Somerset West – August 15

Tonight we sleep in Somerset West in a big house in a very quiet street. The house is fully equipped with a washing machine, dishwasher and a lovely shower

The last message was from Paternoster on August 12. Friday morning we left, not too early, towards Vredenburg and from there to Velddrif  and Piketberg. The road was mostly flat and went through cornfields and meadows with mountains in the background that were gradually approaching. After Piketberg, rapeseed was grown so everything was bright yellow in the valley that we have now driven into. What a beautiful area this is where the Cape Town-Johannesburg railway line goes through (the famous Blue Train). At the town of Gouda (really) there were 30 windmills because there is a strong constant wind blowing there so that power can easily be generated. We followed the road towards Tulbaugh and Ceres, beautifully situated villages in green valleys with forests and lots of agriculture. The campsite was a very beautiful one, located in a so-called  Fynbos  (pine trees among others). This one also has a beautiful garden and various, battered, animals. We were the only guests and were in bed at 7am against the cold.

In the morning we drove to sister-in-law Lilly to surprise Lisa’s mother. We slept in Franschoek in a B&B (there were no campsites).

Now we’re in Somerset West for the next 14 days. Lisa’s mother comes here to spend a few days with us. I have just completed some business issues(payments) and have immersed myself in the, completely idiotic, provisions to be allowed to travel back to my own country. For example, despite the fact that we are fully vaccinated, Holland wants a PCR test not older than 48 hours while it can take up to 5 days before the result is known here. We just laugh about it because then we stay a little longer but some ‘common sense’ would help.

However, it can get even crazier, I understood from my niece. Her children (yes really) had to undergo a rapid Corona test before they were allowed to enter the swimmingpool with the QR code provided.

Enough about Corona because otherwise I’m going to go all out. We are going to take a break and warm up. I’m going to walk a lot here to improve my fitness otherwise I’ll get into an argument with my personal trainer.