What an interesting day.
From our bed in the back of Poki and before dawn, one could see the dark sky full of stars through the roof vents. A glorious night.
By 7am, the stars were gone. An indication that the predicted rain was not too far away.
I had thought by getting up early we could at least pack the caranex before the rain, forecast to arrive at 10am. By 8am the drizzle had started and we packed it up as quickly as possible, then made breakfast and showered before departing at 10am.
Driving into the outer town of Stellenbosch, we passed a hotel with about 20 Land Rover Defenders, all lined up outside. No doubt the S.A. Land Rover Club were on an outing. Unfortunately my camera wasn’t at the ready, so we missed a great photo op. Cape Town gained, Jen needed a coffee break. She always needs a coffee break…:) Relaxing in a trendy cafe we took time to pore over a map of the area and chart a course for the day
The plan was to drive to the end of the Cape of Good Hope peninsular, the most south western part of the continent. Not the most southerly though. That was further east and we had missed it by driving through the Petite Karoo.
Cape of Good Hope
A 74k drive on the western side of the peninsular takes you through a massive squatters camp before reaching the naval base of SimonsTown.
German built SAS Valour Class Frigate. One of four.
The town has a faded Edwardian feel about it.
This base was the subject of some local derision recently. It seems a Russian ship the Lady R arrived in the port under cover of darkness. The American Ambassador claimed it left with military supplies. The Government have launched an enquiry….:). No doubt it will resemble the Grenfel Tower enquiry in the UK. That happened in 2017. These things take time…:)
Stopping for lunch overlooking the sea, we heard a woman shouting. Looking back up the road she was trying to frighten away a troup of Baboons that were harassing her. Maybe she had some food in her bag?
We quickly realised that we had better shut the back of Poki up, or face an attack as there were heading our way. Within a few minutes two chaps arrived in a white van with Wildlife Protection Unit painted on the door. They parked up and shadowed the troup with what appeared to be pellet guns. They are powerful animals and there are signs everywhere warning to stay indoors and shut all windows when they are present.
Out to the furtherst point South West
The drive to the furthest point of the peninsula could only be reached through a Wildlife Park Board toll gate. R900 , which is about NZ$85, we considered quite steep. However, it was a once in a lifetime journey so we coughed up. Driving to the East Cape point car park where we took a Fenicular railway, to the lighthouse. Another R90.
The point where two oceans meet. The northern most tip of New Zealand’s North Island is still several degrees of latitude below this point.
From there down to the Cape of Good Hope Point, in Poki.
That’s heavy rain streaking.
Jen got out of the car to pose by the sign for a pic but quickly came running back when the heavens opened up.
Another 70k’s back to the apartment Jen had booked for 2 nights at £24 per night and a smart, if a little under maintained room, with full adjacent facilities. Great deal and we don’t have to erect a wet caranex tonight.
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