Boiled water and washed up and took the dogs for a stroll, Sipho left around 9m but did not come and talk to me so I assume the snake course is off, I had already decided I wasn't likely to be doing it so had planned on moving on this morning. We camped at Spur for awhile having R20 breakfast that costs R40 at Wimpy, into town for a short walk up the mountain and to draw money, a driving day means the dogs won't be happy so the more walking they can get the better.
yesterdays mountains in the clouds are today without cover coming into Porterville
Lovely little town, give a guy a lift and he was very funny, told me which part of town is for the people and which part is for the 'brown people.' We drove to Gouda and stopped for a walk in wild wind, just came out of nowhere and then disappeared when we got close to Ceres.
What
a beautiful drive around Ceres and Wolseley, so pretty with rich land,
green fields, mountains all around and all good roads even with
roadworks happening all the way into Worcester. The Kouebokkeveldberg,
that were covered in clouds yesterday, have 3 great campsites on top
of the mountain outside Porterville, and Beaverlac takes dogs, must
be amazing walks up there, so we will definitely come back here to
explore more, their is also an international paragliding event held
every December for the thrill seekers.
We
drove through the Witsenberg mountains on one side and the
Watervalsberg on the other and followed wine country past the Bain's
Kloof pass which navigates it's way over the magnificent
Slanghoeksberg, wow what a stunning vista to drive through, with a
ton load of poor housing dotting every roadside, many adults with
many more babies, on rich, fertile lands and all they can do is make
babies but not plant a thing, on that land I would feed them all,
what a waste. Our Gov't is forever harping on this land reform
nonsense, I don't think it should be who gets the land, I think it
should go to the people who will make the most productive use of it, like
talking to a brick wall when discussing the subject with 'brown
people'
Wolseley
Bain's Kloof pass goes over the mountain to Wellington
We
hit the N1 just before coming into Worcester, and stopped at the
Shell one stop, looked lovely, all green and fresh and stank to high
heaven from broken sewerage pipes somewhere. Drove into town, found
the 'i' centre and asked for a campsite, I was told to go to
Rawsonville for a nice one but could not face another 20km drive so settled
for the local municipal site 2km out of town, perhaps we should have made the effort of the extra drive.
What a culture shock it was to hit the N1, we have not had to deal with that traffic for so long, not sure if I want to again.
shell one stop
the dreaded N1
I
was directed out of town, past the yacht club, why would Worcester
have a yacht club I wonder, is the Breede river that wide or does it flow into
the Brandvlei dam, I thought of going to check but I guess getting
past the yacht club entrance in my shorts and t-shirt will test even
the stoutest no 'dog rule' that we have managed to beat so far, so I
settled for asking a local when I get a chance. I drove and drove and
never found a campsite, finally turned around thinking I missed it
and asked a guy walking along the road, he pointed to his t-shirts
logo and said this is the site, clearly he works there, and it is just ahead over the bridge he said,
so I turned around again, asked him if he wanted a lift as I past
him, he did, he hopped in with the growling dogs and directing me to
a very pretty campsite on the river banks, well their is no river to
talk of which is strange as they have had ton loads of rain here,
everything is wet and full of puddles and wherever you walk you sink
about an inch, but the river is all but dry, maybe irrigation has
bled it out.
The Breede river?
pretty looking campsite
mud everywhere, the dogs loved it
So
the site looks good, my friend gave me the gen about where to park
and then told me it costs R161 plus R50 for the electricity, he gave
me 25% discount on the R161 and when I said it was pretty steep for
winter he then cancelled the electricity charge as well so I paid R120 for
what turns out to be a real crummy site, I did find a working plug so
we have mains power but the ablution block is the pits, blocked
drains, sewage smell everywhere, open showers, dirty toilets, soggy
grass in and out, I would have complained at R210 that's for sure,
even at R120 it is expensive for this shit, but as we are here only
for the night I let it go, especially as I found out that I could
finally get 8.ta so I am connected tonight and can blog and e-mail
and surf and download as much as I want, good feeling, what a luxury,
back in Joburg just part of a normal day, how life can change with
different priorities.
So
I took the dogs walking all over the place, over the marshy ground
and down to the river, well not sure where the river is supposed to
be but as we have a bridge up steam I assume it is somewhere along
it's contour.
Relaxed
out of the camper and took some lovely pictures of the town nestled
below the Hex River Mountains with the Hex river valley running
behind it, so we are into Liewe Hexie land.
The Hex river mountains and Worcester
Didn't
bring any food with us so had brie and the last of a loaf of bread I
bought on Monday, had to toast it to make it palatable. Did 140km
today and it felt like 500, not sure why, probably because Peps shat
herself everytime a truck went past, we have not encountered many as
we have not been on any main arteries but now we are back into N1
territory and main routes she kept jumping off the bed and trying to
climb onto my lap, spilling her water bowl all over the floor,
that'll take awhile to dry, but I just had to give her a big hug when
we stopped but it did not allay her fears the next time an 18 wheeler
whooshed past, hopefully a few months of farm life will settle them
down a bit.
So
in for a peaceful night hopefully, and a hot shower in a smelly
ablution and maybe a stunning sunrise over the mountains and the
valley.
Sleep
warm.
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