It was Monday 24th September and I read that we were not in any hurry that morning, this seems to have been a feature of this whole trip and was probably one of the things that made it so memorable, we were just so laid back. Eddie had business to attend to so we did our own thing at met up back at the yacht club where we ended up having lunch. We rode out of Capetown at around 13h30.
We rode through the glorious roads and passes of the western cape that was to become our backyard in just a few short years, we actually ended up doing quite a circuitous route, probably because Eddie who was out in front, didn't know his way around too well but what the hell, we enjoyed the ride.
That night we ended up in Montagu where we spent the night in the hotel. In a direct line that is only 185kms from Capetown but we traveled a lot more than that!
The next morning it was the R62 North, a lovely ride which we had done before through Barrydale, Ladismith and Calitzdorp to Oudtshoorn, the old Ostrich Capital, where we arrived at midday just in time for something to eat.
Instead of stopping for beer we decided to buy a six pack and then stop in a lay by for a break which we did on the pass heading down from Oudtshoorn to George.
It was very nice spending a bit of time there although the weather was rapidly deteriorating and we were sure we were in for some rain. We also discovered that a single six pack was not enough so we went down into George to buy another.
Back out on the N2 heading into the normally picturesque Garden Route and just past Wilderness it started to rain so we pulled over to put our wets on, there we sorted out the other six pack and waved to the passing motorists who hooted at us.
It rained intermittently for most of the day and there were a lot of road work deviations and heavy traffic on the N2 which rather spoiled things for us, we arrived at our intended destination; Storms River Mouth in the late afternoon and booked into a chalet. We had a pleasant meal in a nearby restaurant and then chatted on our verandah before turning in.
The next morning it was raining!
Althea and Eddie with their Honda Silverwing.
We had only a short ride planned for the day because we had hoped to go for a bit of a walk along the hiking trail but that was out so we hit the road, typically strong winds buffeted us as we arrived in Port Elizabeth. We spent a pleasant evening with friends.
The next day, Thursday 27th was our last day, Port Elizabeth to East London is only 300kms so plenty of time but we were looking forward to getting back to our children who had stayed with our dear friends Arnold and Joy who are there second parents.
A pleasant ride even though the weather was overcast and cool, little spatters of rain now and then, we stopped on the outskirts of East London at the Orange Grove Hotel to have a beer and say goodbye to Eddie and Althea,
It had been a wonderful holiday, 28th August to 28th September 1984, and 8,631 kilometers covered and to this day Janet says that it was one of the best holidays she has had.
Janet retires at the end of November this year and in December we are going over to England for a couple of months, courtesy of the little girl in the picture above, and her husband Andy but when we return I am hoping that we can do another road trip, we'll see what happens. Isn't life an absolute jol?
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