May 2016 began on the road as we left Florianopolis stopping at a few spots on our way to Buenos Aires returning to the cold and things to be done before I left back to Canada at the end of the month.
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| Great to have a special person to travel with |
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| Incredibly hard to leave BA. |
(Day 39)
Torres, the first stop on the road back home (350 km south of Florianopolis). A quick stop in Imbituba on the way along BR101 C3R6/7T3V5. Paid $.40 toll for a highway not even worth $.20, haha!
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| Snack time |
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| What a sweety. |
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| Imbituba port |
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| Chau Imbituba |
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| Shot 1 of 2 of this cool bridge |
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| about 100 km from Torres |
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| Yes! tunnel action |
As the off season deepened we found great opportunities and this nice hotel (Rede Excantos $32 USD) 2 blocks from the promenade with a roof top pool and Jacuzzi room. An excellent beach walk as seen in the photos.
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| If only it was a touch warmer |
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| paragliding off the lighthouse hill |
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| Tasty candied popcorn |
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| The north more beachy side |
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South towards
Parque Estadual da Guarita |
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| Pray station |
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| running water even |
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| Bridged fishing and surf launch |
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| Incredible rock opening |
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| It takes a big rod to reel in the big one! |
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| Right below the fisherman |
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| out to the great blue |
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| Looking back from Parque Estadual da Guarita |
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| Don't go out to the edge of the cliff! |
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| Ah Jessy, I thought you could read Portuguese |
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After a long walk great to have a
Jacuzzi |
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Cantinho do Pescador - $25 USD for 2 people and
Delicious! |
Set out from Torres after a big feed of the included breakfast buffet which can be found at most hotels in Brazil. The plan was to stay with my good friend Jocelito's Mom near Porto Allegre for the night after taking the tourist way, the Ruta do Sol (approx 300 km instead of 180km).
The highway section on BR101 to Ruta do Sol was good, C3R8T3V5. Then up in to the mountains on Ruta do Sol to Sao Francisco de Paula C7R7T3V7. Just great with curves on top of curves and great valley views as we climbed and climbed. Once we arrived at the town I was a little underwhelmed and quite possibly we didn't find all the tourist stuff. It reminded me of mountain towns in the Andes (Peru/Bolivia) so maybe it was just old hat to me.
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| Good bye Torres |
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| Starting the Ruta do Sol |
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| Mate it up! |
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| Tunnels on a curve |
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| Look at that helmet, what have I been doing with that thing? |
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| Mountain valleys forever |
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| San Fran not quite what I expected |
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| Hellow? |
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| Hi! |
From Sao Francisco we made our way to
Canela electing to take a left down an interesting road which turned out to be the
Wine Region (and amusement park?). A pleasant surprise and Jessy's first wine tour.
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| Signs of tourism |
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| A theme park in what seemed the middle of nowhere |
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| A lucky find |
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| Just before the Vineyard |
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Apparently a popular wine and
sparking wine in Brasil
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| gorgeous wine rack! |
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| Cold, but happy |
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| Lake of Canela |
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| Catedral de Pedra in Canela |
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| Catedral de Pedra |
On to
Gramado only a few kilometres down the road. A very touristy Banff Canada like town, but probably not as cold in the winter. Although it was only about 21 deg C for us so not bombing hot. Good thing that we had sun!
Silly Side Story: Oh that GPS, Oh that Brad. Between the two of us, Me and the GPS, we managed to get a little confused and headed down in to what continually seemed like the end of the line. As well to make things worse the day was fleeting and so was the gas! I blame the road closure and not the fact that I confused BR 115 and BR 116.
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| Very European |
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| The Black Lake |
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| White Swan boats |
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| Leaving Gramado |
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| Could be an awesome road to Porto |
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| When not being able to understand the language rears its head |
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| Ok, this seems like the way to 115 |
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| Why are we on gravel now? |
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| "You guys are F'ing lost!" |
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| big stone and dropping elevation |
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| Very beautiful though |
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| Hang on tight! |
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| At last civilisation! |
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Oh I love seeing a yellow line in the road, it means I'm on
a ROAD! |
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| Possibly a little Canada in that sign |
Finally made it in to Sao Leopoldo (suburb of
Porto Allegre) and to Jocelito's Mama's house. A good day for sure made even better by a very welcoming Brasilian mom.
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| Made it |
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Joce's Mom's second kitchen, which
makes sense when it's chilly out |
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| Didn't even get my riding gear off |
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| What a smile |
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Thanks so much for the roof
over our heads |
The last leg of Brasil would get us all the way to
Cassino. BR116 to Pelotas C3R6T3V5, green foothills, but no ocean views! A chilly day. Found a nice hotel, Dom Lucas and good Brew Pub. Although the beach doesn't seem like much the places we experienced were great.
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| Leaving Porto Allegre |
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| Good catch on the photo. |
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| Favelas |
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| Looks like they are going to 4 lanes! |
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| Mechanic / Tire place |
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Hot cup of anything would have been
Great. Not even sure the gas station
had gas?! |
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| Rio Grande Port in the distance |
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| Whoa, that's what happens to VW bugs when they're done |
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A very nice Brew Pub
(that's it's name) |
Back to Uruguay and speaking Spanish! A very COLD ride, Cassino to Chui/Chuy the Brasil/Uruguay border, C1/2R6T2V5/6, an incredible marsh type section dead straight with swallow water on both sides for 20 km and every 500m a dead Capybara that looks like a big badger. Jessy decided not to take a photo of the carnage, fair enough.
I decided to stop in Aguas Dulces as the hotel I found there was $5 cheaper than any in Punta del Diablo, plus it was closer to our final destination, Colonia, the next day. Kinda bad choice as the only thing open besides the hotel was a little kiosk that had the basics Jessy was able to work with. Nice job chica.
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| Wearing all we had to battle the cold |
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| Not a very sexy beach |
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| Cassino statue |
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| The unexpected 20km on marsh land |
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| And dead animals |
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| Windy barren finish to Brasil. |
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| Taking in the muffler heat |
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| Back to Spanish thank you. |
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| Quickly passing the Fort |
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| Quickly passing Santa Teresa Park |
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| Cold, but beautiful |
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Just us and this guy in
Aguas Dulces |
(Day 43), the last day of our 5000km or so trip to Iguaza, over to Floripa and back to BA. Some very good times and some very tough days, but all and all the type of experience that makes life worth while. Pushing yourself and taking yourself away from the everyday putting everything in perspective by stepping out.
We finished at a lovely cafe in Colonia after cranking out 450 km with a few warm up stops on the way. Cafe Lentas Maravillas was the first place I ever went in Uruguay 4 years before and I knew Jessy would love it and totally deserved a nice finish to the trip. I couldn't ask for a better riding partner.
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No problem parking right in front
of this bar / resto all night
NO ONE HERE! |
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| Aguas Dulces point |
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| Lots of tree planting in Uruguay |
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| Sealing out the cold |
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| more strategic tree planting |
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| Coming in to San Jose |
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| Great moving shot in San Jose |
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| The familiar last 25 km to Colonia |
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| Yes! |
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| Lentas Maravillas |
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| Well earned drink! |
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| The ferry ride home. She loved the trip! |
My last days in BA. Sad of course, but with the cold comes my change of location. Good bye BA.
Cold Fun. When it's cold why not freeze your ass off just a little more! I decided to take a dip in the Apartment pool which was around 11-12 C or so. My version of the polar club.
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| Seemed like a fun thing to do |
Never enough speedo action
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| Holy Shit! |
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| It's cold, I got to go... |
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| With Argentina friend Sonia who we met in Brasil |
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| Stop that! |
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I thought about taking my life in my hands and walking
under this well constructed barrier, yeah right. |
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Favourite Salad at Nostalgia
"Santorini" |
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| Need to find a safer parking spot |
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| Anchovy and Olives, Done deal! Anchoa is the name |
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Delicious vegan dishes at
BA Verde |
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| Finally went bowling in BA! |
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| A helmet not for David's head! It's a little big on me, haha |
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Last drinks with Emi, Luli,
Sole and Panceta |
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| Last supper... |
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| Bye |
Other Stuff
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| Great design. How many head smacks does this see? |
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Before you needed to use your
electronic hotel card to keep energy on |
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| cute |
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| Man, is that thing legal? |
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| Good rule |
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