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Wednesday, August 23rd, Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa As I sit here in a wonderful B&B in a glorious town of Hermanus, I have the misfortune to be watching TV which is pretty much the usual US crap. "Oprah" really gives me some perspective on society (as if I needed any more perspective). It's full of people who are "angry", or "insecure" or "jealous" or "depressed", and there is an emotional "guru" advising these people how to overcome these life threatening pains. Driving through Southern Africa, seeing the poverty and absolute lack of not only material, but in many cases, the lack of any chance of any material.
After leaving Addo on Aug 21st., about 200Km out onto the Garden Route, we smell diesel. I ignore it. At a toll booth 40 Km down from where it started to smell, we finally stop, pay and I check it out. The diesel fuel filter has ruptured with a hairline crack. It's pissing out everywhere and there is a pool under the machine within a few seconds. I have a spare filter and a tool, but it's for the larger oil filter, but cannot get this one onto the filter. Time to call the AA. Ha! I'm on file with my Canadian AA card. A mechanic calls on the cell, but I still try to fix it myself - I only need the tool to work for dogs sake! After careful analysis, I turn the tool upside down, and Voila! We are on the road again. Off to George for a large!! Fish lunch, then down to Mossel Bay for our evenings retreat. As it is still ultra low season, we pre book on the cell and get a pretty good deal (R250 - about $CAN55.00 for the night - this includes the 14% VAT).
At Mossel Bay, we eat out: finally we find real prices. This is a high tourist area, and the prices have doubled from what we are used to. Reality catches up with us. 6:00AM, Aug 22nd. We are out, on the road into the interior again. Up over Robertsons Pass (1100m) by 7:00AM, and arrive at one of the farms by 7:50AM.
Unfortunately, it's a limit of 70Kg, so the adults are out. Aiden & Kayla face no such restrictions, and they charge around, Aiden less sure than Kayla - wait for the movie - it's hilarious! After a breakfast, I change the batteries around (again!!?), and we head off to the Cape.
No whales, but we are told there were 4 earlier that day. This is an incredibly beautiful little town, mountains as a backdrop, lovely cliffs to walk across, and very relaxed and friendly: this is before the whales turn up. We eat at the place recommended by everyone. Not as good as most places in land. Time to sleep. August 23rd. head off to the local bays actually in town to check out the local mammals. There are piles of them, some no more than 20 metres off the rocks we are standing on! Incredible, we do not need a boat for this. They make a lot of noise! We watch for an hour or more, and they eventually drift off toward the town.
Pick up the machine, and "absolutely nothing wrong" I tell him I'll remember that next time it refuses to start. Evening finds us at the harbour restaurant, we bring Aiden & Kayla's hiking sticks to ward off unwanted attention on the dark roads as we walk back to the B&B. Fantastic meal, wine, view, even the local draught beer was some of the best I've ever had. What else does one need? Canada will be difficult to deal with after this tour. Distance travelled this entry: 450 Km. Distance moved on trip this entry: 400 Km |
I digress!
Soaking in the tub after yet another adrenalin pumping day, I agree with Aiden that we will only be here once, and so we should head
off to Oudtshoorne - the world centre of Ostriches and ostrich farming.
The next hour, we are passed through the
On the way, we pass through the Little Karoo, and stumble on this wonderful little place called 
Now I'm off to a 4 x 4 garage to have the fuel line checked out (again). We head off to a local internet shop, to FTP some of the
photo pix to the web site. Ouch - really expensive at $CAN8.00 per hour.
