We arrived back in South Africa in June 2014 and being home, it was a great opportunity for Rob and me to catch our breaths for a couple of months.  While in Malaysia we had already started planning for our next big trip but while we waited for that to come to fruition, we took some time to explore our own country for a change!  We chose Somerset West, in the Western Cape as our base and settled down.  Well, settle as much as we could, considering that we knew we would be moving on again shortly!  So July to December 2014 was spent working at getting ourselves into better physical and mental shape by running and hiking in the nearby nature reserve, as well as by starting yoga.  We completed two 5km road running races, then moved on to bigger things and tackled two 10km races in this time frame.  And in between fitness activities, we explored!  This blog post is going to be more of a photo show rather than travel story as again I made the error of not keeping a travel journal!

The West Coast 

July 2014 was spent settling into what was to be our home for the next few months, a quaint Dutch style thatch cottage located at the bottom of a large property on the slopes of Helderberg hill in Somerset West, which afforded us a bit of a view over False Bay.  So after a month of getting acquainted with our neighbourhood, Rob and I decided to celebrate his birthday in August by taking a road trip up the West Coast.  The further-most North we had been along this stretch of coastline was to Langebaan the year before, hence this time we ventured a little further by travelling up to Lambert’s Bay, known for its seafood, stopping along the way at Paternoster for a photo snap.  We decided to put trusted Bakkie to the test by taking her on lesser known dirt roads, and it was great to get off the beaten track.  After a bumpy ride we arrived in Lambert’s Bay in one piece and saw that it really was a one-horse town.  A small fishery, a few shops, two restaurants and a couple of cosy Bed and Breakfasts made up the settlement.  We enjoyed a great seafood platter for dinner at the harbour side, and headed off the next morning.  One night in Lambert’s Bay is more than enough time to see the town and surrounds!

The following morning we continued on in very wet conditions to Ceres via Citrusdal, again on some treacherous dirt roads and mountain passes.  But Bakkie confidently held the road which took us around South Africa’s fruit farm district.  In Citrusdal we stopped at a cute little coffee shop for a deliciously hot Milo before continuing on.  With minimal vehicle traffic, only dodging a couple of farming tractors, we were able to take our time and soak in the vistas of thousands of fruit trees as we slowly drove on to that evening’s destination of Ceres.  Unfortunately with it pouring with rain in Ceres we didn’t really venture too far out and ended up not taking any photos.  The highlight of the trip though was definitely making our way back to Somerset West the next day, via the Bains Kloof Pass – one of the best mountain pass drives in South Africa.  Luckily the weather had cleared overnight, and with the rain taking all the winter dust out of the air, we had excellent views from the mountaintop over the Cape peninsula.  We rounded off our trip with a celebratory birthday dinner at the posh Seventeen07 restaurant at Erinvale Hotel and Spa, enjoying a fancy four course buffet dinner courtesy of a gift voucher from Rob’s sister-in-law.

Johannesburg to Cape Town by Car

At the beginning of September we decided a trip to Johannesburg to visit my mom was in order.  I had another reason for wanting to travel up there though.  I had left my car at a “Park and Sell” second hand car dealership in the hope that they would be able to sell it.  However being salespeople, the staff (and owner) ended up being more talk than action and we made the decision to go back and retrieve the car to try and sell it in the Cape.  Early on one Saturday morning we caught a cheap flight to Johannesburg and were greeted with many hugs and kisses from my mom at the airport, and then by the dogs when reaching home.  After a wonderful week catching up with my side of the family we started our trek back down to the Cape, this time by road.  The drive on our first day took us on the back roads through Gauteng to the Free State border in order to avoid the much dreaded e-tolling system which had been implemented.  But the benefit of this was we both got to see more of the countryside, rather than look at the monotony of a two-lane state highway.  The route we chose included Parys, where we stopped for a minute to take in the Vredefort Dome, and Kimberly, the famous diamond mining town.  On our approach into Kimberly we both felt a bit of trepidation, seeing that it was quite dirty and run down.  Anyway, our navigator (aka Kirsten) guided us safely through the throngs of traffic and multitude of one way streets to reach The Big Hole.  A quick stop here gave us an opportunity to walk through the museum, view the actual big hole where some of the biggest diamonds in the world had been mined from, and wander through the historic village before moving on.

From Kimberly we deviated slightly and started to travel in a North-Westerly direction towards Kuruman.  Again being a town we both haven’t visited before, it is home to the Moffat Mission, a mission started by Robert and Mary Moffat to spread the word about Christianity.  This was also the place where famous explorer David Livingstone was nursed back to health after being attacked by a lion, and where Mr. Livingstone proposed to his caregiver Mary, the daughter of Robert and Mary.  This mission was significant to us though because this is where Rob’s great-grandfather, Albert, was a missionary for a few years, and has his name on a plaque in the old church dedicated to those who served the mission.  We arrived late in the afternoon when light was fading fast so we found a place to sleep first and got directions to the mission from the Bed and Breakfast.  The next morning we headed out of town to the mission and spent an hour or so wandering around the grounds, seeing the old buildings that have been pretty well maintained.  We even got to walk on the dirt road which was the original track from Cape Town up to the northern parts of the country.  After the time at the mission we went back into town, first to fill up with petrol, and then to have a quick look at the Eye of Kuruman.  The Eye is a fresh water spring in the middle of a very dry area of South Africa, and apparently has fish that have no eyes, evolution in action it seems as there are no predators to threaten them.  How true this is we are not sure!

From Kuruman we took the car West, on one of the longest and straightest roads we have ever travelled.  Over 100km of tarmac that didn’t curve once, just disappeared into the shimmering distance.  We stopped briefly in Upington, bought some biltong to snack on and continued on, following the Orange River as it made its way to Augrabies Falls.  This area along the Orange River is fast becoming one of the bigger wine areas, with thousands of grapevines bordering the river.  At Augrabies Falls, a national park area, we were delighted to find out that it was the South African National Parks Board “Park Week” where South African ID holders got free entrance into all of the conservation areas.  What a bonus that we could enjoy the sight and roaring sound of thousands of litres of water tumbling over rapids and down into a deep gorge for free!  Being there in September meant that the falls weren’t as full as they would be after the wet summer season but we saw some pictures after a period of flooding and were quite pleased we saw the falls as they were, as the flooding a few years previously completely wiped out the viewing platforms.  From the falls we ferreted out some accommodation, only to find out upon arrival that it was self catering.  A quick trip to the “supermarket” in the township of Augrabies and all we managed to get was a bottle of local white wine, a tin of bully beef and a loaf of bread.  What a feast!

From Augrabies it was a long trek down south, travelling through desert country, dry, dusty scrubland until we reached the greener pastures of the Cape Peninsula.  Before continuing over the mountains, we stopped briefly just outside the town of Niewoudtville to view miles and miles of Namaqualand daisies carpeting the countryside.  Over the mountains we drove, eventually reaching Langebaan as darkness fell.  As this was just a pit stop, we found some accommodation, enjoyed dinner at Club Mykonos, got some shut eye and travelled home to Somerset West the next morning.  All in all it was a wonderful trip through some fantastic areas of South Africa, and best thing of all, my car was sold a couple of days later!

The Big Coast Road Trip

End of November 2014 and we were all set for our next big adventure.  We had given notice on our little shack on Helderberg hill, moved our meagre household contents into Rob’s mom’s garage and spent two days with her before heading off on our Big Coast Road Trip as we made our way up to Johannesburg.  Rob’s mom spoilt us with a fantastic pre-Christmas dinner on the evening before our departure, time for us with the family before we said some tearful farewells the next morning.  Drying our eyes on our sleeves we took Bakkie on her final road trip.  Although it was a Big Coast Road trip we headed up and over Sir Lowry’s Pass from Somerset West and drove inland first for a quick stop in Barrydale.  Why a place as obscure as Barrydale you may ask?  Only because it is famous for Ronnie’s Sex Shop, which isn’t a sex shop at all!  All Ronnie did was have a cafe on the side of the road to provide a rest stop for bikers who were out enjoying a ride in the mountains.  With the cafe was a small shop to buy snacks and drinks if needed and advertising was purely by having “Ronnie’s Shop” spray-painted on a bare white outer wall of the building.  However Ronnie’s friends had another idea, and one drunken night decided to add “Sex” to the name, and for some or other reason, the place has now become somewhat of an institution!  So after the required selfie in front of said wall, we continued further on to Oudtshoorn and found a campsite just outside of town.  Having practiced rigging our tent a couple of times, we were now a well-oiled machine when it came to setting up camp and within 10 minutes we had a tent, a bed, and a mini-kitchen ready and waiting!  We enjoyed a lovely braai for dinner, with only the night sounds of crickets and the occasional voices of the family next door breaking the silence.  What absolute bliss!

The next morning we went to Cango Caves after a morning run.  We were just in time for the next tour, and for the next two hours we explored the dark recesses of the caves, crawling into some impossibly small spaces, as well as landing up in unexpectedly big caverns.  Rob had visited the caves as a young lad, but I had never been there, and it was a real treat!  Not recommended for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia or is scared of the dark!  The rest of the day we spent in the town of Oudtshoorn, having a look at the old architecture, and unfortunately paying a visit to a local doctor for a minor issue I was suffering from at the time.  It was another braai for dinner that evening, and to bed in preparation for a long drive the next day.

Packed up and ready to go before the first sparrow’s fart, we hit the road for a long drive back to the coast, heading into the Eastern Cape and the small holiday town of St Francis Bay.  Being nomads, the Rob and the rest of the Jennings clan moved from the farm in Natal to the coast where Rob’s dad got into building, and was one of the group of men who built up and established St Francis Bay.  So after a bit of driving around the area we eventually found the house where Rob spent a few years of his early adolescence in between stints at boarding school.  The canals and waterways that give St Francis Bay its charm are still there and I was treated to commentary about how the boys would take a boat out onto the river and spend hours waterskiing.  However a lot has changed since the 1980’s with the area now so developed, with many of the houses having been renovated and now twice the size they were back in the day.  Unfortunately the negative of Rob coming back to his childhood haunt was him seeing that the sand bank in front of the sea-facing houses has now completely disappeared with retaining walls needing to be built, and the sand dune and beach where he spent many days sand boarding and playing beach cricket is no longer there.  A quick lunch stop and we travelled on to Jeffrey’s Bay where we found backpacker type accommodation for the night.  Rain and wind made wanting to pitch a tent less than appealing!

The next morning was another early start as we had a long day head of us.  First stop was the town of Uitenhage where Rob went to boarding school at the illustrious Muir College for Grades 5 to 8 (Standard 3 – 6 for old school terminology!).  We were given permission to wander around the buildings when Rob mentioned to the security that he was an Old Boy and again so much has changed!  The dormitories are now Department of Education offices, and Rob eagerly showed off the gutter and drainpipe he used when wanting to escape the confines of his room after lights out!  The school buildings have been converted into a technical college, with Muir College itself moving into the suburbs of Uitenhage into brand new buildings, surrounded by large sports fields.  Rob had a wonderful time reminiscing about his days as a boarder, recalling the horrible Sunday blues when having to leave home comforts to head back to school on a Sunday afternoon which disappeared instantly when meeting up with his friends.  He told me with much pride that he was awarded the Border of the Year prize, as well as Neatest Border of the Year!  But when asked what he did to deserve those awards, he just replied because he’s perfect.  He is a Jennings after all!  From the school we found ourselves on the road to Addo Elephant National Park and using our WildCards we gained free entry into the park.  Unfortunately the name didn’t lend any weight to the animal inhabitants of the park, as we only saw the ass end of two elephants in the distance for the four hours we were in the park!  This didn’t bother me too much as a couple of close encounters in the past with one or two young frisky bulls have left me a bit wary of these large creatures.  We still had a great time of game viewing though before exiting the park and travelling back along the coast to East London and the town of Gonubie.

We ended up spending two nights in Gonubie, pitching our tent in the caravan park bordering the beach area.  Gonubie brings back fond memories for me as my mom’s parents lived here for many years and it was with much excitement as a child that we packed up our family caravan every December and travelled down, dog and all, to spend the Christmas holidays at the beach.  It was good to see that the town still looked the same, although it has expanded outwards, with a couple more supermarkets now available.  And the road into the town was in the process of being upgraded.  We took a day trip to the seaside village of Cintsa East where we based ourselves for our family holidays, us in the caravan while aunt, uncle and my dad’s parents set themselves up in a log cabin on the same property.  The only negative change was seeing now that the caravan park is now bordered by fencing and electric gates to prevent unwanted visitors, a sign of the times in South Africa at present I suppose.  Even the resort where my grandfather acted as caretaker was now fenced in, and has sadly made the area look pretty unappealing.  A short strudge on the beautiful white beach that that stretch of coast is blessed with was rejuvenating though and we took the coastal road back to Gonubie after a brief stop at Glen Eden, a seaside village just down the ways from Cintsa where Rob and his family had a few holidays too!

Our next planned stop on our Big Coast Road Trip was Coffee Bay which is pretty much off the beaten track, requiring us to travel on a national highway while dodging cows through the former Transkei/Ciskei area, and then taking a secondary road scarred with thousands of potholes to reach the village of Coffee Bay.  And village it was, with a few colourfully painted Xhosa huts, one or two backpacker places and a small hotel.  We found a backpacker’s that offered camp sites, and pitched our tent in a spot where we just needed to poke our head out our door to be afforded great views of the river meeting the sea.  Being full moon while we were there, the tides were at their peak so falling asleep to a soundtrack of roaring waves was extremely soothing.  Although we do admit that the free vodka and lemonade we enjoyed at sunset on the cliff side overlooking the ocean together with fresh mussels and oysters provided by our host contributed to a good night’s sleep!  While in Coffee Bay we joined a group of international travellers on a hike to the Hole in the Wall, a piece of earth where over many years erosion has separated it from the main landmass, and furthermore, the crushing waves found a weak spot in this piece of earth and pounded out a massive hole.  Our hike followed cattle paths along the cliffs, and we were treated to a show by a pod of dolphins just behind the waves in the sea below us.  A good 10km later after a few mammoth climbs up and down steep valleys we reached the Hole in the Wall and enjoyed delicious cheese, tomato and onion toasties made crispy on a beach fire.  That night was a full moon party but a cut in electricity put an end to the music and festivities early on into the night!

The next couple of days were spent in the Durban area, firstly catching up with Rob’s Uncle Gavin and Aunt Gayle in Pinetown, then his mates Troy and Cathy in Kloof, and there after his cousin Wayne, and Uncle Mike and Aunt Marlene in Pietermaritzberg.  It was great for Rob to visit members of his extended family as the last time he saw them was in the early 1990’s!  And of course it was an opportunity for me to meet some of Rob’s family, considering that Rob has already met every member of mine!  After some family time, we had originally planned to travel inland to the Drakensberg, and to the town of Winterton where Rob spent the first 10 years of his life as a farm boy.  However we had received multiple reports that the road conditions in that area were extremely poor after serious neglect by the municipal council.  So we deviated from the plan slightly, firstly meandering through the aptly named Midlands Meander to the town of Howick.  Although not much to see in Howick aside from the Howick Falls, the reason we stopped there is because my paternal great grandfather was a minister for many years at a church in town, and we found a plaque dedicated to him and his wife, as well as a church bell in the garden thanking my great grandmother for her contributions to the church.  A wonderful piece of history considering I know very little about my family tree.

Following a stop in Howick we decided to surprise my brother, and continued up the Natal coast to Richards Bay.  He had no idea we were coming and needless to say he was extremely happy to see us!  It was exciting for us too as we saw where he worked as a pilot for Air Mercy Service, and got to sit in the huge beast of a helicopter that he gets to fly for a living!  I sincerely believe that pilots, especially a hands-on helicopter pilot, are the few people who still do their job for fun!  Being in Richards Bay also gave us another opportunity to use our WildCards at Hluhluwe/Mfolozi National Park.  So after parting ways with my brother, we continued on to the park and had a great day’s worth of game viewing, including elephant, rhino, buffalo and antelope.  My other half got a talking to from me when upon spying a rhino casually marking his territory, Rob wanted to get out of the car to get a better picture!  I mean seriously!  He would be the first person to mock a tourist who got injured or killed after climbing out of a vehicle in the middle of a national park filled with wild animals!  We found a great campsite just outside the park and after setting up camp, we were invited by the staff to view the bush baby feeding time later that evening.  Taking them up on the offer we were treated to three cute bush babies with huge round eyes feasting on cut up bananas.  And thankfully they weren’t camera shy so we managed to get some great photos!

Our last day on the road and Bakkie took us home to Johannesburg after a fantastic, sometimes tiring, but mostly exciting and rewarding two weeks on the road.  Our Big Coast Road Trip was the last one Bakkie would give us though.  Leaving soon on our next big adventure meant that we had no further use for her and we decided to sell her to someone deserving her services!  And being a good steed, she was snatched up quickly!  We would consider replacing her with an upgraded version at a later stage, but for now our eyes were firmly on our next trip… sailing across the South Pacific!  Stay tuned!