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Friday, 2000-07-28, Last Camp : It's goodbye to the people we've been spending the last two months with. Pim & Thandie, Terry & Ina, and Clive & Sylvia are off to Windhoek, then via the trans-Kalahari back to the big smoke. Rene & Joke and Manfred & Gisela are not quite sure where they're going, might meet up with us, might not.
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So we hit the long road south. Another long slow uphill, reaching 1700m at the Zarishoogte pass, which we ascend in 2nd gear low box -- yes, it's that steep. And quite cold, 20°C. We pass one car going the other way, and one hopeful hitchhiker. Obviously a quiet road. |
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[WPT 163 -25.890361 16.823035 28-JUL-00 12:32 GMT 14:32 SAST Helmeringhausen]
We briefly stop at Helmeringhausen to get some fuel, then back on the road again, turning off towards Aus.
[WPT 164 -26.284694 16.564518 28-JUL-00 13:20 GMT 15:20 SAST Neisip Rest Camp]
The Neisip Rest Camp has a little shop, where the lady behind the till tells us that her sister lives just across the road from my parents in Bellville -- small world.
| The road to Luderitz was designed by an engineer with a long straight ruler. It doesn't follow any natural contours (OK, there are no natural contours, the land is flat flat) but bends slightly every few kilometers to stay on course. In between the bends you can use the road for a runway. |
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[WPT
165 -26.633778 15.151391 28-JUL-00 16:30
GMT 18:30 SAST
Sharks Island]
We reach the Shark Island campsite in Luderitz in time to witness the spectacular sunset. Rene & Joke are here, having left earlier than us as usual. Rene has gearbox trouble, and he needs a large allen key to fix it. |
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We meet up with our friends from the White Lady again. They're sleeping outside their Land-Rover, and it took them a long time to get started in the morning, I think it got bloody cold out there... |
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Saturday, 2000-07-29, Luderitz : We do the obligatory Kolmanskop tour, have coffee and sarmies there. The guide persuaded french couple to sing us a song up on the old stage, they sang the Marseillaise.
Back in Luderitz we homed in on an internet cafe, but Hotmail was dead. Had lunch at the Badger Grill, which was so good that we immediately booked supper there as well. Recommended!
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After an afternoon kip we headed up to the Felsenkirche, with it's exceptional stained glass windows. My notes read Must come again with ASA 50 slide film, tripod, wide angle lens, and get special permission to photograph eastern side in the morning. |
We drove past the Goerke house, beautiful from the outside, but closed, unfortunately. I'll have to go back to see the inside some day.
Sunday, 2000-07-30, Luderitz : We wake to gulls and church bells. A really nice morning, we have coffee and rusks, and depart.
[WPT 167 -26.607594 16.070707 30-JUL-00 10:14 GMT 12:14 SAST Turnoff to wild horses]
The lookout point to see the wild horses is about 1 kilometer from the road. We saw 14 horses (1 near, 13 at binocular distance) and a gemsbok.
[WPT 170 -27.524228 17.814610 30-JUL-00 14:56 GMT 16:56 SAST Caņon roadhouse]
The Caņon Roadhouse looks like a really nice place to stay over. The restaurant is decorated in 50's diner style. Motor car related signs and posters all over the place. Fascinating. We fill up, 61 liters.
[WPT 173 -27.917317 17.489730 30-JUL-00 16:34 GMT 18:34 SAST Ai-Ais]
We reach our destination for the night, the Ai-Ais hot springs.
Monday, 2000-07-31, Ai-Ais : What can I say? Spent the day in the water, gloriously relaxing.
Tuesday, 2000-08-01, Ai-Ais : We depart at 09:30, reach Noordoewer at 10:10. I fill up all the fuel tanks -- fuel is cheaper in Namibia than in South Africa and I'm smuggling in as much of it as I can. Elmari spends our last N$30 on a wooden bowl, and some coffee from the Engen. The coffee is horrible, we throw it away.
At the South African side of customs, the nice gentleman asks me if I have a permit for the wood on the roofrack? I tell him it's the first of August, not the first of April. He is adamant, apparently there's an illegal alien type beetle that lives in the wood, so I give it to him, hit the road.
And that just about wraps up the Y2K tour. We had to stop to investigate an expensive noise, it turned out to be the front propshaft boot that was disintegrating. But we still made Bellville by 19:00, went to my brother's wine shop for a wine tasting.
Monday, 2003-11-10, Kenilworth : I finish this writeup. Yup, 3 years and a bit. Must be a new record.
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