside for a suitable blunt instrument but fortunately, the lamb stopped moving. Michelle had also stopped and had come over so we looked at the poor creature with saddness but she was glad me and the bike were still in one piece when it started moving again. With heavy heart, I again thought I'd really better do something when it then stopped moving for good. It didn't make a sound during all this time so I'm guessing it wasn't really concious. But the worse thing was its mum standing staring at me from the field. I´m really very sorry mrs sheep!

For the next couple of days, we stayed in a hostel in El Calefate, a bit of a touristy town. We got some much needed bike maintenance done including a oil change and getting Michelles Scot-oiler to work, which it hadn't done since starting the trip.