A Nice Little Road Trip

We sold the Imagine Comfortvan last Saturday and the new Gecko Xtreme will only be ready for collection in November – so there won’t be any last minute camping trips for a few months. But that’s not stopping us from taking the odd midweek break.

Our coffee shop friends, Rachel and Willie haven’t had a holiday in three years so we persuaded them to take off just three days to join us on a quick trip up the Garden Route to visit Willie’s old school in George, spend a night on a train in Mossel Bay and check out the animals at Addo Elephant Park.

Willie and Rachel closed Shipwreck Coffee Shop early on Saturday afternoon and we set off for the first leg of our journey. We were all in high spirits and our scenic trip to Mossel Bay was thoroughly enjoyed as we chatted, joked and laughed all the way.

The South African Railways has a proud history and many of us oldies remember the joy of train travel to and from school, college, university or city to city for holidays with our families before flying became a more common way of long distance commuting. Many of those grand old trains have been retired but some have been converted into restaurants and/or hostel/hotels. Once such place is The Santos Express in Mossel Bay. And it’s there that we spent a fun-filled night. It took me back to my college days when along with a trainload of other students we travelled second class from Cape Town to Grahamstown and back four times a year. The trip took two nights and a day and boy did we have fun! The Santos Express was stationary but I swear I could still hear the clickety clack of the train wheels as I drifted into dreamland on Saturday night.

Boarding the train like excited kids

That’s me peeking out of the tiny compartment door

We ate in the dining car – just like the old days

Traditional bobotie – it was delicious

I mentioned the Post Office Tree in Mossel Bay in a previous blog but had never been there to see it myself. So I insisted that before we made our way to George on Sunday we all pay the site a visit. Everybody agreed and we all found it very interesting.

Under this five hundred year old milkwood tree the first post office of South Africa was established when a sailor placed a letter in a shoe and hung it in the tree for other sailors to find and read.

After our quick visit The Earl hurried us on as we wanted to make another stop in George so Willie could visit his old school. He hasn’t been back since matriculating in the early 1980s. It was indeed a wonderful trip down memory lane.

Willie, Head Boy of Hoerskool Die Bult, outside his old hostel.

What a huge influence our schools and colleges have on our lives. Happy memories were recalled and it was fantastic to share the calling back of the past with Willie.

The journey continued until at 3 pm we arrived at the South Entrance to Addo Elephant Park where we spent two nights. Our first afternoon was amazing and it was just so awesome to share one of our favourite parks with Willie and Rachel.