Patagonia tripping... will it ever end?

More excerpts from the laptop diary on our trip to southern Argentina 5 years ago.

Tim writes:

As Pete got out [of the van] he trod on Ben's foot so 'unco' was the only word for it.

[Later...]

"Do you guys ever have a civil conversation?" Ben asks Andy and Pete.
"What do you mean?" Pete says.
"You know. Talk like normal people," Ben says.
"I sometimes try to be civil," Andy pipes up.
"So," says Ben [to Pete], "you should try it."
"How?" says Pete.
"You know. When Andy asks for the water bottle, just say, sure."

[Later...]

Ben's crying about all the junk in the car. He says: "Jocks! Matt I think these jocks belong on your white little bottom."

Ben writes:

Andy's blending 'Fall to Pieces' by Avril into 'Rock DJ' by Robbie, at Mum's request…Australia is in the Germany 2006 World Cup after beating Uruguay in penalties in Sydney. Tim still driving. Just stopped at a roadworks thing and the guy stopping us had a Col Briggs smile. [Lindy's sister's husband.] The wind is intense, blew you around when we were running. I slept in the car LAST NIGHT, AND THE CAR WAS BUFFETTING AROUND THE ENTIRE NIGHT. TOO MANY NIGHTS I THINK. Damn it, I hit the caps locks button. Phil Collins is on. "Can I have a medialuna [croissant]?" asks Pete. "Yes. But you can't have ten," answers Mum. Fair enough answer, really.

Day 18 on the road and the trippers are going stir-crazy

Ben writes:

Matt and Mum seem to be boring of the car…"Slow down Tim," comes from Dad.

We've been talking about cars for awhile and Andy's been telling everyone which cars are the best bargain on carsales.com.au and which ones everyone should get. He's fairly set on a "fantastic fun bus put out by vokswage [sic] with all the fun filled extras." Dad seems set on going back to his Combi days too. "It's got two beds in the back and table and chairs and it's only 17 thousand."

Dad's just asked for a pillow and Andy has said that sitting in the front seat and going to sleep is a waste of a seat. "You could swap with me. I'm very responsible. I could tell Tim when to down-change or when to put lead on the foot."

Mum is reading Lonely Planet which says that in El Bolson where we will be stopping they all drive Combies and sell cheap hand-made jewelry. Fun times.

Andy's stretching his leg out next to me and is flexing his quads and saying that he would fit in in an Olympic village, to which Pete says "That's called skinny, retard." "No. That's muscle. Its massive! Its huge!" He now bends his leg up to show me the calf muscle and works through the same procedure with Pete…

"That was a Mitsubishi RvR!" exclaims Andy enthusiastically to Pete who's swallowing the Amazon again [reading "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome] "WOULD YOU SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE!" says Pete beside himself, "TELL BEN! DON'T TELL ME!" He's smiling though, so it's all good.

Mum's started knitting something new. It's fluffy and purple and pink. Matt's next to her, drawing or something.

You had to be there...

More from our trip to Patagonia, now writing in the far south of Argentina. The miles go by and snippets of inane and at times Pooh-bearish type conversations dominate the diary.

Ben writes:

The wind is intense… I’m looking up a street in Comodoro Rivadavia. There are four big three-pronged wind turbines up on the hill. Each blade would be ten metres in length or something. Quite impressive... except they’re not facing the wind, hence stationary… 

Mum says:  “Andy. I’m a bit cross with you about the esky. We have about a thousand wet plastic bags in it.”

“It's not my fault” says Andy.

“Well you cleaned up the car.” 

End of the argument…

Tim writes:

Ben was at the wheel as we left lunch and Andy was at the glove box…

200kms to drive to get to El Calafate (pronounced cala-fartie) near the glacier…

Ben found somewhere to do some chin-ups, what a relief!.. 10pm…did some push-ups…(Another relief).

Ben didn’t sleep well that night… in the Coleman tent…drizzling rain…leaking tent… Pete was having a bit of a sleep walk parade too… Then later in the night, Pete was sleeping at the door in a puddle. The conversation [which sounds like it could have been lifted from "The Adventures of Pooh"] went something like this:

Ben: “Pete get up, you’re sleeping in a puddle.”

Pete: ”Oh. I was lost.”

Ben: “OK. Just come over here and go to sleep.”

Pete: “Are you sure that’s the right way?”

Ben: “Yeah.”

Pete: “OK. Thanks.”

And they went back to sleep. [Tiddly pom.]