Well we’re back. I arrived in Argentina early on the 16th May and was raring to go. However I had clearly forgotten the arrival in Australia and the problems of bureaucracy.
I couldn’t contact the shipping agent as they don’t work on Saturdays, so I had to wait until Monday morning to find out if Bridget had arrived.
The President of the MG Car Club of Argentina took me to lunch on Sunday along with two fellow members, Pablo Fernitz and John Ortiz. They were able to give me the low-down on driving conditions, traffic police behaviour and the best route, not only through Argentina but also Chile and Peru. Once again I received a warning about heavy goods vehicles, but as with Australia, the truck drivers are professional which is a major plus.
First thing Monday morning I called the shipping agent again and they requested me to go to their offices with my passport and the cars papers. The car is in Buenos Aires at least, I thought. When I arrived they asked me to sign a legal warranty that they had, but it was written completely in Spanish. They said it was just routine and was never really used but to me it clearly had prices/costs in the document. I said if it was rarely used then it was clearly unnecessary and I wasn’t prepared to sign it without a copy in English. They then produced a document charging me over $900 US for container storage! Another meeting has been arranged for tomorrow and the whole thing referred back to my agents in Australia. Will I ever see Bridget again?
Refusing to allow these things to get me down I did some more sight seeing and will let them worry about it.