Doctors on the road: Out of gas? Why don't you have some gnocchi instead?

2 days in El chalten and the cruel winds were behind us. Rested, eager, keen to move on, but wary of Dave's new inflammatory knee.

Next step, just a simple 59km in two days, a couple of ferrys. No problem.

We had a 37km ride to a ferry outside of el chalten. Gravel road but fairly flat and comparitavly no wind, almost a treat given recent events. A dramatic scenery change from desert to forest gave us great optimism for the future as the tall evergreens surrounded the road and waterfalls swooshed past it. The bikes ate up the bumps and we cruised to the first lake.

Sitting at the lake chatting with our new friend, a sudden realisation, "where the f*** is the fuel bottle?". The small fuel bottle holding petrol for our camp stove had managed to wiggle from its bottle holder and sneak off without telling anyone. The recent rule of, 'bring more food' echoed through my mind and thoughts of munching dry pasta left a bitter taste. Anger streaked through my consciousness, imprinting itself on my mood. Furious and determined I rode back like the wind, searching for the red bottle. It was nowhere to be found and so another gaff was added to the list.

Lago del desierto, our camp site

The next day required just 22km to the Chilean border but we found ourselves pushing our bikes up hills, through trenches, across streams and through mud fields with a scattering of SNOW. It was a very taxing and took 3hrs to cover the first 6km, mostly walking and pushing.

The border was crossed and another boat ride took us 50km North to Villa O'Higgins. Tired, cold and ravenous (recurring theme) we rushed around the mini mercado at 10pm. 'Some gnocchi.....perfect.'

Back to a hostel, Dave and I opened the bag to find no gnocchi, but just loads of flour. There's nothing like making your own gnocchi at 11pm.......