We have found a lovely spot to camp this evening. It’s about 100m from the main road through a band of fir trees and about another 50m to the railway line and we are camped between. Fortunately there is not much traffic noise reaching us and the railway line has a sand bank screening it. Just about 20m across the railway line there is a lovely lake with crystal clear water. The camp site is in open ground so has a sunny and pleasant disposition. The lake provided us with plenty of fresh water for showers and Jen washed some clothes. She must be quite dirty as I didn’t have many to wash..:) Within striking distance of the big city tomorrow and let’s hope the solution to our never ending saga. It’s a mild 21deg and after setting u camp enjoyed a luxurious warm shower. Jen has excelled this evening in the culinary field so the brief ‘Yellow Card’ suspension has been lifted..:)
It’s been a bit of a slog today. Up and on the road by 10am and after 418 k’s decided to call it quits. Pretty boring drive with quite a few roadworks and increasing traffic flow as we get closer to the city. Mind you, we are only travelling at around 90kph.
While I think we are still too far north to have a night of darkness, we welcome the warmer weather. Again however the mosquitos are pestilient. Lets hope as we move away from marshlands they will diminish. Coils are doing a great job of deterring them from entering our Caranex (tent annex).
Filling up with 63.15L of diesel just before finding this camp at a cost of R45.40/L showed a return of only 24.4mpg. mmmm
Visits: 27
I think what you need to do is trade the Land Rover in on a good trusty Kamaz
Hi Ash, laughing, you’re not wrong. It’s obviously elusive, this problem, but they assure us they will find it. Arutyunyan, our mechanic, came in from his day off to supervise and communicate progress with us. A beautifully set up and pristine workshop. We will overcome this.
24mpg is plausible for a Land Rover. See https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/land-rover/defender-1984. It was never designed for speed! The aerodynamic losses will be around 25% worse at 90kph than at 80kph and even a modest head wind can have a significant impact on the fuel consumption. Plus, most likely you were needing to slow down due to road/traffic and then accelerate again so much less efficient than sustained cruising.
Hi John, great site. It will be interesting to see what the end of the drive gives in terms of mpg. Will keep you posted.