Day 1 - 31 August 2013
We left Brackenfell at 09h00 on a wet and cold Saturday morning. First stop was Ceres where we saw lots of snow around. Temperature was [dc]6[/dc] at 11h20 just before the Theronsberg pass.Taking the R355 towards Calvinia we passed thru the Tankwa Karoo and stopped for a coffee at the Tankwa Farm Stall. Lots of people gathered around there, all on their way to the Hantam Vleisfees at Calvinia. It was still very cold. On our way we saw cars and bakkies approaching from the front all splattered in mud, but the road we were on was dry. At first we thought it was just local farmers who had to deal with their we plaaspaadjies, but shortly after our lunch stop we saw the reason for the muddy vehicles. The top 2 inches of the road surface was a slippery muddy sludge, and putting a wheel outside of the existing tracks saw the Hilux doing broadies and sliding all over the show. We slowed down to approx 30km/h just to keep the car on the road. Before long the whole Hilux was covered in mud. We were relieved to hit the tar again just before Calvinia. At least now we could relax a little. The hills around the town also had a light dusting of snow, and it was bitterly cold. But the Hantam Vleisfesers had a good time by the look of things. Outside Calvinia we drove through a light hail shower, which washed some of the mud off the Hilux and left it with an ostrich leather look... First fuel stop was Williston and we got fresh 50ppm diesel.. times they are a-changin... The rest of the way to Carnavon was pretty uneventful, late afternoon with the sun from behind we made quick time to get to SKA country. We spent the night at Ikhaya self catering cottages in town. Overnight temps plummeted and there was some frost on the ground the next morning.