Along the Atlantic Coastline

Happy Birthday for the 12th Chris!

After a couple of true rest days re-acquainting ourselves with troopy, we headed north along the Atlantic coast on Monday, stopping in Piriapolis for supplies and having a quick lunch at the top of a lookout on the northern edge of that beach. Views from this lookout at Piriapolis were beautiful both north and south but we have found that the coastline has a heavy moisture haze which makes photographs look a little pale.

Heading north along the coastline gave us a chance to view the many seaside villages and seaside beach communities, not dissimilar to coastal communities at home with some beach shacks and some permanent homes – although with very different architecture.

A comment on this coastline would not be complete without a mention of Punte del Este, the Surfers Paradise of Uruguay. This coastal sprawl covered many kilometres with lovely ocean beaches and high rise apartments, casinos and hotels and even a Trump tower! We noted that the preparations for the high season are in full swing with gardeners and painters everywhere and life saver cabins being erected at regular intervals along the beach.

A 30 minute drive along the Rambla (boulevard) included a stop at a giant hand sculpture which is a magnet for tourists. As we stopped here (for the obligatory photograph) a cool change with strong winds came through very suddenly.

A coastal drive north for about 130km to the village of La Paloma where here too, many restaurants are yet to open as its not yet tourist season. We chose a huge campground which hadn’t seen a whipper snipper for a few months, but there were hot showers, toilets that flushed and a little hut where we could access the Wifi.