6th February 2015 – Zapala to Chos Malal

Michael & Ross were up early working on Blue B at 6:30am with Pete joining them at 7 and the others joining them after breakfast.  Between them all they dismantled the complete fuel system including the pick up from the tank. They then replaced fuel hoses, connected a facet fuel pump, drained the tank of all fuel and replaced all the spark plug leads with brand new ones, put in new spark plugs and reassembled it. The float chambers were checked for dirt, carburetors were checked for blockages and it was ready to start. Blue B fired up beautifully, went for a test drive and all is OK, so we’ll see how today’s drive goes.  Today is a short drive of only 190 kilometers continuing on Route 40 through the desert to Chos Malal, which is described as an oasis in the desert.  We had a later start than usual, leaving at 10:30am.  45 kilometers up the road and no problems so far with Blue B.  The drive today is surprisingly hilly, not mountainous as we only reached 1,000 meters. We found a lovely morning tea spot off the side of the road, no trees, but there is a lovely breeze so it’s not very hot.  It looks like we are in a giant crater as we are in a flat bowl surrounded by hills.Coming into Chos Malal there are thick green trees along the river which makes the town look like an oasis.  From a vantage spot in town behind the fort the view back down the valley is impressive.The stitching on this panoramic shot is a bit off but it gives you the general impression.  We had a lovely siesta this afternoon in our air conditioned room, Michael managed a sleep, Kay read her book while the washing dried.  Argentinian fact – you have to queue to buy fuel and get money from an ATM.  It’s a way of life here.  It took us 35 minutes to get to the pumps to buy fuel tonight, the queue went out the service station & around the corner. There are only 2 service stations in town and they’re both government owned.  They serve the fuel for you & tonight they only had 2 guys serving 4 pumps, so not a quick exercise.  Paying by card is also very slow, it seems to take ages for the payment to go through. They have a sign where the line starts.