After a much needed rest I headed the 10 minutes up the road to O R Tambo Airport to print some documents, check emails and meet Jan, who was arriving on a flight from Paris. As it turned out the printing facilities at the Telkom internet cafe weren’t working, so I hoped there’d be another opportunity on our way down to Himeville.
Settling in for a long drive in South Africa / Photo by Stephen Chapman
Met Jan Vrsinsky at OR Tambo International Airport
Free Wi-Fi hasn’t been particularly common so far and the airport is no exception, they offer a few differently priced access packages. I paid for some access, did what I needed to do then scribbled Jan’s name onto a piece of blank paper and headed down to the arrivals hall. It’s always a bit difficult trying to find someone that you haven’t yet met, fortunately we had no trouble making contact. Jan spotted my piece of paper and we headed upstairs to the food area to chat over a drink before hitting the road.
Long drive down to Himeville
To Jan’s credit he showed no reluctance to jump into a car for 6 hours immediately after his 15 hours travelling from Prague to Paris to Johannesburg. In fact his enthusiasm for being in South Africa was a delight. We left the carpark using the GPS to find our way onto the motorway towards Durban, Jan got busy taking some video of the roads on his iPhone.
Jan checks his panoramic photography equipment
The scenery and road was pretty dull – flat straight roads - until we reached Harrismith and then started to get much more interesting and move around a bit. We made a stop at an Ultra City for a Steers Burger, Jan took his first South Africa pano and we pushed onward. By the time we reached the Midland Meander area the geography had changed immensely and so too had the weather. Clouds had developed amongst the forested hill slopes and the air was much cooler.
A change in the weather
After passing Howick the fog really closed in and visibility was horrendous as we wound our way into the Southern Drakensberg. It wasn’t a great end to a 6 hour drive that had seen us having lunch under blue skies and Jan basking in the southern hemisphere warmth.
Arrival in Himeville
We pulled into a dark Himeville about 6.30pm and stopped at the Himeville Arms to ask where our B & B was (Sani Manor). Fortunately it was just down the road. Jenny, the owner, welcomed us and we immediately felt better about being in Himeville. We walked back up to the bar for a beer and were happy to be there. Appointments were scheduled for the following morning and afternoon, and we’d had a busy day so we didn’t stay too long.
Himeville Arms Bar in South Africa
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