We depart at about 9:00 from home via the N1 in order to meet our friends and travel companions for this trip, Danny and Garitha and their sons, at our favourite pit stop in De Doorns. We have to meet them at Die Veldskoen farm stall by 11:00 in order to be still in time before the kitchen closes for breakfast. We see beautiful water falls in the Du Toitskloof pass after some heavy rains and we wonder how the last part of our trip today will go. We have to do about 30 km worth of gravel road before we…

We leave Loxton on a gravel road, the R356, for Fraserburg. Is the road in a good condition? I think so, but I think the secret of any gravel road travel is low speed. At high speed you will get flat or written-off tyres and it is also easy to lose control over your vehicle. I drive at 60 km/h which gives me ample time to enjoy the scenery and avoid ditches, and if I really have to drive through them my vehicle is not damaged (nor Anette’s nerves). Last year, when we travelled to the Tankwa Karoo National Park,…

It doesn’t take long to drive to Beaufort-West. The sky is a brownish grey due to a headwind blowing up lots of dust. We didn’t know this wind was going to blow the best part of the four days we were going to spend there. It is still very dry although the area had some out-of-season rains in the past couple of months. At least they do not have to cut the water supply during night-time anymore.  About 5 km before the town we join the N1 from Cape Town and shortly thereafter you can exit to your left to…