Saturday 26 Oct 2013

S: Yippee! No rain last night. The trip over the mountain looks more promising. After breakfast and packing up we went in search of the farmer, Chris, to pay our dues and find out if the river we would have to cross was not too high. We found him at his workshop and he took us up to the farm house so that he could make a phone call and check for us. We met his wife and three of his four children. They were all ten and under in age.


Chris could not find out for definite that the water level in the river was ok, only that it was impassable the previous Monday and Tuesday. This being Saturday, we decided to take the chance. We could also pop into the Baviaans Lodge which is about halfway and find out the state of the river. L: But that meant that if it was not good, we would have to come all the way back.......


S: The 40 kms to the lodge would take us about 3 hours which is an average speed of +- 15 km/h. And it was. But what a trip. The road was quite bad in places but we just ground along in 2^nd gear low range four wheel drive and the 'tractor' just chugged along. The views were amazing, the flora spectacular with flowers everywhere. Lots and lots of proteas as well. At one time we were travelling through a corridor of proteas with them brushing the doors.


We saw some black wildebeest and blesbok grazing together on top of one of the mountains. As soon as they saw us they ran, not like game reserve animals which would just carry on grazing. About 30 km in, it started to rain again and for a while we were in cloud and could see nothing around us. The road also was a lot wetter and on one stretch I had the Colt sideways as the back wheels slid into the ruts while I had the front wheels on the higher ground. Great fun. L: Hmmmmm, and pretty scary when you are not in control of the vehicle yourself, but then again, Steve, nor were you......


L: The most scary part, was not the driving, but getting out to close the umpteenth gate, with a sign that said “This is a leopard-friendly farm” and the other sign next to it, that said “Please close the gate”. Really!!!


I loved this trip, up such a high mountain on a rough track and then pretty much driving on the ridge of the mountains with the deep valley below, what an experience. I am sure that the photographs will not be able to justify the feel of it, but we did our best or mainly me, as Steve was driving. The pity was that we were in quite a hurry to get through the first part of the track to cross the river before it became impassable as it was raining so hard in the area. Bearing in mind that we have had the experience of a “dry river-bed” becoming a flowing river on our last trip to the Northern Cape. It can make you a bit more wary.


S: After 40 kms we turned off to the lodge which coincidently is the last farm into the mountains from the Kareedouw side. We met the owner, Rob, and his two children who were there for the weekend. He bought the farm about 13 years ago and built the lodge with a few cabins around it. We stopped long enough for a chat, coffee and some delicious fudge. He has some amazing paintings of bushmen in the dining hall of the lodge. A friend of his did them in exchange for free accommodation. There are apparently many examples of bushmen paintings on his farm. Rob told us that he had come through from Kareedouw the day before and the river water was below the causeway which means that it would be safe enough for us to cross.


We said our goodbyes and carried on. The road was a lot better now and the next 40 km to Kareedouw took us an hour.


L: Wow, what an experience. The river was so high, nearly up to the causeway so I told Steve to go, go, go because I did not want to get stuck on the wrong side or have the river come down stronger as we were crossing. Just a bit hairy :-O. I really enjoyed the view and looking back at the river after we were safely across and taking all the photos while Steve drove on. He nearly crunched a turtle in the middle of the road, I think it was confused with the level of the water so high, and I asked him to please stop and move it out of the road. It was great fun watching him and that the turtle tried to swim in his hands.


S: Storms River Mouth was our final destination for today and after a quick stop for lunch at a roadside restaurant (there was an amazing Honda Goldwing trike parked outside) we arrived at the home of the Otter trail. We weren't too sure about how long we were going to stay, so we checked in for only one night. The camp sites are right next to the sea so it is pretty chilly when the wind is blowing (which is most of the time). Anyhow the sunset was stunning. The weather had been overcast but the forecast showed the weather clearing up so we had decided that we would stay here a little longer.


We then pitched the ground tent as we would have to use the Colt to drive all the way up the hill to the gate tomorrow to pay for another night. Lesley went and did some washing while I entertained myself cleaning out the fridge after one of the cider bottles broke during our rough trip over the mountain. Then it was a braai and off to bed.



Night night …..