The End of the Trip, arrival in Ushuaia

I wake up to the ominous "pitter patter" of rain on the tent. Oh dear !, delaying arrival was a mistake !!  I wait in my tent for an hour and  it does not stop ! So I pack up (always horrible and difficult in the rain) and repair to a cafe and wait for two more hours, it still does not stop. There´s nothing for it but to don waterproofs (the zip failed a week before, so no longer waterproof !) grit teeth and go....feeling a bit disappointed that after a several days of good weather, I´m going to arrive in the rain.

There is a high pass that I did not know about, the Garibaldi Pass, it´s well into the cloud and the visibility drops to 20 feet or so, so I have to crawl along, avoiding the trucks coming the other way. After I get back down to the valley again, the Excitement starts to build !! It rather looks as if I am going to make it !!  Just 30km more to go.

Then, half an hour later, after approx 11,000 km and exactly 4 months, there it is, the wooden sign, "Welcome to the most southernmost city in the world".  I recognise it straight away from numerous other people´s finishing photos.

So I stop and take a few photo´s of my own !!  this is my moment !!, unfortunately I am the only one there so I have to use my (sad) mini tripod, I was hoping a few of "us" would be finishing (or starting) at the same time, but there are none. A few people hoot as they drive past.

After these few moments of personal triumphalism ! I head the 2km into Ushuaia, the place is instantly recognisable from photo´s, the Beagle Passage, the surrounding mountains and the ships, wrecks, yachts and cruise ships in the harbour !! For a moment there, I felt quite emotional...

Something rather incredible happens next !!  Stopped at a traffic light in the centre of town, I move to start off, there is audible (and horrible) "clunk", and the clutch has completely broken !!  I can barely believe it !!  All this way and my first really serious breakdown is 2km past the finishing post !. I end up pushing my bike to the hostel I was heading for, wondering all the time, at the fundamental inter-connectedness of all things !! Fortunately the hostel is only 5-6 blocks from where I broke down, and all down hill !