Category: 2014

A long-overdue update for you all… I spent 10 days in Barcaldine just recently to progress the installation of the new engine and continue with the coachroof repairs.  When I left the boat in August, I had just managed to start the laborious process of fairing the repairs to the top of the coachroof using…

Apologies to my reader for what seems to have been a prolonged absence from the ether, at least in this format. What can I say? I’ve been busy. I returned south from Barcaldine last week, after what ended up being a very productive time. I managed to get the coachroof of Meander to a state…

It has been a while since I wrote anything, so I thought I’d give you all a quick update on what I have been doing with Meander since I got back from Foreign a few weeks ago (we no longer speak the name of that country where there has been some football going on recently).…

Well, I got back into the swing of work again in time to embark the new voyage crew on Nellie and extract her from her cozy berth in Punta, bound for the exotic shores of Brazil. The purpose of this blog, however, is not to give a blow-by-blow account of the voyage – go to…

Lima.  We rolled in to the terminal in the bus from Nasca in the early afternoon, and Franco, who had identified himself in his emails as “staff” of the hostel we had booked to stay in, was there to meet us.  He had soon flagged down a taxi (one of the slightly decrepit, cheap ones,…

So we left Puno as per the revised plan, and headed to Cusco. The bus journey, surrounded by the usual collection of Andean characters and their colourful bundles of belongings, went through some fantastic mountain scenery, soon leaving the plains and travelling through green valleys between impressive peaks, and passing through country towns, which mostly…

It seems like some time ago that we left Valparaiso and her higgledy-piggledy delights behind us. The early departure from our hostel got us onto our bus to Santiago with time to spare, and after a short (2 hours counts as short) journey we were in the Chilean capital. Then, within an hour, we were…

After a very comfortable night in our home-from-home in Punta Arenas, Hospedaje Magellanes, we got a taxi to the airport in good time, and checked in for our flight to Puerto Montt (apparently, “Muerto Montt” to the locals, reflecting the exciting nature of the town, which is effectively a transport hub for those travelling to…

Well, eventually the bus made it across the strait and we arrived in Punta Arenas. Six hours late – but this seems to be normal with that particular bus service. It was a good blooding into travelling in South America. We spent a very restful couple of days in Punta Arenas, seeing what there was…

First I all, my sincere apologies to my loyal reader for not having posted anything for weeks. The Iridium dome is completely dead, and the replacement which was to be brought down to Ushuaia prior to our departure for the Antarctic was apprehended by Argentine customs as an illegal import, and is awaiting payment of…