January 10, 2021
Time for a rest
Warmwaterberg to Ladismith
We had a short sleep after setting up the tent yesterday afternoon and woke up to the wind howling and the tent filling with dust. The wind continued toi blow strongly until about midnight and so we ended up spending a lot of the time taking shelter on the verandah of the restaurant. With the wind blowing it was easier to have a simple supper of bobotie at the restaurant rather than trying to cook in the wind. From Wikipedia: "Bobotie (Afrikaans: [bəˈbuəti]) is a well-known South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping." Ours came with rice and popadoms (pretty traditional) accompanied by sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower (not too out of the ordinary) and roast potatoes (definitely unusual).
A kind elderly couple camping near us kindly kept our alcohol-free beers in their fridge so we were able to enjoy a cold sundowner on the verandah after supper.
After getting some of the dusty sand out of the tent we set off down the hill back to the R62 at about six thirty this morning. For the next thirty or so kilometers we enjoyed some pleasant if unexciting riding until we got to the padstal at Algerrynskraal. There was heavy cloud around and a fresh south-easterly breeze kept us cool to the point of being chilly. With the exception of a few kilometers after Algerynskraal, the wind was mostly kind to us today and helped us up some of the stiffer climbs towards the end when it had turned to a more southerly direction.
Upon our arrival at Algerynskraal we found the padstal closed. Leigh was desperate to get rid of some of the liquid she had drunk so we just had to make use of the cover provided by a culvert. The bowl of cornflakes we had for breakfast was also wearing off and we could have done with a calorie top-up from the padstal. The end result was that Leigh started feeling a bit low on sugar over the last few kays. Lesson re-learnt: make sure we have emergency energy food for the road!
The last few kilometers through Naaukloof passed quite slowly but we made it to Ladismith with more than an hour to spare before the local supermarket shut (mostly one pm closing on a Sunday in these small towns).
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We have taken a room for the next two nights at the Posthouse, a historic old building from the middle of the eighteenth century that has converted into a tea-room with two rooms to rent alongside. The next leg from here to Caltzdorp promises a few big hills and we feel our legs need a rest.
Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,775 km (1,102 miles)
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