On Monday we made the road trip home after a family holiday. My husband was adamant that he wanted to take Route 62 which is a parallel inland route as opposed to our regular N2 Coastal route home. They’re both about the same length but the scenery is very different.
We left Jeffreys Bay at about 9.20am after a last look at Supertubes (the famous surf spot) and a coffee from African Perfection.
As you leave Jbay you’re waved on by the many wind turbines as you drive straight through the middle of a wind farm. It’s quite a spectacular sight. When we had arrived there was no wind and the turbines were all dead still. But this morning the wind was up and we enjoyed watching them spin into the wind. The wonder of renewable energy at work. We seem to have many of these wind farms popping up all over the western Cape as well. Amongst our rolling black outs and loadshedding it’s good too seem alternative energy development taking place in our country.
We have a right from the short stretch on the N2 onto the Route 62. This remains our road all the way to Worcester where we will join the N1. The roads are markedly bouncy and the tar is grey. Most haven’t been serviced in years and are badly patched.
As we cover the first 100kms we enter fruit country with farm after farm all producing apples and pears. Some seem to have money and protect their fruit with pristine sheeting spreading over hectares, while others sit out in the sun, looking a bit dry in the current water restricted environment of the Eastern Cape.
The towns hosting the workers of the farms are littered with matchbox houses in various colours, often with washing hanging outside to dry.
We pass through a wide valley between the high mountains in the distance. Each shadowed by the previous one.
We enter the Huisrivierpas or translated would be the House River Pass which leads between the steep rocky slopes. The bends are hairpin and need some careful driving with our packed car.
Just before Oudtshoorn we drive through mountain side of Specboom. It’s a hardy succulent that loves these incredibly dry conditions in the Karoo (this is our dry desert area of the western Cape). The Specboom gets far larger here than what I’ve seen anywhere else in the Cape. We even have a few small bushes at home but the moist sea air must be stunting them.
We stopped for lunch with an old friend for a couple hours and then got back on the road. We were now in the Eden District of the Western Cape.
This is also a part of the Wine Route and home to more fruit farms all nestled on the lower slopes of the mountains. We passed through the town of Montagu and didn’t manage to find a decent coffee spot. Montagu is know for its natural hot springs, dried fruit and wine. We have another friend living here but didn’t have the time to stop again.
As we leave Montagu we are met with roadworks, stop-go’s and uneven roads. Luckily it’s not yet dark as this would be pretty terrifying at night.
We leave the mountains and are back in the wide valleys of Ashton another wine town.
We go over a bridge with some great engineering and artistic flair and head into the older town side. This is side of town the streets are lined with Mom & Pop shops.
And surprisingly the roadworks are left as is for the day. The next stretch lead us into the setting sun and gorgeous clouds with large trucks bursting out of the distance towards us. The clouds got more and more beautiful as the evening progressed.
Here’s one final shot before it got dark and lonely on the road.
This is definitely a trip with doing with many stops along the way. In fact you could plan stops in Montagu at the hot springs, Oudtshoorn for Ostrich rides and the Cango Caves and then head to the surf in Jeffreys Bay or to the forests of Tsitsikama near Knysna. There is plenty to do and see and everything is scenic.
I hope you enjoyed the ride with us!
