8 April 2010 Strandfontein to Van Rhynsdorp

And it was hot! And the wind blew again! No, please excuse me if it sounds like I am complaining, but it was hot and the wind did blow, big problem I think is that the previous 2 days took a lot out of me with the poor road conditions.

But I made it to Van Rhynsdorp and it is getting cooler outside now as I am writing.

I packed up nice and early this moring, but when I looked out over the sea, I could see that I was going to run into wind once I got onto the plateau above Strandfontein. Just after breakfast and before departing, Nerina spotted two Southern Right wales frolicking in the waves. A great start to my morning.

I missed my GPS very much today. There were no steep climbs, but it would have been interesting to see accumulated climb for the day. There were many ups (more than downs!) and the temperature was also climbing fast. There was also some uncertainty as to route to follow once I got to Lutzville - the photo attached, is of the Sishen-Saldanha Railway bridge just outside the town. All along the Olifants River are vineyards and many tomato growers. A very pretty sight indeed.

The vegetation of the West Coast is difficult to describe to someone who has not seen it yet. There aren't many tall shrubs and most plants don't grow higher than about 50cm. Because this region does not get much rain, many of the plants are prickly and have very tiny leaves. Once the winter rains have fallen, the face of this region changes entirely when the spring display explodes. Namaqualand at its best. Difficult though to believe that this is possible when you see it late summer or early autumn.

Total distance traveled today was only 77.02km, but I was on the road for just under 6 hours (cycling 4:52 of those). With about 15km to go, Thys and Nerina came from behind and I asked them to stop so that I could top up my water supply. The last of my water went onto my head and back, but 20 minutes later I was bone dry again!

Van Rhynsdorp was a welcome sight and we are camping at the Municipal Caravan Park. Tonight we will not hear trains, but big trucks on the busy N7 route which runs between Cape Town and Springbok / Windhoek.

We are planning a drive around / over Gifberg tomorrow - a drive I did about 2 years ago. Incredibly beautiful and hopefully there will be water on the mountain. There is also a massive waterfall, high up in a gorge.

If I don't write tomorrow, don't stress. Hopefully I will not be too tired after the ride to Garies, on Saturday (approx 143km! Weather at this stage looks favourable) and will catch up then.