Well this was it, the final day of driving for us on the Hero 4x4xplore African Adventure.
Only 300 kms to go to Cape Town, so a late start was possible. Three other cars were doing the same and missing out on the stop in Ceres. They were, Geoffrey and Veronica Poxon in Richard Smith's Landcruiser, Jim Carr and Helen in their orange coloured Discovery and John and Elaine Chambers in their Landcruiser.
As we crossed the Oliphants River in Vredendal we saw the damage being done by the recent heavy rains that have affected Western Cape. The river has burst its banks and the vineyards on either side are completely flooded.
Only 300 kms to go to Cape Town, so a late start was possible. Three other cars were doing the same and missing out on the stop in Ceres. They were, Geoffrey and Veronica Poxon in Richard Smith's Landcruiser, Jim Carr and Helen in their orange coloured Discovery and John and Elaine Chambers in their Landcruiser.
As we crossed the Oliphants River in Vredendal we saw the damage being done by the recent heavy rains that have affected Western Cape. The river has burst its banks and the vineyards on either side are completely flooded.
Flooded vineyards on the banks of the Oliphants River
As we passed the small town of Clanwilliam we saw the water pouring over the sluice gates at the top of the Clanwilliam Dam. Four huge torrents of water were cascading down the dam into the river below. As we passed the dam we saw how huge the lake behind was. You could see large areas of farmland were now under water.
Clanwilliam Dam, with water pouring over the top
About 80 kms further on and we approached the magic 10,000 kms on our tripmeter. We took a photo of the GPS as 9,999 was reached and then 10,000!! What a trip it has been for us both.
GPS at 9,999 kms about to click up the 10,000 kms mark
The drive back to Cape Town was uneventful and it was disappointing that the weather, which has been uninterrupted sunshine for the past three weeks, should now turn and the hoped for good views of Table Mountain were completely blanked out by dense cloud and rain.
Still, the exhilaration at having successfully completed the tour outweighed any disappointment about the weather. Champagne was the order of the day as we celebrated in the hotel with John and Elaine. The rest of the tour will arrive tomorrow lunchtime and we all 'officially' finish the tour at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.
In the evening we met up again with Arne and Ingrit Hertz and they joined all four 'finishers' for a great seafood meal in the mall alongside the hotel. A fitting way to end the day.
It looks like I will not be able to post more photos till we return to London on Friday. I hope to have them on the site by the end of next week.
Still, the exhilaration at having successfully completed the tour outweighed any disappointment about the weather. Champagne was the order of the day as we celebrated in the hotel with John and Elaine. The rest of the tour will arrive tomorrow lunchtime and we all 'officially' finish the tour at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.
In the evening we met up again with Arne and Ingrit Hertz and they joined all four 'finishers' for a great seafood meal in the mall alongside the hotel. A fitting way to end the day.
It looks like I will not be able to post more photos till we return to London on Friday. I hope to have them on the site by the end of next week.
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