South Africa: Montagu to Somerset West. The end of the trip.

Thursday 16th July: Montagu to Somerset West.

We met for breakfast at 8am & were on the road soon after 10.

Sir John Montagu Guest House in Montagu

It is only 180 kms from Montagu to home although first I wanted to stop by Disa Motors in Gants centre near Somerset West. I bought Dusty from Pieter, one of the owners of Disa Motors. He’d owned it for about 7 years and had kept it in a condition that allowed us to undertake this trip. We just wanted to say thanks to him for that. Next stop was Al Dente for a wonderful chilli pasta and then La Piazza.

We pulled through the gates at about 3pm, quickly followed by Sylvia Owen, my friend and neighbour, who gave us both a huge hug and welcome. It’s good to be back. Oh, and the sun was blazing down on us, enough to be more than comfortable in a T-shirt.

Back home in La Piazza.

We’ve travelled 9811 kilometres since the 13th June from Nanyuki to Somerset West. It’s been fun, exciting, challenging. John & I have travelled 18,935 kms in the round trip. A few more statistics will be added if I ever work them out, like how many fried eggs did John & I eat. Certainly, John beat me on that.  As far as our cholesterol is concerned, doesn’t seem like any of us will be rushing off for a check just yet.

A huge thank to all of you who have been following our adventure. It must have been a bit frustrating waiting for updates but we really did have a problem finding internet access on the way down. If we couldn’t find a bed, we had no chance with an internet café!  Thanks again to each and every one of you for your messages and support since this trip started on the 15th February. It has meant a lot to us all. I’ll update again as we’re just off to the Ocean Basket for Fish & Chips. Finally, we popped into Harbour island in Gordon's Bay this afternoon where my friends Mike &Lily own an apartment. I am hoping to park Dusty in the underground car park there as my garage door isn’t high enough to get Dusty in with the roof rack on. We saw this car as we drove in. We all know the roads are dangerous in Africa but really, there’s a 10kph speed limit in this residential complex!  It must have been a good dinner party.

Harbour Island, Gordon's Bay

Very strange accident

Our Land Rover Disco was fantastic. Trusty Dusty was just that. The only real problem we had was a puncture coming into Mbeya in Tanzania. That we wasted 2 batteries was probably due to one just dying of old age and the other one, the one we used to keep the fridge going, was drained too many times. Despite all that, we still got enough out of it to ensure we had cold beer, wine & milk. What more could one want. It's going to get a full service now from Nekkies in Wellington. Thank you all for following our blog, and our adventures. There will be plenty more to follow in the years ahead I hope.

John & Frank signing out.

La Piazza, Somerset West.