Wednesday 10th April 2013

L:  It was especially hard to get out of bed and leave our lovely little beach cottage, ha ha.  I must admit, I was surprised that we slept so well, firstly, as it had been really freezing in the lounge area (we suggested later this morning that our hostess provide an oil heater for both her units), and that we had 3 bikers staying in the next-door unit.  Strange how you presume because they are on those noisy things that they will be noisy too.

Steve chatted to them as they were leaving this morning, just ahead of us and found out that they were on a trip around South Africa, starting in George and then ending up back home.  They were leaving for Paternoster this morning, which is quite a far drive.

Well, we packed up and had a bite to eat and left, off on the next part of our adventure, and what an adventure it was!!  Wow, Steve had read up about a 4 by 4 trail, called Buffelsrivier, up the mountain, yes, literally, up the mountain.  The trail was so steep that all our “Moonchies” (little rocks, shell and animals (plastic) that we have collected on our trips, came flying off the dashboard onto our laps.) The gradient was so steep that I, being shorter, could not see the ground, so I closed my eyes and went to a happy place……Only joking, Steve.  I loved it!!!  S:  The start of the track was very difficult to follow as no-one has been on it since the rains of a week ago, so I had to rely on the GPS to find the way.  The track has deteriorated and is now rutted due to erosion by the water, so we were doing a lot of axle-crossovers.  L:  (you mean trying to break the axle.)  

S:  I have a lot of respect for the Colt as it went up like a tractor, low range, first gear and no problem.  The track went over the mountain for a while and we stopped off at farmhouse… (L:  you guessed it) – ruins!!.  L:  It is amazing to think that people went to all the effort to bring up all the necessary materials to build and kit out a home.  A lot of the structure was made from homemade bricks and stones from the mountain, but still, the amount of back and forwarding to go and get supplies is mind-blowing.  I presume that they used donkeys and horses mostly, can’t imagine a truck being able to access the mountain like we did. 

S:  As you can see, we are now heading south and decided to take the country roads to end up in Hondeklip Bay.  After being in the mountains for a while, we eventually came off the mountain into the valleys where the road improved.  We meandered through the valley and there is subsistence farming here and there with little farmhouses made out of corrugated iron, dotted here and there. We startled a bird of prey, which had just caught its quarry which I managed to photograph, not sure what it was.  We seem to have the luck to come upon these birds quite often and it is the second time this week that we have found a bird catching its prey. 

After that the trail eventually ended on the Wildeperd(wild horse) Pass which is in the Namaqua National Park.  We headed down the pass with spectacular views all the way down to the ocean.  It was quite a long, boring drive the rest of the way.  We took a quick detour into Koiingnaas to have a look see.  It is a mining town which is hugely evident by the sight of a massive mountain, that is actually a mine dump.  It is huge.  We only went to the gate and then turned back and headed to Hondeklip Bay.  We had a buck dart in front of the car, but it was so quick that we are not sure what type it was.  There were also a lot of ostriches, horses and cows. 

Nicole had booked for us again at Skulpieskraal tented camp and so we have one of the permanent tents to stay in - first one with a double bed, but alas, the zip broke so they moved us to another, with 2 single beds.  We hope that it will be warmer once all closed up as they provide only 2 single duvets (seasoned campers that we are, we have a sleeping bag accessible without getting any bedding from the rooftop tent). We stayed here about 8 or 9 months ago, but had to pitch the rooftop tent in the car-park as they were so full.  The WIND is most unpleasant at the moment, we sure hope it will drop a bit before bed time, but we have managed to braai and they have a lovely hall which serves as a kitchen so we are happy to sit inside for our supper and typing the blog. 

Before supper we took a drive around and went down to the wreck of the Aristea. It was a fishing vessel converted to a WWII minesweeper and went aground on its way to Port Nolloth in 1945. 

There is another wreck in the bay as well. 

We did learn that the large square derelict building built on rocks in the bay used to be the ice house where ice was pumped to from the shore so that the ships could come alongside and load up before going out to fish. Those days are long gone as I do not think much fishing happens here anymore. Pity really.

By the way, Hondeklip Bay is named after a rock which apparently resembled a dog. Part of the rock has broken off and the rock looks nothing like a dog, whether it did before it broke, who knows. 

Tomorrow we are off to Elands Bay driving part of it along the coast to Groenrivier.