You would never believe who I met today.

After settling into my apartment located 1 block away from the main street in town, I finally fell asleep around midnight. I managed to get about 6 hours sleep before I woke to a rainy and bitterly cold morning.

By the time I had breakfast and got dressed, I hit the road around 8am in drizzling rain for a short ride out to the entrance to the National Park. On the way I got to see the most southern golf course in the world, followed by the famous Tren train which has a motto of 'the train to the end of the world'. Well I've been on the Machu Picchu train and that was incredible, so in this weather, I didn't think much of it. It was back down the mountain and into town.

In town I checked out the Plaza Islas Malvinas which is a monument dedicated to those who gave their life in the battle of the Falkland Islands in 1982. There is no need to go into how many died because in the end it was another war, and another needless loss of human lives. The monument is quite nice with a flame burning in front of the many names inscribed in the granite block. 

 The photo above show the temperature at 8.30am today at the entrance to the National Park.

 The photo above shows the Falkland Islands with the Argentinian flag in the background.

 The photo above is of the Argentinian army getting ready to head to battle. 

 In every armed service around the world, there is a job for someone. These 2 young men carry their brooms as if they were rifles. Probably going to clean up the mess left by the Brits.

You can see the flame and the granite block showing those perished in battle for their nation.

Now the next part of my day relates to who I met.

I walked over to the Tourist Information Office to get a better map and to see how I could visit the Martial Glaciar tomorrow on my bike. I left the office and sat on the step checking out my map when I saw a man taking photos,

I said, 'hello you ass hole'. I think this man was taking back by what I said. 

He said 'what did you say mate', 

I said, 'are you deaf, I called you an asshole'? 

With that the man approached me and said, 'bullshit, bloody Terry Wall, what are you doing here'? 

A moment later another bloke walked around the corner and I called him some rude names, and his reply was worse. We had a laugh and sat down on the steps and spoke about why we were in this part of the world. So where do these 2 chaps come from? The best place in the world, Wollongong. They live about 15 kms from my house. 

The photo above is of Bob Burridge and myself sitting on the steps outside the tourist office in Ushuaia.

The photo above is of Neil Harris and myself on those famous steps. 

Bob Burridge and Neil Harris are 2 of the nicest men you could ever meet. They are both retired police officers and were highly respected in their senior positions in the service. I prosecuted many of their cases and shared many stories over the years. Bob and Neil had had just got back from a 10 day cruise of Antarctica. After looking at their photos I'm now thinking that I might have to go and visit the place one day. At $1000 per head per day on the cruise, that's a bargain. I think I might stick to bicycle tours.

The afternoon was getting on and I hadn't really done that much. I went and checked out one bicycle shop and they wanted to sell me a cardboard bicycle box for $6 US. That's bullshit, they only throw them out and he wanted money for it. I politely told him what I thought about the offer and where that offer should be filed. 

I found another bike shop and bought a really cool long sleeve cycling jersey which will certainly have me standing out in the crowd when I get back to the GONG.

I ended up walking to the address that Rob the Boss had given me and got a bike box there. From the hundreds of trophies all over the shelves, this place is full of crazy keen cyclists. With the purchase of a roll of tape, it all looks good for packaging that bike away tomorrow.

I wanted to go and see 2 museums today, but that didn't eventuate. I'll do that tomorrow after a bike ride.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.