- a different route from what we planned
Day 5 (part 1) starts early in the morning, and we are filled with excitement for the Ouberg Pass.
My wife is constantly looking on social media trying to find out if the roads are flooded, but there are conflicting updates from people who heard from others that the pass is closed.
I ask her to call someone at a lodge and get firsthand information from people in the area about the condition of the road.
She gets in touch with a lady who says they last drove there in January, they are currently visiting in Pretoria, and everything was open. That was before the heavy rains.
Her husband tells us that he has turned around from these kinds of things before and regretted it each time. I mention that we're in a Patrol, and he responds that we shouldn't worry then. "It's a very capable vehicle to do the pass."
We decide to put away social media and take on the road from Sutherland to the Ouberg Pass.
The road to the Ouberg Pass is quite undramatic. A few puddles here and there, but nothing worrisome.
There are a few river crossings we have to cross and my wife and I laugh at each other because the road is "flooded". Lekker windgat de-lux.
- moments before the peak
The Ouberg Pass from the east feels like an ordinary unassuming single-track dirt road, and when you reach the top of the mountain, the pass is presented to your eyeballs in a sudden unexpected shock. It's incredibly breathtaking.
We stop to take in the incredible view and try to take photos that can do justice to the view, but it's nearly impossible. This is one of those scenes you have to experience yourself to understand.
- the edge
We stop at every rest area on the way down to take more photos, and I say to my wife, "This is probably going to be tougher going back."
Not even 5 minutes later, she assures me that she left her camera at one of the first stops at the top and that we need to go back. Incidentally, this was probably one of the U-turns I was most eager to do. The pass is indeed the same level of difficulty going up as it is going down.
- the pass
The dirt road from Ouberg into the Tankwa is very well kept with very little corrugation. The flora is quite different from what we saw before the pass. Even the air feels more the Karoo-ey.
We don't see any other vehicles, and all the farmhouses we pass by have their doors and windows closed and locked. It feels very remote and secluded. Peaceful.
- In the basin
- crossings are normal now
There is a river crossing just before the Tankwa River Lodge. It looks like all the other river crossings we've done today, but there is just a bit more water. As I drive towards the river, I can feel the road suddenly getting more slippery compared to the other crossings.
I stop in front of the bridge and ask my wife to walk over to make sure everything is still safe.
- this looks safe....
If you look at the filenames of the previous two photos, you'll notice that these two crossings are not even 3 minutes apart.
She says no.
I see a piece of concrete downstream that sticks out above the water in the middle of the river, and it looks very similar to the concrete that the other bridges were made from. We decide to look for another route, and I start reversing the Patrol.
- bridge or no?
And then, this happened:
Peter Connan wrote: ↑13 Aug 2023 05:16
... miss them even by just one foot and you can sink down to the chassis in seconds. This is especially relevant on "twee spoor" roads.
- this is not fine
... to be continued
