West MacDonnell Ranges



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Adelaide to Alice Springs

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Second Forest and Beach

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Willunga, South Australia

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Sydney to Adelaide

We were booked on a Qantas afternoon flight to Adelaide.

It was a cool sunny day in Sydney. After breakfast we had a few hours to kill and walked through Hyde Park to the city centre.
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A peek at the bridge.
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Dropped into a Telstra shop to buy a local SIM card. For Aus$30 we got a micro SIM preloaded with what I hope will be sufficient data and voice for our stay.

Nan at the harbour bridge.
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University train station was not far from our hotel but with several bags we took a taxi instead. The difference in cost is marginal.

Checkin at the Qantas terminal was very quick. Rather than fiddle about with the self service machines we waited just a few minutes for a normal checkin.

Our plane this afternoon was a 22year old year old Boeing 737 VH-ZXD 22 (ex British Airways). This type of aircraft will soon be phased out by Qantas.
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Boarding was pretty quick. There was a small delay due to instrument malfunction but we were soon on our way. A short uneventful flight.

The drive home took longer.

Buenos Aires to Sydney

Approaching Sydney around 18:00 after a long 13 hour flight.
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At Sydney we arrived about 30 minutes late. Immigration was very very fast for Australian passport holders but Nan had to wait nearly an hour to go through. I'm glad we hadn't tried to catch a 20:00 flight through to Adelaide.

After quick taxi ride to our hotel we checked in via the bottle shop.
Econo Lodge Sydney is a pub with rooms. It was fine and cost a reasonable Aus$81.

Buenos Aires to Sydney

Up early. We had a lot of travelling today.

Our remise was waiting downstairs at 05:30 and after a quick trip to Aeroparque we checked in with LAN for our first flight to Santiago. This flight was on a pretty new Airbus A320 with leather sets. Very comfortable with efficient and attentive crew.

LAN Airbus A320
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Early morning departure from Aeroparque
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Sunrise over Buenos Aires
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Puerto Madero
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Stunning views as we flew over the Andes.
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The Chilean side of the Andes. Terraced agriculture.
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Bit of a delay in Santiago waiting for shuttle buses. The airport does not have enough gates.

From Santiago we flew Qantas (Code Share with LAN).

Our 12 year old Qantas 747-438. "Lord Howe Island" VH-OJU
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The seats felt a bit cramped but were a standard 31" pitch. IMHO Qantas and some other legacy airlines such as American, KLM, Air Canada and British Airways have a lot of older legacy staff as well. One is left with the feeling that the passenger is there to give the staff something to do. This contrasts with the enthusiasm and verve of staff on airlines such as LAN, GOL and TACA where the opposite applies.

Service on board was adequate but with little to warrant seeking out another Qantas flight.

Lakes and a volcano in southern Chile.
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Southern great circle route close to Antarctica and south of New Zealand.
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More Volcanoes
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Porto Alegre to Tigre

Crossed Brazil Uruguay border at 03:30 and arrived in Montevideo at 08:15. I had hoped to catch the 08:30 Cacciola service but it was full.

This meant a 7 hour wait but I did discover free wifi upstairs at Tres Cruces coach station.

At 16:15 we left Montevideo for Nueva Palmira. Water levels in the Rio de la Plata are very low and there was insufficient water for our ferry to get into Carmelo.

Arriving at Nueva Palmira around 20:30 we were unloaded and told to queue outside the tiny terminal building in windy conditions with the temperature around 4ºc. The incoming ferry was nowhere to be seen.

I failed to see the merits of this and got aboard one of the waiting coaches. All nice and cosy. A comfortable seat with the heater running.

We eventually got away aboard a much smaller Cacciola ferry at around 22:00 and arrived back in Tigre at 01:15.

Total Trip Cost
Cacciola Tigre/Montevideo/Tigre Arg$375 (US$82.63)
EGA Montevideo/Porto Alegre Urg$1,896 (US$86.57)
Santo Anjo Porto Alegre/Florianopolis R$82 (US$40.30)
Santo Anjo Florianopolis/Porto Alegre R$70 (US$34.40)
TTL Porto Alegre/Montevideo R$158 (US$77.64)
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Total US$321.54
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Luckily I didn't choose to Fly on Pluna. They went bankrupt on Friday.

FloriTig


Florianopolis to Porto Alegre

It blew quite strongly from the south overnight and the moorings were choppy.

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After the boat was tidied and secured I dinghied ashore. A schooner moored nearby had made an unplanned trip ashore during the night.
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After stowing the dinghy I went round to have a look.

The schooner had used stout lines...
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and a large shackle.
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The chain from the shackle to the mooring was much lighter and had corroded badly.

One of these links failed.
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Then I got a lift down to the bus station and took a Santo Anjo coach at 12:50 for Porto Alegre.

My TTL coach for Montevideo was due to leave at 20:00 but we eventually got away at 20:40.



Santo Antonio

A good check around the boat this morning. Batteries were fully charged. Moorings were sound. Only a tiny bit of water in the bilge.

The widow over the chart table had leaked a tad.

Installed my new spray hood. This was a final fitting with only a few adjustments to be made.


It looks really good.

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A number of improvements have been made over the original. An opening front panel, grab handles, interior pockets, zip closures for installation and removal, superior fabric and reinforcement in way of the snap fittings.

Tigre to Florianopolis

On time arrival at Porto Alegre. Raining and overcast.

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Took the time to book my return tickets for the weekend. Florianopolis to Porto Alegre on
Santo Anjo and TTL Porto Alegre to Montevideo.

Left Porto Alegre aboard a Santo Anjo coach at 09:00. Weather improved as we travelled north and was lovely and sunny on arrival in Florianopolis at 15:30

Thereafter a R$40 taxi ride up to Santo Antonio. All well aboard Kiriwina.

Tigre to Florianopolis

Up early to take a Cacciola ferry to Carmelo from Tigre with an onward coach connection to Montevideo.

At Tigre Argentine
customs initially refused to allow my sails to be loaded. They said sails were prohibited imports. I pointed out that nothing had been said when I bought them in back in April and that they had been repaired by an Argentine company and I was now exporting them. After taking me aside and making some phone calls they let me board with a warning not to do this again.

Immigration in Carmelo was pretty quick today and the Cacciola coach was on time. Their coaches are a bit tired and showing their age.

In the evening I took an EGA coach from Montevideo to Porto Alegre. I like EGA and tonight their coach was almost brand new.

This was a pretty tortuous way to get to Florinopolis but it had the advantage of a generous baggage allowance. I was carrying two sails and a spray hood plus lots of little boat bits. The Uruguayan airline
Pluna which I have taken in the past has complicated pricing making it difficult to calculate the exact fare when baggage is involved.