I left Sutherland with intentions of stopping at the British soldiers' cemetery outside the town but once I drove away from my Whitehouse Inn my cellphone data ran out. I parked in the shade and tried various things to try figure out what happened to my 'big bonus' data. Then I realised that somehow my Google maps was still working except for traffic updates. I laughed thinking that it's certainly a straight road to Laingsburg and I did see some traffic up a side street of sheep being chased away from the main road.
The karoo mountains are mysterious. Near Sutherland, the soil was dark and foreboding and as I was driving away it almost felt like they were glad I was leaving. I imagined the shadows cheering me away, thankful that their hidden secrets remain just that.
The wind farm stretches all along the top of a pass and the big rotor blades were teasing me. One moment I thought they were moving, then completely still the next. I laughed and turned my music up louder singing along not letting the outside world sniff my fear. I also drove with my indicator on again, to relax the 'lane assist' from grabbing the wheel to keep me in the lane. There was more traffic heading to Sutherland which meant that I had to stay in my lane more without my indicator on than my inward trip. The green tshirts of the car occupants gave away their allegiance to the ruling party indicating that they were heading to their conference in Sutherland.
I stopped several times to take pictures of the expanse of landscape but the scene mocks me by dulling down in the photographs. When I turned off the N1 onto the Prince Albert road there were no trucks and about 4 cars. The landscape changed again. The soil here is redder and drier. The mountains in the distance, less skulking and almost inviting. My map told me that I was nearing the small town but suddenly, turning a corner, there it was, glistening in the afternoon sun.
Prince Albert.
There are stunning buildings, some of which are for sale. As usual my curiosity got me discovering that they are around R1million per bedroom.
My own portable wifi is finally working which means that I can at least catch up and load up my blog and photographs.
Tomorrow morning I explore on foot.
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