After a short stay at Guaruja we travelled to Pontal do Sul. It was a gruelling 7 hours drive (approximately 700 km), non stop through beautiful countryside. We left Guaruja after a healthy Brazilian café da manhã (breakfast) at 9:30 am and Rosa guided us to the highway. Guaruja like most of the small towns in Brazil have no street names (or if they have I cannot find them) and therefore it is a bit of a nightmare to get around when you don’t know the place. Guaruja has 246,000 people, as usual most of them driving motorcycles like Mike Duham, and it was a relief that we could follow Rosa until we got to the highway. The highway until Cubatão was very busy with big trucks almost bumper to bumper, but the highway is very good and well marked.
Once passed Cubatão the traffic eased and it was smooth (???) sailing for the rest of the 6 and a half hours. The weather was overcastted, hot and humid with rain from time to time. We drove around the city of Santos and then along the coast for a while. After Itanhaem, approximately 2 hours driving, we headed inland through a mountain range similar to the Great Dividing Range in Aussie. Beautiful scenery with banana plantations all the way along the road and very dense tropical bush.
Another hour driving through the mountains we joined the Rodovia Regis Bittencourt the main highway connecting Sao Paulo to Curitiba. A divided 4 to 6 lanes highway with lots of trucks and small cars. Surprisingly with exception of a few Fittipaldies the traffic is orderly and we had no problems finding our way to Pontal do Sul, where my parents live. With the rain falling regularly and us travelling at a moderate speed we only stopped once for petrol (or should I say alcohol) as my car can use both and alcohol is half of the price of petrol (1.60 real or A$1.2 per litre).
Close to Curitiba we left the highway and drove again through a most beautiful mountain Graciosa. The weather was terrible with heavy fog and constant rain and we could not see the mountain. However Filu took some pictures to give you an idea of the trip through the mountain.
We arrived at Pontal do Sul and again no names on the streets and we had to use the mobile phone (how did we survived in the dark ages without them?) and Ana guided us to the house. My father was already waiting on the side of the road as the house is hidden in the bushes. We were buggered after 7 hours sitting in the tiny Renaut but seeing our loved ones fixed all that.
