We woke up this morning to our alarms set for 5:30 and 5:40 for our drive to Graaff-Reinet. We had already looked up the journey on our sat nav and the estimated travel time was 4.5 hours, hence our very early start. We were due to meet Chantel at her farm around 10:30 so we packed the car with the last of our things and headed off down the road.
When we set the sat nav this morning we realised that the route it wanted us to take took us 40 km east before taking us 70 km west. This looked like an awfully big diversion and there appeared to be a shorter route. We had the sat nav investigate the shorter route and it told us it would take 7.5 hours because of unpaved roads on this route. However we encountered this issue a few days ago when we realised the sat nav thinks you are only doing 10 km/hr on unpaved roads. We had a hunch that we could travel the unpaved route faster than the long diversion.
The unpaved road started out quite tame and the ETA started falling almost immediately. However the dirt portion of the road was a little longer than we expected (50km) and the condition of the road continued to deteriorate. Eventually the road became almost exclusively rocks and a portion of the road had fallen down the cliff face into the streams below. Progress was slower than we wished but our ETA continued to drop from an original 14:14 to a very pleasing 10:15 by the end of the dirt track. Both Jenny and I were very glad that we decided to take this route as the views and scenery were absolutely amazing!
Once we finally arrived back on paved roads we were confronted with another long stretch on one road (231km this time). As we proceeded down this road it became more and more apparent that it was getting very desolate along the side of the road. Once we realised this we made sure we stopped for some petrol and snacks in one of the small towns about 170 km shy of Graaff-Reinet, mostly because we didn't know if there would be another stop, and we were a bit hungry! When we left the petrol station Jenny decided it was time for me to drive. My stretch of the drive was very boring in comparison to Jenny's, mostly because mine involved a 50 km straight on a huge plain. Another hour and a half of driving and we arrived at the farm slightly behind schedule but fairly early considering our adventurous detour. We met Chantel's brother Mike on the drive into the farm and headed down the road to join Chantel's parents, Gary and Evette, at the farm house.
Their house, situated on their 200,000 acre farm, has an amazing wrap around porch where we first gathered for snacks and drinks after our arrival. We found out just before we arrived at the farm that Chantel and her friends were running a little late and we were likely to beat them to the farm by about an hour. So we used our time chatting to her parents and brother over tea, coffee, scones, biscuits and beer. Right on schedule Chantel and her friends pulled in and we sat and had a few more drinks with them before heading inside for a very delicious lunch of leg of lamb and all the trimmings! Once we had our food we were all so full and content that we decided that a nap was in order before the nights activities. We set off with Nicola, Dries and Jonathan to find the cottage where we would be staying so we could all lay down and get some rest. We agreed we would meet back at the house at 17:00 for drinks and dinner.
The cottage we are staying in is called Magnificent View cottage, and it really does have a magnificent view! We have to drive through the riverbed to get there, but the small amount of water running in the river is no match for the land rover. When we arrived everyone was pretty tired, so we all headed to our respective rooms to nap. The wind was blowing quite fiercely and so it rattled the bathroom window enough to wake me once to go close them, and the front gate rattled enough to wake John up to close it, but besides that it was a wonderful snooze! We all roused ourselves just before five and drove back across the river.
The group of us got drinks, chairs and wood ready to drive down to the river, and Chantel's parents and Mike were to follow once the rest of the family arrived in around an hours time from Port Elizabeth. Chantel drove us to the riverbed and the rest of us piled onto the back of the bakkie, I've always loved doing that on her farm, it's so much fun to just hold onto the rails and bump along :D I had also grabbed a jacket from their hallway as it was pretty chilly that evening, and was really glad I had on the drive! Once we got down to the riverbed we positioned the bakkie to try to block some of the freezing wind that was blowing up the river, got all the chairs and booze out and sat down to enjoy some champagne :D Chantel and I both thought it was going to be too uncomfortable to stay down there for dinner, but Dan very smartly lit the fire even though we told him there was no point, and the wind died down too, so the rest of the family came down to the river with the food.
Just before they all arrived, Dan got us to go gather enough drift wood for a really big fire later on, and it certainly kept us warm! Evette's sister and her family came up from PE for the weekend, and so that made 14 of us on the farm, it was excellent!! Dinner was wonderful, Mike braaied for us all, and initially made yummy chicken wings on sosatie sticks over some coals raked from the centre of Dan's huge fire. For the main meal we had springbok fillets with a divine mushroom sauce on roosterkoek, a type of bread. Chantel's salad of leaves, feta and veggies was great, even though she had managed to get half of it on the table back at the house when she was making it for us :D
Everyone had an amazing time down by the river, we all drank quite a bit, and at one stage half of us were up playing an Indian war cry game. To play, you pick a sign to be yours, such as your fingers up by your ears to signify horns, and everyone has a different sign. You all then clap and make your own sign and then someone else's sign, they then have to make their sign and another persons sign, and so it goes on. It may sound simple but when you are all a bit tipsy and trying to remember some crazy signs whilst you are all clapping very fast, it becomes hilarious! Once the drinks had been diminished enough that everyone became cold from the wind, we packed up all the things and drove back, we changed cars and drove over the river for a great nights sleep.
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