As we did not have very far to travel we were in no rush to leave. We were going to meet up with the others at 15h00 in Joubertina in the Langkloof. Marianne took the Kits to their hotel and we got going at 13h00 after a quick lunch at home. I forgot my emergency injection kit and we had to turn back to get it. So instead of being ahead of the others we were behind. This didn't worry us as we knew where to go and we phoned the rest of the party to tell them not to wait for us. The drive to Joubertina was uneventful. It was clear that the kloof has had some good rains, because many farm dams had water in them and the Krom River was flowing. When we got to the meeting place, the rest were waiting for us - the message had not been passed on to leader Trefor. Some of his party had ordered food at the notoriously slow restaurant, so we drove on because we tend to drive slower than most on gravel roads with the Cruiser. The road into the Kougas was rough, but very attractive although the Kouga River valley was choked with invasive black wattle. We stopped at the river and were surprised to have a farm bakkie with a big trailer pass us. There had been a lot of rock falls in the pass and there were still some areas that looked dangerous. Kouga Wilderness was well signposted and at the top of the river pass we soon found the turnoff and enjoyed the attractive drive to the farmhouse. We arrived just ahead of the others. There was a big welcome from Melodie Ferreira and Border Collie Patch. Trefor had been there several times before and knew her well. Her husband had just gone into hospital in George, but she was very organised and even lent us a walking stick as we had stupidly left our hiking poles behind. It was a short drive to the attractive cottage (Oom Carel se Huis), were most would be sleeping, and a fabulous adjacent campsite which was just what we had been hoping for. The location was very beautiful and we parked under some massive oak trees. It was now almost supper time and I quickly collected firewood and got a fire going while Trefor went to collect firewood from the farm for the communal fire at the cottage. After enjoying our braai we walked over to the cottage to be social and chatted, properly socially distanced, to the others. It was a very pleasant group (13 of us) and we we knew most of the party. We got back to the camper around 22h00. Then we got the camper sorted, showered in the excellent ablutions and got to bed.

Geschreven door Leartravels