Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
6th July, Hermanus to Mossel Bay, Wine tasting & the Southern most flat tire in Africa
A new day and a new driver, feeling rested I volunteered my services and ended up to be a quite substantial proportion of our road journey on this day. We woke up in the late morning, besides James who got up early and explored more of Hermanus in the light. James had the tendency through the road trip to wake up before the rest of us have a look around and bring back some food and drink for us to have when we woke up - this was awesome. James put it down to the fact he was old and in his own words "old men don't sleep so much!" The hostel we were at actually provided free breakfast and we indulged before setting off a little later than planned. Again we decided not to use the motorway and go a more rural route along the coast. The problem with that idea on this day was that a couple hours in the roads went from nice, smooth tarmac'd roads, to rough gravel roads which were used regularly but still not as easy to travel fast on (despite my best efforts!). The first stop we made was at a place called Die dam which we presumed was a beachside town. After a while of driving along the tarmac and then gravel we approached a t-junction with a sign for Die Dam to the right and the satnav claiming it was mere metres away from our current position. I turned right and sure enough 200 metres down the road there it was. Not a seaside town but rather a deserted beach and a lovely one at that. The waves were crashing in, the beach had unspoilt white sand it was a shame we couldn't have stayed there longer. After a few photos and a quick stretch we loaded back in the Sandero and headed off to our next planned destination Cape Aguilas the most southerly point in Africa the meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
Along the way, a feature of our road trip, we saw a sign for a group of vineyards so we decided to stop off and indulge in a spot of unplanned wine tasting. The winery itself was called Stranveld and it was advertised (as everything in that region was) as the most southerly winery in South Africa, located in the wine region of Elim. Our guide through the wine tasting procedure was a very friendly and patient lady whose name escapes me. We admitted it was all of our first time tasting so she ran through the basics of where to hold the glass, how to look at the colour, swill in the mouth and spit out the wine. Of course as I was driving I had to spit out the wine being tasted, whilst my 4 fellow road trippers drank every last drop. We were supplied with a paper sheet informing us of the various wines and what tastes we should be experiencing. We all had our own methods of rating some using ticks, James using a complicated drawing system involving balloons, and ice cream, Chris opting for big X's for the ones he didn't like and really big X's for the ones he disliked further. As the tasting drew to a close we decided to purchase 3 bottles of wine between us 2 red and 1 white. After the tasting we carried on our route to Cape Aguilas.
Cape Aguilas was a seaside town with nothing much to us bar the infamous southern point. We pulled into the town around 3pm. Along the way form the winery James taught us the road trip game known as "Cow I Win!" Pretty self explanatory but for those struggling to decipher the complicated rules everyday of the trip the first person to see a cow and say those magic words wins (after verification from a co-passenger). This game got adapted throughout the tripto include whale I win, and Ostrich I win. On our arrival to Cape Aguilas, and it's smoothly tarmac'd roads, we were looking for the lighthouse from which we could walk to a monument celebrating the crossing point of the two oceans. During our search we heard a loud bang all of us hearing it but shrugging it off. When we eventually came to find the lighthouse James remarked at a woman we drove past who gave us a funny look which James described as "uh oh that women just gave us the you've got a flat tyre look." I didn't even know that look existed! Sure enough on disembarking from the vehicle we found that the back left tyre had not only been punctured but destroyed. As the driver I felt partly sorry, partly embarrassed! I had been going a little on the fast side considering the car I was driving and the load it was carrying. In truth I think the guys were just thankful that it happened at such a tourist hotspot so that we had no problem finding help. If it'd happened at Die Dam or along the gravel roads it could have been hours until a passer by found us (not that we thought we needed help initially!). Before changing the tyre we decided to go do the tourist bit and had our photo taken at the monument courtesy of a South African Germany supporter who told us all South African women were stupid. After this brief escape from the annoyance of our flat, we set about fixing the Sandero. I should at this point let you know we did name the car apparently you have to according to Chris. He told us about his last road trip where the name gave a less than flattering tribute to Miley Cyrus. We decided to call the car the flew moon. This was partly inspired by James informing us about certain gang bangers in America that he teaches who are affiliated to a gang known as the Bloods refuse to say the colour Blue as it is the primary colour of their most hated rivals the Cripps. Instead they use the word flue (e.g. pass me the flue pen). As the sandero was blue we somehow came to this nickname!
We didn't ask for help to begin with. We retrieved the necessary tools from the boot. Scott jacked up the car whilst I removed the spare tyre from under the car. We then set about debating which way to loosen and remove the wheel nuts which seemed to be on ludicrously tight. Chris feeling defeated decided to have a nap on the grass. Eventually after all of us having a go at loosening them gave up deciding that they were on to tight courtesy of an auto shops tire gun. So we began ringing for a mechanic when Scott forced one of the nuts of and in doing so bent out of shape the end of the cheap tool supplied by the rental company! Luckily for us an on looking South African farmer named Marius saw we were having trouble and asked he could help. We informed him of the problem and he fetched his own tool from his truck and whipped the tyre off in no time - good man! After that we were on the road in no time! The story of the most southern flat tyre in Africa!
After this we set about clocking up such much needed mileage we were now more than 6 hours behind Tyler and Duncan having set off the same day. We would have a lot of distance to cover in our remaining days if we didn't get a move on! So I got back into the driver's seat and drove on for a long while (much more carefully than previously). Along the way we got flashed by the police and I proceeded to pull over, only to find out he was pulling over the 4x4 up my ass for the last 15 minutes not us and he soon waved us on our way. We arrived at our destination Mossel Bay after dark with no reserved accommodation. We got turned away by the backpacker in town as it was full and resorted to driving along the street sending James in again to charm a place to sleep. Eventually we hit gold with a place which I think was called Green door guesthouse. Again we lucked out with an apartment with two bedrooms (1double, 1 bunk bed, 1 fold out bed) complete with TV room, dining table, kitchen, viewing deckof the bay, shower and bathroom - a very swish pad. James cooked us pasta and sausage and we watched the Uruguay versus Holland match in the apartment with Silver falling asleep towards the end and retiring to bed. After the game James, Chris and I stayed up and played a drinking game called Bulls*** pyramid which was responsible for getting us drunk for the next 3 or so nights in a row. Drunk and weary from the drive and the events that unfolded we retired to bed with the plan to go to Oudtshoorn the following day. That day proved to be the highlight of our time on the road!
Love
DC, Scott, Silver, Chris & James xxx
- comments
Di (Dan's Mum) Fantastic blog - alcohol very prominent in this report. You sure are having a good time Dan. You always led me to believe you were a careful driver!!! Keep on reporting and keep on enjoying yourself. Love to all. Keep safe. mum xx
Andy (Dan's Uncle) Great read again. Plus you can look up the places you mention on Google Earth to see the views. Keep up the writing. xx
Martin (Dan's Dad) Another right riveting read Dan. Sounds like James has become the surrogate mother to you all!! Keep up the scribing. Dad x
skips loved this, babe, sounds like you boyos are having lots of fun n ur road trip friends sound hilarious aswel :) loving reading and just a tad bit jealous xxx
Ga Ga &Nan Well you certainly are living it up , the booze merchants will miss you when you leave S.A.All the bestthanks for another good read Luv G& NXXX