THE THIRD SUNSET

I thought I´d just jot down a few notes about how I got from Sydney to Santiago (obviously not by bicycle, although I did cycle 20 km from Sydney to airport, and 27 km from airport to Santiago). The rest of the way was by Areoleneas Argentina (via Auckland and Beunos Ayres). Firstly, on the cycle leg to Sydney airport I picked up the Lonely Planet guide to South America, as well as a bike box from one of the shops along the way (quite a mission, as the flattened and folded box made the bike look like some sort of flying machine anyway!). I slept at the airport that night under a sign drawing attention to "suspicious behaviour", and the next day I managed to get myself and all my stuff on the plane without too much ado. The refuelling stop in Auckland took longer than planned due to a problem with the aircraft, so I watched the sunset from the airport terminal building while waiting. Twelve hours later (after crossing the international date line) I landed in Beunos Ayres about 4 hours before taking off from Auckland! While waiting for my connecting flight I watched the sun setting for the second time that day (still Tuesday 9 November!). The flight to Santiago then raced the sun Westwards, but I was glad that the sun won the race, as I don´t think I could have handled a third sunset in one day. After taking the bike out of the box and getting everyting in order, I set off for Santiago centro about an hour before dawn (and avoided most of the morning traffic). After a few attempts I found a very nice hostel - good thing as I was so jetlagged that I stayed for 4 days instead of the intended two. I found Santiago to be a rather pleasant city, and I wandered around there collecting things I needed such as maps, groceries, and bike spares. Fortunately again, it was a Sunday when I cycled South out of the city - so the traffic was quite tolerable.