We had a very comfortable and peaceful night in this gem of a Karoo town. We woke up to -4,6 degrees outside according to our newly acquired min/max thermometer. The owl was still calling and some cape sparrows were good company. It was a very grey day, but we had expected this. We had seen the forecast for the coming few days and we were sure that we would be driving into rain. We got away by 8h30 after doing a short drive through the sleeping town. Only the workers who were laying fibre were about and the staff at the new Lekker Coffee Shop were setting out the tables outside. In these freezing temperatures!!! It was spitting a bit and the road looked wet. We passed another future potential campsite called Soutpoort about 40 km before Carnarvon. This was something to take note of for future trips. The “koppie” landscape along the road to Carnarvon is so beautiful. The sky was also opening up and patches of blue were appearing. We just passed through Carnarvon and continued on the long straight Karoo Highland road. We passed the SKA turnoff (Square Kilometer Array) telescope sign and talked about this significant project to study our skies which we share with Australia and some other sites where the sky is clean and clear like only the Karoo can offer. It is a beautiful tar road and we had discovered from our trip to Vosburg previously that the area had benefitted from the project by getting some good tar roads because of the necessity to have no dust in the air. We phoned Eleanor and discover that it was raining in Clanwilliam. The road follows an old disused railway track for a while and we passed sidings with names such as Biesieslaagte, Goraas, Hoedjies etc. We also saw some iconic corbelled houses in the distance. We lost the railway line every now and then and passed turn offs to Banksfontein, Skietfontein, Stuurmansfontein, Elandsfontein, Stofkraal, Kwaggaskraal, Koppieskraal, Kooitjieskolk, Middelpos, Brandvlei and Klipwerf – all very descriptive names if one understands Afrikaans! As we drove westwards the grass got taller and blonder and goats started to appear. We stopped for coffee at an interesting picnic spot where the road cutting had exposed the ancient Karoo geological stratifications representing eons in time. If only I knew a bit more of the geology of our country! Three grey mongoose ran the gauntlet over the road and a kokkewiet was calling. It was good to see several old windpumps still pumping up the liquid gold of the Karoo. Mesas, spitskoppe and buttes appeared on the horizon and we passed the lovely picnic site from a previous trip next to the bridge over the Sakrivier. In March this year, there was still plenty water in the Sakriver, but now no water could be seen anywhere. A stone hit our windscreen about 40 km before Calvinia but did not appear to cause damage. The rain started falling over the Hantam Mountains in the distance. Just before Calvinia flowers started appearing, but sadly it was now raining and the flowers were closed. We took some pictures anyway. Troopy needed diesel and we managed to locate the KLK (farmers co-op) in a back street. Diesel was R16.32 per liter. Despite the rain we could see the carpets of yellow flowers next to the road and there were also many katsterte (bulbs), which do not close when it is raining. A torrential shower hit us as we entered Nieuwoudtville. We felt so sorry for the local people who were selling fresh roosterbrood (bread baked over the coals) from their little stalls next to the road. We dived into the church hall and to my surprise the volunteer ladies had pies and filter coffee on the menu. We enjoyed our “church” lunch, while it was pouring outside. The lady in the tourist office remembered me from March when we shared some of our hot water with her for coffee when they had loadshedding. She had told us about the March lilies that we found in the flower reserve. When we emerged again, the sun was emerging and we managed to take some pictures of the lovely church. We decided to go and have a look at the waterfall, but thought R30 p.p. a bit much. The path looked muddy and it was about to rain again. The ladies were still selling roosterbrood next to the road and we decide to buy a warm one for lunch. I asked the lady if she minded if I warmed my meat balls on her fire and she just laughed and we chatted while they warmed up. Great service!!! We stopped at the lookout on the VanRhyns Pass for coffee and the views across the wide and unusually green Knersvlakte below were magnificent. The shoulders of the long straight road to VanRhynsdorp were carpeted with purple vygies. One long hard shower hung over the Gifberg while we were driving in sunshine. A bright rainbow stood out against the grey veil of rain. We popped into the Klawer Cellar for a bottle of wine for the colder evenings at the campfire. It was strange to stop here without my tourists. We drove into another heavy rain shower close to Clanwilliam, but it thankfully cleared as we entered the town. The gravel road to Klein Boschkloof was still dry. It was so good to see Eleanor and Gilbert again. She still had to take her staff back to town and we unpacked and chatted to Gilbert in front of the fireplace. We had lovely fish for supper and enjoyed a cosy evening around the fire. It was close to midnight when we tucked into bed – after a wonderful soak in the bath (a luxury we do not have in Port Elizabeth at the moment).

Geschreven door Leartravels