26 August, Day 74: "Home" stretch

At the breakfast table we implore the waitress to NOT bring us any bacon or eggs! I know, I know, crazy right? But my word, we’ve both tired of that combination over the last week. So we’re quite easy this morning, sticking to the muesli and yo-gurt, fruit salads and coffee.

Checkout all done, back in the Bullet for today, our final drive of our tour. Quite sad, hey? I wasn’t so much sad as elated, I kinda get like that near the end of a long holiday.

As mentioned before, Matjiesfontein is only a few kilometres down the road and we make the left turn off the highway to the inconspicuous looking town.

Our first stop is at the train station, which has now been converted into a museum. A great many artefacts are stored in the glass cabinets and shelves, dating from the late 19^th century. One of the coolest exhibitions was in the preserved apothecary (that’s a chemist, kids...) where they had hundreds of really old, ooooold cameras! There was a weird clash of worlds, on my side I was standing with (to my mind) a state of the art professional, digital camera with all the trimmings versus a universe stuck in time; a hundred years worth of history and evolution to get to the point of what I was holding in my clammy paw.

Cool.

The town itself is really tiny, consisting of a short street lined with a handful of detached buildings, with the station/museum on the other side. Our next stop is to explore the set of detached buildings, and we find a coffee house, bar, old post office, the old Standard Bank of South Africa offices and the Lord Milner hotel. All of these buildings have been renovated and restored from about the 1970’s, some like the hotel maintaining their function whereas others like the coffee house used to be a general goods store. That’s actually Matjiesfontein’s original claim to fame: it was a refuelling and restocking outpost. Back in the days of the Kimberly diamond- and later gold rush in the 1800’s, the town was perfectly situated to offer both quality stocks and accommodation, both in high demand. This is technically the middle of nowhere, by most definitions. The Karoo, like I have noted many times before is wide open, mostly featureless and almost barren where it not for the few pieces of flora here and there. And the travel to these parts, you where rocking it with an ox wagon, or on foot.

Jimmy Logan was the man responsible for Matjiesfontein’s fortunes in the early days, having spotted the potential of the town. He started off as a porter in the railway at the age 15 and quickly rose to District Superintendent of the stretch of rail line between the Hex Rover and Prince Albert Road by his 21^st birthday. While still in railway employ, he was granted a concession at Touws River station, becoming lessee of the railway-owned Frere Hotel there in the same year. Within 12 months he had resigned from the service to devote time to his own affairs.

Another bonus of the Karoo is the dry, clear air, a big deal back in the days when all sorts of chest ailments where almost always fatal. So in 1883 he decided to move permanently to Matjiesfontein with his family, gaining another refreshment room concession there in 1884. Between the outbreak of the Boer war he developed the village into a delightful Victorian health and holiday resort, catering to Premiers, Governors and leading political figures of the day. Even Cecil John Rhodes was a regular patron (he suffered from ill health all his life).

The village was also used as a staging area during the Boer War, with 10 000 troops and 20 000 horses stationed on the outskirts and the hotel serving as a hospital for British officers; it’s central turret becoming a armed look-out post.

James Douglas Logan died in 1920, at 65 years of age. By the second World War, the town fell into obscurity and decay, but never lost its potential. The whole of it was bought by David Rawdon in 1968 and in 1970 the hotel was reopened as The Lord Milner. The rest of the village too has been restored and renovated into what we saw today, a living monument to a slice of history. Even in the bar, there was a guy dressed in period garb playing a few diddies on the piano (surprising to see, 11:00 in the morning. More surprising was that he wasn’t alone and the bar was full of patrons!).

So that’s it! A very educational little detour.

One last pit stop at the coffee shop for a cappuccino and a muffin before we head out again. We’ve been treated to some amazing sites during our two and a half month sojourn in all the countries but I can truly say that the Hex River valley can give every single one of those a run for their money. It’s almost spring now, so the vineyards are all bare but by no stretch of the imagination can I imagine what this must look like in the full bloom of summer. Deep valleys and rivers cut through imposing peaks, green and blue, littered with wine farms. It was utterly breathtaking. The snow capped mountains of the Cedarburg came into view next. I tried again to take a few decent pictures of it all but I’m not sure I can do it any justice.

So needless to say, it was a most pleasant drive. Not long before we arrive in Worcester and then on into the Du Toits Kloof pass, an equally stunning drive! I’ve mentioned it before but the same applies here: it’s quite weird to experience vertigo looking UP. But here it was again. Before long we dive into the tunnel and exit the other end into quite overcast and damp weather. Welcome home, it said.

The excitement is quite palpable by this stage as the signs go by: Cape Town – 75 ; Cape Town – 50 ; Cape Town – 40....

And so it was, at 13:51 that we finally rolled into Jacqueline Street, Annelie’s home, to greet her parents. I think they were quite pleased to see us :)

We spent the rest of the day chatting about this and that, after we unpacked the Bullet entirely (I am still amazed how much stuff we ferried along with us!) and eating way too much! In the evening we visited my parents for a quick howdy do, again eating and drinking way too much.

Our plans are pretty fluid for the next week or two. Lots of people to meet and greet and quite a few administration tasks to perform. I think mostly we’d like to spend some time with the family for a change, we always give them the short end of the stick when we are down this way.

And of course, I will need to sit down and get to all the pics I took, upload a few. And really think about how I’m going to end this piece! But all in good time :)

Highlights: Well, we’re home! And in one piece.

[G & A], out

we move like shadows

25 August, Day 73: one thousand twenty three

We actually slept in a tad today, not really getting our 05:00 start we wanted. I kid of course, we were never going to get up at 05:00!! Andries sorts us some delicious breakfast of fried eggs, toast and left over steak chunks. Mmmmm, steeeeeaaak. It’s the new bacon.

Quick shower, pack up and ready to go by 10:30 and we say our goodbyes and good luck’s. In no time flat we are back on the N1 and grinding away at the last bit of asphalt home, a grand total of 1023 KM’s to go!

We make pretty good progress before reaching our 1^st road works stop. “10 minutes wait”, says the man. Said man returns 10 minutes later to inform us that there has been an accident in the stretch ahead, so we can expect some minor delays. Much later, and after catching up with two Mythbusters episodes on my laptop, I make a call that we double back and try to get onto one of the dust roads running parallel with the N1.

Easy does it, best dirt road we’ve ever seen. :) It snakes through the koppies this way and that, mostly running next to the train tracks and national road off the right so we know we’re heading the right direction. We don’t have GPS, so it’s terribly old skool navigation. A few cars coming the other direction can at least verify where we will end up and we trade directions (since they want to go the other way). Not long before more people catch on to the alternative road and more cars fill the narrow bypass.

Finally, we rejoin the N1 and my goodness, it doesn’t look any better on this side either! Cars, trucks and trailers backed up for kilometres. We make a quick stop at a block in the road where people have climbed out of their cars and I relay the terrible news: you’re gonna be here a while. But I’m a bad news / good news kinda guy and offer them the “secret” route around the carnage. I later found out a truck and a 4x4 bakkie had a serious collision, hence the fire trucks and no doubt jaws-of-life operation that had to take place.

We push on, but it is now increasingly likely that we will not be making it all the way home today. This sentiment is somewhat lightened when we seem to again be making really good time and dashed equally as we get stuck behind yet another few sets of successive road blocks. We’re lucky that they at least stick to the plus-minus 10 minute wait time.

By the late afternoon we roll into Three Sisters, aptly named for the three tall (for this area) free standing mountains. It gets progressively dark by the time we get close to Laingsburg and even though we are in striking distance to Cape Town we make decide that it would be so stupid to rush home now. By our ETA we would only arrive by something dumb like 11 o’clock, and what’s the point in that??

Laingsburg isn’t the largest town I’ve ever seen, but that have 3 decent looking inns / hotels and we’re ready to have a serious sit down dinner for a change, having only had Provita bisquits and cheese (the same cheese we bought way way back in Kenya! Still... delicious!).

The Laings Inn happens to have one double bedroom available and we snatch it up, unpack our sleep over gear and head out to one of 3 dining options at the Cafe Hart Hotel. The other options where Steers and the Wimpy at the petrol station as you drive into town. Heh heh, small town indeed.

The Cafe Hart seems to have quite a rich family history and is quite cosy on this cold evening. The bar is quite buzzing when we arrive. An extensive menu covers all the basic food groups, of meat, meat, fish, and meat. We order the ribs with chips and wash it down with whatever the house red was.

Even before dinner is done I could feel a very real weariness creeping into me and I mention that I am really glad we didn’t push through like lunatics.

Tomorrow we will take our time and pay a visit to Matjiesfontein, only 15 kilometres down the road.

Back at the inn, we settle into the big double bed, have a quick night cap and doze off.

Highlights: Feeling very homesick man, very pleased we’re almost home.

[G & A], out

ya’ll know the lyrics, com’on and sing with me!

24 August, Day 72: a large ditch

I had to employ some help from the inn manager to jump start the Bullet again, using his very tiny VW Polo 1.3 litre toy. We make a quick stop at Anneke’s but they’re still snoozing. On to the battery store then. R860 later I’m in business with a sparkling new Willard battery, after waiting 20 minutes for the owner of the Sabat battery store to go fetch me a real battery. I love how business is so slow a shop will even sell you a competitors brand! :)

Off to the video store with internet access and I FINALLY get a chance to upload all the journal entries I’ve been hoarding on my laptop! Excellent.

Back to Anneke’s to say goodbye to her and the little one. To kill some time before we head out to Bloemfontein we decided to take in the tourist attractions, namely the big hole.

For those of you who don’t know, this is where the South African diamond mining industry got its start back in the 19^th century. The area played host to a few very influential characters such as Cecil John Rhodes and Barney Bernato, the forefathers of what would eventually become consolidated into De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond company. The “big hole” is quite literally a massive hole in the ground where the blue kimberlite vein was discovered and mined. During the 1^st world war mining was ceased since there was no demand, the same happened again during the second world war. Eventually the entire hole flooded with water and became a very large tourist attraction instead. Kimberly is also where the De Beers head office is, where ALL diamonds mined in the country (and around the world, If I’m not mistaken) are brought to be redistributed, to ensure that the sources are credible and that no conflict diamonds are dealt in.

Personally, I’m not a diamond fan at all. I think it’s the greatest marketing exercise in history. But that’s an entirely different discussion...

So we went on the tour and it was quite cool to see how they lived in those times. There is a big time line in the museum that shows the flow of history of both the world and the region. There is a “underground experience” (no, not a rave club) where you get to go into a recreated mine shaft and see what it was like. Next, we were allowed into a guarded vault with loads of different types of diamonds and replicas of the first diamond discovery here, called Eureka on the banks of the Orange river and the largest uncut diamond ever discovered.

Outside, they’ve restored the surrounding town and preserved it the way it looked back in the 19^th and start of the 20^th centuries. Spooky. No really, it’s exactly like a ghost town. Shops selling shoes or clothes, barbers, bars, wagon dealerships, auctioneers etc etc. Barney Bernato’s boxing academy (he was quite a sportsman and actor too), dental surgery, doctors office, banks, reading rooms, billiard rooms and so on can also be explored. The only “house” that you can enter is that of where all De Beers chairmen lived over the years. Pretty cool, a snapshot of time.

All done by 15:00 and we eventually find our way to the N8 that would take us to Bloem. We’re visiting a friend whose studying architecture there. I figured since we’re practically in the neighbourhood wit would be a shame not to.

It still amazes me how in this part of the world, the nothing stretches for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see and the only thing breaking the great open plains are a few koppies (mountains, little ones) dotted here and there. By about 16:20 we make contact with Andries and he guides us to a Shell garage where we can meet up, which is great since we need to refuel again (the Bullet is THIRSTY). Soon after we’re done filling up he arrives and we say a few hearty hellos. He takes us up to the house he is sharing with another fellow student and friend. The house is freakin huge!! Like, impossibly huge, nestled in a very upper class neighbourhood. We get settled into one of the rooms, grab a few beers and head up to Naval hill, a lookout point where you can check out the whole town.

On the hill we chat a bit about our adventures and he fills us in on his comings and goings. Next we’re treated to a quick tour of the town, the university he studies at, the Chief Justice of the Courts of South Africa’s MANSION (very well guarded, ring fenced and what not) and the local hovels and hangouts, including what is described as “the very,very-bitter-end-bar”, i.e. they’ll still serve you alcohol 07:00 in the morning. Good times.

One the way back to the house we stop at “the Braai shop”. Droooool! What a great concept, it’s a one stop shop for every damn thing you can imagine for a good braai: excellent steaks and meats, sauces, implements, fuel for the fire, biltong... you name it. The guy behind the counter even suggested that for a price he’ll even sell us beer! Awesome! I recommended he franchise the idea immediately, London needs a “Braai shop”.

Good meat in hand, we head back and stoke up a good ol’ wood fire. More mates and fellow budding architects arrive to join in and they’re really cool dudes (and one dudette). We chat about all sorts of stuff, drink too much brannewyn and coke and eat like kings. I learned a few new tricks from Mattie (who happen to have had quite a few Famous Butcher Grills!) on the art of braaing a killer steak and Annelie reckoned it’s the best she’s ever had.

Anecdote: Damn I’m good.

We have to call it a night just before 00:00, since we kind of intend on nailing the last 1023 km’s to Cape Town tomorrow. Of course we will play it by ear, maybe stop halfway or whatever. But if I can help it, I’d really like to reach that checkpoint.

Highlights: Really cool catching up with Andries again! Good guy...

Good steak, enough to kill a donkey

[G & A], out

gimme the mic while i take it away

Sorry for the spam

It’s a fact of life that internet access is quite hard to track down here in Africa. Even worse is a situation where you DO have a smidgen of internet access but cannot get anything to work on it, or it keeps timing out and so forth.

 

Point is, It would have been soooo cool to be able to post things on the fly! Good news is that we are almost home in Cape Town where I will be able to finally upload more pictures (you HAVE to see the little elephants!) and finish up the journal.

 

Until then...

 

[G], out

 

23 August, Day 71: to Kimberley

In the morning we finished up on breakfast, retrieved the washing from the line and packed up the Bullet. It was dead again, very dead. While looking at the caked dirt that’s accumulated on the top of the battery something occurred to me, just then: when was the last time we checked the battery water? After cleaning off the dirt, using a R2 coin, I started to unscrew the wells one by one. Sure enough, four of the 6 wells where bone dry.

...

Well I’ll be. This is basic stuff man, very basic. I cannot believe we ALL missed it. Too late now, this battery is probably toast by now. I grab some distilled water and will the cells up again just for in case, you never know your luck in the big city. After another jump start we’re back in business. We say our thanks and goodbye, load up the food and baked pie we need to take along for Annelie’s cousin and head out to Kimberley. It’s a short drive so we reach Kimberley, about an hour and a bit. The directions to her cousin’s house is as straightforward and we meet up with them there. I’m introduced to Anneke and her boyfriend Brendon, proud parents of a very tiny and ridiculously cute baby girl, Danika. Oohs and aahs abound (mostly from Annelie).

While Annelie and Anneke catch up, Brendon and I chat about this and that. There is an inn quite close by so after another running start we finally manage to push all 3 tons worth of 4x4 down the road fast enough to get it going (this is getting old. Fast). Check in at the Bella Vista Inn (I leave the car running) and get back to the cousins place. The rest of the day we generally spent outside in the sun, occasionally if I was inside I’d be chased outside for “the feeding” of Danika.

In the evening we head out to grab some take-aways (Steers Burgers... delicious!) and call it a night.

Tomorrow I’m going to get this car battery sorted out!

Highlights: uh... BACON!

[G & A], out

right about now, the phunk soul brotha