Knowing I had to make 30 km or more for the day, I set off as quickly as my body would allow me in the morning – struggling to get up and out of the tent. Everything was damp from a heavy dew fall, and there was a cool breeze…
Packed up and moving, I was faced with some narrow roads with either long grass on the side… or horrible gravel patches with large round stones, making progress difficult when traffic was around. The road was fairly busy, but nothing too serious so I was able to make good time on tar.
A young couple stopped me about half way to town to cover the usual questions, and before I’d finished with them another car pulled up across the road. Flip, who pulled up second, asked about accommodation in particular and then offered to call ahead and organise some ground for me to camp on. Wicked!! This was especially nice because 15km on the other side of Ventersdorp in a ‘location’ which regularly causes problems. All sorted, we parted ways and I pushed the final stretch into town – going through a roadblock in the process.
I got many weird looks as I slowly edged through town – with most locals just staring and not even reacting when I lifted my hand, waved and said Hi.
Pulling in at the Spar to collect essentials, security for Tootsie was a bit of a concern so I chatted with the owner and he got a staff member to keep an eye on her while I rushed through the store. His daughter was very interested in the journey and could’ve believe I was alone.
As I exited town I saw a small entrance in a building with stained glass pains on the door and some stunning vibrant artwork hanging inside. While no art fundi I thought I’d check it out… and it turned out to be a new restaurant / coffee shop. I sat down with the intention of just having a coke and checking my mail, and ended up having a burger and chips. I chatted for a while with the owner who was keen to see some photos…
I got out of town and made progress along the highway which is narrow with long grass on both sides, slowly me down as I kept having to stop if there were vehicles from both directions. With a few narrow misses, I was getting a little concerned about the road ahead – could it really all be like this?
It opened up a while later, but that didn’t help! One truck driver even swerved off the road and onto the gravel… making a move to drive over me. Fortunately Tootsie is a 2×2 and she handled the deep bush well… but I was not a happy lad – hurling abuse and rocks at the truck and its driver.
Legs tiring, I took another break and prepped my bottles and pockets for the stretch passed the ‘location’. Up and moving again, the road widened a little and just as well because in addition to me, cattle were roaming freely causing a few traffic issues.
Passing the ‘location’, I noticed countless burnt tyre marks on the road – clear sign of some unhappiness in the area. And then just the other side, as I thought all was fine and I’d made it through, a group of about 10 was walking towards me. It looked like they all worked on a local farm and were heading home, but it’s always unsettling. And then started flying with questions and comments and gathered close around me. Eish, I felt uncomfortable there… and clearly outnumbered.
But all was fine and I could now see me home for the night… awesome. I got there and got my tent up and waited for the call from Chai FM for the radio interview… then ate dinner and climbed into bed as it started to rain… and boy did it rain!
