It's going to be a relatively short day work-wise, as apparently every heads off after lunch to get into the long weekend, and particularly as this weekend is extra special.
The morning is a bit disrupted by the presence of a local IT boffin, who is in to help set my computer up to access the new office network. No problem, I'll just spend a little while looking at my route for the weekend on Google Earth while he stuffs around with getting it all set up. My plan for today is to finish packing after lunch, finalise my route plans, and then to head north from Copiapo later this afternoon and maybe get to somewhere between Caldera and Chanaral and camp for the night. I have my swag with me here, and the lack of flies, ants, bugs, spiders, snakes etc makes the idea of camping out under the stars seem very attractive.
I make some quick maps of the volcanoes near San Pedro, as well as mapping out a route for getting to Monturaqui meteorite crater. I realize at one point that I've been doing this for a while now and the IT dude is still on my computer. I wander over and he reveals that he's having some troubles, and it might just be that he's stuffed everything up. Can I just log back in to it, fix everything up and he'll start again? Er, no. Not possible. How about we just leave it for today and we'll sort it out on Tuesday when I get back?
Noooo! It's stuffed. The computer works at a basic level, but everything that was really important to me now doesn't work properly. No HUGE problem. I'll just back-up my files on Tuesday morning, re-build everything from scratch and I'll be back in shape by Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning at the latest. First though, it's now lunch time. Completely wasted morning (from a work perspective).
My packing goes smoothly. All of my essentials go into the boxes, with sufficient room for all of the optional stuff. Refuel the bike, load everything on, put on all of the gear and I'm ready to go by about 3.30pm, much earlier than expected. The only small problem I face as I head off is that I'm hot. I'm very thankful for the cooler air as I approach the coast (Caldera). Everything is going beautifully well. The bike is loping along at between 90-100k's, the GPS holder is working a treat, the bike is comfortable and my bum isn't too sore, given that I'm stopping every half hour or so for a stretch.
North from Caldera to Chanaral and there's plenty of traffic on the road, but all moving well, so no problems whatsoever. I pull in to a side road a few k's short of Chanaral to review my map, have a little break, and look at the granite outcropping there. Of course, that also means taking a few photo's of the bike, as one does on this sort of adventure. I briefly contemplate sleeping here for the night, but it is far too early to stop, and in reality, a bit too close to the road. I have such a long way to go tomorrow that the further I make it tonight, the better.
I ride into Chanaral just before sunset. It still seems to be the dump that I thought it was when I first passed through here a month or two ago. The short time hasn't improved it. Perhaps it COULD be beautiful, but it is grey, decaying and not much more than a truck stop (at least for the parts I see). The petrol station is absolutely flat out with people travelling for the weekend, so it takes some time to refuel. The attendant is also amazed by how many people are out. It definitely is NOT normal, he says.
Back on the bike and continue north as the sun sets to the west, highlighting the beautiful mountains here. Large, light-grey coloured granite intrusions are cross-cut by numerous dark-coloured dykes here. The outcrop is superb – aah but for similar exposures back in Australia, geology would be a simple thing! Once the sun goes, my world shrinks to become focused on that little island of light in front of me, while everything around is black and impenetrable, apart from the bright spotlights that whiz towards and past me every now and again. The majority of the traffic seems to have disappeared from the road – certainly not all, but it is hard to believe so many cars were refueling in Chanaral and yet there are so few on the road now. Perhaps they were all Chanaral's residents fleeing for the weekend?
I turn off Ruta 5 towards Taltal, which I've never been to, with the intention of having dinner there and thinking about staying overnight. The 20k's of road into town seems like it might be a lot of fun during the daytime, however at night, it's definitely steady-as-she-goes though the curves. Eventually the lights of the town appear and suddenly I'm there. I refuel and then head into town to look for somewhere to eat. The thought has crossed my mind to keep going straight away and dine from a can, however the timing is good now, and a decent meal won't hurt.
Despite it being dark, I like the look of the town. It's well laid out, seems to be fairly clean, there aren't too many dogs roaming around and barking at me as I ride past. Somewhere for an overnight adventure one weekend, I reckon. Dinner is at a Chinese restaurant and the food is delicious, certainly better than the service. They also have a clean bathroom, which I'm very thankful for. Not sure how long it will be until I get a sit-down toilet again!
Heading north out of town is the coast route and again, looks like it might be a pretty good ride in the daytime, or at least without all of the gear I'm currently carrying. There isn't any meaningful distance between the ocean, the road and the hills in which to camp, so I carry on for a while yet and eventually reach the point where the road I want swings to the east and up into the mountains. The road leads to the Paranal Observatory, which in the astronomical world, is moderately famous. It has certainly produced some beautiful imagery from the telescopes there, however one major claim to fame was as a location in a James Bond movie (Quantum of Solace). While it isn't open to tourists this weekend, and even if it was, a tour must be organized well in advance, I'm looking forward to seeing it, if only from a distance. Anyway, the road away from the coast climbs and climbs. I go from sea level to around 2,000m in not much more than 15 minutes! Beautiful road.
Swinging to the north now, the GPS tells me I'm within not too many kilometers of the observatory, so it's time to find somewhere to camp so I can see the Observatory in the morning light. I find a little track leading off the road and ride on to it, but it disappears very rapidly. I'm riding over what looks like a braided river drainage, but it's hard to tell this late at night, despite the bright moon that is now high in the sky. The gravel is quite soft and I'm rather worried about taking a tumble in soft sand, so I head for what looks like a bit of a small rise that I hope will be a bit more firm. It turns out to be sufficient for my purposes, along with a nice flat rock to go under the side stand so that the bike doesn't fall over during the night. The night has really gotten away – it's not much short of midnight, it's also cold (with the altitude), so I hurriedly roll out the swag, undress and climb in. Aaah, home sweet home, at least for tonight. The stars are brilliant as the air is very clear, but it is the moon that is the current star of the sky. Big and brilliantly white, its reflected light is strong enough to cast shadows. I fold the hood of the swag over me to block out some light, and am asleep in no time at all.
Buenas noches!
A
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