foreigneRS

got back today from a 2 week trip to south africa. was over there working with ford on hot climate field testing, so some business, some pleasure.

what a fantastic place. didn't have time to do everything that i would choose to if i went there on holiday, which i would like to one day. no game parks, shark diving, extreme sports etc, but did manage to take in some sights around cape town, cape of good hope etc.

table mountain is stunning. got a great view of it yesterday from across the bay



might make this one my desktop picture



the cableway up there is cool, as the floor in the cabin rotates as you go up/down so that everyone gets a good view



once up there, the views over the edge were spectacular



i've got hundreds of photos from the 2 weeks, but thought i'd share mostly just the car ones for you. hope you like them. EDIT - have now decided to show you the full story of the 2 weeks. hope you enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures

generally, the quality of roads throughout the country was amazing. except this one in cape town



we travelled from cape town 550km to the north to springbok and the surface was flawless. considering the size of some of the trucks that use them to transport the mining machinery and output, we were surprised just how good they were



also considering the temperature that they cope with. we measured the road surface at over 70 degrees C when we were out testing and like a pair of idiots took our shoes and socks off to see who could run the furthest all the way to the namibian border and across to pofadder the roads were just great. bit straight and boring in places though.



this is the sort of thing we were doing. sitting in the shade until the vehicles got to 60 degrees C inside in the midday sun and then getting in and driving off and seeing how quickly the A/C makes the interior comfortable to the passengers.



in cape town, we saw the south african goonybus. no cossie power in that one though



pick ups (called buckies in afrikaans) were popular, and there are a couple of ford based ones that we didn't get over here

fiesta based bantum



old escort



then of course some p100's. this one was on a ranch where we went on sunday and did some rifle, pistol and clay pigeon shooting, quad biking, and a 4x4 safari where we saw all manner of wildlife. top day out, one of the best of my life.



the ford dealer up in springbok was also a mazda dealer. this is his racecar for the local oval track series. the noise was phenomenal








he also had a couple of old bangers lying around. i would have loved to take the sierra estate, a 3.0 v6 rwd, rallying around the mountains





this one didn't quite make it



a couple of random shots around cape town









and some non-fords





the mk2 (or is it 3?) golfs are still produced over there and very popular. look good in modern solid colours



brilliant place, very friendly people, excellent food and drink at cheap prices. thoroughly recomended for a holiday if you get the chance

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

that looks cool

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Thats a mark 1 golf is it not?

I spotted one in the 4th bottom pic and was going to say i thought they were still made there!

I really want to go to South Africa at some point as it is an amazing place! Sounds like a nice trip for you. Would be nice to do the game reserves, shark dives etc

kingycos

Some awesome photos there mate.....

GARETH T

real cool pics

JohnnyB

I used to live there, that golf is a city golf, they came in bright colours bright yellow was the most comon.

I had a Mk3 escort buckie it was a 1.6 carbed one, when I bought it. You never got MFI cars there.

but I found a imported xr3i which had been crashed and fitted the engine to my buckie.

K.Goa

Nice pics! I was 12 days in cape town just before cristmas, was awsome, so much to do! We went sharkdiving, rented harly davidsons and drowe from cape town to cape point, excellent trip! Will definently be back some day!

skinnyman9000

Golf is a mk1 (tut tut). Unfortunately they dont make the gti models over there

Richie.

iTrader: (5)

Good pics Nick

Did you sample any of the night life

GUZZLER

iTrader: (3)

Smit

iTrader: (5)

Quality photos Nick

This one would make a rude desktop

JUMP!!!!!!!!!!! Ok maybe not.................

foreigneRS

dankie for the kind comments

forgot the best car pic of all - taken in the v & a



didn't get the chance to sample the cape town night life. if i ever go on holiday, i hope to do so much more, but working 11 hours a day meant that time was limited. what i should have done was tack on a few days holiday at the beginning and end

skinnyman9000 golfs are not my favourite car, although i did own a mk1 gti in germany for 6 months they have one badged as a gti over there, but it was 5 door and only 1.4

JohnnyB buckie sounds cool. when you first see one, you think is it just an escort that someone has chopped the back off, but then you see it's factory.

i reckon some of those would sell like hot cakes over here. the bantum looked well sweet, and there's a similar one from opel based on the corsa. as they're rhd, they could easily be used over here. would be perfect for my work tool where i have a 3 door fiesta. could even put a motocross bike in the back

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Excellent pics of a fabulous place. Nicole and I were there in the 2nd week of january. I may tag some pics onto here if you like? Or i could make another topic maybe...

Brian

iTrader: (2)

Good pic's mate


Brian

foreigneRS

Stu @ M Developments tag them on here please mate if you like and edit the title if you want. would be good to show others all in one topic maybe.

i've got loads more photo's of the trip that i will add, not just boring cars.

foreigneRS

more photo's and story from me then

sunday 4th feb. flight lands in cape town at 9am. sat on the wrong side (left) of the plane to get a good view of cape town as we come in to land spectacular views of the dragon mountains to the east of the city though, and a good view of Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned



picked up the hire car (2.0 focus 4 door auto - slow and gutless ) and headed directly south to the coast to start a drive around what we thought would be a spectacular coastline. as we headed away from the airport, we found ourselves driving through one of the many townships. jesus wept, i'd never seen anything like it the ramshackle 'buildings' that people were living in were unbelievable. didn't fancy stopping to take a picture right in the middle of it, but you get the idea from this picture



that made us think a bit, and then i noticed the glass in the hire car



when we got to the coast of false bay, we were not dissappointed. the scenery was stunning.



we wanted to cram in a lot on that day, as the next day we had to travel up to Sprinbok in Northern Cape to start work, so we didn't stay long at any one place before moving on. we planned to drive around the whole bay and then around the cape and back up the western side before going up table mountain.

we stopped on the east coast of the cape at the appropriately named boulder bay. there are penguins that live here, would you believe? we didn't see them as we were a bit late in the day



the road around the cape was just stunning, with breathtaking views all along. we had to pay a small fee to enter the national park that takes you to cape point, but it's well worth it. when we got to cape point, we didn't really have time to take the furnicular railway all the way, but at least we had been there





moving on up the west coast, the coastline was even more dramatic, with the atlantic waves crashing in on endless white (empty ) beaches



the toll road around to Houts Bay was superb. i would love to ride it on a bike one day like an alpine road, but with fantastic coastal views





after that, we thought about checking in to the hotel before going up table mountain, but couldn't resist any longer. there's a short drive up a twisty road to the base station, and then the cableway takes you to the top nearly 1000m up. don't look down if you don't like heights



once up there, it was a bit windy and chilly (see first post with pic of titanic rivets ).



we followed the paths about a bit and saw some lizards, dassies and a snake, but then the cloud that forms the famous 'table cloth' came rolling in nice to see from below, but spoilt the views from the top


so we called it quits and headed for the hotel to freshen up and change before heading out to the v & a docks for an evening meal. was a nice hotel overlooking the sea just under the lions head mountain, but we no time to sample the delights of the pool as there were better things to do



from the bar serving belgian beer, you get a fabulous view of table mountain with the aforementioned table cloth rolling over it. spectacular sight



after a few drinks and a walk around to see the sights, we settled in at the city grill for a light evening meal. why there? cos there was a fitty beckoning us in of course!



that is what you call a mixed grill steaks of springbok, kudu, ostrich, warthog and the fabulous boerewors venison sausage out of that lot, i have to say that the warthog surprised me by being the most delicious

then as night time fell over africa, it was time to head back to the hotel for a decent night's kip ahead of the drive in the morning. we'd had a long day sightseeing after not a great night's sleep on the 12 hour flight over, so no partying that night unfortunately



to be continued...

digita1dragon

Wow! Looks amazing! Which parts of SA are the most & least dangerous then?

PS what is that red car above the Golf?

foreigneRS

monday 5th feb.

left cape town on the n7 heading up to springbok. soon, table mountain was just a fading view in the rear view mirror



the journey up there was fascinating - so little to see because of the wide open spaces, yet so much to see as it's totally different to anything i've seen before. there were always mountains in the backdrop to wonder at.

it was quite a hot day when we stopped at piketberg for fuel and the guy in the fuel station asked us where we were headed. when we said springbok, an area renowned in SA for it's barren landscape and high temperatures, he looked at us like we were mental. i wish i had a picture of his face.

there was hardly any traffic on the road, considering it's quite a major route up to namibia. what traffic there was usually moved to the side to let you pass, and we soon picked up the local custom of giving a quick flash of the hazard lights and a wave, to which they also respond with a friendly wave

at regular intervals along the roadside are little picnic areas that provide a little place in the shade to stop.



we stopped again for fuel in a small town, not knowing when the next time that it would be available would be. as we were filling up, the local school bus came past. the kids were such happy little souls, singing away and waving to us



after about 5 hours on the road, we arrived in springbok and found our guesthouse. our own little oasis with a pool that would be used every day that we would stay there







we checked in and headed off to town to get a bite to eat for lunch. the market was on, and i quickly realised that my hat that i had was not covering the back of my neck against the powerful african sun. i needed something bigger, crocodile dundee stylee. who's the prat in the hat?



then it was time to find the ford dealer where we would be based for work for the 2 weeks. after finding that and chatting to the team there, we headed back to the pool for the first of many swims with a nice cold beer or cider after that, into town for dinner which was obscenely big and cheap. this was a pattern that would continue for the rest of the fortnight.

foreigneRS

digita1dragon that, would you believe, is a volvo

available to rent from

http://www.motorclassic.co.za/

some lovely motors there to cruise around in (providing it's not too hot, as a/c did not come as standard in those days )

as for the safest parts and most dangerous, i don't know. i imagine jo'burg to be the most dangerous, but everywhere we went was perfectly safe provided you had your wits about you and didn't have tourettes syndrome

foreigneRS

tuesday 6th

pretty uneventful day with not much to show in pictures. work got properly underway testing the a/c systems of the vehicles that we were there to support as technical specialists.

we drove 100km to the north of springbok to a location just below the orange river that forms the border to namibia. leaving the vehicle out in the sun to soak up to temperature, we tried to find refuge in some shade by building a gazebo - doesn't help much when the heat is radiating out from the sand below you that is over 60 degrees C though



after work, back to the guesthouse for a swim in the pool and a drink, before going out for dinner again for more booze, more massive portions of meat, and then sleeping like a baby until the alarm goes off in the morning to start another day

wednesday 7th

more work in the day, more play in the evening



every day i had this with my dinner delicious stuff, got to find a supplier in england



no, it's not what it sounds like. nothing that mickey could put in his monkey spunk moped

foreigneRS

thursday 8th

the weather is predicted to be warmer in a different spot to where we were testing previously, so we take a different route out of town across a different bit of barren semi-desert. again, there's nothing to see along the endless miles of straight roads, but it's fascinating

along one particular stretch of road, the birds use the telegraph poles to build nests on as there are no trees for miles and miles. in this one nest, they say there will be about 200 little birds



it was while stopped and waiting for the vehicle interior temperature to rise that we decided to see who could run the furthest barefoot on the road. cleverly, my mate took his shoes with him - when i had had enough i had to turn around and go back for mine







it was bit windy in the place where we stopped, so we moved down the road a bit to a small village and parked up. we sheltered under the shade of a tree, and the local kids and a few adults came out to see what we were up to. these kids had nothing, but they were as happy as larry. makes you wonder why we bother going to work, just so that we can buy the latest gadget, or clothes or whatever



what happened after work? you guessed it pool, beer, evening meal and sleep like a good un. the wlak back to the guesthouse from town was always amazing. just look up and see the stars. you have never seen so many stars so bright. even where i grew up in the middle of norfolk where there is little light pollution, i could not believe it. magical.

foreigneRS

friday 9th

there's a change in the weather. all that dancing about like eejits on the hot tarmac the day before had obviously been a raindance





taking the opportunity of the high humidty, we headed for the atlantic west coast to test for condensation drips from the a/c system.

we took the only tarmac road in the area to the town of port nolloth, known for it's coastal diamond scavenging





they say that in this town, 85% of the population will die of AIDS



at least there the advertising is honest



with that weather, the pool didn't look as tempting

foreigneRS

saturday 10th

we have to work again in the morning the quiet of the office is interrupted when they fire up the rx7 racecar in the workshop, and everybody goes to see what the hell is going on


the video does not do it justice LOUD they're making some tweaks before the race on saturday the 17th that we will miss as we'll be back home

after lunch at the kfc (the zinger was not as spicy as england's), we decided that we needed some exercise. there's a hill above the town where they have written the name on the side in large rocks that are painted white - we guessed so that small aircraft can navigate. you can't really see it in this first picture because of the sunlight, but the picture below it from google maps shows it very clearly





http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...01075&t=k&om=1

a quick half an hour trek, and we were up there



and amongst the letters



that was not quite the summit, so we carried on until we conquered it



quite a view from up there



on the way back down we saw this little fella having a good old munch on a two inch turd



back to the guesthouse for tea and cake, and then explored around the town by car. took this road into the hills



and saw our first game, an oryx (or gemsbok)



did the usual routine in the evening, and even though it was a saturday night we didn't want to join the party in the sports bar as tomorrow was going to be the highlight of the trip.......

JohnnyB

great pics mate, its bringing back memorys.

I used to drive my buckie to Zimbabwe and back every month to 6 weeks.

The front wheel bearing used to go and the air filters would fuck it in 4 months, but all good fun

foreigneRS

sunday 11th

....a day out on a game lodge

arrived about 9:30 and hit the beers by the poolside



started playing with the air rifle. have owned one since being a teenager, but haven't used it for probably nigh on 20 years, but i hadn't lost the knack. by the end of the competition and the tin can was moved right back to the fence, me and another guy were still hitting it. the owner had never seen anything like it



after a few more drinks in the yard, and checking out the animals (this was the result of a randy zebra jumping the fence and shagging a horse ) we loaded up onto the buckie and headed for the quad bike area





unfortunately, they only had one proper quad bike (check out the big boy on that - dirk, the lodge owner ), and another workhorse type one that did not ride the bumps at all well. more quads to play on would have been awesome. seriously addictive though





back to the ranch for more drinking and pot shots and then it was time to ride the donkeys while the braai (bbq) was prepared



porr sod didn't like having 100kg of beefcake on his back and wouldn't budge. when the handlers poked him with the electric shock stick he just leapt forward and threw me off 3 times and on the 3rd time he decided he didn't want any more and buggered off into the distance. dirk had to go out on his quad bike and fetch him back for the others to have a go

had a few drinks by the pool and then it was time for the braai. fantastic ostrich steaks were the starter, cooked rare and served with a mix of lemon and pepper on top. bloody delicious



main course was lamb steaks off the farm with home made bread cooked on the braai. was the best bread i have had in my life. i intend to get the recipe and do that this summer

after lunch we went out to fire some real guns. starting with a .22 pistol, shooting at some tin cans. it was only a little pistol, but i still expected more from it when shooting, but there was nothing.



did some damage to the cans though



12 shots of that, and 3 cans down and then it was time to move on to the rifles



we started with the one at the top, firing it at a target of a springbok in the near distance before moving up to succesively bigger calibre rifles





and then on to the elephant gun to shoot at the warhog in the far distance. the violence that exploded when shooting that thing was incredible, but it was a lovely wepaon. great weight and feel and with a decent scope you could really pick your spot on the target. i got both bullets within an inch of each other in the kill area of the animal just behind it's shoulder blades.



after everyone had a go with the rifles, we moved on to clay pigeon shooting with a 12 bore shot gun. not a proper one with wooden stock though, it was a riot gun with folding metal stock. i still have the bruise on my shoulder to prove it, but it was very cool to shout 'pull', fire off and break the clay, reload with a pull-push of the front grip, and then repeat

if you look closely, you can see the shattering orange clay in the centre of the picture



as the sun was beginning to set, it was time to load up on the 4x4 again and head off on safari.



we drove across the plains and saw ostriches, springbok and gemsbok, and then followed the dried up buffels river bed and saw an owl. dirk headed off the track and got the bottom of a very steep rock face and engaged the low range gearbox. we all thought he was just messing with us, but the crazy bastard started driving up this mental rockface - with 14 of us stood in the back i seriously thought that we were going over and that we were all going to die, but this thing (an old nissan patrol) just kept plodding up the hill. i've got pictures of it, but it doesn't do the slope justice. once up the top he turned it sideways and stopped, and my heart started again. the way down was not so bad, knowing that we'd made it up

we continued the safari and saw a zebra and more of the antelope type animals, but it was getting dark and not possible to photograph anything more we arrived back at the lodge at about 10:30, all tired, but very happy with the day's activities back to the guesthouse and out like a light, but what a fantastic day it had been. one that i hope i will never forget.

foreigneRS

monday 12th

and it's back to work. pretty uneventful day until it came to dinner time and we went to godfathers restaurant.

i have seen big portions before, but this place was ridiculous. for such little money (in our terms, less than a tenner for a meal out including drinks is peanuts), you get so much food. considering the number of people starving in the world, and even in that town, it was frankly obscene and disgusting

look at this bloody thing that tomas ordered. it was a cordon blue that was the size of a rugby ball. and it wasn't just half full of cheese and then air, but stuffed full of cheese and ham inside the pork outside. god knows how many calories was in that.



with a bit of help from alan and me though, he finished it. he's still young and can get away with it, but soon the belly's gonna get him



tuesday 13th

.... and the end is in sight. only working until thursday afternoon, so the mind starts thinking about going home. didn't want to though, we were having such a good time

after testing, we had time to visit the orange river and the border with namibia. it was quite strange to see water in the middle of nowhere, but a nice sight in the heat of the sun there





after work, again the familiar routine of a swim with a nold cold bevvie this stuff was lovely and refreshing after a day in the heat

foreigneRS

wednesday 14th - valentines day

good day at work with temperatures in the valley of over 45 degrees that's what we went there for, but to assess the comfortability during a test you have to be fully dressed in long trousers etc, so it gets a bit uncomfortable. next time, i know to take shoes with thicker soles, as the heat from the ground was going straight through my trainer bottoms

while you lot were having romatic dinners to celebrate/commiserate valentines day, we had organised a braai party by the pool

just happened to see this in the 'newspaper' (well, it was the south african sun, that's trashier than the uk one, and also without page 3 ) in the office that day



the guesthouse did a fantastic job of orgainsing everything, all we had to do was turn up, light the wood, drink a bit while waiting for the flames to die down, sling the grub on and we were off.

the grub. bonza mate, look at those boerewors, lamb steaks, chicken and beef kebabs and 4 massive kudu steaks



masterchefs at work



if the fire rares up a bit, just sling some beer on it i said "if in doubt, get your hose out" which amused jeanette



after a while, it was time to dive for gold. the water was 25 degrees, so we slung some cans in and dived in to retrieve them - well, you don't want them in there too long warming up do you?



great night, beat a candlelit rip off dinner in the uk any day

foreigneRS

thursday 15th

and it's the last day of work. just a day in the office to go through results, reports etc. we were dying to finish early and get some quality time by the pool while it still had the sunshine of the afternoon over it. Finished about 3:30 and went for a final milkshake at the lodge that does the best ones in town. bubblegum flavour was my favourite



we hit the pool for the last time for a couple of hours and slowly started to unwind after being on alert for 2 weeks, ready for action if anything had gone wrong with any components or instrumentation.

then the guesthouse staff threw a dinner party for us for our last night. what a fantastic meal we had, with springbok carpaccio, fish and carviar (not for me, i hate the filthy stuff ), ostrich stroganoff, chicken pie and veg. apple crumble with cream for dessert, and handmade chocolate truffles. christ, i'm starting to look like the lodge owner, dirk, now. i need to seriously lose a bit before ski holiday in 2 weeks time. sliced in half would be about right

after dinner they gave us a little wooden elephant as a gift to remember them by. fantastically friendly people that looked after us incredibly well and made us feel so welcome in their country. we experienced nothing but nice poeple wherever we went

Graham S1

thats one steep cable car.

cool photos.

Nath

Great pics

foreigneRS

friday 16th - our last day in africa

we start the day with an early breakfast. mmmmm, boerewors with chilli sauce



we hit the road by 8am and start the 550km journey back down south to cape town. we've got a 9pm flight, but want to get there early to do a bit more sightseeing, shopping etc.

we make good progress, even though there's a little more traffic than on the way up. a couple of pit stops to fill the cars tank, and piss stops to empty ours, and we're well on the way to arriving in time for lunch.

as we come down from the hills, you can look down on the plain that extends all the way down to the cape



when we get within about 50km of cape town, the familiar and spectacular sight of table mountain once again looms on the horizon, visible across the plain



the signs at the ostrich farm were quite amusing





before reaching the city proper, we turn right off the main road to head for the northern shore to get a view of cape town across the bay. we were rewarded with views like these



then it was quick drive around the bay and park up at the v & a for lunch of springbok in the shadow of table mountain, shopping and chiiling by the waterside with a cold one for a few hours, watching the world (and the seals) go by. then off to the airport, drop off the hire car and check in. we were not looking forward to the 12 hour overnight flight home, but by that time we did want to get back home to our loved ones, even though we'd had such a fantastic 2 weeks and thought at one time that we would like to never leave.

as i said at the beginning, still so much to do there that another 2 or 3 weeks proper holiday is needed. would love to one day, but don't know if i'll ever be lucky enough to, but if you get the chance then i thoroughly recommend it. thank you very much to the people of south africa for everything

i hope you enjoyed my story and pictures. please share yours if you get the chance of a lifetime like this

EssexMikeSi

iTrader: (3)

ive just read through the whole thing mate and took me a fair while. Absolutely fascinating!!! Whilst sittin here in essex with it chilly and pitch black at half 6, i cant even imagine how nice and how warm it must be over there right now. Makes me think we live in this world but only get to see a tiny part of it in our lifetime. Such a shame. Good to see u had such a great time. As the saying goes, work hard, play hard

excellent pics and write up mate

foreigneRS

EssexMikeSi thanks very much for taking the time to read through it and for your kind comments. i'm glad it's brightened up your day a little to see the african sunshine

EssexMikeSi

iTrader: (3)

lol, well seeing it on a computer screen doesnt quite have the same effect but yea. That view from the cable car is amazing

Richie.

iTrader: (5)

Just read it all Nick Told you it was an amazing place The shanty towns on the left coming from the airport just seem to stretch for miles and miles I will be going back in the next couple of years definately

Paddy

Awesome pics mate and nice to read through it all as well

foreigneRS

B9KOS they say that once you've been, you WILL go back. i certainly hope so

Paddy thanks mate. glad you enjoyed it

bttt for daytime and weekday readers

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

What an AMAZING place!

I could spend days driving through there seeing the sites

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

I will add to this topic at some point Nick, just a bit busy today pal.

foreigneRS

no worries big man

i was too shot to bits at the weekend after travelling and coming back to the greyness of england to do anything useful, so spent my time making this topic and reliving the memories