Day 323 / 88

Date: 1 March 2023
Sleeping location: Middleton residence, Modjadjiskloof/Duivelskloof, South Africa
Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 115 / 19950 / 5113
Estimated climb (m today/total/total Part 2): 800 / 173000 / 55000
Punctures: 1

Day in three words: Falling into Autumn

My rear tyre had been very slowly deflating for a few days and had done so again overnight, so I admitted defeat and took the tyre off to investigate. There was a puncture, a very small one, which looked like it had come from a thorn (the nemesis of even the toughest tyre). This was a sad moment as it represented the first puncture of the entire trip, but I suppose one in 20,000km isn’t bad. After repairing this I was reluctant to leave the lovely atmosphere at the Venters’ and in classic fashion I took my time over it and didn’t set off until almost 11.

My lateness was partially offset by the big descent through town and onto the main road the other side, and almost immediately it was warmer and back into endless empty savannah - it had felt like British late summer up on the hill, with the cloud and the drizzle and a jumper on. The road had a nice wide shoulder so it was safe but also boring and noisy, and I made good progress as the surface was smooth and the wind still. I stopped for lunch at a service station/shop array with a picnic bench and a well appointed place to buy drinks and, if I'd needed, snacks and lunch itself. This is a different world to everything since Europe and I need to stop carrying so much food so I can take advantage of it.

 

Casper had mentioned that rail access roads were often good cycling so I checked one out that could save me a bit of distance, but it was sandy and overgrown and I quickly turned tail back to the road. Shortly after this I turned left off the main road and into a quieter road with a series of gentle climbs and a mild headwind. At some point along here I crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and, as it was the first of March, stepped into autumn. A quirk of the timing of my trips is that I will only cycle in summer, autumn and “tropical” despite cycling the period December to March twice. 

 

Mid afternoon I got a message from Casper saying that he had a friend, Reuben, along my route who'd offered to put me up. This was great news but I needed to put some effort in to get there before dark*. This was aided by the road dropping down 400m through rolling forested hills. At the bottom it was hot and certainly didn't feel like autumn, although the sun is noticeably weaker down at these latitudes - it’s still hot, but it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to burn your skin off. It was more populated down here and, in an effort to single-handedly improve South African race relations, I was waving at everyone I saw by the side of the road. Most people waved back, but not all, which is a strange feeling 

Towards the end of the day I hit the R36, which almost anywhere else in Africa would be dirt but here was a nice big road. There was a long ridge of rippled green mountains which I was sneaking round the side of, and vast fruit plantations with an army of pickers all clocking off for the day, many of them shouting and waving at me. They had picked the fruit so well that it was all gone and I couldn't tell what it was, but Reuben reckoned avocados. Up over a small climb the views over the rolling green savannah were good, and down the other side Cars by Gary Numan came on my Spotify and I began singing along and inventing new lyrics.**

I got to Modjadjiskloof/Duivelskloof*** around sunset, and Reuben and his mum Nita drove down into town to get me and also some KFC, as the power was off (even though it technically shouldn’t have been) and they couldn’t cook dinner. Normally I like to cycle everywhere but this time a lift was welcomed as they lived up the hillside and I would come back the same way tomorrow. They were very friendly and welcoming and put me up in a little granny flat under their very nice main home, which Nita’s parents had built themselves. They had five dogs of varying sizes and there was a lot of action when I initially came upstairs for dinner. A few beers hit the spot and they kept offering me more food so in the end I ate about 60% of it. Nita then produced some Quality Street for dessert and I had to explain the near-mythical status they hold in the British Christmas psyche. We talked about all manner of things and I had a really pleasant and comfortable evening. So far South Africa has been absolutely lovely to me.

*In fairness to Casper, he messaged a couple of hours earlier but I had my phone on airplane mode

**Here there are cars, much more than before, they’re all over the road, I can see more than four, big cars

***A lot of towns here seem to have a new name and an old name, but the old name is often more frequently used, so I use both