And so it starts.

So, we’re off! We left a drizzly misty Hillcrest at 9.30am heading to Jo’burg for the start of our trip tomorrow. On the way we stopped off in Hilton to wish Lea a happy birthday and to say hi to the girls. After something warm to drink we set off up the N3. The trip was uneventful as we passed through some of our favourite parts of SA. The beautiful KZn Midlands – all rolling hills and lush green meadows, so reminiscent of parts of England, and on through Northern KZN where things are quite a bit drier with thorn trees and scrub land becoming dominant. The weather had become decidedly warmer after Mooi River and the climb up Van Reenens pass, as a result of roadworks, gave us an idea of what it was like to travel the N3 at the speed the huge truck trailers travelling this route have to contend with.

Reaching the top of the pass all we could think of was the Wimpy on the outskirts of Harrismith, our usual halfway pitstop, and the milkshake and coke didn’t disappoint!

We pushed on through the Free State, the landscape changing to a mix of dry mealies, wheat coloured grassland and a sprinkling of exotic trees that should have been pulled out long ago. The Cosmos in their final throes of spectacular splashes of pink and white blooms didn’t disappoint either. We always wonder at the number of beef cattle grazing in the fields adjoining the national highway and this time also saw a flock (?) of Ostriches. The Free State also gives us a laugh as we chuckle at the road signs warning “drive carefully when wet” and we wonder how many drivers pass through the Free state wet, or how in fact they get wet. We still haven’t come up with an answer!

Then across the Vaal and we are in Gauteng and altogether different scenery. Greener than the Free State but not as green as KZN. Ochre coloured kopies and rocks carpeted with green grass and the inevitable thorn tree. More beef farms, more haste on the road, more speed traps, more evidence of human existence, more built up, towns, landing strips, open cast quarries and then the City skyline appears and before we know it we are in Jo’burg, settling into the hotel, sitting next to the pool, drinking beer and wine, watching the sun set, eating supper and in to bed. Tomorrow the Lap on Namibia begins and we need to wake early. Can’t wait to discover what the next few days have in store for us.