The initial touring party … from left Rob and Jeneen MacKinnon – and Mike and Barry Mouritz
Here we are …. South Africa!!! And it the end of week one ( and a couple of days – as I have been still figuring out how to post on this blog)
And it’s “why are we waiting?” The cars are on what feels like the slow boat to China. Actually, it’s the slow boat to Durban! We have until at least the 5 of July to wait until we can get the cars …hopefully not longer.
Nothing we can do about it !
Basing our selves in Ballito for a few days, just north of Durban… a seaside – a little tropical and kind of surfers paradise- ish.
We have now been here a week( at the time of publishing this blog . We chilled for a couple of days after the hectic time getting reading to travel.
Eat very well at a very nice restaurant in Ballito … walked the coastal boardwalk… swam in the ocean bath. Watched some of the Ballito Pro surf comp.
Then after getting some advice about the best routes we headed south in the hire car …. While we wait for the cars to arrive! We decided we might as well see what we can to see.
So we did two days of seven hours drives to the Garden Route, driving via Bloemfontein – which is kind of central South Africa. This route is considered safer travel.
Getting through the Durban peek hour morning traffic was not a lot of fun…. But we made it …. Some amazing scenery as we travelled in land to Brom Fontaine. Up through the mountains onto the plateau into the broad acre agriculture and grazing land of the Velda country.
Sometimes it felt like the rolling planes of Western New South Wales and there are so many eucalypt planted along the way sometimes you could’ve been anywhere in Western Australia.
I will let some of the pictures tell the story… and there are more pictures on the Facebook page too… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/SpHnL4o11rdujJFQ/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Biggest thing for us to come to grips with …. No I don’t think I will ever actually come to grips with this issue … is the massive contrast between the haves and the have nots.
When you see the housing conditions in the squat areas and then some of the up market real estate areas, it really does illustrate the fundamental challenge that this country has….. Actually, it’s probably not just this country but it is the gap between the haves and have nots … the underlying inequity in the world.
So grateful for this opportunity, so grateful for what my family have any opportunities that come from simply being born white and an Australia. I guess we are doing our little bit for the economy!!!
Anyway, back to the Travel. …. We stayed the night in the Bon hotel in central Bloemfontein. Apparently, Bloemfontein means place of Flowers. (the bloem is bloom). It is a fairly big place (A quick web search says 600,000 population). The Hotel is probably built in the 60s or the 70s above a shopping mall in central town . wonderful service and a good meal. Did a very short walk around town. Somewhat rundown but everyone same helpful and positive. And a bit untidy with a fair amount of litter.
After a big breakfast, we hit the road again and headed on to Jefferies Bay … Another six or seven hours drive through veldt country rolling plains, before gradually making the descent from the plateau through amazing mountain country that in many ways looked like the Pilbara but not red. Large mesa and rolling
As we got nearer to the coast the scene we got spectacular as we wound our way through the various Hills and mountain ranges and down into country was dominated by succulents and cacti along the way before there was a lot of grazing country sheep goats etc etc through a range of Townships … some promoting their Marino sheep and other and Angora goats specialities.
We found the house that we have been alone for a few days in Jefferies Bay… spent a day or two looking around Jefferies Bay and the Garden Route – spectacular coastline – mountains and rich agricultural land. .
Visited Cape Saint Francis the original place where Bud Browns’s famous surf movie Endless Summer. This is the most southeast corner of Africa. Drove along the Garden Route to a place called Knysna. Visited an impressive motorbike museum and an old car place too ( which was average). Some spectacular mountain scenery going onto the coastal plain, pine forest, blue gum forest, rich agricultural land, amazing deep gourges running down to the sea
Drove back in Misty conditions to get back to Jefferies Bay and find that the swell had started to look very promising. So, on Tuesday morning we hunted around for something to use as a kneeboard. Managed to hire a fishtail surfboard (the best compromise for kneeboard) we could find, and Barry and I take turns to use the board and hired wetsuit and get a couple of waves at the Lower Point. As they say we’ve managed to tick that box. Actually, getting a surf at Jefferies Bay very special moment.
Overall impressions of South Africa after one week a place of Meney contrasts. Contrasting scenery, contrasting human conditions and lots of potholes… Even in suburban Jeffrey Bay, the road conditions are deteriorating because of lack of maintenance. And another observation is that there has been very little protection of land for public realm or foreshore land.
The gap between the haves and have nots is so obvious and in your face… I am sure we’ll see more of this as we travel onwards.