It was time to leave for the Baviaanskloof. After saying goodbye to Koot and taking a bag of wood with his blessing we again drove straight through Cradock and retraced our route to the R61 and headed for Graaff-Reinet. The road goes over the Wapadsberg Pass and we were hoping to find a suitable coffee stop on the pass. The road was pleasantly quite, but a strong headwind was a bit of a nuisance. There was a picnic spot at the start of the pass, but we found a turnoff to the north (Rooihoogte) and went a few kilos along it to a super isolated spot just pass a dry drift. The road continued a long way past the Lootsberg Pass and we suspect that this was the historic route before the pass was built. We were tempted, but that would have to wait for another time. There was a deep hole next to the road with water flowing out of it and it probably is a natural a spring. It looked as though it had been dug out as a well. There was also a sealed borehole. Water in this part of the country is very precious and it was strange that there was no sign of habitation in the vicinity. No cars passed and we drove back to the pass which reaches an altitude of 1700m. Getting to the N9 we turned south to Graaff-Reinet. It felt strange to be driving this way and not be on our way back from an African trip. In Graaff-Reinet we filled up at the local Agri which was much cheaper than regular fuel stations. Just a bit difficult to find, but very interesting. Then it was to the Spar for essential supplies - wors, pork chops and milktart. Now we hit the road to Aberdeen. This route was quite unusual for me, but well known to Marianne. Passing the Kendrew turnoff we discussed the meteorite impact crater near the town, another destination to visit soon. At Aberdeen we stopped for lunch at a picnic place in town. It was quite clean and quiet, being far from the fairly busy N9. Then it was on to Willowmore, but we did make a stop at the Oppi-vlak padstal, a new one for us. We enjoyed the cat placemats and the plunger coffee was also good. In Willowmore we were disappointed to see that Sophie's place is no more, the building now being a vulgar yellow and replacement looked most uninviting. Soon after this we turned off the tar onto the gravel road into the Baviaanskloof. It was initially quite rough and I took it quite slowly. Near the start of the road is the farm where we years ago went to see numbers of fossils. The house now looked deserted. Soon after we were overtaken by a police bakkie that was going very fast. A bit further on we passed a massive fuel truck that was stopped while the driver spoke to the police. We thought that maybe he had taken a wrong turn and was getting advice about a more suitable route. We stopped at an old ruin that had the most amazing display of vygie or mesem flowers, all mauve and yellow. While stopped the police bakkie went by, obviously on their way to the Baviaanskloof police station. Our afternoon coffee stop was in the Nuwekloof pass after having to make a u-turn to go back to a side kloof. Amazingly we had to stop to let the fuel truck through as we drove back! We later foung that it was delivering diesel to the "essential oils" (lavender) project that was set up in the western Baviaanskloof some years ago. in The stop in the kloof was lovely and was just far enough away from the road to be a good overnight stop. But bad news was that the flask had had fallen out of it's bracket and was smashed. From here we drove straight to Uitspan farm where we got to camp in a most amazing spot under a massive tree at the entry to a typical western Baviaans slotkloof. We had time to explore a bit of the kloof, but had to get back to get our braai going. While Marianne was exploring a couple of young fellows come past also going to explore the kloof. They were botanists looking for new sp. of Hermannia. Our braai was excellent, the good facilities making for a very comfortable supper. We walked to the campsite to chat to David Gwynn-Evans who showed us his notes on Hermannia. They were very impressive and Marianne was in her element talking to him. We also looked at some of the houses that were available and they looked like very good value. Then it was back to the Cruiser, hot showers and into bed. It had been a very good day.

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