The next morning, we waved farewell to our new friends while contemplating our next plan of action. Mark had never seen the ‘Big Hole’, so we packed and left after lunch for Kimberly on rain drenched roads, the sand drifts and strips soaked into submission, making the ride very relaxed. The large pools of water in the road made for merry entertainment, especially after I had lined a good one up, worked out likely splash height and trajectory, and soaked Mark. I was rather proud of my bulls-eye actually.
As a child, driving through the Karoo, I always wondered what held those people to the land. I think I have now experienced a small insight into why… I will certainly return to the Northern Cape again, many times.
But for now, we rode for Kimberly. Folded hills claimed the horizon, indispersed with red Kalahari sand dunes, mostly reclaimed by vast yellow grasslands, painted silver in the afternoon sunlight. The terrain slowly changed, still showing the folded rock, but now covered with more bushveld, and for the first time in days, groups of cattle and an abundance of large game. Rain-heavy clouds still dominated the sky, but we seemed to miss each downpour till we eventually reached Kimberly, and for the first time, made use of a B&B.
We talked for a time, my man and I, about all that had passed. We both felt the loss of leaving the desert. The amazing thing about the Northern Cape is that images seen appear to be burnt into your retina, and I still see the amazing untamed and harsh vistas. Now a deep feeling of longing wells up in me and I yearn to return.
The next morning we arrived at the Great Hole. Mark was in his element, photographing the old buildings and shops simulating the early days. Once we had seen everything, we turned to leave and there before us was one of the many people we had met on the road, a guy, paraplegic, in his wheel chair with the same remembered smile and twinkling eyes. He was ecstatic, and wanted us to meet his daughters. We had met him and his wife near the Botswana border, she was taking him for a trip around SA. Amazing woman, amazing guy. The girls took pics of us with their dad and we again said our goodbyes.
Next morning……I know there was a hangover or two hanging around
We would meet up with these three the next day in Bothaville and ride the last day together.
Last stop in Kenhardt was this huge tree that they graded the road around.
Judy needed to be back at work on Monday so the plan was to slab it back home but at least we had 80kms of gravel to do first. After all the rain over the 24hrs the gravel road was an absolute blast to ride and that is what we did. Traction was at it’s best with just a hint of mud under the tyres, there were many water crossing in the dips. Judy caught me a beauty at one waterhole, she sprayed me from head to toe. Thereafter it was fun and games to try and spray one another, I failed miserably.
Some random pics of the road to Kimberly
Saw many of these along the way
Weavers nests
I was lucky enough to capture this image….”the painting and now, reflecting each other”
Albino springbok
Supper at the B&B in Kimberly, all the restaurants in the area closed so I bought some goodies at P&P
Kimberly’s Groot Gat
In the next town we saw Mother, his love and whatever Shaun is known as now, Werfetter or something, so they invited us to join them on the run home. It was a brilliant idea, we’d have been home a lot later with Mark constantly stopping for photo’s, so we fell in with them and rode. Around us great gliding columns of water streamed from the marbled skies, drenching maize-green fields, the road itself dappled with welcome summer sun. This is a tamed land, but still controlled by capricious skies, with multitudes of grey doves flecking the air, like spindrift on a troubled ocean sky. (Bleh! Black book stuff!
)
There is always much to say after a trip, and I loved every second of this one. I encountered covens of mozzies through-out our travels, and despite my hope that small amounts of goodness floating ethereally in my veins may cause a Tobasco like explosion, I’m fairly sure that my very DNA has been put to good use by the little suckers in producing another generation of those horrible parasites.
My lower back ached at times, and my eyes watered on some of the white roads.
But on the swing side, the list of amazing things that happened far outweighed those small irritations. We saw everything from Elephant, Rhino and Hippo, through to Hartebees, Sable and Gemsbok. Birds, lizards, snakes and more. The small creatures as stunning as the large. We met amazing people and saw amazing places. Mark and I shared something that most people will never get to experience, and our relationship is the stronger for it. We rode for the ride, and we rode for the scenery. And we did it together.
I think trips like this are a form of drug, and the craving for another hit is rather high. Already, I have thoughts of new roads and places flashing through my head. Well, I am owed a ton of leave.
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