Aus to Cape Town
Leaving Aus, there is a good road south to the border town of Rosh Pinah. Our original first plan had been to cross over at Sendelingsdrif, using the pontoon ferry, but we had read that it had not yet restarted after flood damage a year before. But as it was only 4km off the alternative route, we decided to take a look. The good news was that it is all up and running again, and the Namibian border office would be happy to process us. The bad news was that the South African immigration officials had not turned up, so there was no way into SA!
The route to the next border post is a very pretty one, and has been improved since we last used it. So much that our progress was much quicker than expected and we were able to cross at Noordoewer (Violsdrif) that afternoon.
A quick look at Booking.com had us a room for the night just south of Springbok. To be honest, at this point we just wanted ‘easy’, and the appeal of camping had declined a bit! After a steak braai, it was an early night.
The route planning had taken a dip when we looked and found that our next stop was some 50km off the direct run to Cape Town. No matter, there was the threat of a highly recommended restaurant to make it worthwhile. It was a bit of disappointment to drive into Nieuwoudtville to find it almost deserted, and even more so to find the restaurant had closed down. Another victim of the pandemic possibly, or maybe just no customers?
The surprise was the B&B, which was of 5* quality. Quite how this came to be built in the environment is one of life’s mysteries.
And so, after a stop at the quirky Bagdad Café, it was back on the N7 all the way home. The final total was 8,200km, (just over 5,000 miles). The car was flawless, suffering one slow puncture and only getting stuck once. What an utterly brilliant trip!
Freebooter 