Road Trip Day 11. Gariep

We can see the harbour from our site

There is nobody between us and the water

This morning we woke up in holiday mode. We got up late, had a late breakfast and later went for a swim and ice cream.

The swimming pool was not very busy

This afternoon we got back into tourist mode. I had phoned to find out about a cruise on the dam. The lady told me that we had to be at the restaurant outside the Forever Resort to pay by 10 to 4 and then the boat would leave at 4pm. We thought if we left at 3.30 we'd be able to get to the restaurant by 3.50. We miscalculated the distance ( and the map we were given is obviously not to scale.) At 3.45 a different lady phoned to find out if we were still coming and it seemed that we were not going to make it. When we got to the security control of the resort we decided to split up. Brian would go the the restaurant and  pay and I would go down to the yacht club and tell the captain my husband was still coming and please not to leave before he got there.  The yacht club was back in the direction we had come from and again further than I thought. I saw I wasn't going to make it so I started doing scouts pace (20 running steps and 20 walking steps that we used to do at Guides) until I caught up with a group of people heading in the same direction and then I could finally slow down (and breathe)
At about 4.15 a car came down the slope and Brian got out and the boat could depart. We apologised to the other passengers.

The trip was very interesting.
The dam is currently 57% full. Cnstruction began in 1966 and was completed in 1971. The purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use and power generation. It is the second largest man-made dam in the southern hemisphere after Kariba. The dam wall is 88m high and almost a kilometer long.
The electricity generated is fed into the grid and is annually 889 GWh.

After all the talk of drought it was lovely to see so much fresh water in one place. The perimeter is surrounded by nature reserves in an effort to help keep the dam unpolluted.

We turned around where 3 provinces intersect - Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.
Once again we drove through the harbour and admired the boats.

Brian and I could see Cubby from the jetty so we decided to cut across the low-water-area instead of going the long way around. 

We had a lovely braai and watched night fall over Gariep Dam. Tomorrow we hit the road again.

Road Trip Day 10. Philippolis and onward

Philippolis, the first town to be established in the province, was founded in 1823 as a mission station to reach the local Griqua people. It was named after Dr John Philip who was the superintendent of the London Missionary Society. Adam Kok II, the Griqua leader, settled here with his people in 1826. The kraal where he kept his cattle and horses can still be seen. In 1861 the Griquas left for Kokstad.

The Dutch Reformed Church was built on the spot where the original missionary church stood. During the Anglo-Boer War the church was converted into a fort and the windows of the spire were blocked with sandbags.

Other famous people who lived in Philippolis were Emily Hobhouse and Laurens van der Post, the author. Emily Hobhouse helped improve the lives of the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War and founded the first spinning and weaving school after the war  in 1905. 

Yesterday evening we climbed up a small hill to view the two naval cannons. They were presented by the Cape colonial government to Adam Kok III in 1840. They may have been used during the various wars between the Griqua, Basotho and Boers.

On the way back to the Kanon Guest House we saw The Shop - and it was open (6.45pm on a Saturday evening?). We looked around at some lovely antiques and art works. I was given a glass of port to sip while I browsed.

This morning we packed all our overnight things back into Cubby and spent some time looking around Philippolis.

We saw the Emily Hobhouse memorial garden......

......an interesting street sign......

....and the old jail.

Martha was our guide. Back in the main street we saw the Laurens van der Post memorial garden through a barred gate

and then we were on our way to Colesberg. (We decided to take the longer route to Gariep.)

We passed again the interesting old houses and old trucks on our way out.

The road to Colesberg was a main road between two country towns and this time we had to be careful of goats on the side of the road.

Colesberg is a slightly larger town with a choice of supermarkets and autobanks and petrol brands.

Like many other towns it is built around a church.

From Colesberg we got back onto the N1 and backtracked to Gariep.

 We decided to stay in the Forever resort even though it is slightly above our budget. It is a very well run resort, a cut above the average, and we are going to use the laundry facilities to do a load of washing tomorrow.