pgjonker.co.za

By PG Jonker

[Continued from Part 3]

Groen rivier

The next morning we took our time to get uncamped again.  We made sure that we took everything with us that we brought in, and by 09h45 we were on our way again.

The temperature remained some 21 degrees.  With the fog of the previous evening, the thick sand was now much easier to negotiate.  It still was a very impressive sight to see Thomas in his Colt flying off, after giving the vehicle in front of him some space, never to get stuck in spite of long stretches of very thick sand.

At one point, though, there was a sharp bend in the road, with rocks in the sand.  Obviously you do not want to do that with speed, as such a rock can do some damage to your vehicle.  So as a precaution the Colt was hitched to one of the vehicles to enable him to negotiate this bend at a more sedate speed.

The problem with getting involved in the action is that you tend to forget about pictures.  By the time we realised that we should actually take a few pictures of the Colt in full cry, most of the thick sand parts were behind us.  However, at the next stretch my wife made a point of taking pictures.  But this happens on the move.  The result is a picture of the blue sky, one of the bakkie’s bonnet, another of the sand tracks in front of us, all blurry.  So we were not as successful as we would have wished to be in getting evidence of Thomas’ feat.

The sand tracks run right next to the sea.  Various basic areas of ablution had been set up by the Parks authority, offering you a long drop and some rocky walls that give shelter against wind. 

Just before noon we reached the Groen river mouth (S30°49.751’; E017°34.950’).  It’s actually an estuary that is only occasionally opened by wave action, when sea water would flood the estuary.  As the water evaporates, it leaves the salt behind, making it one of the saltiest on the South African coast. 

It was nevertheless a good time to do lunch.

We left, taking the road past the Groen river light house. 

There were still a few sandy stretches left, but none of those appeared daunting any more.  By about 15h00 we hit the tar road again, heading for Lutzville.

We were driving slowly, as our tyres were still under-inflated for the sand.  About 40 km’s before Lutzville Koos’ patched up tyre blew out its last wind, necessitating a stop to change wheels.  It was then that Koos realised that, following a recent rear end bump, he never checked whether he could reach the spare wheel underneath his Hilux.  It turned out that he could.  Not that it would have made much of a difference – between the remaining vehicles (three of us remained with Koos) we had sufficient spare wheels to help him out).

 Strandfontein

After filling up at Lutzville and inflating our tyres we headed for nearby Strandfontein.  And what an amazing place it turned out to be.

We were allocated camp sites in the ‘horse shoe’ part of the Municipal camping site.  Before our arrival there was only one vehicle there.  The lower camp site overlooking the sea, though, appeared to be fully occupied.

The weather was absolutely perfect.  Slightly overcast, windless, quiet (save for us, that is).

We ended the weekend with a potjiekos competition.  The options to choose from were sheep, chicken,  bread (two variants) and chocolate cake (true).  After much deliberation we decided it was a draw. 

A perfect end to a wonderful weekend.

In the groove, babe

Now, there is a malicious rumour going around that I don’t have the balls to do heavy 4×4 stuff.  So let me be clear on this.  This rumour is absolutely true.  But this tour, I would say, falls squarely within what I find extremely palatable.   

So maybe one can say I’ve got my groove….

Statistics

Distances:

Day 1:    Cape Town to Kamieskroon                        481km’s

Day 2:    Kamieskroon to West Coast                        180km’s

Day 3:    From overnight to Strandfontein              198km’s

Day 4:    Strandfontein to home                                 339km’s               (via St Helena Bay)

Total distance travelled:                                              1 198km’s

Distance on gravel and 4×4:                                         290km’s

Fuel consumption – best:                                             7,4km/l

Fuel consumption – worst:                                          5,2km/l

Fuel consumption – average:                                     6,3km/l

To consider before my next trip

Get the starting problem on the bakkie fixed – nope:  been there, done that, no cure – that in itself is another story

Consider a fixed fan instead of a viscous one – nope:  been advised that this is not a good plan;  noisy, uneconomical, and apparently causes uneven temperature in engine

Check whether the diff lock is in fact working – now there’s a good idea.

Get some balls.  The kids love playing with balls.

To read:

http://www.sanparks.org/parks/namaqua/tourism/caracal_eco_route.php

Booklet:  Caracal Eco Route – Namaqua National Park

PG JONKER