Day 2 - Hermanus to Knysna (454km)

Early start - woken by Frank on the way to some bachelors golf party at 06:40. Lovely day out so got up meself at 07:00. Popped on the tekkies and ran along the foreshore going westalong for some time. Nice 50min run, perfect temperature. Interesting signs along the route you're unlikey to see in many other countries. Back to the house and shaved off the all-powerful "snorr" for the 1st time since the 1st Nov.

Trust no -one! and Super Snor (soon to be no-more)

Pro-Nutro and a steak sarmie for brekkie, on the road by 09:00.

Pulled off again 1km down the track into the dirty industrial zone of Hermanus. "Sea and Shore" contractors were casting unique half-dolosse for use on the world's most miserable inaccessible inhabited spot, Tristan de Cunha, before the whole harbour gets washed away next winter. We at CSIR recently conducted 1:42 scale physical modelling for the breakwater repairs, so I had something more than a passing interest in these oversized concrete blocks. The boats and cranes on the island can't cope with 10T dolosse (which they definitely need) so they're being shipped out from Cape Town in halves and stitch-cast together ashore on the island. A world first, apparently. Anyway, twas interesting to see a dolos casting yard. The boss/foreman was Adam something or something Adams. A 62 yr old hard nut, ex SA triathlete who still does the excruciating Cape Epic every year, as the oldest competitor. Bizarrely, went to school in Midleton back in the day.


Didn't stay long and belted on to Caledon via the majestic Hemel-en-Arde mountain valley road. I took it before but completely forgot it was mostly dirt. Poor girl got a bit of a shock. Betty also picked up her first ever hitchers at the base of the pass and dropped them out at the top. Two old boys, toothless weather beaten 50/60yr old grape-pickers. Very grateful, especially with the cushions they found in the back to ease the journey. Betty laboured and struggled with the extra weight though - it sounded at times as if the tappets were knocking against the bonnet and trying to get out for a bit of fresh air. Won't pick up hitchers again in hilly zones, methinks.

Average drive down from Caledon to Swellendam where I had a burger in the Milestone Cafe. Picked up biltong next door following the cafe owners recommendation... "we're very pedantic about our food quality here". Needless to say, it was pretty average to poor biltong. Arrogant gobshite. Bit of a faster haul from Swellendam to Glentana where I met ex-housemate Francois and his new fiancee Helimari(?). Didn't delay them as they were in the process of moving house. Good to catch up - a genuine gentleman. And did well for himself with the missus. Good work!
Pulled into Knysna for the night, threw up the tent in the car park of Lake Superior backpackers.

Hemel-en-Arde valley drive and Camping in a muddy car-park for a nominal fee

Seems an enormous extended coloured family have booked out the entire hostel. Small bit loud but no harm meant sure. Finished a ham salami garlic chilli avocado anchovy mozzarella and tomato calzone at my favourite Knysna eatery "Persello", which fellow athlete Chris Baret and I frequented during the Knysna Oyster Festival in July. Before hitting the hay I marvelled at how 100% of the words on my handpainted tablecloth were misspelled.

Brrrr! Chilly Tomatoe


Fashion Selector Beauty Shop, just round the corner

Day 1 - Stellenbosch to Hermanus (97km)

Well, quite a late start to the day. Had planned on upping and going by 0800 after a quick hill run. Anyho after much toing and froing, including sorting out a broken house Halarm and a 30th birthday coffee morning got going at 1230ish. Muggy day, not too hot. No wind really until clambering over the peak of Sir Lowry's Pass. Fierce wind thereafter, had to close the window to keep her in a straight line. Uneventful trip on the N2 to Hermanus. Picked up some fantastic kudu and bees (read:beef) biltong at a tiny little slaghuis in Hermanus.

Awesome Slaghuis (top) and view from the stoep at the Pykstra residence (bottom).

A gem of a butchers, it's secret well-kept due to it's unorthodox and some would say undesireable location just next to the township. In any case I daresay it'll be the best biltong of the trip. Just got in the door at good friend Nicola's folks' beach house and back out again to Stanford in the back of Frank's bakkie (Betty 2). Into Birkenhead brewery in Stanford and chugged through a 7-beer sampling in just 20 mins. Honey Blonde, Premium Lager, Pilsner, English Bitter Ale, Cider, Mamba (Stout, Blonde and Brandy) and finally a hearty Stout. Taken about on a first-rate tour by our guide Benson who claimed to be the only brewer in the gaff. Knew his stuff mind and did indeed slave away mad. Still had to sneak out a drop or two in his pants however.

Beer enthusiast poses with Master Brewer/former jailbird (surely) Benson and some squids

Great tour, treated to an in-depth technical journey, the odd stickler thrown in by Frank and I, the keen brewers that we are. Learned plenty. Picked up jarred spiced pickled baby squids on the way home. Yum. Braaid back at the house on the stoep that leads to the sea. Frank chopped some kelp stalks and stuffed the hollow stems with mixed seafood - calamari, mussels etc. Corked the kelp ends with wine corks and cooked them on the braai. Novel and delicious. I also tasted my first ever skilpadjkies*! Delicious, though extraordinarily rich and heavy. A rare treat indeed.

Host and hostess Murphy and Nicola take a stroll in their enviable front lawn

Watched the bones of "Spring Break Shark Attack" before going to bed, perhaps the greatest thing ever committed to film. Early leaba after that.


*Lamb livers, wrapped in rashers. Also known as Karoo Oysters.

Flying colours

Yessir! Betty has just passed her sea trials with flying colours. Seeing she hadn't been challenged in quite some time I thought I'd put her endurance limits to the test. No better way to do this I thought than to strap an oversized surf-ski to her roof and take her for a spin in 4o+knots breeze. All the way to kite-surfing capital of SA - the equisitely turquoise lagoon at Langebaan on the West Coast - 165km away. Not a hiccup. Mind you she was feeling a wee bit hot at times - I guess because the insistent Cape Doctor breeze was on our tail for the trip, and not working it's way into the rad grill. The 35C outside didn't help.



It was here I took part in my first ever surfski race, 3km around Skaapen Island. I was duly bashed into last position by all those around me, including two paddlers in their 60s. Once ashore though I took great glee in in sprinting past the golden girls during the 5km run of the friendly triathlon. Pah!

One typically South African issue that I wish to bring to light is the total disregard for any of the well-established rules surrounding the spelling of English words. This goes for all speakers and spellers of the language - whether Afrikaans, English, Coloured, Indian or Black. In most instances an incorrectly spelled sign (for example) will have been corrected by some anal passer-by with a black biro. Instead of replacing the tatty sign however, the advertiser will always leave the sign up for the world to behold. And don't get me started on the over-apostrophication of almost everything. I have included some instances, and will continue to do so as the journey progresses.







Yours,
Pedantic POC.

The Dream

They said it couldn't be done. They said I was mad. And, well, they may yet be right. Probably will be.

Anyway, aside from the glaringly obvious, there's no real reason my beloved Betty Bakkie can't make the long haul across the length of the southernmost shores of this here continent.

For those of you unfamiliar with my steed, a few notable stats follow:

She's based on a 1989 Mark IV Ford Escort, 1400cc, CVH engine. Nice and light (around 900kg) but gets a little skittery when the gusts pick up above roughly 25kn. Which, in the Cape, it blows daily from Nov through April. Aesthetically she's immaculate - glossy white coat with only the occasional smattering of sort of rust-coloured rust patches. Quite unnoticable. In any case the hefty chrome mags (or "alloys") direct one's attention from any bodily imperfections.
She sports, as you may have noticed, quite the enviable rear fibreglass canopy or "cuddy" as I prefer to refer to it as. The cuddy can shelter 1 (one) full-grown POC for the night, as long as the back door stays open of course. For to air the feet. A second boarder would be chancing it alright (stranger things have happened..).
I recently gave the rear lights a once-over. It seems that on the left hand side the brake lights and reverse lights have been swapped. So one can expect to see both white and red lights when either braking or reversing. Bizarrely this is as a results of the stained glass alternately darkening and lightening in colour due to years of UV attack. Strange. Some nail varnish should sort it out.
As for the engine, she's running like a top. Never been smoother. The myriad of engine difficulties, flaws, rattles, broken parts and leaks seem to have recently manifested in perfect harmony with one another. Total, blissful destructive interference. In the words of Monty Burns, "..so what you're saying is.. I'm Indestructable!". Purring like a cat now.

She has approximately 80 000km on the clock. The clock however only has room for 5 digits. So I'm assuming she's done either 180 000km or 280 000km. No less, and hopefully no more. Looking to put 6000 on that in the next month.

So, no known difficulties at this stage. Will drop the occasional update if any arise. Back with more classy pics soon..