Long day ahead. 11hrs long to be precise. Along the Panorama Route. Drive 10km and queue for 15mins at roadworks. Will realise later on the way back that we got off lightly. Drive through pine forest plantations and citrus farms. Scenery like Derbyshire in some respects. 2.5hrs to Pilgrim’s Nest. Gold discovered here in 1873 and preserved as a heritage town with old fashioned shops, hotels and bars. Quite quaint. Annual gold panning competition starts tomorrow. Place reminds of Crich Tramway Museum. Or Beamish. Pre-fab buildings constructed of corrugated iron clad wooden frames imported from England.
Lunch stop at Graskop for their famous pancakes.
Joined by two Kiwis. Asked if I have a sibling. Little sister. How old is she. 40. Kiwi looks astounded. “What?!” she says disbelievingly. “How old are you?”. 43. “Wow!” says she, “I thought you were 26”. Oh yes. Still got it. Boyish good looks you see. Ahem. Others on the trip think I’m between 24 & 28. No comments about blind women. Please.
Silk factory very interesting. They grow the silk worms and harvest the cocoons. They’re then softened in water. Stretched over a frame. Then spun. For weaving.
Head out to the Blyde River Canyon to visit the Three Rondavels – three large rock outcrops created by erosion and shaped like the local mud huts. Standing on the plataeu looking down into the canyon. Impressive sight and vistas. Equally impressive is the Bourkes Luck Potholes. Confluence of Treur and Blyde rivers have created cylindrical voids in the canyon sides.
Fellow traveller afraid of heights so stands in the middle of the bridge taking photos with arms outstretched. Camera in hand. Hoping for the best.
In need of a bottle of water. Told there’s a shop behind the adjacent building. There’s not. Ask stallholder where I can buy water. She shouts. Very loudly. To a woman across the park. She shouts. Very loudly. Across an empty field. Can’t see anyone. She shouts again. Very loudly. And again. And then. A girl appears. From nowhere. She shouts to middle woman. They converse. By shouting. Across the field. Middle woman turns to me. And shouts. Very loudly. How many. She asks. I shout. Very loudly. One. She shouts. Very loudly. Across the field. Girl runs over. With bottle of water. Hoarse just listening to all this shouting.
Wow. Is the chorus from us all. As we stand at God’s Window. On top of the escarpment looking down onto the plain below. Realise how high up we are. Simply stunning scenery. More Venezuela than Africa.
2hr drive back at high speed. Until we hit the roadworks. Takes a further hour sitting in a long queue for the roadworks. Finally pass through. 7km tailback the other side. Someone counts 285 vehicles.
All the buses are late returning. The usual scrum and fight for first sitting will be vicious seeing as we’re now arriving 45mins after the start of first sitting. There’ll be blood on the walls. Fortunately, the train has organised a braai buffet on the platform to avoid people murdering each other for that all important first sitting.
