This is your Captain speaking.......
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2011
1
9
107
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Springbok Caravan Park
Springbok, Northern Cape, South Africa
Friday, March 18, 2011
driver/mechanic/whipping boy..
Every bloke knows where that point is
when you feel like you have hit the open road. It's that invisible
place where you cut free from familiar territory, put your nose to
the wind, take a few deep breaths and the journey begins. For me that
was Lambert's Bay after we had said our last goodbyes to friends and
drove off into the sunset.
I'd be fibbing if I said it's been all
plain sailing but we are getting ourselves a little organised and
routines are starting to form, which is making life a lot easier
especially so with the kids.
Best experiences so far..
Intentionally taking a detour (Jen
thinks it was a faulty American GPS reading) and driving through some
of the most stunning scenery on some of the worst Namakwaland roads.
We came across a village named Rietpoort, which hardly shows on the
map and has a couple of hundred residents at most but a historical
catholic cathedral which makes westminster abbey pale in comparison.
The GPS is now banned and we are back to paper maps for a while, but
it was worth it!
Another highlight was getting Jen to
understand (partially!) Newton's gravitational law in that all
objects are exposed to a force of 9.8 m/s and thus add weight to an
already overloaded spongebob. Those who know Jen well know she is a
hoarder of note. Anyway, we are having a little sort out and have
“agreed” that some of the “bit's and bob's” are going back.
J.P. please be so kind as to bring your heavy duty trailer when we
catchup with you in Namibia...
I had a great outing with the boys
outside Springbok, Northern Cape, hunting in the mountains for
historical mines. We found the Simon Van Der Stel copper mine dating
back to an unbelievable 1685 according to the inscription carved on
the rock face. We couldn't get very far inside as the entrance had
been blocked but found many gold nuggets, some as large as bricks!
Jen will post pictures.
Lowlight to date was getting the
electrical system meltdown, as one of the battery connectors had
jumped off on the detour road that darn GPS took me resulting in a
short circuit and melted wires. I thought we were in for a serious
setback but Jos Hartog made calls and paved the way for repairs in
Springbok, all sorted out in no time. Thanks to Jos.
Tomorrow we stock up and make our way
across the first frontier
Comments
Maarten, if you really overweight I can always bring Jen back to Franschhoek...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX !!!! Hope you have an awesome day lots of love from all at Bagatelle Street
Maxie I wish I was there with you for your birthday we could build a huge big fort in that mine and shoot anybody who tried to steal our gold..send gold back with Jp..then I can buy a ticket to come and see you. I am missing you so much. Dookie the baby squirrels are growing fast..one took a big jump onto Mum's face last night..I laughed a lot ! mum looked so funny.Happy Birthday Maxie..love Big Max
Yaaaay! So pleased that you finally crossed the Orange river; did you take the raft, or simply drive through the river (watch those electrics)?
Note to self: Rietpoort on next trip to Namaqualand
Happy Birthday Maxie sorry our phone calls could not get through. Sounds a great experience in Namaqualand we will have to give it a go next time we are in SA. Not too sure whether the Captain has as much authority as he thinks he has but no harm in having delusions in the desert! By the way you should have listened to Mike Pickstone he always said the wagon would be overweight.
@J&B: Are you trying to start World War III now John?
happy birthday MAX have fun on your holiday - how many mossies bit you?? my mom says you look like a chicken pox or you must have had your head in a pot of mossies
Happy B-day Max!
Great to hear your adventures have started rolling, and congratulations on throwing the GPS woman away (I think she's from BUFFALO)...
Greetings from Sunny Canadia, where it is still snowing hard but warming up to 10 degrees below zero celsius... I just got sent a link to the blog from Johnny Red - will be checking in later! Cheers, Tony, Kristi, and wee Torben (age 6 weeks!)
Well done the road is yours now; no more south africa! good luck bonne route; kisses to you all and the boys!!!
Hello Sponge Bobsies
Looks like you are all having so much fun already! A late HAPPY BIRTHDAY Maxie. Hope you had a special day!! We are on school holidays now but once we are back at school I'll get your friends to send some news and I'll show them all your photos :-) I'm off to Orange River this week and will think of you three boys as you did it last year! Enjoy making your wonderful memories!
Lots of love
Trace
Hay you lot..about time you posted another blog !! Missing you soooooooooooooooo much. getting cooler here and the leaves turning...winter on its way ! xx