March 1, 2017
Bredasdorp to Stormsvlei: The kindness of strangers
We woke up feeling pretty knackered but, since Kate's was booked out for the night, we would either have to find somewhere else to stay in Bredasdorp or push on to somewhere else. We Googled up a campsite near Stormsvlei, an intersection of the road northwards to Robertson and the N2 highway about 55 kilometers away. There is no village there but there is a restaurant catering for travelers on the N2 and the local farmers. I phoned the listed cellphone number only to be told that the campsite was not operational because they did not have planning permission. However, the owners, Danette Claasens and Christa Smuts, very kindly insisted that we stay there as their guests for the night. Two days in a row where we have enjoyed good old-fashioned South African hospitality, something that has been conspicuous by its absence while in the fashionable holiday and tourist areas in the preceding week.
So we wearily packed our bikes and hit the road northwards at about a quarter past eight. The route through the fallow wheatlands had it fair share of hills so we stopped as often as we could find shade.
About fifteen kilometers out of Bredasdorp Christa Smuts, who was traveling to Cape Agulhas for the day, stopped next to us and gave us a frozen bottle of water to ensure that we had something cold to drink. About twenty kilometers later we passed a young family in a broken down car, so they got the bottle of water given to us by Christa.
We eventually arriving at the restaurant at about one o'clock and sat down to a few beers and a couple of burgers. It took a while after lunch to get back on our bikes to cycle the last few kilometers to the campsite, where we were met by Dannette who wanted to make sure we found its unmarked location.
Instead of allowing us to camp, they insisted that we stay in one of the fully equipped wooden chalets, so instead of rough camping, we are relaxing in luxury. How lucky can we get ?
It has been one year to the day that we moved out of our house, became "homeless" and started our nomadic life. It's one of the best decisions we ever made.
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 463 km (288 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |