Fin del Mundo

End of the World - Fin del Mundo. Ushuaia, Tierre del Fuego, Argentine. Latitude 54.8°S

Well that's it. I can go no further south so I had better turn around and ride home.

Overlooking the Beagle Channel, on the island of Tierra del Fuego, the town of Ushuaia is the most southerly city in the world.
Getting here from Puerto Natales, Chile was a straight shot south but I made a few detours and stops on the way.

This was a flock of thousands of sheep that were being herded ( do you herd sheep or only cattle? ) along a rural road that I had to nudge my way through

This part of Patagonia is infamous for the wind that never stops blowing, making it difficult to just navigate a straight line along a road. I have no idea how the bicyclists I see along the way manage to do it.

Punta Arenas

I made a much needed stop in Punta Arenas for a few days and got some work done on my motorbike that included a new set of badly needed tires - what a difference, the dirt roads are now fun again.

Ferdinand Magellan

Punta Arenas was not the most scenic of towns but extremely interesting as it lies on the Straits of Magellan and so is still an important port for vessels passing through this historic part of the globe.

I took a ferry across the straits on to the island of Tierre del Fuego and had mapped out a route on the way down to Ushuaia to take me a lot of the way on back roads.

Dragline at Russfin

Some of the animals I encountered along the way

Fox

Foxes were introduced to try and control the infestation of rabbits that grew to an astonishing 30 million strong in the 1950s before myxomatosis all but wiped them out

Beaver - Castor in Spanish

Another brilliant failure in introduced species was the beaver. Introduced with the idea of harvesting them for their fur the beaver bred just like the rabbits but their fur did not grow to the length of their north American brethren making them a financial failure.

Sheep

The millions of sheep were the basis of the agricultural economy starting in the early 20th century

King Penguins

At least these guys were native and there are active programs to encourage the growth of their colonies

Estancia Harberton

I spent a night at Estancia Harberton, on the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego which was established by an Anglican missionary, Thomas Bridges in 1896. He was granted a land holding of 20,000 hectares by the Argentinian government and become the first white settler on the island. This was a thriving sheep farm until 1995 when the harsh winter killed almost all of the flock. It is now on the national historical registry and is still managed by the family. I met Tommy Goodall (84), great grandson of Thomas Bridges.

Rufous Tailed Hawk - I think