Elandsbaai to Hopefield - 118km

Day 20: 15th September 2014

Elandsbaai kind of grew on me overnight. It feels much safer in the morning and the sleepy cove feel makes me consider another visit to the town. We are up as usual and continue peering into our rapidly emptying fridge and decide that bacon and eggs it is going to be. By now our clothes, bedding and just about everything needs a major overhaul and I swear even the sheep I see this morning-- if they were to wear lipstick, would look attractive to me. Yep this must be the home run!

Vlei at Elandsbaai

There is a steady climb out of the bay area and I look over my shoulder to have a last look at the resident baboon. A new and appealing side to the town emerges which I must admit was different to what we had seen before. The road for Eugene is not great but the tar gives him exceptional speed. By now he is so fit that my stops are short and my book is complaining for lack of attention. Its a beautiful drive and of course all the way to Dwarskersbos is birding country.

Iron Ore haul

Abruptly Velddrif arrives and suburbia pokes its head out with all its trappings of Spar, Pep and banks. Traffic is fast becoming a problem and we are faced with new challenges that just a short few weeks ago we would have welcomed as "nothing like our traffic" in town. We take a long uneventful drive towards Hopefield in the "hope" of finding a campsite. Nothing, but then the hospitality angel arrives and we get taken in by an eclectic family who gives us their lawn and a farmyard which they are currently converting into an eatery. Ah, it all ends well. Now for the long haul home tomorrow which becomes more dense and complicated with every km we do. But we'll deal with that tomorrow as we usually do. So far we have eaten the elephant 1 bite at time---which works for me!