Namaqua(land) in the Bartlett Defender Anyone?

A big sorry to Gavin and Catkin for the delay in becoming the guest blogger and adding my comments to the site. Obviously I have become as unreliable as some of those Land Rover parts you are nursing along.... But better late than never and now 11 days since my return to NZ here is my update:
I arrived in Springbok, Namaqualand on a bus that travelled through the night like a bat out of hell. It was one of the most value for money trips I have ever taken on public transport - R205 for nearly 9 hours entertainment and stops at more petrol stations and Wimpy bars than I ever new existed in South Africa. I was looking forward to the trip back to Cape Town as there was not a lot visible once the sun had set on my ride north. Gavin and Catkin kindly picked me up at my ridiculous arrival time and we stood round talking waiting for an elusive lunar eclipse until 3am. Needless to say, the eclipse did not happen and the people who camped right next to the Land Rover deserved to be kept awake for passing on duff information! It was great to see them looking so well and so tanned.

The highlight of Springbok for me was the lime milkshake at the Springbok Restaurant and a visit to the supermarket. I always love looking in supermarkets and seeing how much I am being ripped off in the UK. For me the most amazing thing was that every item purchased had a special place in the Land Rover. I have never seen a more organised set up - and I can see why after a few weeks on the road why this was so important.

Our first bush camp was on the way to Hondeklipbaai amongst the shiny quartz littering the ground. I do wonder now, after spotting all those diamond mines and dredges on the coast whether I slept on a bed of diamonds and should have picked up a few rocks just in case! I loved the misty and spooky outlook on the coast, with ships wrecked on the beaches but could not ever imagine living in such a remote place in the tiny houses that they had there.

We camped in a beach reserve one night before heading to Cedarberg. It was a lovely wide beach but the wind was a bit cool and I was not really tempted into the sea. All the signs said that off road driving on the beaches and nearby land is prohibited to save the fauna and flora. We stopped and camped before the signs so we were not technically doing anything naughty but I did spend all night waking to the smallest sound thinking we were going to be kicked off the beach. We were buzzed by a very low flying microlite the next morning but I don't think that was the beach police!
On our way to Clanwilliam we walked up to visit some caves used for shelter by the Voortrekers in the 1800's which were interesting. Some of the names carved into the walls were on letter boxes in the surrounding districts. My favouite lunch spot was on the way to Clanwilliam as well when we put the awning up over some contrete table and chairs in a layby above a dam/lake and hid from the midday heat.
Catkin had a great cask of Namaqua red wine that improved with drinking and the cooler it was. It was so lovely to end the day sitting on the chairs looking at the view with a glass of red wine in hand. These guys even had wine glasses so it was very civilised. Unfortunately after a long sojourn at Cedarberg we had finished the wine (much to Gavins disgust) so when we departed for directions south we had to stop at a supermarket to get a new 5 litre replacement (which I am sure is well gone now as well). Amazing cooking skills shown in Cedarburg where we stocked up on wood from the eucalyptus trees and some kindly family left a bag of wood behind which I quickly snaffled for the fire that Catkin cooked us fresh bread on. Awesome. I am well impressed with the great meals I was served up. My contribution was to the dishes rather than the cooking as Catkin had it all sorted and on the plates in a flash.
We spent an interesting evening in a camp ground in Citrusdal (citrus not quite in season) where we met some bikers who were on their way north to Luderitz on the Namibian coast. They amazed me with the amount of luxury goods they carried including the massive blow up matresses and automatic pumps for them. I think they amazed Gavin with their homemade luggage carriers. Considering they were going to be on some rough roads we were not sure if they would make it intact. Anyway, they were lovely people and on the first day of a 2-3 weeks motorcycle jaunt and kindly gave us their left over beers the next day. Great thing the Land Rover has a luxury fridge! We had great BBQ'd corn and an awesome pumpkin and smoked chicken pasta (it took a while but it did happen) and plenty of that red wine.

Gavin and Catkin introduced me to the BBC World Service. It is a bit dodgy and they have some very strange programmes on it. The music theme tune to one programme in particular is the most memorable for me as well as the phone in show they have where Africans call in and have their say on whatever the topic of the day is. Apparently George W Bush is doing everything he is doing out of the goodness of his heart. What can you say. Interesting views.
Cape Columbine was a lovely place to visit and stay awhile. The sea was so blue and the beaches where they managed to have them amongst the rocks were so white. Water not warm and only Catkin braved it. I preferred to stay out of it in case I was eaten by a whale - however we passed through during the only two months of the year the whales are not there. Typical luck!
Once we had tickets for the rugby from Vredenburg we were heading south to make sure we did not miss it and stopped in Langebaan for a final night before hitting Cape Town. We played frisbee on the beach in the wind where it was great to stretch our legs and I think Catkin did a few laps of the beach the next morning for some exercise.
It was great to be back in sight of Table Mountain eventually and I really enjoyed eating my fish and chips across the bay from the city. It was quite funny when we were waiting for our fish and chips that a South African guy came up and told me he was from Paternoster near Cape Columbine and had seen my vehicle there a couple of days previous. I didn't try to explain that it was not my Land Rover, just accepted that it was my vehicle and waved as we drove off. Not many people really listened when I tried to explain that Gavin and Catkin had driven from London over the previous 8 odd months. I think they thought I was saying they had come from East London, RSA so were not all that impressed!

The hospitality of the South Africans at the rugby was amazing - not sure I would give up my beer and chops to random strangers who were camping on a school ground. We had a lovely time at the rugby and it was neat to say that we went to a Super 14 game - it will be a long time before I get to another one. I slept in the back of the Land Rover and covered myself up with the sleeping bag completely so that no one would see me in there and knock on the window. However it was pretty hot and I soon had to give up on that and ditch the sleeping bag and luckily no one was really interested in waking us up!
It was a trauma getting a picture free of the busloads of tourists at Cape of Good Hope as already mentioned by Gavin but very entertaining all the same. It is such a beautiful place and the views are stunning. It was quite an exciting time to be with Gavin and Catkin as they made it to the western most point in South Africa. We stayed at Sweet Water camp site which was full of Capetonians partying up over night. It was amazing to be camping near the massive Snakes Head Lighthouse and take a walk up the 145 steps the next day.
The drive along Chapmans Peak Road to the city was beautiful and I wished I could win the lottery and get a place there for a while and look out at the sea. Lucky for me Gavin and Catkin were willing to take me into the Waterfront area the day before I headed out to NZ so I could get a present for the brother and his to-be wife Rachel before leaving Cape Town. Stupidly I wanted to get some ceramics but they made it all the way to NZ unscathed so I am pretty happy!
Gavin and Catkin have had one amazing adventure and I was lucky to share in it for a few weeks. I think I invited myself along really so they were very kind to let me stay so long with them. I was pretty rubbish at the dishes but learned to put the tent up and down pretty well by the end! I was just getting the hang of putting everything in the right place and then I had to head off.
I am sure they will be having more adventures in Australia soon!!

The Fairest Cape in All The World

Next stop for us after Stompneusbaai was Cape Columbine. An area of the park right on the shoreline has been set up for camping, and we found a great spot in amongst the rocks. The caretaker came to see us in the morning to collect the fees, and kept us entertained with his stories of his years working there. He was very enthusiastic about the park, and was quite reluctant to be retiring in just over two weeks. When we enquired about campsites between there and Cape Town he told us we should stay where we were, because there was nowhere as good as Cape Columbine. It was a pretty great spot.


By this time, though, we’d already bought tickets for the Super 14 game between the Stormers and the Crusaders, so we had to push on. It was Thursday, and the game was on Friday night.

The next day, even the final run into Cape Town was not without mechanical incident. What initially sounded like all the air escaping out of one tyre turned out to be a burst intercooler elbow hose. Metres of duct tape later and we were back to full power. We stopped at Bloubergstrand for lunch, and some photos of our first views of the magnificent Table Mountain.


By mid-afternoon we had officially arrived in Cape Town, eight months and four days after departing from London. No time to pause and reflect on our achievement though, it was only five hours to kick-off and we needed to find somewhere to camp and sort out how we were going to get to the game. Fortunately, all of those issues were resolved in one fell swoop. After finding Newlands Stadium, we were directed around the corner to where a few schools provide their playing fields for parking, for a small fee. Thanks largely to the generous hospitality of the South Africans, in no time at all it was all arranged that we could park in a quiet corner and could spend the night there after the game. All our prayers had been answered. Best of all, it gave us time to go and enjoy a few quite celebratory beers. I have to admit though, it felt really strange to be sitting in a bar on a Friday evening having a beer. Almost like a normal person. There was even entertainment when a bit of a donnybrook broke out between the drivers of two cars after one changed lanes into the other right across the road from where we were sitting. Fabulous stuff.

Back at the carpark we got talking to a bunch of locals who had been setting up their braai when we first arrived. They insisted that we join them for beers and food, and it would have been very rude to say no. They had already been tucking into the whiskey, so it was very entertaining. Newlands Stadium was packed, but there was just enough room for the three of us in a broom cupboard at the far end of the back row of the main grandstand. We had a great view of the first half. As usual, there was a loud mouth sitting right in front of us. He thought he was pretty funny; those of us around him weren’t so sure. Crusaders won 22-0.

The party in the carpark carried on for a couple of hours after the final whistle, but eventually everyone trickled away and we got some sleep.

On Saturday we wound our way around False Bay toward Cape Point, stopping briefly for a chat with the penguins at Boulders.


The Cape has been described by Sir Francis Drake as “the fairest cape in all the world” and it is an apt description. We jostled past busloads of Russian tourists up the hill to the old Cape Point lighthouse, then down the hill to the new lighthouse. The old lighthouse was built to high up the hill, and for 900 hours a year was unable to be seen through fog, when it was needed most. So the new one was built much lower down. We even spied Bellows Rock, which sunk the Lusitania.

From there we made our way to the “Holy Grail” for most overlanders aiming for Cape Town – The Cape of Good Hope. The most south-westerly point in Africa. We bided our time until we could get in between the groups of tourists for a photo. One group, part of the 14th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists, had their photo taken with their conference banner completely covering the sign – they might as well have been anywhere! It was hilarious watching people push in to get their photograph – some people have no manners. We had people posing in front of the Camel, as if they had just driven across Africa to get here. One guy even sat up on the bonnet.


We camped that night at another park campsite just up the coast at Sweet Water, under the watchful eye of the Slangkoppunt lighthouse with its four flashes every 30 seconds. The lighthouse is one of very few working lighthouses that the public is allowed to visit, so the next morning we did. The keeper gave us a very informative talk on the history of South African lighthouses, their role in the rescue of people off stricken ships and the operation of the Slangkoppunt (Snake Head Point) lighthouse. After that he unlocked the door and we were allowed up the tower, right up to the lens. The lighthouse is now electrified and motorised, but the old paraffin tanks, small hatches in each level for the wick, and the weight system for revolving the lens are still on show. The 400 watt bulb shines about 70 kilometres out to sea. It was a spectacular view.

After spending the last ten days travelling with us, Ianthe had now become an honorary “Camelrider” and had given up trying to explain to enquiring people that she had only recently joined us. She was even giving people permission when they asked to have their photo taken in front of “her” vehicle. Now, sadly, it was time for her to leave. We camped on the Sunday night in a campground not far from the airport, and dropped her off there the next morning for her flight out. It was really good to see her, and we probably saw a lot more of the Northern and Western Cape areas than we would have otherwise. It was quite strange to be back to just the two of us again.

Since then we have been living the luxurious life, staying with Charles and Val, who are friends of Catkin’s, and then out to see Catkin’s 2nd cousin Patsy in Paarl. We have focussed our efforts on planning the next leg of the journey, looking into shipping options and costs and the bureaucracy of importing a vehicle into both Australia and New Zealand. We are still considering having our gearboxes looked at, so have spoken to an expert about that as well. The decision on exactly where we will head to from South Africa is yet to be made.

Ianthe has agreed to be a guest author on the blog, so hopefully sometime soon we will all get her take her time with us.

Waterfalls and cold seas

We picked Ianthe up from the bus at 01.45 am (and very prompt it was) and then stayed up until well after 3am after we had been told that there was to be a full lunar eclipse, but nothing happened. It was a lovely night with a full moon though.

After stocking up on supplies in Springbok the following morning and a visit to the Springbok Lodge and Restaurant (which Nico had compelled us to visit before we left) we headed over the Messelpad Pass towards the coast. We passed a prison a long time derelict, on the way. Apparently Italian prisoners (POW’s I think) had been shipped to the coast and then had to march inland to this prison to build the pass. Pretty hard and hot work.

The next day we passed through Hondeklipbaai. It was really quite cold in the sea mist, such a change from a few kilometres inland, as we explored the twisted and rusted wreck of the Aristea. The coastline is still very desolate but not nearly as inhospitable as the Namibian coast.

It seems that the main industry in the area is diamond mining. There are many private mines all around the area and we think that these boats are the sea floor hoovering boats (not really their technical term). I did not really expect them to be so small.


We carried on zigzagging down the Western Cape as we drove inland to the Cedarberg area. After the arid Northern Cape it was so refreshing. We found a lovely campsite frequented by families from Cape Town. It was very busy on the day we arrived (Saturday) with lots of families, but there was a lot of space for us all and we had a lovely grassy spot in the shade. The campsite had a dammed off swimming hole in the creek, the water was wonderful.


The flora must have been wonderful earlier in the year. There were protea bushes everywhere and such a variety of fynbos. Sadly, most of the cedar forest has been destroyed by fires and there is not much evidence that it is regenerating in any hurry.

The next day we took a beautiful walk up to a waterfall. On reaching our destination we just sat for ages, eating Sparkles (a treat from Ianthe) and chilling out by the rushing water. By the time we descended back down to the campsite it was almost empty- most of the families had gone home.

We are now back on the coast at Stompneusbaai watching the shags and seagulls. Yesterday I found a pool in the low tide just stashed full of shoals of really small fish. It was fascinating watching them move around and change direction en-masse with the odd fish jumping. There were a couple of seagulls around but I almost expected to see a cat on rock sticking its paw in the water, just like a gold fish bowl. When I went back this morning to take a photo, they were all gone. So I took a really cold, and short, swim in the sea instead.

Jazzy B 1 today. Daddy will buy you a nice big present, but you'll probably find the box more interesting. Love from Super Auntie and 'Special' Uncle

Happy Birthday Dad. Hope you have a day off and a beer or two. We're in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, zigzagging South.

Blue Danube? Steinfeld!

Catkin forgot to mention the dressing down she gave an unsuspecting local while we waited for the river to recede on our way into Sossusvlei.

One of the first things we had noticed when we arrived at the entrance gate was the set of recycling bins which had been installed by Raleigh International a few years earlier. We had seen a lot of broken glass on our travels, so thought this was an excellent idea.

Anyone who knows Catkin well knows that one of her pet hates is litter, and she never misses an opportunity to try an educate anyone she sees committing the dreadful act. Well, this guy had driven up in his ute to join his mate from Namibian Wildlife Resorts (who run the show) and have a look at the river. After he had finished the bottle of beer he was drinking he casually lobbed it into the water without a second thought. I don’t think he will do it again in a hurry. His only attempt at an excuse was “There was nowhere to put it…” He looked very sheepish.

As Catkin said in the last entry, Sossusvlei was spectacular, made even more so by having the whole place to ourselves.

After Luderitz we visited the Garub feral horse view point, where we spent the evening watching groups of horses come to drink. You'll have to look pretty hard to see any in the photo though.

Further east the next day we called in to Keetmanshoop to fill up with diesel and stock up on groceries. When we had been in Walvis Bay a couple of weeks earlier, an English gent had come up to talk to us about Land Rovers. He has a Land Rover garage in Sussex, although he now lives in Namibia. He gave us the name and details of the mechanic based near Keetmanshoop that he uses, highly recommending his services. Seeing as we were passing through, we thought we would try and find him. Shortly we were heading down a rough road until about 60km out of town we found what we were looking for – “Steinfeld - Johan Strauss.” We still weren’t sure that this was the right place, although the immaculately presented Land Rover parked under the tree outside the house gave us a glimmer of hope. Around the back of the house, however, it was Land Rovers everywhere, Quite a few in parts, some completely written off and many mid-restoration. He has to be the most knowledgeable Land Rover man we have ever met. We spent ages talking to him and his wife Ina about our trip and the repairs we have made. He gave us lots of advice, and was able to demonstrate on old parts what to watch out for. We considered getting him to recondition our noisy gearbox, but these things don’t come cheap so we are still hoping it will get us to New Zealand as it is. We camped on their farm that night, and after taking up even more of his time the next morning finally bade them farewell. He even managed to find in his stores the fuel line we had been unable to track down in all of Windhoek. Catkin felt justified in her claim that we have had exceptional bad luck when he admitted that he had never seen a transfer lever become disconnected as had happened to us in Kenya. Overall, our Steinfeld experience was inspirational and well worth the detour to get there. Catkin thinks the two of them should be declared Namibian National Treasures.

We had intended to go into Fish River Canyon, but when we arrived at the gate we found out that the entry fees were twice what we had expected. We were down to our last few Namibian dollars, so decided to give it a miss in this instance. Maybe next time.

From there it was only a short journey to the Orange River which forms the border with South Africa. We met a motorcyclist from Manchester on a Triumph at the border. He had left the UK in October, and it sounded like he had spent ages pushing his bike through the mud. He seemed well and truly over it and was looking forward to getting to Cape Town and then back home.

On our arrival in Springbok the other day, we were driving around trying to sort out a few things we needed to change the oil in the transfer box. We were shown true South African hospitality when Nico from Springbok Motor Rewinders let me park up in front of his workshop to do the oil change, got one of his workers to bring me a sheet of cardboard to lie on and some rags, and even took care of the waste oil. It was incredible and we were very grateful.

Now we’re awaiting the arrival of our friend Ianthe who is coming up on the bus from Cape Town to join us for a week or so. She will be our first visitor, so we have been practising our manners. No more burping after dinner, Catkin. Hopefully she doesn’t think we have turned a bit weird having just our own company for the last eight months.

Today is our 241st day on the road since leaving London on the 25th of June last year. We have covered about 40,000km so far, yet we are only just over 9000km from London as the crow flies. The distance (as the crow flies) to Queenstown, New Zealand is about 11,200km, although that is via Antarctica, and I don’t imagine many crows fly that far south. Not too many Land Rovers make it to the South Pole either, but don’t think we haven’t considered it. As Catkin mentioned, we are now out of the Tropics, and we seem to have made it safely through without contracting Malaria. We have changed the engine oil five times and I’ve had six haircuts, courtesy of Catkin. And we still haven’t made it to Cape Town yet!

Not many photos lately, so I’ve included this one from Jordan.

We finally got our flash floods

But more of that later.

We left Windhoek on a very rainy day and decided to head towards Sossusvlei, Namibia’s number one tourist destination. The route took us through yet more stunning scenery. We made a lovely bush camp that evening after a bit of track bashing to find a sheltered spot. The next morning we passed this herd of Oryx (Gemsbok) as we headed back to the road.

In Solitaire we treated ourselves to their famous apple crumble (having read about it in an article about Mike Copeland’s trans-Africa trip). It was really good to enjoy someone else’s cooking. From the entrance to Sossusvlei we could see that there had been a lot of rain in the mountains and there was much talk of a couple of roads being washed out. We took a look at the Sesriem Canyon. This is normally dry and it is possible to walk along the bottom of the canyon, not today though.



We had heard it is best to view Sossusvlei in early morning sun. Considering that the camping fees were £40 (UK) for the night (just a little out of our budget).We decided to camp down the road a bit so that we could make an early start in the morning, it was still a 65km drive in the park to Sossusvlei. We ended up camping on a bit of high ground near to where the road was flooding. We whiled away the time watching drivers decide whether or not to negotiate the crossing. We did not want to go through the flooded road in case the water increased overnight and we could not get back again as it was still raining in the mountains. That was a good decision. The waters rose considerably overnight and at some point during the night we had been completely surrounded by water. At this point, though, we did not know that the same ephemeral river makes it way to Sossusvlei.

Shortly before 6am we packed up the tent and waited for the gate to open at 6.30. Apparently the internal gate opens at 5.30, but plebs like us are not allowed in until an hour later. We bought our permits and we were on our way as the sun rose. But we did not get very far. After 25km we could go no further. Quite a few cars and tourist vehicles had collected watching the torrent of water blocking our way. I took a wade through the first half of it which was fine but the second half- NO WAY. We retired to a hill for breakfast and to wait it out.



While I climbed the nearest sand dune and Gavin did computer stuff and kept an eye on the water level from afar. The water level was dropping and by 10.30 we moved back down to have a closer look. However there was still rapids in the river.



Many people came and went and we did feel that everybody was waiting for us to make the first move. Even at one o’clock the water was still too fast. Eventually at 2 o’clock, when no one was watching, Gavin made his way on foot to the other side. The water level had reduced by nearly a metre since when I first had a look. We decided that if he could walk it then the car could definitely make it, and the old girl performed very well. Not too much water came in the rear passenger doors and we were the first through and no one else knew, so we had the whole park to ourselves. Fantastic.

After another 30km the sand became quite soft, so for the first time we decided to let some air out of the tyres and it really made a difference, especially with the extra weight we carry around. We enjoyed a wonderful few hours exploring the Sossusvlei pan (a clay pan surrounded by huge dunes) and Dedvlei.

When we returned to the car the underside was being besieged by about 20 small finch like birds trying to get to the water trapped in the nooks and crannies. In the evening there were quite a few jackals around but they did not bother us. I think that they help to keep the place clean. Only two more vehicles entered after us

We ended up spending the night there which we think may not be permitted, but there was nothing to say that it was prohibited and we did arrive quite late (bear in mind that we were sold permits when it was already known to park staff that the road was impassable).

In the morning we were up on the dunes before sunrise where it was beautifully still, waiting for the tranquillity to be broken. But no one arrived for another hour and a half. We cannot help but wonder how many experience having Sossusvlei to themselves. We did observe some water covering part of the valley in the distance but we had not brought our binoculars up with us, otherwise we may have noticed that it was moving- it was the water left over from yesterdays flooding making its way to Sossusvlei.

After more people started to arrive we made our way out, only to be met by the water as it made its way to Sossusvlei. It was very surreal to see the water headed straight towards us. We reached higher ground where we had breakfast and re-inflated the tyres. By the time we were ready to leave we heard that the water had reached the pan which was slowly filling up.

We are now in Luderitz, a Bavarian diamond mining and sardine fishing town, on the coast. It is a long, long way from anywhere here and is really rather bizarre. It is on the edge of the desert and there is no vegetation, just sand and rock. We overlook the town and it is reminiscent of a whaling outpost in Alaska (not that I have ever been to one). It is not what one would expect just south of the Tropic of Leprechaun, oops I mean Capricorn. We have not camped near a town for a very long time and it was lovely yesterday evening, just watching everything light up.

From here we will make for Fish River Canyon and then South Africa.