8: Pichelemu to Quinamavida

Days 9 & 10 (3rd & 4th Dec.)

Mark spent some time prior to our departure checking over the bike before loading-up with the panniers and camping equipment.  Whilst checking one of the sidecar fixings he noticed that a nut on one of the front brackets seemed to be a bit loose. On further examination, the thread appeared to have worn, which was very unexpected as this was the first time he had checked the fixings since we took possession of the sidecar.  He used some Loctite to help secure it as well as possible, and then marked the nut and corresponding part of the bracket so we could see if there was any movement at the end of our journey.

After a photo shoot with our host (who lived next door), we set off for Quinamavida, which is about 185 miles south of Pichelemu, to the inland side of this very slim country.  We arrived in the late afternoon and had a very friendly welcome from our new host who showed us to our Cabana (as shown in the photo below), which we thought was good value at £59 a night, found via Airbnb.  Our host bought over some homemade raspberry Pisco Sours (our new favourite drink), which we enjoyed on the decking in the sunshine.  Her daughter came over shortly after this to check that all was ok, and when we asked her for directions to the local supermarket she insisted on taking us there in her car!  Everyone we have met so far have been so friendly and helpful, and this latest show of kindness saved us having to go out and find the supermarket, which was in the neighbouring town, later by ourselves.  Mark had checked the bike again when we arrived and everything seemed fine, but decided to e-mail Ben at Watsonian (who had fitted the sidecar), to get a second opinion. His suggestion was, as we suspected, to monitor the wayward nut for movement, and if there is any change then to get it welded in place. We thought about getting that done whilst here, but we are in such a  remote area it’s probably best to wait till we are in a large town where the facilities for this would be better.

Tomorrow we are heading south on the Pan American Highway to Lican Ray, a lakeside village near to the town of Villarrica, which is about 280 miles from here.