3 hours, 30 minutes, 300 kilometers (10 miles)

Heading into the Desert

Like other coastal areas around the world I’ve been to, I just seem to be amazed every time it happens. I get it, the wind basically keeps the clouds from forming and without a mountain block, or even with one, the weather forms deep inland, away from the coast.

And Ostriches? Well, one lone one….

The ride was short, but there was a lot of construction. You know, Alex, the stop/go sections…. One was more than 20 minutes, but they don’t tell you how long, so you sit, try to drink water, want to start to take layers off, and then they make a gesture, and then they sit back down, and then they stand up, and then they sit back down. And just when you take off your gloves, they remove the barrier and you scramble.

Grapes of Dead Arm Disease

Then wine fields came along and I saw the protection against the GTDs, which blew my mind seeing acres and acres of vines being covered. You can’t imagine the scale.

And then you see those without it….

Beautiful country otherwise…

Almost to the next stop. Can’t wait to see this town. Originally this was planned to be Vanrhynsdorp, but changed because of the border. When you make trips like this, you have to plan for the crossing. Get to the exit side the night before and plan to get up when the border opens. And be patient.