All too soon our five days with the Kokstad Clan came to an end.   We caught up with Barbara and Andrew, saw our friends Neil and Rose who live on the farm next to Lauren and Alan and just relaxed and got ready for the next phase of our journey.

Shannon went back to St John’s on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday we were all set to say farewell to Lauren, Allan and Simon.   It will be another month before we see them all again.

The weather was not too hot and not too cold but when we reached Underberg we saw snow on the mountains!  From there to Howick we went through several patches of mist and had fun (not!) playing dodge the pothole for many miles.   But after that things improved, the weather warmed up and the scenery was stunning.

 

We stopped in Ermelo to refuel and as we try to collect U-count points we searched Google Maps for a Caltex garage. It took us a roundabout way and when we found one we were a bit disconcerted to see some huge trucks at every pump.   However, the boss came running over and told us not to worry – we would be next in line. I asked if he would direct me to some clean loos and he immediately called a staff member to show me where they were. She took me to the extremely clean and well-maintained Fresh Stop rest room.  When I emerged the boss checked that I was completely satisfied.   Once again – what excellent service.   The refuelling was ready within minutes and the attendant explained exactly how we could back to the N11 and warned us about upcoming road works.  What a pleasant refuelling stop!

Our overnight stay was at Pumpkin Tree Lodge in Middelburg a very different Middelburg the one we spent the night at in The Eastern Cape!  Mpumalanga’s Middelburg is quite a big town.  We were greeted by a friendly owner with whom we had a long conversation on the merits of different caravans.  She too was shopping for a new one and was very interested in hearing about our pending new Gecko.

We decided not to go to the Italian restaurant she recommended as although we felt like having pizza it did not seem to offer Banting options.  However, there was a take away menu from Pizza del Forno in our room and we decided to go there instead.  Because I put in the wrong address in the GPS we found ourselves at the wrong place and had to start again and it took us a while before we finally got to our destination. On our return home we laughed because it only took two minutes!

At first it looked like it was in the dodgy part of town and we were afraid that our car might be broken into. But there was secure parking right outside and we could see our vehicle from where we sat.  The food was excellent our waitress was attentive.   I had a Banting Base Pizza topped with feta, avo and bacon and Earl had the same with normal base. Both were excellent.  The owner was wonderful too.  We asked him about the condition of the roads to Haenertsburg and he gave us excellent advice on which way to go.

In this part of South Africa at this time of the year it is HOT!   The climate is subtropical and we are also in a Malaria area.  (We are taking prophylactic medication)  I heard a mosquito in our room in the night but luckily I was able to kill him!

In the morning we dressed in cool clothes but because we knew the temperature would be lower in the Magoebaskloof, we had our jackets ready.   The trip once again was very scenic.  How lovely it would be if our Western Cape dams had as much water as we saw in Loskop Dam just before entering Limpopo Province.

It took just on four hours to get to Haenertsburg and our first port of call was to the Gecko factory.  And there she was – our brand new caravan!   What a thrill to see her.  Alison greeted us enthusiastically and brought out the stuff we’d couriered up. We spent the next half hour packing things in and admiring our new home on wheels.   Tomorrow we will have our orientation and on Friday we take her into The Kruger National Park

Originally we planned to enter Kruger on Saturday but the weather is cold, misty and wet and seems to be set in for a while.  Earl no longer does extreme fishing so we decided to book an extra day in Kruger instead!

Once we’d settled into our accommodation – a two bedroomed front cottage at Stanford Lake we set off to town to shop for supper. The little supermarket has a limited range of produce but we managed to get some boerewors, steak, garlic, sweet potatoes, baby marrows, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and olives for tonights supper.  We also bought eggs and bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast.   Then we found a lovely little coffee shop called the  Book coffee shop.  It was the most fascinating place that sold all sorts of goodies as well as old and interesting books.  We ordered a hot chocolate and cheesecake to share!  It was divine.

The electricity was cut for a few hours due to some cable problems but this did not bother us too much.   We lit a fire in the stove and made our braai and by supper time the lights were on again.   It was altogether a very pleasant evening.