Although it was perfectly dry in the tent the ground was soaking wet this morning. After awhile the sun started to peek out and we were hoping for a nice day after the rain last night. This morning we saw more of the beauty of Central Drakensberg. The area is self sufficient in respect of entertainment, eating out and outdoor sporting activities. There are walking tracks and it depends how fit one is, could be for a couple of hours or 2 days hike. I was very tempted to go for a round of golf at the beautiful Champagne Sports club, but I had no gear with me and time was also a constraint. Maybe next time I am in the area!

After leaving the campsite we headed for the Valleys Bakery, where Alison had a field day choosing biscuits, doughnuts and muffins. Of course I had a hand in choosing too! Our next stop was at the information centre for Central Drakensberg where there are also various outlets selling souvenirs, meat and trout. Out main intention was to get the trout as we had not eaten fish for some time, and it turned out to be a shopping spree for the three of us.

Upon leaving the info centre, we continued on the R600 and thereafter the R103 but the scenery never lapsed. Along the way I spotted an outlet selling Jim Greens hand made shoes and that’s the imitation croc I had on. We turned into the shop and ended buying four more pairs of imitation crocs one pair each for Alison and I and two pairs for Adrian. And guess what, I was taken for a ride on the first pair I bought at a price which was 35% higher.

At Estcourt I spotted a spare part shop and got a wheel spanner for Tuah. The shop owner saw the logo on my T shirt and immediately enquired if we were really from Malaysia. Apparently he knew about Malaysia well enough to tell me that a lot of second hand engines find their way to South Africa from Malaysia. I didn’t know that we exported second hand car engines as I thought we imported them from Japan.. Maybe some smart bugger is importing from Japan and re-exporting to South Africa.

We arrived at Underberg but couldn’t find any place advertising camping. I was a little worried that it was going to be a repeat of the previous night at Melmoth. As we had ample time I went past the town hoping to find a place not too far off. We saw the advertisement for Dragons Rest camping and caravan a couple of kms out of town indicating it to be 10kms away, and what a relief it was!

When we arrived at the Dragons Rest, John the caretaker told us that he was expecting 5 more 4X4s and if we were part of the party. Since we were not he found us a place secluded from the rest of the 4X4 that were already there. Since we were at the campsite early Alison had time to do washing while I started the fire for the braai. Unfortunately I                                                 was a little mean on the charcoal, due to the fact that we only had two trout to grill, and the fire didn’t burn too well. It took quite an effort to grill the trout but once cooked they were delicious especially eating with our hands.  .