Monday, December 28, 2009

Cape Town to Johannesburg through the Little Karoo

After spending Christmas with some of the UK and Australian based family in Somerset West, outside of Cape Town, it was time for the long drive home to Johannesburg. It was finally an opportunity to spend a little time visiting and exploring some roads and places that I had read about or heard about for a long time - Route 62, Redstone Hills, Swartberg Pass, Cango Caves, Valley of Desolation and Graaf Reinet.

The objective of the first day’s drive was to reach Kruisrivier, a little north-east of Calitzdorp, using the smaller roads, and routes that I had never had the pleasure of traveling, but without having time to stop and explore those areas.

Departing Somerset West, I headed north to Wellington for an early morning coffee, then over Bains Kloof pass, down towards Worscester, and then through the ever changing agriculture and scenery of Robertson, Ashton, and Montagu. From Montagu one joins the well known R62, heading east. After Barrydale the R62 turns north-east towards the Swartberg Mountains, passing through Ladismith, and then heading through Calitzdorp on the way to Oudtshoorn.

My stop for the first few nights is Kruisrivier Guest Farm, in the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains, and I turn left off the R62 shortly after Caltzdorp, arriving in time to start understanding the area, and getting a sense of potential photo opportunities.

No comments:

Post a Comment